Boarding Times by Deck

[Stokie33]

We are on Iona 11th Sept on deck 9 and got allocated 13.45

[amajaa]

12 hours ago, zap99 said:

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to deck/boarding times. No surprises there then🤔

Other than they seem to not be boarding decks near each other at the same or nearly same times. Which is exactly what they did before if you look at the boarding times for all the ships someone posted on here about 2016 or 2017 I think it was. 

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, amajaa said:

Other than they seem to not be boarding decks near each other at the same or nearly same times. Which is exactly what they did before if you look at the boarding times for all the ships someone posted on here about 2016 or 2017 I think it was. 

Boarding times to suit the customer would be a good idea. Prior to Covid we had a couple of cruises starting on Sunday on the same day as the British Gran Prix. We stop for a nice lunch in a pub by Southampton water and watch the race. Boarding time 14.15?. Not a chance, thank you very much.🤔

[Pet]

We are joining Iona Saturday. Our e ticket and boarding passes give an arrival/embarkation time of 11.45. We will be driving our car to Southampton and parking with CPS via testing at gate 20. My question is should we aim to arrive for the test about an hour before 11.45 or is that the time you should get to the test centre?

Thanks

😊

[Bin man]

All the posts I have  seen have said it's the test centre . I have seen reports test centre didn't open till 12 o 'clock 

[sandancer]

Our confirmation from CPS states that the arrival time on your boarding pass is the time to arrive at the testing area .Someone posted that if you arrive early you are directed to another car park which is chargeable to wait until the time you have been allocated. No idea if that is correct. 

[hamrag]

5 hours ago, Pet said:

...My question is should we aim to arrive for the test about an hour before 11.45 or is that the time you should get to the test centre?

Thanks

😊

You may, but then you'd be waiting 1.25 hours for the test centre to open....at least you'd be at the head of the queue, and it may open earlier than the published noon opening time! 

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, sandancer said:

Our confirmation from CPS states that the arrival time on your boarding pass is the time to arrive at the testing area .Someone posted that if you arrive early you are directed to another car park which is chargeable to wait until the time you have been allocated. No idea if that is correct. 

Before our 3 night Britannia a couple of weeks ago, i called customer services and was advised you can arrive there up to an hour before boarding time. Our time was 2pm, and we arrived at test centre 1.15pm and were boarded on ship by 2.30pm.

 

Note testing centre doesn't open until noon. 

[Son of Anarchy]

We've got an arrival time of 12:00, the same as kicking out time from our hotel.  We'll be leaving taking a taxi about 11:30.  Join the queue and don't mind waiting about 15 minutes for the test centre to open.  18 days to go...

[zap99]

11 hours ago, hamrag said:

You may, but then you'd be waiting 1.25 hours for the test centre to open....at least you'd be at the head of the queue, and it may open earlier than the published noon opening time! 

Your maths puts you on the dunces step with me. Getting a bit crowded on here now🤣

[zap99]

11 hours ago, hamrag said:

Before our 3 night Britannia a couple of weeks ago, i called customer services and was advised you can arrive there up to an hour before boarding time. Our time was 2pm, and we arrived at test centre 1.15pm and were boarded on ship by 2.30pm.

 

Note testing centre doesn't open until noon. 

On our last one we arrived 50 mins before the time on the boarding time. The man on the gate said anything earlier than an hour, they turn people away. Our next one is on 4th Sept. 50 minutes early again. It has take about 30 mins to get to the front of the queue.

[wowzz]

Interesting to note that on the Princess forum, "walk in" passengers are reporting that they are being tested at the terminal as early as 11:15. 

Seems the 12:00 start time refers only to the drive through  location..

