Check in time question

[rmjb]

We have gone twice with our son with a 3pm boarding and have turned up to our check in a bit early ( only 30 mins) we have always expected to wait until our check in slot but both times been put on sooner. If you go with a 'we will just wait patiently and see what happens' it always makes it easIer. There is a cinema that do a kids fiml on a Saturday/Sunday morning for £2.50 per person near the west quay premier inn so we have gone to that then grabbed some lunch and boarded. it fills the morning and early afternoon nicely. This time we have a 1pm embarkation time and again will just turn up and wait patiently. Its not the easiest occupying a little one but we tend to make it the start of our holiday and look at the ship out of the window and play eye spy with our son.

[jeanlyon]

It's not that difficult to arrive around your embarkation time. Yes you build in contingency for traffic, but even if you get there one hour early, you might get on before your check in time. It's not rocket science?

[majortom10]

The only time people have difficulties which I have said many times is if you stay in hotel night before cruise you may, like we have to do is vacate your room at 10am and do not fancy sitting around hotel reception for 3-4 hrs and do not like the idea of driving into Southampton city centre and parking on car park and wandering around city centre while worrying about security of my property in my car because it all will not fit out of sight in the boot due to amount of luggage we take and size of boot.

[rangersgirl]

The only time people have difficulties which I have said many times is if you stay in hotel night before cruise you may, like we have to do is vacate your room at 10am and do not fancy sitting around hotel reception for 3-4 hrs and do not like the idea of driving into Southampton city centre and parking on car park and wandering around city centre while worrying about security of my property in my car because it all will not fit out of sight in the boot due to amount of luggage we take and size of boot.

 

Yep totally agree but then you turn up early and are prepared to wait if need be. If you get on early fantastic but the OP is wanting them to change her e ticket as she thinks she should get to change her time due to her having a child.

[Josy1953]

It can be difficult to arrive near to your assigned boarding time. On one trip to Southampton we had 2 hold ups caused by accidents, it is no joke to sit in your car for over 2 hours unable to move on the motorway and when it happens a second time a few miles further on you start to worry about missing the ship because you only built in 1 - 2 hours contingency. We now travel the day before but as majortom10 says we have to vacate our hotel room early. It is not so bad now that we are Caribbean as we get early boarding.

[wowzz]

It's not that difficult to arrive around your embarkation time. Yes you build in contingency for traffic, but even if you get there one hour early, you might get on before your check in time. It's not rocket science?

I live 200 miles from Southampton. How much contingency should I build in so as to arrive 1 hour before my embarkation time, taking into account my journey will involve the A34 and M3 ?

 

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[john watson]

I live 200 miles from Southampton. How much contingency should I build in so as to arrive 1 hour before my embarkation time, taking into account my journey will involve the A34 and M3 ?

 

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I should say this is a four hour journey which it will be prudent to allow five hours to complete. This would vary if you are looking at midweek or weekend. I try to arrive around the official check in time with the idea that the maximum I want to get to the terminal ahead of my scheduled time of one hour. As we get closer to Southampton Docks stopping at one or more service areas en route can consume time putting us closer to the planned time schedule. Top preference alternative is arriving a day earlier and staying at a hotel this is much more expensive and can be avoided ex-Southampton but essential if you start with a flight to a foreign start port.

 

Regards John

[Eglesbrech]

I live 200 miles from Southampton. How much contingency should I build in so as to arrive 1 hour before my embarkation time, taking into account my journey will involve the A34 and M3 ?

 

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Good question. We have about 7 motorways to travel not to mention numerous A roads if we drive the whole 8 hours in one go.

 

If we don’t, we have the issue that Majortom describes with hotels.

 

It’s easy enough for those who live close by and don’t have to fight with planes, trains or numerous motorways etc

[wowzz]

I should say this is a four hour journey which it will be prudent to allow five hours to complete. This would vary if you are looking at midweek or weekend. I try to arrive around the official check in time with the idea that the maximum I want to get to the terminal ahead of my scheduled time of one hour. As we get closer to Southampton Docks stopping at one or more service areas en route can consume time putting us closer to the planned time schedule. Top preference alternative is arriving a day earlier and staying at a hotel this is much more expensive and can be avoided ex-Southampton but essential if you start with a flight to a foreign start port.

