When Embarkation begins

[JoeyandDavid]

I know on Celebrity they will escort you to your stateroom if you arrive after the staterooms are complete, which is a lovely feature. Which led me to wonder ...

When you are taking a cruise.. When do you try and get to the port to begin the embarkation process?... Are you one of the ones that like to be one of the first on board.."after all i am on vacation" or....do you prefer to wait and arrive leasurely figuring i get there when i get there.."after all i am on vacation"

When do you head for the embarkation pier..

[deb1220]

I probably fall into the category of "I'll get there when I get there".....having never done a pre-cruise stay - get off the plane, pick up luggage, take the bus to the port and embark.

[JoeyandDavid]

I probably fall into the category of "I'll get there when I get there".....having never done a pre-cruise stay - get off the plane, pick up luggage, take the bus to the port and embark.

if you ever get the chance please try it.. it adds a whole new perspective to the cruise vacation..

[cruisingcats]

I like to be early to where ever I am going....maybe not the first one on board but close. That way I can have a good look around, get a bite to eat and then when the cabin is ready head there.

After all I am on vacation.....

[Joanandjoe]

I like to be early to where ever I am going....maybe not the first one on board but close. That way I can have a good look around, get a bite to eat and then when the cabin is ready head there.

After all I am on vacation.....

That pretty much sums up our feelings. If we're not sailing from the NYC area, we try to arrive at the port at least a day early, then get onto the ship as soon as it's cleared for embarkation.

[sailingrose]

I like to be early to where ever I am going....maybe not the first one on board but close. That way I can have a good look around, get a bite to eat and then when the cabin is ready head there.

After all I am on vacation.....

Me Too!

[rogue]

We also try to get there early. My philosophy is that the cruise begins the second that we're on board.

[deb1220]

I probably fall into the category of "I'll get there when I get there".....having never done a pre-cruise stay - get off the plane, pick up luggage, take the bus to the port and embark.

if you ever get the chance please try it.. it adds a whole new perspective to the cruise vacation..

I would love to....but we never had the time to do it......always having to deal with school breaks. We did do a post-cruise in Vancouver after Alaska which was wonderful!!! (That was in the summer of course).

[TheSkipper]

We do it both ways depending on where we are departing for the pier from. If that makes sense. For example we are flying from NYC to Miami on the morning of our Valor cruise. So we will do the grap the luggage thing and board the bus to the ship. When it gets there it gets there.

When we have arrived the night before, we normally try to board the ship as early as possible. Same thing when we are driving to one of the California ports.

[DebbieandJerry]

We've done both. Have to say, getting to the ship embarkation closer to sailing time MINIMIZES the time spent standig in all of the lines. Our last ship left Ft Lauderdale at 5pm (or later). We arrived right about 3pm. We walked right on in. We never had to wait in any line. We were finished with embarkation within 3-5 minutes and walking in to our room within 10 minutes of having arrived.

We have also been to the embarkation port HOURS before you were "allowed" (talk about being anxious). We have stood in lines that snaked around the sidewalks only to find ourselves standing in more lines once we got inside the first set of doors.

Now, there is something very exciting about standing in line with hundres (perhaps thousands) of other excited people. However, Florida tends to get a wee bit hot and humid for us desert dwellers (humid, that is) and tempers tend to flare (okay, my temper flares in the humidity).

We use to take the ship transportation to the port. We now take our own. Sitting on the ship's bus waiting for it to fill up is a total waste of time.

The first time we entered a Celebrity ship and saw the crew/staff member waiting to escort the next person/family to their cabin. My oh my, now that's what I call classy!