Galveston Staggered Embarkation ---- Any feedback?

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Im still confused. When you get to the terminal and drop off your luggage and you are priority you go to the entrance show them your priority designation and are directed to a line apart from non-priority passengers. Unless there are hundreds of priority passengers, which can be the case, you move through security through a separate line and then proceed upstairs, don't you. Then you show your priority boarding again and move to the front of any line waiting for the check-in process. Once you have checked-in you are given a boarding number that moves you in front of other passengers TO BE THE "NEXT" group on board. What am I missing?

[Baylee]

Im still confused. When you get to the terminal and drop off your luggage and you are priority you go to the entrance show them your priority designation and are directed to a line apart from non-priority passengers. Unless there are hundreds of priority passengers, which can be the case, you move through security through a separate line and then proceed upstairs, don't you. Then you show your priority boarding again and move to the front of any line waiting for the check-in process. Once you have checked-in you are given a boarding number that moves you in front of other passengers TO BE THE "NEXT" group on board. What am I missing?

 

There is no longer a separate line for Priority. Diamond/Platinum/FTTF can show up at their leisure and are allowed to enter the building regardless of the time they selected but there is no skipping to the front of the line. No separate security line, no separate check-in line.

 

Diamond/Platinum/Suites passengers who are in the Captains Lounge do board first as before.

[Baylee]

I don't need any pampering, my main goal is to get on the ship. I feel pampered enough just getting on quickly and having my luggage arrive sooner. But even before I was Platinum I never had issues in Galveston getting on and getting luggage quickly, getting off is the part that is always screwed up.

 

Oddly enough, we had the smoothest debarkation EVER!

[jamesr3939]

This WILL be the wave of the future. I just read a review on the Princess area and Princess is doing it at least out of LA. The review I read didn't seem to make it a big deal.

 

I think there is a learning curve for Carnival on this and with input from CC hopefully they will get it smoothed out by 12/27/15 when I sail from Galveston.

[clhayes]

There is no longer a separate line for Priority. Diamond/Platinum/FTTF can show up at their leisure and are allowed to enter the building regardless of the time they selected but there is no skipping to the front of the line. No separate security line, no separate check-in line.

 

 

 

Diamond/Platinum/Suites passengers who are in the Captains Lounge do board first as before.

 

 

Hi! I noticed one of the earlier post mentioned the same line, no signage, but that some people did go to the front of the line and were allowed in the terminal. The poster mentioned they assumed it was Priority/FTTF. Not being a snob, but I would imagine priority would go to the front instead of standing in line behind those with later check in times. Or did you experience something else? BTW thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

[Baylee]

Hi! I noticed one of the earlier post mentioned the same line, no signage, but that some people did go to the front of the line and were allowed in the terminal. The poster mentioned they assumed it was Priority/FTTF. Not being a snob, but I would imagine priority would go to the front instead of standing in line behind those with later check in times. Or did you experience something else? BTW thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

 

We are Platinum and were allowed inside the building. But once inside there was only one line - where before there was a separate line for Priority. Once through security everyone walked on through to the escalators to the check-in counters. We didn't have to wait long but we weren't taken in front of the other non-priority passengers. We were in the first group taken from the Captains Lounge to the ship.

[clhayes]

We are Platinum and were allowed inside the building. But once inside there was only one line - where before there was a separate line for Priority. Once through security everyone walked on through to the escalators to the check-in counters. We didn't have to wait long but we weren't taken in front of the other non-priority passengers. We were in the first group taken from the Captains Lounge to the ship.

 

 

Got it. So if there's a line outside, priority can go to the entrance and enter the terminal. However, we don't pick up our S&S cards in the lounge anymore. It sounds pretty much like 'priority boarding' is only for those who arrive before the ship begins the boarding process, wait in the lounge, first group to board. Thanks for clarifying. I thought you were saying priority had to also wait outside in line.

[okgirl]

I've never boarded from terminal 2 but will be on a B2B in February.

 

I'm disappointed to read that there is no longer a priority line to get into the terminal building.

 

Are we suppose to go to the front of the line, or wait behind others already there? And how do you know if you are in the line being let into the terminal or the line that has been turned away because it's not their time yet?