 

Regards John

John

Thanks for the reply, but this was a rhetorical question in order to highlight the impossibility of planning to arrive within one hour of your embarkation time.

When I make this journey, I allow 6 hours, but even then, as an ex resident of Newbury, I worry about that being insufficient, Given the notoriety of the A34.

 

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[john watson]

The further you live from Southampton the less accurate your arrival at the dockside will be. So the variation of journey time increases. If you have a variation of being delayed three/four hours you do not have much of a problem with a check in time of noon. The theoretical latest you will get to the terminal is 3pm to 4pm. However if you are allocated a 4.30pm check in time you risk arriving at 7.30pm to 8.30pm. This is the problem.

 

Regards John

Edited April 5, 2018 by john watson

[rangersgirl]

Just want to add that i wasn't suggesting that people who travel far (6hour journey myself ) can arrive within their allocated time. The OP wanted her time changed caused she didn't want to entertain her child for a few hours till her time . I arrive when I arrive to difference is I'm prepared to wait for the three hours if I need too.

[wowzz]

Just want to add that i wasn't suggesting that people who travel far (6hour journey myself ) can arrive within their allocated time. The OP wanted her time changed caused she didn't want to entertain her child for a few hours till her time . I arrive when I arrive to difference is I'm prepared to wait for the three hours if I need too.

Fair point. I was responding to the rather asinine comment about it not being 'rocket science' to plan your journey so as to arrive within one hour of your embarkation time.

 

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[cruiseluvva]

Regardless of distance, I would never travel on the day. A few years ago we were travelling to Heathrow, we lived just under an hour away. There was an accident on the M4 causing us a delay of 4HOURS! Had we not booked accommodation we would definitely have missed our (long haul Maldives) flight!

 

Now we live even further away from both Heathrow and Southampton, we ALWAYS travel the day before.

[rangersgirl]

Regardless of distance, I would never travel on the day. A few years ago we were travelling to Heathrow, we lived just under an hour away. There was an accident on the M4 causing us a delay of 4HOURS! Had we not booked accommodation we would definitely have missed our (long haul Maldives) flight!

 

Now we live even further away from both Heathrow and Southampton, we ALWAYS travel the day before.

 

Not always possible when you only have a limited amount of holidays to take . But if I could do that I would too .

[Josy1953]

Not always possible when you only have a limited amount of holidays to take . But if I could do that I would too .

Before we retired we used to do part of our journey the night before then have a shorter journey the next day because it was less stressful being closer to Southampton on sailing day.

[rangersgirl]

Before we retired we used to do part of our journey the night before then have a shorter journey the next day because it was less stressful being closer to Southampton on sailing day.

 

That is actually a fab idea. Even going half way would be a lot less stressful . Thanks for the tip.

[john watson]

That is actually a fab idea. Even going half way would be a lot less stressful . Thanks for the tip.

 

When selecting an overnight hotel in addition to price of accommodation and a decent evening meal you need to look at the morning check out time. Often noon but sometimes 11am. In this respect you do not want to be too near Southampton, calculate the journey time on the hotel to docks sector to not arrive too early and to be able to check out leisurely. The Travelodge at Tot Hill suits me but an evening meal is better had at a restaurant on the way there.

 

Regards John

[Clodia]

I notice that the Southampton hotels who offer a 12 noon checkout are more expensive now, as so many Caribbean/Baltic tier passengers use them. Check out for 12, taxi at 12,15, dock by 12.30 and board usually within 15-20 minutes. Worth the extra after once sitting in the Premier Inn from 11 am before I was Caribbean tier, being hoovered over and laughed at by Royal Caribbean cruisers setting off!

[the english lady]

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.

Going from the experience of relatives who went on an American ship and were kicked off at 6am,,the reason they board earlier is that they kick you off earlier. You may have the odd few who wanted and did stay on later, but the majority, from what they told us were kicked off very early.

