Southampton Boarding Times

[Oakman]

From reading CC boards, Princess uses a pre-selected boarding time similar to Carnival. For those who sailed from Southampton in the Summer of 2022, do they follow the boarding times strictly or are they less stringent in Europe? I am arranging a private transfer to the pier and they ask for a preferred time of arrival. Boarding times are not available yet for July, so I randomly selected 1230PM. 

When do boarding times normally become available.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

 

[dides]

22 minutes ago, Oakman said:

For those who sailed from Southampton in the Summer of 2022, do they follow the boarding times strictly or are they less stringent in Europe? I am arranging a private transfer to the pier and they ask for a preferred time of arrival. Boarding times are not available yet for July, so I randomly selected 1230PM. 

When do boarding times normally become available.

 

Boarding times usually open 60 days prior to embarkation on the app.  They don't usually check your boarding time in Southampton.

[phabric]

In May, I had the first boarding time.  We left the hotel 15 minutes before boarding time and when we got there was a long line.  No one looked at the boarding.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Oakman said:

From reading CC boards, Princess uses a pre-selected boarding time similar to Carnival. For those who sailed from Southampton in the Summer of 2022, do they follow the boarding times strictly or are they less stringent in Europe? I am arranging a private transfer to the pier and they ask for a preferred time of arrival. Boarding times are not available yet for July, so I randomly selected 1230PM. 

When do boarding times normally become available.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

 

No, PCL is not strict on boarding times, like CCL does.

 

You can pick your boarding times on the App anytime from 59 days before to 12 days before, if you want.  
 

 

[bjkTX]

In October we had the 12:30 boarding time with the Green Lane and Elite medallions.  We spent the night in a hotel in Southampton and headed to the ship at about 11.  We got there and they waived us right through everything and onto the ship - we were in our cabin by 11:30.  No one ever asked or checked what our boarding time was.

 

I should add that when we were waived through the last place before walking onto the ship there were a lot of people sitting in a waiting area - where I thought we would be headed to.  But they told us to keep going and get on the ship.  I have no idea why they were all there - maybe being Elite allowed us on early, or maybe they were all waiting for friends...  All I know is that is was quick and efficient - and the exact same thing happened in Galveston when we took a Christmas cruise.

[Martha1974]

We sailed from Southampton in Sept 2022. We selected boarding group A in the app (11:00am) but the itinerary on our travel summary stated that check-in wouldn’t open until 12:30. We arrived at the terminal at 10:50, CPS booked the car in at 11:20 and we were on the Lido deck with a drink by 11:45am. We’re on the same itinerary this September and I plan to do the same again. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

13 minutes ago, Martha1974 said:

We sailed from Southampton in Sept 2022. We selected boarding group A in the app (11:00am) but the itinerary on our travel summary stated that check-in wouldn’t open until 12:30. by 11:45am. We’re on the same itinerary this September and I plan to do the same again. 

There's little to NO correlation between the app boarding times and "reality" at the port...

[Martha1974]

For us the time we selected on the app was spot on (but that was probably because we chose the first available slot so there hadn’t been much time for the queues to build up). The discrepancy was that our booking information stated that check-in wouldn’t open until 12:30… we assumed that we’d be kept waiting to check-in but that at least we’d be near the front of the queue when it opened. However when we got to check-in it was definitely already open and nearly empty. We didn’t have to wait at all and walked straight up to one of the available agents.
 

We assume Princess are advertising the later time to discourage everyone from arriving at 11:00 considering (as @Rick&Jeannie has pointed out) it seems to be common knowledge that the boarding group selection in the app means nothing. 

[Kgills]

In November I had the exact same experience as @bjkTX (except I was Platinum and not Elite).  I headed to the ship by taxi from my hotel (Moxy Southampton) around 11 a.m.  I dropped my luggage off at the collection point, walked in and right up to the check in counter, moved to the next station to pick up my medallion, and walked right on the ship after that.  In my room around 11:30.  No one ever asked about my assigned boarding time.  It was quick and easy.