Los Angeles embarkation: does green or blue lane really matter?

[donswife]

When I ordered our medallions a couple of months ago, I was not able to choose to have them shipped to the house. I'm wondering if there is a noticeable difference in the check in lines. If so, I will cancel the current order and try again. We will be on the Discovery. 

[PacnGoNow]

Not a big difference really.  I looked over at the blue lane and it was moving quickly also.  We arrived LA at 0940…went inside to checkin about 1000…then to Elite lounge …OB by 1050.

Oct 15th.  Ship is almost full.

 

[Carnevale]

We checked in at LA for Discovery and were blue lane as shipping to Canada wasn’t available until after I had placed my order and I didn’t bother to change it.  We got to the port around 11am and the blue line looked long but it moved quickly so we were on faster than expected.

[waltd]

I think it matters depending on what time of day you arrive. If you like getting there early then it helps but if you arrive later like we do we just walk right in so it doesn't matter as much weather you are blue or green.

[Crown Vic]

20 hours ago, donswife said:

When I ordered our medallions a couple of months ago, I was not able to choose to have them shipped to the house. I'm wondering if there is a noticeable difference in the check in lines. If so, I will cancel the current order and try again. We will be on the Discovery. 

Think the organization of the checkin lines depends on the port. Just sailed on a U.K. Princess cruise boarding in Southampton. The checkin lines were designated ‘Platinum, Elite and Suites’. The other line was ‘All Others’. Quick and easy. As others have posted, it doesn’t really matter. Time of day may make a small difference. Just arrive and check in. Enjoy!
Cheers…

[memoak]

The only time I have seen a big difference was on cruises leaving from Vancouver with a large amount of Canadian passengers who needed to pick up medallions 

[redtop101]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

The only time I have seen a big difference was on cruises leaving from Vancouver with a large amount of Canadian passengers who needed to pick up medallions 

Yes, I agree. Vancouver can be a zoo. Depends on the number of ships in port also. We were green lane for a cruise about 18 months ago and I think everyone was just stuffed into one general line. It was chaos and no staff or volunteers seemed to have a clue as to where passengers should go. 

[Pittypatbr]

If one member of the party is platinum, can we stay together or do we go in separate lines?  Are there any other privileges of the platinum person we can share?  I know they get half price internet.

[memoak]

36 minutes ago, Pittypatbr said:

If one member of the party is platinum, can we stay together or do we go in separate lines?  Are there any other privileges of the platinum person we can share?  I know they get half price internet.

Once boarding starts there is no difference between platinum and any others. In Vancouver there only green and blue lines for each ship. This was in September 

[Cruisintimer]

Boarding times were not checked in Los Angeles or San Fran past few months.  QR code for green got you on quickly coupled with medallion programming. There was however a section/room for those of us that were Platinum or Elite in San Pedro, San Fran we went to a different area as I had just injured my ankle and it was for those who had a handicap or injury.  These two ports never checked any sort of boarding time assignment.  Disembarkation was easy/peasy and done with facial recognition last cruise out of L.A.

[rj59]

The only way it matters is you have to spend 5 minutes to pick up your medallion after checking in. The problem I have is that there's no order or lines to it, such as in other ports, based on last name, so it's like ordering at a crowded bar, where you have to grab someone's attention to get served, with everyone else trying to do the same. 

[LawDog61]

I am doing an experiment this weekend.  Saturday we board the Discovery for a 7 day cruise.   It’s kind of a last minute decision to go, and I have been extremely busy the last few weeks doing a remodel, so I have done absolutely NOTHING on the app.  We will just show up dockside.  
I have found the app time consuming and frustrating, although it seems to be getting easier to use. I will report back about how my “just show up” works.

[DCThunder]

43 minutes ago, LawDog61 said:

I am doing an experiment this weekend.  Saturday we board the Discovery for a 7 day cruise.   It’s kind of a last minute decision to go, and I have been extremely busy the last few weeks doing a remodel, so I have done absolutely NOTHING on the app.  We will just show up dockside.  
I have found the app time consuming and frustrating, although it seems to be getting easier to use. I will report back about how my “just show up” works.

I'm going to try a variation of this later this month in Civitavecchia.  I'm not planning on getting to the ship until around 12:30 pm rather than trying to be in one of the first groups to board (I'm Elite).  I have a theory that being later to the port is actually faster to board than getting there early.  I've boarded in Civi before so I have a baseline.  And I've been on Island before, so I don't need to "explore" the ship immediately upon boarding.  

 

I have to pick up my medallion at the port so will be Blue, but as said upthread, that's a five minute process.

[Caligirl33]

Any update as to how this went? 

[PacnGoNow]

On 11/1/2023 at 5:44 AM, LawDog61 said:

I am doing an experiment this weekend.  Saturday we board the Discovery for a 7 day cruise.   It’s kind of a last minute decision to go, and I have been extremely busy the last few weeks doing a remodel, so I have done absolutely NOTHING on the app.  We will just show up dockside.  
I have found the app time consuming and frustrating, although it seems to be getting easier to use. I will report back about how my “just show up” works.

How did it go?

[Cruisintimer]

On 11/1/2023 at 8:44 AM, LawDog61 said:

I am doing an experiment this weekend.  Saturday we board the Discovery for a 7 day cruise.   It’s kind of a last minute decision to go, and I have been extremely busy the last few weeks doing a remodel, so I have done absolutely NOTHING on the app.  We will just show up dockside.  
I have found the app time consuming and frustrating, although it seems to be getting easier to use. I will report back about how my “just show up” works.

We board Saturday too, looking forward to reading how your embarkation goes. The app can certainly be frustrating at times.  Bring a copy of your booking and travel summary printed off of princess.com, bet you will be fine.  Good luck!  *Just realized you boarded this past Saturday......how did it go?

Edited November 8, 2023 by Cruisintimer

[LawDog61]

Fasted boarding ever.  15 minute Uber from home, 20 minutes through checkin and on board.   Nothing but our passports in hand.   It’s a massive waste of time playing their game with their app.