Emergency Notification for 8/29 Sailing

[cruzsnooze]

1 minute ago, Sea Hag said:

Yes, we all do know that about Princess reps. I was told this in an email from customer relations:

• Priority boarding – Platinum and Elite guests will continue to enjoy the Platinum and Elite lounge and priority boarding within their arrival group  

That operative part of that being "within ...." Who knows how it'll actually pan out. Anyway, I hope you get your priority boarding and enjoy your window suite. I had one of those booked last March, and we all know what went with that.

The Grand does not have a thermal suite so the only perk  left for me is the double mini bar. I get 40 diet cokes instead of 20 on a 5 day cruise. I do not eat breakfast so that perk isn't special to me, the Club class is more then adequate. The cabin is what I love, with the spacious bathroom and seating area. 

[rabin1]

5 hours ago, voljeep said:

yeah, we're not waiting until 2:15 to board either

YOU will be turned away and told to come at your boarding time. Might as well abide by the rules. If everyone tried to do what you just said it would defeat the purpose

[cruzsnooze]

48 minutes ago, rabin1 said:

YOU will be turned away and told to come at your boarding time. Might as well abide by the rules. If everyone tried to do what you just said it would defeat the purpose

I don't think anyone will be turned away, that's not Princess' style. 

[rabin1]

4 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I don't think anyone will be turned away, that's not Princess' style. 

This is not a normal time They already said what I posted. READ

[wallyj]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

I guess I get to pick my own time since I'm on deck 6 on my Sept cruise YIPPIE!!!!! Now I won't have to call in 60 days before my cruise to the Ocean ready as instructed. 

Hi @cruzsnooze, I believe you started a thread letting us know you were able to get checked in via calling the Ocean Navigator help line. I believe you also shared they told you were about 4 days too early to select your arrival group, but I know that time frame passed and you probably still do not have a arrival group.

 

I am on the Grand Sept 30 sailing too and have been able to check in via the APP on my iPad. My cousins are also traveling in another cabin and cannot check in on the APP. I tried checking them in on my device and the APP is giving errors. Reported to Ocean Navigators and they really have no ideal when it will be fixed. They suggest ‘try once a day’, is the best they can say now.

 

I am ‘elite’ and will check every day, so far get message ‘too early’.

 

I mentioned to them a passenger reported they were able to get checked in via just calling Ocean support. Agent said really not possible as they cannot ‘accept’ the contract and some other items . Think you can still be Green lane, but will still have things to complete at the pier. Suggest you still call to try and request your ‘preferred’ arrival group, when they become available. 
 

Wait time till I was able to speak to Ocean support was 45 minutes. Was  told, Mondays and Tuesdays, as many already know, will have usually have the longest wait times.

 

Also they told me the updated estimate to be able to select an arrival group is 30-45 days from sailing for our Sept 30 cruise, but she admitted, may be even less,  so who really knows at this point.

[auburn77]

First time on Princess. I just checked the app a while back and got boarding A. I didn't think much about it. I assumed it was due to Club Class, but apparently this is not true. I don't know if we will have priority boarding or not. Don't really care. Will simply be happy to get back on a ship.

Majestic 08/22

[CruisinFinsUp]

My understanding is that this "selection of boarding times" is ONLY for the 2021 cruises operating in accordance with CDC guidelines.    I'm hoping that once they drop those criteria, we'll go back to the "old way" and priority boarding will work properly again! 
 

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/frequently-asked-questions/

[Bgwest]

Heck, even Carnival gives their top two tiers and suite guests the ability to select an arrival group 2 days (16 days vs 14 days) before everyone else. They also send emails out to these groups on the 16th day reminding them to select an arrival group,

 

You'd think that if Carnival has this simple exercise figured out that someone at Princess would too. 

[Sea Hag]

6 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Heck, even Carnival gives their top two tiers and suite guests the ability to select an arrival group 2 days (16 days vs 14 days) before everyone else. They also send emails out to these groups on the 16th day reminding them to select an arrival group,

 

You'd think that if Carnival has this simple exercise figured out that someone at Princess would too. 

There's been some disagreement on this, but I can tell you for sure that I was able to get an arrival time through the app a day or two before some other folks were. I'm not the only one - some other Platinum or Elite folks said they got theirs about the same time I got ours. When Princess dropped the ball on this is that nobody got any kind of notification that arrival times were available for them. 

