Hi there!
Below will give you an idea of what you can expect on an embarkation day to get on a Princess cruise ship!
Embarkation day is the day you get on the cruise ship for the first time!
This is what one of my embarkation days was like in 2023.
Below the information about the latest flight arrivals if you have a same-day flight before your cruise, I will take you through from the time I arrived at the cruise port to when I step foot onto the cruise ship.
👆 Be out on the open deck at sailaway on embarkation day! (This was embarkation day of a cruise from Vancouver.)
👆 If you do luggage drop-off, you will want to print your Princess cruise luggage tags before you arrive at the cruise port. The cruise luggage tags are personalized so your luggage will be delivered to your cabin later on that day. You might not get your luggage until later, so be sure to bring a carry-on bag with you for anything you want access to immediately once you get on the cruise ship.
I have had 3 embarkation days on Princess cruises in 2023.
My embarkation days were at San Diego cruise port and Vancouver cruise port.
I thought the embarkation process for all of the cruises was pretty easy.
But, different cruise ports may have different experiences.
In the case of San Diego and Vancouver, once you arrive to the cruise port, just follow the signs!
👆 Follow the signs to check-in for your Princess cruise!
I did not have anything booked through Princess before any of the cruises.
I didn’t book my flights through Princess or have any shuttles booked through Princess.
I got to the cruise port a few days before my cruises to make sure I would make it to the cruise departure city and be relaxed for the start of the cruise.
It’s a good idea to show up to your cruise port city at least a day before your cruise begins.
This way you can arrive in your cruise port city and take it easy before the cruise begins!
What time can you get on the cruise ship on embarkation day?
What time you can get on the cruise ship will depend on your cruise.
When I had my cruises in early 2023, it was possible to select a check-in time on the Princess app, so that’s what I did.
I selected a time that was a bit later.
Part of it was because I thought it might be busier earlier on in the day, and part of it was so I could take my time getting to the cruise port.
Since then, it has changed.
You can check what time your check-in time is through your account at princess.com: How to check your boarding time for a Princess cruise
You can log into your account at princess.com, and look for “itinerary” to see the check-in time for your cruise ship.
It’s also a good idea to check this itinerary because port times can change and you won’t necessarily be notified about it.
👆 Look for “itinerary” to see if what time your Princess cruise ship will arrive in Vancouver.
Is it okay to arrive for your cruise on the same day it leaves?
What you CAN do, and what you SHOULD do are different!
You CAN fly to your cruise on the same day as your cruise.
But ideally, it’s best to arrive the day before your cruise, if not several days before… just in case!
Personally, having a flight arrival into a cruise port city that is a few hours prior to when the cruise ship will leave seems like an incredibly stressful day!
And not just a stressful day, but a stressful few days before too, as you wonder if you will make it to your cruise ship on time!
Flight delays are not uncommon, and if your flight is scheduled to arrive into the airport just a few hours before, and you have even a slight delay, well… you very well might not make it on the cruise ship!
In addition to flight delays, you might end up spending extra time going through immigration if you have an international flight.
You might also be spending extra time waiting for your luggage to arrive at baggage claim.
If you are flying on United Airlines, you can track your baggage through the United app!
So, it really is a very good idea to arrive for your cruise at least a day before so you can get on the cruise ship feeling relaxed!
What is the latest flight you can book to fly in before your cruise?
The latest flight before your cruise will depend on the cruise port.
If you are flying in the same day that your cruise starts (not recommended!), then you will want to look up how far away the airport is from the cruise port, and how easy it is to get from the airport to cruise port.
But nowadays, you should also keep in mind that flights don’t always go as scheduled, which is why it’s a good idea to fly in at least a day in advance.
If you are flying in at the last minute, you might want to do carry-on only so you can get yourself out of the airport more quickly!
That said, Princess does have flight guidelines for you if you are flying in the same day as your cruise.
