Boarding time question

[Windsurfboy]

46 minutes ago, david63 said:

In my experience there are at least four errors in that statement (and yes I know that it is the "official" blurb) - and that was pre Covid, post Covid 90% of it is untrue.

 

I'm not arguing with you.

 

However I'm a person that thinks the official statements and especially those in brochure which are part of contract , ie literally " we will whisk you straight onto ship" (obviously only once boarding starts), are firm commitments. I will not be shy in politely bringing this to attention of the senior staff at terminal.

 

If  people just accept P&O ignore their commitments , then they will continue. 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[TigerB]

On 5/1/2023 at 12:05 PM, davecttr said:

BTW there are 2 glass holders in the bathroom but no longer any glasses to fit even if you ask

 

23 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

On Iona there were glasses of the right size in the bathroom.

 

18 hours ago, alpha whiskey said:

Initially we didn't have glasses in our bathroom, so I got 2 plastic water glasses from the buffet.

The next morning these had been replaced with glass ones by the steward.

Strange though that they are not there to begin with 🤔

 

In each of our accessible bathrooms on Arvia, on deck 9 and 11 in January, and on deck 15 on the one from which we disembarked on Sunday, we had glasses in the two holders.

[david63]

52 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I will not be shy in politely bringing this to attention of the senior staff at terminal.

Only if you can find them and at that point you are more concerned (or at least I am) at getting through security and getting on with the cruise.

 

I have in the past brought this to the attention of senior management upon my return but but there was, in this case, no change due to "customer demand" - one complaint/observation does not create a demand.

[Ardennais]

39 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

 

 

In each of our accessible bathrooms on Arvia, on deck 9 and 11 in January, and on deck 15 on the one from which we disembarked on Sunday, we had glasses in the two holders.

No glass holders in our bathroom on Britannia, but there were two glasses! 

[Megabear2]

If boarding Arvia is like my boarding today for QM2 I'll be delighted. Arrived 12.30 as per my allocated time, luggage dropped, checked in and boarded by 12.45!  Straight to room for keys, literally inside the door to put hand luggage down and knock at the door with my luggage.  Unpacked, mustered and out for lunch, definitely a record for any Southampton voyage!

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

I'm not arguing with you.

 

However I'm a person that thinks the official statements and especially those in brochure which are part of contract , ie literally " we will whisk you straight onto ship" (obviously only once boarding starts), are firm commitments. I will not be shy in politely bringing this to attention of the senior staff at terminal.

 

If  people just accept P&O ignore their commitments , then they will continue. 

 

 

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, do please let us know if P&O fully meet your expectations, and if not whether the senior staff manage to sort out any problems to your full satisfaction.

[Son of Anarchy]

20 hours ago, alpha whiskey said:

Initially we didn't have glasses in our bathroom, so I got 2 plastic water glasses from the buffet.

The next morning these had been replaced with glass ones by the steward.

Strange though that they are not there to begin with 🤔

We did that as well.  The steward didn't bring glass ones.  We weren't that bothered and stuck with buffet ones for the rest of the cruise.

[Son of Anarchy]

On 5/1/2023 at 12:05 PM, davecttr said:

It went sort of pear shaped after that!

Cabins ready was delayed by Norovirus sanitising and the cabins ready announcement  and my corridor section cabins had not been serviced. Officers and stewards running around and can you come back in 20 minutes. OK Crows Nest is only 20 yards away. Cabin now serviced but no TV's worked aboard until we sailed. Also found a half consumed large cake in the fridge which I wanted to put my epipens in. No answer on phone to reception so joined the big queue down on deck 7. I find it is better to be pleasant than angry so I said I bet you would like a stiff drink and a lie down in a dark room. She smiled and nodded. She made a phone call and said go back to the cabin sir and there will be someone clearing and sanitising the fridge which there was.

 

BTW there are 2 glass holders in the bathroom but no longer any glasses to fit even if you ask

 

23 hours ago, davecttr said:

I asked, he just repeated the same answer. He was not very efficient though.

Deck 17 - Agus?

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

 

Deck 17 - Agus?

Yes

[cruise saint]

5 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

I'm not arguing with you.

 

However I'm a person that thinks the official statements and especially those in brochure which are part of contract , ie literally " we will whisk you straight onto ship" (obviously only once boarding starts), are firm commitments. I will not be shy in politely bringing this to attention of the senior staff at terminal.

 

If  people just accept P&O ignore their commitments , then they will continue. 

 

 

I'd be more inclined to just get on with my holiday. I go on a cruise to relax.  While I have experienced small issues with boarding on occasion, I've never found staff  to be deliberately making the experience worse or being lazy enough for me to complain. 

