Strict arrival times

[Cathygh]

I have just realised Cunard guests also have to queue outside if they are early. Not just us plebs on P&O then!

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Cathygh said:

I have just realised Cunard guests also have to queue outside if they are early. Not just us plebs on P&O then!

It's the Ludlow bonus - 99.9% agree

[Windsurfboy]

Just read Selbourne's question about Iona boarding and CPS , in his new thread.

 

His question confirms that Carribean  are given 12pm arrival times,  along with Baltic,  Liguirian,  Suites and mini suites.

 

Giving this amount of people the same early arrival time seems a recipe for chaos and queues to get it, even if no one else turns up early

[david63]

11 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Giving this amount of people the same early arrival time seems a recipe for chaos and queues to get it, even if no one else turns up early

But that will depend on how many higher tier passengers there are on any particular cruise and that is before you factor in how/when those passengers are arriving.

 

Until P&O take into account the time and method of arrival of passengers then enforced arrival times will never work.

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Just read Selbourne's question about Iona boarding and CPS , in his new thread.

 

His question confirms that Carribean  are given 12pm arrival times,  along with Baltic,  Liguirian,  Suites and mini suites.

 

Giving this amount of people the same early arrival time seems a recipe for chaos and queues to get it, even if no one else turns up early

I had rather assumed that Baltic, Ligurian and Suite passengers might have been given 11.30 or 11.45 boarding times, but would be interested to know. 
 

I thought the same as you but, as my wife has just said, she doubts that many Ligurian and Baltic cruisers (or Caribbean for that matter) will be daft enough to go on our cruise in the August school holidays! 😂 

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I had rather assumed that Baltic, Ligurian and Suite passengers might have been given 11.30 or 11.45 boarding times, but would be interested to know. 
 

I thought the same as you but, as my wife has just said, she doubts that many Ligurian and Baltic cruisers (or Caribbean for that matter) will be daft enough to go on our cruise in the August school holidays! 😂 

 

I'd  thought 12.00 was earliest boarding time, if they have earlier times then that's different. 

 

Anyone given earlier time?

Edited July 29, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[Angel57]

@Selbourne Admittedly it was on Aurora a few weeks ago at Ocean Terminal, but CPS said to arrive between 30-40 mins before boarding time.

I got there at 1140 and there was only one car in front of me in the queue so was in the naughty queue for my 1230 boarding at 1150. Earliest and first lot of boarding was at 1200 and they stuck to that time. Security didn’t seem to open up until 1230.

CPS said they can never judge when everyone is going to turn up.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Angel57

[tring]

1 hour ago, Angel57 said:

@Selbourne Admittedly it was on Aurora a few weeks ago at Ocean Terminal, but CPS said to arrive between 30-40 mins before boarding time.

I got there at 1140 and there was only one car in front of me in the queue so was in the naughty queue for my 1230 boarding at 1150. Earliest and first lot of boarding was at 1200 and they stuck to that time. Security didn’t seem to open up until 1230.

CPS said they can never judge when everyone is going to turn up.

 

Does "Naughty queue" mean you were kept outside?

 

Do you know what time they start taking luggage?  We are parking with P4C on 27th August for Aurora at Mayflower.  We were thinking of leaving it a bit later for our Caribbean level embarkation (not got time yet), but if going to be chaos, may be worth turning up early, especially as P4C can take a while.

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by tring

[yorkshirephil]

15 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Does "Naughty queue" mean you were kept outside?

 

Do you know what time they start taking luggage?  We are parking with P4C on 27th August for Aurora at Mayflower.  We were thinking of leaving it a bit later for our Caribbean level embarkation (not got time yet), but if going to be chaos, may be worth turning up early, especially as P4C can take a while.

 

Your Caribbean level entitles you to arrive at 13:00 regardless of the allocated time on your boarding document. 

[david63]

19 minutes ago, tring said:

especially as P4C can take a while.

Never been more than five minutes with P4C - far quicker than CPS

[Selbourne]

23 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Does "Naughty queue" mean you were kept outside?

 

Do you know what time they start taking luggage?  We are parking with P4C on 27th August for Aurora at Mayflower.  We were thinking of leaving it a bit later for our Caribbean level embarkation (not got time yet), but if going to be chaos, may be worth turning up early, especially as P4C can take a while.

