Azura - New Improved Embarkation Process

[2irisheyes]

Yes, John - that is a point that I don't think has been clearly addressed/communicated to all yet by P&O and it is what a lot of people on the FB pages have been asking. Comments 'in passing' are really not enough to reach everyone.

 

I also agree with you about communication via FB not being adequate. Not every one uses it for one thing and yes, it is always very difficult to find stuff.

 

I think an official statement and explanation issued to all is very much needed to clear up all the confusion that there clearly is. I would be putting a statement on FB, on these forums, on the website, on the Personalisers and also emailing it to passengers along with the booking/embarkation info.

 

But then I am a firm believer in communication! Yes, they do have to 'spell it out'. I was also schooled in that, Josy ie 'that when writing anything down for someone to work from then there should be no room for ambiguity and most people don't read things in the same way as I do.'

 

There is a statement on the eticket advising passengers to arrive no earlier or later than their given embarkation time and a phone number is given in case of significant delay. This statement was not on etickets previously. If passengers cannot read and understand this statement what makes anyone think they would bother to read/understand it if printed elsewhere. Some people can't be bothered to read the information they are given and some choose to ignore it believing that it applies to everyone but themselves. Those people may take notice if they are made to wait for some time.

[Scriv]

But don't you think that if people were told the thinking behind the new system and how the times were allocated and that if it was made very clear that they were able to drop off their luggage if they wish, then more people may listen and at least give it a try?

 

And be fair, it is very hard to arrive 'no earlier or later' than your allocated time, no matter how far away you live.

 

I am actually in favour of giving the system a good chance before condemning it. Very few people have tried it out yet to be able to speak from experience, but I do think they need to do a bit more to get people on side.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Scriv

[kruzseeka]

But don't you think that if people were told the thinking behind the new system and how the times were allocated and that if it was made very clear that they were able to drop off their luggage if they wish, then more people may listen and at least give it a try?

 

 

I certainly would Scriv!

No one would persuade me to order a taxi to get me to Southampton at or about a specific embarkation time especially if that was one of the late slots. Who knows what delays you might encounter? However I am perfectly happy to arrive early, sit and wait until 'my time' or disappear into town.

 

In my mind there is no probelm associated with P&O insisting on you not embarking until your allocated time but it needs to:

be a clear and transparent system (whatever they determine will be fairest to all passengers)

be adhered to otherwise people will still think they can circumvent the advertised arrangements

be clearly spelt out and communicated (although people will get the message eventually if they are made to wait)

pay attention to the fact that people WILL arrive early - especially if relying on multiple transport methods (it's far more problematic for those not travelling by car)

let passengers drop off their luggage

Then, in the interests of good PR, I think P&O need to address how they will manage early arrivees - allow for lots of people sitting around the terminal.........or (our pet solution ;)) facilitate transfer to West Quay! :D

Edited November 3, 2015 by kruzseeka

[Scriv]

Spot on kruzseeka! And to that transfer to West Quay as well ;)

 

2irisheyes - Also, we have to remember that people have been used to ignoring the statement about embarkation times for years now as they have never mattered in the past, so there is that obstacle to be overcome as well.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Scriv

[Florry]

Hi All, I'm on Arcadia - yay! Thought I'd do a quick post to let you know that when we arrived there was a priority entrance and a regular entrance. Priority was for suites (including mini) and Caribbean Tier upwards. Those people all went straight to the front of the queue and did not go to any waiting area. The rest is as per the coloured cards as previously posted. No queues at security, but there were lots of queues for the car parking, it took us about 40 mins to get from the turning for the dock for the car to e sorted, I felt this was longer than usual. The buffet was significantly less crowded when we were on board presumably due to the staggered embarkation. I was lucky and got an early time with friends but the whole ship seems relaxed and not particularly busy. I hope this helps.

[Florry]

Oh and it seems when we boarded every single cabin on the ship was ready - I had imagined they staggered the cleaning but it sees not.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Florry

[Scriv]

Thanks for letting us all know Florry. Have a fab time. :)

 

Interesting re the 40 mins queue from the dock turning to the car park.... would that include people just dropping people off? Was it The Mayflower Terminal?

 

I ask as is this we also have to factor in when calculating our arrival time?

Edited November 3, 2015 by Scriv

[davecttr]

First, apologies for winding everybody up, this topic is approaching the legendary dress code argu....discussions.;)

 

Some serious thinking, is car parking and road congestion the real reason for this new system?. If people suffer from a traffic jam they might arrive earlier next time and all those arriving by car might get involved in a self perpetuating early arriving spiral. As no one wants to miss an expensive cruise by being late people will continue to arrive early.

 

Can you drive up to the terminal and drop your cases? or are you committed to parking at that point?

 

Do Celebrity, RCI, Princess have less passengers arriving by car?

[Scriv]

And dave, driving up once to drop off luggage and then driving up again to come to the terminal means twice the number of journeys for every car that does that? Which would not fit in with any plan to reduce traffic at the port or reduce congestion?

