Platinum priority boarding question.

[groundloop]

I'm getting bored waiting to get back on a ship so I'm coming up with all manner of 'what ifs'.  The latest:

 

What if a platinum level passenger is in the same cabin with someone who hasn't attained that level yet..... will they get to board together or will the second passenger have to wait until the assigned boarding time?

 

(My wife and I will probably become platinum in the not too distant future while our daughter has only done a couple of cruises so far).

[wareaglefan444]

i believe that as long a someone is platinum in cabin, that all passengers in that cabin can board also

[wo5m]

7 minutes ago, wareaglefan444 said:

i believe that as long a someone is platinum in cabin, that all passengers in that cabin can board also

This is correct. And its also true if you have a handicap person everyone in that party can board with them. 

[groundloop]

2 minutes ago, wo5m said:

This is correct. And its also true if you have a handicap person everyone in that party can board with them. 

 

Yep, I've seen that before.  And it makes perfect sense to do it that way.

[IntrepidFromDC]

The other posters' comments match my experience.  I was platinum before my daughter and she was permitted to board at the platinum boarding time with me.  Then both she and I were platinum when we sailed with a third cruiser (blue) and all three of us were allowed to board during platinum boarding.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, groundloop said:

I'm getting bored waiting to get back on a ship so I'm coming up with all manner of 'what ifs'.  The latest:

 

What if a platinum level passenger is in the same cabin with someone who hasn't attained that level yet..... will they get to board together or will the second passenger have to wait until the assigned boarding time?

 

(My wife and I will probably become platinum in the not too distant future while our daughter has only done a couple of cruises so far).

Rcl posted changes to loyalty and people went nuts so its removed, but it could be a sign of early cruises to come.

 

They were temporarily removing the loyalty boarding and doing by appointments only is what it said before rcl removed it. Beware, it's possible. Come only at appointment time, not when you feel like it.

 

This wouldnt surprise me if they have to test as you board. Or check tests you arrive with.

[phoneman69]

I hope i don't loose my platinum boarding priority on my next cruise. 10 day before cruise starts to check in would have to be up late to get earliest arrive time. I need my sleep !! 

[SNJCruisers]

The way to make everyone happy is to set aside the first two hours of boarding by appointment for diamonds and platinums. It would not make waves.  

If the new temporary policy is just appointment first come first served for everyone, it would just be another perk taken away from those who earned it.

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

When my husband and I, who are platinum) traveled with my son and daughter in love (who are not). I book my cabin with her and my husband booked his with my son. We all boarded together and then switched to appropriate cabins, just going to the pursers desk for duplicate keys. 

 

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The way to make everyone happy is to set aside the first two hours of boarding by appointment for diamonds and platinums. It would not make waves.  

If the new temporary policy is just appointment first come first served for everyone, it would just be another perk taken away from those who earned it.

As I said it was marked temporary. You are assuming the first cruises and whatever protocols they need to board will be forever. Why assume ... 

 

It could also have been meant for the cruises starting in June. You can bet people will be watching. I think I read boarding starts at 230 pm. The ship leaves 9 or 930. Gives them longer to clean for covid.

 

The real outrage and why it was pulled was not delivering free gifts while you board. I guess the guy who usually did this they either didnt want entering the cabins or wanting him helping clean between or whatever. ... as I said this is gone now. Who knows what protocols will be in place due to covid and extra cleaning. We will just have to go with it to get restarted. I'm willing, I would rather restart. Not get tied up in arguments. TEMPORARY is what I said. Let the cruiselines adapt to covid. My last cruise on carnival vista was a gambling big tournament and we had over 800 priority guests. Not sure 2 hours would give them enough time. Then what? More outrage and complaints?

 

I hope whatever the new policies are people are just happy to cruise.

[pe4all]

It will be very interesting to see how all the lines handle "priority boarding."  And for CCL, with so many platinum cruisers (my last few cruises the platinum area was jammed- standing room only by the time we began to board) I have a feeling there will be major changes coming.  

[Laurab23]

I am platinum but take a charted bus to the cruise port. Assigned boarding times would be pretty hard with the bus dropping me off at the port.

 

Laura

[klfrodo]

Instead of the non Platinum guest intruding on Platinum guest benefits, why doesn't the Platinum guest just board with the non Platinum guest thru the regular lines?

