Embarkation Times - Recent Experiences?

[Brayman]

Interesting that you have the embarkation times - are they on the P&O website?

 

Whenever I book directly with P&O I always ask my Personal Cruise Assistant what the boarding time is for the cabin I am booking. He refers to the table/spreadsheet and tells me with no hesitation.

I have mentioned this many times on this forum and on Facebook but still people try and second guess the system.

[Selbourne]

Whenever I book directly with P&O I always ask my Personal Cruise Assistant what the boarding time is for the cabin I am booking. He refers to the table/spreadsheet and tells me with no hesitation.

I have mentioned this many times on this forum and on Facebook but still people try and second guess the system.

 

Again, do you have a copy that you can post? Knowing that it exists is one thing. Having sight of it is another thing altogether! It would be incredibly useful for those of us who appreciate being on board earlier than the 3.30pm that most seem to be allocated.

[Brayman]

Again, do you have a copy that you can post? Knowing that it exists is one thing. Having sight of it is another thing altogether! It would be incredibly useful for those of us who appreciate being on board earlier than the 3.30pm that most seem to be allocated.

 

Sorry, I don't have a copy, I just ask my man :)

I can confirm that each deck on each ship has a predefined time. Not in any particular order though.

[miniyorkie]

Again, do you have a copy that you can post? Knowing that it exists is one thing. Having sight of it is another thing altogether! It would be incredibly useful for those of us who appreciate being on board earlier than the 3.30pm that most seem to be allocated.

 

This presumably cannot work in tandem with people using the coach service, from various locations in the UK, to Southampton. We are on Britannia in May using the Cruise Connect service and have been allotted a time of 3.15 - not an issue, although I would like to have time for lunch before rushing to muster drill. Not sure if I will have life jacket or jacket potato in hand whilst rushing to the drill. Everyone on the coach will be in a different cabin category on different deck levels so we have we all drawn the proverbial "short straw" if the embarkation spreadsheet is to be adhered to.

[Scriv]

miniyorkie - your coach will have been given its arrival time, which overrides all your individual times given on your E tickets. You will go straight into check in when your coach arrives.

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

This presumably cannot work in tandem with people using the coach service, from various locations in the UK, to Southampton. We are on Britannia in May using the Cruise Connect service and have been allotted a time of 3.15 - not an issue, although I would like to have time for lunch before rushing to muster drill. Not sure if I will have life jacket or jacket potato in hand whilst rushing to the drill. Everyone on the coach will be in a different cabin category on different deck levels so we have we all drawn the proverbial "short straw" if the embarkation spreadsheet is to be adhered to.

Yes I asked that question several pages back but I have now lost the will to live with reading all the way through this thread so we can get on the coach , relax , take butties ( who says we have paid for lunch on the first day , who cares! ) and get off at Southampton and embark. Simples:D:D

[miniyorkie]

Mrs Tinkywinky

Yep - that's what we will do. Not an issue at all, as I am on holiday. OH would sleep out on deck as long as he is on a cruise. We often just put towels on the floor on the sun deck if there are no available sun beds and then someone usually takes pity on us and offers theirs, if they about to vacate them. I read most of this thread and was amused by the tone taken by the late embarkation debate. Was tongue in cheek about taking jacket potato to muster ha ha. Am sure I can get afternoon tea in buffet if nothing else available.

[daiB]

Whenever I book directly with P&O I always ask my Personal Cruise Assistant what the boarding time is for the cabin I am booking. He refers to the table/spreadsheet and tells me with no hesitation.

I have mentioned this many times on this forum and on Facebook but still people try and second guess the system.

That's interesting Brayman, I don't think I have read that before. That could be very useful. Information to give out.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Forums mobile app

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I used the Cruise Lounge on my last 2 cruises before I got to Caribbean Tier and had a good experience, then turned up about 20 minutes before allocated time and got on within about 15-20 minutes. My last boarding, April 2nd on Azura, was the quickest ever. Turned up at 12.45 for a 0ne o clock boarding and was on board by 12.54: 9 minutes!

 

Incidentally you can get the rather eccentric boarding times by deck/part of deck, different for each ship, from P and O. I have them.

 

 

Thank you. I thought about the lounge and then leave about half an hour before our time. Roughly twenty minutes early to the port does not seem too bad.

 

As we are staying in the Grand Harbour we may be able to do a late check out or just sit and read in the hotel lobby.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clodia]

Clodia, is there a way you could post this information, or a link to it please? It would answer an awful lot of questions that we have all been debating! Thanks in anticipation.

 

Here goes; these are over a year old but I suspect from the times I've been given recently (which you can ignore in favour of a 1pm time if Caribbean Tier) are still current.

checkintimes.doc

[barriead]

Thanks Clodia, very useful....I do not know why it is not in the advice centre on P&O website with the caveat of " times can be changed for operational purposes".

