southampton check in

[davecttr]

3 hours ago, 2irisheyes said:

sWe will be taking our first cruise on Marella in November departing Tenerife.  Does anyone have experience of check in there and, if so, how was it.   Does Marella give various check in times as some other cruise line do.  Was the chaos at Soton aggravated by many people turning up around the same time.  Lack of seating is ridiculous bearing in mind the age of many cruisers.  It will be interesting to see how it all works compared to many other cruise lines.  

There is limited opportunity for passengers to all turn up at the same time as there is a constant stream of flights arriving at Tenerife south airport I found it pretty seamless

[kruzseeka]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

There is limited opportunity for passengers to all turn up at the same time as there is a constant stream of flights arriving at Tenerife south airport I found it pretty seamless

 

Agree - our experience of fly/cruises has been very good.  Arrivals are staggered due to different flight arrivals.

 

Like gillhalfpint, we too had a quick check-in last year at Southampton but arrived perhaps half an hour earlier than this year.  Made a difference! 

 

So pleased to hear things were so much better on 27th - the provision of seating and imposing some means of allowing passengers to embark in order is just what was needed.  I'd have been ok having to wait 2 hours had we been able to sit and if folk were being taken in turn.  I have no problem whatsoever with those who are premium passengers or those with medical needs being given priority. 

 

All it needed was some system in place.  Good news to hear that apparently that is now happening.  

Edited October 14, 2019 by kruzseeka

[2irisheyes]

Thanks to three for reassurance re check in on fly cruise.  Hopefully some day Marella will get round to issuing cabin numbers before people arrive at terminal.  We have had guarantee cabins on occasions in the past with other cruise line but have always received an allocation before travelling.

[okavango]

On 10/14/2019 at 2:29 PM, kruzseeka said:

 

Agree - our experience of fly/cruises has been very good.  Arrivals are staggered due to different flight arrivals.

 

Like gillhalfpint, we too had a quick check-in last year at Southampton but arrived perhaps half an hour earlier than this year.  Made a difference! 

 

So pleased to hear things were so much better on 27th - the provision of seating and imposing some means of allowing passengers to embark in order is just what was needed.  I'd have been ok having to wait 2 hours had we been able to sit and if folk were being taken in turn.  I have no problem whatsoever with those who are premium passengers or those with medical needs being given priority. 

 

All it needed was some system in place.  Good news to hear that apparently that is now happening.  

 

As a matter of interest how long an embarkation window did they state at southampton , was it too short a period like at newcastle , if people had not started arriving up to 1 1/2 hours early it would have been even more chaotic than it was, dont think they ever managed to sail anywhere near on time.

[kruzseeka]

1 hour ago, okavango said:

 

As a matter of interest how long an embarkation window did they state at southampton , was it too short a period like at newcastle , if people had not started arriving up to 1 1/2 hours early it would have been even more chaotic than it was, dont think they ever managed to sail anywhere near on time.

 

Not exactly sure, okavango as I haven't got the documentation any longer but have a feeling it was 12 - 3.  We arrived a little before 12.30 and after queueing (not too long) to collect our luggage labels, then queuing to go through security and registration, I think it was about 2.30 before we were on board.  There were loads behind us.  We were late departing due to not all passengers being on board and muster was later than first intended. I think we'd lost our slot too so had to wait for another ship to go before us.

Edited October 15, 2019 by kruzseeka

[jenny wren]

On 10/14/2019 at 8:57 AM, gillhalfpint said:

We had no problem at Southampton departing 26 Sept although we did arrive early as we stayed overnight locally. Taxi dropped us off and we were straight into departure hall, welcomed and given a ticket and sat for a short time before getting called up to be registered.  Went through the cordoned area quite quickly, and the folks from the rear that were being shown through before us were, I believe, premium passengers who  think paid extra for this privilege.  Didn't take long, then security was ok too, and we were in the Market Place around 12 noon.  Maybe we were just lucky with the time we got there, but it was a similar experience as far as I remember when we travelled down on the day so arrived at the port after lunchtime.

