Boarding times assigned by deck number?

[AZ Deb]

Hubby and I will be sailing on Solstice later this summer. Today I received notification from Celebrity that passengers should board during pre-designated time periods, based on our cabin's deck number.

 

Is this something new? Our last Celebrity cruise was in October, and nothing was said about it then. This will be our seventh Celebrity cruise and we've always just shown up sometime after 10:30 a.m. and been allowed on board as soon as we made it through the lines.

 

Would love to hear the scoop. Thanks in advance.

[Missymo]

It's probably being done to ease the congestion at the Seattle pier. We received the same information 3 times so far lol .

[ChiGal1962]

They have relatively recently started "suggesting" boarding times. I believe it's an effort to ease congestion on embarkation.

 

I ignore the suggested time and show up when I want to show up. Haven't been turned away yet :)

[Pinkbudgie]

It's probably being done to ease the congestion at the Seattle pier. We received the same information 3 times so far lol .

 

We have too, by text AND emails each time.

[Langley Cruisers]

This is not new but as stated, it is done so in an effort to ease congestion. If, say, 50% of passengers abide by the suggested times then I suppose they would consider it a success.

 

Arrive when you want and board early if you choose. In my opinion, the first day is a day we've paid for and we want to get there as soon as possible and start our vacation. :D

[tangerinebunny]

Has anyone noticed if the 'suggestions' are truly easing congestion?

 

I ask because we're scheduled for an early Seattle boarding time next month and I wonder how crowded it will be.

[ClaudiaB]

I don't know of anyone who goes by those times. Just get there when you want to.

I want to get on as soon as I can - enjoy my first day as soon as I can.

 

Not sure if it helps but then again we always have priority with our cabin choice so ..

[cruisingsince94]

It's being done by RCI as well to try and alleviate congestion and smooth the boarding process. Most simply ignore it and show up as they normally would. It probably would work if people followed the request but of course it's not going to happen.

[SantaFeFan]

It's being done by RCI as well to try and alleviate congestion and smooth the boarding process. Most simply ignore it and show up as they normally would. It probably would work if people followed the request but of course it's not going to happen.

 

Call me selfish, but what is wrong with first come first served? People who arrange to arrive early get on board first. Those who take their time, get on board next. Everyone understands this simple concept.

 

When staying in a hotel, check out time is usually around 11:00 am, sometimes even earlier. We always leave by checkout time and head over to the ship. We prefer enjoying as much as possible of the cruise we have paid for, so we board early and enjoy an already paid for lunch instead of wandering around a strange city for a few hours and paying for lunch on shore.

 

It isn't fair to ask certain people to wait a few hours while allowing others to board earlier. The money I paid for my cruise is just as good as theirs, so why should they get more benefits out of their investment than me?

 

Asking people to wait puts them in a tough spot. They aren't wanted at the hotel any longer, and then they aren't wanted on board either. Not a good way to treat a paying customer who is excited about starting their cruise. :(

 

Luckily, I have never been on a cruise where I have been asked to board at a time later than others.

Edited June 23, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[Btank]

This is not new but as stated, it is done so in an effort to ease congestion. If, say, 50% of passengers abide by the suggested times then I suppose they would consider it a success.

 

Add "resounding" before success, and that might be more descriptive about how they would feel. Queuing theory is sometimes more art than science, but the impact of waits / delays in line on customer satisfaction is known. If even 10 - 20% of the people who would show up at peak times could be shifted to another time - much less distributed over a 4 hour window - the reduction in wait time at peak would be worth it. Don't believe me? There's a reason why Disney World started "Fast Passes"! :D

 

That being said, my recent ticket booklet for our August Summit cruise recommended decks 9 & 11 board at 11am, then went down the decks from there. At the end of the table of decks and times, it pointed out that suite and Captain's Club members (no level specified) could board at their leisure.

 

--bruce T.

[jelayne]

Recent cruise we showed up when it was convient, not the suggested time- it was a zoo and took almost an hour to get thru check-in and on the ship. Can't complain as we chose to ignore the suggested boarding time.

[canuckinindia]

Could be linked to optimizing cleaning of floors and rooms on a deck wise basis. Reduces the time people might be waiting onboard for their rooms to be ready.

[chemmo]

We were amazed at the speed and efficiency boarding our last cruise in Fort Lauderdale. Although we did not have a fixed time, as others have said, after checkout from your hotel it is difficult with luggage etc to do little other than go to the cruise port. So we arrived at 11.45 expecting chaos. We found dropping luggage, security... much less frantic than our last cruise. There were short queues in some lines but not massive.