Ref timing arrivals after a long journey (later posts in this thread) The coaches (some of which come down from Scotland) are given an arrival time...They manage to stick to their times fairly well. They would be using the same roads as the people in cars. If the coaches manage it..by stopping at service stations etc..why cannot cars.

[the english lady]

I notice that the Southampton hotels who offer a 12 noon checkout are more expensive now, as so many Caribbean/Baltic tier passengers use them. Check out for 12, taxi at 12,15, dock by 12.30 and board usually within 15-20 minutes. Worth the extra after once sitting in the Premier Inn from 11 am before I was Caribbean tier, being hoovered over and laughed at by Royal Caribbean cruisers setting off!

To go on one of the RC monsters. I would be laughing at and pitying them. Plus on their return when they are kicked off at the crack of dawn..and you are doing things in a much more civilised manner..will they still be laughing then.

[Josy1953]

Going from the experience of relatives who went on an American ship and were kicked off at 6am,,the reason they board earlier is that they kick you off earlier. You may have the odd few who wanted and did stay on later, but the majority, from what they told us were kicked off very early.

Ref timing arrivals after a long journey (later posts in this thread) The coaches (some of which come down from Scotland)r are given an arrival time...They manage to stick to their times fairly well. They would be using the same roads as the people in cars. If the coaches manage it..by stopping at service stations etc..why cannot cars.

The last time we took a coach ( December 2016 ) it was held up because of a vehicle fire on the A34 and when we got to the port after 6pm all but 2 of the check in desks had closed and we were rushed through check-in and security. We were asked our cabin number as we boarded and were told the muster station that we had to directly to. I am sure that had we been in our car and not on a coach we would have missed the ship because they

would not wait for 2 of us but they would wait for a coach especially as it was their Intercruises coach. We learned later that 6 passengers had missed the ship, 4 of them met the ship in Madeira.

[wowzz]

"They manage to stick to their times fairly well."

 

What percentage are you talking about? What is the basis for your statement? How large is your sample?

Such a generalisation is meaningless. 95% of the time I travel I encounter no holdups. It's the other 5% that is the concern.

 

 

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[ascot2012]

Is it just a case of making you own decisions as to what time you plan to arrive and living with the consequences, if you arrive early because like us (200 mile trip) we build in some what if time! you have to again make your own decision as to do we stop off at a service station have have a cuppa or do we push on to the dock and wait inside the terminal.

We have done most options i.e. drive down on the day, overnight hotel near Southampton or even the P&O coach, not sure which is best for us as each had it's own advantages and disadvantages. This May we are trying a new (to us) option we plan to stay the night before in Oxford spending the day in the city, get up have a breakfast and then set of to Southampton mid morning. For us this will split the trip into 2/3 and 1/3 sections.

We just look at the journey as part of the holiday and try to enjoy it, but it would be stressful to be sitting in traffic watching the clock tick by and the ships departure time getting closer, therefor if we get to the terminal early we just accept that we might have a long wait but we are on holiday so whats the problem.

[terrierjohn]

Going from the experience of relatives who went on an American ship and were kicked off at 6am,,the reason they board earlier is that they kick you off earlier. You may have the odd few who wanted and did stay on later, but the majority, from what they told us were kicked off very early.

Ref timing arrivals after a long journey (later posts in this thread) The coaches (some of which come down from Scotland) are given an arrival time...They manage to stick to their times fairly well. They would be using the same roads as the people in cars. If the coaches manage it..by stopping at service stations etc..why cannot cars.

We are discussing Southampton sailings on this thread and none of the RCI group ships will "kick you off" at 6:00am, we have sailed Celebrity several times and RCI only once, but we have never experienced any greater pressure to depart the ship than we see with P&O cruises.

[terrierjohn]

To go on one of the RC monsters. I would be laughing at and pitying them. Plus on their return when they are kicked off at the crack of dawn..and you are doing things in a much more civilised manner..will they still be laughing then.

Those RCI monsters have a much higher space to passenger ratio than any of the P&O ships, as a result they feel far less crowded, and when you add in all the extra attractions they posses they make you happy and smiling all the time.