Progressive cruise check in information - Southampton

[Flo71]

Just received the email below from Princess. The previous information I had stated boarding between 12-4pm and now less than 2 weeks until cruise I receive this. I am on Aloha deck and my boarding is now 3pm, I live in the UK and have made arrangements to stay overnight in Southampton before the cruise, checkout and taxi straight to port for 11.30 for 12pm boarding. Not only will the new time mean finding Somewhere to hang around with all my luggage for 3 hours but the sanctuary will be sold out for the 2 sea days long before 3pm.

I appreciate they have to get a lot of cabins ready but that isnt something new and this information should have been sent to us long before now.

 

Ok rant over, do I HAVE to stick to these times, if I turn up at 12 will they turn me away?

 

To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated check-in times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to the start of cruise check-in as your cabin will not be ready. Once onboard, enjoy a meal at Horizon Court which remains open throughout the day to serve you.

 

12:00 PM - Baja & Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with B & L 1:00 PM - Emerald & Dolphin Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with E & D 2:00 PM - Caribe & Aloha Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & A 3:00 PM - Marina & Riviera Decks - Cabins on this deck begin with M & R

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

You can drop of luggage with porters would expect some time after 11.00am if you wanted too,

 

all the hotels I have stayed in Southampton have held bags with no issues

 

as to boarding very hit and miss, some times very strict long waits, queues

 

other times just walk straight through, think it has more to do with port, who do the baggage checks,

 

yours Shogun

[WatchHill]

Check in times are only suggestions. You may check in at any time convenient to you.

 

Just a thought: Picture a coach filled with passengers arriving at LHR, or from London, booked on different decks/locations on the ship - they all arrive at the port at the same time. Does Princess seriously think they could manage the crowds, sitting in the terminal, waiting for a specific boarding time?

 

We sailed out of Southampton in May of this year, and arrived around noon and were on the ship in less than a half hour. I think our docs said something about 2:PM.

 

Darcy

[Flo71]

It doesn't say these are suggested, it says 'please don't arrive prior to the check in times stated'. I think I will email Princess about receiving this email less than 2 weeks before the cruise and state that my travel options are already booked.

[WatchHill]

For the past year, each of my Princess cruises has included similar email about boarding times. Different ports, and each one generated the auto email about what time to arrive. Did I pay any attention to the email, no. Try not to bee too anxious about the email. The "boarding monitors" aren't out to send you to the naughty room for arriving too early.

 

Darcy

[Flo71]

For the past year, each of my Princess cruises has included similar email about boarding times. Different ports, and each one generated the auto email about what time to arrive. Did I pay any attention to the email, no. Try not to bee too anxious about the email. The "boarding monitors" aren't out to send you to the naughty room for arriving too early.

 

Darcy

 

Thank you :D

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree, several posters that have left from Southampton have said they just showed up and boarded normally with no issues.

 

Relax!

[Bogof1]

I had exactly same e mail for our cruise 3 weeks ago. We arrived at port 11 am and in main dining room by 12:15 enjoying a leisurely lunch. They don't check decks. You check in on arrival given a card and board when called. Don't change your plans. Enjoy your cruise

[sammybonny]

We were on Royal Princess sailing from Southampton a few weeks ago .We sailed from the Ocean Terminal.I was also concerned because we had to leave the hotel at 12 and our check in time was 1pm .

We were hanging around at the hotel after breakfast and decided to leave around 11.30.We arrived before 12o'clock no one said anything and we went straight to the check in desk and we were on board very quickly.

We could probably have arrived earlier. We were handed a piece of paper saying cabins wouldn't be ready until 1pm but we could drop off hand luggage.In fact when we boarded we were told all cabins were ready.

[emmak8]

If you have made your arrangements, follow them. Have a wonderful cruise.

[FritzG]

If you check your Cruise Personalizer at the bottom of the itinerary page you'll probably see that the staged check-in is listed. We're on the Aug.25th Royal, and it's been there since we booked the cruise in early March.

[eandj]

I suppose if there was some huge rush of cruisers at one time, they could board you in a certain deck order. But that really doesn't happen. We have always arrived at our convenience. They won't make you just sit and wait for your later assigned boarding.

Those arriving at 10 thinking they will board then, are however sitting till noon or whenever the ship is ready for boarding.

[FawnRiver]

The one time we boarded at Southampton, we arrived exactly when we were told to and proceeded to wait more than 2 hours to check in. We were lowly golds back then and got to watch platinums & elites go ahead of us, regardless of where their rooms were. We were not impressed.

Hopefully you'll have a better experience.

[eandj]

The one time we boarded at Southampton, we arrived exactly when we were told to and proceeded to wait more than 2 hours to check in. We were lowly golds back then and got to watch platinums & elites go ahead of us, regardless of where their rooms were. We were not impressed.

Hopefully you'll have a better experience.

 

The only time this happened to us (on anther line) was when the ship was delayed with customs and then check- in computers were down for two hours. So everyone, including the elite groups, were behind schedule. We didn't board till 4:00. And many were behind us. But as stated it was a combination of freak events.

