Check in time question

So we have our e tickets and our check in time is 3pm!! It’s the latest we have ever had! And have a 3 year old to occupy for the day until our check in time!

Can you request an earlier check in time? Thanks

So we have our e tickets and our check in time is 3pm!! It’s the latest we have ever had! And have a 3 year old to occupy for the day until our check in time!

Can you request an earlier check in time? Thanks

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No they won't let you change it . Many people on the ship will have young children and if they done that for everyone it would be chaos

I have tried this before and they have said no. Even when members of our group in different cabins have been given different times.

Ignore the doomsayers and turn up at a time that suits you, they won't turn you away and the earlier you arrive the higher ticket number you will be given and the sooner you will board.

The chaos suggested by some rarely exists and slowly P&O seem to be improving their embarkation procedure, shortly they might begin to get close to smooth, slick and quick embarkation that the RCI group manage at Southampton.

Ignore the doomsayers and turn up at a time that suits you, they won't turn you away and the earlier you arrive the higher ticket number you will be given and the sooner you will board.

 

The chaos suggested by some rarely exists and slowly P&O seem to be improving their embarkation procedure, shortly they might begin to get close to smooth, slick and quick embarkation that the RCI group manage at Southampton.

Excellent advice John ignore what you have been asked to do and just turn up when you like. So if everyone does that we are back to the chaos we had before. Good call.

No system can deal with everyone arriving at the same time but you carry on telling people just to turn up as they like.

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So we have our e tickets and our check in time is 3pm!! It’s the latest we have ever had! And have a 3 year old to occupy for the day until our check in time!

 

Can you request an earlier check in time? Thanks

You could take Johns advice and just turn up but remember those who have an earlier time and are there will get on first. If you are ready for this possible long wait then fine.

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There are some soft play areas in the middle of Southampton if you need to kill an hour and tire the wee one out. Probably a better option than potentially sitting in a shed for hours waiting to embark.

P&O embarkation is a pain and it is something they need to address. The RCI group is much more efficient with ships that are just as big and no one has to wait until 3pm unless that time actually suits them. P&O could learn from this good practice.

In my experience when they started this new system even if you turned up at you designated time you still had a long wait, particularly if you had one of the later slots as the coaches appeared and got priority. To be fair the last couple of times we have gone for our (unacceptably late) slot and actually got booked in at that time.

If you go early you may get taken but then again you may just have a very long and boring wait. While you can’t always get checked in you can get rid of your luggage so if you are not travelling by car with a boot for storage and need to get rid of cases they will take them early. You can then go back into Southampton which can be an easy walk or a taxi ride depending on which berth you are in.

We arrived 20 minutes before our check in time last October. There were hundreds of people sitting in the terminal. We were given Fast Track checkin cards and were on the ship in 20 minutes. The terminal was still crammed. Our checkin time was 1330. My guess is that all those people had much later times.

So we have our e tickets and our check in time is 3pm!! It’s the latest we have ever had! And have a 3 year old to occupy for the day until our check in time!

Can you request an earlier check in time? Thanks

We went from Southampton on Oriana with friends in February, we are Caribbean grade they are not. We got there at 12:00 and we got straight on and they were on only 20 mins later. I would just turn up about 12 and take your chance, knowing of course that you may not get on until 3.

We went from Southampton on Oriana with friends in February, we are Caribbean grade they are not. We got there at 12:00 and we got straight on and they were on only 20 mins later. I would just turn up about 12 and take your chance, knowing of course that you may not get on until 3.

You do know they have a three year old hence my comment above.

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Ignore the doomsayers and turn up at a time that suits you, they won't turn you away and the earlier you arrive the higher ticket number you will be given and the sooner you will board.

The chaos suggested by some rarely exists and slowly P&O seem to be improving their embarkation procedure, shortly they might begin to get close to smooth, slick and quick embarkation that the RCI group manage at Southampton.

It is hardly being a doomsayer to suggest that Pand O would be in utter chaos if they let every Tom Dick and Harry pick their embarkation time. To think that having a child will let you pick your time when most boarding will have young children is crazy . Would you like to turn up at the port and be behind all the family's with kids ? No you wouldn't mind right ? So by all means it is fine to turn up at 1 or whenever you want and wait your turn with those with and without children . To think having a child should let you pick your time is a different matter. I have three kids under 5 should I be allowed on at 10 then 😂

We went from Southampton on Oriana with friends in February, we are Caribbean grade they are not. We got there at 12:00 and we got straight on and they were on only 20 mins later. I would just turn up about 12 and take your chance, knowing of course that you may not get on until 3.

