How long before the cruise departs do you need to arrive?

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Lew

If you are arranging travel to the port yourself, you have to be on board 90 minutes before sailingtime so that the passenger manifest can be cleared by Customs.. So you need to be booked in at 2:30pm.

You can call the cruise line and check the latest time for embarkation.

The people who say that they have seen people boarding after the deadline are correct and it does happen quite often, but, these are people who have used cruise air or transportation and the cruise line will allow them to arrive late if there have been transportation delays.
I'm afraid you have no such luxury if you arrange your own travel. People have been turned away from cruise ships and have had to make their own way to the next port to pick up the Cruise.

quinnline

Leaving soon for a cruise, and we are leaving at 4. Our instructions say you can start boarding only at 12:30, no earlier. So they ask that you check in between 12:30 and 2:30. First time cruiser also

sally b

Always take the flight that gets you there the earliest. You never know what will go wrong. One of the other posters said they saw people still getting on after the scheduled departure time. That happens when a flight that was booked through the cruiseline is delayed. In that case, they will wait for the flight. When you book your own air, they do not wait for you. Yes it is easy to get from the airport to the pier - lots of transportation ready to take you. We often fly into Ft. Lauderdale and take a shuttle to Miami because it is so much cheaper to fly into Ft. Lauderdale. The best of all worlds is to fly in the day before the cruise. Then you get up, have a relaxing breakfast, and go to the ship and are among the very first to get on and start enjoying.

Between your 2 choices, I would go with option 2. Option 1 really is cutting it close.

lmch

I've only ever cruised from England and I live very close to the port but I still check in as early as I can - 1) because you never know what will happen and 2) you get to have more time aboard the lovelly ship!

If I were flying to a port I think I would do option 2 to give you the most time. Saying that though, I think I would arrive the day before - JUST INCASE!!!

Have a fantastc time!!

peash

Let me tell you about my experience on my first cruise ever. I flew from detroit to miami on the same day as my flight (with no layovers). I had left like a 4 hour gap from the time my flight would land to the time i needed to get on the cruise so i felt i had enough time. However, my flight ended up being delayed 3 hours (due to weather as it was winter time) !!! By the time i landed in miami, i was really late for the cruise. I ended up getting at the cruise ship right at 4pm (which according to the rules is considered too late to be able to get on the ship). The thing the cruise ship doesn't tell you is that even if you come after 4pm they will STILL let you on ! They say 4pm but really i saw passengers getting on at 5pm too. Plus we didn't have to stand in the longggg lines to get on the ship...but boy were we stressed ! I highly recommend you get the earliest flight available ! For my second cruise i left the day before my flight and spent the night in miami, it was alot less stressful, and miami was amazing ! Good luck and have fun !

Barkley Hound

I would NEVER book a flight that arrives the same day as a cruise. There is too much that can go wrong. The ship will not wait unless there are many planes delayed that the cruise has booked passengers on.

Why have the stress? Go the previous day and stay overnight in a hotel.

If the only choice is same day flight then get there as early as possible. They will not always wait. A 4 pm departure means last boarding at 3:30. You are also wasting your first day on the ship. They serve lunch.

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Time travler

Take option two so you are not too stressed on getting to the ship on time. Better yet, fly in the day before and stay in a hotel. The less stress you would have is so very worth the extra money for a hotel. Even motel six would be better then flying in on the same day.

P-OW-LEE-NUH

im going on a cruise in april too! the carnival triumph april 5th:]
but i would say the 2nd one because it gives you more time and trust me you will need some time to relax bc the line to get on the ship is incredibly long!

i went on a cruise in august from miami and it was 95 outside and like a 3 hour line it was ridiculous

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