MIAMI -- Royal
Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises rolled out online
check-in for passengers booked on Royal Caribbeans Navigator of the
Seas and Celebritys Zenith.
The lines said they
expect online check-in to be available fleetwide by
September.
Passengers fill out
all of their cruise documents, from immigration forms to onboard
expense account information, and sign off on the lines ticket
contracts, by clicking the Online Documents link located on the
Before You Cruise menu on Celebritys
site, or the Boarding Documents link on the Before You Board
menu on Royal Caribbeans site.
When they reach the
pier, passengers present a printed e-mail confirmation and their
identification to agents at an express counter.
Theyll just be able
to hand an agent a document that indicates that theyve already
processed everything, not just a name and date of birth, a
Celebrity spokeswoman said.
The processing of
online documents is not new. Nearly all major cruise lines,
including Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, urge passengers to
expedite the pier-side check-in process by registering basic
information -- name, address, birth dates -- online in advance of
the cruise.
Carnival Cruise
Lines online program, for example, is called FunPass. It does not
enable passengers to fill out credit card information for onboard
expense accounts, but since their basic information has already
been processed, they can check in at the pier on a dedicated
line.
Royal Caribbean and
Celebrity said the program will reduce passengers pier-side
check-in time from three or four minutes to about 30
seconds.
To contact
reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to [email protected].