Waiting to board Grand but not in preferred area

[sherryf]

I asked here about preferred check in and boarding with my kids who are not preferred and thought we'd be able to use preferred with them. We were allowed to check in together in the preferred line, but were NOT allowed to go to the preferred boarding area. :-( My husband and I could have gone to preferred and sent the kids (15 - 21 years old) to general boarding, but what's the point of that?

 

One good thing is that although the security people saw my wine and commented on it, there was no table set up to pay corkage! I will end up taking some of it to the dining room and paying the corkage anyway, but I also will drink some of it in my room corkage-free. :-)

 

 

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[Thrak]

Depending on how much wine you took I'd say you may have gotten a great trade off!

[Colo Cruiser]

The Captains Circle numbers have swelled to very high levels, I am sure they don't have the room anymore to allow everyone and there family in.

 

I would not be happy if they said my 15 year old could not come in, that would not happen. I can understand about the 21 year old as they are on their own seperate CC number after 18.

 

 

What port are you in and what did they comment about the wine?

Edited July 20, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[sherryf]

We are in Seattle. I don't think the platinum/elite numbers tend to be as high on Alaskan cruises so I thought I'd get away with bringing them to preferred with us. They would not even let me take the 15 year old, as she would have been with 3 18-21 year olds.

 

We had 7 bottles of wine and would have gotten 3 corkage-free. All the security guy said was, "red or white?"

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

We are in Seattle. I don't think the platinum/elite numbers tend to be as high on Alaskan cruises so I thought I'd get away with bringing them to preferred with us. They would not even let me take the 15 year old, as she would have been with 3 18-21 year olds.

 

We had 7 bottles of wine and would have gotten 3 corkage-free. All the security guy said was, "red or white?"

 

 

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Thanks, regardless of who she was with I really don't see how they can deny your 15 year old from coming with you. We always took our children in with us. Does not make sense.

[freetocruise]

The Captains Circle numbers have swelled to very high levels, I am sure they don't have the room anymore to allow everyone and there family in.

 

I would not be happy if they said my 15 year old could not come in, that would not happen. I can understand about the 21 year old as they are on their own seperate CC number after 18.

 

 

 

Thanks, regardless of who she was with I really don't see how they can deny your 15 year old from coming with you. We always took our children in with us. Does not make sense.

 

I don't think Princess was denying a parent the right to be with their children before boarding. They're only saying that the child(ren) would not be allowed into the preferred waiting area. When the same thing happened to me with my daughter, they told me if I wanted to wait with her, I could do so but it would have to be in the general waiting area. At that point it is up to the parent as to what is more important - early boarding or waiting/boarding with their child.

 

Also, my children have had their own CC number since they first cruised - at the ages of 6 and 9 at the time. Granted, it was my husband's number with a different letter at the end but still, their own number. The number has not changed and they are now both over 21 with a number of cruises as adults.

Edited July 20, 2014 by freetocruise

[casavaha]

We will be boarding the Grand next Sunday. We are Elite but many of our friends,

who are also with us are not. How has the boarding gone?

Enjoy the cruise.

 

Greg

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report! Enjoy your cruise.

[Thrak]

Having only cruised 3 times so far we are far from highly experienced but we have found that we boarded quickly each time despite not having any sort of priority boarding status. Hopefully we will continue to have such quick boarding in the future.

 

Possibly it's because we have only cruised out of San Francisco?

[NavyVeteran]

I believe Princess will allow other passengers in the same cabin as the preferred passenger to board in the preferred area - not family or friends in different cabins. It's not their age or family relationship that matters - it's whether or not they're in the same cabin as the preferred passenger.

[bhopal21]

Thanks, regardless of who she was with I really don't see how they can deny your 15 year old from coming with you. We always took our children in with us. Does not make sense.

 

I agree.

 

There should be no reason your kids could not accompany you.

 

Have a great cruise Sherry!:D

 

Mike:)

[caribill]

I believe Princess will allow other passengers in the same cabin as the preferred passenger to board in the preferred area - not family or friends in different cabins. It's not their age or family relationship that matters - it's whether or not they're in the same cabin as the preferred passenger.

 

And since the cruise cards do not have a cabin number on them, those denying the preferred boarding area cannot tell if the kids are in the same cabin or not.

[CCFC]

And since the cruise cards do not have a cabin number on them, those denying the preferred boarding area cannot tell if the kids are in the same cabin or not.

 

The boarding pass does have the cabin number on it.

Edited July 20, 2014 by CCFC

[caribill]

The boarding pass does have the cabin number on it.

 

That is turned in before getting the cruise card and is thus not seen by those guarding the entrance to the preferred boarding area.

[casavaha]

The boarding pass does have the cabin number on it.

