Boarding Times Southampton

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Personally don't think embarkation on deck order is factual and just an excuse given by Customer Services who half the time don't know what they are talking about. We are deck 6 in PG with priority boarding, if I am correct caravan 12 is also on deck 6 in a balcony without priority boarding. If deck by deck and only given priority boarding on your deck cannot believe those with priority like myself at 1pm it then takes 2-5 hrs to embark the rest of deck 6 as caravan 12 is 3-30pm.

No, I’m sure you are right, and the idea it is being done by deck is spurious, the result either of ignorance or desire to make the respondent go away. As a long time poster on here once said, ‘Cunard shoreside don’t even know they’ve got ships’. 😃

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

If they resort to P&O method of check in they check your embarkation time at the entrance to terminal. If you are early as stated on boarding pass they don't even let you into the terminal you have to queue outside. We were bang on time of our boarding pass and we bypassed the queue of those that were early and the terminal was empty with every seat vacant.

Well, in August, they only made people wait outside when inside got very full. Then, as the first group were called for security, they started letting people in again.

[Craigrlewis]

Diamond here.

Last cruise we were given 330pm boarding time for Britannia grade.

We had always chosen to ignore the boarding time and arrive at 1145am and sometime got straight on and sometimes sat there til 130.

Didn't want that this time as was with my mum who is 80 and didn't fancy having her sitting there in the melee.

Someone (and apologies I don’t recall who) on this board suggested avoid the 11.30-1.15pm “crush” and suggested I try 130pm onwards.

It was a cracking suggestion-we flashed our priority pass, checked in immediately and walked straight onboard.

To be honest unless we were in Grills or BC we would do this sort of time again.
We still did the buffet, had a drink and unpacked etc and was in time for the sailaway.

[Poole Boy]

Priority boarding is exactly that, it means at your allocated time you have priority boarding. It does not mean early boarding.

 

All ports can handle so many passengers at one time, allocating boarding time allows the port to manage the flow of people and prevent overcrowding. If every one turns up early all you end up with is chaos and people moaning because they have to wait in a port building not designed to be a waiting room.

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

Priority boarding is exactly that, it means at your allocated time you have priority boarding. It does not mean early boarding.

 

All ports can handle so many passengers at one time, allocating boarding time allows the port to manage the flow of people and prevent overcrowding. If every one turns up early all you end up with is chaos and people moaning because they have to wait in a port building not designed to be a waiting room.

That doesn’t entirely make sense. One of the QG perks is priority embarkation. If all of them are summoned for 12.30ish, earlier than anyone else, as seems to be the case, they don’t get priority over each other, they get priority over those boarding at later times. Surely.

Edited November 3, 2023 by exlondoner

[Winifred 22]

11 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

Priority boarding is exactly that, it means at your allocated time you have priority boarding. It does not mean early boarding.

 

All ports can handle so many passengers at one time, allocating boarding time allows the port to manage the flow of people and prevent overcrowding. If every one turns up early all you end up with is chaos and people moaning because they have to wait in a port building not designed to be a waiting room.

I have been allowed in earlier than my allocated time when they check the WC status on my boarding pass and at every stage of the check in. So going back to Ex Londoner’comments if you wanted to be really pedantic Diamond QG should be allowed to board before Platinum etc.. There is no point in having priority boarding at 3 when everyone is onboard and there are no queues.  If Cunard have moved the goal posts and changed the interpretation they need to publish it because I think many others assume that we can board after Princess Grill and Britannia Club (if they remember to call it out). Interesting to see what happens in a couple of weeks.  

[Poole Boy]

19 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

That doesn’t entirely make sense. One of the QG perks is priority embarkation. If all of them are summoned for 12.30ish, earlier than anyone else, as seems to be the case, they don’t get priority over each other, they get priority over those boarding at later times. Surely.

But if you are in the Grills, you are going to have been allocated an early boarding time regardless of your CWC status, as you say one of the perks of booking a grills cabin

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

But if you are in the Grills, you are going to have been allocated an early boarding time regardless of your CWC status, as you say one of the perks of booking a grills cabin

Precisely my point, but, if you only get priority over other people at your time, there is nobody else other than Grills. So the priority comes from having an earlier time, not from having priority over others at the same time.

[Zeg]

Fascinating (from a pleb) to read how people can become so incensed over what appears (to me) to be a minor inconvenience. Surely the important thing is to get on board and enjoy the trip. Can’t help but think obsessing over (what appears to me to be) trivialities, if you’re not careful can spoilt your whole experience. 
 

