Delayed boarding - priority boarding still good?

[vancouvergirl2010]

I received an email stating that boarding will be delayed tomorrow for the Island Princess in San Pedro. The email states that the terminal will be closed until 2pm, with boarding between 2-4 pm. I expect this may be a bit of a gong show. It also states that passengers will board according to cabin numbers. Do platinum members still priority board in these situations?

[Pia1913]

I received an email stating that boarding will be delayed tomorrow for the Island Princess in San Pedro. The email states that the terminal will be closed until 2pm, with boarding between 2-4 pm. I expect this may be a bit of a gong show. It also states that passengers will board according to cabin numbers. Do platinum members still priority board in these situations?

 

 

This same thing was stated when we boarded the Coral end of October. We still got to pier at 11:00 and boarded by noon. We are Elite.

[vancouvergirl2010]

This same thing was stated when we boarded the Coral end of October. We still got to pier at 11:00 and boarded by noon. We are Elite.

 

Thanks Pia. We will get there around noon as our car rental is due at 11:30.

[paul929207]

I have found that if boarding is really delayed, the preferred system seems to break down. They just have too many people trying to board to control who is preferred and who is not.

[capriccio]

I received an email stating that boarding will be delayed tomorrow for the Island Princess in San Pedro. The email states that the terminal will be closed until 2pm, with boarding between 2-4 pm. I expect this may be a bit of a gong show. It also states that passengers will board according to cabin numbers. Do platinum members still priority board in these situations?

 

This doesn't look like a case of staggered boarding since it says the terminal will be closed until 2 pm. Maybe they're cleaning the ship? Whatever the reason, why would you want to arrive before 2 pm and not even be able to get into the building?

[Bucky3]

This same thing was stated when we boarded the Coral end of October. We still got to pier at 11:00 and boarded by noon. We are Elite.

 

Pia - Did they actually say that the TERMINAL WILL BE CLOSED ?

[OnlineMom]

I have found that if boarding is really delayed, the preferred system seems to break down. They just have too many people trying to board to control who is preferred and who is not.

 

That's definitely been our experience, too.

 

Back in 2009, we sailed the Sapphire out of Seattle to Alaska and, despite being Elite, were one of the last to get onboard even though we were at port before noon. There had been a big noro outbreak the week prior and they told us there would be delays. They weren't kidding. :rolleyes: They shipped us all over Seattle via bus to various hotels to complete an "expedited check-in" but, by the time they brought us back to the port, we barely had time to run to our cabins and grab lifejackets for the muster drill.

[rkmw]

Thanks Pia. We will get there around noon as our car rental is due at 11:30.

the terminal will be closed until 2 pm

 

if thats happens and people get there early they will have to wait

[Pia1913]

Pia - Did they actually say that the TERMINAL WILL BE CLOSED ?

 

That's exactly what they said. We stayed overnight at the Crowne Plaza, and the desk people said they had been telling passengers the same thing for weeks. :rolleyes:

[Solara]

That's exactly what they said. We stayed overnight at the Crowne Plaza, and the desk people said they had been telling passengers the same thing for weeks. :rolleyes:

 

 

I received an email stating that boarding will be delayed tomorrow for the Island Princess in San Pedro. The email states that the terminal will be closed until 2pm, with boarding between 2-4 pm. I expect this may be a bit of a gong show. It also states that passengers will board according to cabin numbers. Do platinum members still priority board in these situations?

 

Same thing happened to us in January when we sailed on the Golden. Told us that pier was closed until 2PM. We also stayed at the Crowne Plaza & they said Princess had been telling cruisers that for quite awhile. We decided to get to the pier at 10:30 anyway. We are also Elite & this time we got on the ship earlier than we ever have from San Pedro at 11:30.

[critterchick]

I have some friends doing the BVE on Sapphire tomorrow (also out of San Pedro, so 2 Princess ships in port:D), and they all received emails asking them not to come to the port until 11:45, instead of 11:30. I'm trying to envision what, other than a really big wedding party, would delay boarding by 15 minutes (and why it's worth sending an email).

 

I, on the other hand, am sailing:D:D, and haven't gotten anything advising that there will be a delay in boarding.

 

So we plan to be there at 10:45 or so.

[RickEk]

The notification was because they believe there will be delays because of reduced staffing of customs officials which would delay the previous cruise's disembarkation...