New boarding times on IOS from Southampton

[LADenton2385]

Hi I am sailing this Sat and they are telling me I can't board till 2:30pm due to road works, what,,,, I want to board ASAP, can we board earlier or will they make me wait to these times?

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

Hi I am sailing this Sat and they are telling me I can't board till 2:30pm due to road works, what,,,, I want to board ASAP, can we board earlier or will they make me wait to these times?

 

 

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They are trying to spread the people out to avoid bottlenecks or delays. They aren't going to beat you (or keep you out) if you come earlier. They are just hoping that enough people listen to them to make the check-in and boarding process go smoothly.

[peteukmcr]

According to our 'letter' the earliest you will be allowed to arrive will be 11:00.

 

We are currently making enhancements to the City Cruise Terminal in Southampton and seating space is extremely limited during this period. For this reason we will not be able to accommodate guests in the terminal before 11:00 AM. In order to enhance the check-in and boarding experience and to limit queues and waiting times, we have scheduled the below check-in appointments for our guests. Guests arriving before this time will be asked to return at their assigned check-in time.

 

Not heard of experiences of what actually happens if you turn up before your allotted time as per the list below.

 

Check-In Appointment

Royal Caribbean International would like to offer the following check-in times to better enhance the check-in and boarding experience. Check-in will take place between 11:00 AM and 3:30 PM. We encourage and recommend guests arrive at the following designated times to limit queues and wait times.

Suite, Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, Emerald and Platinum Guests can check-in and board anytime at their convenience between the hours of 11:00 AM and 3:30 PM. This also applies for any guests who have purchased Flights and/ or Transfers through Royal Caribbean International. Gold Members are asked to refer to their assigned check-in time.

Deck 10 - 11:00 AM

Deck 9 - 11:30 AM

Deck 8 - 12:15 PM

Deck 7 - 1:15 PM

Deck 6 - 2:15 PM

Deck 2 & 3 - 3:15 PM

 

We're on deck 9 but are also D+ so will be there (walking distance from the hotel) at 11.

Edited August 20, 2014 by peteukmcr

[peteukmcr]

They are trying to spread the people out to avoid bottlenecks or delays. They aren't going to beat you (or keep you out) if you come earlier. They are just hoping that enough people listen to them to make the check-in and boarding process go smoothly.

Not according to the letter being sent to those embarking at Southampton. Have you personal experience of boarding in Southampton recently?

[Adayatatime]

Hi I am sailing this Sat and they are telling me I can't board till 2:30pm due to road works, what,,,, I want to board ASAP, can we board earlier or will they make me wait to these times?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Hello!

 

Yes I have this letter too. I didn't have this one last year when we did the same cruise, so yes it is different to last year (I mentioned it in the roll call).

 

My check in official time is about 1pm but I'm going to get there early anyway, and risk having to wait. We've waited that long at an airport before. If they throw us out of the whole terminal the shopping centre is over the road!

Edited August 20, 2014 by Adayatatime

[Merion_Mom]

Not according to the letter being sent to those embarking at Southampton. Have you personal experience of boarding in Southampton recently?

 

Not in the past year. :)

[Adayatatime]

Not in the past year. :)

 

This is an additional email which wasn't distributed this time last year.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Adayatatime

[NorbertsNiece]

I was recently on a day visit to a ship Southampton. I had this conversation with a Check In co-ordinator. She was quite clear that nothing has essentially changed and as mentioned previously it is a matter of attempting to regulate the flow of passenger traffic through the terminal. According to my notes of the day they started checkin for passengers at around 1010! We were sat in the pre-boarding waiting area and I saw people walking in at that time.

[Tosara21]

Yesterday I printed our set sail passes and other documents.

 

It clearly states that our check-in time is .....anytime between the hrs. of 11am----3.30pm. and we are on deck 3.

 

As we are overnighting in Southampton we will be there for 10.30am.

[Adayatatime]

I was recently on a day visit to a ship Southampton. I had this conversation with a Check In co-ordinator. She was quite clear that nothing has essentially changed and as mentioned previously it is a matter of attempting to regulate the flow of passenger traffic through the terminal. According to my notes of the day they started checkin for passengers at around 1010! We were sat in the pre-boarding waiting area and I saw people walking in at that time.

 

Fab, that's what I was hoping. It is an additional email though, I didn't have this one last year. We still had the suggested times, but this recent email was a little more 'direct'. I can see passengers adhering to this one more.

[Adayatatime]

Yesterday I printed our set sail passes and other documents.

 

It clearly states that our check-in time is .....anytime between the hrs. of 11am----3.30pm. and we are on deck 3.

 

As we are overnighting in Southampton we will be there for 10.30am.

 

Did you not have a separate email last week? We will be there early too :)

[Tosara21]

Have not received any email apart from telling me that the documents were ready to download.

Imho I think that boarding times are generally allocated according to people's arrival in Southampton and are not relevant as to what deck they are on.

 

We are also just Gold Members and have not booked any flight or transfer with RCI, which according to a previous post means that we are not allowed to board until 3.15pm.

