We'll be sailing on the Amersterdam on October 25th. This will be our first HAL cruise, though we have sailed many times on other cruise lines. So, here's my question:
Since we've often sailed on Carnival, and Carnival owns HAL, does anyone know if we'll still be part of the group of passengers that get express boarding privileges that they normally give to repeat passengers? I forget what they call it on Carnival, but on NCL, it's LATITUDES.
Unless you are in a Suite, there is no Express Check in for repeat passengers - HAL has too many of them. I have sailed over 40 cruises with HAL and never had "Express" check-in.
If you do your Immigration form on-line, then there is a special check-in line, but sometimes it is just as long as for those passengers who have not done it on-line.
On some cruises, there are so many Mariners (repeaters) that they numer 80% of the pax. There is no way to have express anything when the huge majority of folks would qualify.
"PS" and "S" pax have their own check in line which is always fast seeing as there are not that many pax in those cabins.
I took my first HAL cruise last March on the Zuiderdam, so I had "regular old" check in. And I don't see how I could have been "expressed" any faster than I was processed - from arrival at the port to walking on board was less than a half an hour.
Well, I guess we'll see how it goes. My father has bad circulation problems in his legs and standing for long periods of time is hard on him. No, he won't make any special arrangements, in case someone suggests that.
I'm hear to tell you, though, that we've saved LOTS of time in the past on other cruiselines. Our last cruise, as an example, was with NCL, and as Lattitudes members, they had 2 dedicated windows strictly for Latitudes members. Believe me, it saved us at least an hour and a half upon check-in, and I'm being generous.
They have a special line for those who have not filled out immigration forms. On our HAL cruise last year, it looked much much shorter than the line we were in. Reckon that could have been the 'express line'??
I'm anxious to see how it is for the upcoming Zui cruise. And I do agree with the NCL experience for Latitudes members - has also saved us lots of time in the past.
We just got back from a cruise on the Zuiderdam. We got in the Internet line and it was pretty fast. It seemed as if we were onboard in no time. I think anything you do that speeds up the check-in is worth it. So do the form online and save yourself a little time.
Already did the online forms a couple months ago, printed them, and have a couple months still to wait! Got the printouts with all of our other personal docs, and now waiting for the official docs from HAL.
We just noticed that those who didn't do the online form on our specific Maasdam cruise last year were "rewarded" by being in the shorter line. But, it could have been the time of day we arrived at the port. Maybe at another time of day the long lines were reversed. I'm glad to know you moved through quickly! Last year, we would have 'saved time' by being in the shorter line, which was for those who did not have the documents completed online.
It somewhat reminds me of checking bags at the airport. You wait in line and go ahead and get all of your ID and anything else ready while waiting. Then on the flip side, you have those who wait in line for however long, then approach the counter and are like "oh, I need to get out my ID!" and start fumbling for ID after getting to the counter. (As opposed to getting things ready before approaching the counter while waiting in line.)
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Past guest express check-in?
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