joron44 Posted July 11 #26 Share Posted July 11 We will be sailing on the QM2 on Sept. 15 and the web site "Port Loads" says there will be 5 major cruise ships in port that day with a combined passenger load of 17,200! So even if there is 5 terminals, embarkation will be anything but a cakewalk. Just go with the flow and rest assured that they won't leave without you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 11 #27 Share Posted July 11 40 minutes ago, joron44 said: We will be sailing on the QM2 on Sept. 15 and the web site "Port Loads" says there will be 5 major cruise ships in port that day with a combined passenger load of 17,200! So even if there is 5 terminals, embarkation will be anything but a cakewalk. Just go with the flow and rest assured that they won't leave without you. All the terminals at Southampton are separate entities so the only issue is with traffic in the port area. Once at the terminal then there will be very little difference to there only being one ship in port. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 11 #28 Share Posted July 11 7 minutes ago, david63 said: All the terminals at Southampton are separate entities so the only issue is with traffic in the port area. Once at the terminal then there will be very little difference to there only being one ship in port. Intercruises might be spread a bit more thinly than usual. And, if it is windy enough for tugs to be needed, there might be a little wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted July 11 #29 Share Posted July 11 4 hours ago, joron44 said: We will be sailing on the QM2 on Sept. 15 and the web site "Port Loads" says there will be 5 major cruise ships in port that day with a combined passenger load of 17,200! So even if there is 5 terminals, embarkation will be anything but a cakewalk. Just go with the flow and rest assured that they won't leave without you. That sounds like a lot, but Southampton can cope with that, it may have multiple cargo vessels going through too, which won't have a lot of people but may well put a lot of trucks on the road (e.g. Mr. Musk's 4 wheel gizmos). And even at 17k, it would not surprise me if more people than that were sailing to the Isle of Wight, many with their cars, on up to 20 sailings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 11 #30 Share Posted July 11 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Pushpit said: That sounds like a lot, but Southampton can cope with that, it may have multiple cargo vessels going through too, which won't have a lot of people but may well put a lot of trucks on the road (e.g. Mr. Musk's 4 wheel gizmos). And even at 17k, it would not surprise me if more people than that were sailing to the Isle of Wight, many with their cars, on up to 20 sailings. I think it is the Boat Show, which is the real killer! Edited July 11 by exlondoner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare babs135 Posted July 31 #31 Share Posted July 31 Just completed check-in for Queen Anne and we have been given a time for boarding of 3.45 pm. DH is extremely disappointed and would like to turn up at 1 pm so that he can have lunch on board but I think this is being a little 'cheeky'. As Diamond passengers how early do you think we can arrive (forget about lunch, if necessary will have it on shore!). Our daughter will also be with us but she is only Gold, so I don't know if that will make any difference. Failing all else, what time does the bag drop open please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyPanda Posted July 31 #32 Share Posted July 31 15 minutes ago, babs135 said: Just completed check-in for Queen Anne and we have been given a time for boarding of 3.45 pm. DH is extremely disappointed and would like to turn up at 1 pm so that he can have lunch on board but I think this is being a little 'cheeky'. As Diamond passengers how early do you think we can arrive (forget about lunch, if necessary will have it on shore!). Our daughter will also be with us but she is only Gold, so I don't know if that will make any difference. Failing all else, what time does the bag drop open please? You'll likely be fine if you arrive at 12pm. Often arrive by train and usually book in advance for the cheapest fares on trains which arrive around 12 or before. Never been an issue as Platinum. Show the person at the door that you are Platinum/Diamond, they will direct you into the Priority queue and then you'll be at a check in desk within moments. If your daughter is Gold then just hand your tickets together (with yours on top). She'll be able to have priority too (based on past experience). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc1972 Posted July 31 #33 Share Posted July 31 I'm traveling with three others (4 total) and we're spread among three cabins. Three of us have an arrival of 13:45 and the fourth's arrival isn't until 15:30. Our plan is not to arrive any earlier than the 13:45 and see if we can get our fourth to board with us. Terrible idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac1953 Posted July 31 #34 Share Posted July 31 Hi tlc1972 It won't be a problem. