Does anyone know?

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TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

NO, its not EXACTLY the same as at the airport (2 hrs), but there ARE SOME REQUIREMENTS. Here's what Royal Caribbean sent to me before our last cruise in March of this year:

" Due to new government regulations requiring cruise lines to submit final departure manifests at least 60 minutes prior to sailing, guests are requested to complete Online Check-in no later than 3 days prior to their cruise. If you do not complete Online Check-in 3 days prior, you will be required to complete this process at the pier at least two hours prior to the published sailing time. Please note: All guests must be checked-in and onboard the ship no later than 90 minutes prior to the published sailing time or you will not be permitted to sail."

Other cruise lines have the same requirement. Here's what Carnival has on it's web site:

"Government regulations for U.S. departure ports require that a final departure manifest is submitted 60 minutes prior to departure. Guests must provide us with the required information prior to embarkation. The easiest and most convenient way is to complete our FunPass on line registration process (www.carnival.com/mycruise) at least (3) three days prior to departure. Guests that do not complete the registration process prior to embarkation are required to check-in at least 90 minutes prior to the published sailing time."

So you need to be there early, but NOT as early as at the airport, for a different reason and you are treated differently. Its not like at the airport with you standing in security lines or sitting in the airport. At the cruise ports you can generally board about noon, sometimes your cabin will be ready about then (sometimes later), but you can for sure go get food and relax in a deck chair, or even go swimming or hot tubbing if you bring swim wear on board in your carry-on bag.

At the sailing time, i.e. 5:00 PM or 6:00 PM or whenever, they want to have the tie-up lines released and the gangway pulled and doors closed so that they can get started on time.

So if you complete your pre-registration information you can arrive at the port and start boarding any time between about noon and an hour before sailing. I have been on about 20 cruises with 4 different cruise lines and this is how its been for me/us.

stepmiller2

Cruise ships are quite different from airports. There is no TSA screening individual passengers, at least not yet. As a result you can board virtually any time before departure as long as you are pre-registered and the ship is aware you are running late. Keeping that in mind I have a few suggestions. If you are flying into the port use the transfers offered by the ship. Last December I took a cruise out of Port Canaveral. It departed at 4PM and we arrived at noon in Orlando. We had arrange for transfers to the dock through Carnival. They met us there and had already arranged for a bus to take us to the dock. Another passengers had lost their luggage. What Carnival did was wait until the very last minute before leaving the airport to give them every possible chance to recover the luggage. The Carnival personnel then pre-registered all the passengers so we would not have to do it at the terminal. We arrive at approximately 3:50 and were ushered right on to the ship. No lines, no wait, nothing except pictures for the sign and sail cards. Easiest boarding I ever had. Having said that I would get there as early as they will let you board, usually around 12:30 so you can spend some time touring the ship before you have to attend the "muster". (Coast Guard required lifeboat drill) If you are driving to the port get there as early as you can so you can be at the front of the large line that will form prior to boarding. Also if they have pre-boarding documentation; fill it out. The less you have to do prior to boarding the better. Hope this helps and have a great cruise.

Tivogal

have a great time on your first cruise.

Like andy said. you could get in the line for customs around 12:00PM or so
and could be on board some where around an hour later.
relax and enjoy your cruise.

Andy

They usually permit boarding around noon, but you won't get into your stateroom until much later. The sooner you're there, the faster they will get your bags to your room. But no later than 2:00 pm for a 5:00 pm sailing. Unlike airports, however, there's plenty to do between boarding and sailing. We always arrive around noon, eat, swim, etc. Have fun; cruising is great!

MCLS

USUALLY YOU CAN START BOARDING AT 12:30 BUT YOUR CABIN WILL NOT BE READYD UNTIL 1:00 PM SOME CRUISE LINES TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO BE AT THE TERMINAL NO LATER THAN 3;30 FOR A 5 PM SAILING BUT CHECK WITH THE CRUISE LINES AND ASK THEM

John W

Two hours in advance of sailing is a good plan. Your tour company should have given you that information. Once you are aboard the ship everything is open for your enjoyment so you won't be bored or looking for something to do so go early and avoid the crowd.

randall_nd

They say at least 2 hours. If you preregister on line, you're already on the passenger roster, so be sure and do that.

ktballerina

if you get there around noon to 1 you do not have to wait in long of lines and you can get on the ship and enjoy

notyou311

No, you should not get there before the scheduled boarding time. They will not let you go on the ship and you will just stand around for hrs.

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