Embarkation Decks Boarding in Reverse

[KiwiFunCruiser]

On all my previous cruises on other lines, boarding has always been top to lower deck order with exceptions of suites and frequent cruisers etc. I was pleasantly surprised when Princess emailed me yesterday with the staggered boarding times for Golden in Melbourne had been brought forward. We are on "E" deck and are second to board at 12.30pm, stating you have to show your boarding pass at the security gate.

 

Not complaining just curious if this is the norm for Princess.:D

[moki'smommy]

In my experience, boarding has not taken place by decks. This is a lovely system that they use to suggest the time people might arrive at the terminal. What I've seen is that people are boarded based on status--Elite and then Platinum with special assistance worked in during these times.

 

Boarding cards were handed out to passengers of less than platinum status when they checked in for the cruise and boarding was by boarding card group, regardless of the deck they were on. People were admitted to the terminal roughly in the order they showed up; there were two lines. One was elite and platinum, the other was "all others." They fed into separate security scanners and then to separate check in desks. It would hypothetically be possible that the elite/platinum line could be longer than the "general" line depending on passenger mix.

 

If you are flying in, you'll get off the plane and head to the port. Bottom line, you'll get there when you get there. If you are coming in a day early or driving, it is up to you whether to honor the deck plan for arrival time or just show up.

 

My experience only, YMMV.

Edited December 31, 2015 by moki'smommy

[Colo Cruiser]

On all my previous cruises on other lines, boarding has always been top to lower deck order with exceptions of suites and frequent cruisers etc. I was pleasantly surprised when Princess emailed me yesterday with the staggered boarding times for Golden in Melbourne had been brought forward. We are on "E" deck and are second to board at 12.30pm, stating you have to show your boarding pass at the security gate.

 

Not complaining just curious if this is the norm for Princess.:D

 

 

We show up around 10:30 regardless.

[satxdiver]

On all of our Princess cruises so far, pax have been handed group boarding cards when they check in regardless of where their stateroom is located. They are then allowed to board by the number on the card with the frequent pax first and disabled. Their boarding order seems to be just a suggestion. However I have seen on CC that occasionally they do enforce the boarding order. This seems to be more prevalent at the two ports in CA. I have been to CA ports and the rules were simply suggested and not enforced.

[Hawka]

I was deck C balcony on the 25th nov got message to board at 1.30pm not sure who got the 12.30 slot then turned at at about 11.30 had lunch then around 1 thought would line up got on before 1.30 as line went quicker than i thought it would they did not stop me going up stairs i filled in form and then did customs then on ship , if you are in the que and you get to where truck that is picking up bags is check if you can go to the next drop off if it is busy there as i and a few others got told when we got to that point that we could go to the next point of drop off for bags

Edited January 1, 2016 by Hawka

[Knickearth]

[We too have had the same experience as colorado cruiser. Elite then platinum get to board regardless of deck. Then all others also regardless of decks.

 

I too think Princess believed posting this would alleviate the huge lines around 11 or 12.

 

Just enjoy your cruise.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Thanks all for that. I have never had any problems previously going early and always got straight onboard and will do so again this time. Was just curious about the staggered times.:D

[cb at sea]

Not everyone gets there at the same time...it's not like boarding an airplane...it's more like checking into a hotel!

[CrusinCouple]

I have cruised Princess in the past (always from the US) and have always just arrived. However this time I have been issued a boarding time (11:30am). I live in Melbourne now so not a big deal this time as I'm just going to take public transport to get there.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We show up around 10:30 regardless.

 

We ignored the "suggested" time to arrive and get there as early as possible -- usually around 11am to noon. Next time we cruise, we'll be Platinum so maybe a more pleasant wait. BTW, twice within our last three cruises, we were immediately waved over to a counter or had only one party to wait behind in line.

[Sunshine Girl 1960]

I just started following this board again. We haven't cruised since 2013. We are Platinum. We have always just showed up in the past. Has boarding on Princess changed. We have never had a bad experience in the past.