Southampton boarding- allocated times?

[kevinyork]

We’ve cruise many times from Southampton and know that P&O (also part of Carnival) allocate arrival times at the port and pretty much enforce them, based on the deck apparently. We’ve got our first Princess cruise booked for October. Do Princess also set an arrival time for groups of passengers?  RCI and Celebrity are pretty relaxed with their Southampton departures and wondered if Princess being American might operate the same. 
 

thanks in advance.

 

 

[CCFC]

They are similar to P&O but not really adhered to. The only thing I would say is that the Seacations are going to be strict at boarding times.

[kevinyork]

4 minutes ago, CCFC said:

They are similar to P&O but not really adhered to. The only thing I would say is that the Seacations are going to be strict at boarding times.

Thanks. So they don’t turn you away or make you wait ages then?  We are staying in Southampton the night before so will be itching to get onboard.

 

Ours is the first regular scheduled cruise after the Seacations so hopefully back to a bit more of a normal cruise, fingers crossed. 

[tert333]

We are booked on the same cruise, where it is the first cruise after the UK residents only cruises.   Would not normally do this as I am sure there will be some transition pains as it opens up to other nationalities, but so anxious to get crusing again!

[dog]

I’ve sailed on Princess out of Southampton 3 times and once we had very little g lines and had to sit down until our time/ number was called. The other 2 times we went right thr, no lines or waiting. 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, kevinyork said:

So they don’t turn you away or make you wait ages then?

It has been Princess' practice to process passengers as they arrive at port terminals.  Those with priority boarding generally go to a special section and are let on first once boarding commences.  The rest of passengers are then allowed on, in groups, according to check-in arrival times. 

 

We don't know what measures might be put in place post-Covid in order to space out passengers.  If everyone is supposed to be vaccinated, it shouldn't matter and no need for anything new.  But I think we will just have to wait until cruises begin again.

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by Steelers36

[jondfk]

We've sailed out of Southampton 4x with Princess.  Never were we given specific instruction (beyond the usual boilerplate email day prior to embarkation).  

 

On the other hand, doors to enter the terminal building were locked until a particular time (I'm thinking this was 10:30 or 11:00).  Porters would not even accept a bag until that time or very near too.  Similar (at least the locked doors part) as San Francisco pier 27.

 

Once admitted, priority guests were given boarding group numbers with early groups generally herded closer to the security checks.  That's one big difference versus most U.S. embarkation ports.  Security happens AFTER boarding groups are called.  This slows the calling of groups, but greatly speeds the time to get up the gangway since security throughput has gated the flow.  

 

The departure hall can fill to capacity particularly if boarding is delayed for any reason, it does in my experience fill to the point that arriving passengers queue outside at the peak time, around 1PM.

 

This all makes it sound worse than it actually was.  We were in a CC mini and were aboard very shortly after noon.  Put in contrast, we were in a similar CC mini on Royal from Los Angeles and were quite lucky to be aboard by shortly after 1:30PM, there were issues with disembarking passengers which delayed the start of boarding - can happen on any cruise from any terminal.  

 

Now, will boarding times be more closely controlled upon restart, undoubtedly yes for a time.  Forever?  Who knows.

[wowzz]

I think in the new situation we find ourselves in, whatever happened in the past is irrelevant. 

Assuming (big if) the cruise goes ahead, I would expect that there will be strict adherence to boarding times,  and only a certain number of people will be allowed into the terminal at any one time. No different to going to the supermarket, where you have to wait if the numbers instore are at the permitted limit.

So, turn up early, you may get in, but those with an earlier allocated time will get in before you.  

[john watson]

I have done a number of Princess Cruises ex-Southampton and mainly stayed in a hotel overnight.  The main problem is the check out time of your hotel and the distance it is from the terminal.  The first issue is getting your car parked and this can take a bit of time.  The next issue is getting rid of the cases through the hole in the wall which is straight forward if you have turned up after the porter guys have started. Turning up at noon is a good plan; one of the terminals seem to have a single queue with a take off for priority and disabled passengers.  Not much you can do except join the queue.  The other terminal has ladies at the top of the stairs giving out plastic letters which sort out how soon you will be called forward to check in.  Over the years I have noticed that they give out earlier letters to people who turn up with less luggage, are in smaller groups or are friendly.  At this terminal you show your documentation, they look at it and then they make their decision.

 

Regards John