Drive through or terminal testing? UK

[alpha whiskey]

On 8/19/2021 at 9:54 AM, wowzz said:

Thanks - just made me even unsure about who to park with!

We were on the 17th Aug sailing as a walk through passenger. We had no wait time whatsoever for testing. Got dropped off at 11.15 for a 11.45-12.15 boarding (Group A) 

Test was registered by text at 11.22am and negative result was received by text at 11.39am. We went through security and boarding at exactly 12 noon.

Well done to Princess, port and testing staff, you did a brilliant job. Thank you 

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, alpha whiskey said:

We were on the 17th Aug sailing as a walk through passenger. We had no wait time whatsoever for testing. Got dropped off at 11.15 for a 11.45-12.15 boarding (Group A) 

Test was registered by text at 11.22am and negative result was received by text at 11.39am. We went through security and boarding at exactly 12 noon.

Well done to Princess, port and testing staff, you did a brilliant job. Thank you 

Good to know. I have more or less decided to park away from the port,  and get the transfer bus to the terminal, especially if I can get Group A boarding.

[General Agent]

Just an update about adding passport information if the app crashes.

 

With the app installed I turned the phone fully off, waited a few minutes and restarted the phone. This allowed me to scan in the passports.

However, after each entry and trying to enter another passport, I needed to power down and back on again.

Entering 3 passports I must have powered the phone on and off about ten times!

(Uninstalling and reinstalling the app did not work).

[caribill]

On 8/23/2021 at 12:41 PM, General Agent said:

Just an update about adding passport information if the app crashes.

 

With the app installed I turned the phone fully off, waited a few minutes and restarted the phone. This allowed me to scan in the passports.

However, after each entry and trying to enter another passport, I needed to power down and back on again.

Entering 3 passports I must have powered the phone on and off about ten times!

(Uninstalling and reinstalling the app did not work).

 

And if you had to do this with any other company in order to use their product, would you ever buy anything from them again?

[cinnamon]

On our cruise last weekend we had 12.45-13.15 boarding time.  We arrived at the entrance to the drive through testing site at 12.30.  Queued in our car till the test at 13.20 and were onboard at 14.10.

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, cinnamon said:

On our cruise last weekend we had 12.45-13.15 boarding time.  We arrived at the entrance to the drive through testing site at 12.30.  Queued in our car till the test at 13.20 and were onboard at 14.10.

Thank you. 

[debsjc]

We have 11.45-1215  boarding/report time .... anyone had experience of how long that is taking to be tested? 
We really do not like waiting in the car, but have CPS parking included with the booking, so can't use anyone else to do walk in testing .

[Alcairns]

9 hours ago, debsjc said:

We have 11.45-1215  boarding/report time .... anyone had experience of how long that is taking to be tested? 
We really do not like waiting in the car, but have CPS parking included with the booking, so can't use anyone else to do walk in testing .

The attached video should help. It should take about an hour but depends on how many ships are embarking that day.

 

 

[majortom10]

We are due on Regal Princess 9th September but have just returned from Cunard on QE and can only give example of the procedure for those booked with CPS and their ship is docked at Ocean Terminal (dock gate 4). We were told to arrive via Dock Gate 20 and NOT Dock Gate 10 as in the video which we did and we arrived at the testing centre at Mayflower at 1155am. We joined a small queue of cars which moved very quickly and was then asked to see our vaccination proof and passport to make sure they matched. We then proceeded to next stage where we were given a card and wristband to put on. We then moved to the next stage where the LFT test was taken after the card was taken off us. We were then told to drive to Dock Gate 4 leaving at Dock Gate 10 (that is why they dont want people arriving at Dock Gate 10 to avoid traffic congestion}. On arriving at Ocean we were directed to a queue and told to wait in car with window open for CPS to deal with you. They came took details and photos of your car while you were seated in car and then handed over keys and told to unload you own suitcases and take them to the appropriate drop off point for your deck. We then proceeded up the stairs and into a waiting area for our test results when these came we were directed to check in and then through security and then onboard the ship. We arrived at our stateroom at 115pm so the whole process from arriving at Mayflower for covid test to getting into our stateroom was 1hr 20 mins which I thought was exemplary.

[debsjc]

12 hours ago, majortom10 said:

We are due on Regal Princess 9th September but have just returned from Cunard on QE and can only give example of the procedure for those booked with CPS and their ship is docked at Ocean Terminal (dock gate 4). We were told to arrive via Dock Gate 20 and NOT Dock Gate 10 as in the video which we did and we arrived at the testing centre at Mayflower at 1155am. We joined a small queue of cars which moved very quickly and was then asked to see our vaccination proof and passport to make sure they matched. We then proceeded to next stage where we were given a card and wristband to put on. We then moved to the next stage where the LFT test was taken after the card was taken off us. We were then told to drive to Dock Gate 4 leaving at Dock Gate 10 (that is why they dont want people arriving at Dock Gate 10 to avoid traffic congestion}. On arriving at Ocean we were directed to a queue and told to wait in car with window open for CPS to deal with you. They came took details and photos of your car while you were seated in car and then handed over keys and told to unload you own suitcases and take them to the appropriate drop off point for your deck. We then proceeded up the stairs and into a waiting area for our test results when these came we were directed to check in and then through security and then onboard the ship. We arrived at our stateroom at 115pm so the whole process from arriving at Mayflower for covid test to getting into our stateroom was 1hr 20 mins which I thought was exemplary.