[Adayatatime]

Have not received any email apart from telling me that the documents were ready to download.

Imho I think that boarding times are generally allocated according to people's arrival in Southampton and are not relevant as to what deck they are on.

 

We are also just Gold Members and have not booked any flight or transfer with RCI, which according to a previous post means that we are not allowed to board until 3.15pm.

 

We were on by 11 if I remember correctly last year, in fact, we were so early at the car park we had to wait for the shuttle :D. Got straight on the ship. This email though is in addition to the normal suggested times, strange some of us have had it and some not. We are lowly gold too. :)

[Prewitt]

I was recently on a day visit to a ship Southampton. I had this conversation with a Check In co-ordinator. She was quite clear that nothing has essentially changed and as mentioned previously it is a matter of attempting to regulate the flow of passenger traffic through the terminal. According to my notes of the day they started checkin for passengers at around 1010! We were sat in the pre-boarding waiting area and I saw people walking in at that time.

 

Seems to be new policy, not only restricted to Southampton.

I will board Legend OTS in Hamburg on Sunday, I received the same "attempt" to regulate the flow of passenger. "...seating space is extremely limited etc...". I don't like it though, beeing advised to board at a specified time. My train arrives at 10:15 in Hamburg, I will be at the terminal around 10:30 and following RCI's boarding times deckwise would mean that I would have to kill a lot of time before I'm allowd to board.

[NorbertsNiece]

Seems to be new policy, not only restricted to Southampton.

I will board Legend OTS in Hamburg on Sunday, I received the same "attempt" to regulate the flow of passenger. "...seating space is extremely limited etc...". I don't like it though, beeing advised to board at a specified time. My train arrives at 10:15 in Hamburg, I will be at the terminal around 10:30 and following RCI's boarding times deckwise would mean that I would have to kill a lot of time before I'm allowd to board.

 

Absolutely. It makes sense that people who are flying in will go straight to the terminal.... at any port.... there are those who could arrive later simply by dint of having a hotel they can hang out in for a while but seriously..... it's our holiday and if we don't mind queuing at peak times that's our choice. They're not strict about the times they suggest. The only time I definitely WOULD arrive later would be a cruise after a TA or repositioning where inspections are going to be carried out..... had a nightmare boarding Navigator in 2011 and Adventure in San Juan.

[rwright261]

Glad to see this thread. We are staying in Southampton the night before we cruise and plan to be at the terminal between 10.30-11.00am. Hopefully they will let us on board. I want my holiday to start as soon as possible :D

[lancashire_cruisers]

We got the email too (only 1 more day in work!! :D) but seeing as we're in a GS we can just waft in any time we feel like!

 

Debbie :)

[Zogriv]

Have not received any email apart from telling me that the documents were ready to download.

Imho I think that boarding times are generally allocated according to people's arrival in Southampton and are not relevant as to what deck they are on.

 

We are also just Gold Members and have not booked any flight or transfer with RCI, which according to a previous post means that we are not allowed to board until 3.15pm.

 

Nothing to do with the topic just happy to see someone from Durham on cruise critic :p

[Adayatatime]

We got the email too (only 1 more day in work!! :D) but seeing as we're in a GS we can just waft in any time we feel like!

 

Debbie :)

 

So, you'll be the one waving to us lot behind caged doors :D

 

I will be the one handing out sardine sandwiches in the queue :)

[LADenton2385]

Thanks everyone, I will be on board as soon as I can, can't wait now x

[Dwalkerdave]

We got this email etc when we sailed, there us no change really nobody will stop you boarding. I had 2.15 as deck 6 but was onboard by 12.00.

 

Don't panic they will not turn you away..

[Adayatatime]

We got this email etc when we sailed, there us no change really nobody will stop you boarding. I had 2.15 as deck 6 but was onboard by 12.00.

 

Don't panic they will not turn you away..

 

Yipidoo thank you x

[lancashire_cruisers]

So, you'll be the one waving to us lot behind caged doors :D

 

I will be the one handing out sardine sandwiches in the queue :)

 

Yep that'll be us :D The first time we've had a suite and we are beyond excited about it!

 

We'll probably get there early too as we're staying in Southampton on Friday night.

 

Debbie :)

[LADenton2385]

We got this email etc when we sailed, there us no change really nobody will stop you boarding. I had 2.15 as deck 6 but was onboard by 12.00.

 

Don't panic they will not turn you away..

 

Thanks, we are stopping the night b4, hubby that excited as it's our 3rd time and he wants to board at 8am, I've told him that the others won't have left by then, so the sooner the better x

[moshek]

Sailed on IOS last month.

Set sail documents tell you boarding is 11 - 3.30 but a few days before leaving we received email outlining the staggered boarding according to decks.

However we arrived at terminal around 1 - 1 1/2 hours before our allotted time and had no problem checking in, not asked which deck e were on as we entered terminal building so I think it is really just to spread arrivals out. There were 4 ships boarding that day roads were busy from before M3 with combination of port traffic and south coast holidaymakers.

 

Michelle x