No loyalty check in lines

[PCWalton1]

Yes I know I shouldn't whine about it but for checking in to Navigator last Friday  I was surprised to see no loyalty lines. Just one long line for everybody. Is that the new standard?

[smokeybandit]

Just check-in lines for Suites/Pinnacles there in Los Angeles but no main entry line.

[twangster]

Royal aimed to do away with the need for check in queues when they first doing app based check in back in 2019.

 

The goal was curb to ship in 15 minutes.  Anyone who used the app to check in back when they first started trialing it in places like Miami would get an "Expedited Check in".  Walk into terminal, go through security, see check in person with a tablet and spend just a few minutes at check in.  It started working quite well and was expanding to more locations.   The need for CAS queues was eliminated by the app check in and it was faster.

 

Once the pandemic hit and cruises restarted the need to validate test results and vax docs threw a wrench in the machine.   They eventually incorporated proof of vax in the app and eventually stopped asking for the proof of vax every 5 feet.  The initial restart had a painful check in process because of the needed to ask to see everything six times.  That wasn't how it was supposed to go. 

 

They didn't want anyone queueing for "social distancing" so they couldn't bring back CAS queues.  Instead they tried to use appointment time to spread out traffic.  They didn't count on the human factor and masses just showing up whenever.  People are entitled to show up when they want, right?

 

When CAS queues did exist they existed after security at the actual check in part.  With willy nilly masses showing up whenever the security queues were overwhelmed.  But remember there was never CAS queueing before security.  People not being ready to show test results and vax cards is still screwing up security queues.  Usually half of people boarding a cruise have never sailed Royal and nearly 100% of them lost their ability to think they would need to show test results and vaccine cards.  To this day this still screws up the security queues as people dig through handbags and fumble with phones trying to find the required docs.  It slows everyone down.

 

Delayed boarding start times to clean more is still causing some delays for the commencement of boarding and with masses of people ignoring their arrival times it will lead to traffic flow issues.  Not a lot can be done about that.  CAS queues won't solve that.  

 

Once ships can start boarding early like before and once they don't need to validate test results and vax cards things will drastically improve.  Until then?  Nope.

 

[BND]

Baltimore has a separate entrance line for Pinns/Suites/Key, and once inside you are directed by status or cabin type.  We're D+ and stay in a JS so we get through pretty quickly.  Back in Nov on HOTS, there were no special lines for anything.

[yogimax]

No special line for D or D+.

 

Another RCCL "enhancement."

[LGW59]

5 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

Yes I know I shouldn't whine about it but for checking in to Navigator last Friday  I was surprised to see no loyalty lines. Just one long line for everybody. Is that the new standard?

stay in a suite, that's how most lines work as it should be

[PCWalton1]

4 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

stay in a suite, that's how most lines work as it should be

Showing your intelligence or the lack there of,   

[bonsai3s]

6 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

stay in a suite, that's how most lines work as it should be

Or be a pineapple. 

[LGW59]

14 minutes ago, PCWalton1 said:

Showing your intelligence or the lack there of,   

Of course, you pick, dealers choice

[bonsai3s]

Just happy to have the Navigator in California...we waited over 10 years for Royal to come back.

[DCPIV]

3 hours ago, ChC said:

That is one of the elements I did not like about RCL, no priority check-in/embarkation for loyal customers. Even Carnival has priority lines for Platinum/Diamond members.

 

Considering the number of D/D+ there are out there these days, having a special line for them would do very little.  

 

When we boarded in Galveston last January, I honestly don't recall what designated lines there were because it didn't matter.  Everyone was moving right along, and any wait would have been nominal. On the other side of check-in, though, they sat everyone in areas designated for different categories (suites, key, D+, D, etc.).  They then called to board according to those categories.

[BecciBoo]

15 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

Yes I know I shouldn't whine about it but for checking in to Navigator last Friday  I was surprised to see no loyalty lines. Just one long line for everybody. Is that the new standard?

Oh why not I whine about it a lot.  After all, it was promised me for all those points years ago, I got the perk a handful of times and poof!  But having said that, I love the app and the short check in, so not so big a deal.

Edited August 10, 2022 by BecciBoo

[GTO-Girl]

Inside the terminal in Canaveral they no longer have separate roped off seating sections for D, D+, or The Key…. 

 

When it was time to board and they were calling by loyalty levels it turned into a “free for all” as many others got up and were trying to blend in with these groups.  It made it impossible for them to check to see who was supposed to be there and who wasn’t…..

Edited August 10, 2022 by GTO-Girl

[GJustice]

Just get there early and walk right to the desk 😃