What time are cabins ready?

[Vickitoria10]

As the title really! We have an embarkation time of 2pm, but other members of our group have 12.30 and p&o have said we can all board together. However, were not sure we want to! We are travelling with a 2yr old so will have a buggy, his day bag, one carry on suitcase and the suit carrier. We want to be able to go straight to the cabin and drop these off otherwise I can see it being a struggle! What time usually are the cabins available as we will plan on embarking to coincide with this!

 

Thanks

[BrianI]

2pm

Brian

[silver service]

Brian is right, 2pm is the time an announcement is usually made

However, it is usually possible to pop to the cabin, and drop a few

Bits into a wardrobe, say, around one o'clock ish.

[Tina.w12]

What time are cabins ready on a fly cruise? Flying to Genoa in September and should be on Oceana before 11am, wondering when we will be able to drop off hand luggage. I fancy going out and about in Genoa but don't fancy wandering round with all the money and cards etc

[HomelessBear]

We were on Ventura late June and the announcement saying the cabins were ready didn't come until around 2.45pm. They did make a couple of announcement saying that they would be ready soon, but this was later than we expected (or hoped).

[netchells]

We always go to our cabin as soon as we board (usually 12.30 ish) it has always been ready....we just dump our stuff off and go for a drink :-)

[Presto2]

I thought that the new changes to embarkation meant that the cabins were available as soon as you boarded. I think they said 1 pm for Britannia from Southampton. We couldn't get on at this time though -- long story.

 

On Oceana in April our cabin was available when we arrived - about 12 noon.

[Florry]

I'm sure Britannia was 1pm

[Vickitoria10]

Thanks everyone that's great, we'll go for 2pm ish! Just want to be able to drop everything off and go for a walk round the ship without the buggy! We don't plan on using it on the ship, just need it for shore days, will be so much better to be able to drop everything off when we board! :)

[Mysticalmother]

Thanks everyone that's great, we'll go for 2pm ish! Just want to be able to drop everything off and go for a walk round the ship without the buggy! We don't plan on using it on the ship, just need it for shore days, will be so much better to be able to drop everything off when we board! :)

 

That sounds like a sensible plan!

Although some pax say that you can drop stuff off into your cabin the cabin staff don't like it as you can get in their way - even just by walking down the corridors! We were politely told by two different cabin stewards that cabins weren't ready at 1 pm when walking down the corridor to our mini - suite, which we had been told was ready (it was). So in consideration for them I think it's best to wait until the announcements are made, usually around 2pm.

[the english lady]

That sounds like a sensible plan!

Although some pax say that you can drop stuff off into your cabin the cabin staff don't like it as you can get in their way - even just by walking down the corridors! We were politely told by two different cabin stewards that cabins weren't ready at 1 pm when walking down the corridor to our mini - suite, which we had been told was ready (it was). So in consideration for them I think it's best to wait until the announcements are made, usually around 2pm.

 

Thanks MM I was going to say the same thing.

When people say-oh just drop stuff off in the cabin, I think poor stewards. They already have very little time to service the cabins, without all and sundry wandering about, dropping things off in cabins, as it suits THEM.

[NauticalMiss]

Couldn't agree more. I'm sure cabin stewards must dread embark day; having to deal with all us passengers wandering aimlessly, trying 'not to disturb' but doing exactly that!

[Iron-Maiden's-No1-Fan]

On royal caribbean you can't get anywhere near your cabins until told as they shut them off with the fire doors ☺

[silver service]

Very interesting. That would stop all of us early chancers!

I will continue to check the cabin before 2, short of fire doors.

[cruisefan2012]

I always travel in the single travellers cabins, of which there are few so they get cleaned very quickly so have always boarded the ship and gone straight to my cabin

[Seagirlsailor]

Is the time still 1:45pm ???>...:-)...Last time with P&O it was.....Cunard Princess and carnival CMV all ready as soon as you board...

 

🙂

[FangedRose]

1 hour ago, Seagirlsailor said:

Is the time still 1:45pm ???>...:-)...Last time with P&O it was.....Cunard Princess and carnival CMV all ready as soon as you board...

 

🙂

If you arrive at roughly the time your ticket tells you too, your cabin will be ready. 

[dgs1956]

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2015 at 8:53 AM, Mysticalmother said:

 

That sounds like a sensible plan!

Although some pax say that you can drop stuff off into your cabin the cabin staff don't like it as you can get in their way - even just by walking down the corridors! We were politely told by two different cabin stewards that cabins weren't ready at 1 pm when walking down the corridor to our mini - suite, which we had been told was ready (it was). So in consideration for them I think it's best to wait until the announcements are made, usually around 2pm.

The OP asks a very sensible question. The stewards do have very little time to get cabins ready. Passengers that put this constant pressure on them to get in to cabins seem to ignore the fact that the cabin has to be cleaned and serviced. On our last cruise on Oceana, as usual we were to vacate the cabin by 8am, we went for breakfast and came back to the cabin at 7.30 to collect our travel bags only to find the cabin had already been serviced. We could still use the bathroom etc. That is wrong, the previous passengers MUST be out before cleaning commences.