As I sort of knew/guessed on D Deck of Azura for my July Medi Cruise a time of 15.00 if list is still current...no great drama there I am only 30 minutes away.:D

[Selbourne]

Here goes; these are over a year old but I suspect from the times I've been given recently (which you can ignore in favour of a 1pm time if Caribbean Tier) are still current.

 

Thanks. That's much appreciated. It would be interesting to see how these compare to our experiences, as I note that quite a few decks for various ships are shown as 1pm, which is when higher tier loyalty guests get boarding privelige (so seems too early) and very few times are 3.30pm or later, yet most posting on here seem to have times as late as that!

[Scriv]

I have been on P Deck on Ventura with an arrival of 1 pm, on Lido Deck on Azura at 1 30 and on Oriana C deck at 2 30pm.

[daiB]

Here goes; these are over a year old but I suspect from the times I've been given recently (which you can ignore in favour of a 1pm time if Caribbean Tier) are still current.

That is one excellent post Clodia thanks it will be put to good use.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Forums mobile app

[cruisenovice7350]

Thank you for sharing this. The information matches up for our cruises on Ventura (c deck), Azura (d deck) and Oriana (e deck) This spanning from 3 years ago until February this year.

[Brayman]

Thank you for sharing this. The information matches up for our cruises on Ventura (c deck), Azura (d deck) and Oriana (e deck) This spanning from 3 years ago until February this year.

 

It also matches two of our cruises last year on Arcadia and Aurora.

[Teddy123]

It also matches my time for Aurora in a few weeks. The message from P&O is clear - pay for the most expensive non-suite cabin (Deluxe Balcony on B Deck) and get a boarding time later than everybody else!

[Essex Racer]

Cloudia - very interesting thanks for sharing

[Presto2]

This is really helpful. Thankyou.

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

[eddie11]

Do you think P&O should publish it ( with the usual caveats about operational difficulties etc)?

 

Do you think much of the annoyance (demonstrated here. I don't know how widespread it is) could/would be avoided if passengers knew their likely embarkation time before booking? It might even lead to more Select bookings, where embarkation time is an important factor to some.

 

Anyway, thanks for posting it here. I will find it useful for the future, but I won't use it to chose my cabin

[megacruiser]

In reply to my own question, based on today's experience on Azura, the answer appears to be that they are not adhering to advised boarding times.

 

I arrived at Ocean Terminal at 1240. My allocated check in time was 15.00. Was given a red card with letter L. Letter G had already been called. Letter L was called at 1305. Was aboard by 1335. Sitting in the buffet now having lunch.

 

The process proved to be much smoother than anticipated.

[Presto2]

In reply to my own question, based on today's experience on Azura, the answer appears to be that they are not adhering to advised boarding times.

 

I arrived at Ocean Terminal at 1240. My allocated check in time was 15.00. Was given a red card with letter L. Letter G had already been called. Letter L was called at 1305. Was aboard by 1335. Sitting in the buffet now having lunch.

 

The process proved to be much smoother than anticipated.

 

Glad you had a good embarkation ! Have a great time :-)

[Josy1953]

In reply to my own question, based on today's experience on Azura, the answer appears to be that they are not adhering to advised boarding times.

 

I arrived at Ocean Terminal at 1240. My allocated check in time was 15.00. Was given a red card with letter L. Letter G had already been called. Letter L was called at 1305. Was aboard by 1335. Sitting in the buffet now having lunch.

 

The process proved to be much smoother than anticipated.

 

We usually arrive early at the terminal because we build contingency for traffic problems into our travel plans and we have found that the wait is variable. We have had occasions when like you we have very little wait but on other occasions we have waited until nearer to our check-in time. It really depends on how many people turn up at any given time, if there are few early arrivals then the wait tends to be short. Our view is that if we have to wait then we will because we would rather sit and read in the terminal than sit in the car and worry in a traffic hold-up.

Enjoy you cruise.

[the english lady]

Just to be a little contentious, I think those that live nearby should be some of the last to be boarded, as they can stay at home until the last minute. Those of us with a 6 hour drive will always allow a lot of slack to make sure that we are not late, and inevitably we will arrive 2 hours too early, and thus have to hang around until our designated boarding time.

(nb - please do not take my suggestion too seriously!)

 

 

 

en.

 

Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app

 

Which i wont ,but i have waved my magic wand and you are now in a suite. Will you be able

to get there for 12..So you can board then

[wowzz]

Which i wont ,but i have waved my magic wand and you are now in a suite. Will you be able

to get there for 12..So you can board then

I appreciate the use of your wand! If only............

 

Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app