Grand Princess embarkation delay

[hammo]

Just received an email from Princess re embarkation saying not to turn up at the Pier untill 2 hours after our assigned boarding group time . New departure time 7pm !

 

" Guests should arrive two hours later than their assigned boarding group time in the Princess Medallion App ; if you have not already done so , please select an arrival group and remember to arrive two hours later than your assigned time . Please do not arrive at the pier earlier than your designated time as you will be unable to check-in and the terminal will be closed "

GroupA - 2-2:30 pm , Group B - 2:30 - 3 pm , Group C 3pm - 3:30pm , Group D 3;30pm - 4pm , GroupE - 4pm - 4:30 pm  , Group F 4:30 pm - 5pm  , Group G 5 pm - 5:30 pm  , Group H 5:30 - 6 pm . 

Refer to the Princess MedallionClass App for your assigned boarding group .

 

Thing is I cannot find in the App anything about about an assigned boarding group ???? Let alone a borading time . Ive checked all the app and every email and nothing about this . Can anyone advise me as to how I can locate this - we are potentially Green Lane but that isnt confirmed untill we do the covid test 24hrs prior to embarkation and send in the photo of the result . Any help here most appreciated . We are Platinum with Princess but guess that means very little now .  

 

 

 

[NSWP]

Happening often now, all about cleaning of the ships from Covid bugs.

[arxcards]

18 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Happening often now, all about cleaning of the ships from Covid bugs.

Not as such. Can be, but more than that. In Melbourne it is taking them way longer to clear the ending cruise than would normally be expected - not a lot of borderforce to go around it seems. Slow disembark = delayed embark.

[Rassa]

@hammo

Personal Information & Documents

Arrivals

Grand Princess

App saying Princess not responding but next step is pick your group.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise

[arxcards]

29 minutes ago, hammo said:

Just received an email from Princess re embarkation saying not to turn up at the Pier untill 2 hours after our assigned boarding group time . New departure time 7pm !

 

" Guests should arrive two hours later than their assigned boarding group time in the Princess Medallion App ; if you have not already done so , please select an arrival group and remember to arrive two hours later than your assigned time . Please do not arrive at the pier earlier than your designated time as you will be unable to check-in and the terminal will be closed "

GroupA - 2-2:30 pm , Group B - 2:30 - 3 pm , Group C 3pm - 3:30pm , Group D 3;30pm - 4pm , GroupE - 4pm - 4:30 pm  , Group F 4:30 pm - 5pm  , Group G 5 pm - 5:30 pm  , Group H 5:30 - 6 pm . 

Refer to the Princess MedallionClass App for your assigned boarding group .

 

Thing is I cannot find in the App anything about about an assigned boarding group ???? Let alone a borading time . Ive checked all the app and every email and nothing about this . Can anyone advise me as to how I can locate this - we are potentially Green Lane but that isnt confirmed untill we do the covid test 24hrs prior to embarkation and send in the photo of the result . Any help here most appreciated . We are Platinum with Princess but guess that means very little now .  

 

 

 

If you don't have a boarding time yet, you will get what is leftover. You might get benefit from your platinum priority, but not assured with the way the terminals have been handling this lately. If there are delays and numbers waiting to get into the terminal, they are only interested in the group letter.

 

At work, so I don't have time to redo the post. I have linked to another post with screen caps of where to find in the app.

 

PS, click the top heading to go straight to the post (2nd heading goes to the start of the topic).

 

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by arxcards

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, hammo said:

 

 

Thing is I cannot find in the App anything about about an assigned boarding group ???? Let alone a borading time . Ive checked all the app and every email and nothing about this . Can anyone advise me as to how I can locate this - we are potentially Green Lane but that isnt confirmed untill we do the covid test 24hrs prior to embarkation and send in the photo of the result . Any help here most appreciated . We are Platinum with Princess but guess that means very little now .  

 

 

 

Select Personal Information and Documents

 

Then select Arrivals

 

 

 

Then you should be able to select an arrival group, or you may have had one allocated to you if it's close to embarkation - in which case it should show. 

 

You should get priority boarding within that arrival group since you are Platinum.

[hammo]

Thanks ozkiwi

[suey]

We were told this on our recent Cruise so got to port later as requested (but not as late) and straight on to the ship. Very smooth quick boarding.

[hammo]

Grand Princess Emergency Notification - another delayed boarding time , this time for us 4:30 - 5pm . Day 1 gone .

Masks now compulsory inside . Is it just Princess cruising ? - We recentltly sailed Quantum of the Seas and Celebrity and nothing like this .

[Bazandgiz]

35 minutes ago, hammo said:

Grand Princess Emergency Notification - another delayed boarding time , this time for us 4:30 - 5pm . Day 1 gone .

Masks now compulsory inside . Is it just Princess cruising ? - We recentltly sailed Quantum of the Seas and Celebrity and nothing like this .

