Boarding time question

[Mad4WDW]

Embarking Arvia tomorrow. 12:00 boarding time is on the boarding pass with Priority Boarding printed on it as well. We’re Caribbean level.

[Selbourne]

11 hours ago, majortom10 said:

They have never got the priority boarding times on e-tickets/boarding passes for years way before COVID so cannot blame new sales this week. Carnival UK IT department has been useless for a considerable amount of time. In fact it is that long ago cannot remember whenever it worked properly.

Spot on. Incorrect boarding times for those with priority has been an issue for at least 10 years that I can recall, along with a message along the lines of “We are aware of an issue where incorrect boarding times are shown for those entitled to priority boarding. We are working on a fix to resolve this”. Well someone must have made an entire career out of trying to resolve that issue! Carnival U.K. IT department should just throw in the towel and employ a teenager to resolve all their issues. They’d have it all sorted within an hour 😂 

[Megabear2]

20 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Spot on. Incorrect boarding times for those with priority has been an issue for at least 10 years that I can recall, along with a message along the lines of “We are aware of an issue where incorrect boarding times are shown for those entitled to priority boarding. We are working on a fix to resolve this”. Well someone must have made an entire career out of trying to resolve that issue! Carnival U.K. IT department should just throw in the towel and employ a teenager to resolve all their issues. They’d have it all sorted within an hour 😂 

Probably very true.  I wouldn't know as I'm not a high enough tier with P&O to worry about the time I can get on! I was surprised by the Cunard issue as I've never had a problem with them either here or abroad when I've flown out to join ships.  

 

The 4.00pm Arvia time I have is now making me anxious though, not because I'm concerned about getting on but because it appears I can only book dinner times for one week - my booking window opened today and even trying to reserve MDR past 7 days is a no no.

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Probably very true.  I wouldn't know as I'm not a high enough tier with P&O to worry about the time I can get on! I was surprised by the Cunard issue as I've never had a problem with them either here or abroad when I've flown out to join ships.  

 

The 4.00pm Arvia time I have is now making me anxious though, not because I'm concerned about getting on but because it appears I can only book dinner times for one week - my booking window opened today and even trying to reserve MDR past 7 days is a no no.

Sorry to hear that. It adds an unnecessary level of stress or anxiety that people don’t need when it comes to a holiday. Thanks for your comment elsewhere about the Cunard IT glitch and the fact that boarding times for Tuesday had changed. I checked as a result of your post and our 2.30pm boarding time has now changed to 12pm, so we shall be on board for lunch!

[Megabear2]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Sorry to hear that. It adds an unnecessary level of stress or anxiety that people don’t need when it comes to a holiday. Thanks for your comment elsewhere about the Cunard IT glitch and the fact that boarding times for Tuesday had changed. I checked as a result of your post and our 2.30pm boarding time has now changed to 12pm, so we shall be on board for lunch!

The Arvia situation just got more insane!  I have booked and paid for select dining choices for my first week, together with MDR, Olive Grove and The Limelight Club (that one believe it or not is for week 2). I did this at 2.30am this morning (the cat woke me up so decided to have a hot drink and see if it was working!).  I have receipts.  Just now after speaking to my BIL I went back in, just in case.  Now you can't book any dining at all, all greyed out and coming soon!  This seems to suggest either the slots are now all full (unlikely I thought but you can never tell) or they're resetting the website yet again.  Thankfully I have receipts because my itinerary no longer has any dining in it.

 

And it's a Sunday/Bank Holiday so no one's working at P&O.  There's absolutely no way at all I'm wasting my time on this while I'm on QM2 so it now looks like I won't be speaking to anyone about this latest mess until after the Jubilee weekend because yet again we get off QM2 on a Sunday/Bank Holiday.

 

I am so unimpressed.

[Windsurfboy]

What time does boarding start  , what time are suites given.

 

 

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

What time does boarding start  , what time are suites given.

 

 

It seems to vary but, pre Covid, I think it used to be officially 12.30pm for Suites and Baltic / Ligurian, 1pm for Caribbean and then general boarding from 1.30pm although those times were quite often 30 minutes earlier in reality. I think that the earliest that we were actually on the ship as suite passengers was 11.45am. 