[RJAM3]

7 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

Oh, I agree! I saw that "emergency" part and starting thinking the worst. Maybe people ignore it if it only says "important?" That's all I can think about that.

I agree with you.

[cruzsnooze]

4 hours ago, wallyj said:

Hi @cruzsnooze, I believe you started a thread letting us know you were able to get checked in via calling the Ocean Navigator help line. I believe you also shared they told you were about 4 days too early to select your arrival group, but I know that time frame passed and you probably still do not have a arrival group.

 

I am on the Grand Sept 30 sailing too and have been able to check in via the APP on my iPad. My cousins are also traveling in another cabin and cannot check in on the APP. I tried checking them in on my device and the APP is giving errors. Reported to Ocean Navigators and they really have no ideal when it will be fixed. They suggest ‘try once a day’, is the best they can say now.

 

I am ‘elite’ and will check every day, so far get message ‘too early’.

 

I mentioned to them a passenger reported they were able to get checked in via just calling Ocean support. Agent said really not possible as they cannot ‘accept’ the contract and some other items . Think you can still be Green lane, but will still have things to complete at the pier. Suggest you still call to try and request your ‘preferred’ arrival group, when they become available. 
 

Wait time till I was able to speak to Ocean support was 45 minutes. Was  told, Mondays and Tuesdays, as many already know, will have usually have the longest wait times.

 

Also they told me the updated estimate to be able to select an arrival group is 30-45 days from sailing for our Sept 30 cruise, but she admitted, may be even less,  so who really knows at this point.

I plan to bring my vaccination proof to the pier. I was told they already have my picture and passport information from prior cruises. I did not get a boarding group and was told since I am in a full suite I will not have to get a time. I plan to call anyway and see if I can get a confirmed boarding group anyway. I was also told Mon and Tues were the longest wait times to get through. My travel companion has no history with Princess and  did get through after a long hold time. They said to bring your passport and vaccination proof and they need to take a picture.  It is my belief Princess will not force paying passengers to sit in the terminal for hours to board despite a later boarding time.  I', concerned that after reading that RCL just had 6 positive covid tests today on the Adventure of the Seas we could have cruises cancelled again. RCL states 4 passengers were vaccinated and 2 youngsters were not.

     https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cruise-ship-covid-cases-royal-caribbean/index.html

[Steelers36]

Too many posts I would love to quote and reply to directly, so I will just post thoughts and perhaps tag a couple of people.  

 

@Astro Flyer is right on the money in post #18.  ETA:  So is @cr8tiv1.

 

While I appreciate @Sea Hag's story about getting an Arrival Group before others, I am not sure it was along with all other Elites & Platinums and no one from outside these groups.  But, IDK and not on the sailing.  I just know Princess has thus far not made any change to simply opening up Arrival Groups with no announcements and no official policy announced in terms of timing prior to sail date.  I'd like to chalk that one up to an exception case. 

 

Also, there were some posts about various Princess staff telling people they would still have priority within their Arrival Group.  This is just bogus pablum for the most part as I will outline.  The post about SVP Sales Chernesky is either pure ignorance or a white-wash of the issue on his part.  To say guests don't need priority check-in/boarding because we get to select our Arrival Group is bogus.  I read (or was told) the initial Arrival Groups are about 250 people.  So, 250 people every 15 minutes if true.  If you don't get the chance at the first Arrival Group, you are already behind.  (Maybe 250 is the max - or 1000 per hour).

 

Princess has the ability to alter the size of each Arrival Group and they also have the option to adjust the time periods.  As Covid-19 protocols begin to go away, they will no doubt increase the size of each Group and may well back the start time up to roughly when it was before Covid.

 

This means the first arrivals will check-in and be seated in the terminal to await the start of general boarding.  Presumably, they will use the Elites & Suites lounge still and Platinum seating area, handing out letter group codes.  When boarding opens, they call people in order until the terminal is cleared.  After that, people just board when completed check-in.

 

So, what is happening with it right now?  With an 11:30am open-door time, the ship is going to be 99% ready for immediate boarding.  (The first cruise actually started sooner, so those who came early got processed early and onto Majestic.  Of course, that first voyage was heading onto an empty ship that had no disembarking pax).  

