Suggest check-in times and why they're ignored - a theory

[lstone19]

One of the regular topics here is check-in times and despite emails telling you when you should check-in, it gets ignored at the port and you can check-in anytime. And it finally clicked with me, given many years of experience working for an airline, why this might be. If Princess is organized anything like my airline was, it's because the division of the company assigning and communicating the times and the division responsible for checking you in are completely separate (it's easy to talk about Princess as if it acts as one body but like any large company, there are differences of opinion within the company).

 

For my airline and most others I know about, there are three separate divisions who handle you and there is no common reporting of the divisions until you get to the Senior or Executive VP level. There's Reservations Sales and Support that handles your reservation and ticketing prior to travel, there's Customer Service at the airport handling your check-in and boarding, and there's Onboard Service (flight attendants) serving you on the plane.

 

If Princess is organized at all similar to this, then I see how this happens. The equivalent of Reservations Sales and Support deals with you pre-cruise and is responsible for all pre-cruise communications. And for whatever reason, they've decided it's a good idea to tell you when to check-in. Maybe somebody just thinks this is a good idea or they do it because too many people used to ask what time they should arrive. But they have no authority of the people working at the port checking you in.

 

At the port, the main job of the equivalent Customer Service is to get you checked in and on the ship and perhaps most importantly, do it without the ship being delayed departing. As soon as someone is on the ship, they're done with that passenger (and are now the responsibility of the third group - the ship's Hotel Department - the equivalent of Onboard Service in my airline example). There is no gain to them to tell someone to wait to check-in. Imagine if the ship was delayed departing due to late check-in activity only to find that earlier in the day, people were being told to wait while check-in agents sat doing nothing.

 

The official check-in time starts at 1pm yet most departures, there's already several hundred to a couple of thousand already on the ship by 1pm who do not need to be processed during the official three to four hours normally advertised as check-in hours (my last cruise said 1pm to 5pm). The last thing they want is to have the de-facto six to seven hours they currently have to process everyone reduced to the official three to four hours as that's a barrier to them achieving their goal (an on-time departure).

 

So in short, the reason the times aren't enforced and are not going to be enforced is it's not in the best interests of the group that would do the enforcing to do so.

Edited January 31, 2018 by lstone19
Type correction

[JF - retired RRT]

Add to that, that the people who are doing the actual check-in don't work for the cruise line, they work for the port.

[lstone19]

Add to that, that the people who are doing the actual check-in don't work for the cruise line, they work for the port.

 

Probably less of a factor than you think. My airline ground-handles other carriers at some airports (and other carriers or companies ground-handles us at some airports) but the employees there work the other carrier in accordance with the operating carrier's policies. And if the vendor thinks the airline's policies are getting in the way, they will let them know.

[moki'smommy]

Add to that, that the people who are doing the actual check-in don't work for the cruise line, they work for the port.

Really? We met a lovely lady at the port who told us that on the next day she'd be driving to "the other port" to work for Disney. We figured it had something to do with when ships were in port, etc. since neither line was using the ports every day and they didn't use the same ports...Princess goes out of Port Everglades, Disney out of Miami; Princess was using Houston, Disney used Galveston, etc. I just figured she was part time for both lines and matched her days with when they had ships in port. She joked that the hardest thing was to remember which clothes to put on in the morning.

[PoohUnderstands]

I ignore check-in time I am given because it has always been around 2pm. If I checked in then I would miss my favorite meal of the cruise, the first lunch in the MDR, relaxing and saying, I am on the beginning of my cruise!!!

 

Pooh

[CineGraphic]

Why they are ignored is simple, self-importance.

 

 

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[lstone19]

Why they are ignored is simple, self-importance.

 

 

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I meant why they’re ignored by Princess at the port.

 

 

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[CineGraphic]

I meant why they’re ignored by Princess at the port.

 

 

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If Princess is only sending out suggested boarding times and not true assigned boarding times, there’s nothing to enforce or ignore.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone while I should be working.

[Pam in CA]

The reasoning above is over-thinking the problem. It’s actually quite simple: to try to space out the crowds checking in.

 

Unlike a plane, a cruise passenger’s cruise experience starts when they board. Enforcing passenger arrival times later essentially shortens their cruise even though the ship hasn’t left port. That’s why it’s not enforced.

[hpeabody]

The port people work for an outsource company contracted by Princess Cruises. Here in southern California it is called Metro Ports / Metropolitan Stevedore Company DBA Metro Ports. The employees could be told to report to Long Beach or Los Angeles Harbor / San Pedro depending on ships in port.

[cvpends]

I always thought that those suggested check in times were to keep the time I check in (i.e early) from being crowded!

 

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[rbt001]

All theories aside. Everyone knows the real reason for staggered check-in times is simply to give Cruise Critic members one more topic to argue, theorize and suggest a better way to manage it.

 

Because after all.... after awhile it does become monotonous limiting threads to just beverage policy and dress code.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I would suggest the main reason they are ignored is that hotels require guests to check out by a certain time in the morning, usually between 10am and midday depending on the hotel. Most people would prefer to go straight to the cruise terminal after leaving their hotel, and to board the ship as soon as they can.

 

If Princess was serious about staggered check-ins then they should allow passengers to select a check-in time when they book their cruise, and then enforce it.

[caribill]

I would suggest the main reason they are ignored is that hotels require guests to check out by a certain time in the morning, usually between 10am and midday depending on the hotel. Most people would prefer to go straight to the cruise terminal after leaving their hotel, and to board the ship as soon as they can.

It is that and more. Someone who flies in to a city arriving at 8 AM does not want to wait 6 or more hours to check in. Also, a family group that arrives together may have cabins on different decks and thus different suggested check-in times.

