Marcelo OliveiraOnline check-in for MSC and Costa cruises is done on the cruise line’s website before your trip. With MSC, it opens 30 days before departure and closes 24 hours before boarding; with Costa, it’s mandatory and lives in MyCosta. You enter your documents and emergency contact, pick your time slot (MSC) and download your ticket with the luggage tags.
| Where to do it | MSC: booking area on the MSC website · Costa: MyCosta |
|---|---|
| MSC deadline | Opens 30 days before and closes 24 hours before boarding (MSC, Oct/2026) |
| Costa deadline | The official FAQ mentions MyCosta access 30 days before and check-in opening 72 hours before: check your booking (Oct/2026) |
| Is it mandatory? | Costa: yes. MSC: every guest’s details are required to issue the ticket |
| Photo and card | MSC: security photo and credit card optional. Costa: card registered up to 24 h after boarding |
| Boarding time | MSC: slot chosen at check-in. Costa: arrival time on the boarding form |
| Boarding cutoff | MSC: 2 hours before the ship departs. Costa: to be confirmed on the boarding form |
| Luggage tags | They come with the e-ticket; print them and attach one to each bag before leaving home |
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In this article · 12 topics
- What it is and whether it’s mandatory
- When it opens and closes (MSC × Costa)
- Step by step on MSC and Costa
- Documents and details requested
- Photo and credit card
- Boarding time and cutoff
- Boarding pass and luggage tags
- When check-in opens for upcoming sailings
- 5 mistakes that block boarding
- From check-in to the port
- Conclusion
- Frequently asked questions
What is cruise online check-in and is it mandatory?
Cruise online check-in is the form where each guest confirms personal details, ID and an emergency contact before boarding. With Costa Cruises it’s mandatory in any port; with MSC, the line states that all guests must enter their details so the ticket and boarding pass can be issued.
In practice, MSC’s web check-in is mandatory for anyone who wants to arrive at the terminal with everything ready: MSC’s web check-in FAQ page explains that it’s used to collect the details needed to issue the e-ticket and boarding pass. Costa Cruises’ help center is more direct: without the online form completed, along with the ticket and travel documents, the passenger doesn’t board.
Online check-in doesn’t replace service at the port. At the terminal you still go through the X-ray, show your original photo ID and present your ticket or boarding code. The difference is that, with your details submitted in advance, that check goes faster and your bag already arrives tagged with the cabin number.
First-time cruisers often confuse the two steps. The guide to how a first cruise works walks through the routine of the first day on board; here the focus is on what needs to be sorted at home, on your phone or computer, before you hit the road to the port.
How far in advance does MSC and Costa online check-in open?
With MSC, online check-in opens 30 days before departure and closes 24 hours before boarding, according to the MSC web check-in page (Oct/2026). With Costa, the official FAQ mentions MyCosta access 30 days before and check-in opening 72 hours before departure; the date that counts is the one shown in your booking.
| Rule | MSC Cruises | Costa Cruises |
|---|---|---|
| Where to do it | MSC website, booking area | MyCosta, with surname and booking number |
| When it opens | 30 days before departure (Oct/2026) | FAQ mentions 30 days and 72 hours: confirm in MyCosta |
| When it closes | 24 hours before boarding (Oct/2026) | Before boarding; final deadline to be confirmed |
| Mandatory? | Details required for all guests | Yes, in any port |
| Time slot choice | Yes, among available slots | Arrival time comes on the form |
| Photo | Optional, taken with your device’s camera | Not mentioned in the FAQ |
| Credit card | Optional; can be done on board | Required within 24 h of boarding |
| Health | Not mentioned | Medical self-certification for guests 18 and over |
There’s a detail with MSC that catches a lot of people: the same FAQ says the boarding time can only be changed during online check-in, up to 2 days before departure, and only by the lead guest on the booking. In other words, even if the form stays open until the day before, the slot change has a shorter deadline. If you want a late-morning slot, log in on day one.
If you haven’t booked your trip yet and departure is less than 30 days away, check-in will already be open on booking day. That’s the case with last-minute deals, which Logitravel rounds up in its last-minute cruise selection: book, get the confirmation and do check-in the same week, before the good time slots run out.
How do you do cruise online check-in step by step?
Cruise online check-in follows the same logic on both lines: you log in with your booking number, fill in each guest’s details, confirm ID and emergency contact and, at the end, download your ticket. MSC’s step-by-step has the extra stage of the photo and choosing your boarding slot.
On MSC Cruises
- Log in to the booking area of the MSC website with the booking number, surname and date of birth of the lead guest.
- Fill in the details for each passenger in the cabin; fields with an asterisk are required.
- Enter the travel document (ID or passport, depending on the itinerary) and an emergency contact who stays on land: first name, surname and phone number of a relative or friend.