 

I don't know how much this improvement is down to some people keeping to their boarding times or if we were just lucky. We did mention it to a Miami couple we chatted with and she said the cruise possibly had quite a lot of 'locals' on board. Locals find it easier to come at alternative times, possibly less frantic to get onboard...

[ghstudio]

That being said, my recent ticket booklet for our August Summit cruise recommended decks 9 & 11 board at 11am, then went down the decks from there. At the end of the table of decks and times, it pointed out that suite and Captain's Club members (no level specified) could board at their leisure.

 

--bruce T.

 

Since Celebrity added "Preview" member to the captain's club memo, that means that almost all of the boarding passengers are captain's club "something"....so the entire memo doesn't apply to.....anyone.

 

Even without the "preview" level, anyone who has sailed on celebrity before can apparently board at their leisure.

 

One just has to scratch one's head and wonder if anyone in Celebrity HQ knows how badly they communicate.

[ozark74]

Since Celebrity added "Preview" member to the captain's club memo, that means that almost all of the boarding passengers are captain's club "something"....so the entire memo doesn't apply to.....anyone.

 

Even without the "preview" level, anyone who has sailed on celebrity before can apparently board at their leisure.

 

One just has to scratch one's head and wonder if anyone in Celebrity HQ knows how badly they communicate.

 

The email we got stated that Zenith, Elite Plus, and Elite could board at our leisure. Everyone else was to board by deck.

[Btank]

The email we got stated that Zenith, Elite Plus, and Elite could board at our leisure. Everyone else was to board by deck.

 

It sounds like this might differ from ship-to-ship.

 

--bruce T.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Since they don't actually board by deck, this is all a tempest in a teapot.

 

[dkjretired]

Since Celebrity added "Preview" member to the captain's club memo, that means that almost all of the boarding passengers are captain's club "something"....so the entire memo doesn't apply to.....anyone.

 

Even without the "preview" level, anyone who has sailed on celebrity before can apparently board at their leisure.

 

One just has to scratch one's head and wonder if anyone in Celebrity HQ knows how badly they communicate.

 

I think they are just trying to get first time cruisers to do this since most of them don't know any better, hence all the threads started just on this board over the subject. Alleviating some of the crowd helps somewhat.

[Langley Cruisers]

Since they don't actually board by deck, this is all a tempest in a teapot.

 

I know, right? I haven't seen boarding by deck since our first cruise in 1993.

[MicCanberra]

The suggested boarding times are there to have a staggered boarding and therefore ease the conjestion at 11am. Too many complaints then arise as the queues are large and the boarding is slow. It also allows more time for cabins to be cleaned. As most people have already said the times are there and if you show up early chances are you can board but it may be slower than if you showed up at the designated time.

 

P.S Apparently the times are only for non CC members.:D

[Pushka]

We are cruising from Barcelona and cabin is on deck 11. Suggested boarding is between 12 and 4 pm.

[DYKWIA]

No real issue turning up when they ask. We've got our car park reserved and we're not that desperate to sit around in Southampton docks with bags waiting to get into our cabin passing the time looking at Ikea and the huge piles of scrap metal waiting to be exported. One less plate of food with 14 days ahead of us will at least keep the doctor happy and with almost 3 days before we get to our first port there will be plenty of time to explore.

 

Only real issue I see with boarding later is that if there are limited availability offers available on boarding they might have been sold by the time the later arrivals board.

[canuckinindia]

Seems you can do either. Call it Traditional Boarding or Select Boarding and as always Suite guests can skip the line [emoji6]

[CABINET]

Can't speak for other countries but here in the UK roads can be congested. An accident can cause a long period of sitting stationary in traffic.

 

Anybody given a late boarding time and planning not to arrive in Southampton until close to that time is taking the risk of missing the boat altogether.

 

Personally I wouldn't risk it.

[MicCanberra]

Can't speak for other countries but here in the UK roads can be congested. An accident can cause a long period of sitting stationary in traffic.

 

Anybody given a late boarding time and planning not to arrive in Southampton until close to that time is taking the risk of missing the boat altogether.

 

Personally I wouldn't risk it.

 

I think the best option for those with the later boarding times is to get to the port and drop your bags off, if there is not much of a line and boarding has started, then proceed, otherwise head off for a leisurely lunch and some sightseeing and return later at you designated time.:D