Improving Checkin at Pier

[travelplus]

Royal Caribbean should look to the airlines and integrate the online checkin system with the pier computers so if you forget to print out your Set Sail Pass it will be ready to go. Those with Emerald status and above would be personally escorted via a Premium Security line to the waiting room and be served drinks and then assisted onboard during the Priority Boarding.

 

If you wanted to take it a step further have Curbside Ceckin whereby you drop your bags with the Porter who will take your Passport and Confirmation # and confirm your Credit Card. Then the porter will take your photo for the Set Sail Pass and give it to you and then you can go directly through security and board the ship or explore the town. The porter would give you your health form to fill out on the handheld device whereby you sign that you agree to all charges, the rules of the ship and answer the health questions which would be electronically submitted to the Health Center onboard and to the proper authorities.

 

At the remote parking areas there could be a Remote Check in area with the same services as at the pier and porters would transfer bags to the ship via a luggage cart.

 

If there is a major problem then you would be directed inside to the Special Services Desk where they would fix any problems.

 

If the ship is not ready there would be waiting areas based upon your status and you would board the ship when your row is called.

 

What are your thoughts on this system? It would be nice to be able t get your Sea Pass Card when you drop off your luggage rather than wait in lines inside the pier and leave the inside operations to deal with major issues.

Edited October 2, 2015 by travelplus

[John&LaLa]

Have you met many of the Porters?

[GUT2407]

A couple of things

 

1. How much would that add to the cost of a cruise

 

2. Anything computerized have you looked at their website lately

 

3. Remember they share terminal space with other lines so everything needs to be able to be packed away.

[GUT2407]

4. How much would the porters then expect to be tipped?

[Firefighterhoop]

Royal Caribbean should look to the airlines and integrate the online checkin system with the pier computers so if you forget to print out your Set Sail Pass it will be ready to go. Those with Emerald status and above would be personally escorted via a Premium Security line to the waiting room and be served drinks and then assisted onboard during the Priority Boarding.

 

If you wanted to take it a step further have Curbside Ceckin whereby you drop your bags with the Porter who will take your Passport and Confirmation # and confirm your Credit Card. Then the porter will take your photo for the Set Sail Pass and give it to you and then you can go directly through security and board the ship or explore the town. The porter would give you your health form to fill out on the handheld device whereby you sign that you agree to all charges, the rules of the ship and answer the health questions which would be electronically submitted to the Health Center onboard and to the proper authorities.

 

At the remote parking areas there could be a Remote Check in area with the same services as at the pier and porters would transfer bags to the ship via a luggage cart.

 

If there is a major problem then you would be directed inside to the Special Services Desk where they would fix any problems.

 

If the ship is not ready there would be waiting areas based upon your status and you would board the ship when your row is called.

 

What are your thoughts on this system? It would be nice to be able t get your Sea Pass Card when you drop off your luggage rather than wait in lines inside the pier and leave the inside operations to deal with major issues.

 

I understand your point because some of the terminals were not designed for the size of the ships that are coming to them now days, and the volume of passengers that go with it.

 

Some of what you have said is already in effect at some ports where if the ship isn't ready to board you get your cards and sit with people of the same Crown and Anchor status.

 

As far as the airlines go, they seem quite overworked already at the ticket counters with passengers needs - I don't see them wanting to be involved with that aspect at all - However, it may not be a bad Idea for them to research a hospitality desk at the airport in the baggage claim area (A step up from what they do now as far as only meeting transfers) to tag bags, print out a missing Set Sail pass etc. (They wouldn't be able to handle problems from the airport, just assist with things to make it more streamlined at the pier).

 

I think having the porters do the check in would really slow the process down of dropping luggage off. There is only so much space to work with, and slowing the porters down would significantly slow cars down coming into the port area because the porters would have a much greater turn around time per car (and adding porters wouldn't help because of space limitations). Thus the lines you have inside would now be outside on the sidewalks and or on the streets (Often times with taxi meters running).

