Southampton Embarkation Time

[lpjroms]

We have been with P&O a few times and have always got to the terminal about 12.30am and gone straight aboard.

 

Off to the Fjords next week on Aurora and have noticed that the E-Ticket gives us a Check-In time of 14.45. Does anyone know whether we will be allowed to board before that time if we get there early? Dont particularly want to spent 2 hours sat in the terminal!

 

Thanks

 

Lin

[the english lady]

you will get replies that you can turn up when you like (after 12 midday) and can board, but one of the posters on this site posted on his blog that P and O may be going to get stricter with their going onboard times, and if it says you board at 15.00 (lets say) ,that is when they will let you board, have to see if that happens.

Fred does not start boarding at all until 14.00-by which times you can go straight to your cabin-and your luggage should be waiting for you there. Nowhere is open to eat so your cabin get you out of the way so to speak.

Not sure which is the best system really.

[davecttr]

We have been with P&O a few times and have always got to the terminal about 12.30am and gone straight aboard.

 

Off to the Fjords next week on Aurora and have noticed that the E-Ticket gives us a Check-In time of 14.45. Does anyone know whether we will be allowed to board before that time if we get there early? Dont particularly want to spent 2 hours sat in the terminal!

 

Thanks

 

Lin

Just turn up at your normal time and you should be OK.

 

There are rumours that P&O might follow other lines and impose boarding times. IMO it would be a public relations disaster.

[daiB]

Just turn up at your normal time and you should be OK.

 

There are rumours that P&O might follow other lines and impose boarding times. IMO it would be a public relations disaster.

 

 

Not if every other line was doing the same.

 

 

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[davecttr]

Not if every other line was doing the same.

 

 

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In which case it would be a public relations disaster for every line ;)

[the english lady]

In which case it would be a public relations disaster for every line ;)

 

As I posted Fred do not starting boarding anyone until 14.00 approx. They also do not have anywhere open to eat onboard. If you are on late seating for dinner it can be a very very long time until you can eat.

I don't think they think it is a public relations disaster.

[CCFC]

They also don't have 3,000 passengers turning up.

[davecttr]

As I posted Fred do not starting boarding anyone until 14.00 approx. They also do not have anywhere open to eat onboard. If you are on late seating for dinner it can be a very very long time until you can eat.

I don't think they think it is a public relations disaster.

Have they always done it this way?

 

The public relatuions problem comes when you try to replace a liberal system with a more restrictive one.

 

Have P&O being getting more liberal as the boarding starts earlier in the morning? i have seen the check-in desks open just after 11.30 am.

 

not everyone will be able to get to the terminal on time. what happens if you are delayed? Is your boarding 'slot' just unused, ie the check-in desk stays empty for that few minutes, or do they just process the next passengers. If they process the next passengers you might as well turn up early and hope for a free slot ;)

[NSWP]

Just turn up at your normal time and you should be OK.

 

There are rumours that P&O might follow other lines and impose boarding times. IMO it would be a public relations disaster.

Well I can tell you with P&O now you do get given a boarding time. We were on Arcadia J402 on 13 April, embarking at Ocean Terminal Southampton. We had a 3pm boarding time and stuck to it. Staggered boarding times are done to reduce congestion and line ups at check in, plus ease traffic congestion at the terminals. P&O should enforce the given times and force those turning up earlier than their given time to wait.

 

Why would it be a PR disaster? Overseas Terminal in Sydney enforces boarding times with some cruise lines.

Edited May 23, 2014 by NSWP

[the english lady]

Have they always done it this way?

Well we haven't cruised with Fred for a good few years and it was the same all those years ago.

At least when you do board you can go straight to your cabin. Only problem is the food thing. However knowing how much people eat on a cruise a little empty spot before you start does not harm one.

They also started kicking you off at the end quite early as well, from what I remember.

I think they did by decks. We were one of the first off, however the transport we used that time to/from the port was a sort of taxi, that if you were prepared to share was quite a reasonable price. Our only problem was the people we were shared with were one of the last off.

[davecttr]

I travel to Southampton by train and it is always prudent to build in time for delays due to a leaf on the line or some such nonsense. I would not travel on a train with an arrival time at Southampton after 12 noon.

 

My preferred alternative is to stay in a hotel the night before, however, you have to vacate your room by 12 noon.

 

In both situations mooching around the town with all those suitcases in the rain for a couple of hours is not my idea of a good start to the holiday. I will turn up at the Ocean terminal anyway, get rid of the cases and sit around in the departure lounge.

 

What will they do with coach travellers. Will everyone on the same coach have the same check in time?

 

As I understand it the problem is with traffic and parking, they are hoping to deter people from all attempting to park at the same time.

 

It seems to me that with up to 1800 check-ins to get through in about 4 hours they should want people to get to the terminal as soon as possible.

 

Or maybe choosing your check-in time could be a select fare perk :D

[davecttr]

Well I can tell you with P&O now you do get given a boarding time. We were on Arcadia J402 on 13 April, embarking at Ocean Terminal Southampton. We had a 3pm boarding time and stuck to it. Staggered boarding times are done to reduce congestion and line ups at check in, plus ease traffic congestion at the terminals. P&O should enforce the given times and force those turning up earlier than their given time to wait.

 

Why would it be a PR disaster? Overseas Terminal in Sydney enforces boarding times with some cruise lines.

 

Anything P&O does that even slightly irritates the 'oldies' has the makings of a PR disaster.

[daiB]

Anything P&O does that even slightly irritates the 'oldies' has the makings of a PR disaster.

