Royal Carribean staggered check in (according to deck)

[peteukmcr]

Pete over the last several years I have been in cabs and tours with people from the UK on P&O ships. It is a fascinating experience. I have never been on P&O but what stories I have been told just seems weird to me. I will be in the UK Sunday... Whoohoo!!!! Watch out next week in Cornwall if you see idiots driving on the roads wrong that will be me. Actually, I am above average driving on the wrong side, but I am not going to do the Star in the reasonably priced car, I would hate trying to hit the gears going flat out with my left hand. :D:eek:

 

JC

I just hope the stories I've read about the processes and procedures on P&O aren't true, but we'll see! I'm obviously just too used to RCI. As for driving in Cornwall, we're miles away north so I'm not likely to bump into you, but then again I'd be driving my Mini on the right side of the road :D. Have a great time down there, it's a beautiful part of the country.

[SonicShip]

I'm still curious what they mean by "pre-arranged transportation". It doesn't specify "pre-arranged Royal Caribbean-provided transportation" but could that be what they mean?

 

I think the issue in Southampton is that it is a small cruise port and parking can be tight. If people in cars arrive before people that have cars leave the port, there is no place to park as there are no free spaces. People then drive around causing traffic jams and then the cars can't leave the port.

 

I have read about this mess happening before so I think they don't want people with cars coming too early.

[peteukmcr]

I'm still curious what they mean by "pre-arranged transportation". It doesn't specify "pre-arranged Royal Caribbean-provided transportation" but could that be what they mean?.

 

If this is referring to Southampton, then many people not only drive to the port but travel by train or bus or even fly like we do. For example there are bus companies that are not organised by RCI but pick up passengers from specific cities around the UK and transport them to the port. These will drop a full load of passengers at one time that may not coincide with their check in time.

 

As we fly we are restricted to what time we'll arrive in Southampton, which again may not coincide with an allocated check in time. Same can be said of train travel, especially if travelling from some distant part of the UK.

 

So I would say all the above come under the banner of 'pre-arranged transportation' which is not necessarily that flexible if organised months in advance like ours next week for flying to Southampton.

[Essex_uk]

Mayflower terminal June 2014, with Princess.

Princess asked us to arrive around 12:00, we arrived at 12:10. Car parking co took our luggage and we walked to the back of the boarding queue. It took and hour and half to get on board. People with various levels of loyalty membership were told to join the end of the queue and only when they reached a point (about 5 mins before check in desk) were they allowed to jump the queue.

I think just too many people arrived at the same time. Yes lots of coaches were arriving around that time.

So we're arriving an hour later for our next cruise.

[Britcruzer15]

We are on this cruise and have not had the email!. We have a 250mile drive on the day, and given its start of BH weekend in the UK we will be setting off early and arrive when we arrive. if we have to wait, so be it, at least we will be there.

 

Alternative is set off late and risk traffic issues, which could arise at any point in the journey.

[wannagonow123]

Carnival has a few ports where they do staggered check-in. (Not boarding). I know Galveston, Nola and Miami for sure. There might be some more, but anyway......

 

When you do your online check-in, you select a check in time. That time is listed on your boarding pass. At the three locations listed above, there is someone at the door checking , and they will not allow you in to begin screening if you are early. Diamond, platinum and FTTF are exempt to the rule IF you selected a check-in time. No time selected, you check in after 1:30pm.

 

The stupid thing is it allows you to select an early time, then arrive at your leisure, which does back things up. On Carnival, some folks are determined to have Drinks of the day (DOD) before 11am, and get very antsey. In NOLA, we chose a 10:15am time, then showed up at noon. (we found a casino). There were people all over outside waiting for their time.

 

The lines to get through security were a pain, but check-in was a breeze. You do not get your rooms until 1:30pm unless you are a high status or FTTF.

[teacher1977]

Sailed out of Southhampton last summer for the first time and it was the WORST experience (Princess line). Yes, you have to wait to be called by your deck level to board. You may board early if you are a suite (junior suites do not count) or above. You are directed to sit in your "deck" area and wait until called. It was very disorganized. Between the staff not really knowing what they were doing and seeming to be totally confused and passengers not cooperating and listening; it was chaos. Not to stereotype but the vast majority of passengers waiting (and complaining) were from the UK and it was not a pleasant wait with all the RUDE behavior, complaining, lack of respect for the staff and pushing (most of which carried over onto the cruise ship for the next 14 days). Ugh! Although we have been cruising for years somehow we have missed going out of Southhampton and what we experienced was nothing like we have ever experienced before. There are a lot of "special snowflakes" out there who just don't think the rules apply to them and it just makes things problematic for everyone else. Will never sail out of Southhampton again.

[Velvetwater]

Us Brits usually have a bit of a talent for queuing! We sailed out of Dover with Carnival in 2013 and it was really smooth to say its a less experienced cruise port. We actually almost booked the Norway cruise with Princess sailing the same day as this one.

 

After reading our documents (sent after that email) it says check in between 11 and 3 and aftering hearing some on our cruise haven't got the email we have decided to just head to the pier straight from our hotel (set out at 10.30).

This means we will get the pier around 10.45ish and we have put this in our online check in.

 

I do think they should tell passengers about staggered boarding a good few months in advance though.

[Essex_uk]

Sailed out of Southhampton last summer for the first time and it was the WORST experience (Princess line). Yes, you have to wait to be called by your deck level to board. You may board early if you are a suite (junior suites do not count) or above. You are directed to sit in your "deck" area and wait until called. It was very disorganized. Between the staff not really knowing what they were doing and seeming to be totally confused and passengers not cooperating and listening; it was chaos. Not to stereotype but the vast majority of passengers waiting (and complaining) were from the UK and it was not a pleasant wait with all the RUDE behavior, complaining, lack of respect for the staff and pushing (most of which carried over onto the cruise ship for the next 14 days). Ugh! Although we have been cruising for years somehow we have missed going out of Southhampton and what we experienced was nothing like we have ever experienced before. There are a lot of "special snowflakes" out there who just don't think the rules apply to them and it just makes things problematic for everyone else. Will never sail out of Southhampton again.

 

Did you find that the 'Snow flakes' (all Brits) grouped together during the fortnight and moved around the ship as one? That's what we experienced.

[Lanzalady]

I wonder if the "previously arranged transportation" is just RCCL-provided transportation or any car service.

 

I haven't gotten anything about staggered times for the 7/1 Brilliance yet. But I do have an arranged car service already scheduled and paid.

 

 

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I haven't received any notifications regarding boarding times for the 6/19 Brilliance (immediately before your cruise) either, so maybe it's just being rolled in now or maybe only applies to the larger ships. If someone is travelling from a longer distance from the port and has been allocated an earlier time for boarding, they can hardly be expected to arrive earlier than they are able, so those who arrive earlier than their scheduled boarding time should be able to board instead of them. Why do they always have to try to "improve" things that work perfectly well the way that they are? 26 days to go!