Masks have been compulsory for quite some time, certainly since early December. There was a lot of covid when we were on Grand over Christmas, and from what I’ve heard from relatives on board the current voyage, it’s even worse now. Masks are a pain, but they’re worth it if it stops you getting sick and being confined to your cabin for 7 days. 

[Womble99]

All aboard time tomorrow is 6pm for continuing on passengers 

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, hammo said:

Grand Princess Emergency Notification - another delayed boarding time , this time for us 4:30 - 5pm . Day 1 gone .

Masks now compulsory inside . Is it just Princess cruising ? - We recentltly sailed Quantum of the Seas and Celebrity and nothing like this .

Yes, it is a Princess thing. There government mandate for masks on cruise ships was lifted in October. They tried no masks on Majestic in late October, but the 2nd cruise in early November had 800 positives aboard, so they have reverted to masks indoors until the numbers on land drop away a bit more. It should be masks-off again in the coming weeks, but that won't be any consolation for you tomorrow.

 

I don't know what makes Princess special with case numbers, apart from the way they test B2B passengers - the Royal brands do supervised tests for all B2B passengers, Princess has been an honour system at best.

 

The delayed boarding is partly due to covid protocols, which Station Pier/Melbourne authorities tend to take a bit of time sorting through, plus the ship is a bit delayed due to a medevac off the Victorian coast this afternoon.

[Galesa]

On 1/13/2023 at 1:21 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Select Personal Information and Documents

 

Then select Arrivals

 

 

 

Then you should be able to select an arrival group, or you may have had one allocated to you if it's close to embarkation - in which case it should show. 

 

You should get priority boarding within that arrival group since you are Platinum.

Thanks for putting this up. On Majestic on 11 Feb. When I access the app I do not get the "Suggested" part. This may be because my "Choose your Medallion wearable" is not ticked. When I go into the medallion wearable it states "in progress" against the passengers. I'm unable to do anything further. I'm assuming this is the reason I can't see the "Suggested" part.  Can any one confirm? And anyone have a fix. Many TIA. 

[Galesa]

2 minutes ago, Galesa said:

Thanks for putting this up. On Majestic on 11 Feb. When I access the app I do not get the "Suggested" part. This may be because my "Choose your Medallion wearable" is not ticked. When I go into the medallion wearable it states "in progress" against the passengers. I'm unable to do anything further. I'm assuming this is the reason I can't see the "Suggested" part.  Can any one confirm? And anyone have a fix. Many TIA. 

 

[Galesa]

Stand down everyone:). Worked it out. 

[RobinBancs]

There was a medivac from Grand yesterday but we still arrived in Melbourne on time. I’m noticing a few crew went AWOL in the last few days. Suspect that there are several COVID cases with crew that have impacted everything as well as complications debarking passengers who are COVID positive too

[OzKiwiJJ]

10 hours ago, arxcards said:

Yes, it is a Princess thing. There government mandate for masks on cruise ships was lifted in October. They tried no masks on Majestic in late October, but the 2nd cruise in early November had 800 positives aboard, so they have reverted to masks indoors until the numbers on land drop away a bit more. It should be masks-off again in the coming weeks, but that won't be any consolation for you tomorrow.

 

I don't know what makes Princess special with case numbers, apart from the way they test B2B passengers - the Royal brands do supervised tests for all B2B passengers, Princess has been an honour system at best.

 

The delayed boarding is partly due to covid protocols, which Station Pier/Melbourne authorities tend to take a bit of time sorting through, plus the ship is a bit delayed due to a medevac off the Victorian coast this afternoon.

It's not just a Princess thing. It was the same on Holland America - masks were required when moving around inside the ship.

 

The onboard environment is significantly different to every day life on land. The only equivalent would be a large conference or something where people are mostly confined to one place - hotel or resort - for a week or more.

 

People think they don't need to wear a mask because they don't wear one in their day-to-day life but they don't consider that their day-to-day life isn't confined to just one, relatively small, area that contains thousands of people. In their day-to-day life they spend much of their time at home or in their workplace, some shopping, maybe a meal out or a night at the pub/club, exercise or sports etc. But most of these are in much more open spaces than the confines of a cruise ship and they probably come in contact with far fewer people.

[hammo]

Yes , I get it OzKiwijj ,  we have been cruising for ages - 26 -  Elite on Celebrity and Platinum on Princess and several cruises with NCL and Crystal , and have loved every minute . Waiting at home to head to the port later today , embarking time now 4:30 - 5 pm which Im trying to be positive about . The thing with the masks is going to be the deal breaker for me cruising in the future . Will obviously do it diligently this trip , but future cruises with mandatory masks will be a no for us . I mask up each day at work when working at  aged care ) and a holiday where I must do that is not how I plan to enjoy time away. As you mentioned we dont do it in everyday life here even at crowded events and shopping malls , air planes etc etc. We have cruises booked for Feb and April and both lines not mandating masks ( yet I guess ) . Alternative is to fly to destination / resorts / car travel ,  will miss cruising .

