Britannia crowds boarding

Took friends yesterday to ocean terminal to board Britannia, and could not believe the chaos, queues of cars everywhere. Had a phone call from friends to say the hall for check in was packed. They where not sure what was happening, anybody know.

Lynn

Probably everyone ignored their check in time and turned up when they wanted to.

We embarked 2 weeks ago on Britannia and the crowds were massive. The organisation is phenomenal. P&O manage to disembark, clean the cabins etc and embark a huge number of people and personally I think the procedure is remarkable.

Probably everyone ignored their check in time and turned up when they wanted to.

My thoughts too. From I what I have seen a large number of customers generally ignore all times provided by P&O for anything . There are many posts on this forum from people confirming this.

My thoughts too. From I what I have seen a large number of customers generally ignore all times provided by P&O for anything . There are many posts on this forum from people confirming this.

It's understandable that people will want to schedule arriving early in case of delays in they days travel, however once in there terminal P&O should perhaps make them wait and then stick to their scheduled boarding time.

It is arguably not fair on those with a noon boarding time say, to have to wait while hundreds of people with a 3pm boarding time are processed first.

All of these bigger ships now seem to still be arriving and departing at the same times as smaller ships. The logistics and timing of refuelling and putting all stores on must be a nightmare and then getting everyone on the ships too. Amazing coordinators.

Couldn't agree more. People are trying to get on earlier an earlier from what I read and yes, people on here always telling them to go earlier than the time they were given and then they wonder why it's chaotic.

Don't get why an extra hour or two makes any difference and it would make it so much easier for yourself just breezing on at your allocated time, as opposed to joining the chaos in the hope you'll get on 10 mins earlier, when in reality is what's been pointed in the OP. Utter chaos! :confused:

A good idea of how busy it is likely to be at Southampton can be obtained by looking at http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk they show the schedule at to bottom of the Home Page Passenger and Cruise Ship Schedule and Terminal Information. On Sunday 14 July Royal Princess, Celebrity Eclipse, Queen Mary2 and Aurora are all departing. Should be very busy today.

Regards John

It's understandable that people will want to schedule arriving early in case of delays in they days travel, however once in there terminal P&O should perhaps make them wait and then stick to their scheduled boarding time.

 

It is arguably not fair on those with a noon boarding time say, to have to wait while hundreds of people with a 3pm boarding time are processed first.

It is my understanding that those with 12.00 checkin times are all on priority, suite passengers or higher tier passengers. They get pushed to the front anyway.

We had 45 minute delay when we disembarked so when we were outside waiting to be picked up people were being dropped off with their cases. It was difficult for those being collected by taxis and friends as they couldn't find a space to stop and collect them and this was before noon. Bad organisation.

Never happened on Adonia.

David.

Bad organisation.

Please explain - do you close the dock gates until 11.58

If you have to travel down to Southampton the day before, as you live in the north, then you have to turn up early, as your hotel wants you to check out at 11 a.m. What are you supposed to do, wander around Southampton in the rain with your suitcases?

IMO you should be able to specify a boarding time when booking, based on your travel arrangements.

I think with a lot of people it is missing out on your first lunch onboard if you have a late boarding time.

In the old days on the Canberra embarkation did not start till after 2.00 pm.

Maybe the cruise lines will start charging a supplement to board early like Silverseas do.

I've never understood it, but for the last 3 years on Celebrity Eclipse we have arrived at the ship around 11.30 and more or less walked straight on, but all of the other cruises have meant long queues or waits in overcrowdeed halls.

I'm not sure if it is the port or the cruise line that is responsible for any problems, but I'm not convinced it is the passenger as many seem to suggest.

I've never understood it, but for the last 3 years on Celebrity Eclipse we have arrived at the ship around 11.30 and more or less walked straight on, but all of the other cruises have meant long queues or waits in overcrowdeed halls.

 

I'm not sure if it is the port or the cruise line that is responsible for any problems, but I'm not convinced it is the passenger as many seem to suggest.

You are absolutely correct and the reasons are.