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 31 #35 Share Posted July 31 5 minutes ago, NavyPanda said: You'll likely be fine if you arrive at 12pm. Often arrive by train and usually book in advance for the cheapest fares on trains which arrive around 12 or before. Never been an issue as Platinum. Show the person at the door that you are Platinum/Diamond, they will direct you into the Priority queue and then you'll be at a check in desk within moments. If your daughter is Gold then just hand your tickets together (with yours on top). She'll be able to have priority too (based on past experience). I don’t think noon is the best time to arrive. It is a very busy time, and, if there are any delays, they won’t have started embarking the passengers, so, to judge by my last cruise, the terminal will be very crowded with people being made to wait outside. You may have priority, but Grills passengers will be ahead of you. If the QM2 has come from Hamburg, it should be less busy, as a number of passengers will have embarked there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 31 #36 Share Posted July 31 53 minutes ago, babs135 said: Just completed check-in for Queen Anne and we have been given a time for boarding of 3.45 pm. DH is extremely disappointed and would like to turn up at 1 pm so that he can have lunch on board but I think this is being a little 'cheeky'. As Diamond passengers how early do you think we can arrive (forget about lunch, if necessary will have it on shore!). Our daughter will also be with us but she is only Gold, so I don't know if that will make any difference. Failing all else, what time does the bag drop open please? Your boarding pass should say PRIORITY on it somewhere. Even if you're "only" diamond (and board after Grills and, possibly, Club), you should be able to go into the building at any time, even as early as 11:30, and go to the check-in queue. In my experience, there are more people at stations to check people in than there are priority passengers coming into the building at that time. After you check in, you'll be sent to sit until it's time for you to board. You might have to sit and wait for as much as an hour, but you'll be sitting inside, not standing outside. I usually try to arrive around noon, but last time, my car was early, and I arrived at 11:30. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 31 #37 Share Posted July 31 3 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: Your boarding pass should say PRIORITY on it somewhere. Even if you're "only" diamond (and board after Grills and, possibly, Club), you should be able to go into the building at any time, even as early as 11:30, and go to the check-in queue. In my experience, there are more people at stations to check people in than there are priority passengers coming into the building at that time. After you check in, you'll be sent to sit until it's time for you to board. You might have to sit and wait for as much as an hour, but you'll be sitting inside, not standing outside. I usually try to arrive around noon, but last time, my car was early, and I arrived at 11:30. Well, on our last trip, I had QG and Diamond priority. We turned up at 12.20 for 12.30. check in, and had difficulty even getting into the Terminal, such was the throng of people milling about outside. When I did manage to get to a member of staff, I was clapped through and it was fine, but getting to that point was quite difficult. However, the person in front of me in the priority queue had a time of 2.00 and no priority. So it may be a matter of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare babs135 Posted July 31 #38 Share Posted July 31 Should have added that both DH and myself had to fill in the medical form as we both use walking sticks. Not sure if this would make any difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted July 31 #39 Share Posted July 31 2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: Your boarding pass should say PRIORITY on it somewhere. Even if you're "only" diamond (and board after Grills and, possibly, Club), you should be able to go into the building at any time, even as early as 11:30, and go to the check-in queue. In my experience, there are more people at stations to check people in than there are priority passengers coming into the building at that time. After you check in, you'll be sent to sit until it's time for you to board. You might have to sit and wait for as much as an hour, but you'll be sitting inside, not standing outside. I usually try to arrive around noon, but last time, my car was early, and I arrived at 11:30. We are Diamond and our boarding passes last cruise on QA did not have PRIORITY anywhere on them just the word Diamond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted July 31 #40 Share Posted July 31 29 minutes ago, majortom10 said: We are Diamond and our boarding passes last cruise on QA did not have PRIORITY anywhere on them just the word Diamond. Did they stamp it with priority once you’d checked in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted July 31 #41 Share Posted July 31 1 hour ago, exlondoner said: Did they stamp it with priority once you’d checked in? Nope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted July 31 #42 Share Posted July 31 9 minutes ago, majortom10 said: My boarding pass didn’t have priority printed in it , but the lady at check in had a stamp and she just stamped it on for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted August 1 #43 Share Posted August 1 (edited) 12 hours ago, majortom10 said: We are Diamond and our boarding passes last cruise on QA did not have PRIORITY anywhere on them just the word Diamond. 