Beginning February 19, 2008, US Customs and Border Protection will require that all cruise lines submit an electronic transmission of their passenger and crew manifests no later than 60 minutes prior to departure. NCL and Royal Caribbean are implementing the policy a little early, but all cruise lines will have to comply with it by February 19th.
Therefore, the cruise lines are requiring all guests to arrive at least two hours before scheduled departure so that they have time to deal with luggage, go through security and check-in and meet the transmission deadline. If everyone were to show up an hour and 10 minutes before departure time, it would be impossible to process them all in 10 minutes and meet the 60-minute deadline for electronic manifest transmission.
The cruise lines are not doing this to save money. They’re not trying to cause guests to stress and worry about getting to their embarkation point on time. But they do expect passengers to allow enough time to check-in so that the lines are not holding up the entire ship (They don't really do that you know!). Guests are also strongly encouraged to complete their online advanced guest registration forms at least seven days prior to sailing as this will facilitate the check-in process. Agencies were not consulted as this new rule will apply to all cruise lines. NCL’s policy is very specific, guests will not be allowed to board after check-in has been closed. Late arriving guests may join the ship at an approved port of call in the scheduled cruise itinerary. Travel to that subsequent port of call will be at the guests' expense.
We are seeing this on some cruise line sites already, with check-in time policies ranging from 90 minutes to 2 hours.
DON'T BE LEFT BEHIND!
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