Majestic Princess boarding time

[lesands77]

Hi fellow cruisers! We are on the 3 nighter out of Sydney in a couple of weeks and I cannot figure out how to choose a boarding time or if it is even possible. Can you help me? Long time Royal cruiser and first time on Princess and I am finding the app a little frustrating….. 

[Aus Traveller]

When I was trying to choose a boarding time for a cruise next January, a Princess rep told me I can board whenever I like after boarding starts at 12 noon. Somewhere else I came across info indicating that Princess no longer has timed boarding groups. What has anyone else found?

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, lesands77 said:

Hi fellow cruisers! We are on the 3 nighter out of Sydney in a couple of weeks and I cannot figure out how to choose a boarding time or if it is even possible. Can you help me? Long time Royal cruiser and first time on Princess and I am finding the app a little frustrating….. 

Majestic to Eden? If so, we are on that too.

 

Princess has done away with boarding slots. These were a temporary solution to keep people apart in a restrictive post-covid terminal. Now they have returned to two boarding times:

- Priority for platinum & above, $95 version of premier packages and full suites.

- Open boarding for all others.

 

Usually, I would suggest being fashionably early, but the corresponding boarding last year was a nightmare. If the same, all arriving passengers will need to leave the ship along with their luggage, even those doing B2B. This was the arrangement of Borderforce for each ships initial arrival into Australia. That and protocols delayed disembarking by around 90 minutes last season, and that flowed onto a late boarding. The same was also true for ships of other lines, but I do hope that it is more streamlined this year. We will get a fair idea on Saturday when Grand Princess arrives to start the season, as we will hear all about it if anything like last year.

[Ondine]

I am going on Grand Princess on Monday.  About a week ago the QR code just appeared on my phone app which stated that boarding was from 1.30 to 4.00pm.  I guess you can rock up anytime during this period.  Not sure if suites get an earlier time.  Hopefully there will be a elite lane when I get there.

It also stated that my cabin was pending which I hope is a glitch because I have a specific cabin chosen since booking around 18 mths ago which shows up on the computer version.

[arxcards]

For Sydney boarding times for Princess, I suspect they will announce it starting from noon. On a good day, check-in will open at 11ish. Not all days are good days though and I suspect 4th November will be one of those. I expect there will be a crowd lined-up outside at noon still waiting for check-in to open.

[Sparky74]

Have all lines done away with staggered boarding times?

The in-laws are sailing on Brillance OTS on Sunday and reckon I that everyone boards between 2pm and 4pm. 🤷‍♂️
Perhaps @gbenjo can give some insight. 

[arxcards]

32 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

Have all lines done away with staggered boarding times?

The in-laws are sailing on Brillance OTS on Sunday and reckon I that everyone boards between 2pm and 4pm. 🤷‍♂️
Perhaps @gbenjo can give some insight. 

Graham will know what is happening for Royal, Celebrity, Disney and a few others.

 

As far as I can tell for Carnival & P&O, they still have staggered times - as they did back in the BC days.

[resordanis]

1 hour ago, Sparky74 said:

Have all lines done away with staggered boarding times?

The in-laws are sailing on Brillance OTS on Sunday and reckon I that everyone boards between 2pm and 4pm. 🤷‍♂️
Perhaps @gbenjo can give some insight. 

We were boarding this cruise on Sunday and had 12 noon, as has Chez. Unfortunately we have had to cancel. I think the timing is due to the ridiculous way Royal Caribbean are doing boarding at the moment, whereas if you don’t check in around midnight, you miss out on the earlier time. Hopefully that changes soon.

[ceeceeDee]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Graham will know what is happening for Royal, Celebrity, Disney and a few others.

 

As far as I can tell for Carnival & P&O, they still have staggered times - as they did back in the BC days.

P&O at this stage is still having staggered times as is the norm for them, though on our last cruise we arrived about an hour early (one can NEVER predict the traffic on the M1 so one is either very early or very late☹️) and were waved straight through to be processed. Nice surprise as we fully expected to twiddle our thumbs for an hour.

