Jump to content

Boarding procedures/PH1?


riffatsea
 Share

Recommended Posts

New to Oceania. I understand that with this cabin we can board early at 11 AM.

I was surprised to read on the thread about lunch on embarkation day that our suite may not be ready when we board. Does that mean that we cannot drop our carryon in the cabin ? We don't need it to be completely ready but we don't like dragging suitcases around with us and had expected suites to be ready if we can board early!

Disappointed if this is not the case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The cabins will not be ready at 11 am maybe the OS, VS & OC suites are

 

then the PH cabins are next usually by noon I believe

 

Concierge cabins are usually by 1:30pm & the rest by 3pm

they do not want people going to the cabins getting in the way of progress

 

a small carry on with valuables & meds should not be hard to carry around for a short time

 

or if it is too much trouble then just go to the port later

 

It is not like there will be thousands of people trying to get to the food to get their money worth like the mega ships

JMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very disappointed to hear this!! IF we liked being on the front or back of ships I would have booked a higher level suite. We have not checked luggage anywhere for years and years and always have our carryon with us which is why we book suites and expect them to be ready! I will have to really rethink this cruise and our embarkation plans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very disappointed to hear this!! IF we liked being on the front or back of ships I would have booked a higher level suite. We have not checked luggage anywhere for years and years and always have our carryon with us which is why we book suites and expect them to be ready! I will have to really rethink this cruise and our embarkation plans.

 

 

As aforementioned, there's really no "thundering herd" milling about on an Oceania ship on embarkation day (nor will you find that many people adverse to turning over luggage at boarding - except for a small "carryon"/personal item with meds/valuables/etc).

If you can't handle this perceived inconvenience, there's always Carnival.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very disappointed to hear this!! IF we liked being on the front or back of ships I would have booked a higher level suite. We have not checked luggage anywhere for years and years and always have our carryon with us which is why we book suites and expect them to be ready! I will have to really rethink this cruise and our embarkation plans.

 

I have to wonder about how proactive you are in leaving the Suite on disembarkation day so that the next set of passengers may have that same expectation?

 

Do you find turnabout to be fair play? :evilsmile:

or at least :evilsmile:advocate

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very disappointed to hear this!! IF we liked being on the front or back of ships I would have booked a higher level suite. We have not checked luggage anywhere for years and years and always have our carryon with us which is why we book suites and expect them to be ready! I will have to really rethink this cruise and our embarkation plans.

 

If that is your only criteria for choosing cruise lines then perhaps other lines may work better for you.

I choose for itineraries, food, service, ambience, fellow passsengers and many other considerations.

When my cabin is ready doesn’t even enter into the equation and it certainly would not make me “rethink the cruise”.

Obviously, YMMV

Edited by Paulchili
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get yourself a table to eat lunch, store your stuff under the table, eat a leisurely lunch then find a comfortable place to sit and maybe have a drink, that should waste the two hours you will be inconvenienced by this. Alternatively board at 1pm when you know your cabin will be ready for definite. 2 hours isn’t a long time in the scheme of things :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very disappointed to hear this!! IF we liked being on the front or back of ships I would have booked a higher level suite. We have not checked luggage anywhere for years and years and always have our carryon with us which is why we book suites and expect them to be ready! I will have to really rethink this cruise and our embarkation plans.

 

I assume that you are in PH since you don’t like front or back of ship. May I suggest that you just board after 1:00 or 2:00 when you are certain to have your room ready.

 

There’s a lot of work/cleaning/preparing for the crew to do on turn-around day. I would think there is a bit of a wait on most if not all ships. Please share what cruise line you have sailed on which your mid-level suite was always ready before noon.

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you people may know , everyone travels differently.

We picked this cruise because of the itinerary.

We like service and comfort and being able to go to our cabin when we board is something we prefer. The fact that many of you don't think it is important is certainly your prerogative. I didn't say we'd cancel the cruise because of this issue but it is something for us to think about in terms of when we'd board and if we upgrade to a suite that will be ready earlier.

We like our luggage with us whether on a plane or on a ship. That's just our preference and if you don't share it then that's just fine! We have not necessarily been allowed to board on other lines at 11 but since this line allows suites to board at that time I just expected that cabins would also be ready or else they'd not allow that early boarding. Silly me!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess it would be better to sit in the terminal until all cabins are ready instead of getting on the ship for lunch for those that come early

 

Sorry I find your expectation arguments a little strange

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you people may know , everyone travels differently.

We picked this cruise because of the itinerary.

We like service and comfort and being able to go to our cabin when we board is something we prefer. The fact that many of you don't think it is important is certainly your prerogative. I didn't say we'd cancel the cruise because of this issue but it is something for us to think about in terms of when we'd board and if we upgrade to a suite that will be ready earlier.

