Boarding Times Southampton

[Pear Carr]

56 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

Priority (QG, PG, Diamond, Platinum and Britannia Club) does give you earlier boarding it normally starts at 12.15 to 12.45 depending on when the ship or security are ready. It doesn’t matter what boarding time it says on your boarding pass they gather all priority in the waiting area and board them first. If priority passengers arrive later than the start of boarding then they get priority check in but I’m not sure about security.

Edited 45 minutes ago by Splice the mainbrace

Our experience in November - although given a late check in time (after 3pm), as platinum we opted to arrive at 12.30 and were ushered directly into the terminal whilst others queued outside.  We were called for security before none priority were given access to the terminal and lunching in the Golden Lion by 1.15pm.

[Pushpit]

1 hour ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 If priority passengers arrive later than the start of boarding then they get priority check in but I’m not sure about security.

Priority Passengers who arrive after the start of boarding simply go from the Priority Desk area at the west end of the hall, through to the final desk area (east end of the hall), around the loop, and straight through to security. So no waiting other than the queue at security. That security queue is controlled by Intercruises via the seating area, So those without priority take a seat in the main hall area, and are then taken in batches of seats to security as the queue from the previous batch goes down.

 

Consequently let's say a Priority customer has a 1pm "earliest time" on their online boarding pass, and physically the first boarding was 12:45 pm. They turn up exactly on time. In theory they should get onboard with only a delay due to the numbers in security - mostly assistance passengers and other priority passengers.

 

If they turn up at 12:30 pm, so early, they may be held up until say 12:55, depending on their cabin grade.

 

If they turn up at 2 pm, well it's the same as 1pm, maybe a little bit faster since Intercruises should be on top of the security monitoring.

 

If they turn up at 3 pm, regardless of status or cabin, they will shoo you on PDQ - 'cos they can go home when they're done. Your feet will scarcely touch the ground, and when I've done it, I've been able to go from the Mayflower front door to stateroom in well under 10 minutes. 

 

And to throw a random component, what if the vessel is a bit late arriving? Or they have a few technical problems with the jetties? Or a safety issue that needs to be sorted? If the first boarding is delayed from say 12:45 to 13:15 then you can shuffle all the timings along.

 

So the moral of the story is that if you love to queue and love to hang around, go early.  If you don't, turn up late.

Edited January 10 by Pushpit

[woldridge]

Slightly off subject, but whenever your boarding time is, are the rooms ready and can you start unpacking?  Also, how does Cunard handle the mustard drill with such late boarding times? Thanks

[BigMac1953]

Rooms are always ready when you board.

 

THere is no muster station lecture any more. You only have to attend the muster station area where a crew member swipes your card to confirm you know where it is. You are then expected to watch the safety briefing (animated) in your room.

 

Stewart

[exlondoner]

The rooms are ready. The luggage usually arrives pretty promptly, but you might want to  have lunch first. Muster drills are individual rather than mass experiences now. You go down to your muster station at your convenience and check in with the staff there. 

[maggielou362]

We won't be priority passengers, and are quite happy to wait our turn, long as we and our luggage are on board before the gangplank is pulled up! Just wondering though, if we are allocated a later check in time, e.g. 14:30 or later, is there anywhere to have late lunch on board or should we bring our sandwiches and flask of tea to have while we are waiting on the pier?

Edited January 12 by maggielou362

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, maggielou362 said:

We won't be priority passengers, and are quite happy to wait our turn, long as we and our luggage are on board before the gangplank is pulled up! Just wondering though, if we are allocated a later check in time, e.g. 14:30 or later, is there anywhere to have late lunch on board or should we bring our sandwiches to eat while we are waiting on the pier?

This summer the Lido on QV was open for lunch on embarkation day until 4 pm. Don’t know how much food there was left towards the end though.

Edited January 12 by exlondoner

[Host Hattie]

Lunch is usually served later in The Golden Lion on embarkation day as well. 

