Embarkation times - experiences welcome !

[jeanlyon]

6 minutes ago, tring said:

 

That is not a bad time we had a check in time much nearer 3.30pm, possibly later for Aurora in Nov and we were on deck B as well in a deluxe balcony cabin. but not quite Caribbean yet and apparently that 28 night Caribbean cruise had a lot of high loyalty passengers on it. 

 

We will be Caribbean for an August Aurora cruise though, but not for our late June fjords one.

 

To be honest, wouldn't care what time we were given as long as we got on board!  If we had 1545, I would still get there about 1400 and if necessary just wait.

[majortom10]

We always stay overnight in hotel after a past experience during done on the day. So for us an earlier time is ideal for us as less time to kill between leaving hotel and embarking. On our upcoming cruise on Iona we have to leave hotel room by 11am so a check in as a Caribbean  of noon is ideal for us.

 

 

[Cruisemeister2002]

We are shortly going on a cruise on Ventura and our check in time is12.15. This is our first cruise since 2018 and obviously many things have changed. We pick up a coach at 8.15 from Newmarket. Normal times in the past have been 8.45 to 9 a.m. so a bit earlier than usual. But don't see in view of the number of pick ups enroute and a usual 1 hr stop at South Mimms how we could possibly be at Southampton docks by 12.15. Any ideas anyone as to whether the check in time is the earliest time of embarkation ? Obviously it cannot be a fixed time as P&O wouldn't be aware of road works, traffic etc. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

We are shortly going on a cruise on Ventura and our check in time is12.15. This is our first cruise since 2018 and obviously many things have changed. We pick up a coach at 8.15 from Newmarket. Normal times in the past have been 8.45 to 9 a.m. so a bit earlier than usual. But don't see in view of the number of pick ups enroute and a usual 1 hr stop at South Mimms how we could possibly be at Southampton docks by 12.15. Any ideas anyone as to whether the check in time is the earliest time of embarkation ? Obviously it cannot be a fixed time as P&O wouldn't be aware of road works, traffic etc. 

If you are arriving by coach, you can ignore the embarkation time given to you. 

[Beckett]

1 hour ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

We are shortly going on a cruise on Ventura and our check in time is12.15. This is our first cruise since 2018 and obviously many things have changed. We pick up a coach at 8.15 from Newmarket. Normal times in the past have been 8.45 to 9 a.m. so a bit earlier than usual. But don't see in view of the number of pick ups enroute and a usual 1 hr stop at South Mimms how we could possibly be at Southampton docks by 12.15. Any ideas anyone as to whether the check in time is the earliest time of embarkation ? Obviously it cannot be a fixed time as P&O wouldn't be aware of road works, traffic etc. 

Hi Cruisemeister 2002. In answer to your question, you won't get to Southampton by 12.15pm but as Wowzz has just said, ignore the embarkation time. My pick up point is South Mimms (10 minutes from home) and the meet time is usually 11 am.  There are only 2 pick up points from South Mimms and sometimes only one. I last cruised in 2019 and the coach driver took a detour because he was advised of traffic hold ups. We normally arrive about 2pm. Good luck. Best wishes. Jane xx

[Britboys]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:29 PM, happy v said:

I didn't know there was a bar in the terminal. Shows how observant I am

The terminals have always had refreshment facilities. You may not have noticed them because they are more like a kiosk than a bar or cafe...

 

https://www.ceanos.co.uk/southampton-cruise-terminals.html

 

[gteach]

On 2/22/2023 at 6:04 PM, jamiebarnzy said:

Hav We alway expect to have to wait and plan on haveing a few drinks at the bar/cafe and people watch as we wait to board. 

 

 

Is there areas in the lounge before you check in to sit and have a drink? We are sailing in August and obviously haven't got boarding time yet but due to our organised travel we will arrive around 12... 

 

Dreading that we'll be turned away if we have a significantly later boarding time

[gteach]

On 2/23/2023 at 10:50 AM, Fionboard said:

Me neither. Never seen a bar,  although they occasionally have had coffee at the priority waiting area.

What do you need to do to get priority waiting/boarding?

[Cathygh]

4 minutes ago, gteach said:

What do you need to do to get priority waiting/boarding?

Book a suite or be a high tier peninuslar member. Caribbean level may be? Someone will know.

[Angel57]

46 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Book a suite or be a high tier peninuslar member. Caribbean level may be? Someone will know.

Spot on! But think you have to be Baltic or Ligurian tho as so many are now Caribbean!

[Cruisemeister2002]

6 hours ago, Beckett said:

Hi Cruisemeister 2002. In answer to your question, you won't get to Southampton by 12.15pm but as Wowzz has just said, ignore the embarkation time. My pick up point is South Mimms (10 minutes from home) and the meet time is usually 11 am.  There are only 2 pick up points from South Mimms and sometimes only one. I last cruised in 2019 and the coach driver took a detour because he was advised of traffic hold ups. We normally arrive about 2pm. Good luck. Best wishes. Jane xx

Thanks Jane. Bit strange that. My wife's name is Jane and my ex wife was Jane also. I must be the man working on the Jane gang ? When we do the pick up at Newmarket as I say usually about 8.45 to 9 a.m. we don't normally get to Southampton until 3  ish.