- Take the security photo with your phone or laptop camera, if you want to get that step out of the way.
- Choose your boarding time slot from the available options.
- Register your credit card for the onboard account, if you’d rather do it now.
- Request the e-ticket by email and download the boarding pass to your phone.
On Costa Cruises
With Costa, the path is the MyCosta login (mycosta.com): first name, surname and booking number give you access to the form. Have the documents for every guest on hand, a contact phone and the name and number of someone who isn’t traveling with you. Every guest 18 and over also completes the medical self-certification. At the end, you download the boarding form, which shows your arrival time at the terminal.
Do the process on a computer or a phone with battery and a good connection, with all the cabin’s documents open beside you. Getting a document number wrong is the kind of problem that only shows up at the port counter, when the line is already moving behind you.
What documents and details does online check-in ask for?
Online check-in asks, for each guest, for full name, date of birth, nationality and the document they’ll board with, plus an emergency contact on land. MSC notes that ID and a visa, when required, are mandatory at port check-in, according to MSC’s boarding page.
On a Brazil-only itinerary, the document is usually your original ID; on itineraries that stop in Uruguay or Argentina, a well-kept ID or passport works, and children and teens have their own travel authorization rules. The cruise documents guide details each case, including minors traveling with only one parent. Use exactly the document at check-in that you’ll bring along: if you register your passport and show up with your ID, the check at the terminal grinds to a halt.
The emergency contact needs to be someone who stays on land. Putting your own cabinmate in that field doesn’t help at all: the line uses that number when it needs to reach a passenger’s family during the trip.
Do you need to take a photo and register a credit card at check-in?
Not with MSC: the official FAQ says the security photo and credit card are not mandatory to get the e-ticket and boarding pass. The photo can be taken at the terminal, and the card can be registered on board at the activation points, or swapped for a cash deposit at reception right after boarding.
If you want to get the photo out of the way, know that MSC doesn’t accept uploads: the image is captured by your phone or laptop camera when your face and the lighting meet the requirements. That’s why MSC’s web check-in with photo often fails on a computer without a camera or in a dark room. Do it near a window, without a cap and without sunglasses.
With Costa the card rule is different: the line’s FAQ asks that the Costa Card, the onboard spending account, be backed by a personal credit card (Visa, Mastercard or American Express) within 24 hours of boarding. You can do it on the ship, but arriving with the card already in mind saves you a line at reception on day one.
The registered card isn’t charged on the spot. It serves as a guarantee for the cabin account, which adds up drinks, internet, shore excursions and the daily service charge. The bill is settled at the end of the trip, and you can check the statement on the cabin TV or in the line’s app.
What’s the cruise check-in time at the port and how late can you board?
Check-in time at the port is the slot printed on your ticket. With MSC, the line assigns a slot to each guest and lets you change it during web check-in; if you arrive early you may have to wait outside the terminal, and check-in and boarding close 2 hours before the ship departs in all ports, according to the MSC boarding page (Oct/2026).
With Costa, the official FAQ says your arrival time at the terminal is on the boarding form downloaded from MyCosta and asks passengers to show up at the scheduled time. The page doesn’t say how many hours before departure boarding closes; treat that cutoff as to be confirmed and use the time on the form as your reference.
Choosing the right slot makes a difference on the day. The earliest morning slots depend on the ship finishing disembarkation from the previous trip, and delays in that turnaround are what create the long lines. In Santos, the guide to what time to arrive for boarding in Santos shows why showing up at dawn doesn’t help and how to plan your departure from home around the slot on your ticket.
Traveling with a small child, an older adult or someone with a disability? Put everyone in the cabin in the same slot and let the line know about any assistance needs before the trip, not at the counter.
How do you print the cruise boarding pass and luggage tags?
Luggage tags come with the e-ticket: with MSC, the e-ticket emailed at the end of web check-in includes the booking summary and the luggage tags; with Costa, they’re part of the cruise ticket. Print them at home, fold along the marks and attach one to each piece you’ll check.
MSC asks that every bag have first and last name, ship name, cabin number and departure port and date; the printed tag already gathers all of that. Use a plastic tag holder or wide tape attached to the handle, never a loose staple, because bags go through belts and carts on the way to the cabin. Costa says the tags are mandatory and are used to deliver luggage to the right cabin.
MSC’s boarding pass, with a QR Code, is issued to those who booked directly on the line’s website and completed web check-in; those who booked through a travel agency board with the e-ticket, which MSC accepts just the same. Keep the file on your phone and a paper copy. No printer at home? The cruise packing list reminds you to print it the day before, at a copy shop near your hotel.
When does check-in open for upcoming MSC and Costa sailings?
