Staggered Boarding

Carnival is testing out staggered boarding in Galveston and planning on having it at all ports in 2016. I know Princess assigns, but does not enforce, boarding times.

Do any of the other cruise lines actually enforce staggered boarding?

Carnival is testing out staggered boarding in Galveston and planning on having it at all ports in 2016. I know Princess assigns, but does not enforce, boarding times.

 

Do any of the other cruise lines actually enforce staggered boarding?

Royal does not enforce. I'll bet the local hotels aren't fond of this, they need the turn around time as well.

Oceania has staggered boarding and enforces it often enough that it is best to go at your assigned time.

Does Celebrity enforce boarding times? This will be my first time cruising and I have a boarding time of 12pm. I was thinking of showing up at 11:00am. Do you think I'll be able to board? I'm Concierge level if that makes a difference.

Yes, in Southampton this is becoming more common, as larger ships come in every year, and people have to be processed just as quickly as when smaller ships were in.

The first we knew about was RCI, last year, where everyone boarded according to their deck, at half hour intervals. Princess appeared to do the same. This year P&O, which has the most ships in that port, have begun the staggered embarkations, so that will be most of the bigger ships in port...I haven't heard about Cunard, but I know that the dock side workers have been trained to do the work this way.

Lol. When I first read the thread title I was picturing someone boarding drunk. :D

I have never understood the point of racing onto the ship as soon as possible, even if that means standing in line for an hour or more. For what? One more buffet meal just like all of the ones you're going to have for the duration of the cruise?

I do understand wanting to squeeze every bit out of your investment but to make yourself miserable in order to do so seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face, as my grandmother used to say. I'd rather enjoy a leisurely lunch somewhere near the port and arrive after 2 PM when there's no line and I can go directly to my cabin rather than hang around in the public areas standing watch over my carry on bags.

I have followed (and commented)on several of the threads on the Carnival board related to this topic, and frankly I still do not see a problem. We always arrive for boarding between 11:00-11:30 and have always been checked in very quickly and on board within 30 minutes. We have sailed from multiple ports on multiple cruise lines and have never encountered long waits at all.

On our recent crossing Cunard had given check-in times, but did not adhere to them. Depending on local travel arrangements, hotel check-out times, etc. it is difficult to fine tune terminal arrival time. It would be even more difficult for the line to enforce: imagine the absurdity of not processing people who were there just because their time hadn't come - if some people whose time had come were running late. With the exception of special check-in lines for people entitled to perks, all lines seem to go on a first come first served basis.

On recent sailing on Cunard and "X" the boarding times were not enforced. If everyone was able to arrive at their scheduled boarding time, I'm sure the "flow" would make for a very expeditious process, but with folks arriving on flights, cabs, vans, hotel shuttles, it's not always possible for everyone to arrive at the pier at their "scheduled" time. So rather than make folks sit and wait, they usually just process folks as they arrive.

Does Celebrity enforce boarding times? This will be my first time cruising and I have a boarding time of 12pm. I was thinking of showing up at 11:00am. Do you think I'll be able to board? I'm Concierge level if that makes a difference.

You don't have the penthouse or a suite or Aqua. BUT you have a TIME

We had staggered boarding on both our Australian cruises in Sydney this past winter. Princess @Whites Bay and RCI @Circular Quay. And it seemed to be enforced.

Our impression was that it went quite well. We arrived five minutes ahead of our time. Waited less than ten minutes and then went straight on and through the formalities with no further waiting.

Does Celebrity enforce boarding times? This will be my first time cruising and I have a boarding time of 12pm. I was thinking of showing up at 11:00am. Do you think I'll be able to board? I'm Concierge level if that makes a difference.

You don't have the Penthouse , a Suite or Aqua BUT you have a TIME

What is it that you don't understand.

Lol. When I first read the thread title I was picturing someone boarding drunk. :D

That's the 'peer runners' thread :D

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2284410

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I'm not sure as I don't cruise Disney, but I thought I read in a review where someone was doing a comparison that Disney does assigned times as well.

I'm not really fond of it myself, as we will be leaving our hotel and it makes us leave more on a "schedule" than just going with the flow and calling a taxi to the port whenever we are ready, but I mean there's really nothing I can do about it.

