Boarding at Southampton

[john watson]

It's all about the banter!

 

Banter only comes at Christmas

 

Regards John

[richleeds]

Banter only comes at Christmas

 

 

 

Regards John

 

 

Ba dum tish

[Clodia]

I always board early whatever time my tickets says because I travel down the night before (long journey) and have to vacate my hotel at 11am, so I get a taxi to the dock rather than wander round with all my luggage.

Have never had any problems at all; I think the company understand that people have different needs depending on their travel arrangements.

[kevinyork]

Our e-ticket for Britannia 28th March shows a check in of 3.30pm for a 5pm departure! If people actually observe these times it leave little room for journey hiccups.

 

We have a same day 230 mile car journey with 2 disabled Mums and we plan on getting there 12 to 12.30. No way do we want to be turned away and have to wheel them around Southampton to kill time.

[jeanlyon]

works perfectly well on Fred Olsen. You can checkin when you like, but you will not board until 2pm when they call it by deck.

[majortom10]

Our e-ticket for Britannia 28th March shows a check in of 3.30pm for a 5pm departure! If people actually observe these times it leave little room for journey hiccups.

 

We have a same day 230 mile car journey with 2 disabled Mums and we plan on getting there 12 to 12.30. No way do we want to be turned away and have to wheel them around Southampton to kill time.

 

You will be allowed to check in at 1200-1230 doesnt matter what it says on your e-ticket this was confirmed to me by P&O only last week.

[kevinyork]

You will be allowed to check in at 1200-1230 doesnt matter what it says on your e-ticket this was confirmed to me by P&O only last week.

 

 

Oh thanks for that.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[daiB]

You will be allowed to check in at 1200-1230 doesnt matter what it says on your e-ticket this was confirmed to me by P&O only last week.

 

 

I think we are all in agreement. You will go up to the top floor pick up a number and check in when it is called. I have not heard yet of anyone being asked what their check in time is as they get their number or letter.

 

Anyway if you had a time of say 14.00 I would expect you are in the terminal by between 12.30 and 13.00 even if they were being strict. Remember these are check in times and not arrival times.

[GirlyCruiser]

We are driving down from Norfolk so not as far as some people have to travel. We usually leave around 8am-ish, stop for a break somewhere about an hour from Southampton and usually arrive at the terminal just after 12pm. We are usually onboard after about an hour once we have been stacked in the car que and then checked in etc. So hopefully it'll work the same again this year.

 

Sam.

[Wiz201]

We're going on Ventura from Southampton end of April. My dad is taking us down from West Yorkshire and he's confident about setting off at 10am for a 2pm arrival as he says the cabins won't be ready before then anyway. He says the ships preparing for departure from Southampton will always take longer to be prepared due to the fact they have a full ship of cabins to clean.

[BrianI]

I would think that four hours from Huddersfield is pushing it a bit. I would think 4.5 hours driving time plus stops would be more realistic assuming no traffic hold ups.

Brian

[indiana123]

There is a whole thread (probably last week) about Wiz's dad leaving the North at 10.00 am. Everybody said it was pushing it, but we doubt he will listen.

 

I sincerely hope there are no problems, just for Wiz's sake., I would be very restless leaving it to the wire.

 

Premier Inn 34 quid... or any hotel in Southampton.. that's the way to do it.

No stress leisurely breakfast, go to the ship.

[majortom10]

We're going on Ventura from Southampton end of April. My dad is taking us down from West Yorkshire and he's confident about setting off at 10am for a 2pm arrival as he says the cabins won't be ready before then anyway. He says the ships preparing for departure from Southampton will always take longer to be prepared due to the fact they have a full ship of cabins to clean.

 

I hope your dad will reimburse you cost of cruise if you miss the ship. We went once and left home nr Stafford at 7-30am and was still on M42 at 1-30pm and got to Southampton at 4pm. We now travel down night before and stay in Travelodge for that reason but wouldnt dream of leaving Stafford at 10am never mind Huddersfield.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Did you see the dreadful accident on the M40 last weekend and the queues of cars stretching back miles? Agree it's best to go down the night before and stay over.

Edited February 18, 2015 by CRUISIN LINDA

[Host Hattie]

We're going on Ventura from Southampton end of April. My dad is taking us down from West Yorkshire and he's confident about setting off at 10am for a 2pm arrival as he says the cabins won't be ready before then anyway. He says the ships preparing for departure from Southampton will always take longer to be prepared due to the fact they have a full ship of cabins to clean.

 

How many cruises has your Dad been on ?

[kathsmum]

We're going on Ventura from Southampton end of April. My dad is taking us down from West Yorkshire and he's confident about setting off at 10am for a 2pm arrival as he says the cabins won't be ready before then anyway. He says the ships preparing for departure from Southampton will always take longer to be prepared due to the fact they have a full ship of cabins to clean.

Sorry, but I'm beginning to think this is a wind up. Surely nobody could be that stupid!!

He says the ships preparing for departure from Southampton will always take longer to be prepared due to the fact they have a full ship of cabins to clean.[/quote]

Why... when they sail from S'ton all the time. They always have a full ship of cabins to clean.

The cabins might not be ready till 2.00 o'clock, but you are still allowed to board. You will have got rid of all your cases and can explore the ship at leisure - have a drink -a bite to eat - sit on a deck chair (weather permitting), Relax your on holiday.

If you do manage to arrive as he plans you will hit all the coaches arriving - so ages waiting in line to check-in as they have priority.

The only late arrivals they accommodate, are the coaches.

