New cruise boarding guidelines set

New cruise boarding rules go into effect on Feb. 18. Starting that date, passengers must board at U.S. ports at least one hour prior to the ship’s scheduled departure. We recommend that you use any online check-in systems offered by cruise lines to submit your information as soon as possible before arriving at the departure port.

Another good idea is arriving at the departure port the night before the sailing date, to avoid any problems with flight delays on the date of departure. If passengers fail to make it to the ship by the hour-before-departure deadline, they may be denied boarding without any refund of their cruise payments.

For Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Azamara sailings, passengers must complete their online check-ins no later than three days prior to the cruise departure. If they don’t, they will be required to complete the process at the pier at least two hours prior to the published sailing time. If passengers are not checked in and onboard the ship at least 90 minutes prior to that time, they will not be permitted to sail.