[caber]

Check in times are only suggestions. You may check in at any time convenient to you.

 

Just a thought: Picture a coach filled with passengers arriving at LHR, or from London, booked on different decks/locations on the ship - they all arrive at the port at the same time. Does Princess seriously think they could manage the crowds, sitting in the terminal, waiting for a specific boarding time?

 

 

Darcy

 

I agree. There are cruise coaches arriving at the terminal from all over Britain. The passengers will all have different boarding times. Nobody at the cruise line knows how people are getting to the ship.

[fishywood]

Not only will the new time mean finding Somewhere to hang around with all my luggage for 3 hours but the sanctuary will be sold out for the 2 sea days long before 3pm.

 

Were you planning on booking the Sanctuary for the entire cruise? Because I believe individual days cannot be booked in advance upon boarding, only on the day of.

[hansi]

It doesn't say these are suggested, it says 'please don't arrive prior to the check in times stated'. I think I will email Princess about receiving this email less than 2 weeks before the cruise and state that my travel options are already booked.

 

Don't worry about it. Our last check in at Southampton was supposd to be at 2pm. We turned up just before 12, and we were on board in half an hour. it's just a suggestion.

[Flo71]

Were you planning on booking the Sanctuary for the entire cruise? Because I believe individual days cannot be booked in advance upon boarding, only on the day of.

 

Not the entire cruise just 2 days. Whenever I have asked the advice has been get to the sanctuary first day and book the days wanted. Will just to have ask when I board.

[RosieCanberra]

Our TA sent through all of our paperwork for our cruise next month on Caribbean Princess. Boarding time for Aloha, Riviera and Fiesta decks is 3pm. We sail at 4pm.

 

I haven't sailed Princess for some years, but I don't know how they will be able to process everyone and do muster drill before we sail from Southhampton at 4pm?

[WatchHill]

Yesterday I booked another cruise; this one on the Regal Princess. I printed the deposit confirmation and noticed it states, "Check in 12:30 PM-3:00 PM" with sailing at 4:PM. Gremlins inhabiting the Princess computers generate this stuff. We're leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, and plan to leave the hotel about 10:30AM [as we have on prior cruises], arrive at the port, hand over luggage and get in line. No doubt we'll be escorted to an interior waiting area, sit for about 15 minutes and then proceed to check in. There's no way I would wait until later in the afternoon to board.

 

Darcy

Edited July 20, 2015 by WatchHill

[hansi]

Our TA sent through all of our paperwork for our cruise next month on Caribbean Princess. Boarding time for Aloha, Riviera and Fiesta decks is 3pm. We sail at 4pm.

 

I haven't sailed Princess for some years, but I don't know how they will be able to process everyone and do muster drill before we sail from Southhampton at 4pm?

 

Please don't let this concern you. Just check in whenerver you are ready, we have had these progressive emails too on various cruises, and we always check in around 11:30 to midday. Never had a problem.

[spyro1952]

The one time we boarded at Southampton, we arrived exactly when we were told to and proceeded to wait more than 2 hours to check in. We were lowly golds back then and got to watch platinums & elites go ahead of us, regardless of where their rooms were. We were not impressed.

Hopefully you'll have a better experience.

 

Elite status provides priority embarkation as a perk, unless there is some type of computer glitch or other snafu one can board thru the elite check in line at anytime. When you reach Elite status you will be impressed. :cool:

[caribill]

Our TA sent through all of our paperwork for our cruise next month on Caribbean Princess. Boarding time for Aloha, Riviera and Fiesta decks is 3pm. We sail at 4pm.

 

I haven't sailed Princess for some years, but I don't know how they will be able to process everyone and do muster drill before we sail from Southhampton at 4pm?

 

 

Princess almost always has started boarding by about Noon.

 

Often there is a large crowd trying to get on as early as possible.

 

So Princess says two things to try to avoid everybody showing up that early.

 

First is that they say check-in starts at 12:30. Reality is that it almost always starts between 11 Am and 11:30. (I did have one cruise in Greece when it started at noon followed by immediately boarding the ship.)

 

Second they send out the letter about staggered check-in times. Reality is that is very rarely enforced and then only at ports where the facilities are not large enough to handle anything but a minimum number of passengers waiting.

[caribill]

Elite status provides priority embarkation as a perk, unless there is some type of computer glitch or other snafu one can board thru the elite check in line at anytime. When you reach Elite status you will be impressed. :cool:

 

The notice usually says "Priority check-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated check-in times after dropping off luggage and clearing security"

 

(Of course we agree that the notice can usually be ignored in its entirety.)

[RosieCanberra]

Second they send out the letter about staggered check-in times. Reality is that is very rarely enforced and then only at ports where the facilities are not large enough to handle anything but a minimum number of passengers waiting.

 

Thanks. I guess Fiesta deck only has half a dozen suites, but Aloha and Riviera are all cabins, so that is a lot of people. I estimate 800-900 people. If we did all turn up when we are asked to the ship wouldn't sail on time. How bizarre.

 

We are on a private transfer leaving London at 10am. I am not sure what time we are expected in Southhampton, but it will be before 3pm.