Edited October 19, 2023 by ceeceeDee

[Aus Traveller]

16 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

P&O at this stage is still having staggered times as is the norm for them, though on our last cruise we arrived about an hour early (one can NEVER predict the traffic on the M1 so one is either very early or very late☹️) and were waved straight through to be processed. Nice surprise as we fully expected to twiddle our thumbs for an hour.

P&O has staggered check-in for our cruise next Monday. However, we found the same as you. On our cruise a few weeks ago I missed out getting the early check-in because I was away on the world cruise. I was only able to get 1pm check in but when we arrived at the terminal, no-one asked what time we were supposed to be there.😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

It also shows the boarding times in the Travel Summary

 

[gbenjo]

1 hour ago, Sparky74 said:

Have all lines done away with staggered boarding times?

The in-laws are sailing on Brillance OTS on Sunday and reckon I that everyone boards between 2pm and 4pm. 🤷‍♂️
Perhaps @gbenjo can give some insight. 

Pretty sure that the 2pm time is not correct. Check in normally starts around 10:30 -11:00 ish and I have  not heard any different The first turns of the season for ships arriving in Aust from overseas ports can sometimes  have   some delays ( face to face with ABF  etc ) but not to that extent. Every ship is different and they make the call but we always try for the earliest start for check in.  

Staggered check in times are still a “thing”  but we tend to play it by ear and, unless there is some sort of  unforeseen delay, allow guests to check in as they arrive.  Obviously if everyone arrived at the same time we would have to enforce times but it all depends on the day. 

[lesands77]

Thanks for all your replies!

I had a light bulb moment and actually called princess this morning 😂

Boarding for non-high loyalty tier passengers is between 1-4pm. I’m guessing the bag drops would open at the usual time and I’m assuming it will be a long chaotic queue….

We will probably arrive at 12 to get to the start of the line.

[Zetta83]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

P&O has staggered check-in for our cruise next Monday. However, we found the same as you. On our cruise a few weeks ago I missed out getting the early check-in because I was away on the world cruise. I was only able to get 1pm check in but when we arrived at the terminal, no-one asked what time we were supposed to be there.😁

On both my P&O cruises at Whitebay, the times were used as sequence to check in and boarding. This is of course with the exception of Bryon club and privileged casino guest. 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Zetta83

[Aus Traveller]

5 minutes ago, Zetta83 said:

On both my P&O cruises at Whitebay, the times were following from checking in to boarding seq. This is of course with the excepting of Bryon club and privileged casino guest. 

Our P&O cruises are from the Brisbane terminal.

[Zetta83]

8 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Our P&O cruises are from the Brisbane terminal.

Yes. On Encounter it was a dash into the hall and straight upstairs. But there are still separate queues for byron.

 

Funny thing is, during COVID, the lines for cruise ready was way longer than the not ready. However the staff was dispatching both queues alternatingly. The cruise ready queue sure were upset being trapped in an enclosed space with hundreds of cruise ready passengers while the not cruise ready whizz by.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It also shows the boarding times in the Travel Summary

 

Your ship begins boarding at 01:00PM on Nov 04 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Nov 04.

 

But we also know it will take more than 3 hours to board and muster that many passengers, so boarding starts earlier - or embarkation is later.

[Zetta83]

52 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Your ship begins boarding at 01:00PM on Nov 04 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Nov 04.

 

But we also know it will take more than 3 hours to board and muster that many passengers, so boarding starts earlier - or embarkation is later.

I checked mine and it states: "Your ship begins boarding at 12:00PM on Dec 10 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Dec 10."

 

Which makes me think if it is a case of different voyage different boarding time, or the boarding time is an hour earlier for EPS? 

 

Either way, I will be chased out of my hotel by 10am and be at the Pier by 10.30am latest. I will sit there like a homeless dude with my bags and coffee until they open. 

[ceeceeDee]

40 minutes ago, Zetta83 said:

I checked mine and it states: "Your ship begins boarding at 12:00PM on Dec 10 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Dec 10."

 

Which makes me think if it is a case of different voyage different boarding time, or the boarding time is an hour earlier for EPS? 