 

SO, everyone for Group A (and likely B) is lined up outside the terminal waiting for 11:30am.  No one has reported, but perhaps they had a line for S/E/P and one for others.  You clear security, you check-in, you head on board.  Are they holding ALL of the non-S/E/P guests outside until the S/E/P's are fully completed check-in?  I doubt it.  Inside there are priority lines for S/E/P and this may help, but with everyone heading right onto the ship, unless you are among the first group, you are boarding behind non-status guests. 

 

In the second group (B), they head in presumably at 11:45am.  Same thing again.  Who gets in first and processed?  What if some of the non-status from Group A still to be processed? 

 

With people just heading onto the ship from check-in, the priority is greatly reduced to the few who get in the building first for each group.

 

Anyway, I think it becomes clear if you think about the experience you used to have.  If you were an early arrival, you were checked-in and sat in the terminal according to priority level and arrival time and when boarding opened, they let people on in that order.  

 

If you are not allowed to arrive until after noon, you don't have the opportunity today. 

 

This whole thing is being exacerbated by Princess MC App issues and when Arrival Groups do open, it appears they do not work for everyone.  This is more unfairness coming to play.  People try to call in for help and may get it, or more likely are told to show up by your deck level.  Isn't that just peachy?  Pity the poor guests who booked the wrong deck and barely get on board before they pull the gangway. 

 

 

When Princess eventually fills the ships and has to increase group size and start sooner to get the ship filled.

 

As long as they keep the Arrival Group concept - and this is their stated plan right now - they need to declare when Arrival Groups can be selected and allow S/E/P pax advance notice and access.  And S/E should have a jump on P's.   

 

Who knows if they will be "encouraged" to scrap Arrival Groups post-pandemic because the old system worked perfectly fine.  The early birds were all set to go in the terminal and Princess benefited from an efficient and expedited boarding process as the terminal would clear quickly. 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I guess I get to pick my own time since I'm on deck 6 on my Sept cruise YIPPIE!!!!! Now I won't have to call in 60 days before my cruise to the Ocean ready as instructed. 

I think it was suggested back some posts that you will get a different notice, but it will cover all decks on your ship and could be a different order.  It's an arbitrary and unfortunate fix to the MC App which isn't working for all.  IMO, Princess should be posting an Arrival Group in the res record for those that call in because MC App doesn't work.  

 

Of course, a big problem is we don't know WHEN Arrival Group should work for our voyages since they don't have a policy announced.  By the time you hear selection is open and contact Princess for a case, the early group(s) could be filled.

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, cruisintoddler said:

My understanding is that this "selection of boarding times" is ONLY for the 2021 cruises operating in accordance with CDC guidelines.    I'm hoping that once they drop those criteria, we'll go back to the "old way" and priority boarding will work properly again! 
 

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/frequently-asked-questions/

I wish this were true, but it is Princess' intention to continue with selection of Arrival Groups in the MC App.  Even when they get the bugs out, it will be a poor process if they don't give early access to Suites & Elites.  

 

Nothing in those FAQ's indicates going back to the "old way".  The "old way" works fine, but they may just create some earlier Arrival Groups and allow more people in each group.  This way, they can fill the terminal seating area again prior to general boarding and then let people on in order of priority and check-in time. 

 

To make the circle whole, they need to open up selection to priority guests ahead of other guests. 

 

Either here or on another post, someone brought up the point about booking a cruise late - after FP Date for sure, and then finding the early Arrival Groups filled up.  In the "old days" such a guest (say, Elite) could show up early at the port and get checked-in and be among first to board.  In future, this opportunity may be gone - even with advance notice - if one is booking after selection of Arrival Groups opens up.

 

[geoherb]

Early access to the groups won't do for me. The benefit is priority boarding for Platinums and Elites. It shouldn't matter if I book a cruise six months out or two weeks out. 

[caribill]

Pre-pandemic way:

o Priority check-in mean three lines, elite/suite,platinum, others. As more and more people became elite and plainum those longs grew longer and the "others" line shorter. I often was quicker to check-in using the others line.

o Boarding priority only had meaning for thsoe who checked in before boarding had started. Once the earliest people had boarded, people went straight from check-in to boarding so priority had no meaning except for those who checked in early.

