Southampton boarding

[Matelot70]

We are due to board Queen Victoria on 8th December  for the 12 day pre Christmas cruise. Having just checked our tickets I was surprised to find they show a boarding time of 1500h even though we are Diamond CWC members. Previously the time has been 1230h. I had not seen any reference to a change in boarding priorities and was wondering if this is something that I have missed.

[bluemarble]

No, you haven't missed anything. We are also Diamond status and have been assigned arrival times on our e-tickets the past few years ranging anywhere from 14:30 to 15:30. We always arrive close to noon and check in through the priority queue at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal as usual. Our theory is that Cunard now assigns arrival times on the e-tickets based on cabin grade/deck without regard to Cunard World Club status.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Matelot70 said:

We are due to board Queen Victoria on 8th December  for the 12 day pre Christmas cruise. Having just checked our tickets I was surprised to find they show a boarding time of 1500h even though we are Diamond CWC members. Previously the time has been 1230h. I had not seen any reference to a change in boarding priorities and was wondering if this is something that I have missed.

Ignore the 1500hrs time and turn up at your usual time and have priority boarding there will not be a problem. We are Platinum and are going on QM2 on Sunday and we will ignore e-ticket time and check in about midday.

[Lanky Lad]

I had a boarding time of 3.30pm for Queen Elizabeth in October.  I arrived at 11.45 and was on the ship by a little after 12.  The same applied for Queen Mary 2 in July.  Ignore the time on your e-ticket and arrive when you are ready.

[BlueRiband]

In an ideal world we would all be able to board before noon, have lunch, and finish the unpacking before the muster drill.  Staggered boarding times are there so that the cruise terminal isn't overwhelmed by too many passengers arriving at the same time.   If you come early I hope you don't encouter 2,000 other passengers with the same idea.

[Wordzz]

1 minute ago, BlueRiband said:

In an ideal world we would all be able to board before noon, have lunch, and finish the unpacking before the muster drill.  Staggered boarding times are there so that the cruise terminal isn't overwhelmed by too many passengers arriving at the same time.   If you come early I hope you don't encouter 2,000 other passengers with the same idea.

That's true, of course. On the other hand, having worked hard (and spent a lot of money) attaining Platinum status, for which one of the perks is priority boarding, it's a bit galling to be given a boarding time of 15.00 hrs, the same as for our first ever Cunard voyage. Not much point in having priority boarding in that situation. In recent times we have consistently been given a boarding time of 12.30.

[david,Mississauga]

For our Alaska cruise we were given the 1500 boarding time in Vancouver despite "Diamond" being noted on the e-tickets. Our agent phoned Cunard. She was told we should ignore that time and arrive early if we wished to because Diamond members still get priority boarding at noon. That is a strange way of informing passengers as to the boarding time.

[Bigmike911]

Consistency in documentation and the web site are at a less than an optimal level with Cunard. Though they seem very efficient at including the legal boiler plate in great detail. 

[Pennbank]

I checked with the CWC and received the following  reply:-

 

"Thank you for your email to the Cunard World Club and I am sorry for the delay in my response. 
We want your voyage to get off to a great start with quick and easy embarkation. The process should be very straightforward. Due to the large number of guests embarking our ships, we operate a staggered embarkation process. You were allocated an arrival time on your e-ticket, this is to ensure you spend less time in the terminal and more time on-board. We kindly ask that all passengers adhere as closely as possible to their allotted arrival time. 
However, as a Diamond tier member of the Cunard World club you will benefit from priority check in at Southampton and therefore I would advise you to arrive at the terminal after 12.30 , to check in at the earliest opportunity. 
If you have any further questions or queries please contact us for further assistance.  
Kind Regards "

 

 

So it would appear that the emails/e ticket is Generic and not in line with ones CWC status as they used to be..

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by Pennbank

[Matelot70]

On 10/29/2019 at 2:07 PM, Pennbank said:

I checked with the CWC and received the following  reply:-

 

"Thank you for your email to the Cunard World Club and I am sorry for the delay in my response. 
We want your voyage to get off to a great start with quick and easy embarkation. The process should be very straightforward. Due to the large number of guests embarking our ships, we operate a staggered embarkation process. You were allocated an arrival time on your e-ticket, this is to ensure you spend less time in the terminal and more time on-board. We kindly ask that all passengers adhere as closely as possible to their allotted arrival time. 
However, as a Diamond tier member of the Cunard World club you will benefit from priority check in at Southampton and therefore I would advise you to arrive at the terminal after 12.30 , to check in at the earliest opportunity. 
If you have any further questions or queries please contact us for further assistance.  
Kind Regards "

 

 

So it would appear that the emails/e ticket is Generic and not in line with ones CWC status as they used to be..

