disembarked in Southampton

[LHT28]

today  it took a long time to get through immigration check  ..we finally cleared about 9:45 am

we had no plans  so just waited until everyone was almost through

the line started in the Marina lounge went down to the aft elevators then looped around back to the  lobby

a lot of unhappy people

plus add in the protesters at LHR there are probably more unhappy people 😉

 

[robbie21]

Any idea what caused the delays? We will be disembarking there in June.

[pinotlover]

Our flight out of LHR in August is 2:25 pm.

 

Things are far to unpredictable there for anyone to book pre noon flights. 

 

Between 9:30 and 10:00 is when most people disembarked my last time in Southampton. British customs didn’t show up to start until 9:00. Long lines as described by Lyn!

[CintiPam]

Lyn, I certainly hope you enjoyed your cruise.  Your posts on this Oceania board regarding the weather, rough seas, port miss, etc. might have led many people be quite a bit upset overall.

[Paulchili]

Lyn - I hope you had a good cruise.

Safe travels home.

[Mura]

Lyn,

 

I had arranged for a 9:30 am pickup to take my group into central London.  I think I would have been beside myself at the wait ...

 

I guess I'll have to check with the gentleman who took over for me when we had to cancel!  I'm sure the drivers knew to wait ...

 

Mura

[LHT28]

The  delay was Immigration as far  as I can tell

 

Mura  I think the 9:30  trip would have been fine you just had to line up earlier

we were just going to a hotel here in Southampton so we waited until the line was near the forward elevators  then got in line

easy to find luggage by then also 😉

 

DH caught the bug that was going around  so ended up in the medical centre the night before disembarkation

he said there were lots of people in there at the time

I think we got off lucky with  a bill of $860.

he is feeling better but not enough to go too far

 

Lyn

 

[robbie21]

Thank you all for the information.  We will be on the Nautica arriving Southampton on 9 June.  There are two 3000+ passenger ships also arriving the same day.  Based on your observations I think we should plan a relaxing breakfast with no expectation of an early disembarcation 😉.   Not a real problem for us. We are renting a car and Enterprise does not open until 9 AM anyway but there has been a lot of fussing about transportation to Heathrowe on our roll call. I will post an advisory there.

 

Thanks again, Robbie

[kibutzer]

Disembarked early and waited for two other couples. Driver patiently waited 45 minutes for all to get off. Due to it being good Friday no traffic.  But do need at least one hour to get through  enhanced screening at airport. 

 

Both disembarkations in Canada and UK seemed poorly executed by cruise staff. Yes immigration officials "run the show" but O crew staff might need to get tips on line management and crowd control. Seems like no one was around to help ease anxious passengers, creating a high tension situation. IMHO

[Paulchili]

3 minutes ago, kibutzer said:

Seems like no one was around to help ease anxious passengers, creating a high tension situation. IMHO

I can see how the staff might be helpful in organizing lines, etc but not how they could “ease anxious passengers” as they have no control over immigration process or speed of clearing passengers and no concrete info as to how long it would actually take to get through. Giving someone false assurances may feel good but is of no real help.

[LHT28]

I agree with both Paul & Bonnie

 the CD was calling the tag colours for the line but  people  were not getting off after clearing immigration

they kept asking for people to be patient  but human nature  .it does not work

I am just glad  we did not have a flight that day

 

Cobh immigration was the same  long & slow  but the day was wet/windy & cold  so again we did not plan to go ashore

but those on tours were being held up getting off the ship

 

 

[pinotlover]

1. When making car reservations for pickup at Southampton in Aug, I had put down for a 9:30 pickup. The car company came back and told me 10:00. Said that’s about as early as most customers are able to disembark, collect their baggage, and get out of the terminal.

 

2. Oceania goes through this color coded system for disembarkment. Sounds great, but far too many seem to ignore it and just get in line. Then there are the ones insisting on carrying their suitcases off the ship and further clogging up the lines!

[raye70]

If you have time in southampton go to the spitfire museum it is small but awesome

[allyg]

Oceania definitely needs to step up to the plate and organize the face-to-face immigration. I was there and there were no Oceania staff creating organized lines. People were coming down the stairs, getting off elevators, and having no idea where to find the end of the line.  There were many people with mobility issues waiting in these long lines dragging their carry-on luggage. Is it possible for guests to remain in their cabins and the agent move down the hallways deck by deck for the face-to-face immigration? I don’t know, but other cruise lines have to do this so it’s time for Oceania to ask for some suggestions. My husband and I hated to miss the ports but we absolutely believe the captain made the right decision to skip the ports. The cruise was just scheduled a month too soon and my husband and I booked it so that’s what happens.

[Paulchili]

50 minutes ago, allyg said:

Is it possible for guests to remain in their cabins and the agent move down the hallways deck by deck for the face-to-face immigration

Is this a joke or are you really serious? 

This would be totally unmanageable for both the immigration officers as well as O staff

1 Do you really think everybody would stay in their cabins and patiently wait for the officers? No chance (people can’t even obey waiting for their color to be called)  - and that would delay clearing the entire ship

2 Officers have to stamp passports - why should they be lugging all that stuff all over the ship from deck to deck and cabin to cabin?

3 The staff needs to get the cabins ready for the next cruise. How can they do that with everyone sitting in their cabin waiting for immigration?

And this is just for starters.

[allyg]

You are probably right, but some plan needs to be put in place as it was a mess! I’m sure somebody can figure out a better, safer plan.

[pinotlover]

As I said in an earlier post, British immigration didn’t show up until 9:00 for our disembarkment. It was total chaos.!

 

First helpful change could be to eliminate the option of carrying one’s own suitcases off the ship there. The line was bad enough with all the people, but far too many were trying to drag multiple suitcases along already clogged corridors. That only added to the cluster! Hand helds only for disembarkment there!

 

What about a separate line or area for scooters and wheelchairs? Let them assemble in the Lounge and be checked through and into the terminal first before starting with the remaining passengers. 

 

Nothing we will ever say or do here will stop fellow cruisers from booking pre noon flights which leads to a lot of the hysteria. Would public shaming of those that do help?