And if you book a flight through the Princess EZair, then chances are you will have a same day arrival. You don’t need to book your flight through Princess. Nowadays, I usually like to go to kayak.com to do a flight comparison, and then book directly with the airline.
According to Princess, these are the latest flight arrivals before your cruise.
However, just because these are the official Princess flight guidelines does not mean that this is the best idea!
Flight to US cruise ports
- Anchorage / Whittier cruise port
- Fort Lauderdale cruise port
- Honolulu cruise port
- Los Angeles cruise port
- New York City cruise port
- San Francisco cruise port
- Seattle cruise port
Latest flight before a cruise from Anchorage / Whittier:
For voyages departing Whittier, the latest flight arrival into Anchorage is 5 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Fly into Anchorage Airport the day before and take a train from Anchorage to Whittier on the day the cruise starts! You can also do the 26 glacier boat tour on the day the cruise starts before you get on the cruise ship.
Latest flight before a cruise from Fort Lauderdale:
Latest International Flight Arrival for Ft. Lauderdale: 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest Domestic Flight Arrival for Ft. Lauderdale: 1 hour and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest International Flight Arrival for Miami: 2 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest Domestic Flight Arrival for Miami: 2 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
If you are flying on Southwest Airlines for the first time, learn about what open seating on Southwest means.
Latest flight before a cruise from Honolulu:
For voyages departing from Honolulu at 9:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 5:40 pm for international flights and 6:10 pm for domestic flights.
For voyages departing from Honolulu at 11:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 7:40 pm for international flights and 8:10 pm for domestic flights.
Latest flight before a cruise from Los Angeles:
For voyages departing from San Pedro, the latest flight arrival is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure for domestic flights.
Latest flight before a cruise from New York City:
Latest domestic flight arrival for LaGuardia: 3 hours prior to ship’s departure
Latest domestic flight arrival for John F. Kennedy: 4 hours prior to ship’s departure
Latest flight arrival for Newark: 4 hours prior to ship’s departure
Latest flight before a cruise from San Francisco:
For voyages that depart from San Francisco, the latest flight arrival is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure for domestic flights.
Latest flight before a cruise from Seattle:
For voyages that depart from Seattle, the latest domestic flight arrival is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Flight to Canada cruise ports
- Quebec City
- Vancouver
Latest flight before a cruise from Quebec City:
For voyages that overnight in Quebec City and depart on day two at 5:00 pm, the latest flight arrival on day one is 10:00 pm.
Latest flight before a cruise from Vancouver:
For voyages that depart from Vancouver, the latest flight arrival is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure.
See more about a Vancouver cruise port embarkation day.
Flight to New Zealand cruise port
- Auckland
Latest flight before a cruise from Auckland:
For voyages that depart from Auckland, the latest flight arrival for International Flights is 3 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
For domestic flights it is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Flight to Australia cruise ports
- Adelaide
- Brisbane
- Melbourne
- Perth
- Sydney
Latest flight before a cruise from Adelaide:
For voyages that depart from Adelaide, the latest flight arrival for International Flights is 3 hours and 45 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Brisbane:
The latest arrival time is 3 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Melbourne:
For voyages departing Melbourne, the latest flight arrival is 3 hours and 45 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Perth:
For voyages departing Fremantle, the latest flight arrival is 3 hours and 45 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Sydney:
For voyages that depart from Sydney, the latest flight arrival for international flights is 3 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Europe
- Athens
- Barcelona
- London / Southampton
- Rome / Civitavecchia
Latest flight before a cruise from Athens:
For voyages departing Athens at 5:45 pm, the latest flight arrival is 2:15 pm for international and 2:45 pm for domestic.
For voyages departing Athens at 7:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 3:30 pm for international and 4:00 pm for domestic.
For voyages departing Athens at 8:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 4:30 pm for international and 5:00 pm for domestic.
For voyages departing Athens at 10:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 6:30 pm for international and 7:00 pm for domestic.