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

If boarding Arvia is like my boarding today for QM2 I'll be delighted. Arrived 12.30 as per my allocated time, luggage dropped, checked in and boarded by 12.45!  Straight to room for keys, literally inside the door to put hand luggage down and knock at the door with my luggage.  Unpacked, mustered and out for lunch, definitely a record for any Southampton voyage!

Ditto. Arrived 1130. Had to check in as couldn’t online. Through security and on ship at 1150. Lovely lunch in Princess Grill. Very quiet and civilised. Walked through the buffet afterwards. That looked the same as P&O on embarkation day ! Golden Lion looked pretty busy also. Great to be back at sea after 3 and a half years and lovely to see Aurora next to us (and Arcadia in the distance). Wishing all those who are on those ships a fabulous cruise. Sitting in the sun on our balcony passing the Isle of Wight 👍

Edited May 2, 2023 by Selbourne

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Ditto. Arrived 1130. Had to check in as couldn’t online. Through security and on ship at 1150. Lovely lunch in Princess Grill. Very quiet and civilised. Walked through the buffet afterwards. That looked the same as P&O on embarkation day. Golden Lion looked pretty busy also. Great to be back at sea after 3 and a half years and lovely to see Aurora next to us (and Arcadia in the distance). Wishing all those who are in those ships a fabulous cruise. 

Kings Court is notorious, badly planned so always looks busy. I wandered through and noticed they are still serving guests rather than help yourself. Found my friend and had a quick coffee with her.  I ate in the Golden Lion, served quickly for drinks and food.  

 

Sail away was busy, man seated next to me had a waiter spill a beer all over him and he had to go and change his trousers as a result.

 

Arcadia and Aurora looked very splendid in the Southampton sunshine. 

[Bill Y]

6 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

I'm not arguing with you.

 

However I'm a person that thinks the official statements and especially those in brochure which are part of contract , ie literally " we will whisk you straight onto ship" (obviously only once boarding starts), are firm commitments. I will not be shy in politely bringing this to attention of the senior staff at terminal.

 

If  people just accept P&O ignore their commitments , then they will continue. 

 

 

Unfortunately brochures and videos are full of puff and unquantifiable superlatives, I doubt if a definitive definition of “whisk” is available outside the catering industry. One could be forgiven after seeing brochures and videos that if you booked a holiday every day would be dry and sunny, the passengers all being the “beautiful people” impeccably dressed for dinner.

I wish you luck with your crusade.

[Windsurfboy]

Whisk , to take someone to somewhere quickly (or suddenly ). Oxford  Dictionary 

[Canberra forever !]

On 5/2/2023 at 1:13 PM, Ardennais said:

No glass holders in our bathroom on Britannia, but there were two glasses! 

I had no glass holders or glasses 🙄

On day 5 my daughter asked the cabin steward if she could please have some conditioner...he replied 'it's too late' !! More cutbacks?! 

[Bill Y]

On 4/30/2023 at 8:22 PM, Bill Y said:

Thanks for that up to date report, I hope that we have the same experience at Mayflower.

 

I had become concerned of reports that people had been turned away if their boarding time did not reflect priority boarding despite indicating Caribbean tier or having to stand outside in the rain for several hours.

 

I know that some may say if you are worried just turn up at whatever time it says but then why should you forgo the embarkation lunch if you are promised it.

We accessed our boarding passes today. We were pleased to see our arrival time of 12:15, loyalty tier and priority boarding clearly displayed with a QR code. So there can be no reason why port staff will make us wait in the rain for an extended time. We have not embarked at Southampton since 2018 and from what I can remember we did not have such clear documentation. I need not have worried but probably I spent too much time on CC reading tales of woe regarding being turned away etc.

I am surprised to read the following under entertainment,

As your safety and well-being is our top priority, we have introduced enhanced measures including reduced capacity and mandatory online reservation of seats. You will be able to reserve your seats from 12th May 2023.

I thought that it was back to normal and reduced capacity and mandatory online reservation of seats were things of the past at least on Ventura?

[Fionboard]

3 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

We accessed our boarding passes today. We were pleased to see our arrival time of 12:15, loyalty tier and priority boarding clearly displayed with a QR code. So there can be no reason why port staff will make us wait in the rain for an extended time. We have not embarked at Southampton since 2018 and from what I can remember we did not have such clear documentation. I need not have worried but probably I spent too much time on CC reading tales of woe regarding being turned away etc.

