How I AVOID Embarkation Day Lineups for my NCL Cruises

The first day of your cruise can be exciting, but it can also be a pain if you're waiting in line for hours to get onboard. Follow my pro tips to help you save time in line and enjoy more time on the ship on your next Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) cruise.

🎬 Watch next: Top tips to save money on your NCL Cruise

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[CruisewithGrant]

Watch next🎥: Top MUST DO tips for the first day of your cruise

[jay-cdiy]

I’m going on a cruise on the NCL breakaway out of New Orleans in 3 days. I only live about an hour from the cruise terminal but I always choose a later embarkation time to give me plenty of time to get there. Sometimes traffic in New Orleans can be a nightmare. 😂 this is my 1st time on Norwegian so I’m excited.

[elizabethhouse]

A couple of lines I like to avoid on embarkation day are the line at guest services and the lines in the buffet. I prefer to eat lunch in the dining room or the local if possible instead.

[justusukomah]

So I'm taking my first cruise ever in April for my birthday (NCL) so I'm pretty excited. Thanks for posting useful information in easily consumable chunks.

[milesrocky]

Now that your Platinum status, you can board using the Haven entrance to avoid the long lines, and getting on board first or early has always been my preference to enjoy the ship for as long as possible

[MichelleAlexandria-EM]

Problem with late check in is Entertainment, Specialty Dining and other things that require booking on board means almost all the activies will be booked by the time you get on board.

[pamelanevin]

28 days til our first Norwegian Cruise and 2023! Super excited. Thanks for the new video 😊

[robertevans]

The best tip is to be patient. Thousands and thousands of passengers are boarding. It takes time to board all the cruisers.

[briansguy]

1:37 this is good advice BUT on cruises where NCL books the flight for you, they give you your plane tickets 2 months before your cruise begins and you DON'T get to choose the date and time of flight, just the airport you depart from. They had us flying in the day of our cruise a few hours before this departs which was crazy. Ended up having to use airline points to book a different flight the day before.

We were told by the sales consultant we could alter our date of arrival when booking our cruise, but after calling in 2-3 days after getting our flight confirmations, we were told 1. The travel date you are requesting is not available, and then 2. (when calling back the next day) Change of flights is not possible at all and "who told you that?" (two different people, actually). The rest of our travel group flying from different airports also had the same experience, but were able to move their flight up by calling sooner than we did and complaining repeatedly. YMMV

[happycruiser]

Flying from Canada in winter months, we fly two days before. Lowers the stress level greatly. And you get over any travel lag.

[dicknijenhuis]

This past fall I went on my first cruise and found that check-in and boarding weren't as big an issue as I thought it might be. The ship was only 2/3 capacity and covid testing was still in effect but things went far smoother than I expected.
Even though I completed the online check-in, when I got to the port, they re-took my picture which took a few extra minutes. This is one of those things you can't predict.
I chose a check-in time of 12:30 but showed up at 10:30. Not only did I not have to wait, but in chatting to some of the staff I was given a pass to join an even earlier group. Boarding began 10:45 and I was on-board ordering a drink by 11:30. As a solo traveler it would have been easier to move me to an earlier group. I'm not sure how well that would have worked for a group.

[leannewdw]

How have I not found your channel before!?! Love your content. I just watched like 5 videos in a row. Nice job and thank you!

[pianoetudes]

Great video! My tips: make really careful plan when embark from foreign ports. I had 14-day South America cruise, with NCL Sky in Jan 2020, just before covid. We arrived at 4pm at the port of Santiago, Chile on 5pm sailing time. So lucky they let us in. The story is like this. We planned to take a bus from Santiago to the port and arrived at 2pm - plenty of time to check in with 5pm sailing time. It was a disaster because it was public holiday and all buses were fully booked. The only available bus was too close to the check in time! We had no choice to take it. It was so stressful with heavy and stop-and-go highway traffic on the way to the port. We thought we're not going to make it. Finally we did, within 1 hour of sailing time. We were so relieved when we stepped in the ship. But we glanced over the window and saw a couple, sprinting into the gangway. Apparently, some people checked in even later than us!

[Carolmaizy]

We've only sailed on NCL's older, medium-sized ships. I book everything online, ahead of time. We usually pick a boarding time from 1130-130.

[ChooChooTravelsSolo]

Great tips, Grant! So happy I find your channel as I love sailing NCL.

[roma]

Thanks for the great videos. I’m taking my first cruise on the Escape to Bermuda in November and all your videos have been very helpful. I’m also a solo cruiser so your perspective on that has been great too!

[CollegeTom]

My tips: get off the embarkation deck ASAP, avoid the bars there and everything else. Hit the Main Dining Room (if it's open), instead of the buffet, for lunch, order a cocktail and have a nice, long, relaxing meal. Start vacation time right.

[ShutterBugMom]

Grant, thanks for all of your tips. By the way, you have the kindest eyes! 🤩

[raiderman]

We love your videos and had thought of maybe dropping off our luggage and then going to eat at the fish market in San Pedro then going back for our later check in time...that way our luggage will be in our rooms by the time we get there!

[jasonlizotte]

Thank you Grant for another informative video. Keep up the great work!