12 hours ago, exlondoner said: Did they stamp it with priority once you’d checked in? 10 hours ago, majortom10 said: Nope The above has been the set-up for several years now. It was different pre-pandemic. But if Gold, Platinum or Diamond the boarding pass will state the CWC level, instead of Priority. If you are in Club or Grills it will say Priority regardless of CWC. At Brooklyn and Southampton there is a stated perk for CWC Platinums and Diamonds to have access to the Priority line. It's an unstated perk in a long list of other Cunard locations, notably Hamburg, Barcelona and Vancouver. But note the difference between Priority line access and recommended arrival time - these are 2 different things which often gets muddled up. If you are Diamond with at 15:45 time, then that is the time you are allocated, and it suggests you are on one of the lower / mid decks. That said, as with many things Cunard, what is written and what happens are two different things. If you have 15:45 hrs on the Diamond boarding pass, you can turn up at 12:00, and you will probably be in your stateroom around 13:00 to 13:30 hrs. When boarding starts, the sequence at Southampton is QG, PG, Diamond, Platinum, Club. However the chances are the process will take 45 to 75 minutes and you may be queued outside Mayflower for a bit. If you turn up at 15:45 it will take 10 minutes and they will be shooing you onboard (since the Intercruise folk will want to go home). And a sliding scale in between. I'd say the sweet spot is about 14:00 hrs, all the pesky Gorillas will be safely in their restaurant and the priority queue area will have emptied out. Assistance is an area to the right of the main doors to Mayflower and yes that does short cut you somewhat, however a lot of assistance passengers turn up early so while it's a distance shortcut, it's not necessarily a time shortcut. If you have multi-status in your group then custom and tradition allows the highest ranked CWC or suite to take others with them. The stamp at check-in - well that's after the bottle neck - but it will either say "Cleared to board" and date (slightly different in different locations) or the same plus the word "priority". Edited August 1 by Pushpit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted August 1 #44 Share Posted August 1 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Pushpit said: The above has been the set-up for several years now. It was different pre-pandemic. But if Gold, Platinum or Diamond the boarding pass will state the CWC level, instead of Priority. If you are in Club or Grills it will say Priority regardless of CWC. At Brooklyn and Southampton there is a stated perk for CWC Platinums and Diamonds to have access to the Priority line. It's an unstated perk in a long list of other Cunard locations, notably Hamburg, Barcelona and Vancouver. But note the difference between Priority line access and recommended arrival time - these are 2 different things which often gets muddled up. If you are Diamond with at 15:45 time, then that is the time you are allocated, and it suggests you are on one of the lower / mid decks. That said, as with many things Cunard, what is written and what happens are two different things. If you have 15:45 hrs on the Diamond boarding pass, you can turn up at 12:00, and you will probably be in your stateroom around 13:00 to 13:30 hrs. When boarding starts, the sequence at Southampton is QG, PG, Diamond, Platinum, Club. However the chances are the process will take 45 to 75 minutes and you may be queued outside Mayflower for a bit. If you turn up at 15:45 it will take 10 minutes and they will be shooing you onboard (since the Intercruise folk will want to go home). And a sliding scale in between. I'd say the sweet spot is about 14:00 hrs, all the pesky Gorillas will be safely in their restaurant and the priority queue area will have emptied out. Assistance is an area to the right of the main doors to Mayflower and yes that does short cut you somewhat, however a lot of assistance passengers turn up early so while it's a distance shortcut, it's not necessarily a time shortcut. If you have multi-status in your group then custom and tradition allows the highest ranked CWC or suite to take others with them. The stamp at check-in - well that's after the bottle neck - but it will either say "Cleared to board" and date (slightly different in different locations) or the same plus the word "priority". Sorry to say but that might be official line but in practice is total chaos. We recently boarded at Southampton on QA and there was total chaos from the massive queues outside to a full terminal at Mayflower. Total confusion and staff seemed to not have a clue and totally disorganised. We arrived just after 1pm for 1-30pm check in proceeded down priority lane as Diamond and checked in. From then on total confusion they were trying to put in order of rows of seats but Diamond area was full so us and others were just shoved in another part of terminal. Woman sat next to me admitted she couldn't believe they had let her into terminal and checked her in as she was Silver in an inside cabin with 3-30pm check in. When they finally started boarding ship calling Grills and then Diamond in rows of seats they had completely forgot about us and many other Diamond who had been placed elsewhere and started calling Platinum. When complained they seemed totally bemused and baffled. Edited August 1 by majortom10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sogne Posted August 1 #45 Share Posted August 1 For QA fiords we arrived @ 1210 and in cabin at 1pm cases arrived shortly after. