Platinum Travelers Check In

[grak]

I'm a platinum member and I know that someone also in my cabin can come with me for priority check-in. Another couple is traveling with us in cabin next door - - - can they check in with us even though they are not platinum members?

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Only the person in your cabin will get special boarding privileges. The others will have to go with the regular boarding people.

[Colo Cruiser]

Correct only the Platinum person.

[grak]

Thanks for the quick reply - - - I thought that might be the answer,

[Pam in CA]

The Platinum/Elite waiting areas are usually overcrowded so that people who have earned that perk are unable to use it. :( If minors are traveling with you in a separate cabin, that's one thing but adults should be able to manage/board without assistance or priority.

[bjkTX]

They changed the wording a year or more ago and eliminated the "friends" from going with you - but on our last several Princess cruises our friends laughed at us as they got through their line a lot faster than we did :-)

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

They changed the wording a year or more ago and eliminated the "friends" from going with you - but on our last several Princess cruises our friends laughed at us as they got through their line a lot faster than we did :-)

Except that they didn't have a separate lounge to wait in with refreshments. It cam mean a lot especially if you arrive very early.

[bjkTX]

Except that they didn't have a separate lounge to wait in with refreshments. It cam mean a lot especially if you arrive very early.

 

I'm sure it does - we just never go that early that we have to wait in a lounge - so far :-)

[caribill]

I'm a platinum member and I know that someone also in my cabin can come with me for priority check-in. Another couple is traveling with us in cabin next door - - - can they check in with us even though they are not platinum members?

 

They may be able to check in with you, but if boarding has not started yet, they cannot wait with you in the Platinum member area and cannot board when you do with the Platinum group.

[john watson]

I'm a platinum member and I know that someone also in my cabin can come with me for priority check-in. Another couple is traveling with us in cabin next door - - - can they check in with us even though they are not platinum members?

 

You may well find variations relating to which port you are boarding. Some ports will accept people who are on the same booking. Some ports do not have a "Platinum Lounge" or any special lounge at all. Often the staff in the ports are not directly employed by the cruise line and interpret the rules differently. At Southampton for example small proportion of Platinum/Elite passengers in comparison to US ports. There are a few different cruise terminals here and I have never been ushered into a special "lounge" you just tend to get on the ship.

 

Regards John

Edited April 5, 2015 by john watson

[skynight]

Regarding check in we have found that sometimes the lines are shorter at the normal check in area than at the priority check in areas. You may wish to check in with your friends in the normal lines, it's only a matter of a few extra mins.

Regarding waiting to board you probably will be split up.

Edited April 5, 2015 by sknight

[LabGuy64]

It is pretty pathetic when there are so many platinums and elites that the normal line moves faster......perhaps Princess should limit priority boarding to Elites and Suites or, allow boarding an hour before the rest of the passengers to Suites and Elites.....then give the priority boarding to the platinums after

 

 

 

Regarding check in we have found that sometimes the lines are shorter at the normal check in area than at the priority check in areas. You may wish to check in with your friends in the normal lines, it's only a matter of a few extra mins.

Regarding waiting to board you probably will be split up.

Edited April 7, 2015 by LabGuy64

[Colo Cruiser]

It is pretty pathetic when there are so many platinums and elites that the normal line moves faster......perhaps Princess should limit priority boarding to Elites and Suites or, allow boarding an hour before the rest of the passengers to Suites and Elites.....then give the priority boarding to the platinums after

 

Its been that way for awhile and its only gonna get worse. :(

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

It is pretty pathetic when there are so many platinums and elites that the normal line moves faster......perhaps Princess should limit priority boarding to Elites and Suites or, allow boarding an hour before the rest of the passengers to Suites and Elites.....then give the priority boarding to the platinums after

At the rate the people are making the Elite level these days it won't be long until the lounge and early boarding is limited only to Suites & Elites and then it'll really mean something once again. I know that arriving at the port around 11 AM being Platimun or Elite means walking past dozens of people standing there waiting to get inside the terminal. :)

[geoherb]

When we checked in for our last cruise from Fort Lauderdale, there was a separate area for Elite and suite passengers, one for Platinum passengers, and then one for the rest of the people. The line for Platinum passengers and above moved quickly because the check-in people were serving them from several different positions. We arrived around 11:15 and made it through security and check-in and to the Elite/suite area in 20 minutes. It was one of the most efficient times ever. There were 22 other people in the Elite/suite area when we got there. We waited about 15 minutes in there, and a few other people came and joined us. We made it onto the ship right before noon.

[LabGuy64]

Well.....when it gets to the point where everyone is "elite" no one is...

 

 

Its been that way for awhile and its only gonna get worse. :(

Edited April 8, 2015 by LabGuy64

[Colo Cruiser]

Well.....when it gets to the point where everyone is "elite" no one is...

 

Everything comes full circle, right? :eek:

[Mackenzie1]

Everything comes full circle, right? :eek:

 

When I first started cruising in the late 1980's, there were not very many cruise companies or ships to choose from. My first Princess cruise was on the original Island Princess, a 20,000 ton vessel with room for 640 passengers. When flying overseas, it wasn't uncommon to find empty 5-seat middle rows on airplanes where you could stretch across and sleep overnight. The economy and cruising have since expanded to where Princess is now building ships that can carry 3,600 passengers. I don't care so much about the status levels of being a Princess cruiser as much as how crowded cruising has become.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[Colo Cruiser]

When I first started cruising in the late 1980's, there were not very many cruise companies or ships to choose from. My first Princess cruise was on the original Island Princess, a 20,000 ton vessel with room for 640 passengers. When flying overseas, it wasn't uncommon to find empty 5-seat middle rows on airplanes where you could stretch across and sleep overnight. The economy and cruising have since expanded to where Princess is now building ships that can carry 3,600 passengers. I don't care so much about the status levels of being a Princess cruiser as much as how crowded cruising has become.

 

 

I agree it seems to affect everything. :(

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Well.....when it gets to the point where everyone is "elite" no one is...

It's way past time for another upper level where being in that category actually means something. ;)

[Thrak]

We will be boarding in SF in September and it will be our first "Platinum" boarding. We've never experienced any sort of horrible wait in SF in the past. (We did have a horrible boarding experience in San Pedro last February. Ugh....)

 

How is the Platinum/Elite/Suite boarding handled at the new terminal in SF?

 

 

Note: For those who feel that perhaps Elite and Suite should get priority boarding before the Platinum passengers... I don't have a problem with that at all. :)

[caribill]

It's way past time for another upper level where being in that category actually means something. ;)

 

Be careful what you wish for.

 

One way of implementing an upper level is to give it some of the perks now Elites get and remove them from the Elite list of perks.

 

For example, new higher level gets unlimited free laundry, but Elite gets limited to just two bags per cruise.