 

I think the opportunity for improvement is to improve the people flow once they get into the building - which is evident if you have cruised out of Terminal 18 in Port Everglades (Where Oasis/Allure dock) and the new Port Canaveral terminal as they are very smooth to get into and through.

 

Right now most of the priority security lines are for anywhere from Diamond to Pinnacle to get into the lines (Varies by terminal) and suites. This is simply crowd control. With the numbers of passengers Emerald and above on each ship it would be nearly impossible to accommodate all those people in a priority line (Which is usually a smaller area than the regular lines) Recently I was on a ship where over half the ship was Platinum or above.

[reallyitsmema]

Royal Caribbean should look to the airlines and integrate the online checkin system with the pier computers so if you forget to print out your Set Sail Pass it will be ready to go. Those with Emerald status and above would be personally escorted via a Premium Security line to the waiting room and be served drinks and then assisted onboard during the Priority Boarding.

 

If you wanted to take it a step further have Curbside Ceckin whereby you drop your bags with the Porter who will take your Passport and Confirmation # and confirm your Credit Card. Then the porter will take your photo for the Set Sail Pass and give it to you and then you can go directly through security and board the ship or explore the town. The porter would give you your health form to fill out on the handheld device whereby you sign that you agree to all charges, the rules of the ship and answer the health questions which would be electronically submitted to the Health Center onboard and to the proper authorities.

 

At the remote parking areas there could be a Remote Check in area with the same services as at the pier and porters would transfer bags to the ship via a luggage cart.

 

If there is a major problem then you would be directed inside to the Special Services Desk where they would fix any problems.

 

If the ship is not ready there would be waiting areas based upon your status and you would board the ship when your row is called.

 

What are your thoughts on this system? It would be nice to be able t get your Sea Pass Card when you drop off your luggage rather than wait in lines inside the pier and leave the inside operations to deal with major issues.

 

Completely unrealistic.

[mcatmcat]

If is not broken don't fix it

[harlekuin]

I thought the porters worked for the port and not for the cruise lines, or is that wrong? If they work for the port, then I would not expect them to want to do that work nor would their unions.

 

Also, I think that if folks showed up at the time RCL sends you instead of like people tell everyone here - show up when ever you want - then it would be a bit less hectic.

 

Only problem we ever had was at Port Canada this last May and that was customs not the cruise line.

[Eng23]

I thought the porters worked for the port and not for the cruise lines, or is that wrong? If they work for the port, then I would not expect them to want to do that work nor would their unions.

 

Also, I think that if folks showed up at the time RCL sends you instead of like people tell everyone here - show up when ever you want - then it would be a bit less hectic.

 

Only problem we ever had was at Port Canada this last May and that was customs not the cruise line.

 

You make a very good point. The porters don't work for Royal Caribbean they work for the port. The porters are unionized and any proposed changes to their work duties would have to be negotiated and they would surely expect a pay increase for taking on extra work. To increase the work load of the porters outside would seriously slow down car traffic outside the terminal and slow the process of getting bags taken care of.

[BonTexasNY]

Checking in, for us, was never a problem. I would prefer the cruise line and port work to cut down on the wait time getting OFF the ship and out of the terminal. 2 hours is just too long to wait in an endless hot line. Last cruise porters were scarce.

 

Porters will never go for any additional wait time taking luggage. They're thinking of that next tip.

[Desertbelle]

To me, check in is such a small, insignificant part of the cruise that I would not want to see the cruise lines put any money into a new system. On 20+ cruises I don't think we have ever had a check in last more than 20-30 minutes, with the 2 or 3 exceptions where a "sick" ship needed extra cleaning... and no new system could help that situation.

 

No matter how much of a hassle check in seems to be, we are on vacation and we will be spending the next 7-30 days on that ship. So we just enjoy the excitement of being on vacation, and about to start a wonderful cruise. It would take a major issue, like them refusing to let us board, to make us unhappy! :)

[Big_G]

If is not broken don't fix it

 

I have to agree. It's been almost ten years since the last time I stood in line outside a cruise terminal door to get on a ship and that was on Princess. I can't say that this is really a problem now.

