MSC Cruises just found a way to get guests onto their cruise ship even faster when they arrive at the port. In fact, with their new system rolling out in the Port of Seattle, passengers will be able to go directly to boarding, skipping the usual port lines.
There are two things to note, though: this is only being offered in Seattle right now, and it’s only for guests who booked an airport transfer through MSC.
Cruise lines have been speeding up the embarkation process at lightning-fast speeds over the last few years. It wasn’t that long ago that you could expect to spend a good hour or two in the port, waiting for your grouping to get called.
That’s all changed. It’s changed so much that I often wonder why new cruise terminals are so beautiful and fancy since you just seem to breeze right through them.
Now, MSC Cruises is introducing an airport check-in system that allows guests to bypass the cruise terminal line entirely.
How It Works
So, it’s not like the check-in process is being removed from the equation. It’s just being done a bit earlier in the process.
After you complete your initial check-in steps at home using the MSC for Me app to get your digital boarding pass, the rest of the setup happens when you land.
Instead of waiting until you get to the pier to verify your documents and handle final cruise formalities, you take care of all of it right at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
MSC sets up a station at the airport where you complete your full embarkation procedures before you ever step foot on the transfer bus.
Once your documents are stamped and cleared, you hop on the official MSC shuttle to Pier 91.
Because you did the heavy lifting at the airport, your arrival at the terminal is a completely different experience. You walk right past the main check-in counters, head straight through the mandatory security screening, and walk right onto the ship.
A Win for Alaska Cruisers
This new system timed out perfectly with MSC Poesia’s Alaska season. If you have ever sailed out of Seattle during the peak summer months, you know the terminal can get pretty crowded with thousands of people trying to process through the lines at the exact same time.
Moving that administrative bottleneck to the airport should help a lot with terminal traffic.
Right now, the only catch is that you have to be on that official MSC airport transfer to get this perk.
It does not matter if you booked your flights through MSC or handled them independently on your own, but the transfer ticket itself is the ticket to skipping the terminal line.
Future Plans (Hopefully Coming to a Port Near You)
If you aren’t flying into Sea-Tac or prefer taking an Uber, don’t write this off just yet. MSC has said that this Seattle airport launch is just phase one.
They plan to eventually extend the remote check-in process to general airport arrivals, local hotel departures, and other key starting locations.
Even better, they plan to gradually roll this out to other major cruise ports down the road.
If you have an upcoming Alaska sailing booked on MSC Poesia or any future MSC departures out of Seattle, it might be worth logging into your cruise planner.
Checking the price to add that official airport transfer could save you time, or at the very least get you onto the ship almost as soon as you get to the cruise port.
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