elete boarding

[lx200gps]

23 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

This is true, again especially for Caribbean sector cruises.  It is not just that they re-board ahead of all new cruisers, but the Sanctuary team allows them to keep their seats (or change) on the final day.  The ones who book for whole cruise have priority over single timers.  Only makes sense.  We were lucky on our last cruise as either very few B2B that time of year (Nov 7 turn-around) or just not that many of them interested in Sanctuary. 

 

I still love it on certain ships, but don't need it full cruise anymore.

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't know they got to keep their loungers between legs. 

[san diego sue]

San Pedro. If we already have our Medallian, do we just go through security and then wait in the Elite Lounge. How do we get our boarding number card? That is given at check in so do we need one?If someone knows, please clarify.

Thanks

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, san diego sue said:

San Pedro. If we already have our Medallian, do we just go through security and then wait in the Elite Lounge. How do we get our boarding number card? That is given at check in so do we need one?If someone knows, please clarify.

Thanks

FWIW, or anyone else, in PE, both the regular check-in agents and the Medallion check-in agents have the boarding group cards.  But of course there will be folks report not getting one.  Nothing is identical for all voyages it seems.

Edited December 8, 2019 by steelers36

[jondfk]

4 hours ago, san diego sue said:

San Pedro. If we already have our Medallian, do we just go through security and then wait in the Elite Lounge. How do we get our boarding number card? That is given at check in so do we need one?If someone knows, please clarify.

Thanks

 

2 hours ago, steelers36 said:

FWIW, or anyone else, in PE, both the regular check-in agents and the Medallion check-in agents have the boarding group cards.  But of course there will be folks report not getting one.  Nothing is identical for all voyages it seems.

 

Yes, I agree.  When we sailed from San Pedro with medallions in hand we were offered Elite cards at medallion checkin but only as an afterthought, we were 3 steps away from the person who scanned us in when she said "oh yeah, you'll probably want one of these". . .  

 

Nothing malicious I'm sure, the check in process was really so easy that it's probably hard to remember to hand somebody a slip of paper for what is otherwise a completely paperless process.  

 

[jangor]

We boarded the Regal Princess in FL on December 1st.  We arrived at Pier 21 (Sky was at Pier 2) at about 11:45.  We went through security very quickly (there were no priority lines for security) and upstairs to boarding.  There were two possible options for us; Priority Boarding and Ocean Medallion.  Since we were eligible for either, I asked the Princess agent where we should go and she indicated that Ocean Medallion would be faster.  It took mere minutes to get called to one of the eight or so stations, touch our Medallion, present our passports and move on to our cabin.  Very efficient!

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, jangor said:

We boarded the Regal Princess in FL on December 1st.  We arrived at Pier 21 (Sky was at Pier 2) at about 11:45.  We went through security very quickly (there were no priority lines for security) and upstairs to boarding.  There were two possible options for us; Priority Boarding and Ocean Medallion.  Since we were eligible for either, I asked the Princess agent where we should go and she indicated that Ocean Medallion would be faster.  It took mere minutes to get called to one of the eight or so stations, touch our Medallion, present our passports and move on to our cabin.  Very efficient!

That is the way it is supposed to work after boarding has commenced for the early-arrivers.  That was your situation.

[X1HYCB]

On 12/8/2019 at 2:51 PM, jondfk said:

 

 

Yes, I agree.  When we sailed from San Pedro with medallions in hand we were offered Elite cards at medallion checkin but only as an afterthought, we were 3 steps away from the person who scanned us in when she said "oh yeah, you'll probably want one of these". . .  

 

Nothing malicious I'm sure, the check in process was really so easy that it's probably hard to remember to hand somebody a slip of paper for what is otherwise a completely paperless process.  

 

Probably has been answered somewhere else.  We're sailing from San Pedro to the Mexican Riviera next week on the Royal.  Princess sent out a shotgun email with cabin boarding time.  Does it also apply to Elite with medallion or wait until our boarding time is called?

Thanks.