 

Either way, I will be chased out of my hotel by 10am and be at the Pier by 10.30am latest. I will sit there like a homeless dude with my bags and coffee until they open. 

I take it you can't get a late check out time from the hotel?

[Zetta83]

13 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

I take it you can't get a late check out time from the hotel?

I checked and actually I lied. Normal check out at pullman is 11am. So, 12pm is fine. Boarding probably open at ~11am. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Zetta83 said:

I checked mine and it states: "Your ship begins boarding at 12:00PM on Dec 10 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Dec 10."

 

Which makes me think if it is a case of different voyage different boarding time, or the boarding time is an hour earlier for EPS? 

 

Either way, I will be chased out of my hotel by 10am and be at the Pier by 10.30am latest. I will sit there like a homeless dude with my bags and coffee until they open. 

1pm is probably factoring in that the first of the season could be a SS, so at least they are adjusting their times in expectation of delays instead of communicating on the run on the day like they did last year.

 

PS: We are EPS, so the 1pm is the official check-in time, but it will be up to an hour earlier if disembark is smooth. Initially they will call for EPS when they open check-in, but then it will be open boarding with split lines for priority/regular check-in at the top of the escalator.

Edited October 20, 2023 by arxcards
PS

[LittleFish1976]

On 10/19/2023 at 8:06 PM, Ondine said:

I am going on Grand Princess on Monday.  About a week ago the QR code just appeared on my phone app which stated that boarding was from 1.30 to 4.00pm.  I guess you can rock up anytime during this period.  Not sure if suites get an earlier time.  Hopefully there will be a elite lane when I get there.

It also stated that my cabin was pending which I hope is a glitch because I have a specific cabin chosen since booking around 18 mths ago which shows up on the computer version.

 

I'm also boarding the Grand next Monday and have been given the same boarding window of 1.30 to 4pm. I'm in a mini-suite but it doesn't seem to have affected my check in time.

 

Could your cabin be pending due to an upgrade bid in process?

 

 

[Jean C]

21 hours ago, Zetta83 said:

I checked mine and it states: "Your ship begins boarding at 12:00PM on Dec 10 and sets sail at 04:00PM on Dec 10."

 

Which makes me think if it is a case of different voyage different boarding time, or the boarding time is an hour earlier for EPS? 

 

Either way, I will be chased out of my hotel by 10am and be at the Pier by 10.30am latest. I will sit there like a homeless dude with my bags and coffee until they open. 

Hi, I checked my travel summary for our boarding time in November (too early still for our QR code) - ours says 1-4pm, we're platinum so should get priority boarding. I checked what my daughter's boarding time is for their cabin and it's also 1-4pm, even though they're blue loyalty status. Just wondering if it's a standard statement and if our QR will give an earlier time? We'll have two grandkids in our cabin who are also newbie cruisers, so maybe we're downgraded to their boarding time rather than them upgraded to ours? 

 

We too will get there very early from a flight, probably before 11am - will put my sunhat between my feet and see if wealthy cruisers take pity on the homeless and add to our coffers, hehehe 💵 

[OzKiwiJJ]

No, the boarding time won't change unless the ship arrives late. Essentially they've gone back to the pre-Covid style of boarding.

[arxcards]

22 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Hi, I checked my travel summary for our boarding time in November (too early still for our QR code) - ours says 1-4pm, we're platinum so should get priority boarding. I checked what my daughter's boarding time is for their cabin and it's also 1-4pm, even though they're blue loyalty status. Just wondering if it's a standard statement and if our QR will give an earlier time? We'll have two grandkids in our cabin who are also newbie cruisers, so maybe we're downgraded to their boarding time rather than them upgraded to ours? 

 

We too will get there very early from a flight, probably before 11am - will put my sunhat between my feet and see if wealthy cruisers take pity on the homeless and add to our coffers, hehehe 💵 

As Julie says, there are no boarding times. Priority isn't via an earlier check-in time, but a priority line in the terminal for check-in. After check-in opens, there is usually a short delay till boarding starts, and they will call those with priority boarding ahead of those with no priority.