I think it's just going to be a thing of the future, especially with the ships getting bigger and bigger. The terminals just cannot accommodate the amount of people who rush to the port.

It does not really bother us as we either get late check out from the hotel or store our bags & go off sightseeing have a nice lunch then head to the ship about 1-2 PM

By then we usually just walk right on no waiting or just a short line

Royal does not enforce. I'll bet the local hotels aren't fond of this, they need the turn around time as well.

not entirely true. some ports DO enforce it. and it is the port, not always the line that is responsible.

many people have confirmed that Royal in Oz has been enforcing staggered times

You don't have the Penthouse , a Suite or Aqua BUT you have a TIME

What is it that you don't understand.

My question was if that time is enforced. I've read so many threads with advice to get to the port early and get on the ship and start enjoying your vacation. So what I want to know if whether I can actually show up at 11am and start the boarding process or if Celebrity will stick to a strict policy of not allowing people on until the time listed on their xpress pass. The only reason I mentioned a "level" was because I was under the impression that if you got a Concierge room that there might be a different line, etc. you get in. I don't know that for sure having never done this before, but it was the impression my travel agent gave me back when I booked.

Lol. When I first read the thread title I was picturing someone boarding drunk. :D

And my first thought was of certain individuals coming back on board after stopping in Cozumel. :D

I have never understood the point of racing onto the ship as soon as possible, even if that means standing in line for an hour or more. For what? One more buffet meal just like all of the ones you're going to have for the duration of the cruise?

 

I do understand wanting to squeeze every bit out of your investment but to make yourself miserable in order to do so seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face, as my grandmother used to say. I'd rather enjoy a leisurely lunch somewhere near the port and arrive after 2 PM when there's no line and I can go directly to my cabin rather than hang around in the public areas standing watch over my carry on bags.

I concur.

not entirely true. some ports DO enforce it. and it is the port, not always the line that is responsible.

 

many people have confirmed that Royal in Oz has been enforcing staggered times

It is hard to visualize it being strictly enforced. If someone shows up an hour later than assigned time, will they be automatically be boarded before someone who is there, at the right time -- thereby penalizing someone who tried to play by the rules? How late would someone have to be to miss their boarding time - and being required to wait until the place was empty?

Seems to be a way to control the early birds, rather than those who show up at a later time. Although the three day Friday embark cruises on the west coast are busier closer to sail away as pax want to get a half day in at work.

Hi All,

In my experience of sailing from mostly Southampton and several ports in N. America, arriving earlier, later and on time the queues are worse in N.America they just don't seem as efficient. We tend to cruise on the larger ships. The last time we cruised from Southampton in May on the Allure we were on the ship within 15 minutes of parking the car. In October we sailed on the Grand Princess from San Francisco and it took over an hour from getting out of the taxi.

I don't think arriving at your alloted time makes much difference and I very much doubt they would enforce times as all they want to do is get you onto the ship as quickly and easily as they can.

Pete

I doubt that staggered boarding is more efficient. I recall a Northwest Airlines study that found that the best way to board a plane was to let people board as they arrived and want to, none of this Group 1, Group 2 business. They also found that the thing that most clogs airplane aisles on boarding was people taking something out of their carry on for the flight, but you never hear an announcement to take out your flight essentials before boarding a plane.

I doubt that cruise lines or port authorities have done the engineering studies, controlled experiments, or mathematical modeling to find the best way to board ships.

My question was if that time is enforced. I've read so many threads with advice to get to the port early and get on the ship and start enjoying your vacation. So what I want to know if whether I can actually show up at 11am and start the boarding process or if Celebrity will stick to a strict policy of not allowing people on until the time listed on their xpress pass. The only reason I mentioned a "level" was because I was under the impression that if you got a Concierge room that there might be a different line, etc. you get in. I don't know that for sure having never done this before, but it was the impression my travel agent gave me back when I booked.

I don't think Celebrity enforces it but we were in a suite in September so the by deck boarding did not apply to us. We got to the pier around 11:30 and except for the suite line the lines were very long. I have seen different lines for passengers sailing in a concierge cabin.