When does Cunard typically assign the boarding times?

[ace2542]

I am 94 days out from the cruise on August 23rd. I can complete the check in info which I have not done yet. Would the boarding times be assigned after this completion?

[exlondoner]

21 days I think, when you check in.

[Pushpit]

Yes, if check-in is available. I must admit I thought it was 21 days. There is some other information you complete before that time, such as insurance information and contact addresses. That's different to the check-in process where the critical stage is putting a credit card against your onboard account. They take a notional $1 off that to check it works and then refund it later. But you do get an email from Cunard when check-in is available and the boarding time is on the boarding pass. In at least the UK market the subject line of the email (in case it has gone to spam) is

 

Online check-in is now open for your voyage

 

 

[Bell Boy]

1 hour ago, ace2542 said:

I am 94 days out from the cruise on August 23rd. I can complete the check in info which I have not done yet. Would the boarding times be assigned after this completion?

Approximately 21 days before departure. You will usually be advised (via email) that 'Check-in' is now open.

The time allocated is the 'Arrival time at the Terminal' not necessarily Boarding/Embarkation time. 

[*Miss G*]

I received an email stating “Online check-in is now open for your voyage” at exactly 21 days to embarkation. There was additional information required to be filled in, including the input of your credit card information and a $1.00 transaction verification, as @Pushpit says.
 

When you have completed the above requirements you will be able to download your boarding pass with the assigned arrival time. 

[57eric]

Are boarding times a real thing in Southampton?  I've never paid any attention at Red Hook.

[Megabear2]

5 minutes ago, 57eric said:

Are boarding times a real thing in Southampton?  I've never paid any attention at Red Hook.

Yes, very much adhered to these days.

[Winifred 22]

4 hours ago, 57eric said:

Are boarding times a real thing in Southampton?  I've never paid any attention at Red Hook.

Arrive too early and you may be asked to wait in a queue outside of the terminal building. Your boarding pass will be checked on arrival and depending how busy it is and how early you are will either let in or directed to a queue until your time is called.

[jay1283]

For those especially eager to know their boarding time, I've found check-in to be open at the start of the 21st day (e.g. on a Wednesday morning three weeks prior to departing on a Wednesday), but the email doesn't usually arrive until lunchtime.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, Winifred 22 said:

Arrive too early and you may be asked to wait in a queue outside of the terminal building. Your boarding pass will be checked on arrival and depending how busy it is and how early you are will either let in or directed to a queue until your time is called.

Not necessarily. I arrived at 12.30, as requested. There were a lot of people about, but I didn’t have to wait long, as I was Grills. However, the person in front of me had a time of 2.30, and had clearly been allowed to go ahead. All a bit of a lottery.

[Pushpit]

6 hours ago, 57eric said:

Are boarding times a real thing in Southampton?  I've never paid any attention at Red Hook.

The way I see this is that Cunard has to do something to prevent everyone turning up at 12:00, and if a lot of people turn up early then they only let in priority passengers, or queue off non priority passengers outside the terminal for a while

 

When the first groups get boarded - 12:45, 13:00 hrs - then they can deal with more passengers in the indoors queuing system, with priority customers fed directly to the first set of desks on the left, and everyone else in the tensa system on the right. By about 14:00 hrs it usually doesn't matter, the system is working smoothly with short queues, and by 15:00 hrs you may well be able to walk straight to a check-in desk, straight to security, straight on board. So regardless of the time on the boarding pass, the later the more civilised.

 

I've not seen a hard and fast adherence to the stated boarding time, the staff there are outsourced but tend to try and help everyone rather than upsetting anyone. So in short I think it's more of a guideline, plus it is more pleasant to avoid the first hour or so.

[Winifred 22]

14 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

The way I see this is that Cunard has to do something to prevent everyone turning up at 12:00, and if a lot of people turn up early then they only let in priority passengers, or queue off non priority passengers outside the terminal for a while

 

When the first groups get boarded - 12:45, 13:00 hrs - then they can deal with more passengers in the indoors queuing system, with priority customers fed directly to the first set of desks on the left, and everyone else in the tensa system on the right. By about 14:00 hrs it usually doesn't matter, the system is working smoothly with short queues, and by 15:00 hrs you may well be able to walk straight to a check-in desk, straight to security, straight on board. So regardless of the time on the boarding pass, the later the more civilised.

 

I've not seen a hard and fast adherence to the stated boarding time, the staff there are outsourced but tend to try and help everyone rather than upsetting anyone. So in short I think it's more of a guideline, plus it is more pleasant to avoid the first hour or so.

Last few times  I have sailed in the last 9 months they  were adhering to times and asking people to wait if too early.particular for my 14 night TA last August. Off next week but have 13:00 so will be interesting to see what’s what.

[Bell Boy]

4 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Not necessarily. I arrived at 12.30, as requested. There were a lot of people about, but I didn’t have to wait long, as I was Grills. However, the person in front of me had a time of 2.30, and had clearly been allowed to go ahead. All a bit of a lottery.

The person who had a 2.30 arrival time , possibly had 'Priority' across their boarding card  and not necessarily a gorilla.

The agents in the yellow visors managing the lines outside are accommodating to those with  'Priority' than the actual arrival time . On the maiden last week ( Britannia Club) I had a 2pm arrival time , I totally ignored that as it would have pointless to have been offered Priority and then join the large lines.   

[Pushpit]

2 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

The person who had a 2.30 arrival time , possibly had 'Priority' across their boarding card  and not necessarily a gorilla.

The agents in the yellow visors managing the lines outside are accommodating to those with  'Priority' than the actual arrival time . On the maiden last week ( Britannia Club) I had a 2pm arrival time , I totally ignored that as it would have pointless to have been offered Priority and then join the large lines.   