[LifeonMars]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

The Arvia situation just got more insane!  I have booked and paid for select dining choices for my first week, together with MDR, Olive Grove and The Limelight Club (that one believe it or not is for week 2). I did this at 2.30am this morning (the cat woke me up so decided to have a hot drink and see if it was working!).  I have receipts.  Just now after speaking to my BIL I went back in, just in case.  Now you can't book any dining at all, all greyed out and coming soon!  This seems to suggest either the slots are now all full (unlikely I thought but you can never tell) or they're resetting the website yet again.  Thankfully I have receipts because my itinerary no longer has any dining in it.

 

And it's a Sunday/Bank Holiday so no one's working at P&O.  There's absolutely no way at all I'm wasting my time on this while I'm on QM2 so it now looks like I won't be speaking to anyone about this latest mess until after the Jubilee weekend because yet again we get off QM2 on a Sunday/Bank Holiday.

 

I am so unimpressed.

I would take the details with you on board QM2 and speak with the Voyage Sales people on Deck 2, They may help you with an email to the specific P&O Dept, or Ship. If you are unable to phone  P&O on  0800 052 3840‬‬ Tuesday prior to Boarding QM2

Edited April 30, 2023 by LifeonMars

[daiB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

It seems to vary but, pre Covid, I think it used to be officially 12.30pm for Suites and Baltic / Ligurian, 1pm for Caribbean and then general boarding from 1.30pm although those times were quite often 30 minutes earlier in reality. I think that the earliest that we were actually on the ship as suite passengers was 11.45am. 

I have had 12.00 as Baltic so the 12.30 has now been superseded. Even on Aurora at Christmas we had 12.15. And there were hundreds of upper tier passengers.

[Windsurfboy]

10 minutes ago, daiB said:

I have had 12.00 as Baltic so the 12.30 has now been superseded. Even on Aurora at Christmas we had 12.15. And there were hundreds of upper tier passengers.

 

So logically  suites should have been earlier than Baltic 12.00.  As we do a hotel parking package in new forest, leave circa 11am to get there just after 11.30. 

 

[Selbourne]

19 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

So logically  suites should have been earlier than Baltic 12.00.  As we do a hotel parking package in new forest, leave circa 11am to get there just after 11.30. 

 

From memory (and again, it might have changed) I believe that Baltic and Suites have the same boarding time i.e. both jointly get the earliest boarding. They used to have a little lounge area with complimentary drinks and snacks before boarding, and I’m sure that Baltic and Suite passengers were both in that together and boarded together. 

[david63]

30 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I’m sure that Baltic and Suite passengers were both in that together and boarded together. 

They were

[Fionboard]

On Aurora it was Ligurian first, then suites/Baltic, then Caribbean. Loyalty tier and "priority boarding" is on boarding pass. 

[david63]

56 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

On Aurora it was Ligurian first, then suites

I would hope not. One of the "perks" of paying for a suite is priority boarding - loyalty should come second.

[Windsurfboy]

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

I would hope not. One of the "perks" of paying for a suite is priority boarding - loyalty should come second.

 

Agree , but it's hard to tell from what P&O say 

 

Peninsula club priority boarding is for top three levels in loyalty order Lguian first, that's clear.

 

However where suites fit in is not clear. All it's says in brochure is suites will be whisked through boarding straight to ship. What this means is vague. To me it reads as priority over everyone else.  Nothing on P&O makes it clear. Some non P&O websites suggested that Liguirian and suites go together. The trouble is on a big ship e.g. Iona or Arvia may be hundreds of top tier loyalty so if suites are with them it's clearly not being whisked through boarding straight to ship. 

 

 

[daiB]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

From memory (and again, it might have changed) I believe that Baltic and Suites have the same boarding time i.e. both jointly get the earliest boarding. They used to have a little lounge area with complimentary drinks and snacks before boarding, and I’m sure that Baltic and Suite passengers were both in that together and boarded together. 

No Selbourne it’s Ligurian and suites. Far too many Baltics.