Latest flight before a cruise from Barcelona:
For voyages departing Barcelona, the latest flight arrival time is 3 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from London / Southampton:
Latest International Flight Arrival into Gatwick airport for London (Southampton): 5 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest International Flight Arrival into Heathrow airport for London (Southampton): 5 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Rome:
For voyages that depart from Civitavecchia, the latest flight arrival is 4 hours prior to ship’s departure.
South America
- Buenos Aires
- Santiago
Latest flight before a cruise from Buenos Aires:
The latest arrival time is 2 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Santiago:
For voyages that depart from Valparaiso, the latest flight arrival is 4 hours from ship’s departure.
For voyages that depart from San Antonio, the latest flight arrival is 4 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Asia
- Bangkok / Laem Chabang
- Kobe
- Singapore
- Tokyo / Yokohama
Latest flight before a cruise from Bangkok:
For voyages departing Laem Chabang at 5:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 11:30 am for international flights and 12:30 pm for domestic flights.
For voyages departing Laem Chabang at 7:00 pm, the latest flight arrival is 1:30 pm for international flights and 2:30 pm for domestic flights.
Latest flight before a cruise from Kobe:
Latest Flight Arrival for Kansai Airport is 4 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest Flight Arrival for Itami Airport is 3 hours and 30 minutes prior to ship’s departure.
Latest flight before a cruise from Singapore:
For voyages that depart from Singapore, the latest flight arrival time is 4 hours prior to ship’s departure for international flights.
Latest flight before a cruise from Tokyo / Yokohama:
Latest Flight Arrival for Haneda Airport is 4 hours prior to ship’s departure.
Latest Flight Arrival for Narita Airport is 5 hours prior to ship’s departure
See more about a Yokohama cruise port disembarkation day. See more about the Izumi on the Diamond Princess.
For more cruise port cities, and for current information, see the flight guidelines on the princess website.
More for your Princess cruise:
- Princess cruise activity schedule (including embarkation day activities)
- Princess cruise dining menu (including embarkation day dinner menu)
- Princess cruise wifi
- TV in the Princess cruise ship cabin
A little bit below about my embarkation day experience of getting on a Princess cruise ship!
⚓
My embarkation day in 2023
This will take you through my Princess cruise embarkation day that was on May 13, 2023.
This was a cruise from Vancouver cruise port.
I was in the cruise port city a few days before my cruise started.
On the morning that my cruise started, it was an easy bus ride through downtown from the hostel I was staying at to the cruise port.
Google maps makes navigating public transportation in big cities super easy! Just select the public transit option.
I got off at a bus stop that was a 10 minute was to the cruise port.
👆 Directly up the street is a glimpse of a cruise ship!
👆 Approaching the cruise port!
👆 Princess cruise ship docked at the cruise port!
👆 Continuing the walk to Canada Place to check-in for the cruise.
👆 At this cruise port, there were obvious signs to follow which made it easy to find your way.
👆 Follow the signs!
👆 2:06pm: Cruise port check-in entry! Note the time! I will continue to list the time at various spots below so you can see how long the whole check-in process took me. Your experience may vary! This can depend on how many people are checking in at the same time as you, and how many cruise ships are in port on the day of your embarkation, among other things. Also, I skipped the luggage drop-off, as I carried all my luggage on my own, but you can also follow the signs and/or ask the many cruise port staff people who are around to direct you to where you need to go.
👆 On this cruise embarkation day, there were 2 ships in port: a Princess cruise ship and a Holland America cruise ship.
👆 Check-in for a Princess cruise ship!
👆 2:09pm: Check-in area where you hopefully will not be standing in line for a long time! This is the area that can go faster if you already had your Princess medallion sent to you, which I understand is only available to people living in the US. If you did not request the medallion to be sent to you, then you will stand in line to receive the medallion. If you already have your medallion, you go to a separate, usually shorter, line. I did not get a medallion sent to me before, so I picked it up at the cruise port. I did not think it was a long wait. But, this is an area that could take awhile.
