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First to board for purchase

antsp

By antsp,
in Princess Cruises

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Essiesmom "Live from...." Rare

Essiesmom

Posted
Posted

Of course there will always be people who want to be the first on. But there are a couple differences between the Carnival program, and what Princess is offering. For Carnival, the ha taken to assigning checkin times and enforcing them. And it is working, eliminating that crush to get into the terminal. People who buy the FTTF don’t have to wait. The second advantage for Carnival is that those who buy it can go directly to their cabins and not have to wait until all are ready at 1:30 or so. Princess already has all cabins ready, so no advantage there. If Princess started enforcing those checkin times the assign, then the offer might be worth it. E M

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msmoger

msmoger

Posted
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Of course there will always be people who want to be the first on. But there are a couple differences between the Carnival program, and what Princess is offering. For Carnival, the ha taken to assigning checkin times and enforcing them. And it is working, eliminating that crush to get into the terminal. People who buy the FTTF don’t have to wait. The second advantage for Carnival is that those who buy it can go directly to their cabins and not have to wait until all are ready at 1:30 or so. Princess already has all cabins ready, so no advantage there. If Princess started enforcing those checkin times the assign, then the offer might be worth it. E M

 

No thanks :D:D

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Beach710

Beach710

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Interesting.......which terminal or is it all terminals? Only have 1 cruise with Carnival 1983(honeymoon)...a Caribbean Cruise, at that time there were no terminals to sit in or early boarding, of course ships were smaller.....they flew us on a red eye into MIA frm LAX and put us up in a day room until it was time to board.

 

I think Carnival implemented "staggered check in" for all their ships. It can be a problem for people who fly to port and stay overnight in a hotel if they don't rent a car because check out from the hotel can be earlier than the cruise assigned check in / boarding time. I've only sailed Carnival out of Port Canaveral which we drive to, even so we purchased Faster to the Fun in order to get into our room upon boarding.

 

Princess already states :

 

"Prioritycheck-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within theallocated check-in times. "

So even if they start enforcing check-in times - Priority boarding might not mean first in line to get to check in just first in line at the assigned time.

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Burgmeister

Burgmeister

Posted
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Fortunately for me, I prefer to maximize my time in most port cities before I board, so I tend to board late. Boarded late for my Med cruise last September (so much so that they were already tearing down most of the check in setup, but I was well before the cutoff time for check in). Not planning on boarding early for two cruises later this month either. Much prefer to spend my time exploring Sydney than sitting on the ship that is docked. Fortunately I am in the minority so my check in takes a very short time with no lines!

I guess you've not sailed out of Southampton then! Quicker you get on board the better!

 

At least its convenient to get to (for us).

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spyro1952

spyro1952

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Agree.

 

Another example of this is upsells. Free real upgrades used to be often possible. Then Princess found that passengers were willing to pay extra to upgrade and the number of free real upgrades (to another type cabin) is now very low. There are many posts on Cruise Critic with posters almost begging for Princess to offer them the opportunity to pay more for what used to be free.

 

Also the specialty restaurants. The cruise lines have discovered that if you reduce the quality of food in the main dining rooms that passengers will jump at the chance to pay to eat elsewhere.[/quote

 

I agree that mass market cruise lines are selling every possible perk they can think of but Princess not nearly as bad as Carnival or NCL.

I think the reduction of the quality of Princess food has more to do with food costs than anything else. I don't find the food quality in the specialty restaurants that much better and don't go anymore unless I get comp or get a free dinner with a booking. I do like crab shack and will pay for that.

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RRFan

RRFan

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OMG, this is getting ridiculous. There will be so many priority boarding people that no one will be in the general boarding! Very annoying. Why bother getting to Elite if they're diluting our benefits? Makes me want to move onto other cruise lines.

 

 

 

Elites still board first, followed by BVE, Suites, Club Class , Platinum then general.

 

 

 

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LSGDRG

LSGDRG

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How about charging to reaerve seating fir the shows? You get the point ... the po$$ibilitie$ are endle$$

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Forums mobile app

 

I know that I am in the minority but I would consider paying a fee for an aisle seat up front for a show that I wanted to see.

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ExDean

ExDean

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This from Cruise Fever "quoting Princess"

Guests with Princess Advance Boarding will use the Priority check-in lane and will board after Elite, Platinum, Suite, and Club Class Mini-Suite guests.

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indygirl99

indygirl99

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Elites still board first, followed by BVE, Suites, Club Class , Platinum then general.

 

 

 

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When we sailed the Emerald in August we were in a suite.

 

The lady came up to us and asked if we were her BVE. I said no we are in a suite.

She told us to follow her she was getting her BVE and then would board us so she could then get the Elites rolling.

 

So on that sailing it was BVE, Suites then Elites.

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land lover

land lover

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the only thing that is for sure with Princess, is that nothing is for sure

 

past performance has nothing to do with future performance...:rolleyes:

 

 

This statement makes perfect sense to me....but it applies to all travel in MHO.

