Cabins now ready on embarkation

[daiB]

I still think the Fred way will come. You can check in when you like, but you will then sit in the lounge until your boarding time is called. You don't get lunch on Fred either - that will kill some! However, I was quite happy to wait and have tea and a cake.

 

 

That is exactly what P&O did 10 and more years ago, exactly that, as I said before. They are not going to backwards.

[tidespring]

The thing to note from the original posting on this thread, is that the e mail was sent re the boarding of the Britannia. I assume this is because of her size. I am going on Arcadia this Sunday and have not had such an e mail.

[jeanlyon]

Yes exactly.

[Scorpio41]

We didn't get of the Britannia till nearly 11.30am due to P&O delays, so boarding before noon wouldn't work if there was any disembarkation delays.

[majortom10]

I still think the Fred way will come. You can check in when you like, but you will then sit in the lounge until your boarding time is called. You don't get lunch on Fred either - that will kill some! However, I was quite happy to wait and have tea and a cake.

 

It will never return on P&O that is what used to happen prior to Ventura you would check in and sit in lounge until 2pm. It would be a backward move to return to that system and is easy for FO because they only have smaller ships can you imagine trying to fill Britannia if embarkation didnt start until 2pm its never going to happen.

[majortom10]

I am against enforcing check in times printed on e-tickets for two main reasons :-

 

1) P&O have a loyalty club that when reach a certain level you get lunch/champagne in a dedicated lounge from 12-2 which is no good if like me always seem to get an embarkation time of 3pm. What is the point of a loyalty club if P&O are not going to adhere to the conditions and return loyalty to their customers who have shown loyalty to them.

 

2) We always stay in a hotel on the night prior to our cruise and have to leave by 12 so if P&O wouldnt let us check in until 3 what are we suppose to do in Southampton with our suitcases. Also wouldnt be a happy bunny if they did let me go to lounge but had to wait 3hrs before embarking the ship.

[balf]

3600 is an awful lot of people to get on board and is a problem even in Southampton. In Venice or Rome there just isn't the infrastructure and the tented terminals can't handle many at any time. Much the same situation in Liverpool when the number of pax boarding there in July has been limited to 400.

 

The posters idea of assembling 3600 people together then boarding them in what would be a few hours just wouldn't work even if there was that amount of seating there which there isn't now and is unlikely to be any time soon.

 

The only way to do this efficiently is board strictly by time slots. This proposal is an attempt to do this. If people arrive before their allocated time they will just have to sit and wait if there enough seats. Of course this is not to say P&O will stick to it.

 

Folks, you love big ships, this is one of the downsides.

 

David.

[balf]

That is exactly what P&O did 10 and more years ago, exactly that, as I said before. They are not going to backwards.

 

 

Ten years ago they didn't have to board 3600 passengers.

 

David.

[leesam]

we have stayed in hotels the night before cruises and have found although we may have to vacate our room by a certain time, we have always found we are welcome to stay in the hotel until we are ready to leave or travel to the ship to comply with the given boarding time.

[Host Sharon]

You don't get lunch on Fred either - that will kill some! However, I was quite happy to wait and have tea and a cake.

 

You can't offer a relaxed MDR lunch with free alcohol as a Caribbean + perk, and then deny it to half those qualifying as it ceases to be a reward to loyal passengers so either they will all have to have early boarding or something will have to replace it.

 

It is NOT missing the free lunch that upsets everyone but the complimentary champagne!

 

Why, having spent some years and much money streamlining boarding would they want to go back ten years and be like Fred. The only reason Saga have late boarding is because they don't expect their elderly passengers to vacate cabins by 8am and leave the ship by 10am.

[kikki21]

Early boarding doesn't seem to be an issue on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean and most of their ships compare to the size of Britannia or bigger!

Like others have said - I'm not really bothered that my cabin won't be ready when I board the ship - I would rather be on the ship & exploring it than waiting till 3pm to get on board!

[john watson]

I see community singing in the terminal building while others video the event as the way forward. My previous suggestion on these boards to put everybody through to a secure area beyond security similar to airports where you buy stuff in the shop/s then board once the gate opens was too sensible to do.

 

Regards John

[the english lady]

'Fred, Fred, Fred.' You cannot compare Fred with a ship the size of Britannia. Plus to say extend the terminals is just silly as it would take years to plan, agree and build. We arrive early, around 12, not so much to get onboard early and have lunch but because we have a 5 hour journey down on some of the busiest roads and dont have the flexibility to travel the day before so we need some leeway in case of traffic or breakdown.. We wouldnt mind checking in and waiting to board but the terminal cannot currently cope and doesnt have the facilities of an airport departure lounge.

 

We board Eclipse on Saturday, no set boarding times, just flexible boarding times 11.15 till 3.30. Done it three times before with Celebrity and check in is a breeze. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean start boarding much earlier than P&O so by extending check in opening times it reduces pressure on the check in process. Officially 11.15 but weve checked in at 10.45 before. If they can turnaround their ships and make them ready for boarding so quickly why can't P&O.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Don't the American ships kick you off some very early time in the morning.

I am sure when I wander over to their boards sometimes you get kicked of 6-7am in the morning.

Is that how they get people boarding earlier. Get the last lot off earlier.

[Big Foot]

Don't the American ships kick you off some very early time in the morning.

I am sure when I wander over to their boards sometimes you get kicked of 6-7am in the morning.

Is that how they get people boarding earlier. Get the last lot off earlier.