 

We’ve done 8 cruises on Aurora and only once had a delay with embarkation, and that was when there was a problem with the air bridge at Mayflower. Like @david63 we have found P4C to be extremely quick and efficient and, on the bigger ships in particular, quicker than CPS. As Caribbean tier passengers you should get a boarding time somewhere between 12pm and 12.30pm and there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be on board at or around your boarding time.
 

If using P4C I would aim to arrive 30 mins before your embarkation time, use the taxi drop off lane to get rid of your big cases and then drive over to the short stay car park to check your car in. That way you only have your hand luggage to deal with and by the time you get back to the terminal you should hopefully be pretty much straight on the ship 🤞

[Selbourne]

13 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Your Caribbean level entitles you to arrive at 13:00 regardless of the allocated time on your boarding document. 

I don’t know whether we’ve just been lucky, but since reaching Caribbean tier we have had embarkation times of 12.15 and 12pm. 

[yorkshirephil]

7 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I don’t know whether we’ve just been lucky, but since reaching Caribbean tier we have had embarkation times of 12.15 and 12pm. 

You have been lucky, we have on occasions had early boarding regardless of our level. We have only just recently reached Caribbean so will be interested to see what our next boarding time is.

[Angel57]

40 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Does "Naughty queue" mean you were kept outside?

 

Do you know what time they start taking luggage?  We are parking with P4C on 27th August for Aurora at Mayflower.  We were thinking of leaving it a bit later for our Caribbean level embarkation (not got time yet), but if going to be chaos, may be worth turning up early, especially as P4C can take a while.

 

Yes. There was a queue for all those arriving earlier than their boarding time (albeit only 40 mins).

I have been Caribbean or above for many years and always had a boarding time of either 12.30 or very occasionally 1215

I believe the holes for the luggage open around 1100

 

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

Your Caribbean level entitles you to arrive at 13:00 regardless of the allocated time on your boarding document. 

 

This is something I can't understand,  surely  P&O know you are Carribean and should put right boarding time on pass. 

 

Logically Caribbean should just mean you board after , Suites,  Baltic and Liguirian and before everyone else.  Theoretically this could be 12.00 if very few of above, but it could Theoretically be later than 13.00 if  2000 Liguirian members all decided to be on same cruise.

 

If P&O gave everyone a meaningful time then they could smooth flow of arrivals and speed up embarkation. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[tring]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  We are first time Caribbean for this, but with the 37 nights this time, will only be 5 nights short of Baltic, so thinking of popping in a one-weeker relatively soon, though not much worthwhile difference to Baltic level at present anyway.  We have often just been pipped to the next loyalty level though, as changes are made, so thinking one more level may give more chance of keeping the perks we have gained with Caribbean if there is a Peninsular Club re-vamp.

 

[davecttr]

The last few cruises my priority Caribbean boarding time has been 12.15 or 12.30 so you go straight into the terminal and the check in desk priority queue. On Aurora 3 weeks ago I still had to sit down and wait to go through security though. There are a LOT of Caribbean tier passengers on the older ships and many of them turn up early.

[Snow Hill]

Personally I don’t particularly care what boarding time we get, as long as we are onboard before it departs. 😬

[kalos]

21 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

Personally I don’t particularly care what boarding time we get, as long as we are onboard before it departs. 😬

Me too ,trying to board after it's left can only lead to wet feet and other things 🙃😉

[kalos]

This guy made a film about his boarding a month ago ...

 

https://youtu.be/FILj4h6LTCE?t=54

 

[Fionboard]

Boarded Aurora on 25th. Straight into terminal at 1200 as priority boarding. Terminal empty and large queue outside. 

[daiB]

20 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I had rather assumed that Baltic, Ligurian and Suite passengers might have been given 11.30 or 11.45 boarding times, but would be interested to know. 
 

I thought the same as you but, as my wife has just said, she doubts that many Ligurian and Baltic cruisers (or Caribbean for that matter) will be daft enough to go on our cruise in the August school holidays! 😂 

Yes daft Idea. 🙂

[Ardennais]

6 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Personally I don’t particularly care what boarding time we get, as long as we are onboard before it departs. 😬

We feel exactly the same! 

[mrshorsy]

We boarded yesterday at 2.30pm (this was our given time) and I must say that even if we had been given an earlier one I would have waited. We had a really nice day shopping in Southampton and then sailed (pardon the pun) through check in and security and the cabin was ready straight away 

[Windsurfboy]

The most important thing is not how early you are given but that you can turn up at allotted time and not have to queue