Is it possible to board a Carnival cruise before embarkation time?

Alexandra a asked:


We will be cruising on Carnival Triumph on April 5th and the embarkation time according to Carnival is 12:30pm but I was wondering if it was possible to board the ship before this time. If it is possible please tell me how early can I arrive. I cruised with Royal Caribbean once and the boarding time was 12:30 but we arrived at the port and boarded the ship around 10am.

Filed under Filed Under: Carnival Cruises Tagged with Tagged With:

Comments

  1. Complete Inanity says:
    May 9, 2009 at 10:17 am

    Call Carnival and ask.

  2. Big Ed says:
    May 12, 2009 at 4:47 am

    The ship you are getting on probably unloaded passengers that morning. They have to clean and prepare the ship before they let you on. Once that is done, they let you in. 12:30 is a general guidline, not a hard and fast rule.

    If I were you, I would not expect to get on before 12:30.

  3. Adrian Wapkaplett says:
    May 13, 2009 at 4:07 am

    yes but call the cruise line and ask what time…and wear your bathing suit under your clothes so you can start vacationing right away! Otherwise you have to wait for your bags.

  4. island3girl says:
    May 16, 2009 at 5:15 am

    no, they usually start processing people in about noon and sail at 4 or so

  5. david says:
    May 19, 2009 at 10:44 am

    Call the cruise line or your travel agent

  6. quinnline says:
    May 22, 2009 at 2:59 am

    triumph is awesome, but you cant get to your room until 1:30, so it’s not worth much

  7. Setyaeas says:
    May 24, 2009 at 3:14 am

    thanks for useful info.

  8. Lovely Lauren says:
    May 25, 2009 at 4:16 am

    We’re getting married on a Carnival cruise, while in port. All of our guests will have priority boarding at 10:00 am, or whenever customs clears the ship.

    But I’ve never heard of them letting anyone on before embarkation time unless for a wedding.

  9. Kat says:
    May 26, 2009 at 11:39 pm

    Don’t expect it, but know that it IS possible.
    (FYI – If you call and ask, they will probably tell you the answer is no, that way they won’t have an angry customer later if it doesn’t work out that way.)

    We showed up at 10AM the last 2 times and were on by 10:30 or 11:45, each time under the advisement that we were not allowed into our staterooms until 12:30.
    It was really nice; we went up to Lido deck and killed time, sipping on drinks and watching everyone else fight the 12:30 crowds.

    I plan to arrive early for my next cruise too, in hopes of having the same luck, because the lines were SO MUCH SHORTER at 10 then the times when we have arrived at noon. Even if I am not allowed on board, at least I’ll be all ready to board and won’t have to wait 2 hours in line.

Speak Your Mind

*