Boarding priority?

[caribill]

10 hours ago, RRFan said:

Interesting thread.  Since PCL Platinum/Elite loyalty perks still list priority check-in, I'd say there will be some way to accomplish that.  As someone else mentioned, check in is different from embarkation.

 

All priority check-in means is that there is a different line for Platinum/Elite.

 

As many have noted in the past, the other line is often shorter than the special priority line.

 

So in the context of the selected/assigned times, when your time comes, you can get in the appropriate line. (I always pick the shorter one.)

[caribill]

6 hours ago, pms4104 said:

Not seeing how Princess can implement boarding priority with the anticipated "pick your time" process.

 

 

 

I experienced this once with a Carnival cruise (pre-pandemic of course).

 

Had to select your check-in time in advance.

 

Anyone arriving before their selected time was not allowed into the terminal.

 

We arrived about 25 minutes into our 30 minute slot and walked right in (presenting proof of the selected time).

 

Those in the next time slot were held back by a barrier rope and were as tightly packed as an elevator after a show lets out.

 

If you arrived late and missed your time slot, you could join the current group checking in.

 

 

[Bgwest]

4 hours ago, RRFan said:

Who knows, but a couple of possibilities would be 1) Elite/Suite are given 2 or 3 days early to go and select their desired boarding times before groups are made available to the rest of the cruise pax, or  2) boarding groups have assigned priority levels (such as Elite/Suite all boarding group A. New passengers don’t even see the option for Group A. Some sort of priority levels).  We shall see. 

Have a relative who is on a Carnival sailing in Aug. They are in a suite and received an email advising that their check-in was extended to 16 days in advance of sailing rather than the previously announced 14 days in advance. They now have two additional days to check-in prior to "general admission". 

Was told that this also applies to the Diamond/Platinum status folks. 

 

Perhaps Princess will, as you suggest,  use the same template. 

[Steelers36]

13 hours ago, Italy52 said:

We are not using Princess air, we are coming in a day before and then meeting the shuttle at the airport for transit to the pier.

Since you are there the day before and at a hotel somewhere, why not just go directly to the pier with independent transportation?  

[Grego]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

All priority check-in means is that there is a different line for Platinum/Elite.

 

As many have noted in the past, the other line is often shorter than the special priority line.

 

So in the context of the selected/assigned times, when your time comes, you can get in the appropriate line. (I always pick the shorter one.)

I was thinking the same thing as I read through all the above posts, that the fact is that there are many more Elite passengers than the other groups they all think they should be first in line.  The medallion check in process will move things along better but the delays are usually due to prior disembarkation issues and getting the ship ready due to COVID protocols.

[Italy52]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Since you are there the day before and at a hotel somewhere, why not just go directly to the pier with independent transportation?  

Because for a couple of reasons:  I am not a big fan of the way cab drivers drive.  Cost--we used to live in the Seattle area and there always seemed to be construction and traffic delays resulting in higher cab fares.  Our hotel is right near the airport (connected by a walkway) so walking over to catch the airport transport is no biggie for us.  Also, we turn our luggage over to the Princess representative and the next time we see it, it is on the ship and in our cabin.  I realize our choice is not for everyone, but it works for us. 

[RRFan]

1 hour ago, Italy52 said:

Because for a couple of reasons:  I am not a big fan of the way cab drivers drive.  Cost--we used to live in the Seattle area and there always seemed to be construction and traffic delays resulting in higher cab fares.  Our hotel is right near the airport (connected by a walkway) so walking over to catch the airport transport is no biggie for us.  Also, we turn our luggage over to the Princess representative and the next time we see it, it is on the ship and in our cabin.  I realize our choice is not for everyone, but it works for us. 

Whether we use Princess transfers or not depends upon the port and circumstances. There are many things about Seattle right now that wasn’t an issue in the past. I’m with you!!  Personal preference!  

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Because for a couple of reasons:  I am not a big fan of the way cab drivers drive.  Cost--we used to live in the Seattle area and there always seemed to be construction and traffic delays resulting in higher cab fares.  Our hotel is right near the airport (connected by a walkway) so walking over to catch the airport transport is no biggie for us.  Also, we turn our luggage over to the Princess representative and the next time we see it, it is on the ship and in our cabin.  I realize our choice is not for everyone, but it works for us. 

Thanks for the local info.  We have usually stayed near the pier, but never been to Seattle.