We like our luggage with us whether on a plane or on a ship. That's just our preference and if you don't share it then that's just fine! We have not necessarily been allowed to board on other lines at 11 but since this line allows suites to board at that time I just expected that cabins would also be ready or else they'd not allow that early boarding. Silly me!!

 

Could you not just put your luggage outside your cabin if you don’t want to lug it around until your cabin is ready?

Surely it would be safe there. That is exactly what is done to the luggage when it is delivered by staff and also left outside cabins the night before disembarkation and nobody seems to object to that.

Also, I suspect you could place your luggage inside the cabin (out of the way) as long as you don’t expect to “use” your cabin and unpack before it’s ready.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We travel strictly for itinerary, including the City of embarkment. We go into the embarkment city 1-3 days early for sightseeing and jet lag adjustment. We leave our bags with the hotel concierge to sightsee and have lunch in the City on embarkment day. Even in a PH,We plan on arriving at the ship from 2:30-3:30. Our cabin is always ready upon arrival , no fighting the lunch crowds with all their carryon, and experience an easy quiet check in process. I recommend this process highly!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No matter what cruise line we cruise we get the higher end suites that are always ready when we get on the ship. We do board early, that said we always check our luggage-on a plane or a porter at the dock. Just don't understand why anyone would want to carry their luggage around with them. In fact I wish airlines wouldn't let people carry on everything they want--they don't seem to care about others with waking to their seat. Just me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be fine if we could put our luggage into our cabin even if it was not "ready" for us to use. I got the impression that it was not done on Oceania.

Not sure why all the judgement abounding here about our preferences??

If you don't understand folks who travel light and like to keep their own things then I cannot explain it to you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some cruise lines do not let anyone board until all cabins are ready for occupancy. Oceania, on several fronts, attempts to treat its passengers as adults, but asks them not to enter their cabins until their decks are called. All are expected to abide by those policies. PH are normally ready by 1:00.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we travel light but still check our bags with the porters

 

just a small carry on with valuables & meds stay with us

They do not want people dropping their bags in the rooms or hallways ..if you have seen the crew work on turnaround day you would understand

 

just saying

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@LHT28,

<sigh> You have been quite helpful to me and so I find your reply surprising.

No of course it wouldn't be better to sit in the terminal instead of having lunch!

Can you not understand that since suites are allowed the privilege of boarding early I thought that we'd also be able to access our cabins??

Since you are an old hand at Oceania of course you knew that this wasn't possible but for new folks like us it was an unhappy surprise.

We will deal with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@LHT28,

<sigh> You have been quite helpful to me and so I find your reply surprising.

No of course it wouldn't be better to sit in the terminal instead of having lunch!

Can you not understand that since suites are allowed the privilege of boarding early I thought that we'd also be able to access our cabins??

Since you are an old hand at Oceania of course you knew that this wasn't possible but for new folks like us it was an unhappy surprise.

We will deal with it.

well since you only book suites do other lines have the cabins ready when you board at 11 am or are you made to wait until they are ready to board??

We never book suites so I have no idea how it works on Carnival or the likes

 

We can board a t noon for A cabins but I do not expect them to be ready to use

 

Just saying

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be fine if we could put our luggage into our cabin even if it was not "ready" for us to use. I got the impression that it was not done on Oceania.

 

Not sure why all the judgement abounding here about our preferences??

 

If you don't understand folks who travel light and like to keep their own things then I cannot explain it to you.

 

 

 

Once you become an Oceania "loyalist" (somewhat hard to avoid once you've experienced one or two cruises), you'll come to realize that the above comments are not meant to "judge." Rather, and even if we all have idiosyncratic complaints, you'll find quite a few O regulars who believe: "don't fix what ain't broken" when it comes to O's policies/procedures/routines.

In fact, my chief complaint about Oceania (voiced over and over again on mid/end cruise surveys, lunch/dinner with ship personnel, etc.) is that current crew name tags are useless because they are unreadable unless you get "up close and personal."496d18eebb30d2551a4e668df59ccbe6.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you not just put your luggage outside your cabin if you don’t want to lug it around until your cabin is ready?

Surely it would be safe there. That is exactly what is done to the luggage when it is delivered by staff and also left outside cabins the night before disembarkation and nobody seems to object to that.

Also, I suspect you could place your luggage inside the cabin (out of the way) as long as you don’t expect to “use” your cabin and unpack before it’s ready.

 

I would not count on doing this, as the protocol is supposed to be that the doors from the elevator lobbies to the cabin hallways are sealed until the Housekeeping Supervisor inspects and releases that deck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would not count on doing this, as the protocol is supposed to be that the doors from the elevator lobbies to the cabin hallways are sealed until the Housekeeping Supervisor inspects and releases that deck.

 

This was our experience with one of the aft PH’s. They announced the PH’s being ready, but we had to wait for the rest of deck 7 to open.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...