On the other hand I guess when you have ‘earned’ privileges it’s tough when they’re taken away or not respected, but hey that’s life. 
 

Happy cruising.  

[SouthamptonCruiser]

I emailed Cunard about this and they replied in detail. Diamond/Platinum members will still get a priority check-in lane in the terminal, but you will be expected to turn up at your given boarding time and will not get a priority or early slot. If you do, you may be required to wait, and if that's after the restaurants have closed for lunch, tough. They didn't say whether Grills passengers would still be boarded first.  

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, SouthamptonCruiser said:

I emailed Cunard about this and they replied in detail. Diamond/Platinum members will still get a priority check-in lane in the terminal, but you will be expected to turn up at your given boarding time and will not get a priority or early slot. If you do, you may be required to wait, and if that's after the restaurants have closed for lunch, tough. They didn't say whether Grills passengers would still be boarded first.  

Did you ask?

I have no axe to grind here as we are usually the first or second to board in S'ton but if I were a QG passenger and didn't get to board asap. I'd be pretty miffed.

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Did you ask?

I have no axe to grind here as we are usually the first or second to board in S'ton but if I were a QG passenger and didn't get to board asap. I'd be pretty miffed.

As Grills lunch tends to finish at 2.30, I would certainly want to be on board in time for that.

[SouthamptonCruiser]

30 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Did you ask?

I have no axe to grind here as we are usually the first or second to board in S'ton but if I were a QG passenger and didn't get to board asap. I'd be pretty miffed.

Well i guess it will depend whether they are now boarding by deck rather than cabin class as the original poster suggested, so we will need to see what times Grills passengers are getting.

[Victoria2]

32 minutes ago, SouthamptonCruiser said:

Well i guess it will depend whether they are now boarding by deck rather than cabin class as the original poster suggested, so we will need to see what times Grills passengers are getting.

So that's a no.

 

Boarding by deck will have no effect on QG passengers or, I imagine, PG. They will still get their priority as in early, boarding so it's not an issue.

 

and the original comment was about the World Club tiers, not cabin class.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Victoria2

[NE John]

Slightly off topic question, do QG/PG pax get priority embarkation for every port? Or only for just S’Hamptom/Brooklyn? For instance priority in Vancouver for Alaska cruise? 
I’ve been on Cunard ships since 2008 but first time Grills experience this summer. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by NE John

[Southcityblue]

My personal experience in Southampton has always been good, and that’s after admittedly paying no attention to the boarding times (I know that will not sit well with some).  
 

My reason for this is we have a 5 hour drive down to the terminal so aiming for the 3pm boarding pass suggested embarkation time would be too much of a risk, so always aim to arrive 12:30 - 13:00 to allow for delays.
 

When we arrive they have always just sent us via the priority lane without a question.   Both Oct & Dec last year we arrived around 2 hours early. 
 

Hopefully you can just arrive at the time that suits you and board, let’s face it they are not going to make you wait around if they can get you through and boarded (depending on how busy the terminal is of course).
 

Your experience (irrespective of policy change) will no doubt be determined by how smoothly boarding is going and the flow of passengers.  
 

 

 

[Victoria2]

30 minutes ago, NE John said:

Slightly off topic question, do QG/PG pax get priority embarkation for every port? Or only for just S’Hamptom/Brooklyn? For instance priority in Vancouver for Alaska cruise? 
I’ve been on Cunard ships since 2008 but first time Grills experience this summer. 

Apparently, it's specified in S'ton and NY but we have had QG boarding in S'pore, HK, LA and San Francisco. All before Covid I must add.

[david63]

What I suspect the problem possibly is, and this applies to other cruise lines as well, is that the loyalty schemes have become too "top heavy" which can result with some cruises that half the ship is trying to board within the first half hour and that is just not practical.

[ddgarner1]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:45 AM, exlondoner said:

You are going to cancel a whole month’s cruise(s) because of a slight over boarding, which is a pretty small part of the whole experience. Isn’t that a little disproportionate? However, for you, as there is scope for so much more unhappiness over minor episodes, particularly on a new ship, it may well be the right thing to do.

If a group of people did this, it might send Cunard management an apparently needed message. 

[Winifred 22]

2 minutes ago, ddgarner1 said:

If a group of people did this, it might send Cunard management an apparently needed message. 

