Carnival Tries Kiosk Check-in at Port of Miami

Anyone who has cruised out of the Port of Miami knows that just getting yourself onto the ship can be quite an undertaking. In an effort to streamline the boarding process, Carnival is piloting kiosk self check-in at their terminal there. If succrssful at that very busy port, the cruise line says they will expand the program to other ports.

Some details from Carnival's press release:
". . . guests must have pre-registered online and be a U.S. or Canadian citizen, or from a Visa waiver country. To access their booking information and check in via the kiosk, guests simply swipe their passport or the credit card used to pre-register . . ."

A cash deposit can even be made at the kiosk to initialize your shipboard account if you aren't charging it to your credit card. After completing kiosk check-in, you go to a desk to pick up your cruise card. For those who don't know, a cruise card is an all-in-one room key, ID, ship entry /exit card, and on board charge card.

Will kiosks prove to be a solution - or partial solution - to long check-in lines for cruise ship embarkation? Will cruisers take to them, or find them a bit too impersonal?

What do you think? Leave a comment here, or follow a poll on the subject that has been set up on the CruiseLineFans forum. Here's a direct link to the polling thread, where you can vote and weigh in with your opinion. Of course, you have to be a member of CLF to do that, but it's free to join.

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