How to get an early embarkation slot?

[tartanexile81]

For a recent QE cruise, with our taxi's delay in picking us up (traffic delays) and rolling traffic jams most of the way to Southampton we arrived an hour and a half later than we would have done had our potential 45 minute journey been incident free. What time do you recommend we set out for a 3.30 embarkation time?

 

I'm with you on this. I would never time my arrival in Southampton to coincide with my embarkation time however short/ long a distance I had to travel. We usually stay in Southampton the night before now but a couple of times we've had bad experiences travelling on the day. We were significantly delayed on the A34 after a nasty accident three years ago and in the Winter storms of 2014, our train from Waterloo had to be diverted because a tree had fallen on the line. You never know.

[the english lady]

the english lady - Quite!! I echo everything you have said. I have just posted something similar on the other thread. I just can't believe it!

 

As an aside now you have had a mini suite will you be able to go back to a normal cabin??

[Scriv]

And I fully agree on this as well, even though I live just 30 minutes away on a good day, but the route to Southampton and this train route is pretty notorious.

 

I would never aim my time of arrival at Southampton for 15 30, but would aim it for much earlier and would pass the time around the terminal or in town once my luggage was given in.

 

And if there was a shuttle, that would help enormously.....

[Scriv]

As an aside now you have had a mini suite will you be able to go back to a normal cabin??

 

Oh dear oh dear, it will be hard, but I don't think I could afford to pay full for it for a normal holiday. However, I can now see the differerence in what you get for your money and could see I could justify it (twist OH's arm) on certain occasions esp if it were ever offered a wee bit cheaper.

 

It was truly lovely luxury... apart from all the luxurious extras like champagne, chocolate, canapes etc we just loved the lay out of the room and the whirlbath and the seperate glass doored shower and the seperate loo and basin and the walk in wardrobe etc etc. Oh I could go on for ever. It was so gorgeous.

 

If you are wondering if I went to the Welcome Drinks Party - well there wasn't one, or at least I didn't see mention of one and was not invited - so it made that part easier. I don't think they do it for a 2 nighter. I wasn't bothered though.

 

Drool drool

[Clodia]

I am one of the people who feel really, desperately strongly about this boarding fiasco. I have complained bitterly to P and O. I have a list from them. Boarding times are different for each ship, but one of the things I noticed was that on the medium sized ships like Aurora (my favourites) the more expensive balcony cabins on A deck etc get the crap boarding times and the cheaper lower deck cabins get the good ones. Very odd, and not business sense, to my way of thinking.

[netchells]

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/Embark_work Edited November 13, 2015 by netchells

[jeanlyon]

For goodness sake. If you have a 3.30 boarding time and live a 45 minute drive away, I would expect you to leave somewhere between 12 and 1300. That allows at least a 2 hours delay, depending on how much anxiety you have.

 

We allow 4.5 hours for a 3 hour drive. If we are early, we stop for a coffee.

[jeanlyon]

I am one of the people who feel really, desperately strongly about this boarding fiasco. I have complained bitterly to P and O. I have a list from them. Boarding times are different for each ship, but one of the things I noticed was that on the medium sized ships like Aurora (my favourites) the more expensive balcony cabins on A deck etc get the crap boarding times and the cheaper lower deck cabins get the good ones. Very odd, and not business sense, to my way of thinking.

 

 

But please explain to me what possible difference this makes to your cruise?

[the english lady]

Oh dear oh dear, it will be hard, but I don't think I could afford to pay full for it for a normal holiday. However, I can now see the differerence in what you get for your money and could see I could justify it (twist OH's arm) on certain occasions esp if it were ever offered a wee bit cheaper.

 

It was truly lovely luxury... apart from all the luxurious extras like champagne, chocolate, canapes etc we just loved the lay out of the room and the whirlbath and the seperate glass doored shower and the seperate loo and basin and the walk in wardrobe etc etc. Oh I could go on for ever. It was so gorgeous.

 

If you are wondering if I went to the Welcome Drinks Party - well there wasn't one, or at least I didn't see mention of one and was not invited - so it made that part easier. I don't think they do it for a 2 nighter. I wasn't bothered though.

 

Drool drool

We tried one for a big anniversary..just the once..you understand...it was the space for us...We could both be in the cabin and not in each others face.

Now instead of 1/2 nice cruises each year, I fear next year will be our last for a while, as the minis have taken the money.

That is why I asked once if they ever ever went down to saver fare..I think hens teeth came into the replies.....Oh well better to have loved and lost (and got early boarding!) than never to have loved at all.