We were also on that sailing and had a different experience.....didn't you have to go and queue for your luggage labels?  We couldnt go anywhere until that was done...about half an hour....then the wait for actual check in...another 20 mins or so..then the worse bit was security.....just one door open with one lady letting two passengers in at a time! (there are 3 doors usually all open with other cruise lines) and just two X-ray machines working......with P and O usually all manned and working!  This led to huge queues at security with nowhere to sit, we were there for at least half an hour probably longer....we arrived at the port at 1215 and didn't make it to the buffet until after 2.00 pm. It could all have beeh so much better organised starting with issuing luggage labels/cabin numbers by post or email before the cruise.

[kruzseeka]

2 hours ago, jenny wren said:

We were also on that sailing and had a different experience.....didn't you have to go and queue for your luggage labels?  We couldnt go anywhere until that was done...about half an hour....then the wait for actual check in...another 20 mins or so..then the worse bit was security.....just one door open with one lady letting two passengers in at a time! (there are 3 doors usually all open with other cruise lines) and just two X-ray machines working......with P and O usually all manned and working!  This led to huge queues at security with nowhere to sit, we were there for at least half an hour probably longer....we arrived at the port at 1215 and didn't make it to the buffet until after 2.00 pm. It could all have beeh so much better organised starting with issuing luggage labels/cabin numbers by post or email before the cruise.

 

☹ Oh dear!  Sounds as though your experience mirrored ours jenny wren.  Doesn't look as though lessons have been learned.  

[Vitalsign]

It was much better when cabin labels were given out at the departure airport They were in April but not when cruising from Corfu end of June and it was a nightmare

[so,ton saint]

39 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

 

☹ Oh dear!  Sounds as though your experience mirrored ours jenny wren.  Doesn't look as though lessons have been learned.  

 

Hi Kruzseeka i think there is worst to come next year as Britannia is using Mayflower four times, with Iona at Ocean, Ventura at QE termial and royal,s Anthem at city.

[kruzseeka]

30 minutes ago, so,ton saint said:

 

Hi Kruzseeka i think there is worst to come next year as Britannia is using Mayflower four times, with Iona at Ocean, Ventura at QE termial and royal,s Anthem at city.

 

Yes - and all the extra traffic too!   It just gets worse hereabout - the number of times we have alerts about the M27.  We don't have far to go to get into Southampton but i never underestimate the potential problems.  As you say its only going to get worse.

 

As a matter of interest how do you rate the terminals so,ton saint?   I don't like the City Terminal having had our worse experiences there (with different cruise lines) but from your perspective which do you think is more user friendly for passengers?  

[so,ton saint]

20 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

 

Yes - and all the extra traffic too!   It just gets worse hereabout - the number of times we have alerts about the M27.  We don't have far to go to get into Southampton but i never underestimate the potential problems.  As you say its only going to get worse.

 

As a matter of interest how do you rate the terminals so,ton saint?   I don't like the City Terminal having had our worse experiences there (with different cruise lines) but from your perspective which do you think is more user friendly for passengers?  

 

HI Kruzseeka to be honest i would say the Ocean ( 46) berth more modern and a lovely  observation lounge the checking in of CPS cars is all undercover, but there new way of working unfortunately very similar to Marella you are given a trolley load your own cases and make your way to the drop off , the new undercover reception for cars is on the existing coach park, this is the new working practice for IONA and may spread to other cruise ships which i have seen already.

The other two are Mayflower and QE terminal both ok but with bigger ships could be uncomfortable.

 

[kruzseeka]

1 hour ago, so,ton saint said:

 

HI Kruzseeka to be honest i would say the Ocean ( 46) berth more modern and a lovely  observation lounge the checking in of CPS cars is all undercover, but there new way of working unfortunately very similar to Marella you are given a trolley load your own cases and make your way to the drop off , the new undercover reception for cars is on the existing coach park, this is the new working practice for IONA and may spread to other cruise ships which i have seen already.

The other two are Mayflower and QE terminal both ok but with bigger ships could be uncomfortable.

 

 

Thanks for that feedback so,ton saint.  I guess the ever bigger ships expected is going to cause some changes to their organisation - and perhaps not for the better.  The increase in passenger numbers is bound to increase congestion.  😯