If it's that important that the guests be together for that short amount of time, then I feel that the Platinum guest should take the benefit hit.

That's what we've done when we sail with friends who have not yet reached Platinum status.

[asalligo]

5 hours ago, pe4all said:

It will be very interesting to see how all the lines handle "priority boarding."  And for CCL, with so many platinum cruisers (my last few cruises the platinum area was jammed- standing room only by the time we began to board) I have a feeling there will be major changes coming.  

Not sure I expect much in changes, but you are right that this is something they need to address. 

[SNJCruisers]

11 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The way to make everyone happy is to set aside the first two hours of boarding by appointment for diamonds and platinums. It would not make waves.  

If the new temporary policy is just appointment first come first served for everyone, it would just be another perk taken away from those who earned it.

 

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

As I said it was marked temporary. You are assuming the first cruises and whatever protocols they need to board will be forever. Why assume ...

I'm a little confused as to how you could possibly infer that my post implied that the possible new policy by Carnival would be permanent.  If you read my initial post again, which is above, the 4th word in the second paragraph states temporary policy.  I am not assuming at all that the policy would be a permanent thing. 

Secondly, the two hour thing could be lengthened if there are an abundance of priority cruisers on a particular sailing.  The bottom line is that I don't want to lose one of the two perks I care about and that is priority embarkation, even if it is on my one and only Carnival cruise in 2021.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, Laurab23 said:

I am platinum but take a charted bus to the cruise port. Assigned boarding times would be pretty hard with the bus dropping me off at the port.

 

Laura

If the temporary policy is in effect when you have your first cruise back on Carnival, you will have to either get an early embarkation slot or you'll be twiddling your thumbs at the pier for awhile.

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

Instead of the non Platinum guest intruding on Platinum guest benefits, why doesn't the Platinum guest just board with the non Platinum guest thru the regular lines?

If it's that important that the guests be together for that short amount of time, then I feel that the Platinum guest should take the benefit hit.

That's what we've done when we sail with friends who have not yet reached Platinum status.

No way....it will be what it will be if the Platinum cruiser loses another benefit, but why should we lose a perk just because of a temporary protocol because of the pandemic?  If the embarkation time frame is going to be lengthened, all that needs to be done is set aside a portion of the front end time slots for those that have earned that perk.  Embarkation now is from 1100-300 or 4 hours.  It could be changed to 200-800 or 6 hours.  Make 200-400 or 200-430 set aside for those that earned the perk depending on the numbers and then have general boarding.  Otherwise, it will be a mad dash on the computers to get your slot.  It was bad enough when Carnival sold some of my perks that I earned to those that purchased FTTF,  if the elimination of the priority boarding does in fact become true even on a temporary basis it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

[Knights on the Beach]

2 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Instead of the non Platinum guest intruding on Platinum guest benefits, why doesn't the Platinum guest just board with the non Platinum guest thru the regular lines?

If it's that important that the guests be together for that short amount of time, then I feel that the Platinum guest should take the benefit hit.

That's what we've done when we sail with friends who have not yet reached Platinum status.

 

25 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

No way....it will be what it will be if the Platinum cruiser loses another benefit, but why should we lose a perk just because of a temporary protocol because of the pandemic?  If the embarkation time frame is going to be lengthened, all that needs to be done is set aside a portion of the front end time slots for those that have earned that perk.  Embarkation now is from 1100-300 or 4 hours.  It could be changed to 200-800 or 6 hours.  Make 200-400 or 200-430 set aside for those that earned the perk depending on the numbers and then have general boarding.  Otherwise, it will be a mad dash on the computers to get your slot.  It was bad enough when Carnival sold some of my perks that I earned to those that purchased FTTF,  if the elimination of the priority boarding does in fact become true even on a temporary basis it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

 

I'm not sure this has anything to do with what klfrodo said about Platinum guests boarding with their non-Platinum friends?

[MistyRo76]

13 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The way to make everyone happy is to set aside the first two hours of boarding by appointment for diamonds and platinums. It would not make waves.  

If the new temporary policy is just appointment first come first served for everyone, it would just be another perk taken away from those who earned it.

