Benefits of boarding the cruise ship late

I’ve already talked about the benefits of boarding the cruise ship early but for those families that like to sleep past the free fruit loops and blueberry muffins there are quite a few benefits of boarding late as well.

• Sleep – chances are good you didn’t make it to bed before midnight. Maybe you closed the hotel bar down, maybe the Mrs needed to stop and pee every 45 minutes or maybe the GPS got you lost on your way to Port Canaveral. Whatever the reason an extra few hours will go along way.

• No Lines – You can literally walk right up to the check in counter when you arrive. From there the only delay between the counter and getting on the ship are the 25 camera folks waiting to capture that first priceless $19.95 cruise memory.

• No Stress – It’s vacation, relax, take your time. I promise if the ship says it leaves at 4pm and you get to the terminal at 3pm, you are going to get on the ship. Lines are stressful – avoid them.

• See the City – Take some more time to visit the port city. Pretend its an excursion if you have to. If you are in San Juan, walk around Old San Juan. If you are in Baltimore, visit the Inner Harbor or if you are in Port Canaveral, visit Ron Jon’s or go to the beach.

If someone in your family insist on boarding early, remind them that the cabins don’t open til 1pm. If they would like to hold all the carry on luggage while you eat ice cream cones and rum cake while chugging down a Bahama Mama, then by all means take them on the ship early.