[Sprocket]

What does your booking summary say?  Copied from ours Your ship begins boarding at 01:00PM on Aug 08 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Aug 08 and I read on earlier posts that early arrivals will not be allowed in the terminal but passengers should be advised.    As of today I think we are 55 days out and this showed up in the select boarding section of the app.   No other information given and still no option to choose a specific boarding time.  But its something new lol.  With our offer we are supposed to have Priority Check in but as this is only our second Princess cruise no idea if that also means Priority Boarding.

Green Lane

 

 

Less waiting,
faster check-in

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Sprocket said:

What does your booking summary say?  Copied from ours Your ship begins boarding at 01:00PM on Aug 08 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Aug 08 and I read on earlier posts that early arrivals will not be allowed in the terminal but passengers should be advised.    As of today I think we are 55 days out and this showed up in the select boarding section of the app.   No other information given and still no option to choose a specific boarding time.  But its something new lol.  With our offer we are supposed to have Priority Check in but as this is only our second Princess cruise no idea if that also means Priority Boarding.

Green Lane

 

 

Less waiting,
faster check-in

Considering the All-Aboard will be 3:30pm, I don't see how they process everyone in 2.5 hrs if truly only opening the doors at 1:00pm.  That is much later than normal.  But perhaps only sailing with half the normal load.  There will be people lined up waiting for sure I would say.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Sprocket said:

What does your booking summary say?  Copied from ours Your ship begins boarding at 01:00PM on Aug 08 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Aug 08 and I read on earlier posts that early arrivals will not be allowed in the terminal but passengers should be advised.    As of today I think we are 55 days out and this showed up in the select boarding section of the app.   No other information given and still no option to choose a specific boarding time.  But its something new lol.  With our offer we are supposed to have Priority Check in but as this is only our second Princess cruise no idea if that also means Priority Boarding.

Green Lane

 

 

Less waiting,
faster check-in

 

26 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Considering the All-Aboard will be 3:30pm, I don't see how they process everyone in 2.5 hrs if truly only opening the doors at 1:00pm.  That is much later than normal.  But perhaps only sailing with half the normal load.  There will be people lined up waiting for sure I would say.

 

Actually, scrap my comment above.  You have quoted a standard line from Princess Travel Summary.  This isn't the real situation.  In past practice, the ships are ready to board after 11:00am sometime and before noon.  Usually around 11:30am has been our experience. 

 

What they are doing is supposedly enforcing a certain number of boarding groups with specified entry times to the terminal.  No one really knows (AFAIK) how many groups, how much time between groups and the times for each group. 

 

[Sprocket]

32 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Considering the All-Aboard will be 3:30pm, I don't see how they process everyone in 2.5 hrs if truly only opening the doors at 1:00pm.  That is much later than normal.  But perhaps only sailing with half the normal load.  There will be people lined up waiting for sure I would say.

No idea but with everyone preloading everything into the Medallion they must be counting on a very organized checkin I think there is a QR code they are launching to help speed things up.  Two cruises before ours to get the kinks out and I am hoping it all goes well for everyone.

[Sprocket]

13 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

Actually, scrap my comment above.  You have quoted a standard line from Princess Travel Summary.  This isn't the real situation.  In past practice, the ships are ready to board after 11:00am sometime and before noon.  Usually around 11:30am has been our experience. 

 

What they are doing is supposedly enforcing a certain number of boarding groups with specified entry times to the terminal.  No one really knows (AFAIK) how many groups, how much time between groups and the times for each group. 

 

The enhanced cleaning protocols could delay things as well.  Not sure if or when they will do crew testing but that could slow things down too.  We’ll just head down after we checkout of our hotel drop off our bags and hope there is something anything nearby to do.

[Wishing on a star]

Yes,  maybe that has worked...   But these are different times.

I wouldn't assume, or barely even hope,  that Princess will have a shuttle waiting there just for you first thing in the AM.   Especially if you are not booking Princess Air or Princess pre-Cruise package.

You know what they say about assumptions.

 

We wanted to to get to Whittier early...

No way any Princess transport provided that.

We didn't use the Princess transport.

Edited June 20, 2021 by Wishing on a star

[skynight]

Check in and boarding probably is an issue in the covid era. Smaller groups, maybe testing and other protocols. In the past there was never really a boarding issue even though Princess tried to have staggered boarding using the poorly thought out system of by your deck. People arrived and boarding went fairly quickly. People that did not enjoy sitting around for a short time or crowds just delayed arriving until after 1pm. Is Princess fixing something that wasn't really broken just so they can use the app? 