Have fun!!:confused::confused:

[Josy1953]

Our e-ticket for Britannia 28th March shows a check in of 3.30pm for a 5pm departure! If people actually observe these times it leave little room for journey hiccups.

 

We have a same day 230 mile car journey with 2 disabled Mums and we plan on getting there 12 to 12.30. No way do we want to be turned away and have to wheel them around Southampton to kill time.

 

There is a facebook group for the Britannia maiden voyage and judging by posts there, a lot of people have been allocated 15:30 boarding for a 17:00 departure. If it is adhered to it will be very interesting, we are staying overnight at the Hilton and have transport to the dock so I seriously doubt that the hotel will want us hanging around much after 11:00 so I suspect we will be boarding earlier.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Josy1953

[Josy1953]

I hope your dad will reimburse you cost of cruise if you miss the ship. We went once and left home nr Stafford at 7-30am and was still on M42 at 1-30pm and got to Southampton at 4pm. We now travel down night before and stay in Travelodge for that reason but wouldnt dream of leaving Stafford at 10am never mind Huddersfield.

 

We do the same from Stoke for the same reasons, we sat on the the M42 and then on the A34 for several hours on one occasion due to 2 different overturned caravans fortunately we made it to Southampton before the ship sailed but being worried about missing the ship is no fun.

 

In December last year we took the coach from Keele at 9:00 and because of an acccident on the M6 the coach was held up and when we arrived at Southampton they were waiting for us and had closed all but one of the check-in desks. We sailed about 30 minutes after we boarded. I have to ask myself, would they have held a check-in desk open if we had been in our car and not on a coach or would we have missed the ship as we were so late.

[tom_uk]

I've driven from Sheffield to Southampton quite a number of times via the M1 - A46 - M40 - A34. We'll take sandwiches and bottles of water. On a really good day I can do it in just under 4 hours, but that's without any stops apart from a quick loo break at somewhere like Newbury Chieveley services. If anyone wants a real break - cup of tea or whatever - then it all gets a lot longer, and if there's a holdup then it will take even longer. Sheffield is about as far south as you can get and still be in Yorkshire, so I'm assuming that Wiz01's starting point will be further away from Southampton than ours.

 

Like many others we now usually break the journey overnight, perhaps at Chieveley Travel Lodge or even the one at Reading on the M4 (which requires a slight diversion). With one exception we haven't stayed in Southampton itself the night before. The one exception was for the Grand Event when we stayed at the Grand Harbour (OK but very expensive).

 

On our most recent cruise (a week on Arcadia over Christmas) we travelled by train and used The Baggage Handling Company for our (one) large bag. Again that wasn't cheap, but it removed a lot of the stress about driving in possible bad weather in December.

Edited February 19, 2015 by tom_uk

[Wiz201]

We're another hour further up from Sheffield. Honestly, I can't understand his mentality sometimes, I've even looked into taking my own car and driving me and my sister down earlier setting off at 7am but decided that since dad is paying for the basic cruise, he can take the risk if we miss it. We will have appropriate travel insurance with cruise extra added on. I have asked several times if we can leave earlier but he won't have it.

[kevinyork]

We're another hour further up from Sheffield. Honestly, I can't understand his mentality sometimes, I've even looked into taking my own car and driving me and my sister down earlier setting off at 7am but decided that since dad is paying for the basic cruise, he can take the risk if we miss it. We will have appropriate travel insurance with cruise extra added on. I have asked several times if we can leave earlier but he won't have it.

 

 

Hi,

 

We travel from my Mums in Sheffield to Southampton for our cruises. Think this will be the eigth from there.

 

You do need to get your Dad to set off earlier. We set off at 7am, travel via the M1, A43, M40 and A34. We usually stop once for about 10 mins. On average we arrive at the port at around 11.30.

 

Twice we have heard of traffic jams/closures on the radio and managed to detour around them. Once the M40 was completely shut so we managed to navigate to the junction beyond the closure.

 

I would be very worried with a 10am departure from Sheffield and as you say you are another hour away. Tell him that regular cruisers are saying he is wrong. Good luck.

 

By the way travel insurance wont cover for a missed departure if you simply didnt leave enough time. Only a major breakdown or incident.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited February 19, 2015 by kevinyork

[BrianI]

You need to remember ships sail a bit earlier these days and check in closes at 1545.

I live in Rugby which is two hours south of Huddersfield and I leave at 9am which leaves a reasonable contingency for traffic hold ups and there are usually some.

Brian

[wilson2579]

We're another hour further up from Sheffield. Honestly, I can't understand his mentality sometimes, I've even looked into taking my own car and driving me and my sister down earlier setting off at 7am but decided that since dad is paying for the basic cruise, he can take the risk if we miss it. We will have appropriate travel insurance with cruise extra added on. I have asked several times if we can leave earlier but he won't have it.

 

I am so worried for you. Bet you won't look forward to it because the chances of you missing the ship are so great. I am sorry but I would be making my own way to Southampton if I were you.:(

[Brayman]

Just by way of example, the A34 is closed to day due to overturned lorries and will not open until late this evening (they say). Imagine if that happened on a day you wanted to get to the docks to board a ship.

 

I avoid the A34 like the plague, there are no good "get off" points.

[Scriv]

I am so worried for you. Bet you won't look forward to it because the chances of you missing the ship are so great. I am sorry but I would be making my own way to Southampton if I were you.:(

 

If it is a 'wind up' people are just feeding them and if they are genuine, they have been told enough times and it really is up to them......

 

Don't go worrying about them Trish.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Scriv