Azura - New Improved Embarkation Process

[kevinyork]

So all this talk of I can turn up when I want and get on a RCI and Celebrity ship by 11am is no quite true?

 

 

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With Celebrity and RCI (except Quantum Class where you reserve a check in slot) then yes you can turn up when you want. We have been onboard with both lines by 11am.

 

 

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[kevinyork]

Slighty more to the board Anthem when you like then..get on at 11.30 within minutes of getting to the terminal...

 

 

Problems with the pix you can so easily upload from home..as has been posted. Does not always work and the poster was an hour sorting it out.

 

Then they seem to be in the minority as on our cruise nobody had an issue.

 

When they take my pix with P and O it is there/taken/can be seen, and is on the card in the twinkling of an eye.

 

You have full control of the photo you upload at home.

 

 

Lots of people turning up at the same time....uh I thought that never happened on Anthem as the cheerleaders for them said you always got on board swiftly with no problem.

 

If people turn up early they are seated till their time.

 

 

If people have a set boarding time with Anthem ...how do they manage to stick to it, when apparently if you have a set boarding time with P and O it is not possible to stick to it.

 

Possibly because they were involved in the choice of time and it wasn't arbitrarily allocated.

 

 

What happens to the people on Anthem who want to board at 11am and all those slots have gone ..do they stick to the time slot they are offered ,or do they turn up at the 11am slot they wanted.

 

 

If they turn up early they are seated and made to wait. As people choose their slots those that know they will not arrive till 3 select 3, those that know they will be there by noon select noon. A far better system than being allocated a random slot that doesn't suit. So on P&O early arrives may be allocated a 3.30 slot and those with trains arriving at 2.30 might be given a 12.00 noon slot. Makes no sense.

 

 

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[Jason12]

With Celebrity and RCI (except Quantum Class where you reserve a check in slot) then yes you can turn up when you want. We have been onboard with both lines by 11am.

 

 

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Tbo I was just referring to earlier post of the new RCI checkin times online, in the 15 RCI cruises we've done never had any hold ups at Southampton, checkin generally took around 30 mins to be onboard, 4 Cunard cruises always had hold ups from 1-2 hours, 4 P&O cruises no problems not even had time to sit down..yet..

Got a 1pm checkin time for Arcadia later this month so we will see..

 

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Edited November 1, 2015 by Jason12

[davecttr]

With Celebrity and RCI (except Quantum Class where you reserve a check in slot) then yes you can turn up when you want. We have been onboard with both lines by 11am.

 

 

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If you could reserve slots on P&O I can see some people booking an early slot when they have no intention of arriving that early. They may think they can just waltz on as soon as they arrive at the terminal.

 

This needs to be discouraged in some way, maybe you would be given the next free slot after all the people in the current slot had been processed, after all, they are already in the terminal and arrived on time.

 

If a system can be abused, it will be :(

[the english lady]

If they turn up early they are seated and made to wait. As people choose their slots those that know they will not arrive till 3 select 3, those that know they will be there by noon select noon. A far better system than being allocated a random slot that doesn't suit. So on P&O early arrives may be allocated a 3.30 slot and those with trains arriving at 2.30 might be given a 12.00 noon slot. Makes no sense.

 

 

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If it is a late booking it is possible that there are only later slots left. Then you have someone flying into Southampton ,on the 1 flight of the day, which gets in at lets say 10am. When they booked the cruise the only boarding slots it came up with was 2pm onwards...can you see what I am getting at.

Whether a line allocates a time ,or a person books a time when they book the cruise, what is available may not suit that person either way.

So with the above scenario that person would be sitting in the termainla from 10.30 to 2pm.

If you book far enough in advance then you could pick a time (unless of course you are driving down and there are problems , so you miss your slot by an hour lets say) that is suitable for you, but just because it is doable at time of booking cruise ,you may not get what you want.

[kruzseeka]

 

So with the above scenario that person would be sitting in the termainla from 10.30 to 2pm.

.

 

Shuttle bus to West Quay anyone?

[Scriv]

Hee hee kruzseeka - we come back to that idea again lol ;)

Edited November 1, 2015 by Scriv

[berrywood]

Re RCL photo, I believe you can take your own photo on your pc and attach this to your on line check in. Failing this they use their i-pads to take your photo.

But I don't think its the photo that adds time to the P&O check in, more the general inexperience of their check in staff as compared to the ones Celebrity use, and they still take your photo at check in.

 

I've just spoken to a friend who works on the security team for the terminals. There are 2 companies who run the meet and greet (Check-in) teams at the terminals and the majority of the people work for both companies. Therefore they might be checking in Celebrity or RCI one day and P&O the next. So no difference in experience of the staff. How boarding is conducted is up to the particular cruise line. Security for the terminals is one company, so again they might be on Eclipse one day and Britannia the next.

