Blue lane if you are from UK at Southampton

[Two 2 Tango]

Hi, We have sailed with Princess many times and are platinum members and this gives you priority boarding. But if you are from UK and boarding in Southampton you have to pick up your medallion at the port. The problem now with the new rules if you don't have your gong sent home (Cant if you live and boar in UK) then you are now automatically in the "blue" lane which means you will have to queue behind people who either can't or don't know how to fill in your details. The new rules have been made with USA in mind and They have not taken into account that the vast majority at Southampton will be picking up their gongs and now in the blue lane. They need an extra lane for people who have not filled in their details, one for people who have, one for the minority who will be in green lane and one for priority. There does not seem to be any incentive to bother filling in your details as you will still be in the same queue, and probably queuing up outside in a very long line.

[cimarron42]

There was only one line at the QEII terminal in Southampton back in May. We were in the queue and at the check in desk for a total of around 2 mins. 90 seconds of that was the staff member walking away to fetch our medallions from the box.  It felt quite slick and fast moving.  Will see what it’s like on Aug 19th…..

[villauk]

2 minutes ago, cimarron42 said:

Will see what it’s like on Aug 19th…..

 

Chaos probably as we’ll be the first with the new changes.

[Lady Arwen]

We’re Canadian (Well,  I am. My DH is a Brit living in Canada) so no pre shipping of the Medallion for us either.  Once you enter the terminal you can retrieve your Medallion and the rest should happen quite fast as long as you have provided all your necessary information on the app beforehand.  We have priority boarding, but expect it to take a bit longer than usual.  Not a big deal for us.  We’ve learned long ago to pack our patience when cruising.  We board in three weeks and spending three days in Southampton prior to the cruise.

[Stokie33]

We sailed from Mayflower terminal in June and there were 2 queues once inside the terminal normal and priority boarding for platinum, elite and suites, it was well signed plus the staff are really helpful 

[antsp]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

Chaos probably as we’ll be the first with the new changes.

Chaos, why it will be like pre Covid. 

[dides]

5 hours ago, Two 2 Tango said:

But if you are from UK and boarding in Southampton you have to pick up your medallion at the port. The problem now with the new rules if you don't have your gong sent home (Cant if you live and boar in UK) then you are now automatically in the "blue" lane which means you will have to queue behind people who either can't or don't know how to fill in your details. The new rules have been made with USA in mind and They have not taken into account that the vast majority at Southampton will be picking up their gongs and now in the blue lane. They need an extra lane for people who have not filled in their details, one for people who have, one for the minority who will be in green lane and one for priority. There does not seem to be any incentive to bother filling in your details as you will still be in the same queue, and probably queuing up outside in a very long line.

 

It will be interesting to see how they manage this! It might be just for the rest of this season - could have sworn there was a mention on here that Princess had said they were aiming to rollout medallion delivery by post to other nations - e.g. UK, Canada, Aus and NZ by the end of this year. 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by dides

[antsp]

Absolute fuss about nothing, it's exactly as its always been at Southampton 

[Two 2 Tango]

I am the original poster, yes as has been stated and it was the same for us a couple of weeks ago; but if you check their website they have just changed the rules. No it will not be the same for UK and Canadian guests at Southampton because Princess will not ship our gongs to us and we only have the option to pick them up at the port and by default if you do not have your gong delivered to home you will automatically be in the blue lane. With the majority of guests boarding at Southampton being from UK then there will be long "blue line" queues.

I have checked the website regarding "Princess Plus" and it states the following with no geographical exceptions stated, therefore if you have booked princess plus then request they deliver your gong to home.

Seamless and Speedy Boarding with OceanReady “Green Lane”

As part of our commitment to delivering the smoothest and fastest embarkation process in the industry, the Princess App now boasts an enhanced OceanReady process. Guests achieve express "Green Lane Status" by ensuring all travel information and documents are complete and by having the exclusive Princess Medallion delivered to home before embarkation day when they’ll proceed directly to the ship with no lines or hassles. For the ultimate convenience, both Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages include complimentary Medallion at home delivery. For guests on Princess Standard fares, a nominal shipping fee of $10 per stateroom will be added on Medallion/Accessory orders shipped to home.

  

[Two 2 Tango]

20 hours ago, antsp said:

Chaos, why it will be like pre Covid. 

OK for USA as you can have your gong sent home and be in the green lane. Do!

[Two 2 Tango]

17 hours ago, antsp said:

Absolute fuss about nothing, it's exactly as its always been at Southampton 

Yes it will be for you from USA as you get your gong sent home and will be in the very short green lane

[Two 2 Tango]

21 hours ago, Stokie33 said:

We sailed from Mayflower terminal in June and there were 2 queues once inside the terminal normal and priority boarding for platinum, elite and suites, it was well signed plus the staff are really helpful 

We sailed two weeks ago and were on in 20 minutes but if you keep up with the news you will find they have changed the rules.

[Stokie33]

I do keep up with the news and there’s always been blue and green lanes at Southampton but it never mattered what colour you were, the only difference was if you had priority or not.

as a previous person put nothing as really changed for uk passengers leaving from Southampton 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

I was at the Mayflower terminal 2 days ago. I got there at 12.30 pm. There were 2 lanes. One for elite/suite and one for everyone else. No one in either lane. Walked straight to the counter. There were a few others at the counters. Two minutes later I was boarding the ship. They had lots of staff. Best service I’ve ever had 😊