 

 

Dave it is only a few years ago that embarkation started at 14.00. You checked in at the Mayflower from 12.00 and waited in the barn upstairs. You could be there up to 3 hours. So getting on at 12 is not part of the P&O thing. The oldies are quite used to waiting to board.

 

 

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[Mysticalmother]

Personally I prefer to board a bit later! There are some nice places ashore to have a bite to eat before you board, without the rugby scrum in the Self service restaurant on board. CPS (if you use them) are waiting for you, there are no queues in the terminal, my cabin is always ready and it is a far more relaxing start to my holiday. OK it might cost me a tenner for lunch whereas it is free on board, but if I am spending upwards of a grand for my cruise, what's another tenner....?

[tom_uk]

Dave it is only a few years ago that embarkation started at 14.00. You checked in at the Mayflower from 12.00 and waited in the barn upstairs. You could be there up to 3 hours. So getting on at 12 is not part of the P&O thing. The oldies are quite used to waiting to board.

 

 

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Ah! That clears up something my wife and I were wondering about recently. We were comparing the Ocean terminal with City - where we had to check in for the Grand Event on Oriana - and commenting on the presence of seats, etc, *after* checkin. "Why anyone want to sit down at that point when you can go aboard?" we were wondering. Now we have an answer....

 

I think our first cruise on P&O was in 2008, on Oriana, possibly from QEII, and I have a feeling that we didn't arrive until about 2 o'clock anyway. It's probably only since the Ocean terminal opened that we've taken to arriving before noon.

[jeanlyon]

I've just sailed with Fred and we arrived about 1 o'clock. We checked in straight away and then sat in the lounge. We were called by deck and we boarded around 1400. No problem at all.

[davecttr]

Now we have these mega ships with a lot of people to process they have to make the most of the available time hence the earlier starts to the check-in procedure. If you are giving people 12 noon or earlier arrival times I guess you have to offer them lunch aboard.

 

Now what hapens if you are given a 11.30 arrival time but can't make it to the terminal until 1.30? Do you get stressed in case they tell you off for being late :)

 

turning people away would be fun. Take the Ocean terminal as an example. There would have to be an extended security zone at street level to keep the early arrivers out of the building. 'sorry sir you can't enter until 2.30', 'OK i will stand here then, oh!, i have to join the queue extending out of the dock gate?' 'hold on, there are 1000 spare seats upstairs' :eek:

 

it may never happen ;)

 

or maybe we can have an online check-in swop shop

Edited May 23, 2014 by davecttr

[Brayman]

The single biggest thing I hated about flying was the check-in system at airports when we used to queue for ever!

 

So pleased when we started cruising and then even more pleased when we first used the Ocean Terminal, that's the way to get us on board with the least amount of hassle. Mayflower is ok if there isn't a queue but I prefer Ocean.

[babs135]

If we turn up early and they won't let us board until our designated time of 3pm is there somewhere to eat at the terminal? DH is a diabetic and would need to know.

[Brayman]

If we turn up early and they won't let us board until our designated time of 3pm is there somewhere to eat at the terminal? DH is a diabetic and would need to know.

 

Not really apart from a tiny snack bar, but don't worry, they won't turn you away.

[daiB]

If we turn up early and they won't let us board until our designated time of 3pm is there somewhere to eat at the terminal? DH is a diabetic and would need to know.

 

 

Remember the strict boarding times do not involve P&O at the moment, only Princess, RCI and Celebrity.

 

 

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[jeanlyon]

If we turn up early and they won't let us board until our designated time of 3pm is there somewhere to eat at the terminal? DH is a diabetic and would need to know.

 

They have sandwiches and drinks, but frankly I would take my own. That's what we do when sailing with Fred.

[cruisegirl999]

So what do we do in this scenario. We are travelling in our car with my parents who are both in their late 70's, one who has a mobility disability. We are entitled to priority boarding (Baltic) and time is shown on ticket as 12 noon. Parents are shown at 2.30pm. We are on a linked booking and booked at the same time.

 

Do we just dump parents outside the terminal and hope it isn't raining or arrive at their time.

 

I seriously hope that P&O are going to give some thought to this procedure if they do introduce it. Loyal passengers/suite passengers should be entitled to board at 12 in order to use the benefits of their loyalty. I hope that priority is also given to those passengers who have booked a select fare, maybe they choose their time when they book the cruise and the saver fares gets what left.

[davecttr]

So what do we do in this scenario. We are travelling in our car with my parents who are both in their late 70's, one who has a mobility disability. We are entitled to priority boarding (Baltic) and time is shown on ticket as 12 noon. Parents are shown at 2.30pm. We are on a linked booking and booked at the same time.

 

Do we just dump parents outside the terminal and hope it isn't raining or arrive at their time.

 

I seriously hope that P&O are going to give some thought to this procedure if they do introduce it. Loyal passengers/suite passengers should be entitled to board at 12 in order to use the benefits of their loyalty. I hope that priority is also given to those passengers who have booked a select fare, maybe they choose their time when they book the cruise and the saver fares gets what left.

As Dai writes above, P&O have not implemented this policy yet and may never do so. Arrive at the terminal at a time convenient for you and the whole party will be able to board together. :)

[Presto2]

I hope that priority is also given to those passengers who have booked a select fare, maybe they choose their time when they book the cruise and the saver fares gets what left.

 

I know that P&O haven't introduced this yet but I imagine that they will follow all the other cruise lines. As cruisegirl999 says, it would be a good idea to link it to the select fare as a perk of booking early - the later you book the less chance of getting the time you want. As we tend to book well in advance I'd be really unhappy if it was done in deck order and we were boarding at something silly like 3pm when someone who had booked just weeks before and paid half the price boarded at noon just because they were on the deck above. :confused: