Priority Boarding and Disembarkation

[LAX2FCO]

We were just on a short Carnival cruise out of Los Angeles (Long Beach) and had priority boarding which was wonderful.

Priority disembarkation was even better, getting us off the ship and out of the parking lot before the rest of the ship was clearing out.

 

I booked 5 verandah suites, and I had VIP status~ this was extended to everyone in my group, and most were first timers on Carnival.

 

Does Princess offer this option? If so, what do you need to do to get this? Can you get it for the whole group?

And finally, Princess leaves from San Pedro, is there a lot of difference between the two LA ports? Long Beach was great, lots of parking and big terminal.

[cruzrbachoua]

I have never sailed out of Long Beach but saw it when we visited the QM....San Pedro has tons of parking as well and the terminal had plenty of seats. We typically get there early so I was not there during the mad rush. But we got there at about 11amish and were on board by 12 or 12:30. As far as priority disembarkation I know certain circle members like platinum and elite have a special lounge and I beleive suites are included in this as well... I traveled with a friend who was platinum and we were not......we were allowed her access to the lounges and priority lines but then again it was just the 4 of us. depending on the amount of people the port/princess reps may have final say if they allow it or not. But my motto is there is no harm in asking when you get there...worse they can say is no. I have seen sometimes that the normal line is less thant the priority lines..;)

[JF - retired RRT]

One really nice feature about embarkation on Princess: your cabin is ready when you board (no extra fee), so you can go straight to your cabin and drop off you carry-ons.

There can be a lot of people at San Pedro, but once they start processing it goes fast. If you get there early, you will board right after, elite/platinum/suites.

[skynight]

San Pedro has lots of parking right at the pier.

 

Full Suite passengers get priority boarding on Princess. If you arrive around 11am you should be on board by noon/12:30. You will be the first to board after the Handicap. Go directly to your cabin it will be ready.

 

If you do not have a full suite then you will be in the general boarding pool. Full Suite and Captain Circle Elites and Platinum members board first, then general boarding according to the time you arrived. If you arrive by 11am you still should be on board by 12:30.

 

There is no priority disembarkation with Princess. You request when you want to disembark. All passengers are asked to be out of their cabin by 8am and to wait in the assigned lounges. This is so they can service the cabins and have them ready for the next passengers just as they will be ready for you.

 

There is an early walk off option where you drag your own luggage. This normally starts around 7am to 7:30am. They have the independent arrangements options at various times. You will receive a form in your cabin to fill out, and you select whatever arrangement you want. If you wish to disembark with your entire party just have them all fill out the form the same way. There will be a special lounge for full suite passengers to wait until they disembark. Go to that lounge. Princess does not make disembark calls over the PA system. They announce it in the lounges.

[rkmw]

San Pedro has lots of parking right at the pier.

 

Full Suite passengers get priority boarding on Princess. If you arrive around 11am you should be on board by noon/12:30. You will be the first to board after the Handicap. Go directly to your cabin it will be ready.

 

If you do not have a full suite then you will be in the general boarding pool. Full Suite and Captain Circle Elites and Platinum members board first, then general boarding according to the time you arrived. If you arrive by 11am you still should be on board by 12:30.

 

There is no priority disembarkation with Princess. You request when you want to disembark. All passengers are asked to be out of their cabin by 8am and to wait in the assigned lounges. This is so they can service the cabins and have them ready for the next passengers just as they will be ready for you.

 

There is an early walk off option where you drag your own luggage. This normally starts around 7am to 7:30am. They have the independent arrangements options at various times. You will receive a form in your cabin to fill out, and you select whatever arrangement you want. If you wish to disembark with your entire party just have them all fill out the form the same way. There will be a special lounge for full suite passengers to wait until they disembark. Go to that lounge. Princess does not make disembark calls over the PA system. They announce it in the lounges.

 

there is priority disembarkation for elite & suite passengers

 

Priority Disembarkation

If you have independent onward travel you may contact the Circle Host towards the end of your voyage to state your request to disembark with your preferred disembarkation group. If you'd like to linger onboard longer, we'll be more than happy to give you a later disembarkation group. If you'd like to be one of the first groups to disembark, we'll gladly accommodate - the choice is yours!

[LAX2FCO]

Thank you all.. questions answered

[caribill]

there is priority disembarkation for elite & suite passengers

 

Priority Disembarkation

If you have independent onward travel you may contact the Circle Host towards the end of your voyage to state your request to disembark with your preferred disembarkation group. If you'd like to linger onboard longer, we'll be more than happy to give you a later disembarkation group. If you'd like to be one of the first groups to disembark, we'll gladly accommodate - the choice is yours!

 

You receive a form asking when you want to disembark. Any passenger, elite, suite or not can ask for the time they want.

 

The only real priority is that those waiting in the suite/elite/platinum lounge may get a two minute headstart notice compared to those in the assigned lounges.

[Woobstr112G]

You receive a form asking when you want to disembark. Any passenger, elite, suite or not can ask for the time they want.

 

The only real priority is that those waiting in the suite/elite/platinum lounge may get a two minute headstart notice compared to those in the assigned lounges.

 

This is very true. Other than the lounge area, I think priority boarding, for the most part, depends how many Elite/Platinum/Full Suite passengers are sailing. There can be exceptions however. It all depends on how many E/P/FS passengers are sailing. On the Ruby (T/A 2011) we were sailing as Platinum/Full Suite. The status did not help us as the entire boarding process was a nightmare. It seemed to take forever to board. On the other hand this past October we again had Platinum/Full Suite status on the Royal. We were the first group called to board. They did it somewhat differently as they handed out different color coded cards (with numbers) for E/P/FS cruisers. When they started calling out numbers (no specific numerical order), we were the first called. We were on the ship within 30 minutes of entering the terminal.