We are taking our first cruise and the ship departs this Sunday. It is Radiance of The Sea. I believe it is suppose to depart at 5 pm. How early should we arrive to board? Is there anything we need to know about that process that would help
We are taking our first cruise and the ship departs this Sunday. It is Radiance of The Sea. I believe it is suppose to depart at 5 pm. How early should we arrive to board? Is there anything we need to know about that process that would help
I have been on 5 RCCL cruises and we always arrive a day early and stay close to the port, this way it seems like you get a extra day aboard the ship. You can start getting your boarding stuff around 11 and be on the ship drinking one of those great drinks by noon. I do suggest (if you like to swim) to bring a carry on with your bathing suit in it, you will not get your luggage til after 2 or 3. My mother-in -law just got back for the Radiance and said that it was wonderful, very nice ship.
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Enchatment 2002
Explorer 2003
Adventure 2004
Mainier 2004,2005
Majestey 2005
Navigator 2006
Soverign May 2007
Valor Feb 2009
Valor 2010
I totally agree with cruiseonly. Arrive a day early, get to the terminal early, board early and start enjoying yourself stress free. Always pack a carry on with enough stuff to get you through the first day. This would be your toiletries, bathing suit, change of clothes for dinner and whatever else you might need. This way, you won't be worrying about when your luggage will show up and can immediately get to the pool to watch everyone else wonder around stressed out.
Just got back from our first cruise Feb 19th.It was the Enchantment. We were to set sail at 5:00pm, we arrived about 12:00 and were exploring the ship within 20 minutes (it was sooo exciting) Rooms would not be ready until l:00, waited until 12:50 to check on room and it was ready too. Have a great time
I also agree with cruiseonly except I would add to stay a day late as well. We were on the ship by noon with no hassels whatsoever. We barely even slowed down as we went through the check-in process. If you are leaving from Fort Lauderdale it is a $10 cab ride to the port. I suggest staying an extra day because there will be a lot of folks from all the ships trying to get out of the airport on the day the ship returns and it is a real chore to fight the crowd to find bags, cabs, buses and check into the airport. Make the trip enjoyable and less stressful by adding a day to each end. Your airfare will probably be cheaper as well.
Replying to both the previous posts, you can usually board the Adventure in San Juan by 1 PM, sometimes earlier. You can get back off and do some exploring, but this ship does not dock right by Old San Juan, so you'd need to take a taxi to town and back. We enjoyed just getting to know the ship for the afternoon, and relaxing in our cabin.
A comment on getting to the port of embarkation a day early and staying an extra night after the cruise: one big advantage is that the airport will be less crowded. This is true whether you are in Miami or San Juan, or wherever, as long as your cruise departs and arrives on a Saturday or Sunday. Both of those days, the airports are jammed with cruise passengers returning home. If you can afford the time and the hotel cost to stay over a night, it might be well worth it, whether you save on airfare or not.
Anyone know about RCCL leaving Galveston, TX. How early can you board there. I have been there once before but was late getting there (2-3p.m.) Am taking another cruise w/ my entire family 7 of us and would like to get on board as soon as possible and start enjoying ourselves and see about getting our dinning switched to early from late b/c we booked so late. Thanks for any info.
P.S. Would it do any good to try and get switched to the early will they do that???
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