Southampton embarkation time and terminal question

[cruisekap]

Hi all,

 

I have never sailed out of Southampton and have a couple of questions:

 

1). When does embarkation start?  I usually arrive at the cruise terminal at 10:30 when embarking in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 

2). What is the cruise terminal like for Explorer of the Seas (not sure if that is enough info)?  Is there a waiting area if I arrive too early for embarkation?

 

I have searched the UK forum and couldn't find much information.

 

Thanks,

 

Kathy

[taglovestocruise]

When we boarded Independence we arrived right at noon.  Blackberry cars picked us up in Kensington at 11am. Dropped off the luggage and were on the ship within 15 minutes. Almost no waiting at all.  Inside of terminal seemed very small and I saw no waiting area.  Have no idea what was up with the porters as we left our luggage on the sidewalk along with several hundred of other pieces.  Everything delivered to our cabin by 3pm. happy cruising

[vickiw0318]

Do your set sail pass on the Royal Caribbean app.  You'll sail right on through.  It was super easy when I boarded the Indy last May.

[xpcdoojk]

We have boarded 3 times in Southampton all quick, we disembarked one time in 2016 and I was amazed everyone was off the ship by 9:30AM.  We have never gotten off the ship so quick, so much so that our 10:30 pick up was needed about 90 minutes prior to my expectation.  He picked us up about 10AM after I reached out to him saying we are on the shore a lot early can you pick us up.  Very efficient.

 

jc

[Bloodgem]

6 hours ago, cruisekap said:

Hi all,

 

I have never sailed out of Southampton and have a couple of questions:

 

1). When does embarkation start?  I usually arrive at the cruise terminal at 10:30 when embarking in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 

2). What is the cruise terminal like for Explorer of the Seas (not sure if that is enough info)?  Is there a waiting area if I arrive too early for embarkation?

 

I have searched the UK forum and couldn't find much information.

 

Thanks,

 

Kathy

Hi,

Yes  you can arrive at 10.30 and yes there is a small waiting area, with a small stand that sells drinks and chocolate etc . 

 

[upwarduk]

6 hours ago, vickiw0318 said:

Do your set sail pass on the Royal Caribbean app.  You'll sail right on through.  It was super easy when I boarded the Indy last May.

No app for Explorer of the Seas, you will have to do on line.

Our information said that boarding in Southampton doesn’t start until 11 am, as there is limited seating.

We were there by 11.30 and after leaving our luggage by our car boot, where the porter told us it would be picked up by the van, we were on to the ship quickly. I didn’t see any seating, but I wasn’t looking for any. In the past we have always been given a health form to fill in and you were able to sit to fill that in, but now you are asked at Check in whether you have been in contact with anyone with a cold.

Quote

We disembarked one time in 2016 and I was amazed everyone was,. off the ship by 9:30AM. 

I asked 2 weeks ago for a disembarkation time of 9am. I was told last disembarkation was at 08.30. We were not sent a questionnaire about disembarkation times on the ship, apparently we had filled this in when we sorted our set sail pass weeks before embarkation.

Edited September 27, 2019 by upwarduk

[Bloodgem]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

No app for Explorer of the Seas, you will have to do on line.

Our information said that boarding in Southampton doesn’t start until 11 am, as there is limited seating.

We were there by 11.30 and after leaving our luggage by our car boot, where the porter told us it would be picked up by the van, we were on to the ship quickly. I didn’t see any seating, but I wasn’t looking for any. In the past we have always been given a health form to fill in and you were able to sit to fill that in, but now you are asked at Check in whether you have been in contact with anyone with a cold.

 

Shows the small waiting area. Like you we normally arrive at 11.30 and the seats are empty.

[upwarduk]

We were directed to the Diamond area, but there was no queue, we walked straight up to an agent.

[UKWLDCruise]

Southampton is one of the best ports for getting passengers in and off ships which is not surprising given their long history of doing so.  The last time I embarked there it was on  a Sunday and it would be the Sunday that the clocks changed.  The taxi turned up an hour early and I ended up at the dock at 9.30 but still had no problems getting a seat before boarding.

 

[kernow]

Bloodgem has already posted a link to the review I did in May but to summarise we arrived around 10.30 and boarding started around 11. We've always found embarking at Southampton very easy.

[cruisekap]

Thanks to all.  I fly to UK tomorrow.  Can't wait.