caravan12 Posted November 3, 2023 #1 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I don’t know if people are aware of Cunard new boarding policy. Can I say we are Diamond members and have been for many years. I was very surprised when checking in this morning for our 24 November voyage that we had been given a boarding time of 3.30 pm with boarding closing at 4.00. Thinking this must be a mistake I rang Cunard to be told they now boarded deck by deck and ‘priority’ means that you get priority for that particular deck which of course means very little and that genuine priority boarding for diamond members has disappeared. I pointed out that their own website extols the virtues of priority boarding and now does not deliver this. Pointed out that first time cruisers on different decks would have boarded before us. All to no avail. They did say the website was being updated. Not a happy bunny! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted November 3, 2023 #2 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I have been given 2 30 which is also very late and no priority printed on the boarding pass either. I am going to check website to see how this is now phrased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishgirl01 Posted November 3, 2023 #3 Share Posted November 3, 2023 We have got 1.15 was initially disappointed but perhaps it’s not so bad. Just have to hope our hotel isn’t to busy and they don’t mind us waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted November 3, 2023 #4 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) We are on the same cruise in PG and for the first time as a Diamond member. we are on deck 6 and have a boarding time of 1pm and states on boarding pass "priority boarding". Sounds to me as if it is another "perk" of CWC being lost so does make you wonder about loyalty to Cunard. Edited November 3, 2023 by majortom10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted November 3, 2023 #5 Share Posted November 3, 2023 47 minutes ago, caravan12 said: I don’t know if people are aware of Cunard new boarding policy. Can I say we are Diamond members and have been for many years. I was very surprised when checking in this morning for our 24 November voyage that we had been given a boarding time of 3.30 pm with boarding closing at 4.00. Thinking this must be a mistake I rang Cunard to be told they now boarded deck by deck and ‘priority’ means that you get priority for that particular deck which of course means very little and that genuine priority boarding for diamond members has disappeared. I pointed out that their own website extols the virtues of priority boarding and now does not deliver this. Pointed out that first time cruisers on different decks would have boarded before us. All to no avail. They did say the website was being updated. Not a happy bunny! Which deck are you on? And if it’s a perk offered in the (paper) brochure, they should stand by it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caravan12 Posted November 3, 2023 Author #6 Share Posted November 3, 2023 We are on Deck 6 in a balcony cabin. Diamond is shown on pass but no priority. Argued about what it says on website but they wouldn’t budge, It seems to me that Diamond means less and less as time goes by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted November 3, 2023 #7 Share Posted November 3, 2023 3 minutes ago, caravan12 said: We are on Deck 6 in a balcony cabin. Diamond is shown on pass but no priority. Argued about what it says on website but they wouldn’t budge, It seems to me that Diamond means less and less as time goes by. If you are 3.30 (very near the end) and on Deck 6, one can only wonder where they are starting from. Have you tried ringing again and talking to a different person? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted November 3, 2023 #8 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) I have my two daughters and their partners with me . One is deck 10, one deck 6 and myself deck 5. I will check their times later. They are Platinum but won’t mean anything it seems. Edited November 3, 2023 by Winifred 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matdark Posted November 3, 2023 #9 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) I am also a platinum member, I have a sheltered balcony cabin on deck 4 (QM2) and I have been assigned 3PM for a final boarding time at 4PM. There's no mention of Platinum, or priority boarding, on my boarding pass, but "loyalty tier: red". I had to reach out to CWC because mycunard.com initially showed "no loyalty tier" (whereas the correct info was on cunard.com). They changed it but the boarding passes may have been issued before that. I haven't had a chance to cruise with Cunard these last years, but I do remember that the last time I did, being a Platinum member allowed to board the ship pretty early. Which was nice. Edited November 3, 2023 by matdark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caravan12 Posted November 3, 2023 Author #10 Share