It’s irritating but I would certainly not cancel a cruise over it and at the end of the day I am sure many others will just grumble and like me get over it. I certainly wouldn’t let it spoil my holiday. If I moved back to P&O I don’t have a high loyalty status to enable early boarding  so would be cutting off my nose to spite my face.  

[david63]

8 minutes ago, ddgarner1 said:

If a group of people did this, it might send Cunard management an apparently needed message. 

Do you seriously think that it would make one bit of difference?

[3rdGenCunarder]

I boarded at Mayflower terminal last week on QV. My time was 1:30. I'm diamond and in Britannia. I got to the terminal around noon. There was a queue along the side of the building. I approached the building from the opposite side, so I didn't see the whole queue. Maybe 100-200 people? I showed my boarding pass. It said diamond, but not priority. The man said ah, diamond, go through. So I went in and got checked in and then sat to wait for boarding to commence. There were plenty of people at the desks, both priority and not. But for whatever reason, they weren't letting in people in what I believe was the non-priority queue. This makes no sense to me, as there were workers ready to help them and plenty of seating for them while they waited to board. Perhaps Cunard are digging in their heels about the nonpriority people arriving at the assigned time?

 

There were 8-10 rows of people sitting in the priority area. They called QG first and PG a few minutes later. Then diamond. The line for security never backed up. I don't know how they managed it for platinum, which seemed to be the largest number of priority passengers. Possibly they were called row by row.

[Poole Boy]

21 hours ago, SouthamptonCruiser said:

I emailed Cunard about this and they replied in detail. Diamond/Platinum members will still get a priority check-in lane in the terminal, but you will be expected to turn up at your given boarding time and will not get a priority or early slot. If you do, you may be required to wait, and if that's after the restaurants have closed for lunch, tough. They didn't say whether Grills passengers would still be boarded first.  

Britannia MDR is not open to embarking passengers.

[exlondoner]

10 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

Britannia MDR is not open to embarking passengers.

But the pub and the Lido are, until they close.

[Bell Boy]

On 11/3/2023 at 10:09 AM, caravan12 said:

I don’t know if people are aware of Cunard new boarding policy. Can I say we are Diamond members and have been for many years. I was very surprised when checking in this morning for our 24 November voyage that we had been given a boarding time of 3.30 pm with boarding closing at 4.00.

 

Thinking this must be a mistake I rang Cunard to be told they now boarded deck by deck and ‘priority’ means that you get priority for that particular deck which of course means very little and that genuine priority boarding for diamond members has disappeared. I pointed out that their own website extols the virtues of priority boarding and now does not deliver this. Pointed out that first time cruisers on different decks would have boarded before us. All to no avail. 
 

They did say the website was being updated. Not a happy bunny!

I have no reason to doubt what you have been told over the telephone from a Cunard agent on duty, however,  these agents at Carnival House  ( often part time - only experienced in Bookings) have often given conflicting information relating to the Cunard Brand and the onboard product.  Let me  remind our members here of a post I made on the 28th November 2022.  Back then I was given a 15.45 arrival time as Diamond loyalty - I seem to remember I posted  "No Way Jose"  ! as I intended to arrive at my usual time of around 12.30pm and I promised  to let everyone on this board know how I got on  -  Well I was just 'waved through' to a check-in agent after showing the boarding card stating Diamond, not turned away ! after check-in I was invited to take a seat  until embarkation was called shortly after 13.30. 

 

Move onto 1st October 2023; - Again I was given 15.45 arrival time - in fact there were three of us in our arrival party 'all Diamond',  two with an arrival time of 13.30 , my self with an arrival time of 15.45 .

Reading all the nonsense and scaremongering over the past year on this board and on various  cruise forums of Priority Guests having to adhere to their allocated arrival/check-in times, my travel companions and I were a little hesitant when we arrived and stepped out of our shared taxi at the Mayflower terminal at 12.15 PROMPT !  

We had no need to worry - just showed our paper boarding card - and we were all immediately WAVED Through to the check-in and then took a seat until Embarkation was called at approx 13.00 - Staggered announcements were made - for QG -PG- BC followed by Diamond and Platinum .

 

Moving on : 

A former colleague of mine since her retirement now works for the 'Check-in  Agency' at Southampton cruise terminals . This evening over a telephone conversation she tells me that they have had no directive from Cunard Line that they are to implement 'boarding by Decks', however,  she did give me to understand that this procedure is occasionally used for the larger P&O ships .

 

So let's wait and see for an official announcement within the next week or so 🤷‍♂️ 

 

  

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Bell Boy