 

Thanks for taking the trouble to get this information it seems my memories of boarding in the past aren't totally wrong. Seems to be a strange approach to CWC members that they are now operating. 

 

[LadyL1]

The trouble is, that when one is boarding in Southampton, it is a fact that for cruises many more  than 50% of the pax are either platinum or diamond WC members, and it is just not possible for everyone to board early! 

Cunard need a rethink here. It used to be very nice to be sure of early boarding with this being an excellent perk of being a frequent traveller to that brand. Sadly, very much watered down these days.

[Pennbank]

I have always found  that Priority Boarding at Southampton is usually  easy , it only goes wrong when the computers fail.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Pennbank

[LadyL1]

3 minutes ago, Pennbank said:

I have always found  that Priority Boarding at Southampton is usually  easy , it only goes wrong when the computers fail.

I will let you know on Sunday, of our boarding experience as Diamond members😁.

[Windsurfboy]

I must be unlucky then, ended up in a 100yard queue. 

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

I will let you know on Sunday, of our boarding experience as Diamond members😁.

I will be behind you as a Platinum member 😀

[Underwatr]

5 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

The trouble is, that when one is boarding in Southampton, it is a fact that for cruises many more  than 50% of the pax are either platinum or diamond WC members, and it is just not possible for everyone to board early! 

In New York I've seen the priority queue longer than the regular queue (although it moved faster).

[Windsurfboy]

I must be unlucky then, ended up in a 100yard queue. 

22 hours ago, LadyL1 said:

I will let you know on Sunday, of our boarding experience as Diamond members😁.

 

20 hours ago, majortom10 said:

I will be behind you as a Platinum member 😀

 

I will be behind everyone knowing my luck, try and get there before 12am.

 

See rough seas predicted bay biscay 10 metre plus up to 12.5 as you near Spain on Monday and Tuesday (www.weatheronline.com)

[North West Newbie]

18 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I will be behind everyone knowing my luck, try and get there before 12am.

 

If you arrive at 12am, you will find the terminal in darkness but at least be the very first in the queue!😁

[Windsurfboy]

22 minutes ago, North West Newbie said:

 

If you arrive at 12am, you will find the terminal in darkness but at least be the very first in the queue!😁

 

Oops.

[BigMac1953]

En route home at the moment (Friday) after our 12 nighter to Canaries.

 

Embarkation was fine, and as usual was QG, PG, Diamond, Platinum, then by card.

 

However, once again I noticed others joining in as we in QG were asked to board.

 

Nobody checks the cards until you're actually boarding so "chancers" just mingle in.

 

It was the same disembarking today. Judging by the crowd leaving, QG must have expanded to about 500.

 

Stewart

 

 

[Bedruthen]

Actually, on the recent QE cruise to the Canaries, there were so many Diamond members travelling, that Platinum members were given boarding cards on arrival and we had a short wait before boarding. No noticeable priority. I guess if you have 50% of the passengers having attained priority embarkation, it stands to reason they are not all going to get onboard early.

[pully8]

Unfamiliar with Southampton and boarding but will soon have the opportunity, where do people wait to board? Hopefully undercover?

We do not have our documentation from Cunard at this stage.

How was your trip?

[exlondoner]

36 minutes ago, pully8 said:

Unfamiliar with Southampton and boarding but will soon have the opportunity, where do people wait to board? Hopefully undercover?

We do not have our documentation from Cunard at this stage.

How was your trip?

 

The terminals vary, but all have large, reasonably comfortable, seating areas, like an airport lounge. Definitely under cover. Fear not.

[pully8]

Thank you for your reply.

[Pennbank]

Well no one has commented so far on how easy it was to board QM2  at The City Cruise Terminal. On Nov 3 No queues and on board before 12 noon.

Edited November 13, 2019 by Pennbank