Posted November 3, 2023 Yes have spoken to 3 different people including senior supervisor and they won’t budge. Have got a month booked on Queen Anne next year which I feel like cancelling if this is the way they treat their loyal customers. It seems loyalty counts for nothing now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted November 3, 2023 #11 Share Posted November 3, 2023 12 minutes ago, caravan12 said: Yes have spoken to 3 different people including senior supervisor and they won’t budge. Have got a month booked on Queen Anne next year which I feel like cancelling if this is the way they treat their loyal customers. It seems loyalty counts for nothing now. You are going to cancel a whole month’s cruise(s) because of a slight over boarding, which is a pretty small part of the whole experience. Isn’t that a little disproportionate? However, for you, as there is scope for so much more unhappiness over minor episodes, particularly on a new ship, it may well be the right thing to do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LadyL1 Posted November 3, 2023 #12 Share Posted November 3, 2023 We are on this cruise also. On the Cunard webpage it says (with caveat) where operationally possible. If a huge percentage of the passengers are in the top tiers, which is highly likely, perhaps priority boarding is deemed not operationally possible. Who knows? A Platinum membership pin.3 A total of $80 internet credit to redeem against one of our on board Wi-Fi plans.9 20% saving on Laundry/Specialist Cleaning.7 Priority check-in at New York and Southampton.5 Complimentary on board wine tasting.6 10% saving on our White Star luggage service. An invitation to the senior officers' party*.4,5,6 5 Where operationally possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted November 3, 2023 #13 Share Posted November 3, 2023 37 minutes ago, caravan12 said: Yes have spoken to 3 different people including senior supervisor and they won’t budge. Have got a month booked on Queen Anne next year which I feel like cancelling if this is the way they treat their loyal customers. It seems loyalty counts for nothing now. I will be honest with what seems the decline of loyalty tiers and the fact they have stopped UK cruiser's from purchasing Future Cruise Deposits, but not US/Canadian cruiser's, I am become very disillusioned. Because we cannot purchase FCDs we have cruised less than what we did pre pandemic and can see it getting even less or stopping altogether. There are other cruise lines out there that offer as good an experience as Cunard for less money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caravan12 Posted November 3, 2023 Author #14 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I entirely agree majortom. The ability to purchase FCC on board was good. I do have Carnival shares and wonder what might happen to shareholder benefits. I might be wrong but I think they have stopped the bottle of fizz. I’m just hoping the food is as good as it used to be as haven’t cruised with Cunard this year so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted November 3, 2023 #15 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I don’t think I on my short cruise there will a problem of there being too many higher level tiers. Even on my recent T A in August there were only 135 Diamond. Sailing at capacity. Similarly on a recent 3 night anecdotally by the number of red cards I saw I think W C members would have been in minority. Hey ho very annoying if it’s a perk no longer offered but I will get over it. Interested to know what deck is first for future reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted November 3, 2023 #16 Share Posted November 3, 2023 5 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said: I don’t think I on my short cruise there will a problem of there being too many higher level tiers. Even on my recent T A in August there were only 135 Diamond. Sailing at capacity. Similarly on a recent 3 night anecdotally by the number of red cards I saw I think W C members would have been in minority. Hey ho very annoying if it’s a perk no longer offered but I will get over it. Interested to know what deck is first for future reference. Yes, the order of decks seems rather baffling. Anyway, they probably change it every time, just to keep everyone on their toes. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matdark Posted November 3, 2023 #17 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) I wouldn't mind if it was a regular cruise TBH, but since this one is a very short 3 nights break (to introduce the QM2 to my 7yo son), every hour on board counts 🙂 This "loyalty tier: red" puzzles me though, I remember that new cruisers used to have a red stripe on their cards Edited November 3, 2023 by matdark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted November 3, 2023 #18 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I think if Cunard is wise, they wise they might wish to grant you a special dispensation, so that your son doesn’t succumb to extreme over-excitement. I know I wouldn’t have been able to contain myself had I been lucky enough to go on a Cunard ship at that age. Have you asked them about ‘loyalty tier red’? