Embarkation times - experiences welcome !

[CliveJ]

Sorry - don't suppose this is entirely new, but....

 

Disappointed to have been allocated a very late boarding time on Iona Mar. 4th.

 

Is P&O a company that is going to stick strictly to these, or is it worth turning up rather earlier, with some hope of getting on ?

 

Anyone cruised recently who can shed light on this ? Much appreciated if you can !

 

 

[majortom10]

Problem is if everyone did that there would be utter chaos in check-in and you would be made to wait a considerable time. All embarkation times are given so a steady flow of passengers arrive instead of everyon arriving at the same time.

[wowzz]

I agree with Major Tom. 

But, if you arrive an hour or so before your scheduled boarding time,  you should be OK.

However,  you don't mention which ship you are on. If it is Ariva or Iona, the sheer numbers involved make it more difficult than ever to jump the queue.

[Cardiff girl]

Thanks for asking this question. MSC let me board very early without issues in Southampton so I wondered how flexible P&O would be. I'm on Ventura from Mayflower terminal in Southampton in April. 

Has anyone had relevant experience? 

Thanks. 

[AchileLauro]

We've had both good and bad experiences with P&O regarding boarding times.

On one cruise on Aurora from Mayflower we decided to take a chance to see if we could board early because we were already in the area. We walked in through the door and were immediately directed to the check in desk and within 10 minutes we were on board. Absolutely amazing it took our breath away. I'm not complaining but we didn't even have time to savor the whole boarding process.

 

On another cruise on Azura from Ocean terminal we turned up 10 minutes before our allocated boarding time of around 2 p.m. and ended up as the very last group to board some 2  or more hours later. For some reason our allocated letter simply wasn't called and it was as if the staff thought that they had finished and then looked up and wondered what all these people were doing still sitting in the hall.

As for Iona in July of last year, well we were fortunate that we had priority boarding but our daughter who arrived on time at 3.30 said it was pandemonium, the whole boarding process at Ocean was simply overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of passengers and that was after the traffic issues getting into the port.

[Eglesbrech]

I’m just back yesterday and we had a 4pm embarkation time 2 weeks ago.

 

We arrived to drop off the car at about 1pm fully intending to have lunch in Southampton and come back just before 4pm. The embarkation was however very quiet so we asked if we could check in and were told yes.
 

Ours was however a very quiet cruise and with a lot of passengers coming by coach later in the afternoon which may be why they were amenable to it.

 

Generally I try to stick to about the time I am allocated.

[laslomas]

Is there any knowledge on how embarkation times are allocated by P&O?

 

Several of my cruises recently were on Celebrity from Southampton and I was able to choose my boarding time during the online check in process. This seems sensible as passengers are arriving form all areas by different modes of transport and are aware of the most suitable time for them.

[yorkshirephil]

10 minutes ago, laslomas said:

Is there any knowledge on how embarkation times are allocated by P&O?

 

Several of my cruises recently were on Celebrity from Southampton and I was able to choose my boarding time during the online check in process. This seems sensible as passengers are arriving form all areas by different modes of transport and are aware of the most suitable time for them.

Suites and higher tier Peninsula members get first priority, not sure how random it is after that as we have had times from 13:00-16:00 regardless of what deck or ship. I am sure booking a slot would work for many but not sure P&O technology would handle it.

[CliveJ]

Am aware that there will be quite a few people boarding Iona, & that other cruise lines have different policies.

Thank you to AchileLauro & Eglesbrech for their relevant answers to the question posed. Any other answers to the query will still be appreciated.

May, possibly,  be worth taking a punt on an earlier arrival.

[jeanlyon]

We are Caribbean, but have always had a late-ish time for boarding, 2pm or even 3pm.  We have oftrn arrived at 1pm, as normally drive on the day and don't want to be late.  Never had a problem checking in on arrival.

[CliveJ]

26 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

We are Caribbean, but have always had a late-ish time for boarding, 2pm or even 3pm.  We have oftrn arrived at 1pm, as normally drive on the day and don't want to be late.  Never had a problem checking in on arrival.