 

If Princess was serious about staggered check-ins then they should allow passengers to select a check-in time when they book their cruise, and then enforce it.

 

Carnival tested that out a couple of years ago, but I do not know if they adopted it after the test.

 

You had to select a 30 minute window in which to check-in and they would not let you into the terminal before your selected time. However if you arrived after your selected time window you could go right in.

Of course this leads to people selecting the earliest possible check-in times knowing if they arrive later, they can check-in right away. Of course someone who was not prompt in picking a check-in time window might find only the very last times available even if flying in early in the morning.

 

How did it work out? Well, I had selected a time of between 10:00 AM and 10:30 AM. I arrived about 10:25 and walked right in as all those waiting for that time slot had already been processed and the 10:30 AM-11:00 AM group were lined up like cattle in pens waiting for their entry time to be reached. So, for me it was perfect. For others, ???

 

See above in red

 

The only times I have read about the check-in times being mandatory were a few cases where the cruise terminal could not handle a large crowd at one time. For example, if a delayed boarding was known to be occurring, 2600 people could not be in the terminal waiting to board. I remember this happening at the old San Francisco terminal and at the Sydney (Australia) terminal at Circular Quay.

[Grego]

The reasoning above is over-thinking the problem. It’s actually quite simple: to try to space out the crowds checking in.

 

Unlike a plane, a cruise passenger’s cruise experience starts when they board. Enforcing passenger arrival times later essentially shortens their cruise even though the ship hasn’t left port. That’s why it’s not enforced.

 

This is exactly why they suggest boarding times in an effort to avoid huge lines and long wait times in the terminal.

[floridalover5623]

This is exactly why they suggest boarding times in an effort to avoid huge lines and long wait times in the terminal.

We drive, so we could actually adjust our schedule to comply to their request but if we did it would mean more delays in traffic, more congestion for parking and certainly more people standing in line when we finally queue up in line. This also means there would be no buffer in out schedule for any emergency.

I think we'll get there early & not complain about an extended wait.:)

[OzKiwiJJ]

Caribill, Carnival does use that selected check-in time here in Australia and, yes, they do enforce it. They actually had two queues running - the current boarding time group queue and the next boarding time group queue. The queues were outside the terminal so before check-in. It seemed very organised. I'm not sure what happened once the first queue started moving as we had priority boarding (we scored an amazing last minute deal on a suite), and that priority boarding was the fastest we've ever boarded a ship - apart from a couple of minutes at the check-in desk and again at passport control we didn't stop moving until we were on the ship!

 

If Princess was serious about staggered boarding then that is the way to go, IMHO. Arbitrarily assigning boarding times by deck is crazy.

[floridalover5623]

Arbitrarily assigning boarding times by deck is crazy.

Agreed.

If they start enforcing priority boarding here in Florida maybe people will begin booking cabins that will board first in hopes of getting in earlier. ;)

[PrincessLuver]

If Princess is only sending out suggested boarding times and not true assigned boarding times, there’s nothing to enforce or ignore.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone while I should be working.

 

Exactly.....same with Formal Night Dress Codes, Saving Chairs In The Theaters, and Saving Chairs On the Poll Decks.....they are only SUGGESTIONS.....so that must be why people do as they please....:):D:rolleyes:

[Potstech]

If they were to attempt to enforce these boardint times then imagine all the additional complaints when using Princess EZ Air and the only flights available do not allow conformation to that time frame. Plus then some passengers would demand a lng term waiting area at he terminal as again flight schedules will in no way conform to the designated times.

[Superfragger]

As others have suggested, I think it is mainly overlooked because it would be unreasonable to require people to find travel arrangements that allow them to arrive before the designated times.

[lstone19]

As I said above, I really intended this to be about why Princess tells you what time you should check-in and then ignores it all at the departure port, not about why people want to check-in at another time.

 

One other thing from my almost 20 years in an operational department at an airline. Planning loves to make plans on everything going right (and as far as I am concerned, those pre-cruise emails including your assigned check-in time come from planners). Operations is all about dealing with the things that aren’t going right. Part of that is never put off what you can do right now until 10 minutes from now because 10 minutes from now, things might go sideways.

 

So my guess (putting it a different way than I first did), Planning thinks assigning check-in times will smooth things out but Port (Check-in) Operations thinks, the sooner we get someone processed, the sooner they’re out of our hair and on the ship. Enforcing check-in times just doesn’t fit with the people at the port meeting their goals.

 

 

 

 

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[tonit964]

Why they are ignored is simple, self-importance.

 

 

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Not necessarily. As another poster mentioned, flight/arrival times are an issue and also, you are charged/pay for day 1, I'm sure most like me, want to get on the ship and start enjoying their first day. ;)

 

I like to get on the ship around noon, have lunch, go to the cabin, unpack and get settled, explore a little bit, go to Muster and then enjoy sail away.

 

Well, I guess that could be interpreted as self importance.

Edited February 2, 2018 by tonit964
after thought

[floridalover5623]

Not necessarily. As another poster mentioned, flight/arrival times are an issue and also, you are charged/pay for day 1, I'm sure most like me, want to get on the ship and start enjoying their first day. ;)

 

I like to get on the ship around noon, have lunch, go to the cabin, unpack and get settled, explore a little bit, go to Muster and then enjoy sail away.

 

Well, I guess that could be interpreted as self importance.

You've got that right.:D

And now they want to suggest to us what time we should start our vacation. LOL

[OzKiwiJJ]

What amuses me about the suggested boarding times by deck is that often the decks with some of the more expensive cabins (penthouse suites or mini-suites) often end up with quite late boarding times. :confused: