Scoring an Early Boarding Time on Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean Port Arrival Time Blocks

If you’re anything like me, you strive to be one of the first to arrive at the cruise port on embarkation day. I know many cruisers enjoy arriving later when the crowds have died down. But, it’s always my personal goal to snag the earliest boarding time possible.

I love to get settled on the ship and start my vacation ASAP on embarkation day. Plus, a porter once told me that when you arrive early to the terminal, your luggage is typically some of the first to be delivered to the cabins.

With Royal Caribbean, I make sure to choose the early time while completing online check-in. There are a few tricks I use to score an early boarding time, which I’ll share. But, the key is to make sure you know when your online check-in date arrives.

Choosing Your Time

If you have a cruise booked with Royal Caribbean, you can typically check-in around 45 days before your sail date. The online check-in process is super simple and consists of filling out personal information among other tasks. This is also where you choose your port arrival time. Royal Caribbean usually allows cruisers to choose arrival times in thirty-minute blocks as shown in the image above. 

You should see options for arrival times in the afternoon and earlier in the day. I typically find that Royal Caribbean’s earliest arrival time options are 10:30 or 11:00.

It’s important to note that these times that you choose during online check-in are only port arrival times. These are not the times you actually board the ship. However, the earlier your arrival time, the sooner you are usually able to embark on the ship.

There are a few tricks to scoring early arrival times if you are eager to be one of the first passengers on the ship:

First, I recommend choosing your port arrival time before completing anything else during online check in. Since the online check-in time usually opens up at midnight (in the time zone of your departure port) 45 days before your cruise, you’ll want to login at this time. It’s not always easy to stay up until midnight, but it’s worth it to snag a great time slot! I go straight to the section on choosing my arrival time and pick the one I want. I like to save this information and complete the rest of the check-in process the next day, so I don’t have to stay awake even longer!

A second way to grab an early port arrival time is by purchasing The Key. Guests who pay for this upgraded status typically receive priority access upon arrival on embarkation day.

If you aren’t able to secure an early arrival time for your cruise, you can continue to check back to see if an earlier time slot opens up. Regardless of what time you end up snagging, you’ll want to stick to the time slot as much as possible. If you arrive to the port too early, you always risk being asked to wait outside until your correct arrival time.

Suite Guests Get Arrival Perks

Another tip for securing an early arrival time is to book a suite. One of the Royal Caribbean suite perks is that suite guests are permitted to enter the terminal one hour before their official port arrival time. So, even if you end up with a noon arrival time, you can arrive at 11:00 if you’re booked in a suite.

This is a great perk unless you already have an early arrival time – in which case it doesn’t really help. For example, when sailing on the Oasis of the Seas, my family and I had junior suites booked with a 10:30 am port arrival time. We were technically allowed to arrive an hour before this 10:30 slot since we were suite guests. However, the cruise terminal in Miami did not open its doors until 10:00 am, so we couldn’t actually get in the building an hour early.

Booking a suite also allows you to save time in line. When my family and I arrived at the port as suite guests, we saw two separate lines: a LONG line on the left and a short line on the right. Since we were in a suite, we were able to stand in the separate, super short line to enter the terminal. It’s important to note that employees came over to ask us for proof that we were in a suite. And, anyone in the wrong line was asked to move. That being said, my sister had a junior suite AND an oceanview room booked. Her whole family, including the non-suite guests, were permitted to stand in the suite line together.

refreshments in Royal Caribbean cruise terminal

Once the doors opened to the terminal, the suite guests were escorted to an elevator that took us to a separate security line. This was a really fast process that took less than five minutes. Then, we walked right into the suite waiting area, which consisted of plenty of seating options, refreshments, and restrooms.

A Royal Caribbean employee came over to our large group and checked in each party using her tablet. We didn’t even have to get off the couch. This was a huge relief from the typical check-in desk with long check-in lines we have experienced in the past. After we completed this check-in procedure, our family sat in the waiting area until it was our turn to board the ship.

suite waiting room at Royal Caribbean terminal in Miami
Suite Waiting Area at Port of Miami

At 11:00, crew members instructed all of the suite guests to form a line. Each cruiser scanned his/her SetSail Pass (from the Royal Caribbean app) and was permitted to board the ship. Note that boarding did come to a stop at one point.

Note that guests who were sailing in Star Class and had access to a Royal Genie were permitted to move to the front of the line in order to receive the priority boarding that was included in their suite perks. This didn’t take long at all, and our whole group was onboard the ship shortly after 11:00.