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted August 1 #46 Share Posted August 1 52 minutes ago, majortom10 said: Sorry to say but that might be official line but in practice is total chaos. We recently boarded at Southampton on QA and there was total chaos from the massive queues outside to a full terminal at Mayflower. I boarded QA H416 on 30 June, I arrived 12:45 (off the 12:30 bus from Décathalon) and in my stateroom around 13:45, having had to wait for the Grills to board first. Clearly experiences vary, and QA is a big ship by Cunard's standards, but it wasn't chaos in my experience. Moreover as Intercruises gets used to QA I would imagine they will get sharper and better at crowd control and seating areas. It usually only takes a few minutes to board the Diamonds so when Platinums get called that's your cue, but it should not have been a long wait. But if you want less hassle, then arrive a bit later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Pushpit Posted August 1 #47 Share Posted August 1 46 minutes ago, majortom10 said: It was only then when myself and many others who were Diamond complained and they seem totally confused of what to do as already rows of Platinum were boarding and many Diamond still sitting in rows So to explain this to others, the usual system at Southampton is that you first queue up for check-in. After you are checked in - and assuming boarding hasn't started or has only just started - you are then led off in the seating area, which has invisible blocks in it. Each block represents a cohort of people who arrived a given time, and there is an MC with a microphone who works through the blocks. So when QG is opened for boarding, hopefully they are mostly in an identified set of blocks nearest security, they are approached and led off. Then when those blocks are done they call via the PA for any QG who may have ended up in other blocks further back. Then rinse / repeat for PG, then Diamonds, then Platinums, finally Club. What seems to have happened in your case is that a block of mainly Diamonds was plonked out of sequence and were effectively forgotten about when Platinums were called, Human error? Seems like it. Chaos? I very much doubt it, but I wasn't there on that occasion. You don't need to complain, as soon as you are aware of Platinums moving forward you walk towards security, they will probably ask "Platinum?" and you can smugly reply "Diamond". Alternatively show up slightly later, and all those seated will be onboard and you can walk direct from check-in to security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted August 1 #48 Share Posted August 1 5 hours ago, majortom10 said: Sorry to say but that might be official line but in practice is total chaos. We recently boarded at Southampton on QA and there was total chaos from the massive queues outside to a full terminal at Mayflower. Total confusion and staff seemed to not have a clue and totally disorganised. We arrived just after 1pm for 1-30pm check in proceeded down priority lane as Diamond and checked in. From then on total confusion they were trying to put in order of rows of seats but Diamond area was full so us and others were just shoved in another part of terminal. Woman sat next to me admitted she couldn't believe they had let her into terminal and checked her in as she was Silver in an inside cabin with 3-30pm check in. When they finally started boarding ship calling Grills and then Diamond in rows of seats they had completely forgot about us and many other Diamond who had been placed elsewhere and started calling Platinum. When complained they seemed totally bemused and baffled. Are you sure you were at Southampton? Sounds more like Brooklyn, where the "priority" room is too small and they try to keep people out. I remember being in PG (and diamond) and the "gatekeeper" said there was no room. I looked past her and said "Oh! I see some seats." and just walked in. I know that sounds rude and pushy, but she was nasty, and I was not going to sit WAY in the back for hours, when I should be boarding in about 45 minutes. I know from friends' experience that nobody goes back there to announce "Grills passengers may board now." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted August 1 #49 Share Posted August 1 5 hours ago, Pushpit said: The above has been the set-up for several years now. It was different pre-pandemic. But if Gold, Platinum or Diamond the boarding pass will state the CWC level, instead of Priority. If you are in Club or Grills it will say Priority regardless of CWC. At Brooklyn and Southampton there is a stated perk for CWC Platinums and Diamonds to have access to the Priority line. It's an unstated perk in a long list of other Cunard locations, notably Hamburg, Barcelona and Vancouver. In Vancouver, they start check-in before the ship is ready, so people have to sit and wait to board, much like Southampton. There's a separate section of chairs for priority passengers. They fill that section row by row, not asking what level of priority anyone is. When the ship is ready to board, they send passengers off, row by row. It's been that way at Port Everglades boarding a HAL ship, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted August 1 #50 Share Posted August 1 22 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: Are you sure you were at Southampton? To the best of my knowledge QA has never sailed out of Brooklyn yet 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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