No point turning up at midday if they don't even start boarding passengers until 12:30!

It is hardly being a doomsayer to suggest that Pand O would be in utter chaos if they let every Tom Dick and Harry pick their embarkation time. To think that having a child will let you pick your time when most boarding will have young children is crazy . Would you like to turn up at the port and be behind all the family's with kids ? No you wouldn't mind right ? So by all means it is fine to turn up at 1 or whenever you want and wait your turn with those with and without children . To think having a child should let you pick your time is a different matter. I have three kids under 5 should I be allowed on at 10 then

How do RCI manage to load Indepenence which has more passengers than Britannia without making a song and dance about it. If they can do it then P&O should be able to waltz through loading a tiddly little ship like Ventura.

I am just grateful there are so many sheep sailing on P&O, which leaves me with the opportunity to arrive early and board early.

How do RCI manage to load Indepenence which has more passengers than Britannia without making a song and dance about it. If they can do it then P&O should be able to waltz through loading a tiddly little ship like Ventura.

I am just grateful there are so many sheep sailing on P&O, which leaves me with the opportunity to arrive early and board early.

As I said arrive early if you want I do it to.The OP wasn't wanting to arrive early and take a chance she was wanting them to CHANGE it on the grounds she has a child. But to expect them to change to the time for you cause you have a child as I said is not on and they will say no if she asks .

Can't the OP just arrive at the time given? How long is the journey?

Can't the OP just arrive at the time given? How long is the journey?

The problem with trying to arrive on time is often down to the traffic, many people build contingency into their travel time because of the chance of big holdups. The OP has a small child so waiting in the terminal is not ideal, they can of course finding something to do in the Southampton area and then go to the port at their assigned time.

If I had a small child and a 3pm check in time I would look at spending a few hours at Peppa Pig Land, most small children like Peppa and friends. I would not expect to be able to change my boarding time and I would not subject a 3 year old to potentially a several hours wait in the terminal.

Some snippy replies to a very reasonable question! After all, it’s easy enough to get your disembarkation time changed in my experience, so if you don’t know, why not ask on here? Because you might be treated as though you are a potential queue jumper that’s why not!

Some snippy replies to a very reasonable question! After all, it’s easy enough to get your disembarkation time changed in my experience, so if you don’t know, why not ask on here? Because you might be treated as though you are a potential queue jumper that’s why not!

The question is about embarkation not disembarkation which unless you change decks yo can’t change.

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No point turning up at midday if they don't even start boarding passengers until 12:30!

In Feb on Oriana, we were on at 12:10 (Caribbean Grade) and out friends (with 3PM boarding) at 12:30. Caribbeans were already boarding when we got to check in at 12:00.

A lot of it depends on how far you're travelling. It's a 5 hour drive for us on a good day, with M6 delays this can stretch to 8 hours so if we had a 3pm check in I'd be setting off regardless at 7am and if progress was good have a leisurely stop at the far end.

We sailed on MSC recently our check in time was 19.30 we turned up at the ship at 12.30 - we were on board in 15 minutes.

In Feb on Oriana, we were on at 12:10 (Caribbean Grade) and out friends (with 3PM boarding) at 12:30. Caribbeans were already boarding when we got to check in at 12:00.

Again can't really compare p and o smallest ship which is also adult only to the likes of Brittania .

Currently in Southampton and have a check out time of 12 noon in the hotel so will be arriving for our cruise at around 12.30 tomorrow, due to board at 3pm so we may have a bit of a wait in the terminal judged by some peoples experiences. You never know we may be pleasantly surprised.

Currently in Southampton and have a check out time of 12 noon in the hotel so will be arriving for our cruise at around 12.30 tomorrow, due to board at 3pm so we may have a bit of a wait in the terminal judged by some peoples experiences. You never know we may be pleasantly surprised.

Hope you have a great holiday .

Again can't really compare p and o smallest ship which is also adult only to the likes of Brittania .

My point was that they will try to board people as early as possible if they can. If I had a late boarding time I would arrive early.