Thanks, that's sounds similar to our experience for P&O a couple of weeks ago.
Except we had a huge queue for CPS parking 

[PJ's]

We are a group of 4 who are embarking Sky Princess on 13 September and we have an arrival time of Group A (11.45-12.15). We are driving down the day before and staying at Holiday Inn.  Can anyone tell me where Dock Gate 20 is? It looks as though this is the entrance which you are supposed to use but no idea where it is. Been to other dock gates (4, 10 etc) but never to 20. After looking at the cruise timetable for Southampton it seems that there will be 3 ships in for 13 September sailing so hope that the waiting time is minimal. So looking forward to this mini cruise - not been anywhere for 18mths. 

[BarcoUK]

40 minutes ago, PJ's said:

We are a group of 4 who are embarking Sky Princess on 13 September and we have an arrival time of Group A (11.45-12.15). We are driving down the day before and staying at Holiday Inn.  Can anyone tell me where Dock Gate 20 is? It looks as though this is the entrance which you are supposed to use but no idea where it is. Been to other dock gates (4, 10 etc) but never to 20. After looking at the cruise timetable for Southampton it seems that there will be 3 ships in for 13 September sailing so hope that the waiting time is minimal. So looking forward to this mini cruise - not been anywhere for 18mths. 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.9133451,-1.4608776,3a,75y,211.38h,88.65t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1sj2TfXhZu5lI95T0kIcCF_A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i49

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, PJ's said:

We are a group of 4 who are embarking Sky Princess on 13 September and we have an arrival time of Group A (11.45-12.15). We are driving down the day before and staying at Holiday Inn.  Can anyone tell me where Dock Gate 20 is? It looks as though this is the entrance which you are supposed to use but no idea where it is. Been to other dock gates (4, 10 etc) but never to 20. After looking at the cruise timetable for Southampton it seems that there will be 3 ships in for 13 September sailing so hope that the waiting time is minimal. So looking forward to this mini cruise - not been anywhere for 18mths. 

If you leave the Holiday Inn and go west along A33 past Ikea on your right and dock gate 10 on your left and dock gate 20 is further on and is well signposted and you drive through industrial part of the port to get to Covid Test Centre which is adjacent to Mayflower Terminal. People are not being recommended to access via dock gate 10 and go to Dock Gate 20 to avoid traffic congestion.

[DebbieMacG]

On 8/22/2021 at 8:52 AM, thornegirl said:

At the testing site near Mayflower, they check your passport for name date of birth and check that your covid status name and date of birth matches. and dates of vaccination  They don't have the ability to check any QR codes there as there is no wifi or 4G signal.  If you have access to your covid vaccination via your doctors I would print that off. 

Thanks, I’ve got a new Covid certificate today with the correct birth date on it so all is well!  It had me worried for a bit there tho 🙄

[Lisa-UK]

Hi

 

We were on the Regal Princess 21st Aug sailing.  Our experience was as follows:

 

Our allocated boarding time was 2:15-2:45pm

We arrived at the Covid testing site at 1:40pm - we found there was little signage from the main road, and used the SatNav SO15 1HJ, Herbert Walker Avenue (adjacent to Mayflower).  

We were directed to the Regal line, there was also a line for Iona

The car park was extremely busy, but the staff were efficient and their process very good.  We were asked to provide NHS proof of vaccinations, they do check both

We were asked to show Passports 

A sticker was put on the car windscreen and we sat waiting for our turn 

 

There is a large testing tent where cars are filtered through to, you will get there eventually

I could not see toilets, I did see a few people scurrying over to what looked like a customer area (on the fence line nearest the ship).  I did see one gentleman walk back to his vehicle at a slower pace, he looked relieved!

 

We waited 45 minutes to get into the testing tent

 

Staff at entry to the tent took further details, reconfirmed mobile numbers, gave a hospital wristband and we moved forward for testing along with a card with those details in case text ping didn't work, ie back up.

 

Confirmation of details, swabs in each nostril; paperwork given back and we were through and joined the line for CPS parking

 

Text ping came in after 4 minutes, this was too confirm that our details had been logged (not results)

 

CPS were experiencing a slight delay and we sat in the car for 20 mins.  Just as we were finishing the car details with operator, second test pings came through as negative.

 

We then proceeded to the terminal for embarkation.