I thought that was the likeliest scenario, that it was a Club / Platinum / Diamond with a later time, I've have had as late as 15:45, but I was allowed on well before that, and with welcoming smiles all round. Had you gone at 14:00 hrs then I would hope you would have been swept off to the Priority Desks anyway, they keep them open to the last person has boarded.

[buchanan101]

I assume that Grills are always early/ish. Only 32 days now (PG on QA).. good to get on board early to get lunch! last time we were QG and turned up even earlier than the time we were given (as coming across from IoW) and all was fine

[exlondoner]

17 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

I assume that Grills are always early/ish. Only 32 days now (PG on QA).. good to get on board early to get lunch! last time we were QG and turned up even earlier than the time we were given (as coming across from IoW) and all was fine

Barring mishaps, lunch is usually 1-2.30.

[Ray66]

Our boarding time was assigned 3 weeks prior to the day.  We were given 2.45pm even though we have been Diamond for a while.  We have previously been used to having been given 12.30pm and having priority on our labels. But no priority given this time. We feel we have been downgraded and also we'll have to find somewhere to have lunch in Southampton, having previously been able to have it on board.

[Pushpit]

15 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

Our boarding time was assigned 3 weeks prior to the day.  We were given 2.45pm even though we have been Diamond for a while.  We have previously been used to having been given 12.30pm and having priority on our labels. But no priority given this time. We feel we have been downgraded and also we'll have to find somewhere to have lunch in Southampton, having previously been able to have it on board.

Platinums and Diamonds do get priority, it's just the boarding pass sometimes "forgets" to print it. When you get to Mayflower (?) the signs for the relevant queue area will have Platinum and Diamond mentioned on them. As mentioned above, if you go earlier you will be allowed on. In terms of trading off busy-ness and lunch (say Golden Lion) then 13:30 hrs to 14:00 hrs should work out and give you a late lunch option. If you go much before that time you will risk the check-in, security and boarding process taking longer, hence the trade off. Priority doesn't appear on the luggage labels.

Edited May 23 by Pushpit

[Poole Boy]

32 minutes ago, Ray66 said:

Our boarding time was assigned 3 weeks prior to the day.  We were given 2.45pm even though we have been Diamond for a while.  We have previously been used to having been given 12.30pm and having priority on our labels. But no priority given this time. We feel we have been downgraded and also we'll have to find somewhere to have lunch in Southampton, having previously been able to have it on board.

Priority, does not mean early. It means you go to the Priority queue at your appointed boarding time.

 

I'm Diamond and have a 3.45 checkin tomorrow for QA

[rsquare]

I have a related question about boarding times.  I am travelling with a friend; we each have our own booking number and cabin, although the two bookings are linked so we can sit together at dinner, and the cabins are next door to each other.

 

I am Diamond, my friend is on her second Cunard voyage (the first was in 1959!), so presumably Silver.  I see high potential for being assigned two different boarding times.

 

My  question is, how much does my Diamond priority extend to my travelling companion on a separate though linked booking?  If I get a 1:30p boarding time and my friend gets a 3:30p boarding time, can we just show up together at 1:30p at the Priority check-in desk, or will she be sent back to wait her turn.  BTW, this is for a Southampton embarkation.

[exlondoner]

17 minutes ago, rsquare said:

I have a related question about boarding times.  I am travelling with a friend; we each have our own booking number and cabin, although the two bookings are linked so we can sit together at dinner, and the cabins are next door to each other.

 

I am Diamond, my friend is on her second Cunard voyage (the first was in 1959!), so presumably Silver.  I see high potential for being assigned two different boarding times.

 

My  question is, how much does my Diamond priority extend to my travelling companion on a separate though linked booking?  If I get a 1:30p boarding time and my friend gets a 3:30p boarding time, can we just show up together at 1:30p at the Priority check-in desk, or will she be sent back to wait her turn.  BTW, this is for a Southampton embarkation.

Show up together. It’ll be fine.

[Pushpit]

If your staterooms are close by each other, I would expect you to get similar boarding times. I suspect if you both go together to the priority check-in desk, at about that time or perhaps a little later, then it shouldn't be a problem and the worst of any queues will have gone.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Ray66 said:

Our boarding time was assigned 3 weeks prior to the day.  We were given 2.45pm even though we have been Diamond for a while.  We have previously been used to having been given 12.30pm and having priority on our labels. But no priority given this time. We feel we have been downgraded and also we'll have to find somewhere to have lunch in Southampton, having previously been able to have it on board.

I have the same for tomorrow, Diamond no priority.  I'm quite happy with whatever time I'm given, but this is indeed the first time I've had the experience.  I assume as I'm on Queen Anne there will be a substantial number of Diamond WC people on this voyage.  We can't all get on at once so it is what it is as far as I'm concerned.

[Bell Boy]

56 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

Priority, does not mean early. It means you go to the Priority queue at your appointed boarding time.

 

I'm Diamond and have a 3.45 checkin tomorrow for QA

Can I ask do you have 'Priority' across the boarding card you have just printed off .  

[Bell Boy]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

I have the same for tomorrow, Diamond no priority.  I'm quite happy with whatever time I'm given, but this is indeed the first time I've had the experience.  I assume as I'm on Queen Anne there will be a substantial number of Diamond WC people on this voyage.  We can't all get on at once so it is what it is as far as I'm concerned.

This nonsense was supposed to be only for last weeks QA maiden , it's not so much for being able to board early , priority was more about 'Checking-in' and not standing in long lines outside.

 

Cunard need to kick this in the head in the future if they are considering accepting priority only for Grills & Club.