[TravelMadBrits]

Hi 

We sail on Iona on 11/9 and haven’t booked parking yet. Have used CPS before but considering Triangle and use the walk in testing. 
Can anyone share their own recent experience of this and the time it opens please? 
Many thanks 😊 

[Gettingwarmer]

22 minutes ago, TravelMadBrits said:

Hi 

We sail on Iona on 11/9 and haven’t booked parking yet. Have used CPS before but considering Triangle and use the walk in testing. 
Can anyone share their own recent experience of this and the time it opens please? 
Many thanks 😊 

Parking might be more difficult at Triangle as there may be bookings due to the Southampton Boat Show. 

[PJL1973]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Interesting to note that on the Princess forum, "walk in" passengers are reporting that they are being tested at the terminal as early as 11:15. 

Seems the 12:00 start time refers only to the drive through  location..

 Well if that's the case and P&O are the same, then I could have walked to the terminal at 11:30 instead of 12:00 if the no earlier than 1 hour before rule also applied there. Still can't complain as it was fairly straight forward as it was (and preferable to airport embarkation under pre-Covid times).

Edited August 24, 2021 by PJL1973

[hamrag]

9 hours ago, zap99 said:

On our last one we arrived 50 mins before the time on the boarding time. The man on the gate said anything earlier than an hour, they turn people away. Our next one is on 4th Sept. 50 minutes early again. It has take about 30 mins to get to the front of the queue.

I have bolded the part of your confusing post that puts you squarely in the dunce corner! 🙄

[TravelMadBrits]

7 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Parking might be more difficult at Triangle as there may be bookings due to the Southampton Boat Show. 

Thank you ~ probably why I’m struggling to find anything to book. Will go back to the original plan of CPS and learn to be patient!! We have a boarding time of 11.45 so will arrive no earlier than 11.30am and join the queue to wait for the 12 noon opening. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

I have bolded the part of your confusing post that puts you squarely in the dunce corner! 🙄

Sorry you find it confusing. If you arrive one hour before your stated arrival time you are turned away. Hence we arrive 50 minutes before and can join the queue. Still confused ?🤔

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

I have bolded the part of your confusing post that puts you squarely in the dunce corner! 🙄

But if they dont open till 12:00, and the poster said his arrival time was 11:45, that equates to 1.25hrs or 75 minutes wait time.

[hamrag]

18 hours ago, zap99 said:

Sorry you find it confusing. If you arrive one hour before your stated arrival time you are turned away. Hence we arrive 50 minutes before and can join the queue. Still confused ?🤔

I suspect you know, as well as I do, that is NOT what you wrote! 🙄

[Pet]

20 hours ago, TravelMadBrits said:

Thank you ~ probably why I’m struggling to find anything to book. Will go back to the original plan of CPS and learn to be patient!! We have a boarding time of 11.45 so will arrive no earlier than 11.30am and join the queue to wait for the 12 noon opening. 

A friendly word of warning. A few years ago we drove to Southampton down the M27 to join a cruise. Unbeknown to us it was the day of the boat show; Southampton were playing at home and a well known flat pack furniture store was doing special offers. The upshot was it took over 3 hours after leaving the motorway to get to the port - fortunately the Captain was also caught in the traffic so departure was delayed! Suggest you leave plenty of time. 😊

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, Pet said:

A friendly word of warning. A few years ago we drove to Southampton down the M27 to join a cruise. Unbeknown to us it was the day of the boat show; Southampton were playing at home and a well known flat pack furniture store was doing special offers. The upshot was it took over 3 hours after leaving the motorway to get to the port - fortunately the Captain was also caught in the traffic so departure was delayed! Suggest you leave plenty of time. 😊

indeed, I recall a decade or so ago an oil tanker crash and total spillage on M8 heading towards Glasgow airport. All vehicles on that section of motorway were stationery for 10 hours until thorough clean up was completed, there was no possibility of a temporary exit route. Many flights departed half empty that day!

 

We were not travelling, but resolved there and then to always use an overnight airport hotel with parking package rather than airport parking on day of flight.

[amajaa]

Has anyone else got a boarding times yet and if so which deck on which ship please? So we can see if a pattern is emerging. 

[indiana123]

deck 9   11.45  Iona

 

[bobstheboy]

Deck 9  1.45  Iona.