[kruzseeka]

For goodness sake. If you have a 3.30 boarding time and live a 45 minute drive away, I would expect you to leave somewhere between 12 and 1300. That allows at least a 2 hours delay, depending on how much anxiety you have.

 

We allow 4.5 hours for a 3 hour drive. If we are early, we stop for a coffee.

 

 

You have made a presumption - have I ever said I leave earlier than 12.00? Your 4.5 hours seems reasonable to me as you have factored in a 50% margin for delays - so I guess you would leave at 11.00 for a 3.30 embarkation? But if you're in a taxi stopping to while away an hour may not be so simple. I am quite laid back about, and respect, others' rationale for the decisions they make especially when they attempt to explain the reasons. However from the tone of your post my thoughts are apparently irksome to you so I guess we should just agree to differ.

[the english lady]

I am one of the people who feel really, desperately strongly about this boarding fiasco. I have complained bitterly to P and O. I have a list from them. Boarding times are different for each ship, but one of the things I noticed was that on the medium sized ships like Aurora (my favourites) the more expensive balcony cabins on A deck etc get the crap boarding times and the cheaper lower deck cabins get the good ones. Very odd, and not business sense, to my way of thinking.

 

 

For all we know all the cruise lines may have been told to get their act together by Southampton City council

I read a post earlier that said the queues for Anthem were horrendous (which was strange as from what has been posted before there are never any problems getting on Anthem)

Pando may be the first, but at a guess they will all go that way in time.

Could have been communicated better, but it is not a fiasco.

Only have lots of passengers in the terminal because they choose to get there early.

There has been than a few suggestions as to what people can do if they arrive in Southampton way ahead of their slot...if they instead want to sit in the terminal and moan and take pictures, and post on faceache and moan, that is up to them. That is their choice not Pando's fault.

[Presto2]

I am one of the people who feel really, desperately strongly about this boarding fiasco. I have complained bitterly to P and O. I have a list from them. Boarding times are different for each ship, but one of the things I noticed was that on the medium sized ships like Aurora (my favourites) the more expensive balcony cabins on A deck etc get the crap boarding times and the cheaper lower deck cabins get the good ones. Very odd, and not business sense, to my way of thinking.

 

With you on this one - drives me nuts because the solution is not rocket science --

 

They just need to link boarding times to when you book and it will all be sorted ----- simple.

 

Keeps everyone happy ----- ish ;);)

[Florry]

With you on this one - drives me nuts because the solution is not rocket science --

 

 

 

They just need to link boarding times to when you book and it will all be sorted ----- simple.

 

 

 

Keeps everyone happy ----- ish ;);)

 

 

It's my guess, but if Caribbean are being welcomed to board at 1pm (they can do this irrespective of what it says on the ticket and P&O are working to ensure their tickets will start to reflect a 1.00 boarding time in the future) then all tiers below will surely have later boarding times? Maybe it will no longer be by 'deck'?I'm not Caribbean but I think that's right and fair. I know some will spend more than others on their cabins but I think that is irrelevant because the Peninsular Club is based on number of nights irrespective of anything else and those people have remained loyal to P&O, spending what ever disposable income they can afford on their holiday. So I'm very pleased with the outcome and I'm pleased P&O listened to the feedback and seem to have turned things around - I have to say I am surprised they let it escalate to such a point. I'm not saying I won't turn up early at the terminal, I probably will and am perfectly happy to wait until my allotted time - however I will try to avoid arriving too early by doing more in Southampton beforehand.

[the english lady]

With you on this one - drives me nuts because the solution is not rocket science --

 

They just need to link boarding times to when you book and it will all be sorted ----- simple.

 

Keeps everyone happy ----- ish ;);)

 

I doubt it very much it will keep people happy. You will then have numerous saver fare payers saying I have to turn up at 11.30 because........

And you can chose from any of the reasons given so far.

It is annoying people because they don't think they should be told what to do.

Plus evenn if they boom late they will still turn up at 11.30, because....?????

[Henderson1]

Or add earlier embarkation to the 'select fare' criteria like they did with shuttle fares free for select

[the english lady]

Or add earlier embarkation to the 'select fare' criteria like they did with shuttle fares free for select

 

But you would still have the people who book late ,or paying early saver fares saying, oh but we have to get to the terminal early because........

In a way I can understand why P and O have taken the boarding time choice away. Even if you could book your slots from some of the postings here there and everywhere, people would still chose to arrive hours before, as the slot they wanted is gone..and that is not fair as they have to travel down the a34, drive a long way, get kicked out of their hotel across the road at the crack of dawn, etc etc etc.