[Paulxyz2004]

If is not broken don't fix it

 

My thoughts exactly !!!

 

Royal Caribbean should look to the airlines and integrate the online checkin system with the pier computers so if you forget to print out your Set Sail Pass it will be ready to go.

 

The Systems are linked already and they do have all your information in the Computer already. You can check-in without the printed SetSail Pass without a Problem, but they Need your credit Card, passport and signature. That´s why it´s fastest to have the SetSail Pass printed, as this way you can just Hand them the paper with your signature on it. Airlines don´t Need your credit Card and signature as there is no onboard account you Charge to on planes.

 

Those with Emerald status and above would be personally escorted via a Premium Security line to the waiting room and be served drinks and then assisted onboard during the Priority Boarding.

 

There´s priority check-in for Golds and up already. To have a premium security line and waiting room for Emerald and up including personal escort wouldn´t be a smart idea IMO. Way too many People at that Level and what´s the priority if you give it to the masses?

 

 

If you wanted to take it a step further have Curbside Ceckin whereby you drop your bags with the Porter who will take your Passport and Confirmation # and confirm your Credit Card. Then the porter will take your photo for the Set Sail Pass and give it to you and then you can go directly through security and board the ship or explore the town. The porter would give you your health form to fill out on the handheld device whereby you sign that you agree to all charges, the rules of the ship and answer the health questions which would be electronically submitted to the Health Center onboard and to the proper authorities.

 

At the remote parking areas there could be a Remote Check in area with the same services as at the pier and porters would transfer bags to the ship via a luggage cart.

 

If there is a major problem then you would be directed inside to the Special Services Desk where they would fix any problems.

 

Lugage drop off is really easy and pain free as it is now and they can move car traffic quite efficiently. Why would you want this procedure to be slowed down with the porters having to do the entire check-in process with passport scanning, creditcard, etc. etc. and then get you your seapass Cards from somewhere?

First of all I can only see this ending up in chaos and I see no reason at all to add the Task of check-in to the porters who are trying to handle all the bags efficiently.

 

Personally I much prefer to just Hand over my bags to the porters and then get out of the heat, cold, sun, rain, wind.... into the shelter of the terminal with A/C or heat to do the check-in process. I see no reason why I should do all this outside.

 

If the ship is not ready there would be waiting areas based upon your status and you would board the ship when your row is called.

 

This is the case already. Regardless of port there always have been waiting Areas and Boarding numbers have been given out depending on your C&A Level or Suite accomodation booked.

 

What are your thoughts on this system? It would be nice to be able t get your Sea Pass Card when you drop off your luggage rather than wait in lines inside the pier and leave the inside operations to deal with major issues.

 

As already stated at the beginning, if it is not broken, don´t fix it. I don´t like the idea at all and no to me it would not be nice to get my SeaPass Card where I drop my luggage. I rather like to do this inside. I see no benefit to do this outside where it easily can be quite uncomfortable.

 

On a side note the only line I´ve ever waited in was security and no matter where this one will be located it´s the bottleneck you will never eliminate.

 

I´ve never waited in long lines for check-in. If there´s a couple People in front of me that´s usually the max I Encounter.

 

I think your ideas would make it worse not better.

[Enforcer]

Hi,

 

We sailed on the Anthem earlier this year.

I parked the car near the terminal, the porters off loaded our cases from the car. We went to the terminal where we were greeted by a lady with a tablet computer and I gave her our piece of paper that I had printed out, she scanned the bar code on it then asked us the health questions and I signed the tablet. We then went through security and straight onto the ship.

From getting out of the car to being on the ship was about 10 minutes.

Our wrist band and door card were at the stateroom waiting for us.

 

Pete

[bouhunter]

Have you met many of the Porters?

 

:D:D:D

 

I think the system is fine. I've waited longer to check into hotels for one night than many RCCL cruises.