 

Unless of course there is Kruzseeka's Kruz Bus of course?

Edited November 3, 2015 by Scriv

[kruzseeka]

And dave, driving up once to drop off luggage and then driving up again to come to the terminal means twice the number of journeys for every car that does that?

 

Unless of course there is Kruzseeka's Kruz Bus of course?

 

Yeah!!!!!!!! :D

[jeanlyon]

The only time I had to queue to drive in to drop bags was on Azura and we got there at 1200, which is early for us. We queued for a considerable time. All other cruises we have arrived between 1300 and 1330 and never queued at all. However, they were all smaller ships, the biggest being Arcadia.

[daiB]

First, apologies for winding everybody up, this topic is approaching the legendary dress code argu....discussions.;)

 

 

 

Some serious thinking, is car parking and road congestion the real reason for this new system?. If people suffer from a traffic jam they might arrive earlier next time and all those arriving by car might get involved in a self perpetuating early arriving spiral. As no one wants to miss an expensive cruise by being late people will continue to arrive early.

 

 

 

Can you drive up to the terminal and drop your cases? or are you committed to parking at that point?

 

 

 

Do Celebrity, RCI, Princess have less passengers arriving by car?

 

 

Dave you can drive up and drop off. This is quite quick as there will be less doing that.

 

What is going to hold everything up is the car parking with CPS. You have to wait until there enough drivers to take the cars away. That is the pinch point. The way I read the post above is that it was 40 minutes including the car parking wait. So those arriving by other transport should be much quicker on that basis.

[Josy1953]

Dave you can drive up and drop off. This is quite quick as there will be less doing that.

 

What is going to hold everything up is the car parking with CPS. You have to wait until there enough drivers to take the cars away. That is the pinch point. The way I read the post above is that it was 40 minutes including the car parking wait. So those arriving by other transport should be much quicker on that basis.

 

We have frequently used CPS and have never had an excessive wait so I don't understand why the enforced boarding times should change this. Perhaps P&O need to take a look at the parking if it is now causing a problem since the change.

 

 

In June we did a cruise with Celebrity and found that their parking was, in our opinion, better because when we arrived at the port we were directed to the car park and parked our own car. There were porters on the car park who took our luggage and loaded it into a van for delivery to the ship. We kept our car keys so when we disembarked we just walked the 2-3 minutes to our car and were away much quicker than we have ever been with CPS.

 

We will make a decision on whether or not to stick with P&O based on our own experiences in December, P&O must know that if the boarding becomes too onerous then some of the previously loyal passengers will look elsewhere, especially those of us who have cruised with other lines and have an idea of how those other lines may suit us.

[daiB]

We have frequently used CPS and have never had an excessive wait so I don't understand why the enforced boarding times should change this. Perhaps P&O need to take a look at the parking if it is now causing a problem since the change.

 

 

 

 

 

In June we did a cruise with Celebrity and found that their parking was, in our opinion, better because when we arrived at the port we were directed to the car park and parked our own car. There were porters on the car park who took our luggage and loaded it into a van for delivery to the ship. We kept our car keys so when we disembarked we just walked the 2-3 minutes to our car and were away much quicker than we have ever been with CPS.

 

 

 

We will make a decision on whether or not to stick with P&O based on our own experiences in December, P&O must know that if the boarding becomes too onerous then some of the previously loyal passengers will look elsewhere, especially those of us who have cruised with other lines and have an idea of how those other lines may suit us.

 

 

Josh,

 

I never said that the car parking had anything to do with the new system. I said that if it was only 40 from dock gate to boarding then and the only hold up was the parking. Then those without a car will be on sooner. The car parking has sometimes been a problem and you have had to queue.

 

The car parking is no different to what it was before as the new system does not kick in until you have got rid of the car and entered the terminal.

 

Apart from the gripes from people who cannot now board when they see fit, it appears to be working quite well.

 

As I have said before on our two recent Britiannia cruises it was never mentioned on the ship. It was a non event.

[kevinyork]

We have frequently used CPS and have never had an excessive wait so I don't understand why the enforced boarding times should change this. Perhaps P&O need to take a look at the parking if it is now causing a problem since the change.

 

 

 

 

 

In June we did a cruise with Celebrity and found that their parking was, in our opinion, better because when we arrived at the port we were directed to the car park and parked our own car. There were porters on the car park who took our luggage and loaded it into a van for delivery to the ship. We kept our car keys so when we disembarked we just walked the 2-3 minutes to our car and were away much quicker than we have ever been with CPS.

 

 

 

We will make a decision on whether or not to stick with P&O based on our own experiences in December, P&O must know that if the boarding becomes too onerous then some of the previously loyal passengers will look elsewhere, especially those of us who have cruised with other lines and have an idea of how those other lines may suit us.

 

 

You should know that you cannot mention a better Southampton based departure system on the P&O boards. Yes I agree our Celebrity and Royal Caribbean car parking and check in arrangements have been way better than P&Os. But P&O stalwarts seem happy to sit on spikes and be Keelhauled and still say P&O are the best.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mossie]

We have frequently used CPS and have never had an excessive wait so I don't understand why the enforced boarding times should change this. Perhaps P&O need to take a look at the parking if it is now causing a problem since the change.

