Sun Princess embarkation Sydney

Could anyone tell me how strict it is to board Sun Princess in Sydney. We are only on the ship for 2 days yet we cannot board until 230 pm because of the deck we are on. Would they mind if we turn up earlier. I would rather just be on board relaxing.

The Princess boarding times are recommendations only. Boarding starts around 11:30am usually, with check-in opening a bit earlier so aim to get there around 11am. When you check in you will be given a boarding group number, then you wait until the boarding groups are called. First they will call the priority boarding groups, then the regular boarding groups, with about five minutes or so between each group. At that point you go through passport control, security, and on to the ship. Unless everyone on that cruise decides to arrive at the same time you should be on the ship quite quickly.

Have a great cruise.

Oh, Thankyou for letting me know. That sounds great.

Hi, We're on the same cruise and am not supposed to board until 3pm, but we will get there early. We've done one Princess cruise before and again, not supposed to board until later, but we got there at noon, and were on shortly after. Hopefully we both can board early:)

I'm sure you'll be able to.

Otherwise just drop your bags, go to lunch at the rocks or the quay and board later at your leisure.

Thanks for the advise, but we live in Wollongong and know Sydney like the back of our hands. Like everyone, we're keen on getting on board and checking out the ship. We'll try to get on board early and if we get knocked back, we'll follow your recommendation:)

No worries, enjoy.

Just asking for update on Princess boarding times/suggestions. This is the first time we've had emails and texts re deck allocated times. The fine print indicates that even preferred boarding passes only mean first in your time slot. Don't need to be first on but would prefer earlier than 2.30pm time slot. Like having time to get re-acquainted with the ship before muster etc. Hoping it's still same as indicated in this thread earlier in the year. Thanks.

Just get there whenever you want. We've done around 10 cruises out of Sydney, and always have a later embarkation time due to our cabin choice and deck. We have only once had an issue with getting on around noon, and that was because of a massive computer meltdown in the terminal. It was raining so we stood our ground and didn't move out of the line (nor did anyone else), and we got on and were having lunch within the hour.

They're not strict with embarkation times.

After all, they want happy passengers :)

I too was worried that I would have to wait until 2:30 to board when I cruised on Sun Princess, but we turned up at 11:50. There was no hassle, no questions asked about why we were so early. In fact it was the smoothest boarding ever. Took about 20 minutes from the time we dropped out luggage off until the time we were on board. We were sitting down in the Horizon court eating lunch about 12:20 pm.

@Sanjanjo that's what I'm hoping for. It's just that we've not had texts etc previously, so wondered if they were more strict now. We'll take a chance our preferred boarding status will get us on board!! At least we're going on a cruising holiday!!

@Sanjanjo that's what I'm hoping for. It's just that we've not had texts etc previously, so wondered if they were more strict now. We'll take a chance our preferred boarding status will get us on board!! At least we're going on a cruising holiday!!

Enjoy your cruise and when you get back, put up a post and let us know whether the texts etc were sent because they are more strict now. I'd like to think I can get on as early as I've always done :D

Any updates on this? We did a cruise out of Brisbane with Princess and they were strict. But we are doing the Majestic Princess out of Sydney in a couple of days time. Our flight from Brisbane arrives at 11:40 and our boarding time is 4pm with weather forecast to be a hot one. Really would just like to get onboard.

7 hours ago, JAK Cruisers said:

Any updates on this? We did a cruise out of Brisbane with Princess and they were strict. But we are doing the Majestic Princess out of Sydney in a couple of days time. Our flight from Brisbane arrives at 11:40 and our boarding time is 4pm with weather forecast to be a hot one. Really would just like to get onboard.

On our Princess cruise from Portside last November, the boarding times were NOT enforced, however on a P&O cruise from Portside in 2017, boarding times were strictly enforced (passengers could not enter the terminal until their allotted time). For your Majestic cruise in a few days' time, I suggest going straight to the OPT and seeing if you can board.

By the way, with Princess, the main dining room is open for lunch on embarkation day from 12 until 1.30. This is a lovely way to start a cruise, rather than joining the crowd in the Horizon Court.