Embarkation times

I know their has been some discussion about this previously but just wondering what the current position is-are P and O sticking adhering to the embarkation times given on e tickets or are passengers still arriving earlier?

Thank you

From my experience times are being enforced

I know their has been some discussion about this previously but just wondering what the current position is-are P and O sticking adhering to the embarkation times given on e tickets or are passengers still arriving earlier?

Thank you

It seems to be working best for those who stick somewhere near to their times given.

Those who turn up early are either sitting/standing in the terminal, or dropping of their cases as going elsewhere until their time.

My experience was the same, they appeared to be using the boarding times, but we had an early time, so can't say for sure how it worked for everyone.

We were at Ocean Terminal

Our paperwork was checked, we were then given a "letter" boarding card. People in front and behind of us were also given letter cards, but different colours (and different letters).

Where as previously you were just given the letter from the pile.

Agreeing with everyone else - yes, they are sticking to the times and people who arrive near to their given times are being fast tracked and go straight to the embarkation desk through their own Fast Track Lane.

Passengers are still arriving early and are not turned away, but have to be prepared to sit and wait. They are allocated different cards and wait to be slotted in.

It appears to be working very well actually.

It appears to be working very well actually.

my goodness

my golly gee

my my I have the flutters.

Yeah.....

Which ofcourse may mean that if Pando can show it works ,the other lines may be asked to bring it in..

Thank you Scriv. :p:p:p

My wife has to use a wheelchair either to sit in or as a Walker, do disabled passengers get any preference when waiting to board?

My wife has to use a wheelchair either to sit in or as a Walker, do disabled passengers get any preference when waiting to board?

As long as you notify Pando in advance, yes they will. Give them a ring and let them know.

As it is working with P & O, I fully expect Princess to implement it this coming season.

Their boarding times state, that groups travelling together can board together, so hopefully that will be at the earliest allocated time in the party, rather than the latest.

Also if you are entitled to Priority boarding the wording was slightly different,

"Priority check-in will be available to guests with Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated check in times"

It take that to mean you will have priority at your allotted time, not priority boarding before general boarding starts.

On our cruise in October last year, we were given a 3.30 embarkation time. Due to light traffic we arrived around 2.00 and waited for about 30 minutes until we boarded. It seems to work well and for those who arrive around their allocated time, they are given a fast-track ticket so can go aboard straightaway. We will certainly try and arrive nearer to our time slot for our next cruise, but there are tea/coffee, magazines, w.c. facilities and plenty of seating in the Ocean terminal area so no problem. We were in our cabins by 3.00 p.m., we didn't go to the the buffet but apparently it was open.

I arrived an hour before my time last cruise and was prepared to wait as at least I had a seat in the terminal and a sandwich to eat. In fact I only waited about 25 minutes and was "slotted in" when the queue was light.

The reason I arrived an hour early is because I had to leave my hotel and there was nowhere to sit. I decided I'd rather sit in the terminal than in reception while they vacuumed around my feet!

For this reason, anything after 1.30 is a problem if you live too far away to travel to Southampton on the day of sailing. I have one more cruise before I hit Caribbean tier (which should give me an early-ish time) and I await my time with some trepidation. If it's after 2 o clock I'm booking the Grand Harbour and using their lounge.

Clearly it works for some cruises but not others

We arrived at 2pm for 2.30 embarkation (having spent the morning hanging about Southampton) and got on at 4

Chaos in terminal

It was windy and they closed the air walk so that people embarked on ground level but I can't really see how that should have slowed us down, and after all it can't be hard to predict that a port may be windy

No lunch provided for us

We were lucky though - we managed to get a seat. Others were standing. Complete shambles.

I don't see why any other cruise ship would follow this - P&O are hardly cutting edge. The american ships seem to be offering better and faster embarkation

I don't see why any other cruise ship would follow this - P&O are hardly cutting edge. The american ships seem to be offering better and faster embarkation

Yes you do seem to have had problems. I wonder how many others in the terminal who had late boarding times decided they would get there early. ie 3.30 board, but got there at 2pm or before.

Maybe they tried with the airbridge and decided that was too dangerous, so had to set everything up lower down, which one guess could not be done instantly.

I have copied your final sentence as It is not just the ships who would like to board in a more orderly fashion, its the port authority, police, council etc.

If P and O can get all their guests to board as requested it will stop a bulge of traffic at 11.30-2pm, which I am sure the council and police would appreciate, especially if Southampton playing at home , or there is another large ship in.

In THAT thread somebody did post they were glad they were not boarding some large American ship as the q of cars for that was horrendous.

Hence as time progresses and if P and O can get their guest to do as requested I am sure the police/council/port authority will be on at the other lines to.

Last year we did Royal Princess in June and Ventura in October . We traveled down from London at 11am (checkout) had a very good trip both times were at the terminal by 1pm and onboard by 1:30 pm in the buffet. Both times the check in was very slick. We expected having to wait because our check in time was 3:30 pm.

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If P and O can get all their guests to board as requested it will stop a bulge of traffic at 11.30-2pm, which I am sure the council and police would appreciate, especially if Southampton playing at home , or there is another large ship in.

