Getting around the lines

One of the natural highs of taking a group on a cruise is the sigh of relief arriving at the port of embarkation and accounting for everyone. But then the wait begins – waiting to check in and board the ship. The same occurs on the reverse. And if you and your group are taking a flight back, there might be another wait at the airport. It’s not the most fun part of taking a cruise but can some of it be avoided? Are there ways to get around the lines?

If you use a little strategic planning and focus on knowing the key components involved, you can find ways. It’s imperative to know key things about the cruise line you’re sailing on – how they handle embarkation and disembarkation  procedures, pre-cruise information requirements, how their past passenger club memberships work and what’s included, as well as pre- or post-cruise city tours offered.

Another component that might be of value with certain cruise itineraries involves flight schedules. Are charter flights involved, or do scheduled return flights usually depart later in the afternoon? Finally, know the realities – we all like to think our groups are important, but trying to wangle priority for special  embarkation or disembarkation is not always feasible.

Embarkation – Ways to Minimize the Waiting Time and Lines

Even with post-Panamax ships (those too large to go through the Panama Canal) becoming the standard among new builds, it’s amazing how fast cruise guests actually get processed and boarded. However, when you and your group are waiting in line to check in, first thoughts are, “How long is this going to take?” What might speed the process up is your past passenger status with that particular cruise line or even the stateroom category booked.

Stateroom Categories Booked

Stateroom categories booked can actually qualify a cruise guest for priority or VIP boarding. This protocol varies from cruise line to cruise line: with Cunard Line, guests who book the Queen’s Grill Suites receive Priority check-in – these are exclusively for booking Category Q1 through Q6 Suites. Carnival Cruise Lines offers a separate VIP check-in for cruise guests who book the category 11 and 12 suites onboard their ships. On Oceania Cruises, guests who have booked the Concierge Suites typically can embark earlier (usually around 11 a.m.), while stateroom guests can usually start embarkation around 1 p.m. Tim Rubacky, Manager of Public Relations and Marketing for Oceania Cruises, mentions, “Officially our embark time is published as 3 p.m., and that will always be the case, but the ship is usually ready by 11 a.m. or noon for guests.”

Past Passenger Programs and Memberships  

As cruise lines have upgraded their past passenger clubs, adding different membership levels according to the number of cruises guests have taken, they have included some perks beyond the traditional private cocktail party. A few cruise lines have even gone the route of including priority embarkation areas for their past passengers who have achieved a higher status.

 Royal Caribbean Cruises, for instance, has four tiered membership levels, and one of the perks included with their Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus memberships involve a private departure lounge onboard. In addition, priority checkin at certain departure ports is also available. Other cruise lines usually have a separate check-in line for their past passengers.

 NCL’s tiered past passenger club, “Latitudes,” has their Latitudes check-in line; in addition, NCL has a priority area check-in for guests who have reached Gold Status (having sailed on 10 – 14 cruises with NCL) or guests who reserved suites onboard. With Celebrity Cruises’ Captain’s Club membership, priority embarkation is available to Founder Classic Members only, and is available in certain embarkation ports.

 Cunard Line’s Grill guests and Platinum World Club members do receive priority embarkation and disembarkation. 

 Charter Flights

With the cruise industry’s global expansion, international flights are a necessity. But an interesting situation occurs when a cruise line offers a charter flight to a cruise embarkation port. This is often done because scheduled air service is minimal.

 Here, a cruise line can opt to extend the time passengers have to disembark from the ship if a later charter return flight has been arranged. When Princess Cruises had a contract with Air Tahiti Nui last year for their sailings involving Tahitian Princess, guests who had that later afternoon flight back from Tahiti to Los Angeles were disembarked with a later group that allowed them more time onboard the ship. The intimate size of the Tahitian Princess made this more feasible, and was a nice touch to the overall cruise experience. For their cruise calendar this year, Princess Cruises has charter flights for Manaus, Brazil and Acapulco.

Disembarkation

 When Norwegian Cruise Lines introduced their revolutionary “Freestyle Cruising” concept back in 2000, one of the areas they addressed was shipboard  disembarkation. “Freestyle Disembarkation” was the end result, a way to avoid the “hurry up and wait” scenario most cruise guests encounter that last morning before disembarking after the ship has been cleared by Customs. “Freestyle Disembarkation” is a streamlined process where guests do not have to immediately vacate their stateroom that last morning, but can instead enjoy a leisurely breakfast, before disembarkation. Although other cruise lines haven’t gone that route completely, most offer more than one option for breakfast that last morning – usually casual outdoor café or one of the formal dining rooms.

City Tour Options –  

Late Afternoon Departures

 When sailing on certain cruise itineraries outside the U.S. and by nature of the scheduled flight departures from those cities, you might want to look at a last day city tour through that cruise line or a local ground operator. Norwegian Cruise Line, for instance, found that returning flights from Seattle as well as Honolulu are usually late afternoon departures. As a result, NCL offers several city sightseeing tours for their cruise guests, a welcomed option to the other alternative – going directly back to the airport and sitting around for hours. Carnival Cruise Lines’ Vance Gulliksen notes that in conjunction with cruises offered by Carnival’s year-round homeports, the line offers a variety of shore excursions for guests on disembarkation day.

An interesting benefit of booking a group through Holland America Line is their ability to actually create customized group shore excursions for specific ports and sights your group wants to see. This is a terrific option to consider, especially if your group’s flights back are later in the afternoon and there are key things they still want to see in that disembarkation port. Holland America’s ability to customize group shore excursions, of course, is in addition to the thousands of published tours they already offer guests. With Cunard Line’s Trans-Atlantic voyages, some interesting post-voyage tour options are available, including a “Discover Downtown Manhattan” tour for guests to take before sailing to London. Also, Cunard Line offers their “Cunard Connoisseur Collection” pre- and post-sailing cruise packages, ranging from three-nights to a special one-night package. For Trans-Atlantic crossings, this onenight option offers a full-day countryside tour with lunch, travel aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient Express to London, dinner on the train, an overnight at the Chancery Court and a private transfer to the airport.

 It’s wise to schedule your city tours on the last day of the cruise as apposed to the first day, just in case your flight to the port city is delayed and you miss all or part of your tour.

Some Other Time-Saving Notes

Most cruise lines have gone to an online check-in system for their guests, which saves time filling out forms at the pier. Royal Caribbean’s on-line check-in system, for instance, simply  requires that guests have their reservation number, emergency contact information and identification documents ready to submit; then their “Sail Pass” can be issued. For guests sailing out of the U.S. or Canada, the on-line check-in must be completed at least 24 hours prior to departure; sailings outside of these areas must be completed at least 48 hours prior to departure. In addition, Royal Caribbean provides a toll-free number for assistance.

Although not all of the waiting can be avoided when your group takes a cruise, some of the wait times can be downsized or eliminated with a bit of advance planning. This is also where being that loyal past passenger can work to your group’s advantage.  

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Courtesy of leisuregrouptravel