[daiB]

30 minutes ago, david63 said:

I would hope not. One of the "perks" of paying for a suite is priority boarding - loyalty should come second.

Suites and Ligurian board at the same time and can go to the “lounge” in the terminal.

[Fionboard]

Although a suite passenger can be a first timer, whereas Ligurians tend to be regular cruisers. Over 1000 top tier pax on my recent cruise. No lounge any more either, just separate seating area. 

[david63]

2 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Over 1000 top tier pax on my recent cruise

Are you saying that there were over 1,000 Ligurian passengers on one cruise?

 

Didn't realise that there were that many in the Ligurian tier.

[Fionboard]

3 minutes ago, david63 said:

Are you saying that there were over 1,000 Ligurian passengers on one cruise?

 

Didn't realise that there were that many in the Ligurian tier.

No, I meant those at the cocktail parties, I.e. Caribbean and above. They had to have 4 of them to fit everyone in! Pretty normal for Aurora though as she is a favourite with regular and long standing cruisers.

[Selbourne]

31 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

No, I meant those at the cocktail parties, I.e. Caribbean and above. They had to have 4 of them to fit everyone in! Pretty normal for Aurora though as she is a favourite with regular and long standing cruisers.

The cocktail parties start at Mediterranean tier, not Caribbean, but priority boarding only kicks in at Caribbean. 

[Mad4WDW]

Hi All,

 

For your information.
 

We arrived  at CPS today at 11:55, there was a huge line of people waiting outside the terminal. There was someone walking along by the luggage pods telling people with priority boarding times that were at 12:00 or before to ignore the line and enter the terminal. We walked straight in past hundreds of people waiting outside. We then walked straight to a check in desk with no queue, checked in and was on the ship within 20 mins max. 
 

We’ve had our lunch in meridian which was lovely. We’ve in the sky dome now having a glass of wine 👌

 

Our boarding pass had 12:00 noon boarding time. It clearly stated priority boarding on it. We’re Caribbean level. The check in lady gave us our embarkation lunch ticket when we checked in.

 

I don’t see why the current system should cause anyone a problem. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Mad4WDW

[david63]

10 minutes ago, Mad4WDW said:

I don’t see why the current system should cause anyone a problem. 

It won't if everyone does as they are told and arrive at their allotted time, but as has been mentioned that is not always feasible, or even possible.

[Dermotsgirl]

15 minutes ago, Mad4WDW said:

Hi All,

 

For your information.
 

We arrived  at CPS today at 11:55, there was a huge line of people waiting outside the terminal. There was someone walking along by the luggage pods telling people with priority boarding times that were at 12:00 or before to ignore the line and enter the terminal. We walked straight in past hundreds of people waiting outside. We then walked straight to a check in desk with no queue, checked in and was on the ship within 20 mins max. 
 

We’ve had our lunch in meridian which was lovely. We’ve in the sky dome now having a glass of wine 👌

 

Our boarding pass had 12:00 noon boarding time. It clearly stated priority boarding on it. We’re Caribbean level. The check in lady gave us our embarkation lunch ticket when we checked in.

 

I don’t see why the current system should cause anyone a problem. 

To be fair, it probably doesn't cause anybody a problem who is Caribbean or above (that includes me)

 

But, to be given a boarding time of 4pm would make me quite anxious, as timing an arrival at the terminal at that time wouldn't leave any breathing room for delays.  

[Bill Y]

4 hours ago, Mad4WDW said:

Hi All,

 

For your information.
 

We arrived  at CPS today at 11:55, there was a huge line of people waiting outside the terminal. There was someone walking along by the luggage pods telling people with priority boarding times that were at 12:00 or before to ignore the line and enter the terminal. We walked straight in past hundreds of people waiting outside. We then walked straight to a check in desk with no queue, checked in and was on the ship within 20 mins max. 
 

We’ve had our lunch in meridian which was lovely. We’ve in the sky dome now having a glass of wine 👌

 

Our boarding pass had 12:00 noon boarding time. It clearly stated priority boarding on it. We’re Caribbean level. The check in lady gave us our embarkation lunch ticket when we checked in.

 

I don’t see why the current system should cause anyone a problem. 

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.