 

Many posters on CC including me, love to share experiences and opinions, how valuable is the majority of it?:confused:

 

 

Enjoy....the weekend...

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Thrak

Thrak

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When we sailed the Emerald in August we were in a suite.

 

The lady came up to us and asked if we were her BVE. I said no we are in a suite.

She told us to follow her she was getting her BVE and then would board us so she could then get the Elites rolling.

 

So on that sailing it was BVE, Suites then Elites.

 

We have done the BVE twice. Both times the only people to board before the BVE folks were wedding parties.

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land lover

land lover

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We have done the BVE twice. Both times the only people to board before the BVE folks were wedding parties.

 

So then the wheelchair brigade had to wait.....?

 

We seldom get to the terminals early, so our experience boarding early as Elite is limited, even though we have had the privileged for several years.

 

 

I remember in Houston.....with the elite lounge far away from the gangway.. a hostess entered the lounge with a prominent sign that said VIP and told us to follow her....About 40 of us, were paraded, literally through several rows of waiting guests, talk about having all eyes on you....:o then 2 months later we returned, this time more people waiting, but still the same protocol.

 

On the first cruise prior to our parade, we chatted with those in the lounge .....several people were TAs ( do they still get elite status?) others had suites, a wedding party, some were family members of staff......etc...they give priority boarding to all different groups....and we all got in line and followed the leader.This was the year before Princess left Houston.

 

Fast forward..last Nov 26....Emerald out of San Pedro...arrived around 11:30 our friends who had a suite checked in just 5 minutes before us, they got group A ...we, E......of course as I mentioned on another post it was a zoo...probably 300 people boarding early from the elite lounge and overflow area. They were checking everyone's boarding card, no cuts that day.

 

The way I look at it, it is beyond my control to know how many will be boarding early on any sailing and who will be paying..... so what if an extra 30,40 or a hundred people get on before me..go with the flow u r on a cruise.....

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IECalCruiser

IECalCruiser

Posted
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...Fast forward..last Nov 26....Emerald out of San Pedro...arrived around 11:30 our friends who had a suite checked in just 5 minutes before us, they got group A ...we, E......of course as I mentioned on another post it was a zoo...probably 300 people boarding early from the elite lounge and overflow area. They were checking everyone's boarding card, no cuts that day...
I can’t speak for other ports but over the years we have departed from San Pedro eight times. In the last several years elites have been given numbered elite group boarding passes, platinum have been given numbered platinum group boarding passes and all others have been given lettered general boarding passes. On our cruise in November there were three elite boarding groups; 1, 2, and 3. I have no idea how many platinum groups there were.

 

From land lover’s post it appears that suite passengers were assigned to the first general boarding group. We departed on the Ruby the day before land lover and suites did not board with elite passengers. Since we were in the first elite boarding group, I have no idea if group A was called before or after the platinum boarding groups.

 

 

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land lover

land lover

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I can’t speak for other ports but over the years we have departed from San Pedro eight times. In the last several years elites have been given numbered elite group boarding passes, platinum have been given numbered platinum group boarding passes and all others have been given lettered general boarding passes. On our cruise in November there were three elite boarding groups; 1, 2, and 3. I have no idea how many platinum groups there were.

 

From land lover’s post it appears that suite passengers were assigned to the first general boarding group. We departed on the Ruby the day before land lover and suites did not board with elite passengers. Since we were in the first elite boarding group, I have no idea if group A was called before or after the platinum boarding groups.

 

 

 

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And that is the reality, Princess can use numbers, letters, whatever to distinguish groups and we do not know who is truly boarding first. We only know our particular experience on that cruise.

 

 

You have experienced early boarding, many more times than I have out of SP......the few times we have arrived early, the first group has always been wheelchairs. When we arrive later..around 12:30-1, we are just given a priority card and guided to the left and walk directly on.....

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IECalCruiser

IECalCruiser

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And that is the reality, Princess can use numbers, letters, whatever to distinguish groups and we do not know who is truly boarding first. We only know our particular experience on that cruise.

 

 

 

You have experienced early boarding, many more times than I have out of SP......the few times we have arrived early, the first group has always been wheelchairs. When we arrive later..around 12:30-1, we are just given a priority card and guided to the left and walk directly on.....

I did not address wedding parties, BVE, and those needing assistance boarding. They all typically board before suites and the rest.

 

In Seattle in 2012 there must have been at least 25 wheelchairs being pushed up the ramp before suite boarding started.

 

 

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Astro Flyer

Astro Flyer

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I did not address wedding parties, BVE, and those needing assistance boarding. They all typically board before suites and the rest.

 

In Seattle in 2012 there must have been at least 25 wheelchairs being pushed up the ramp before suite boarding started.

 

I think that B2B passengers also reboard the ship before new passengers.

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RRFan

RRFan

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On the Regal this morning in FLL and didn’t even have to leave the ship. In transits all scanned off the first leg of our b2b as we entered the theatre. Then we walked past the CBP officer and showed our passport and scanned back on for the 2nd leg. Easiest ever!

 

 

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