 

You gave up the boarding pass when you checked in. So the only card that was seen

by the attendants was your seapass card. Of course if you have a black card and your

children have a blue on, or gold, they will have to sit in the other areas.

[geoherb]

Hope you have a great time. We loved our cruises to Alaska.

[Once Upon A Time]

In Seattle the boarding usually goes very quickly and those in the preferred boarding area get about a 5-10minute head start, at best.. They should have no problem.

[pablo222]

I asked here about preferred check in and boarding with my kids who are not preferred and thought we'd be able to use preferred with them. We were allowed to check in together in the preferred line, but were NOT allowed to go to the preferred boarding area.

 

Do you have 'cancel for any reason' insurance?

 

On the other hand, if Princess allowed me to bring my friends

to the suite/elite waiting area with me, I could solicit bids for

new friends here anytime I sail...

[lovevacadays]

We are in Seattle. I don't think the platinum/elite numbers tend to be as high on Alaskan cruises so I thought I'd get away with bringing them to preferred with us. They would not even let me take the 15 year old, as she would have been with 3 18-21 year olds.

 

We had 7 bottles of wine and would have gotten 3 corkage-free. All the security guy said was, "red or white?"

 

 

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I'm sorry to hear you couldn't take your children with you to the preferred lounge. While I understand that there is limited room, I think you should be able to take your children. Well, at least within the age limit of yours as I could see 70 year olds wanting to taking their 40 year old kids with them. :eek::eek::eek:

 

Lucky you on your wine situation.:)

[bhopal21]

I'm sorry to hear you couldn't take your children with you to the preferred lounge. While I understand that there is limited room, I think you should be able to take your children. Well, at least within the age limit of yours as I could see 70 year olds wanting to taking their 40 year old kids with them. :eek::eek::eek:

 

Lucky you on your wine situation.:)

 

There is no lounge at Seattle, just a line of chairs against the wall and another line against the dividing fence. The only advantage is that boarding begins from this area first.

 

Mike:)

[freetocruise]

And since the cruise cards do not have a cabin number on them, those denying the preferred boarding area cannot tell if the kids are in the same cabin or not.

 

Everytime I've checked in in the last few years, I've received a boarding card along with my cruise card. Those boarding cards state "priority boarding" while general boarding receives cards listed with Boarding Group #1, etc. I've been asked to show my boarding card whenever trying to enter the preferred seating area. I've experienced this in Venice, LA, and FLL. When I sailed with my daughter, we checked in together but my husband and I were given priority boarding cards and she was given General Boarding #2. We chose to board in Group #2 with her rather than leave her alone in the seating area.

 

Lately, with so many preferred boarders, I've also experienced a further breakdown with Elite Boarding Cards and Platinum Boarding Cards with separate seating areas. And the cards are checked before entering these areas.

 

Times change.

[notentirelynormal]

Thanks, regardless of who she was with I really don't see how they can deny your 15 year old from coming with you. We always took our children in with us. Does not make sense.

 

My DH and I were boarding in San Pedro with my then 5 YO DGS. The stupid lady at the pier told us WE could go into the preferred lounge but the 5 YO wasn't Elite/Preferred so he couldn't :rolleyes:. Yes, we are going to go in and leave the 5 YO to sit by himself. She told us we were more than permitted to sit with him in the general boarding area though. It was his 4th cruise.

Edited July 21, 2014 by notentirelynormal

[Colo Cruiser]

My DH and I were boarding in San Pedro with my then 5 YO DGS. The stupid lady at the pier told us WE could go into the preferred lounge but the 5 YO wasn't Elite/Preferred so he couldn't :rolleyes:. Yes, we are going to go in and leave the 5 YO to sit by himself. She told us we were more than permitted to sit with him in the general boarding area though.

 

 

OMG! Thats ridiculous.

[DebJ14]

My DH and I were boarding in San Pedro with my then 5 YO DGS. The stupid lady at the pier told us WE could go into the preferred lounge but the 5 YO wasn't Elite/Preferred so he couldn't :rolleyes:. Yes, we are going to go in and leave the 5 YO to sit by himself. She told us we were more than permitted to sit with him in the general boarding area though. It was his 4th cruise.

 

Definitely no common sense there. I'm sure the 5 year old was in the same cabin with the parents. RCI and Carnival let kids in the same cabin get whatever priority level the parents have.

[whatcruiseisnext]

We sailed on the Golden on July 5. We had preferred boarding passes. We were traveling with our adult children. We had told them we were going in the preferred area and made plans where to met up once we were on the ship. The "guard" overheard us talking and told them to go in the preferred area. I mentioned that they were not preferred. He said...It's okay. I am letting them in." I would never have tried to sneak them in but what they heck...they told us to do it.

Edited July 21, 2014 by whatcruiseisnext