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  • Boarding a Cruise Ship with Ease

    By Jason

    Knowing that standing in line is not a pleasant way to start your vacation, cruise lines have been working to speed up the boarding process.

    Royal Caribbean serves up surprisingly swift boarding on its 5,400-passenger Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, the largest ships in the world. Princess is using nifty handheld devices to check-in passengers on its new 3,650-passenger Royal Princess.

    Carnival passengers flying into Miami can check in right at the airport, get their cruise keycard and use special security lines at the ports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

    A fairly new option is paying for propriety boarding. Carnival, for one, charges an extra $49.95 per person for its Faster to the Fun program that also comes with other perks.

    Depending a lot on your attitude, timing and luck, getting onboard a cruise ship with thousands of other passengers can be an easy experience or a hassle. Some strategizing is advised.

    Experienced cruisers tend to use one of two strategies to avoid the rush; seasoned passengers either arrive before noon or after 2 p.m.

    The before noon crowd is determined to be first in line to get on the ship. They want first dibs on everything from the buffet to spa and specialty restaurant reservations, if they haven't made them in advance.

    The downside to arriving early: The ship may not be ready for boarding and once onboard, you must schlep around your carry-on luggage, as your cabin won't typically be ready until around 1:30 p.m.

    Those arriving after 2 p.m. stand a better chance of breezing onboard. They may miss the free lunch, but the trade-off is less stress.

    Personally, I lean towards the later group. I'm a classic Type A and hate lines.

    If you do opt to arrive later, keep in mind the ship is required to deliver a final manifest before the cruise. That means that boarding at least 90 minutes before sailing is mandatory.

    Remember, you can speed the process by filling out and printing the online boarding forms.

    By Fran Golden, Special to USA TODAY

    For more cruise news & articles go to http://www.cruisecrazies.com/index.html

    Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more

    http://www.cruisecrazies.com

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    dmoten

    I enjoy boarding early so my vacation can officially begin and it gives me a chance to get a feel for the ship. I like to walk around and see where things are located. I like to know different ways to get to my cabin and which way is the closest to the elevators, stairs, etc.

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    Mach

    I've got to agree with both of you! The earlier I'm on board the earlier my cruise begins even if we're not underway!

    I love a chance to get familiar with the ship before muster drill and get to know the venues I consider important.

    Sarge, I wish I could get away with a beach bag but I have a bit more stuff that I have to drag along so I'm stuck with extra carry on junk.

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    Sarge6870
    Sarge, I wish I could get away with a beach bag but I have a bit more stuff that I have to drag along so I'm stuck with extra carry on junk.

    We've been lucky Mach (don't want to jinx it though) in that our luggage usually makes it to the cabin soon after we get access to the cabin. Sometimes, when we are able to get in to the cabin, the luggage was already waiting at the door or in the hallway. Guess that could be an advantage to boarding early too. Kinda like first come, first served!! Most of the time, even though we bring swim suits in the carry-on, we never get to use them. With going to the buffet, having a couple DOD's and touring the ship, that usually eats up most of the time waiting for the cabin access.

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