 

 

In June we did a cruise with Celebrity and found that their parking was, in our opinion, better because when we arrived at the port we were directed to the car park and parked our own car. There were porters on the car park who took our luggage and loaded it into a van for delivery to the ship. We kept our car keys so when we disembarked we just walked the 2-3 minutes to our car and were away much quicker than we have ever been with CPS.

 

We will make a decision on whether or not to stick with P&O based on our own experiences in December, P&O must know that if the boarding becomes too onerous then some of the previously loyal passengers will look elsewhere, especially those of us who have cruised with other lines and have an idea of how those other lines may suit us.

 

I'm sure the majority of people will continue to book a cruise based on the ship itself and the itinerary NOT the embarkation process, which could in theory only be approx. 1- 2 hours out of the 340+ hours of a 14 night cruise?

[terrierjohn]

I'm sure the majority of people will continue to book a cruise based on the ship itself and the itinerary NOT the embarkation process, which could in theory only be approx. 1- 2 hours out of the 340+ hours of a 14 night cruise?

Have you never heard about last straws and Camel's backs?:rolleyes:;)

Edited November 3, 2015 by terrierjohn

[tartanexile81]

I personally think it's random. :-)

 

As per my previous post many pages back, when I asked P&O that question they said it was going to be by deck but I understand it's not straightforward in numerical order but mixed up and changes.

 

We did our one and only cruise with Fred Olsen earlier this year (never again!) and the higher the deck the more you've paid and the earlier you're called to board. Same on disembarkation.

[2irisheyes]

We have never used CPS. Have used a car park with shuttle bus - away from the port - and there was no wait in the approach to drop off and much cheaper. Have also used taxis (from hotel or train/coach stations) and never experienced a delay.

 

There would be less cars waiting to park for the American lines as there would be many more Americans boarding (my experience).

 

Southampton manages to run the City Link bus for ferries starting at Central Station and with a couple of stops in the town. Why not something on cruise days (to town centre only) but not starting until after passengers have disembarked otherwise the taxi companies would complain loudly.

[kruzseeka]

Southampton manages to run the City Link bus for ferries starting at Central Station and with a couple of stops in the town. Why not something on cruise days (to town centre only) but not starting until after passengers have disembarked otherwise the taxi companies would complain loudly.

 

And I doubt there would be much of a conflict of interests in terms of the current situation either. Most people requiring a taxi after disembarking require a taxi to the airport, coach or train station. Very unlikely they would want to go to the shopping centre with several cases in tow. Conversely taxis to the port are likely to have originated at the stations, hotels or longer distance transfer from home. The only demand I can see from port to West Quay and back would be for people to fill time between dropping off luggage and waiting until their embarkation time. Yes taxis could fulfill that role but they aren't at the moment so I don't think they could legitimately complain that it was affecting their business.

[berrywood]

 

Southampton manages to run the City Link bus for ferries starting at Central Station and with a couple of stops in the town. Why not something on cruise days (to town centre only) but not starting until after passengers have disembarked otherwise the taxi companies would complain loudly.

 

It would be uneconomical. Red Funnel operate 365 days with a sailing every hour, most of the year, from early morning to late at night and carry approx 2.8 million passengers a year.

[KarenR_UK]

It would be uneconomical. Red Funnel operate 365 days with a sailing every hour, most of the year, from early morning to late at night and carry approx 2.8 million passengers a year.

 

& in fact, I believe Red Funnel now run and finance it (& its no longer free unless you have a ferry ticket) - so its back to the idea of the P&O shuttle :)

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11143500.Bus_service_saved_by_ferry_firm/

[terrierjohn]

& in fact, I believe Red Funnel now run and finance it (& its no longer free unless you have a ferry ticket) - so its back to the idea of the P&O shuttle :)

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11143500.Bus_service_saved_by_ferry_firm/

But presumably the city shuttle would only be free for select fare payers?:)

[2irisheyes]

It would be uneconomical. Red Funnel operate 365 days with a sailing every hour, most of the year, from early morning to late at night and carry approx 2.8 million passengers a year.

 

Two buses, two drivers between the hours of, say, 11 - 3 with a charge being levied. The economics would depend on the take up. I wasn't advocating a service 365 day a year, only on cruise days. There are many non-cruise days in the winter when several ships are on world cruises. The parties who wish to solve the traffic problems could cough up something, that is if they genuinely do wish to improve the situation.

[berrywood]

I know you were not meaning 365 days a year for a shuttle bus, there are a great many days when we have no ships in Southampton.

As a resident of Southampton, I can assure you that as much as Southampton CC would like to ease the traffic problems, their coffers are empty! However I don't really think the traffic is the problem, more that P&O don't want everyone turning up at 12 and overloading the terminals. So they should sort a shuttle out :D Has anyone actually suggested that to them by writing to Christopher E?