First cruise
 

How much time before a ship's posted departure time would you need to be on board to check in and get settled.

I believe they say the minimum time is 1 hour. Check with the cruise line for specifics.

We always check in two or three hours before departure. This avoids any last minute rush. The ship will have food and sometimes entertainment on-going. And then you can find your life jacket and life boat postion because there will be a life boat drill as soon as you depart. And you can always explore the ship.

It depends what you mean by getting settled. The later you arrive the later your luggage will be delivered. We arrive early (noon or so) and are among the first to board.

We cruised Alaska last summer with a departure of 9 pm. We didn't get to the boat until 6 (we were on the cruise line train) and with the muster at 8pm, I didn't feel like I had any time to learn the ship before we had to find a place to eat that evening.

It was our first cruise, so I would probably benefited from a couple extra hours (and a map) when we first boarded.

I would give yourselves a couple hours at least. This way you can get something to eat and explore a little on the ship.

One of the activities the first day involved a "GET TO KNOW THE SHIP" tour and we really enjoyed this. At least we felt like we knew the ship a little better.