[stan01]

Is this advice for a specific terminal in Southampton, or is it generalized to any of them since they operate the same?  Looking at the schedule it seems that Cunard can use several of the terminals depending on what other ships are in port and the whims of the powers that be.

[exlondoner]

12 minutes ago, stan01 said:

Is this advice for a specific terminal in Southampton, or is it generalized to any of them since they operate the same?  Looking at the schedule it seems that Cunard can use several of the terminals depending on what other ships are in port and the whims of the powers that be.

 

The check in process is operated by Intercruises at all terminals, and the priority system is the same.

[exlondoner]

On 1/11/2024 at 3:00 PM, BigMac1953 said:

Rooms are always ready when you board.

 

THere is no muster station lecture any more. You only have to attend the muster station area where a crew member swipes your card to confirm you know where it is. You are then expected to watch the safety briefing (animated) in your room.

 

Stewart

Sorry BM, I’ve just noticed my post overlapped yours, without my noticing. At least I didn’t contradict.

[Pushpit]

9 hours ago, maggielou362 said:

We won't be priority passengers, and are quite happy to wait our turn, long as we and our luggage are on board before the gangplank is pulled up! Just wondering though, if we are allocated a later check in time, e.g. 14:30 or later, is there anywhere to have late lunch on board or should we bring our sandwiches and flask of tea to have while we are waiting on the pier?

 

If you do have a late arrival you should be onboard fairly quickly. The Southampton timings of late have been for

 

QM2

Grills restaurants: 13:30 to 15:00 hrs

Golden Lion: 12:30 to 16:00 hrs

Kings Court: 12:30 to 16:00 hrs (including Chef's Galley)

 

QV

Grills restaurants: 13:00 to 14:30 hrs

Golden Lion: 13:00 to 15:00 hrs

Lido: 13:00 to 16:00 hrs (including Pizzeria)

 

The buffet doesn't run out of food, what happens is a few minutes before the end time they rope off the food areas and then take away whatever food is left. The coffee, water and juice area is left open. A lot of this hinges around the zero-service during the Captain's Emergency Procedure Broadcast, typically 16:00 hrs (QV) or 16:30 (QM2).

 

For the Golden Lion you really need to get your order it 15 minutes before the above deadline, walking up to a waiter if necessary, since they stop taking orders fairly soon after that. 

 

I've been there myself, thinking it's really important to get that first meal in, but the reality is that you are going to get fed and fed and fed, plus the food options for that first meal aren't necessarily the most impressive. So I've weaned myself off this "must get in there" approach.  But given a choice, I would be getting fish and chips in The Golden Lion.

[exlondoner]

You are so right that this lunch is of limited importance, given the meals yet to come. Nonetheless, I find my first meal in QG, which is never the most exciting of menus (right again), a really soothing experience, indicating that all the things I was anxious about are over and the holiday has begun. A glass of rosé with it makes it perfect.

[D&N]

We had/will have a substantial breakfast at The White Star Tavern near Room2hometel. We can stay in bed a bit longer than usual since the cats aren't with us, and we'll eat after 9am.

After boarding, coffee/tea and a cake/pastry in Carinthia or Chart Room is all we need before dinner.

Or possibly Sir Samuel's. It was still Godiva last time. It might suit us now for regular afternoon tea/coffee.

[Winifred 22]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

We had/will have a substantial breakfast at The White Star Tavern near Room2hometel. We can stay in bed a bit longer than usual since the cats aren't with us, and we'll eat after 9am.

After boarding, coffee/tea and a cake/pastry in Carinthia or Chart Room is all we need before dinner.

Or possibly Sir Samuel's. It was still Godiva last time. It might suit us now for regular afternoon tea/coffee.

We had our works Christmas meal at the White Star Tavern this year and very nice it was too.  Hadn’t realised how near to Ocean Terminal it was until I walked back to Town Quay to pick up my car.