The ABP parking is much slicker than CPS, no waiting in queues while they unload 6 cars at a time and then wait for shuttle drivers to take your car offsite before the next 6 cars are unloaded.

You are directed to a car park and porters collect your cases and load them into waiting vehicles, you then leave your car, keep your keys and walk into the terminal.

You then clear security first before you enter the boarding lounge, and then join a short queue for check in, and in no time you are on board.

No waiting for your boarding number to be called, and then trooping en masse to join a long queue waiting for security. (Actually to be fair Ocean terminal now has a much larger area for security, and progress is much faster).

So no, IMO, it is the procedures P&O use that cause the build up of crowds, not passengers arriving too early. if it was the latter then passengers arriving after 2:30 should waltz on board without any delays, but this never seems to happen.

We are on Anthem Of The Seas in Sep and when online check in opens 3 months prior you select your preferred boarding time, rather than randomly being allocated it.

However given it seems disembarkation on Britannia was delayed then this would explain the busy terminal for those trying to board. We we on the Easter School Holiday Britannia cruise and check in was a breeze.

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Last July we waltzed onto Emerald Princess at the Queen Elizabeth terminal once we had waited a little while for CPS to take our car keys. We've never been on a ship so early. Even had time for a drink before lunch.

Personally, I don't care whether I have to wait to board or not. It's not as if the ship will leave without you. Why the impatience to get on and then get off at the end of the cruise. Same with airplanes too!

Even arriving at your allocated time doesn't help. We arrived at the terminal the other week at our allocated time, the check in lounge was crowded with all seats taken and folk standing. It took almost 2hrs before we were called forward to check in. B the time we boarded we had missed an opportunity to have lunch on the ship.

I can fully understand why folk arrive early, but maybe if early arrivals were refused entry to the terminal this would stop it happening?

We are on Anthem Of The Seas in Sep and when online check in opens 3 months prior you select your preferred boarding time, rather than randomly being allocated it.

 

 

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My friend and I boarded Anthem (4000 odd pax) and from arrival to on board took 20 mins BUT we arrived within our preselected arrival window and did the online check-in prior to leaving home, which includes uploading your own photo.

Those that arrived before their window had to wait in the terminal.

Personally, I don't care whether I have to wait to board or not. It's not as if the ship will leave without you. Why the impatience to get on and then get off at the end of the cruise. Same with airplanes too!

It sounds as if P&O could do better but this made me smile. Waiting at the gate to board a plane I can't help but watch those who edge closer and closer to the gate as if their life depends on being amongst the first to get on and this is with pre-allocated seating. You are so right ..... it's the fear of missing out.

The reality is that most folk just want to get on board as quickly as possible (from wherever they have come).

On other lines where you self check in and select your own boarding time, what happens when folk then arrive far earlier for whatever reason because their real desired time wasn't available (first come first served I guess)?

It is my understanding that those with 12.00 checkin times are all on priority, suite passengers or higher tier passengers. They get pushed to the front anyway.

No they dont we are higher tier members of The Peninsular Club so therefore one of the perks is champagne lunch onboard on embarking but we always get an embarkation time of 3pm. We stay in hotel in Southampton night before means we have to leave hotel at midday so where are we supposed to go with all our luggage so we go to the terminal.

My friends have priority boarding and they arrived a while after us at the terminal and were pushed forward the twice we have sailed with them and were finished lunch by the time we met them.

We always aim to arrive around 1300. It's perfect. The mad lot who have to be on board at 12 noon have gone. We have never queued to check in, well not more than 5 minutes. I don't give a toss about the lunch. Quite happy to have a salad in the buffet.

It won't be long before they do what Fred does. Nobody boards until 1400. You can check in when you like, but you wait in the terminal for boarding.

From our expereience at QE II terminal three years ago any slight problem with the system can quickly lead to a huge build up of passengers.

In our case CPS were introducing some new systems and were short staffed then part of the security scanning system failed.

What should take about an hour took closer to three and QEII didn't have any large indoor waiting or seating area. It was not a good advert for the many overseas passengers.