[Esjung1]

@Sprocket I am also on the August 8th cruise and was able to pick embarkation last week, it just became available one day in the APP.   I had 3 options with the first time being 11:30-12:15 so I took the earliest time since we are flying in the night before.  Hopefully it stays that way since I wanted the early time. 😄  

[cinnamon]

I am booked on a 3 night cruise to nowhere from Southampton on 21st August. I’ll be following this thread to see how things pan out. 

We all have to have a PCR  Covid Test on arrival at the port which is going to complicate check-in and boarding I’m sure. 

 

I only live an hour from the port and will be keen to get onboard as early as possible as it’s such a short cruise. I’m Platinum in Captain’s Circle but have a feeling that won't mean much in these times. 

[FredZiffle]

On 6/20/2021 at 10:53 AM, skynight said:

Check in and boarding probably is an issue in the covid era. Smaller groups, maybe testing and other protocols. In the past there was never really a boarding issue even though Princess tried to have staggered boarding using the poorly thought out system of by your deck. People arrived and boarding went fairly quickly. People that did not enjoy sitting around for a short time or crowds just delayed arriving until after 1pm. Is Princess fixing something that wasn't really broken just so they can use the app? 

 

To me, the old system of boarding by decks was very much broken.  I want to start my cruise as early as possible, and I seemed to always get a 3:00 or later boarding time.  I literally would select my cabin by boarding time if I knew in advance what the order of deck boarding was.  Yes, I was always able to talk my way into the terminal early, but I never understood why they didn't just let people register for arrival times so that everyone got what they wanted.  Same result of staggering the number of passengers, but you have happy campers instead of disgruntled passengers like me.

 

[Sprocket]

On 6/27/2021 at 5:18 PM, Esjung1 said:

@Sprocket I am also on the August 8th cruise and was able to pick embarkation last week, it just became available one day in the APP.   I had 3 options with the first time being 11:30-12:15 so I took the earliest time since we are flying in the night before.  Hopefully it stays that way since I wanted the early time. 😄  

We hope to drive down but I think I should book at least one way air soon, no idea when we'll find out if/when the border will open to allow us to drive.  I think I booked our hotel in January lol and also got 11:30-11:45 boarding time.  Reservations for dining and excursions all locked in so we are good to go.  I am a little more optimistic that we will actually go every time the app updates, pretty sure the Covid part won't be until about 3 days before we sail so the information is current.  

My QR code showed up last week so everything seems to be clicking into place.

 

[RRFan]

26 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

We hope to drive down but I think I should book at least one way air soon, no idea when we'll find out if/when the border will open to allow us to drive.  I think I booked our hotel in January lol and also got 11:30-11:45 boarding time.  Reservations for dining and excursions all locked in so we are good to go.  I am a little more optimistic that we will actually go every time the app updates, pretty sure the Covid part won't be until about 3 days before we sail so the information is current.  

My QR code showed up last week so everything seems to be clicking into place.

 

I have a QR code too. What do we do with that?  Will they scan that as we approach check in?  Should we do a screenshot of it so it’s easy to access in our photos?  

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by RRFan

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Sprocket said:

We hope to drive down but I think I should book at least one way air soon, no idea when we'll find out if/when the border will open to allow us to drive.  I think I booked our hotel in January lol and also got 11:30-11:45 boarding time.  Reservations for dining and excursions all locked in so we are good to go.  I am a little more optimistic that we will actually go every time the app updates, pretty sure the Covid part won't be until about 3 days before we sail so the information is current.  

My QR code showed up last week so everything seems to be clicking into place.

 

You will be able to drive in Jan - weather permitting.  Border will be open long before then.

[Jimmys Chippy]

19 hours ago, cinnamon said:

I am booked on a 3 night cruise to nowhere from Southampton on 21st August. I’ll be following this thread to see how things pan out. 

We all have to have a PCR  Covid Test on arrival at the port which is going to complicate check-in and boarding I’m sure. 

 

I only live an hour from the port and will be keen to get onboard as early as possible as it’s such a short cruise. I’m Platinum in Captain’s Circle but have a feeling that won't mean much in these times. 

Where did you read about the PCR test?

[cinnamon]

We were told by our agent, plus think it’s on the UK website. Double jabbed, time elapsed plus test at the dock on arrival. 

[Gettingwarmer]

4 hours ago, cinnamon said:

We were told by our agent, plus think it’s on the UK website. Double jabbed, time elapsed plus test at the dock on arrival. 

It is not a PCR test, it is a lateral flow test. 

[cinnamon]

46 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

It is not a PCR test, it is a lateral flow test. 

Thank you. I did wonder how they were planning to get instant results for a PCR. 😏The agent must have made a slip.  LFT makes much more sense.