[Josy1953]

With you on this one - drives me nuts because the solution is not rocket science --

 

They just need to link boarding times to when you book and it will all be sorted ----- simple.

 

Keeps everyone happy ----- ish ;);)

 

I agree that, on the face of it, it is not rocket science but there are a lot of people who will still arrive at 11am regardless of how the boarding times are allocated. Like you we tend to go to Southampton a day early so we have to find something to do until embarkation time and we have no intention of driving down on embarkation day. For our December cruise we are taking the coach from Keele and if we find that we are boarded on arrival without a long wait we will probably look at doing this for all of our future P&O cruises because while we may be slightly later getting home at the end of the cruise we will know that we won't have a long wait in Southampton to board and that if we are held up on the road the ship will wait for the coach to arrive but they would not wait for 2 of us in a car.

[Scriv]

I'm seriously thinking of hoping for a later boarding time to avoid the crowds of passengers who want to board early ;)

[Josy1953]

I'm seriously thinking of hoping for a later boarding time to avoid the crowds of passengers who want to board early ;)

 

Where is the like button :D:D:D

[2irisheyes]

We have looked at various things to do until our 3 pm embarkation time in December. On leaving our hotel (budget, no lounge) take taxi to port around 12, drop cases, back in taxi to town, have lunch and a wander, pick up some wine and taxi back to port 2.30 ish. Hopefully by dropping cases earlier they may be in cabin when we board. I also looked at location of cinemas but over a mile from terminal. The weather may well determine what we do.

 

The changes certainly won't detract from our enjoyment of the holiday. Not worth getting too excited about the changes in the grand scheme of things.

 

Of course if someone is really desperate to get an early boarding time they could arrange to get married on board but their guests would have to do like everyone else.;)

[jeanlyon]

The thing is you may find it will change before you go. Ours did. It changed three times and we ended up with 1.30.

 

Agree Scriv. If we end up with 3 o'clock, that will be fine, will simply leave a bit later or stop for a bite.

Edited November 14, 2015 by jeanlyon

[the english lady]

We have looked at various things to do until our 3 pm embarkation time in December. On leaving our hotel (budget, no lounge) take taxi to port around 12, drop cases, back in taxi to town, have lunch and a wander, pick up some wine and taxi back to port 2.30 ish. Hopefully by dropping cases earlier they may be in cabin when we board. I also looked at location of cinemas but over a mile from terminal. The weather may well determine what we do.

 

The changes certainly won't detract from our enjoyment of the holiday. Not worth getting too excited about the changes in the grand scheme of things.

 

Of course if someone is really desperate to get an early boarding time they could arrange to get married on board but their guests would have to do like everyone else.;)

 

Or for £12 per head go to the grand harbour hotel

http://www.grandharbourhotel.co.uk/

 

they have a cruise lounge. drop your cases off, walk back to this, opposite the terminal..and wait in comfort. I think they take you to the terminal as well.

If you want drinks its £30 per head.

[Suebiker]

Hi

 

Just wondering if you are allowed to go into port and drop of luggage? If so that would be a major help.

 

Contrary to a lot of people assuming that it's all about the free lunch. For me personally it's about what to do with the luggage after we check out of the hotel. I guess we could leave it in the car - but I would rather not. I am hoping the hotel will allow us to keep it there . I could imagine if you are being dropped off via taxi or car, or using the train - it could be a major problem.

 

I do not have a problem with boarding later apart from this. I am quite happy to walk around Southampton for a couple of hours or so.

 

I also do not understand why some people are making some rather uncalled for posts to the original poster. They have asked a civil question based on their situation. I can appreciate people are frustrated as there is a long running thread on this issue. But if it winds you up that much why not just ignore threads regarding this issue. If it doesn't bother you what time you board. Great - enjoy your holiday. If others are upset by their boarding times then just leave them to find their own solutions.

 

 

 

Sue

[the english lady]

Yes you can put your luggage through the hole in the wall at the terminal from about 11am I think.

If you have hand luggage probably best to keep that with you.

Most hotels will hold peoples luggage for them, until they are ready to take it away.

[Suebiker]

Yes you can put your luggage through the hole in the wall at the terminal from about 11am I think.

If you have hand luggage probably best to keep that with you.

Most hotels will hold peoples luggage for them, until they are ready to take it away.

 

Thank you - that makes life a lot easier.

 

Sue