[geoherb]

I boarded the Caribbean Princess on December 10 from Terminal 2 in Port Everglades. I had my medallion. I went through security and was directed to an available check-in agent who checked my passport. The guy directing me over to her had given me a card for the #3 boarding group. She saw my Elite medallion and exchanged it for the Elite boarding card. She told me I could go upstairs to the Elite waiting area. The people who rode up in the elevator with me were Platinum. There was a separate room for them to wait in. I made it to the port around 10:15 and through the check-in process in about 10 minutes. I waited about half an hour before they started boarding a little before 11.

Edited December 14, 2019 by geoherb

[kywildcatfanone]

Boarded sky earlier.  When they let elites board, they sent you one direction, then got stopped and sent a different way, snaking around the lobby.  Not sure why they can't get that figured out.

 

And they made announcement with a toy microphone with music blaring, lots of people confused about what he was saying and they got up thinking he was opening the gate.  Why couldn't they make announcements across the loudspeaker and stop the music while doing it?

[geoherb]

1 hour ago, X1HYCB said:

Probably has been answered somewhere else.  We're sailing from San Pedro to the Mexican Riviera next week on the Royal.  Princess sent out a shotgun email with cabin boarding time.  Does it also apply to Elite with medallion or wait until our boarding time is called?

Thanks.

 

You can show up when you want. Boarding generally starts around 11 unless there are circumstances such as a norovirus outbreak or the first cruise of the season from the port.

[jondfk]

2 hours ago, X1HYCB said:

Probably has been answered somewhere else.  We're sailing from San Pedro to the Mexican Riviera next week on the Royal.  Princess sent out a shotgun email with cabin boarding time.  Does it also apply to Elite with medallion or wait until our boarding time is called?

Thanks.

 

Well, here's my take.  Suites / Elites / Platinums still get called for early boarding, medallion or not.  There are several reasons folks cite for wanting to board early:  "We like first day lunch in the dining room", "We like first day lunch at Alfredo's", "We want best change for our favorite spots in the Sanctuary", all valid in my opinion.  However, if none of these things are especially important to you I'd suggest following the guidelines from the shotgun email, as in my observation arriving later virtually assures you of a no delay, walk on boarding process.

 

Mind you, I'm not saying we necessarily do this, or do this every time.  But we've been on several cruises where Elites / Platinums were at or beyond 1000 pax.  Let's be honest, if everybody's 'special' then nobody's special and this really shows in things like the promise of early boarding / early departure & access to tenders (er water shuttles). 

 

So, in short, arrive early if you like and use your earned benefits.  Or, arrive just a bit later, forget about your 'status' and simply walk aboard.  Now, if only I could better follow my own advice . . . 

[dog]

At PE Fl. T 2 Dec 4. With Platinum status arrived at 11:30 walked right up to check in. Gave us medallion s ( only took a couple of minutes)  given platinum boarding card and told to sit downstairs in front of elevator. No lounge option for us. Very noisy and hard to hear. Did not know lounge was upstairs. Will try for that in March now an elite!

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, dog said:

At PE Fl. T 2 Dec 4. With Platinum status arrived at 11:30 walked right up to check in. Gave us medallion s ( only took a couple of minutes)  given platinum boarding card and told to sit downstairs in front of elevator. No lounge option for us. Very noisy and hard to hear. Did not know lounge was upstairs. Will try for that in March now an elite!

the wait was because the 'upstairs' lounges were full due to delayed boarding because some idiot on the B2B from 12/1 was too important to meet at the assigned time for intransit passengers going on 12/1 & 12/4 

 

We were in the platinum lounge and you didn't miss anything at all ...

[polmcs]

We were on the Royal over Thanksgiving sailing out of San Pedro from the tented terminal. We were checking in at the Elite desk (even though we had our medallions in hand, we were directed to that desk) when there was an announcement for suites and Elites to board. They were calling Platinums by the time our manual checkin was completed. Not that it made any difference to us as we needed to take the elevator, rather then the escalator. 

[I Love Cruising 3]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

the wait was because the 'upstairs' lounges were full due to delayed boarding because some idiot on the B2B from 12/1 was too important to meet at the assigned time for intransit passengers going on 12/1 & 12/4 

 

We were in the platinum lounge and you didn't miss anything at all ...

So much for all the good the Medallions do for locating passengers. 😄