[the english lady]

Should also add that if people just drop a few things off in the wardrobe, so they are not carrying them around..and cabin isnt ready. You may find the doors are wedged open to aid cleaning, Surely that would be a bit like leaving your bags in the middle of a railway station while you just wandered off.

[chrisg1uk]

If memory serves me right, one the things about arriving at your requested time was that if you did then the cabin would be ready.   Of course, very few actually arrive when asked and funnily enough the cabins are not ready.  I reckon it would help the stewards and speed the whole process up if the did block cabin areas off until ready as endless people "just dropping things off" must get in the way.      

 

[Seagirlsailor]

11 hours ago, FangedRose said:

If you arrive at roughly the time your ticket tells you too, your cabin will be ready. 

Thank you..:-)

[Selbourne]

On 8/17/2015 at 12:01 PM, Vickitoria10 said:

As the title really! We have an embarkation time of 2pm, but other members of our group have 12.30 and p&o have said we can all board together. However, were not sure we want to! We are travelling with a 2yr old so will have a buggy, his day bag, one carry on suitcase and the suit carrier. We want to be able to go straight to the cabin and drop these off otherwise I can see it being a struggle! What time usually are the cabins available as we will plan on embarking to coincide with this!

 

Thanks

 

Surprised that P&O are saying that you can all board together at 12.30pm when some in your party have 2pm, as the official line is always ‘it is at the discretion of the person in charge of embarkation on the day’. 12.30pm is for Suite passengers and Ligurian loyalty tier passengers only. When we have had a suite, we have managed to get our adult daughters through with us (they have an adjacent balcony cabin and my credit card covers on board spend for both cabins, so we need to check in together) but I have known adult friends / groups to be denied this. 

[wowzz]

I think that if you arrive early,  and it is quiet you will get on as soon as you arrive. Let's face it, the staff in the terminal aren't P&O employees  - they just want to get every one on board as early as possible and go home. All this tier status is irrelevant to someone who wants to get home!

[Selbourne]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

I think that if you arrive early,  and it is quiet you will get on as soon as you arrive. Let's face it, the staff in the terminal aren't P&O employees  - they just want to get every one on board as early as possible and go home. All this tier status is irrelevant to someone who wants to get home!

 

There may be an element of truth in what you are saying when people arrive some time after boarding has started, but the OP referred to 12.30pm boarding, which is the very first boarding slot. From my experience, this slot is never a free for all and is strictly controlled (for example, passengers entitled to the 12.30pm boarding are contained in a specific roped off area, with complimentary refreshments, and is managed by dedicated staff). Once the ship gives clearance for boarding to commence, passengers in that area (who have had to show evidence of 12.30pm boarding - suite or Ligurian - to enter) are directed to security screening and are first to board. A similar process (less refreshments) is then used for Caribbean and Baltic passengers at 1pm. Only when these two groups have boarded does general (timed) boarding commence. If these first two priority groups were not boarded before general boarding then these passengers would be rightfully upset, as priority boarding has either been earned through doing over 200 nights with P&O or, in the case of suite passengers, paid for as part of their fare. That being said, I have managed to get our daughters to board with us at 12.30pm even though they weren’t in a suite, but this is at the discretion of the staff and P&O will not authorise this in advance (I have asked). Equally, I have known others to be refused, some of whom have reported so on this forum. For info, whilst porters are not employed by P&O, the staff managing the priority boarding are. They are either head office employees or part time staff retained for this purpose. 

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

51 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

 

There may be an element of truth in what you are saying when people arrive some time after boarding has started, but the OP referred to 12.30pm boarding, which is the very first boarding slot. From my experience, this slot is never a free for all and is strictly controlled (for example, passengers entitled to the 12.30pm boarding are contained in a specific roped off area, with complimentary refreshments, and is managed by dedicated staff). Once the ship gives clearance for boarding to commence, passengers in that area (who have had to show evidence of 12.30pm boarding - suite or Ligurian - to enter) are directed to security screening and are first to board. A similar process (less refreshments) is then used for Caribbean and Baltic passengers at 1pm. Only when these two groups have boarded does general (timed) boarding commence. If these first two priority groups were not boarded before general boarding then these passengers would be rightfully upset, as priority boarding has either been earned through doing over 200 nights with P&O or, in the case of suite passengers, paid for as part of their fare. That being said, I have managed to get our daughters to board with us at 12.30pm even though they weren’t in a suite, but this is at the discretion of the staff and P&O will not authorise this in advance (I have asked). Equally, I have known others to be refused, some of whom have reported so on this forum. For info, whilst porters are not employed by P&O, the staff managing the priority boarding are. They are either head office employees or part time staff retained for this purpose. 

 

In my experience, on a good day (with the smaller ships) the preferential boarding will have started at 12pm and finished by 12.30. General boarding will begin by arrival order immediately afterwards. That back log of that will be over by 1pm.  After that it is board immediately until the coaches and people (who keep to the schedule time arrive) from about 1.30. From then in it is back to waiting even if you turn up at you alocated time. 

 

Cabins are declared open by about 1.30pm. I try and carry as little in hand luggage as possible. Just my passport, wallet and phone. That way it is less of a hassle. On my last cruise I got my hair cut while waiting for my cabin. 

 

Best wishes, Stephen.