[Beckett]

3 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Thanks Jane. Bit strange that. My wife's name is Jane and my ex wife was Jane also. I must be the man working on the Jane gang ? When we do the pick up at Newmarket as I say usually about 8.45 to 9 a.m. we don't normally get to Southampton until 3  ish.

I'm so sorry.  I just re-read my original post and realise I put 2pm, not 3pm as I should have stated. On occasion we've arrived a bit earlier but 3pm-is is a good guesstimate. I must read my posts through before hitting the send button. My apologies.

 

Yes, the Jane Gang has a much better ring to it than Chain Gang! Coincidences eh?

 

Have a good week. Best wishes. Jane xx 

[Stu UK]

On 2/26/2023 at 6:06 PM, Angel57 said:

Spot on! But think you have to be Baltic or Ligurian tho as so many are now Caribbean!

Caribbean still gets priority.

[majortom10]

On 2/26/2023 at 6:06 PM, Angel57 said:

Spot on! But think you have to be Baltic or Ligurian tho as so many are now Caribbean!

We are Caribbean and we have priority boarding on Iona tomorrow of 12 noon.

[jeanlyon]

I was Caribbean for the 2 years prior to Covid and never got a 12 noon checkin.  Always about 1330 or later.  Will be interesting to see what we get in October.

Edited March 4, 2023 by jeanlyon

[amajaa]

On our next cruise we will finally be Caribbean but we have a boarding time of 4 o’clock. It says on their literature that boarding times take into account your loyalty status. Our boarding passes say Caribbean but also says 4 o’clock. Do we go earlier and say we have priority boarding or will we have to wait? We won’t even make it to our first loyalty welcome onboard lunch. 
 

Editing to say it still says on loyalty page that Caribbean get priority boarding.

Edited April 1, 2023 by amajaa

[yorkshirephil]

39 minutes ago, amajaa said:

On our next cruise we will finally be Caribbean but we have a boarding time of 4 o’clock. It says on their literature that boarding times take into account your loyalty status. Our boarding passes say Caribbean but also says 4 o’clock. Do we go earlier and say we have priority boarding or will we have to wait? We won’t even make it to our first loyalty welcome onboard lunch. 
 

Editing to say it still says on loyalty page that Caribbean get priority boarding.

We will also be Caribbean on our next cruise, we will plan to arrive for 13:00 regardless of what it says on our boarding pass as I believe that the status trumps the allocated time on the boarding pass. Albeit we are not too bothered about the lunch we expect P&O to honour our 13:00 boarding.

[majortom10]

Just tell the check in staff you are Caribbean and have priority boarding and there will not be a problem.

[Fionboard]

Loyalty tier is on the boarding pass.

[lindyloo22]

We are Caribbean tier and have 12.30 boarding

[windra06]

On 2/24/2023 at 3:37 PM, CliveJ said:

Well, I started the thread....wondering whether I could 'gazump' my unappealing 15:45 boarding time next Sat. (Mar. 4th|).

Seem to be as many opinions/experiences as there are members posting !

My conclusion - will arrive quite a bit earlier...& see what transpires - and of course if it doesn't work, I know who to blame ! Happy cruising everyone. 

How did you get on with your Gazumping?

We have a 4hr journey and will set off very first thing just incase the worst should happen to ensure we dont miss the ship. If everything went to plan i expect we would arrive at the port at around 1pm, wonder if we should just go to check in and see what happens.

[CliveJ]

51 minutes ago, windra06 said:

How did you get on with your Gazumping?

We have a 4hr journey and will set off very first thing just incase the worst should happen to ensure we dont miss the ship. If everything went to plan i expect we would arrive at the port at around 1pm, wonder if we should just go to check in and see what happens.

Arrived soon after 12:30 - it was busy, but nobody stopped me joining the queue...in fact the lady putting people through to get checked in kept going through the times that people would have been given, & letting those whose time she'd reached go on. Didn't take too long to get to '15:45', & got checked in, sat & waited for about 15 minutes for the security queue to swallow up the folk who'd checked in before me, & was on the ship at almost exactly 13:30.   So, yes, DO try it...& have a great trip !

[Wonky]

My other half is on a cruise with their mother next week in the same cabin and they have been given different boarding times😂!!!

[tring]

4 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

We will also be Caribbean on our next cruise, we will plan to arrive for 13:00 regardless of what it says on our boarding pass as I believe that the status trumps the allocated time on the boarding pass. Albeit we are not too bothered about the lunch we expect P&O to honour our 13:00 boarding.

 

We will be Caribbean before our August/September cruises and I looked up the perks a couple of days ago.  Baltic and Ligurian levels mention the embarkation lunch, but Caribbean does not but I thought people have mentioned that on here for Caribbean.

 

Perhaps a recent change?

 

I believe the embarkation time will vary for Caribbean depending how many high level members are on the cruise, so the smaller ships and longer cruises will have later boarding times.

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by tring

[Son of Anarchy]

7 minutes ago, tring said:

 

We will be Caribbean before our August cruise and I looked up the perks a couple of days ago.  Baltic and Ligurian levels mention the embarkation lunch, but Caribbean does not but I thought people have mentioned that. 

 

Perhaps a recent change?

It looks like it is now called the Welcome on Board Reception, under the Benefits at Our Home Port heading.