For MSC’s upcoming sailings from Brazil, online check-in opens 30 days before each departure: the MSC Musica sailing from Santos on 12/03 opens on 11/03/2026. The prices below are “from” per person in an inside cabin, checked on Logitravel on 10/10/2026 (Oct/2026).
| Ship | Departure | Port and itinerary | From | Online check-in opens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSC Musica | 12/03/2026 · 4 days | Santos, Búzios, Santos | R$ 2,204 (Oct/2026) | 11/03/2026 |
| MSC Virtuosa | 12/05/2026 · 8 days | Santos, Búzios, Salvador, Maceió | R$ 4,024 (Oct/2026) | 11/05/2026 |
| Costa Diadema | 12/19/2026 · 8 days | Itajaí, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevidéu | R$ 4,793 (Oct/2026) | In MyCosta (to be confirmed) |
| MSC Divina | 01/29/2027 · 4 days | Santos, Búzios, Santos | R$ 2,084 (Oct/2026) | 12/30/2026 |
| Costa Serena | 02/14/2027 · 10 days | Rio de Janeiro, Ilhabela, Buenos Aires, Montevidéu | R$ 7,398 (Oct/2026) | In MyCosta (to be confirmed) |
With Costa, the opening date doesn’t come from a fixed calculation because the FAQ itself mentions two deadlines. The safe way is to log in to MyCosta right after you get your booking confirmation and check the availability message. Torn between the two lines? The MSC or Costa comparison shows the differences in ships, drinks and crowd.
5 mistakes that block check-in or boarding
The most common online cruise check-in mistakes come from leaving things to the last minute or registering a document different from the one in your bag. All of them have a simple fix if you catch them at home.
- Leaving your slot choice to the day before. With MSC, the time change closes 2 days before departure, before check-in itself.
- Only the lead guest filling it in. Every passenger in the cabin needs complete details; with Costa, each adult does the medical self-certification.
- A registered document different from the one you bring. The terminal checks your original photo ID; a driver’s license doesn’t replace an ID or passport on an international itinerary.
- Trying to take the MSC photo without a camera. The system doesn’t accept uploads; use your phone, with good light.
- Forgetting the tags. A bag without a tag takes longer to reach the cabin or is held until it’s identified.
A sixth caution applies to those who booked through a travel agency: confirm with the agency whether the booking has already been released for check-in on the line’s website. The number on the agency voucher is sometimes different from the MSC or Costa booking number, and that’s the one the form asks for.
If the line’s website won’t open or freezes midway, switch browsers, clear the cache or try the official app. If the error persists a few days before the trip, contact the line’s call center or your agency and save the reference number; don’t leave it to sort out at the port counter.
How do you get to the port on embarkation day?
With online check-in done, embarkation day comes down to reaching the terminal at the start of your ticket’s slot with your document, ticket and carry-on bag. If you live far from the port, you’re at less risk by staying in the city the night before: in Santos, the hotels in Ponta da Praia are close to the cruise terminal.
The guide to the Port of Santos for cruises explains the terminal, parking and getting there from São Paulo. For those leaving from Rio or Itajaí, the guides for each port in the Cruise Guide cover the same details.
In your carry-on go medications, clothes for the first night, chargers and whatever you need until your checked bag reaches the cabin, which can take a few hours after boarding. If your slot is midday, eat lunch before leaving the hotel or bring a snack.
At the end of the trip, the logic flips: bags leave the cabin the night before and the cabin has to be vacated early. The cruise disembarkation guide shows the times and the safe margin for those with a flight the same day.
Conclusion
Cruise online check-in takes care at home of what slows boarding down the most. With MSC, log in on day one of the 30-day window to secure your time slot and remember the change closes 2 days before; with Costa, complete the form in MyCosta and the self-certification for each adult. Print your ticket and tags and arrive at the start of your slot.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if I didn’t do MSC online check-in?
If you didn’t do MSC online check-in, contact the line’s call center or your agency before you travel. MSC states that all guests must enter their details so the e-ticket and boarding pass can be issued, and the time slot can only be changed through web check-in.
MSC web check-in isn’t working, what should I do?
When MSC web check-in isn’t working, switch browsers, clear the cache or try on your phone, which has a camera for the security photo. An agency booking may not be released yet: confirm the number with the agency. If it persists, call MSC and note the reference number.
Do you need to register a credit card at check-in?
With MSC, the credit card at check-in is optional: you can register it on board or leave a cash deposit at reception. With Costa, the Costa Card must be backed by a personal credit card within 24 hours of boarding, according to the line’s FAQ.
Can a booking made through an agency do online check-in?
Yes, a booking made through an agency also does MSC and Costa online check-in, using the line’s booking number. With MSC, the boarding pass with a QR Code is only issued for direct bookings on the website; those who booked through an agency board with the e-ticket, accepted just the same.