After much (over?) selling of RSSC, my brother Carl and his wife Barbara, booked Mariner and departed Fort Lauderdale on last Friday. We had told them how different boarding was on Mariner, i.e., that you were greeted at the gangway by a staff member who carried your carry-on to the theatre, check-in was on board in the theatre, and that after check-in someone carried your carry-on to wherever you wanted to go (typically the pool deck for lunch.)

In their case, check-in was in the terminal and not particularly effortless, and no one assisted them with their carryon luggage unto the ship. They were not very impressed.

Has RSSC changed their check-in procedures for Mariner out of Fort Lauderdale? Or was our experience when we sailed Mariner not typical?

Thanks.

Bill

Bill,

When we sailed on Mariner out of Vancouver, our experience was much like yours. But on Voyager out of Ft. Lauderdale, our experience was exactly like your brother's. It didn't bother us at all, but we did note the vast difference and wondered if it was a location thing or something else.

I have checked in at the terminal on all 5 of my Radisson cruises. It has always been effortless and stress free.

Pam--

Thanks for your response.

What's strange is that in my brother's and our case, we boarded in Fort Lauderdale and on the same ship (Mariner).

I wonder why the difference in boarding procedures ...same departure port, same ship.
Anybody have any ideas as to why sometimes check-in is on board and sometimes in the terminal on the same ship and same departure port???

Bill

When we sailed out of Vancouver, Mariner wasn't docked at the main cruise terminal; she was over at the cargo dock. In Ft. Lauderdale, we boarded from one pier and got off at another; could that have something to do with it? I know they had to process us onboard in Vancouver, now that I think about it; our waiting area was basically some chairs in a warehouse-type thing. And we had to really climb to get onboard there; maybe that's why we had help with the carry-ons, too.

Oh, and in Ft. Lauderdale, there was a HUGE group of travel agents touring different suites and having lunch in the dining room. That might have required a lot of the staff that would normally be greeters.

Bill:

Only a guess about the difference in procedure, but sometimes there are so many ships in Fort Lauderdale that it may be hard to staff the boarding areas - with numerous ships, limited personnel. (I think the shoreside people are temps hired for specific times).

It would interesting to hear from someone who might know about these things.

Bill:

I have had it both ways. First, like you, they led us onboard Mariner to the theater. On the Voyager, they checked in in the terminal, even for the Full World Cruise Passengers. Both were just as effortless. I also have boarded the Diamond at Ft Lauderdale; that was the most effortless. Dropped off passport at reception and went to the Grill. Room key was provided later and I dropped off credit card the second day.

I will be interested to see what this new Amex Platinum boarding privelege is about; has anyone experienced it yet?

Marc, We encountered the Amex special boarding in San Juan but didn't take advantage of it. If I remember correctly, there were two lines, one for regular boarding and one for Amex expedited boarding but since there was no line, we just went thru the regular boarding process.

Same here when we boarded the Diamond in San Juan. It seemed strange not going on to the ship to "sign in" but there were no lines, so I felt nothing special with the "Amex" line. For all it's worth, I thought it was the only line. I don't think I saw another.