 

Pandemic way:

o Check-in may have no priority involved. Instead of the original three lines there may be a different set of three lines, green for those who were able to completely accomplish all check-in activities with the app, another color for those who still need to complete some of the app entries, and a third color for those who may need closer attention for medical/covid issues. Likely the green line will move faster than the other two, but if the app ever works, may be a longer line.

o Priority boarding again only has meaning for those who checked-in before boarding started

 

Post pandemic way:  ??????????

 

As far as the pre-pandemic elite/suite lounge with refreshments until boarding starts, it may or may not exist now. If there are only 250 people in the first arrival group, not all of them will be suite/elite and Princess likely will not want to set up refreshments for the relatively few people that would qualify in that first group (also a way of saving money not to provide it).

[Bgwest]

16 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

There's been some disagreement on this, but I can tell you for sure that I was able to get an arrival time through the app a day or two before some other folks were. I'm not the only one - some other Platinum or Elite folks said they got theirs about the same time I got ours. When Princess dropped the ball on this is that nobody got any kind of notification that arrival times were available for them. 

No disagreement. The reality is that we were able to check in (suite) for our August 14th Carnival sailing at 12:01 AM on July 29th. This is 16 days prior to sailing. 

 

Non-priority check in did not open until 2 day later. 14 days prior to sailing. 

 

We we able to immediately able to print our  boarding passes. 

 

Of the 5 (I think it was) arrival group options presented to us, we chose the earliest - 10:30-11:00.

 

If Carnival can do it, why in blazes can't Princess figure out how do the VERY SAME thing?

[Bgwest]

15 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I did not get a boarding group and was told since I am in a full suite I will not have to get a time. I plan to call anyway and see if I can get a confirmed boarding group anyway.

Please elaborate. This is the very first time I've heard this. Is there a link you are able to post?

 

What you were told seems to imply that those in a full suite can "just show up" at their leisure. 

 

We too are in a full suite on our next Princess sailing and are looking for direction on how to navigate all of the changes. 

[cr8tiv1]

@Steelers36, I am so honored to be in the company of @Astro Flyer and others.  There are so many posters that share accurate information in clear and distinct verbiage.  

 

If Princess has done anything correctly, it is bringing together like minds.  Thank you to all that have shared their experiences so that I feel validated and educated.  Too numerous to name without offending those that I may inadvertently left out.  

 

It would be a hoot to be on a cruise with so many brilliant minds.

[Steelers36]

17 hours ago, caribill said:

Pre-pandemic way:

o Priority check-in mean three lines, elite/suite,platinum, others. As more and more people became elite and plainum those longs grew longer and the "others" line shorter. I often was quicker to check-in using the others line.

o Boarding priority only had meaning for thsoe who checked in before boarding had started. Once the earliest people had boarded, people went straight from check-in to boarding so priority had no meaning except for those who checked in early.

 

Pandemic way:

o Check-in may have no priority involved. Instead of the original three lines there may be a different set of three lines, green for those who were able to completely accomplish all check-in activities with the app, another color for those who still need to complete some of the app entries, and a third color for those who may need closer attention for medical/covid issues. Likely the green line will move faster than the other two, but if the app ever works, may be a longer line.

o Priority boarding again only has meaning for those who checked-in before boarding started

 

Post pandemic way:  ??????????

 

As far as the pre-pandemic elite/suite lounge with refreshments until boarding starts, it may or may not exist now. If there are only 250 people in the first arrival group, not all of them will be suite/elite and Princess likely will not want to set up refreshments for the relatively few people that would qualify in that first group (also a way of saving money not to provide it).

 

HI.  You have summed it up in a good way.  Something that was not clear in the "live from
 Majestic posts, it just how the lines were organized at the terminal ( and I have never been to Seattle terminal so I cannot even picture it in my mind, whereas I could make my way around Port Everglades Terminal 2 with a blindfold on).  Were there priority and non-priority Green and Blue - or just Green & Blue?  I would think there would have been some delineation for priority check-in with those.  Perhaps not for Yellow as that should be exception cases.  Perhaps we will get some insight post-cruise or from the folks heading out on AUG 1. 

 

I don't really care whether there are refreshments or not in the S&E "lounge" at the terminal.  I just want the check-in and boarding to work as much as possible like it did before.  I have already read that someone has a 10:30am check-in time for an August sailing, so that is already an hour earlier and will certainly mean a short terminal wait prior to general boarding.  We never can say never as Princess may eventually scrap enforcement of Arrival Groups post-pandemic.