Reasons to Board Early

In addition to receiving luggage early, another perk to boarding early is there are fewer crowds. We like to complete our Muster Drill requirements immediately after boarding. This is a super fast process – once at the Muster Station, you just scan your SetSail Pass. (Make sure you watched and marked off the Safety video in the app the morning of your cruise though!)

Pool on Oasis of the Seas with pink waterslide in background

My family usually eats at the main buffet after boarding. It’s never crowded during these early hours, and it offers a large variety of food – even for big travel groups. After lunch, my husband takes the kids to the pool so that they can swim in virtually empty swimming areas.

This is by far the least crowded time to swim on the cruise ship. You’ll also find that the water slides don’t have long lines at this time on embarkation day. My kids wear their bathing suits onto the ship underneath their clothes. This makes it easy to undress them poolside, and they can hop right in.

Crown Loft suite living and dining area
Crown Loft Suite

While the kids are swimming, I like to “run errands” to take care of some housekeeping items. This is the perfect time to make dining changes/requests, book activities and specialty restaurants, secure shore excursions, etc.

Packing for Boarding Day

We like to carry a backpack onboard the ship on embarkation day. This allows us to keep our things organized and within easy access. We make sure to pack several items in our backpack, which I will include below:

  • Lanyards to hold SeaPass Card
  • sunscreen
  • Sunglasses
  • Hair brush
  • Cell phone
  • Kids’ undergarments in Ziploc bag 
  • prescription medications 
  • seasickness remedies
  • chargers for electronic devices
  • identification
  • dollar bills- to tip driver and porters
  • Cardigan or jacket for dinner

You’ll notice that many of the items listed above are needed because our kids swim on embarkation day. If you don’t plan on using the pools, you may not need nearly as many items as we do. I pack sunscreen to apply before swimming, and we carry on other essentials that we need before dinner.

Since your luggage isn’t guaranteed to arrive in your room before dinner, you’ll want to make sure you have everything you need ahead of time. I pack my kids’ undergarments for them to put on after they swim. They also re-wear their embarkation clothes since this first day is typically not dressy at all.

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Printable Cruise Planner

I use the Ziploc bag to hold wet swimsuits until our room is ready, so you won’t need this item if you don’t have a wet bathing suit to store. We also use the hairbrush for the kids’ hair after swimming.

For a full list of items that my family and I pack on a cruise vacation, you can check out my Cruise Packing List article. In that post, I provide tips for staying organized and packing for your trip. You’ll also find a free printable cruise packing list! For additional packing tips and cruise hacks, check out my Royal Caribbean Tips for First Timers.

Final Thoughts

Embarkation day is often full of a lot of chaos and stress, especially if you are a first time cruiser. However, once you finally arrive at the port and board the ship, all your worries are washed away. You can even start using your drink packages right away to help you get into vacation mode even faster!

It’s also important to note that there’s no best time to board the Royal Caribbean ship. Some families prefer to arrive in the afternoon, so they don’t have to navigate crowds at the terminal. Other families, like mine, like to get the process started as soon as possible. We enjoy being on the ship early to take advantage of as much time on board as possible.

Either way, you should have plenty of time to enjoy all the entertainment and activities onboard the ship. Whether this is your first cruise or you’re a seasoned pro, I hope you have a great trip!

boarding day pictures with text Embarkation Day Guide and Tips
cruise terminal and ship with text How Early Can you Board Royal Caribbean

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6 Comments

  1. Thanks for the detailed write-up! I had the Key on our last sailing and enjoyed the priority benefits with that, but on our upcoming one we opted not to get the Key, but we do have a suite booked, and I’d been wondering about the early arrival capability.

    Also, FYI– it’s not necessarily midnight *EST* that check-in opens up (I wish! I live on the West Coast and that’d be 9pm for me!). It’s midnight of the port time zone. So if you’re sailing out of the West Coast, it’s midnight PST.

    1. Hi Helly,

      Thanks so much for commenting. I hope you enjoy your suite experience as much as my family and I did. The perks, including the boarding process benefits, made the trip run so smoothly! Also, thanks so much for the heads up about the check in time. I’ll update the article to reflect this. Hope you have a great trip!

  2. Do you have a how-to video on online check in to secure just the boarding time? We’ve never sailed RC before so we’re unfamiliar with their online check in process.

    1. Hi Halee,

      I do not have an video, but the process was super simple. Once you login to your account, you shouldn’t have any trouble just choosing the boarding time. Then, go back in the next day to fill out everything else. Hope you have a great trip!

  3. Great info! When do you sign up for Adventure Ocean? In your mom errands time? Or do the kids go with you to do that?

    1. Hi Jen,

      We did not use Adventure Ocean, but I would add it to your mom errands time. From what I have read, most moms suggest signing up as soon as you can. Hope you have a great trip!

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