Sorry - Royal Caribbean...as in another cruise line entirely ? Or - going to the Caribbean with P&O ?

[jeanlyon]

Neither, my Loyalty Level is Caribbean.

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, CliveJ said:

Am aware that there will be quite a few people boarding Iona, & that other cruise lines have different policies.

Thank you to AchileLauro & Eglesbrech for their relevant answers to the question posed. Any other answers to the query will still be appreciated.

May, possibly,  be worth taking a punt on an earlier arrival.

The coaches usually arrive about 2:00pm, so it is very busy around that time. If you arrive around 1:30pm you might find that embarkation is not too busy.

[CliveJ]

3 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Neither, my Loyalty Level is Caribbean.

Ah...OK, fair enough; never heard of it, I'm afraid, but looked it up. For sure, if I was on that or any other loyalty level, I'd hope to have more idea than I do now about embarkation.

Sounds, from your, and more recently Terrierjohn's answers, that 1p.m.-ish may be worth a try.

Thank you both.

[Ardennais]

Our boarding was 3pm on Iona last week - deck 11 balcony and Mediterranean level. Arrived 2.20 and in cabin before 3pm. They don’t call the letters anymore.  Very straightforward. 
 

Got talking to a couple doing their first cruise and they had a boarding time of 1.30 so I don’t know how they do it.

Edited February 18, 2023 by Ardennais

[Clodia]

Suites and Baltic/Ligurian get the first boarding time at 11.45, but I'm not sure how they do it after that. Before covid there used to be a system and I got it out of a staff member, but all that went overboard.

[davecttr]

49 minutes ago, Clodia said:

Suites and Baltic/Ligurian get the first boarding time at 11.45, but I'm not sure how they do it after that. Before covid there used to be a system and I got it out of a staff member, but all that went overboard.

I get a 12 noon boarding time as Caribbean tier and priority boarding, if they put you in the right queue!.  Irritating that cabins are not ready until 2pm although I checked and mine was and had the blue seal on the door. 😟

[daiB]

53 minutes ago, Clodia said:

Suites and Baltic/Ligurian get the first boarding time at 11.45, but I'm not sure how they do it after that. Before covid there used to be a system and I got it out of a staff member, but all that went overboard.

The times you are given are still by deck. That is after Caribbean and above levels which on Aurora was much later as there were over 800 top tier passengers.

I have seen the list for all the older ships but not the 2 new ones.

[catperson02]

We boarded Iona just over a week ago. My daughter had a 12.30 boarding time but mine was 1.30 because we had booked seperate cabins as there was no single supplement . We obediently turned up at 1.30 (advised to turn up at later boarding time) only to discover that nobody even looked at our boarding times and everybody was boarded in order of arrival. Actually it was not too bad as we were through and onboard in about 40 minutes from getting out of the taxi. However, I suspect that if we had rocked up at the earlier time we would still have boarded in order of arrival.

[jeanlyon]

20 hours ago, davecttr said:

I get a 12 noon boarding time as Caribbean tier and priority boarding, if they put you in the right queue!.  Irritating that cabins are not ready until 2pm although I checked and mine was and had the blue seal on the door. 😟

We are Caribbean and I have never been given 12 noon.  Usually 1330.

[scarlet ohara]

We were on G303 with a boarding time of 1.45. Our taxi arrived early and we arrived at 1pm. We started queuing outside and thought it might take a while but nobody looked at the time on the boarding passes and we were in the atrium onboard within 30minutes. Didn’t even get a chance to sit down as our queue just kept moving. We were ahead of the coaches which probably helped. Cabins ready was shortly after we boarded and our cases were already at the cabin. Very smooth

[majortom10]

We are Caribbean and have been given 12 noon as boarding time on our cruise on Iona in March.

[daiB]

5 hours ago, majortom10 said:

We are Caribbean and have been given 12 noon as boarding time on our cruise on Iona in March.

Which cruise are you on in March?

[majortom10]

42 minutes ago, daiB said:

Which cruise are you on in March?

Spain and Portugal

 

[daiB]

10 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Spain and Portugal

 

I think we are on the next two.