 

Across from the drop off lane I could see another Covid testing tent for passengers arriving by coach, foot or drop off - this was well sign posted.

 

We were not too worried about the time it took for processing, albeit a little longer than we had heard it may take.

 

I would suggest:

 

use toilet facilities before entering the test site, as unsure if they have toilets

have your NHS vacs confirmations available and passport ready

If you have SatNav, use to find test site (head for big white tent)

 

At no point were we asked to produce insurance policy docs at testing or in the terminal.

 

Hope this helps if you are going on a cruise soon.  Oh and the cruise was brilliant (first time with Princess), we loved mostly everything and are looking to book another Seacation in September.

 

Happy Sailing 🙂

 

 

[majortom10]

West Bay Road via dock gate 20 is the best and the way Princess recommend you use to get to the covid centre.

[Stokie33]

On 8/18/2021 at 11:49 PM, wowzz said:

Thanks for the update. 

We are sailing in late October on Sky, and I think we will use an off-site car park (probably Penguin Parking) as we can drop the car off, and then use their shuttle bus to go straight to the test centre at the terminal. It appears that queues for foot passengers are less than for those in cars.

Hi Wowzz, boarding Sky today was totally different, we left the centre of Southampton at 11.15 to go to testing, check in time 11.45, were out of testing by 11.35, drove straight to dock gate 4, waited 10 mins for CPS, then into the terminal and our negative results were already through before we'd finished booking so straight to the green lane.  No checks made on arrival group or insurance but was 1000 times better than regal but Sky was the only Carnival ship leaving today, now in window suite S107 it's going to be hard going back to a balcony lol

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Stokie33 said:

Hi Wowzz, boarding Sky today was totally different, we left the centre of Southampton at 11.15 to go to testing, check in time 11.45, were out of testing by 11.35, drove straight to dock gate 4, waited 10 mins for CPS, then into the terminal and our negative results were already through before we'd finished booking so straight to the green lane.  No checks made on arrival group or insurance but was 1000 times better than regal but Sky was the only Carnival ship leaving today, now in window suite S107 it's going to be hard going back to a balcony lol

Thanks for the update.  

[minikiss]

From leaving the car at the triangle car park to us getting on board was about an hour.

They never asked to see our insurance cert.

Plus i ended up with 3 test results going to my phone so no trouble if you only have between you. 

[jojo1966]

12 minutes ago, minikiss said:

From leaving the car at the triangle car park to us getting on board was about an hour.

They never asked to see our insurance cert.

Plus i ended up with 3 test results going to my phone so no trouble if you only have between you. 

Did you do walk through testing after parking at Triangle?

 

[jojo1966]

Sorry minikiss....just saw your post on the other topic....

[bunny76]

Does anyone have experience of arriving as a foot passenger at Mayflower terminal? We will be arriving by taxi, so after our luggage is collected ,will go straight to the departure lounge. Are you allowed access to toilets on arrival, or do you have to wait in a queue for test results first ? What is the layout ?- are you seated until called, or stand in a queue? (We will be in the blue line as we do not have a modern enough phone to accept the medallion app, but have been assured by Princess that staff will help us to complete any necessary documentation at the terminal).  

I noticed on a video in this thread of someone arriving by car , that they suggested having plenty of snacks while waiting for the LFT -but having previously done an LFT at home, the instructions said not to eat or drink for 30 mins before the test? Do they always nostrils only test?( If so, I assume the refraining from food and drink 30 mins before the LFT only applies if they take a throat swab? ) 

 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, bunny76 said:

Does anyone have experience of arriving as a foot passenger at Mayflower terminal? We will be arriving by taxi, so after our luggage is collected ,will go straight to the departure lounge. Are you allowed access to toilets on arrival, or do you have to wait in a queue for test results first ? What is the layout ?- are you seated until called, or stand in a queue? (We will be in the blue line as we do not have a modern enough phone to accept the medallion app, but have been assured by Princess that staff will help us to complete any necessary documentation at the terminal).  

I noticed on a video in this thread of someone arriving by car , that they suggested having plenty of snacks while waiting for the LFT -but having previously done an LFT at home, the instructions said not to eat or drink for 30 mins before the test? Do they always nostrils only test?( If so, I assume the refraining from food and drink 30 mins before the LFT only applies if they take a throat swab? ) 

 

Just a few pointers. On arrival, you put your luggage through the "hole in the wall".

You then proceed to the adjacent testing centre, which involves queuing on foot. After the test,  you proceed to the first part of the departure lounge, where you sit and wait until your test results come through.  

You then proceed to the check in area for the normal procedure. Seating is available. You are now also asked to show your completed UK Passenger Location Form at check in. Thereafter, you board as normal.

Toilets are available in the departure lounge. Only one nostril swab is taken for the test.

Hope this helps. 

[bunny76]

Thank you for the information wowzz.