I think the intent is to control the flow of when all passengers arrive at the port, so just having a P/D boarding window wouldn't allow for that. Some sailings have a very high number of P/D cruisers so that could get pretty unruly without boarding windows appointments. 

 

I think rather than set aside the a time frame for priority boarding appointments, it may make more sense for the cruise lines to give Platinum/Diamond members an advance window for choosing their boarding times. Not all priority guests want to board early, some may want to sleep in and arrive to the port a bit later. Maybe up to 30 days before sailing, only P/D are allowed to choose a boarding window then at 30 days open it up to non-priority travelers. They could almost treat it like selecting of dinner times - Diamonds get their preferred boarding slot guaranteed, Platinums get preferred boarding slots and everyone else gets what's left. 

 

Just throwing out a few ideas - hoping it does't end up happening. But if it does, what makes the most sense for Carnival to control the flow of guests and still gives P/D guests that benefit that many of us love to take advantage of. 

 

[Elaine5715]

21 hours ago, wo5m said:

This is correct. And its also true if you have a handicap person everyone in that party can board with them. 

Not exactly.  Most ports now require anyone requiring physical assistance to board at their boarding time, no special early boarding anymore.  So if the other family members have the same boarding time, yes.  

[klfrodo]

2 hours ago, cruisemom2 said:

 

 

I'm not sure this has anything to do with what klfrodo said about Platinum guests boarding with their non-Platinum friends?

You are correct Cruisemom. I have no clue what SNJ is even talking about. Wasn't evn close to what I was commenting on.

 

Even if they did take away a perk! So freakin what!  Is Platinum status going to get you to the front of the line at the pearly gates?

 

I would like to think that this past year has put things a bit more into perspective as to what is and what is not important in life.

IMO Platinum boarding status goes to the bottom of the list.

Edited April 15, 2021 by klfrodo

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

Even if they did take away a perk! So freakin what!  Is Platinum status going to get you to the front of the line at the pearly gates?

 

I would like to think that this past year has put things a bit more into perspective as to what is and what is not important in life.

IMO Platinum boarding status goes to the bottom of the list.

You have your priority and I have mine.  I earned my platinum status over 10 years ago and the majority of the perks offered are not worth anything to me.  But the top of the list, FOR ME is priority embarkation.  It has nothing to do with entry at the pearly gates. 

You are correct about what has happened over the past year putting things into perspective.  What is important to you may not be important to others, just like what is important to me is not high on your list.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

 

I think rather than set aside the a time frame for priority boarding appointments, it may make more sense for the cruise lines to give Platinum/Diamond members an advance window for choosing their boarding times. Not all priority guests want to board early, some may want to sleep in and arrive to the port a bit later. Maybe up to 30 days before sailing, only P/D are allowed to choose a boarding window then at 30 days open it up to non-priority travelers. They could almost treat it like selecting of dinner times - Diamonds get their preferred boarding slot guaranteed, Platinums get preferred boarding slots and everyone else gets what's left.

Your suggestion sounds like it would solve the problem.  But Carnival has never really been innovative over the years, unless you like Sky Bikes or roller coasters.

Edited April 15, 2021 by SNJCruisers

[TNcruising02]

3 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

You have your priority and I have mine.  I earned my platinum status over 10 years ago and the majority of the perks offered are not worth anything to me.  But the top of the list, FOR ME is priority embarkation.  It has nothing to do with entry at the pearly gates. 

You are correct about what has happened over the past year putting things into perspective.  What is important to you may not be important to others, just like what is important to me is not high on your list.

I agree. People should not be shamed into thinking they can't ever have an opinion about anything other than life or death situations.  I will reach platinum on my next cruise and am hoping for some type of priority boarding.  If that's not possible, I will understand.  I've spend a lot of money over the years cruising on Carnival and will appreciate the benefits that come with it.

[SNJCruisers]

15 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I agree. People should not be shamed into thinking they can't ever have an opinion about anything other than life or death situations.  I will reach platinum on my next cruise and am hoping for some type of priority boarding.  If that's not possible, I will understand.  I've spend a lot of money over the years cruising on Carnival and will appreciate the benefits that come with it.

The Platinum benefits over the years have been taken away or reduced and of course some can be purchased with the FTTF program.  Priority embarkation and the roped off line at guest services are the only perks I care about.  Things were different 10 years ago.