New boarding procedure for Princess ships?

[Boiler Cruiser]

My TA forwarded a copy of an email that was sent to them from Princess.  It gives a boarding schedule (order) for our cruise beginning February 5 on the Crown Princess.  In the past, my DW and I have been able to arrive at about 10:30AM and take advantage of the Priority Boarding Pass that our TA provided us.  This gave us on opportunity to get on board and have a leisurely lunch in the Horizon Buffet before going to our cabin. Now we are told they will be boarding much like the airlines do, and that those with Priority Boarding can only board at the assigned boarding time, albeit at the head of the line for that boarding time.  That means, in our case that we will not be checked in until 1PM at the earliest, making lunch in the Horizon a bit on the late side. By the way, I can see pluses and minuses to this boarding process. Is this new?  Is it being done on other ships now? Here's the order we were given... To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with Priority Boarding within the allocated check-in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check-in as your cabin will not be ready. 12:30 PM - Aloha and Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with A & L     1:00 PM - Dolphin and Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E     1:30 PM - Caribe Deck - Cabins on this deck begin with C     2:00 PM - Plaza and Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with P & R     2:30 PM - Baja Deck - Cabins on this decks begin with B

Edited January 21, 2020 by Boiler Cruiser

[WisCruiser2]

Princess has been sending these out for the past several years. No one, including Princess, adheres to them. 

Last year on the Regal (our first Medallion cruise) we were dropped off at the terminal at 10:36 and onboard by 11:05!

P.S. If you're into it, there's a Roll Call for our sailing...

[richsea]

We’ve gotten these notices in the past, & have always found that once at the pier, nobody has mentioned anything about a boarding time. We just get there when convenient for us, & have never had a problem boarding. I think they figure thst if some follow the times, it will spread out the boarding process.

[MixerDave]

8 minutes ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

My TA forwarded a copy of an email that was sent to them from Princess.  It gives a boarding schedule (order) for our cruise beginning February 5 on the Crown Princess.  In the past, my DW and I have been able to arrive at about 10:30AM and take advantage of the Priority Boarding Pass that our TA provided us.  This gave us on opportunity to get on board and have a leisurely lunch in the Horizon Buffet before going to our cabin. Now we are told they will be boarding much like the airlines do, and that those with Priority Boarding can only board at the assigned boarding time, albeit at the head of the line for that boarding time.  That means, in our case that we will not be checked in until 1PM at the earliest, making lunch in the Horizon a bit on the late side. By the way, I can see pluses and minuses to this boarding process. Is this new?  Is it being done on other ships now? Here's the order we were given... To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with Priority Boarding within the allocated check-in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check-in as your cabin will not be ready. 12:30 PM - Aloha and Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with A & L     1:00 PM - Dolphin and Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E     1:30 PM - Caribe Deck - Cabins on this deck begin with C     2:00 PM - Plaza and Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with P & R     2:30 PM - Baja Deck - Cabins on this decks begin with B

Actually, you can avoid the Horizon Court - just ask which dining room is open.. The may first tell you Horizon, but ask again and they will tell you.  You can leave your carry on at the entrance and enjoy a leisurely lunch without the crowds.

[Steelers36]

Fake news.

[paul929207]

2 hours ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

My TA forwarded a copy of an email that was sent to them from Princess.  It gives a boarding schedule (order) for our cruise beginning February 5 on the Crown Princess.  In the past, my DW and I have been able to arrive at about 10:30AM and take advantage of the Priority Boarding Pass that our TA provided us.  This gave us on opportunity to get on board and have a leisurely lunch in the Horizon Buffet before going to our cabin. Now we are told they will be boarding much like the airlines do, and that those with Priority Boarding can only board at the assigned boarding time, albeit at the head of the line for that boarding time.  That means, in our case that we will not be checked in until 1PM at the earliest, making lunch in the Horizon a bit on the late side. By the way, I can see pluses and minuses to this boarding process. Is this new?  Is it being done on other ships now? Here's the order we were given... To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with Priority Boarding within the allocated check-in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check-in as your cabin will not be ready. 12:30 PM - Aloha and Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with A & L     1:00 PM - Dolphin and Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E     1:30 PM - Caribe Deck - Cabins on this deck begin with C     2:00 PM - Plaza and Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with P & R     2:30 PM - Baja Deck - Cabins on this decks begin with B

The times are suggestions not mandates

[nini]

We get them an nobody adheres to it. Princess tries,  bit there never seems to be much

order at the port. 

[getting older slowly]

generally for the last few years.. have always got the suggested boarding times...

 

but having priority boarding we get thereabout 11.30am..

and generally are on board  within 10 -20 minutes

then go to the MDR (club class) for a relaxing lunch 

 

Cheers Don

[Katwoman007]

We get that email.... but had no issues for our 2 cruises. Los Angeles had zero wait to get checked in... we were early but they dismisses in groups and were on within about 30 min of them starting. San Francisco had  a line at security and maybe 8 minutes after and we were on the ship. It is not that we try to be first, we just want to deal with getting there and situated 😛 haha

[gskgizmo]

On our first Princess Cruise a few years ago we were herded into a large room and were not allowed to board until our deck came up, which ended up being at 2:00.  How do you avoid that?  

[HappyCruiserettu]

16 hours ago, MixerDave said:

Actually, you can avoid the Horizon Court - just ask which dining room is open.. The may first tell you Horizon, but ask again and they will tell you.  You can leave your carry on at the entrance and enjoy a leisurely lunch without the crowds.