 

 

I am surprised to read the following under entertainment,

 

As your safety and well-being is our top priority, we have introduced enhanced measures including reduced capacity and mandatory online reservation of seats. You will be able to reserve your seats from 12th May 2023.

 

I thought that it was back to normal and reduced capacity and mandatory online reservation of seats were things of the past at least on Ventura?

 

They are, only needed on the three big ships.

[Bill Y]

2 hours ago, Fionboard said:

They are, only needed on the three big ships.

Thanks, but why do P&O need to advise me when I checked in today that online booking of seats for entertainment on my Ventura cruise was mandatory. I realise that P&O has woeful IT but sending out outdated information just causes unnecessary worry and implies that the management are inept and the structure is broken, there must be someone who can exert control over a rogue or incompetent IT department. Maybe this should be an objective given to Mr Ludlow at his next appraisal to appoint someone and hold them responsible for sorting out the IT department.

 

[yorkshirephil]

10 hours ago, Bill Y said:

Thanks, but why do P&O need to advise me when I checked in today that online booking of seats for entertainment on my Ventura cruise was mandatory. I realise that P&O has woeful IT but sending out outdated information just causes unnecessary worry and implies that the management are inept and the structure is broken, there must be someone who can exert control over a rogue or incompetent IT department. Maybe this should be an objective given to Mr Ludlow at his next appraisal to appoint someone and hold them responsible for sorting out the IT department.

 

As 99% of passengers board on time and get a seat in the theatre he probably won't be to bothered, albeit I agree with your concerns.

[Cathygh]

We are party of 11 and have just got our boarding times. 12.15 for 2 of us and 4pm for the rest. As we are all travelling together we will turn up fpr 12.15 and hope they let us on.

[TigerB]

18 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

We are party of 11 and have just got our boarding times. 12.15 for 2 of us and 4pm for the rest. As we are all travelling together we will turn up fpr 12.15 and hope they let us on.

 

Don't hold your breath!

You may find, as the majority are the later time, the first two will be given the opportunity to wait with them.

[Cathygh]

13 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

Don't hold your breath!

You may find, as the majority are the later time, the first two will be given the opportunity to wait with them.

Good luck to the terminal staff when they have 4 bored noisy boys running around the terminal creating mayhem for 4 hours. And my diabetic daughter in law who will not have thought to bring snacks with her.....

It would seem harsh not to allow us to board together. The cheapest way for us all to get to the port was by hiring a minibus and driver, rather than 4 taxis.  We live within an hour of the port and althugh our family is spread around the country they will all be with us the night before. 

[happy v]

13 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Good luck to the terminal staff when they have 4 bored noisy boys running around the terminal creating mayhem for 4 hours. And my diabetic daughter in law who will not have thought to bring snacks with her.....

It would seem harsh not to allow us to board together. The cheapest way for us all to get to the port was by hiring a minibus and driver, rather than 4 taxis.  We live within an hour of the port and althugh our family is spread around the country they will all be with us the night before. 

Seeing the queue is outside. They won't be too bothered 

[TigerB]

17 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Good luck to the terminal staff when they have 4 bored noisy boys running around the terminal creating mayhem for 4 hours. And my diabetic daughter in law who will not have thought to bring snacks with her.....

It would seem harsh not to allow us to board together. The cheapest way for us all to get to the port was by hiring a minibus and driver, rather than 4 taxis.  We live within an hour of the port and althugh our family is spread around the country they will all be with us the night before. 

 

You may feel it would be harsh of the staff not to let you board together, but there are allotted times for a reason. Anyway, they can let you all board together, at the later time; there's nothing harsh in that.

 

In your post you are quoting potential problems that, correct me if I am wrong, you appear to want blame the staff for. That's unfair.

One potential problem is your diabetic daughter-in-law in law not taking sufficient supplies to counteract a possible hypo or hyper. You have identified that potential problem, so now have plenty of time to remedy it.

The children probably won't be running around the terminal; you will likely be directed to the queue snaking outside.

 

Here's a simple solution to your problem, and would alleviate the additional stress that you appear to want to inflict upon yourselves and others:

arrive at the same time, the later time.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Cathygh said:

Good luck to the terminal staff when they have 4 bored noisy boys running around the terminal creating mayhem for 4 hours. And my diabetic daughter in law who will not have thought to bring snacks with her.....

It would seem harsh not to allow us to board together. The cheapest way for us all to get to the port was by hiring a minibus and driver, rather than 4 taxis.  We live within an hour of the port and althugh our family is spread around the country they will all be with us the night before. 

I believe the waiting is outside the terminal building.