Speedy Boarding Comes To Cruising

If you`ve ever  read my blog before you’ll know that I hate queuing, whether its in a ship, airport or anywhere I hate it! The worst part of going on holiday is the queue that you have to negotiate before you can get anywhere, airports are bad but cruise terminals are worse – especially Southampton.

I am going away next week to France with EasyJet and have, once again, booked Speedy Boarding and Priority Bag Drop to avoid the queues – even at 6am in the morning the airport will be packed, so it will be heaven to go straight to the front of the queue! So it is with cautious optimism that I have read Royal Caribbean’s news this week.

The cruise line claims to have developed advanced technology which bring record check in times for ships such as Anthem and Quantum of the Seas. The aim is that guests will be able to board the ship in 10 minutes, with no check in desks, form filling or QUEUES!! The advances mean passengers, who already print their own cruise documents, will be able to upload their photo ID ( at least you`ll be able to choose a decent photograph ) and receive digital boarding credentials before arriving at the cruise terminal. Sounds brilliant – if you are computer literate and a lot of guests still aren`t, so what will happen to them ? What about security ? You can`t do that before you get to the port I`m sure.

It sounds great but I just wonder how a ship that holds nearly 5000 people can possibly hope to get them all on board in 10 minutes? Sailing out if Southampton is always a nightmare, unless its a mini cruise when you normally can just walk on. I always tell clients to get there early, as most passengers will aim for 1230 – 1pm, but still you have to wait. P&O hand out little cards and you sit, with very little to do, until your number is called. The worst terminal I have ever experienced was getting on board Costa Victoria in Savona where the seemed to be literally thousands of people milling around, and the wait was endless.

Having said all that anything that speeds up the process will be a bonus and hopefully the embarkation process will become much quicker and less stressful for everyone.

There is another innovation from Royal Caribbean which looks really good – you will be able to track your luggage from your smartphone – now that’s is impressive! I`m sure everyone has stood by the luggage carousel at the airport waiting for the last suitcases to arrive, and crossing everything that yours is one of them. Having lost luggage is the worst  thing ever and I know, it has happened to me on an Air France flight to Cairo. To be able to know exactly where your bag  is every step of the way is a huge advantage and will definitely take some of the stress away from embarkation day.

There are more innovations to come from Royal soon –  watch this space!