 

That was certainly the case when I disembarked Independence of the Seas last October. We were off the ship by 6.55am!! :eek:

[balf]

I see community singing in the terminal building while others video the event as the way forward. My previous suggestion on these boards to put everybody through to a secure area beyond security similar to airports where you buy stuff in the shop/s then board once the gate opens was too sensible to do.

 

 

 

Regards John

 

 

But airport terminals are massive and in use every day of the year for multiple flights. Southampton has nothing like that and given that none of the terminals are anyway nearly used every day building one, (and more than one would be needed for when two big ships or more were in port) would be a commercial disaster.

 

A sledge hammer to crack a nut. There are sensible ways to solve the problem and earlier disembarkation would seem to be the way to go.

 

David.

[the english lady]

But airport terminals are massive and in use every day of the year for multiple flights. Southampton has nothing like that and given that none of the terminals are anyway nearly used every day building one, (and more than one would be needed for when two big ships or more were in port) would be a commercial disaster.

 

A sledge hammer to crack a nut. There are sensible ways to solve the problem and earlier disembarkation would seem to be the way to go.

 

David.

 

But would people complain even more if they were given a disembarkation time of 6.30am in the morning onwards, so all off by 8.30am, to do the turn around by before mid day.

[majortom10]

Don't the American ships kick you off some very early time in the morning.

I am sure when I wander over to their boards sometimes you get kicked of 6-7am in the morning.

Is that how they get people boarding earlier. Get the last lot off earlier.

 

I can only speak for Princess but we have never been "kicked off" the ship in Southampton any earlier than on a P&O ship yes they start earlier disembarkation because a lot of the cruisers on Princess are from the US and Canada and have to travel to Heathrow/Gatwick and have early flights to catch.

[moqui_girl]

Don't the American ships kick you off some very early time in the morning.

 

I am sure when I wander over to their boards sometimes you get kicked of 6-7am in the morning.

 

Is that how they get people boarding earlier. Get the last lot off earlier.

 

 

We've been with RCL and Celebrity both in the U.S and Europe. People who were walking off could leave from 6.30/7 and you could request an early departure (lots of people catch flights home in the morning in the U.S.) but we stayed a lot longer than that. We had departure times of 9.30 maybe later. They didn't expect you to be out of your rooms by 8 either. I guess by offering the early departures they have time to sort out those cabins until the others are vacated.

[Host Sharon]

We didn't leave Royal Princess or Anthem of the Seas before 8.30am and were certainly not among the last. Anthem start boarding at 11.15 but access to our cabin was denied (by closed fireproof doors) until 2pm.

[Britboys]

The 'joys' of large-ship cruising again if you ask me. As others have said, when Oriana was P&O's largest ship with just over 1800 pax, boarding started around 2pm or after. With Azura, Ventura & Britannia each taking between 3000 and just over 4000 pax, that is not possible.

 

The really early times came into being because that is what happened in the states, where a high proportion of pax have to fly to their departure port.

 

There are many reasons why pax want to get there early, as evidenced by this thread. For those staying overnight at local hotels (which I usually do), I would say that you don't have to leave the hotel by, say 10.00 - you have to vacate your room then. Most hotels will store luggage and are happy for you to continue using their facilities.

 

This is just one of many reasons that I prefer smaller ships. Sadly, for those that prefer the large ships, there are likely to be small drawbacks like this.

[KaththeTaff]

We'll be on the Ventura in a few weeks time. Our e--tickets have 1300 on them, which is fine by us, but we've booked a hotel and transfers along with the cruise (not something we normally do) and so I'm hoping that will be taken into account on the day. I don't really want to be transported down tot he terminal by 1100 only to have to sit around for hours!

[Mysticalmother]

We'll be on the Ventura in a few weeks time. Our e--tickets have 1300 on them, which is fine by us, but we've booked a hotel and transfers along with the cruise (not something we normally do) and so I'm hoping that will be taken into account on the day. I don't really want to be transported down tot he terminal by 1100 only to have to sit around for hours!

 

Kath - dont know where you are staying but if in the town itself, you just tell Hotel reception what time you want the taxi and they oblige! We spent a very pleasant couple of hours strolling around Southampton in May, after a late breakfast, being very good P & O people and stuck to our embarkation time.;) All our luggage was still in our car, but others left theirs with the hotel left luggage facility.

Many hotels will also be quite happy to give you a later check out time without charge if you ask them.

[davecttr]

To sum up, if they want to run an airport style embarkation system, with say 'decks' replacing 'flights' they are going to need an airport style terminal.

 

1 - You arrive at the terminal and check-in, they may be lengthy queues.

 

2 - You go through security

 

3 - You sit, or shop, or eat in the departure lounge until your 'gate' or 'deck' is called.

 

Of course whichever way you do it you are going to need thousands of seats for those waiting.

 

Imagine the scenario - passenger arrives at noon and goes to desk. You have a 3pm check-in time say the desk. Go away and come back at 3pm. no says the passenger, it is raining. Leave, say the desk, no says the passenger, we will call security say the desk

 

Fun eh! :eek::D:D

 

ps - in airports the check-in desks are open several hours before the flight is called.

Edited June 26, 2015 by davecttr

[BrianI]

What happens about people travelling by coach or train. The chances are that everyone will have different boarding times but they will all arrive at the same time. P&O do not know how you are travelling unless you are their nominated coach partner, which at the moment is Intercruises.

Brian

[Brayman]

There is only one place with enough room to "store" the passengers and that is on the ship, the bottleneck at the moment is security clearance, so it would better to increase capacity there and zoom passengers through as quickly as they can.

 

It works fine for the smaller ships as it is, so it only needs a little bit of tweaking for the biggies.