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's not just a Princess thing. It was the same on Holland America - masks were required when moving around inside the ship.

 

The onboard environment is significantly different to every day life on land. The only equivalent would be a large conference or something where people are mostly confined to one place - hotel or resort - for a week or more.

 

People think they don't need to wear a mask because they don't wear one in their day-to-day life but they don't consider that their day-to-day life isn't confined to just one, relatively small, area that contains thousands of people. In their day-to-day life they spend much of their time at home or in their workplace, some shopping, maybe a meal out or a night at the pub/club, exercise or sports etc. But most of these are in much more open spaces than the confines of a cruise ship and they probably come in contact with far fewer people.

Yes, it is across most of the Carnival brands, but the question was about Princess.

 

The onboard environment is indeed different to being ashore, but for some reason the Royal brands seem able to provide a different environment on their ships than Princess (and other Carnival brands) are. Without masks in most areas aboard, they still seem to be mostly flying under the covid radar.

 

There is a difference in the aircon. Following the learnings from Diamond Princess, the cruise lines improved their air-conditioning. Apart from the medical centres, the Carnival brands have only announced they have increased the airflow of their units, but Royal's brands (MERV) and NCL (HEPA) also upgraded their filtering. With all else being equal, I think this is the most significant difference that requires masks to be used as a personal filter.

 

 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, RobinBancs said:

There was a medivac from Grand yesterday but we still arrived in Melbourne on time. I’m noticing a few crew went AWOL in the last few days. Suspect that there are several COVID cases with crew that have impacted everything as well as complications debarking passengers who are COVID positive too

Glad you got there on time. I did notice she was cranking at 20 knots into Bass Strait last night, and was banking on her being fashionably late.

 

Other comments are for 5pm embarkation, yet I gather you are already back onboard? Enjoy your last few days.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

Yes, it is across most of the Carnival brands, but the question was about Princess.

 

The onboard environment is indeed different to being ashore, but for some reason the Royal brands seem able to provide a different environment on their ships than Princess (and other Carnival brands) are. Without masks in most areas aboard, they still seem to be mostly flying under the covid radar.

 

There is a difference in the aircon. Following the learnings from Diamond Princess, the cruise lines improved their air-conditioning. Apart from the medical centres, the Carnival brands have only announced they have increased the airflow of their units, but Royal's brands (MERV) and NCL (HEPA) also upgraded their filtering. With all else being equal, I think this is the most significant difference that requires masks to be used as a personal filter.

 

 

Different demographics too. The Royal brands tend to attract a younger demographic whereas the Princess demographic is older, probably with poorer immune systems. 

[NSWP]

Perhaps the Carnival brands take more care or are more responsible  than RCI etc.

 

Standby for incoming, lol.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, NSWP said:

Perhaps the Carnival brands take more care or are more responsible  than RCI etc.

 

Standby for incoming, lol.

The Royal Caribbean ships are larger so it takes  more cases to reach Tier 2. 

 

I wish all cruise lines would announce the number of cases like they did on Westerdam. It might make a difference in some people's attitudes if they did. 

 

Anyway numbers should be easing off now as the current wave seems to be tailing off. The big numbers on Princess ships were when the current wave was just ramping up.

Edited January 22, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The Royal Caribbean ships are larger so it takes  more cases to reach Tier 2. 

 

I wish all cruise lines would announce the number of cases like they did on Westerdam. It might make a difference in some people's attitudes if they did. 

 

Anyway numbers should be easing off now as the current wave seems to be tailing off. The big numbers on Princess ships were when the current wave was just ramping up.

It is a % on all ships. They need more cases, but also have more passengers. It was Princess' largest ship here that had the highest infection rate (numbers and %) this summer.

 

The Princess day 3 test has made a big difference since they added it in November, and yes, numbers on land dropping sharply is great news for cruising.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 hours ago, arxcards said:

It is a % on all ships. They need more cases, but also have more passengers. It was Princess' largest ship here that had the highest infection rate (numbers and %) this summer.

 

The Princess day 3 test has made a big difference since they added it in November, and yes, numbers on land dropping sharply is great news for cruising.

Yes, that day 3 test makes a big difference, I think. It catches those who had caught Covid just before their cruise but hadn't tested positive, plus those who faked their test results.

 

Majestic Princess has some serious design flaws compared with older ships in the Princess fleet, and ships in other cruise lines. They seriously cut back on the bars on Majestic and most Royal Class ships - the spacious Wheelhouse Bar became the much smaller Crown Grill Bar, there is no Explorers lounge - it was replaced by the weird Princess Live, and there is no Crooners on Majestic. They tend to have popular dance music entertainers in the Piazza which gets very overcrowded. The Piazza is also where in International Cafe is and (I think) the bar in that area is also a Good Spirits Bar. That area alone is probably a major infection point for Covid. When we did a short cruise on Majestic in 2018 it was jam-packed all day and night.