As a passenger, I don’t want to sit in any terminal, beautiful or not, I want to be on my ship and having lunch there. I certainly don’t want to have to hang around a terminal for long enough to need to eat there. One of the great joys of cruising is that the embarkation experience is so unlike that at airports. Despite a bad experience during Covid, over the years my average transit time at Southampton would be under half an hour. Take security out and it would be considerably less.
Just remember, it is not Cunard who manage, if that is the right word, the embarkation process, it is Intercruises. And I don’t think the comparison with airports is quite fair. People are regularly expected to check in two or three hours before their flights. The hope with cruises is that it will be a lot less than an hour. Nobody wants passengers to linger and clutter up the terminal ambling around shops
Strangely, on our boarding papers for QV later this month, it says please arrive promptly. I tend to assume ‘promptly’ means we shouldn’t be late. I should have expected it would also say something about not being early or we’ll have to wait outside, but it doesn’t.
Well, the journey time by road may be unpredictable, by rail on a weekday it should be all right, unless it is a strike day. I was actually talking about the time from Bournemouth, which is close to Southampton, but on the two-lane A31, which is very prone to delays.
Well, embarkation time is dependent on how long it takes to get the ship ready, which seems to be a bit longer these days. Over the years we have been on at 11.30, and later than 1, during Covid. One time, unusually, we were let on and told to wait in the QG lounge, but snuck off on Deck 7, to find our cabin ready, apart from the chocolates.
Yes, we have 12.30 too, and will do much the same, though, even from as close as Bournemouth, it is strangely hard to predict how long it will take to get to Southampton.
Maybe, but you have to be dressed to use them, and stay for a while. With your own balcony, you can wander out when you see something particularly interesting, and first thing in the morning before you are dressed, and so on.
Are there now porters to take your luggage from the car? That will be a relief.
Why do I have to show my credit card when that has all been done on line?
And then ours would be cancelled. When they pushed back her entry into service, they reinstated the original maiden passengers onto the new one. So we would be left sulking in Southampton.😢