[Bill Nashville]

We are going on the seven-day West Caribbean cruise next week. Our ticket says we board at 1:00. Is this a firm time? I’ve seen some comments that indicate boarding as early as 10:30.

[ladylilo]

From what I can remember, (and its going back a couple of years now! ) our room was not ready until 1.00 pm (which I think is why they state that time). We arrived at the port at about 12:00 noon and it took quite a while to book in, but then we were able to go on board before 1 pm (and we were certainly not the first!). We went for lunch at Topsider and explored the ship whilst waiting for the room to be available.

If you can get there early and board, then that is a great time to take photos as there are not so many people about. Have fun!

Don't forget to post a trip report when you get back. I am keen to hear if ther have been any changes.

[bdash1400]

From everything I've, you can start boarding somewhere 10:30. LadyLilo is right that would be a good time to just walk around and take some pictures.

[Bill Nashville]

To answer my own question, DCL started to board at 1145. As we checked in through security at 1115 we were asked how many were in our party. We were then given a 'boarding group number' which in our case was 10. At 1145 they called boarding group 1 and started the process of getting everyone on board. Boarding was slow because pictures were taken on the gang way before crossing over on to the ship. This group boarding was very organized letting people have a general idea of when they could start getting everything together. There was no huge rush to get to the boarding tunnel. We boarded at around 1230 so if you want to get on board early, get there early.The passageway doors remained locked until exactly 1330, then they were opened and you could go to your stateroom.

[ladylilo]

Thanks Bill, I will bear it in mind for next year. Don't forget to post your trip report!