Earliest time to board ship pre-departure? Latest time to disembark post-cruise?

Question

My husband and I will be going on a W. Mediterranean cruise departing from Barcelona this September on Celebrity Cruise Line's Century ship. Could an experienced cruiser please provide me with the following information:

-With a departure time of 6pm, what would the earliest boarding time be?

-The cruise ends at 5am back in Barcelona 10 days later. What approximate time would we be expected to disembark the ship?

Thank you!

Answer 1

I cant tell you exactly what time but one great tip. Dont try to be the first people on the ship because most of the time you dont board untill about 10 minutes after the destination time. because the ship must be completly cleaned and checked from the last cruise it just came from. so try to arrive when t says it starts boarding. also if you are the first to board the activities arnet avalible yet. So take your time dont be to early but DONT MISS THE SHIP! HAVE FUN!

                                BeSt AnSwEr PlZ!

Answer 2

I have cruised out of Barcelona on two different cruise lines and also been on lots of cruises.  The usual boarding time on all cruise ships on all lines is about noon to 1:00 PM, depending upon how quickly they get the ship completely vacated and cleaned.  Many of the cruise lines will tell you to plan on boarding about 2:00 PM but we usually get to the port at about noon and boarding generally starts shortly thereafter.   Celebrity's brochure states that sometimes you can board as early as 11:00 AM, but my advice is don't count on that early.

The Barcelona port is right near downtown, about a mile or so drive from downtown and about half an hour from the airport.  It is a very nice port and as good as any in the US, including Miami and Ft Lauderdale.  So if you get there early there is a place to sit and rest rooms for you until the ship is ready for boarding.  And Celebrity will likely have juice and cookies and water available in the terminal building for you while you wait, if that's necessary.  My advice is to plan to board between noon and 2:00 PM but by all means do not get to the ship any later than 5:00 PM for a 6:00 PM sail time.

Expect departures to start about 8:00 AM.  When the ship returns from the cruise it has to clear Spain's customs and that can go quickly if there are no problems.  Then all of the baggage must be removed from the ship (and the dogs sniff ) before they start letting passengers off the ship.  Departures are done by category, with those with the earliest flights out of Barcelona going first.  You can also get priority departure (and boarding ) if you are a member of the Celebrity's frequent cruiser club, called Captain's club.

Approximately 30 days before your cruise you will receive information from Celebrity regarding all of the details of your cruise.  If you are asking this to plan flights, my advice is to fly to Barcelona a day early to give yourself time to adjust to the time difference and to rest up before the cruise.  And more importantly, you don't want to miss your cruise because a flight or connection was delayed or missed.  For your flight back a noon or later departure will give you a comfortable time to disembark and get to the airport.  On our last trip out of Barcelona we got off the ship about 8:00AM and it took about 45 to 50 minutes to get to the airport because of traffic delays.

Answer 3

Regardless of the earliest time to board a cruise - keep in mind there is no rush.  People often show up hours early and are stuck doing nothing because the departing passengers have to go through customs and disembark which takes a while.  At the same time, all the rooms have to be cleaned for the next group.  By the time the ship officially opens for boarding the place is a madhouse.  Take your time, and grab a bite to eat nearby.  I no longer show up early to check in, it isn't worth standing in line with a hundred other people.  

In regards to disembarking the ship, much will depend on how many people are in front of you.  The ship tries to disembark people with early flights first.  Then in goes in stages.  From beginning to end, the last time I was on a cruise it was about 5 hours before I actually left the boat, and there were still people waiting to be called out.  On Holland America they use the PA system to release different portions of the ship at different so that everyone doesn't show up at the same time.  It can take a while.  If you have a flight to catch be sure to let the ships organizers know so that they can accomidate you.

Answer 4

You could check what past passengers have to say about that at CruiseCritic.com.  Click on "Boards", then "Celebrity Cruise Lines", then do a search or just browse.

The Century has been my favorite ship, but I haven't been on her since she was refurbished [and they took out the T-pool - boo!].  She is beautiful.  Have a great cruise.