Flight check in on the cruise

[Lori74]

Im trying to find the best way to check in for southwest the last day of our cruise. Will the cruise line check in for you? I dont want to have to buy early bird, or wifi, if theres another way.

 

[Chemist]

If you have small kids you get to board between groups a and b.

There is a small free data package you can sign up for one day 1. If you don’t use it at all, it would probably be enough to check in. Not sure how much data that takes.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

They will not check you in. We booked the free small WiFi package on boarding day. We saved it all and used it to check in our flight.

 

[CanuckOnaBoat]

alternatively - perhaps someone not on the cruise with you can check you in - and send the boarding passes to your email or phone.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I always buy Early Bird for our return flights. It's worth it to not worry about it. But as mentioned, your other options are to sign up for the the free 50MB data package on the first day and use that, or have a friend or family member not on the cruise check you in.

 

[jdb in AZ]

If you have small kids you get to board between groups a and b.

There are times MCO has so many small kids on a flight that SWA doesn't do family boarding. It probably doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

 

[Shanti]

Im trying to find the best way to check in for southwest the last day of our cruise. Will the cruise line check in for you? I dont want to have to buy early bird, or wifi, if theres another way.

Buying early bird or wifi are your options. Buying early bird is better as you won't have to fuss with spotty cruise ship wifi to check in while you're on vacation. Or, alternatively you could just check-in at the airport and be one of the very last people to board the plane.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We do early bird. No worries, you are on vacation. Worth every penny.

 

[Lori74]

My small "kid" is 15 and 6 ft tall, lol. Im fine with boarding last, but husband is painfully shy so sitting by a stranger is a no go. I didnt think about spotty wifi on the ship, yes i thought about the free little bit you get. I guess we'll have to talk. I really dont want to spend an extra $45 dollars for the 3 of us for early bird but may have to, like you said shouldnt have to worry on vacation. If the 3 of us are on same reservation, can we just buy one early bird and all 3 of us would be checked in? Thank you for all of your responses!

 

[SirDuff]

My small "kid" is 15 and 6 ft tall, lol. Im fine with boarding last, but husband is painfully shy so sitting by a stranger is a no go. I didnt think about spotty wifi on the ship, yes i thought about the free little bit you get. I guess we'll have to talk. I really dont want to spend an extra $45 dollars for the 3 of us for early bird but may have to, like you said shouldnt have to worry on vacation. If the 3 of us are on same reservation, can we just buy one early bird and all 3 of us would be checked in? Thank you for all of your responses!

No. Early bird must be paid for each person who wants it.

 

[mmouse37]

While some will post that DCL did check them in for their flight it is not a standard practice. If it was then guest services would be overwhelmed with requests to be checked in.

It really is up to you (general you) as the guest to make arrangements to check in for flights if you are not on the Onboard Airline Check In program.

MJ

 

[Dug720]

The people who get checked in by DCL are those participating in Onboard Airline Check-In - you have to be on a participating airline (Southwest is NOT one, so therefore ineligible) and I'm pretty sure taking DCL transportation to MCO.

 

[85glht]

We do early bird also for all our trips.... worth it!

 

[chamberlain]

Thanks Dug720 for that clarification because my memory was that guest services did check us in for our flights going home on two of our cruises. They did because we fly Delta which is a participating airline and we used Disney transportation to the airport.

 

[shoes99]

You could also have a trusted family member or friend from home check you in at the 24 hour mark.
Then you could just print the boarding passes at the airport, or once off the ship download them to
your smart phone. I would just do EBCI...

 

[professorandmom]

I've flown in and out of MCO for work on Southwest many times...while I have never seen family boarding not held at all, I have seen 30 or 40 people lined up to board between groups A and B...so here is my suggestion: your ability to do online check in while on the cruise to get a "good" boarding pass may yield a B group...and if that happens you may have essentially a "C is for Center" pass even though it says B because the family boarding group may be SO very large...

Early bird check in is much more likely to get A passes if you purchase the service with enough time before you travel...(remember, the Early bird folks are checked in by date of purchase...farthest out get processed first)

just my opinion

 

[NC State]

Thanks Dug720 for that clarification because my memory was that guest services did check us in for our flights going home on two of our cruises. They did because we fly Delta which is a participating airline and we used Disney transportation to the airport.

We are flying home with Delta and was wondering how would we handle this. So Guest Services can check us in and print the boarding passes how about our baggage fees. How would we handle that?

 

[virtuoso1989]

We got home yesterday from the Fantasy and i’m surprised it’s not standard practice that they would check people in. We flew southwest and just approached guest services the day before. They only needed the confirmation number and we received our printed boarding passes at our door a couple hours after. We werent even made to feel like they were doing us a favor for doing so.

 

[Dug720]

We are flying home with Delta and was wondering how would we handle this. So Guest Services can check us in and print the boarding passes how about our baggage fees. How would we handle that?

I believe they are billed to your onboard account, but I'm not positive because I only do carry-on.

You do have to be taking the DCL shuttle to be eligible for Onboard Airline Check-in.

 

[cph706]

Can you purchase the SW early bird for only return half of trip? Won't need it going to MCO.