[kruzseeka]

Hee hee kruzseeka - we come back to that idea again lol ;)

 

 

Why not - it's a good one imo! :D A relatively simple solution -

fixed boarding times however P&O determine they want to allocate those,

people arrive when it's convenient to them

allows for travel arrangements with inbuilt margins for delay,

get rid of luggage and car on arrival

shuttle to centre

while away the time somewhere interesting with plenty of food options

come back for allocated embarkation time

 

would suit P&O - reduce congestion at the terminal

would suit businesses in West Quay (subsidy please)

would suit a lot of passengers to arrive early but not cause issues at the terminal

would suit those who currently feel people take advantage! ;)

Edited November 1, 2015 by kruzseeka

[kevinyork]

If it is a late booking it is possible that there are only later slots left. Then you have someone flying into Southampton ,on the 1 flight of the day, which gets in at lets say 10am. When they booked the cruise the only boarding slots it came up with was 2pm onwards...can you see what I am getting at.

 

Whether a line allocates a time ,or a person books a time when they book the cruise, what is available may not suit that person either way.

 

So with the above scenario that person would be sitting in the termainla from 10.30 to 2pm.

 

If you book far enough in advance then you could pick a time (unless of course you are driving down and there are problems , so you miss your slot by an hour lets say) that is suitable for you, but just because it is doable at time of booking cruise ,you may not get what you want.

 

 

Of course. But CHOICE is the keyword. If people have a choice then they are more likely to get the times they want. Randomly allocating times is far more likely to alienate people. Of course if late bookers have a limited choice then that's because they are late bookers.

 

 

 

 

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[Scriv]

Entirely agree kruzseeka - Perfect and simple. :)

[Presto2]

Of course. But CHOICE is the keyword. If people have a choice then they are more likely to get the times they want. Randomly allocating times is far more likely to alienate people. Of course if late bookers have a limited choice then that's because they are late bookers.

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My view exactly - booking 18 months in advance when none of these more enforced arrangements were even being discussed; booking the hotel for our pre cruise stay based on the old system etc and then to be told, with just weeks to go before the cruise, that we must embark at 4.30pm did not go down well ... particularly when others who had booked on saver fares were given much earlier times (and didn't even want them as they were on a coach!)

 

P&O have to admit that this has been a bit of a public relations mess. Now we look to see what their response will be and I hope that they use common sense and introduce a more customer friendly service. At the end of the day this is the C21st and it can't be rocket science.

 

If I can pick the time I board and are restricted with availability when I book I will be more than happy to board at 4.30pm if needs be as the system would be fair and transparent.

[Henderson1]

Exactly my thoughts in an earlier post, book select choose your time, could be added as one of the criteria, not rocket science, they brought in free shuttle if you book select at the drop of a hat why not this?

 

Jackie

[Mysticalmother]

Dare i say it Presto2 ...you have probably hit the nail on the head in a way. P & O have introduced a new system for boarding. I actually think it is for the better. But they have not communicated it very well to their passengers, especially those that are used to the old way and the implementation of the new system has not been thought through properly.

 

They also do not have the right infrastructure - yet - in place yet for it to become wholly successful - and that includes the IT infrastructure. Having worked myself for many years on new IT systems for big organisations it is a fact that you simply cannot introduce them overnight, and P &O ( And Carnival) are not renowned for their leading edge technology....

 

What they need to do is....

1. Communicate better. They simply cannot introduce these changes overnight and expect pax to comply. Many people only cruise once a year and will do what they did last year. I booked my hotel nearly a year in advance and i suspect many others do the same with hotels , trains planes etc.

2. Get a new infrastructure - both IT and personnnel- to enable them to implement their proposals in a way which not only works but which is acceptable to passengers. That means allowing an element of choice of time of embarkation and pax will have to accept that they may not get their first choice, especially if they book late - whether select or saver fares.

3. Passengers in return have to accept change. Whilst it used to work" in the old days", having thousands of pax converging on southampton all at the same time is not acceptable for the future. Ships are bigger and more use Southampton. There has to be some staggering of arrival time.

 

As an aside, i personally dont want to be chucked off the ship at some unearthly hour like 6.30am. I want to be able to have a last leisurely breakfast onboard, and walk off at a civilised time. If that means my cabin wont be ready until 2pm when i embark next time , so be it. As long as i embark before the ship sails and the bar is open when i do, thats fine by me....

[Presto2]

You can always say that I am sort of right ...... ;-))) Your post makes sense too .... just hope thst P&O take note.

[the english lady]

Dare i say it Presto2 ...you have probably hit the nail on the head in a way. P & O have introduced a new system for boarding. I actually think it is for the better. But they have not communicated it very well to their passengers, especially those that are used to the old way and the implementation of the new system has not been thought through properly.

 

They also do not have the right infrastructure - yet - in place yet for it to become wholly successful - and that includes the IT infrastructure. Having worked myself for many years on new IT systems for big organisations it is a fact that you simply cannot introduce them overnight, and P &O ( And Carnival) are not renowned for their leading edge technology....

 

What they need to do is....

1. Communicate better. They simply cannot introduce these changes overnight and expect pax to comply. Many people only cruise once a year and will do what they did last year. I booked my hotel nearly a year in advance and i suspect many others do the same with hotels , trains planes etc.