👆 2:12pm: I arrived at the counter to receive my medallion.
👆 I received notes on things to do upon boarding the cruise ship on embarkation day. This included dining options (main dining room and buffet), welcome presentation, and the mandatory safety things you need to do.
- Allegro dining room (12pm to 1:30pm)
- World Fresh Marketplace – the buffet! (all day until 10:30pm)
- Burger and Lobster Grill (11am to 10pm)
👆 You also need to go to your muster station at some point before sailaway, so do this sooner rather than later. A muster station is where you go in the case of a ship-wide emergency. If you don’t receive this at the check-in counter, there will be many other ways to figure out where your muster station is located once you get on the cruise ship.
👆 2:15pm: I left the counter where I received the medallion.
👆 2:16pm: At this cruise port, you walk outside to continue for more of the process to board the cruise ship.
👆 2:17pm: At this cruise port, we had to go through customs and immigration.
👆 2:18pm: Customs and immigration. This is a part that could take awhile. It took me 20 minutes.
👆 2:38pm: After customs and immigration, finally getting closer to boarding the cruise ship!
👆 2:39pm: Walking outside to board the cruise ship!
👆 2:40pm: On the ramp to board the cruise ship on embarkation day!
👆 2:42pm: Finally on the cruise ship!!!
Before you get on the cruise ship (so like, now, if you have received your cabin number), it’s helpful to know which part of the cruise ship you are on (front/foward, middle, back/aft) and what deck, so you will immediately have an idea of what to look for.
You can google for your cruise ship name and “deck plan” so you can take a look at a map to see where exactly your cabin is located.
👆 2:45pm: The elevators were PACKED! I started walking up the stairs in hopes that the higher decks may have less people. I don’t remember exactly anymore if I got on an elevator at a higher deck or just walked all the way up to my cabin. I was on deck 15.
👆 At the elevators are reminders to do the mandatory safety essentials.
👆 2:51pm: I made it to my deck and there was luggage that had been delivered to cabins.
👆 2:51pm: I made it to my cabin! I had an inside cabin.
👆 Inside cabin on a Princess cruise ship. On the desk, there will be information about your cruise, including a Princess cruise activity schedule for day 1! If you booked shore excursions through Princess, you will also find shore excursion tickets on the desk.
👆 See more of a sample Princess cruise activity schedule.
👆 When you turn on the TV in the cabin, you will see instructions for completing the safety briefing on your own. Your muster station check-in location that you need to go to on the first day of the cruise will be listed as well.
👆 You can complete the safety briefing on your TV. You will watch a short program. I believe you can also complete the safety briefing on the Princess app.
👆 If you forget your muster station at any time during the cruise, you can find the location on the back of your cabin door.
👆 Look for the life jackets in your cabin too! It might be in an obvious place, or you might have to look for it, like by opening up a mirror closet door.
👆 There is no requirement to try on your life jacket, but I recommend you do so! If you don’t have enough life jackets in your cabin, then you can ask your stateroom attendant (aka housekeeping person) for more.
👆 At some point before the cruise ship sails away from the cruise port, you need to check in at your muster station location. The location will be listed on your stateroom TV. I had to go to Princess Live. Look for the big green banner with your muster station letter on it.
At any time once you get on the cruise ship, you can go get food.
On Princess cruise ships, you can go to the buffet that is on the lido deck at the back of the cruise ship, or at least one main dining room will be open.
You can find the hours of food spots around the ship on the back of the daily activity schedule that will be on your desk when you arrive to your cabin.
👆 Embarkation day hours will be listed on the back of the daily activity schedule on Princess cruise ships. Hours on your cruise ship will vary, so check the back of the activity schedule when you get on the cruise ship!
👆 Your embarkation day hours will vary! See more sample hours for other days of the cruise: Princess cruise activity schedule
👆 Be out on the open deck sailing away from the cruise port!
HAPPY EMBARKATION DAY FOR YOUR PRINCESS CRUISE!
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