Find a copy of the Patter, in cabin if open, otherwise at Customer Service desk. Look on the back page under dining. It will show which MDR is open for lunch, Usually 12:00-1:30. Order the beef tenderloin. It's wonderful.

 

[kywildcatfanone]

This isn't new, and you can ignore it.  They send that out just to try to ease everyone on at various times. 

[mosenga]

I don't know if this is port specific or cruise-line specific, but I have never waited so long to board a cruise as I did at Port Everglades in December. We arrived about 11 and waited nearly an hour. When I've cruise RCL out of Port Canaveral or New Jersey or Celebrity out of Miami, I have literally walked right on to the ship when arriving at the port.

I'm impressed with the speed of check in with the Ocean Medallion. There was no need for pics or other security issues other than scanning passports. But I did wonder what the point was of speeding up the check in process if they're simply going to make us wait for an hour in the lounge. It got so full that there weren't enough seats for everyone waiting.

 

Why is Princess (or Port Everglades) so much slower with boarding than the others?

[PrincessLuver]

52 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

This isn't new, and you can ignore it.  They send that out just to try to ease everyone on at various times. 

 

Same goes for the suggested dress codes on formal nights.....why ignore some suggestions and not others?

[WisCruiser2]

42 minutes ago, mosenga said:

I don't know if this is port specific or cruise-line specific, but I have never waited so long to board a cruise as I did at Port Everglades in December. We arrived about 11 and waited nearly an hour.

 

Were they letting the Priority passengers board before then? If the ship isn't cleared - e.g., a B2B passenger doesn't show up at the set time for in-transit immigration, that holds everything up.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, mosenga said:

I don't know if this is port specific or cruise-line specific, but I have never waited so long to board a cruise as I did at Port Everglades in December. We arrived about 11 and waited nearly an hour.

I usually show up well before the suggested boarding time listed in the Progressive Check In.  I've also needed to wait a long time.  I think Princess puts out the Progressive Check In requirements so that in the event you can't board right away, you have nothing to complain about if you arrived early.  I'm guessing that your progressive check-in time wasn't 11.  Again, I show up sooner than requested but I also understand I'm taking a chance that I'll have a long wait.  I had priority boarding at San Pedro and I waited about 45 minutes before I was allowed to board.  I've seen posts here where people showed up at 10:50 and were on board by 11:05 at Port Everglades.

[mosenga]

4 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I usually show up well before the suggested boarding time listed in the Progressive Check In.  I've also needed to wait a long time.  I think Princess puts out the Progressive Check In requirements so that in the event you can't board right away, you have nothing to complain about if you arrived early.  I'm guessing that your progressive check-in time wasn't 11.  Again, I show up sooner than requested but I also understand I'm taking a chance that I'll have a long wait.  I had priority boarding at San Pedro and I waited about 45 minutes before I was allowed to board.  I've seen posts here where people showed up at 10:50 and were on board by 11:05 at Port Everglades.

I have no idea what Princess' purpose of this policy is, I'm simply contrasting it to other cruise lines in other ports. During this waiting period, nobody was allowed to board and the gate attendants and other Princess personnel provided absolutely zero information about the status of the situation. And, as I said, the room was full of people waiting to board. There were people who had to stand as all the seats were full.

I had the earliest boarding time, although not priority boarding. So, you could say that I arrived too early for my boarding time, but so did everyone else in the waiting room. And again, I've never had to wait at all to board at other ports for other cruise lines. I always arrive at the port about 10:30 or 11 and usually walk right on the ship. This time, the check in process was flawlessly fast. The boarding process was incredibly slow.

[kywildcatfanone]

This thread isn't about dress codes.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 1/21/2020 at 7:04 AM, MixerDave said:

Actually, you can avoid the Horizon Court - just ask which dining room is open.. The may first tell you Horizon, but ask again and they will tell you.  You can leave your carry on at the entrance and enjoy a leisurely lunch without the crowds.

Don't ask...they won't tell you. They'll insist "Horizon Court". Just check the last page of the Patter. IF the MDR is open for embarkation lunch, it will be listed there.

The reason I say IF...it's not always open. Sometimes no MDR lunch due to a special function, ship coming back from Europe and has extra inspections or because they don't wanna do it.

On our cruise last month, the Pacific P. was just coming back from Europe and the MDR was not open. For the following cruise (B2B), it was open.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 1/21/2020 at 10:04 AM, MixerDave said:

Actually, you can avoid the Horizon Court - just ask which dining room is open.. The may first tell you Horizon, but ask again and they will tell you.  You can leave your carry on at the entrance and enjoy a leisurely lunch without the crowds.

Just returned from the Sky Princess. We ended up arriving at the designated time by accident. As fast as we could walk, we were on the ship. The medallion was great. The buffets was awesome. Yes, buffets, ther were several. Very, very big. No lines ever and never a problem finding a nice table to sit at. Service was awesome. Eating utensils with a soup spoon wrapped in the napkin on the tables. Other ships are not like the Sky. The buffet in the evening was like a restaurant. Place mats and stemmed water glasses on the table. Food was excellent. As soon as you sat down. Someone there asking what they can bring you to drink. You can order a bar drink or coffee. Anyone will get it for you. No waiting to order a drink. No one bothering you for those specialty drinks.

[PrincessLuver]

22 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

This thread isn't about dress codes.

 

Then it must be about do what YOU like and ignore Princess suggestions helping to make the cruise a better experience for ALL!!

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

Then it must be about do what YOU like and ignore Princess suggestions helping to make the cruise a better experience for ALL!!

You need to go read the OP again.