Southampton boarding

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have sailed from Southampton several times and the last time boarding was chaos.  We had 9:30 arrival time and as we had carryon only were allowed in the terminal.  Those with luggage to be checked had to wait in the parking lot until the baggage handlers arrived at 10:30.   We are sailing in two weeks, again with carryons, but our family members will have bags to check.  Just wondering if they have the same procedure.

[MeHeartCruising]

What you describe is how my last cruise out of Southampton was exactly.  The baggage handlers appear to have a break until 10:30 after they finish unloading and dealing with the incoming ship's disembarking baggage.

 

Although, I wouldn't say I experienced any chaos.  The incoming passengers with bags simply formed a pretty decent line for bag drop-off until the handlers opened the door.

Edited June 11 by MeHeartCruising

[Seas2mountains]

7 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

  We are sailing in two weeks, again with carryons, but our family members will have bags to check.  Just wondering if they have the same procedure.

We embark on the Prima in about 12 days. I can try to remember to come back to this post to  let you know how it goes since I can see from your signature block that you are cruising on the Dawn from Southampton a few days later.

 

Thank you for the warning as this is the first I have read about needing to wait for the baggage handlers to open their station. This same thing happened to us in Honolulu when waiting to embark on the Spirit. I think it was about 10:30am or so when we could drop our luggage. Each port is so different.

Edited June 11 by Seas2mountains

[MagnoliaBlossom]

The chaos was that no one with bags was allowed inside until they could hand off their bags.  We went in with our carryons and were directed to a waiting area upstairs.  We sat, waiting for the check in staff to open the desks.  Then someone came and moved everyone back downstairs to a much smaller area, then we were moved to a different spot downstairs, and finally we were moved back upstairs.  The clerk at our station was new and it took 30 minutes for her to process me.  We then went to the VIP waiting area, and when they called the platinums and above the very diligent lady checking key cards would not allow us to board because we were Diamond and she didn’t know what that meant.  At that point I was fed up with the craziness and just kept walking.  It was an exasperating morning.  Hoping for something smoother this time.

[ggTexasGal]

3 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

The chaos was that no one with bags was allowed inside until they could hand off their bags.  We went in with our carryons and were directed to a waiting area upstairs.  We sat, waiting for the check in staff to open the desks.  Then someone came and moved everyone back downstairs to a much smaller area, then we were moved to a different spot downstairs, and finally we were moved back upstairs.  The clerk at our station was new and it took 30 minutes for her to process me.  We then went to the VIP waiting area, and when they called the platinums and above the very diligent lady checking key cards would not allow us to board because we were Diamond and she didn’t know what that meant.  At that point I was fed up with the craziness and just kept walking.  It was an exasperating morning.  Hoping for something smoother this time.

Hopefully things will be GREAT during your cruise!!!

[dexddd]

It has been about 18 months since we were there.  We had ncl bus there so no worry about bag checkin.  We got there around 10-10:30.  People still coming out of terminal.  Bag checkin outside had large line.  Got inside, they were just opening checkin downstairs.  Got through, went upstairs which is nice.  Had to checkin again with Haven staff using tablets.

 

Have a nice time.

[SoloAlaska]

I’ll be cruising from South Hampton in December after a drydock. On my cruises so far it’s never taken more than 30 minutes from arriving at the port to being on the ship. It should be interesting to see how Southampton runs. Since I’m taking the train in from London I won’t have to worry about being too early for luggage drop off. 

[The Traveling Man]

6 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We then went to the VIP waiting area, and when they called the platinums and above the very diligent lady checking key cards would not allow us to board because we were Diamond and she didn’t know what that meant.  At that point I was fed up with the craziness and just kept walking.  It was an exasperating morning.  Hoping for something smoother this time.

We experienced something similar once with a "diligent" cruise terminal employee.  He seemed ready to go to fist city with me when I informed him that, yes indeed, we were qualified to board early.  Fortunately I noticed a ship's officer who had entered the arrivals hall.  I called to him, he politely informed the terminal employee "how the cow ate the cabbage," and we were on our way to the gangway.

[The Traveling Man]

On 6/11/2024 at 5:47 AM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We have sailed from Southampton several times and the last time boarding was chaos.  We had 9:30 arrival time and as we had carryon only were allowed in the terminal.  Those with luggage to be checked had to wait in the parking lot until the baggage handlers arrived at 10:30.   We are sailing in two weeks, again with carryons, but our family members will have bags to check.  Just wondering if they have the same procedure.

We've never experienced any chaos upon embarkation at Southampton.  Perhaps that is because we usually have arrived around 11:00 or 11:30.  Debarkation is another story, though.  On the Pr1ma's first visit to Southampton (it was only the ship's second revenue cruise), only one Customs / Immigration officer was assigned for the 3000+ passengers on board.  He stationed himself in the ship's atrium.  We were in line for about 90 minutes before he got to us and we were able to proceed to the gangway.  Lot's of people missed their connections because of the delay.

[marys350]

My husband and I were on the June 2-13th NCL Prima sailing from Horizon Terminal in Southampton and experienced a smooth embarkation process. This was our first NCL cruise, although we have cruised many times with other cruise lines. We arrived by taxi around 10:30 and handed our luggage to the luggage handlers right away. We checked in upstairs quickly, had our photos retaken, and were issued our sea pass cards. We were given a group number and asked to sit in the waiting area until the number was called. The wait was short and we were onboard by 11:00.

Edited June 14 by marys350

[sharonann24]

We are sailing on the October 6 NCL Prima and will be taking a private transfer to the ship from London that morning.  We disembarked in Southampton from the Prima last August and that process was fairly smooth.  I do recall a little confusion to find our bus transfer to the airport but that was also fairly quick.  It was the airport (Heathrow) that was more challenging!  I will also check back with this post to see how everyone fares with their embarkation.  We are also Platinum but I am not sure what that will mean.