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winifred 22 Posted November 3, 2023 #19 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) 33 minutes ago, matdark said: I wouldn't mind if it was a regular cruise TBH, but since this one is a very short 3 nights break (to introduce the QM2 to my 7yo son), every hour on board counts 🙂 This "loyalty tier: red" puzzles me though, I remember that new cruisers used to have a red stripe on their cards First time cruisers still get red. Your son will be a red and have a red as this his first time. You should have a proper platinum card. I don’t think once the template for the boarding passes is set they amend unless there is a cabin change. Edited November 3, 2023 by Winifred 22 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matdark Posted November 3, 2023 #20 Share Posted November 3, 2023 11 minutes ago, exlondoner said: I think if Cunard is wise, they wise they might wish to grant you a special dispensation, so that your son doesn’t succumb to extreme over-excitement. I know I wouldn’t have been able to contain myself had I been lucky enough to go on a Cunard ship at that age. Have you asked them about ‘loyalty tier red’? I haven't yet, but I will now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyPanda Posted November 3, 2023 #21 Share Posted November 3, 2023 55 minutes ago, matdark said: I wouldn't mind if it was a regular cruise TBH, but since this one is a very short 3 nights break (to introduce the QM2 to my 7yo son), every hour on board counts 🙂 This "loyalty tier: red" puzzles me though, I remember that new cruisers used to have a red stripe on their cards If your loyalty tier is Red then Cunard sees you as a first time cruiser. If this is incorrect, it is likely your booking isn't connected to your Cunard World Club number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matdark Posted November 3, 2023 #22 Share Posted November 3, 2023 That's what I was afraid of, thank you. I had it corrected on cunard.com, then on mycunard.com as the two were strangely not linked, and have just asked them to re-issue our boarding passes (they were probably published before these corrections). I've also taken exlondoner's advice and suggested that for my son's sake, the sooner the better 😉 I'll keep you posted 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted November 3, 2023 #23 Share Posted November 3, 2023 9 minutes ago, matdark said: That's what I was afraid of, thank you. I had it corrected on cunard.com, then on mycunard.com as the two were strangely not linked, and have just asked them to re-issue our boarding passes (they were probably published before these corrections). I've also taken exlondoner's advice and suggested that for my son's sake, the sooner the better 😉 I'll keep you posted One caveat: if they do give you an earlier boarding time, say 1.30, the terminal may be much busier and you may have to queue for longer. On the other hand, you will probably breeze through with barely a pause after 3 pm. So, while you will get on board earlier, your son may actually have a more frustrating time queueing with an earlier checkin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted November 3, 2023 #24 Share Posted November 3, 2023 2 hours ago, exlondoner said: Yes, the order of decks seems rather baffling. Anyway, they probably change it every time, just to keep everyone on their toes. 🙂 Personally don't think embarkation on deck order is factual and just an excuse given by Customer Services who half the time don't know what they are talking about. We are deck 6 in PG with priority boarding, if I am correct caravan 12 is also on deck 6 in a balcony without priority boarding. If deck by deck and only given priority boarding on your deck cannot believe those with priority like myself at 1pm it then takes 2-5 hrs to embark the rest of deck 6 as caravan 12 is 3-30pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom10 Posted November 3, 2023 #25 Share Posted November 3, 2023 1 hour ago, exlondoner said: One caveat: if they do give you an earlier boarding time, say 1.30, the terminal may be much busier and you may have to queue for longer. On the other hand, you will probably breeze through with barely a pause after 3 pm. So, while you will get on board earlier, your son may actually have a more frustrating time queueing with an earlier checkin. If they resort to P&O method of check in they check your embarkation time at the entrance to terminal. If you are early as stated on boarding pass they don't even let you into the terminal you have to queue outside. We were bang on time of our boarding pass and we bypassed the queue of those that were early and the terminal was empty with every seat vacant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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