 

I plan to arrive around 10am like I always do, so hopefully there won't be a huge crowd.

 

Does anyone know of a map that shows the layout of the terminal?

[BallFour4]

I'm disappointed to read that there is no longer a priority line to get into the terminal building.

 

I plan to arrive around 10am like I always do, so hopefully there won't be a huge crowd.

 

Pardon me for cherry picking your post.

 

In the past you entered the terminal at the priority door, your documents were verified and you walked around to the right side perimeter of the security line. This bypassed all those waiting in the cue except for the very front where the x-ray machines were. Once clear of those you caught the escalator upstairs to be shown to the priority boarding lounge area.

 

After receiving your cards you walked by the restrooms on the right around the second cue to the boarding area. The overhead signs changed to notify what groups were boarding.

 

I'm really surprised this has happened in Galveston, we've been on all three ships this year with friends that aren't priority and they were just a few minutes delayed after us. We waited no more than 10 min for them to clear through.

 

Our milestone cruise is on a few weeks, we travel with two couples not on priority. This should be fun.

 

.

Edited November 24, 2015 by BallFour4

[Athankfulheart]

Thank you for asking these questions and thanks to all who have shared info.

We purchased FTTF for the Dec 6th sailing with the priority line being one of the most valuable features. If I understand correctly, this has been taken away at the Galveston terminals ?

 

Priority Check-in

Bypass lines and have exclusive security screening lanes for initial embarkation at onset of cruise.

[Tree Hugger]

I'm on the Freedom on 12/19 and have FTTF. It's a little disappointing to hear that there may not be a separate priority line, I was kind of looking forward to skipping the long wait. On our last cruise (Magic, November 2012) we waited in the long security line for well over an hour. We drive down from Fort Worth the morning of the cruise so we usually arrive somewhere around noon.

[jh2360]

I'm on the Freedom on 12/19 and have FTTF. It's a little disappointing to hear that there may not be a separate priority line, I was kind of looking forward to skipping the long wait. On our last cruise (Magic, November 2012) we waited in the long security line for well over an hour. We drive down from Fort Worth the morning of the cruise so we usually arrive somewhere around noon.

 

You will get priority boarding. It is stated both on Carnival's site and this site in many places.

[jimbo5544]

I see that John has mentioned this subject on his FB page today and has given some additional info and improvements (signage) that are being done in the next week or so.

[CCLMischelle]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just want to clarify. There is still a Priority lane for Platinum, Diamond and Suite guests, just like at other ports and much like the airlines. If you arrive prior to the start of boarding, they will direct you to this Priority lane for check-in, then you can proceed to wait in the Captain's Lounge. If you arrive after boarding has started, you are directed to the Priority lane and can board immediately after your check-in. Hope that helps.

Edited November 24, 2015 by CCLMischelle

[dominichunter]

We are platinum, on the Magic Nov.15th. Was told to get inline with everybody else. When getting our SS cards, the person had to go down to a roped off area that said Captain's Lounge to get our cards. Their was nobody inline there. I told the person we should've been told go directly there in the first place. oh well...

[texast518]

We are Platinum and were allowed inside the building. But once inside there was only one line - where before there was a separate line for Priority. Once through security everyone walked on through to the escalators to the check-in counters. We didn't have to wait long but we weren't taken in front of the other non-priority passengers. We were in the first group taken from the Captains Lounge to the ship.

 

What if you are Platinum & casino Players guest?

[tkportersat]

I will say that our last debarkation in March was pretty smooth. We were in Zone 1 due to the Platinum status and it was our best one ever. Very organized. But usually it is chaos because no one listens :mad:

 

Oddly enough, we had the smoothest debarkation EVER!

[clhayes]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just want to clarify. There is still a Priority lane for Platinum, Diamond and Suite guests, just like at other ports and much like the airlines. If you arrive prior to the start of boarding, they will direct you to this Priority lane for check-in, then you can proceed to wait in the Captain's Lounge. If you arrive after boarding has started, you are directed to the Priority lane and can board immediately after your check-in. Hope that helps.

 

 

Thank you, it does.

