Hi everyone,
I recommend acclimation all the time, but not as long and precise as the drip method. For me, that is too much of a headache given my setup (plus I have a cat, which means I have hair everywhere outside the tank). Anyway, even if I didn't have the cat, I still wouldn't "do the drip". I don't think the added benefit is worth the extra time.
What I do is take out about 1/2 to 3/4 of the water in the bag. Dispose of this water. Then using a turkey baster, every 3 minutes, slowly squirt a full tube of tank water into the bag until you've replaced all that water you took out the first time. Then do the same thing over again only removing 1/2 of the water this time. Usually takes 10-15 minutes. When you are finished squirting water, dump the coral into the tank with the bag water.
NOTE: if it is a new lfs, I always check the water parameters, especially the pH and phosphate. If the pH is way different from mine, then I modify the above procedure so that it is more gradual. If the phosphate is way high, I don't dump the water in the tank with the coral at the end.
Cheers,
kris