2. Get a new infrastructure - both IT and personnnel- to enable them to implement their proposals in a way which not only works but which is acceptable to passengers. That means allowing an element of choice of time of embarkation and pax will have to accept that they may not get their first choice, especially if they book late - whether select or saver fares.

3. Passengers in return have to accept change. Whilst it used to work" in the old days", having thousands of pax converging on southampton all at the same time is not acceptable for the future. Ships are bigger and more use Southampton. There has to be some staggering of arrival time.

 

As an aside, i personally dont want to be chucked off the ship at some unearthly hour like 6.30am. I want to be able to have a last leisurely breakfast onboard, and walk off at a civilised time. If that means my cabin wont be ready until 2pm when i embark next time , so be it. As long as i embark before the ship sails and the bar is open when i do, thats fine by me....

A very sensible well put post MM. Totally agree.

[mandylennon]

Firstly, P&O had to change the embarkation system for the larger ships. When you turned up to suit you, so many people moaned about the long delays getting onboard and the queues. We returned from Ventura on Saturday 31 October. We live around 70 minutes drive from Southampton and had a checking in time of 3.30. We left home around 12 noon which we were glad we were early, when we approached the port road, we just sat in traffic for around 30 minutes in a queue along with cars waiting to board Anthem. We arrived at check in around 2 pm and were given cards. The terminal was busy but there was a steady flow, there were plenty of seats with refreshments and toilets. Our letter on the cards was about the fifth in line to be called and we waited no more than 30 minutes and were on board in our cabin by 3. Speaking to the staff at the terminal, they seem far happier with the staggered system as Southampton gets very busy on Saturdays, especially when the football is on. I would rather get on board quickly and not bother about scambling to find a table in the buffet and have a relaxed start to my holiday.

[Scriv]

Good sense - as always - Presto and Mysticalmother.

 

Now, how do we get all these wise words to P&O?

[Mysticalmother]

Good sense - as always - Presto and Mysticalmother.

 

Now, how do we get all these wise words to P&O?

 

Maybe we should offer our services as their crack implentation team....? For a fee or a few free cruises in return..... :D:D

[Scriv]

Good idea :)

 

Again on a serious note, I have been reading someone's post on the P&O Facebook page and it seems that the main points of clarification are

 

1. whether pax are allowed to turn up early and park their car and give in their luggage, but advised not to go in the terminal until near their allocated time

 

2. whether there will still be a lunch onboard

 

Other questions are what happens if you miss your slot and how do the people arriving on coaches fit into the plan.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Scriv

[jeanlyon]

If you turn up late and miss your slot, you get a red card! LOL

[Scriv]

Ha ha - better than missing the boat though, Jean ;)

Edited November 2, 2015 by Scriv

[Presto2]

Good sense - as always - Presto and Mysticalmother.

 

Now, how do we get all these wise words to P&O?

 

This is the 2nd time I've tried to reply to this post so fingers crossed it doesn't disappear this time! I think I added too many images ... ooophs

 

Just to say thanks as I have never had any post classed as wise before :)

 

Not sure if P&O will listen at all but am hoping that they may read them and offer some perks for us .... early embarkation may be a good one to suggest ;););)

 

We can but dream :D:

[Josy1953]

Good idea :)

 

Again on a serious note, I have been reading someone's post on the P&O Facebook page and it seems that the main points of clarification are

 

1. whether pax are allowed to turn up early and park their car and give in their luggage, but advised not to go in the terminal until near their allocated time

 

2. whether there will still be a lunch onboard

 

Other questions are what happens if you miss your slot and how do the people arriving on coaches fit into the plan.

 

 

I emailed P&O about the situation with coaches because we have decided to take the coach pin December and we have an embarkation time of 3:30pm. If it was likely that we would have a long wait to board we would change our plans and drive down the day before and spend the day in Southampton before going to the port nearer to 3:30. The following is the reply that I got from P&O :

 

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Whilst it is fair to say that we are enforcing the embarkation times as a matter of course now, this is only for passengers travelling independantly of P&O.

 

If, as part of your booking you have selected complimentary coach transfers then we will not be enforcing the embarkation time as we appreciate this is something that is outside of your control.

 

Once the coach arrives at the cruise terminal you will not be subject to an extensive wait and can join the check in process straightaway.

 

Kind Regards Customer Services

[TOMOGP]

I emailed P&O about the situation with coaches because we have decided to take the coach pin December and we have an embarkation time of 3:30pm. If it was likely that we would have a long wait to board we would change our plans and drive down the day before and spend the day in Southampton before going to the port nearer to 3:30. The following is the reply that I got from P&O :

 

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Whilst it is fair to say that we are enforcing the embarkation times as a matter of course now, this is only for passengers travelling independantly of P&O.

 

If, as part of your booking you have selected complimentary coach transfers then we will not be enforcing the embarkation time as we appreciate this is something that is outside of your control.

 

Once the coach arrives at the cruise terminal you will not be subject to an extensive wait and can join the check in process straightaway.

 

Kind Regards Customer Services

outs

Is not road/traffic delays trains cancelled/delayed also outside our control ?

Edited November 2, 2015 by TOMOGP