And this of course is where the problem comes. If people know there is likely to be a huge traffic jam three hours before sailing, they aren't going to decide to wait an hour or two in hopes it goes down. They're going to try and get there even earlier.

Thanks everyone. We received a letter today explaining the new process

When we boarded the Celebrity Eclipse they asked us what time we wanted to board. We requested 12 pm and were told this time was still available. I agree with staggered boarding but if they had slots of time and people could choose what works best for them this would make more sense. Most would like as early as possible but this could be allocated on a first come first served basis and would be more of an incentive to book early.

I don't see why any other cruise ship would follow this - P&O are hardly cutting edge. The american ships seem to be offering better and faster embarkation

 

Yes you do seem to have had problems. I wonder how many others in the terminal who had late boarding times decided they would get there early. ie 3.30 board, but got there at 2pm or before.

Maybe they tried with the airbridge and decided that was too dangerous, so had to set everything up lower down, which one guess could not be done instantly.

I have copied your final sentence as It is not just the ships who would like to board in a more orderly fashion, its the port authority, police, council etc.

If P and O can get all their guests to board as requested it will stop a bulge of traffic at 11.30-2pm, which I am sure the council and police would appreciate, especially if Southampton playing at home , or there is another large ship in.

In THAT thread somebody did post they were glad they were not boarding some large American ship as the q of cars for that was horrendous.

Hence as time progresses and if P and O can get their guest to do as requested I am sure the police/council/port authority will be on at the other lines to.

Well done englishlady; someone has finally had the good sense (and courage) to state what was obvious from the start - P&O have had to negotiate a change in the embarkation process as a result of the traffic snarl ups around Southampton. P&O are not being difficult with passengers; they are part of the massive infrastructure that keeps Southampton a vibrant port (which includes commercial sea traffic and local water transportation). I can't see a problem with having an allocated time for embark; we have an allocated time for flights, buses, trains etc. I'll admit that the system will be improved for most if you can select your boarding time when booking the cruise; but as this will be on a first-come, first-served basis, I fear that the moaning will persist in some shape or form :(

I agree with staggered boarding but if they had slots of time and people could choose what works best for them this would make more sense. Most would like as early as possible but this could be allocated on a first come first served basis and would be more of an incentive to book early.

This makes a lot of sense but I still get the feeling that a number of those who don't get their desired early time will still turn up early expecting/hoping to get on early.

This makes a lot of sense but I still get the feeling that a number of those who don't get their desired early time will still turn up early expecting/hoping to get on early.

That's certainly true. You only need to look round an airport lounge or a main line station to see how many people have arrived before they have to. And I'm sure they would all hope to board early, but not necessarily expect to.

P&O can set boarding times, because that's within their control. But unless P&O are willing to stipulate how long your traffic jams are going to be in Southampton, they can't stipulate arrival times. Whether you like it or not, some people are going to leave leeway for delays.

Whether you like it or not.

Sorry but I don't really care what other people do.

Sorry but I don't really care what other people do.

In that case, whether you like it, don't like it, or are indifferent, some people are going to leave leeway for delays. ;)

I hate to burst a few bubbles but it most certainly did not work very well on our Ventura Caribbean cruise N603 from Mayflower. The majority of people turned up between 12:30 and 1:30 leading to massive queues outside the terminal, apparently unheard of at Mayflower according to many taxi drivers.

As usual with CPS parking you needed to wait until a chauffeur was available, although a lack of porters to collect luggage was also causing delays in the car parking area.

Once inside the terminal those Goldies with early embarkation times were given priority cards before embarkation opened or fastrack if they arrived afterwards as did those ordinary mortals who arrived at their allotted time. Everyone else was given an alpha card, regardless of their embarkation time, the waiting area soon filled up and remained so until much later in boarding.

There were repeated delays to check in due to a build up in the security scanning, something that could be resolved if security was first like Celebrity and RCI.

Even so we were onboard within 90 minutes of arriving at 1:15 vs a check in time of 3:30, our cabin was ready but luggage did not arrive until about 4:00pm, muster was delayed from 4:15 until 5:00pm due to the congestion in the terminal.

Perhaps not a major problem but it did create negative comments from lots of passengers, something we never hear on Celebrity. Maybe Mr. Edgington needs to re-think his wonderful new embarkation process and take a leaf out of the experts at Celebrity and RCI.

PS Tin hat now firmly in place!!!!!

I think that if I had a 3.30 check in time I would also aim to arrive about 1pm. With a 2 hour drive for me, trying to arrive on the check in time is too risky in case of any delays. To be honest I would find a 90 min delay perfectly acceptable. Still much better than an airport.

Terrier john

I have picked up one of your sentences

The majority of people turned up between 12:30 and 1:30

Now with the best will in the world even if it was under the old system of boarding, if what could be up to 1000? people all turned up within 1hr you would still have a full terminal.

No terminal can process that many people in 1/2 hour.

I still think that if P and O continue with this-if people still wish to turn up 1-2 hours before their slot all well and good sit and wait in the terminal-other lines will be pushed to do the same.

The problem you describe is caused by the people themselves...not the cruise line.

These arguments will go on and on and on and round and round in circles, but I think the end result will be the same.