[quickrate]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just want to clarify. There is still a Priority lane for Platinum, Diamond and Suite guests, just like at other ports and much like the airlines. If you arrive prior to the start of boarding, they will direct you to this Priority lane for check-in, then you can proceed to wait in the Captain's Lounge. If you arrive after boarding has started, you are directed to the Priority lane and can board immediately after your check-in. Hope that helps.

 

But, if you were told to get in line with everyone else even though you are platinum or diamond line one of the posters has stated here, the priority line does you no good. I realize this is new and needs to be tweaked, but htose running the line need to be better trained!

Pat

[cruizinisthebest]

They also said someone came and got them out of the line. There was some confusion but nobody said they had a long wait.

 

Give the process a chance. John Heald said they are working on it. This is what pilots are for.

 

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

[IPlayWithString]

Well hopefully between now and the end of Jan (which is when our next cruise is planned, providing my boss allows me to take those days off since only 3 of the days are actual work days for me) they'll have this smoothed out somewhat.

[dominichunter]

We are platinum, on the Magic Nov.15th. Was told to get inline with everybody else. When getting our SS cards, the person had to go down to a roped off area that said Captain's Lounge to get our cards. Their was nobody inline there. I told the person we should've been told go directly there in the first place. oh well...

 

Want to add, it still only took 10 mins to board. They had plenty of people working the check in counter.

[IPlayWithString]

I think we've never seen less than a dozen people working the check out counter, personally.

 

Which seems like plenty to me.

[IPlayWithString]

I apologize for it taking so long for me to get back.

 

We have talked to the special needs dept and it has been recommended, by them, to us that we get there as early as we feel we want to whether that is 10 am or 2pm.

 

We typically arrive around 10 or 10:30 and because my son's passport is flagged in the system, we are usually escorted straight upstairs to the counter to be checked in there. Most often, we are given a place to wait that's as far from the majority of the crowd as they can find for us and as soon as they start boarding, we are called when they are ready.

 

The REASON why we like to board so early is that even though this is something we've done multiple times with him before, my son still likes to go over every single inch of the ship because it makes him feel more comfortable. That, plus getting lunch, takes time and the more time we have to do it BEFORE the muster drill (which is always interesting. When we were on the Magic, we were given permission to skip it entirely but we went anyway) the better.

 

 

 

When we sail..or go on any vacation really...we do our very best to make things comfortable and easy for my son because it's just easier on everybody all the way around. Leaving the comfortable enviroments of home and school that he is used to is always stressful on him even though he loves going on vacation. It's our job as his parents to try and minimize the stress in whatever way we can. You'd do the same if you had a child with the same issues, I'm sure. :)

[wantocruisemore]

I apologize for it taking so long for me to get back.

 

We have talked to the special needs dept and it has been recommended, by them, to us that we get there as early as we feel we want to whether that is 10 am or 2pm.

 

We typically arrive around 10 or 10:30 and because my son's passport is flagged in the system, we are usually escorted straight upstairs to the counter to be checked in there. Most often, we are given a place to wait that's as far from the majority of the crowd as they can find for us and as soon as they start boarding, we are called when they are ready.

 

The REASON why we like to board so early is that even though this is something we've done multiple times with him before, my son still likes to go over every single inch of the ship because it makes him feel more comfortable. That, plus getting lunch, takes time and the more time we have to do it BEFORE the muster drill (which is always interesting. When we were on the Magic, we were given permission to skip it entirely but we went anyway) the better.

 

 

 

When we sail..or go on any vacation really...we do our very best to make things comfortable and easy for my son because it's just easier on everybody all the way around. Leaving the comfortable enviroments of home and school that he is used to is always stressful on him even though he loves going on vacation. It's our job as his parents to try and minimize the stress in whatever way we can. You'd do the same if you had a child with the same issues, I'm sure. :)

 

My DD is autistic. I always contact special needs so that if we get to check in and it is hectic crazy, we can get onboard before she has a meltdown. We've had to do that twice. Last time we were told to get to port very early. We did and were able to get settled and just wait for our zone 2 to b called.

I'm concerned about this new way of doing things if they expand to other ports. We will not b going out of Galveston at all. But at other ports sometimes we fly directly in and you are at the mercy of schedules you can't really control.

I'm concerned if they don't allow special needs exceptions, and they institute this in all ports, cruises will no longer b my favorite vacation that I push.