 

A waste of time and energy to dream up such involved plans that aren't going to happen.

Edited October 4, 2015 by bouhunter

[Lionesss]

We have had no problem with the check-in system..................

 

So I am ok with it.

 

 

Now

 

A waiting area drink would be a nice perk:D

 

Not going to happen though.

 

Sea Ya

[funfamilyfun]

I have always had quick and easy check ins. I agree with the posters who have said the getting off the ship needs to be improved!

[Fouremco]

As someone who has to fly to every cruise we take, I've yet to go through an embarkation process that was as irritating and as time wasting as what we are subjected to at airports.

[susancruzs]

The process is fine, if it isn't broke, don't try and fix it. I'm on vacation, if I have to wait half an hour or whatever, what is the big deal? 25 cruises and counting, 6 different lines, and I have never waited more than a half hour. Once or twice I sat down, thinking it might be longer, and it wasn't.

[Desertbelle]

As someone who has to fly to every cruise we take, I've yet to go through an embarkation process that was as irritating and as time wasting as what we are subjected to at airports.

 

 

Absolutely! Now if someone could fix that, I'd be very grateful!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[knittinggirl]

If you want priority check in, book a JS or higher. On Legend's TA last year, we were directed to a shorter line than the Diamond +, Because we'd booked a JS.

[davekathy]

As someone who has to fly to every cruise we take, I've yet to go through an embarkation process that was as irritating and as time wasting as what we are subjected to at airports.

 

Agree and once you've boarded the air craft the accommodations suck.

[knittinggirl]

As someone who has to fly to every cruise we take, I've yet to go through an embarkation process that was as irritating and as time wasting as what we are subjected to at airports.

We've had a few horrible embarkations.

 

 

If the ship is late for whatever reason, things go down hill. We boarded Celebrity Infinity in San Franscisco, and they wouldn't let us board due to Norovirus. We got our cruise cards pretty fast, but after than it went from bad to worse. We were cooped up in the Cruise terminal, and the seats filled up. Still people were standing w/ no place to sit. They made an announcement telling us to leave the terminal for lunch, but we were no where near any restaurants. They provided us with some bottled water, but no food. We finally got to board around 3 PM, and ate a late lunch. But we were not allowed into our cabins until 15 minutes before muster drill.

 

On Royal Caribbean, we had a 5 PM embarkation w/ a 8:00 PM muster drill. And a rushed embarkation dinner between. We had to drag our own luggage down the hallway. Fun times!

Edited October 4, 2015 by knittinggirl

[Fouremco]

We've had a few horrible embarkations.

 

 

If the ship is late for whatever reason, things go down hill. We boarded Celebrity Infinity in San Franscisco, and they wouldn't let us board due to Norovirus. We got our cruise cards pretty fast, but after than it went from bad to worse. We were cooped up in the Cruise terminal, and the seats filled up. Still people were standing w/ no place to sit. They made an announcement telling us to leave the terminal for lunch, but we were no where near any restaurants. They provided us with some bottled water, but no food. We finally got to board around 3 PM, and ate a late lunch. But we were not allowed into our cabins until 15 minutes before muster drill.

 

On Royal Caribbean, we had a 5 PM embarkation w/ a 8:00 PM muster drill. And a rushed embarkation dinner between. We had to drag our own luggage down the hallway. Fun times!

Try sitting on the runway at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam for several hours with the plane locked down and no AC or even fresh air. This was in the late 1980's during a Europe-wide series of terrorist bomb attacks. They announced that there's been the threat of a bomb placed onboard and they'd decided to take of each and every piece of luggage to inspect it. Passengers weren't allowed to get off the plane while the search took place!

 

No, being cooped up in the cruise terminal as you were is no fun, but believe me, for every bad embarkation incident you can recount, I can think of an airport incident that I'd consider as bad or worse. :eek:

[mark22mac]

Have you met many of the Porters?

 

 

Lol my first thought also.