So, you are going on a cruise from Southampton, England. What happens, where do you park. Where do you drop your bags, how do you check-in or get on the ship? What exactly is ‘Sky Princess Embarkation’?
Fear not, we have created a short video showing what to expect when boarding the Sky Princess cruise ship. This also applies to most other ships departing from Southampton, we boarded Regal Princess a few weeks before from a different dock but the steps were very similar.
Here is the video…
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I do apologise for the poor audio quality in the video (and the video from time to time). It is shot on a phone and not professional but I hope it is of use to someone.
I tried to film the whole Sky Princess embarkation procedure from arrival at the port through to walking onto the ship.
Pre-Boarding Covid-19 Testing
I have separated off the Covid-19 testing into a separate blog entry as it may or may not apply to you. Hopefully, as we come out of the pandemic there will be no need for this step and you can just skip it. For the moment click here to see the Covid-19 testing procedure.
Lets start with the car
Hopefully, by the time you read this, you will know you really need to pre-pay for a valet car parking service. There are a few available, but with Princess Cruises at Southampton, the most popular seems to be CPS Car Parking.
We used them and they were excellent, when you arrive at the port you are directly clearing into a queue. When you reach the front a member of staff gives you a card and takes photos of your car. You must then take all of our luggage out of the car including any documents you need as this is the last time you will see your car before you return. CPS (or another company) will valet park the car for you, leaving you at the terminal with your bags.
Baggage drop off
Again, hopefully, you will have printed off your baggage tags, but don’t worry if you have not. There is someone at a desk issuing baggage tags, but the queue was long so if you have pre-printed yours this can save time.
You then proceed to the baggage drop off which is very close to the parking, almost like a curbside drop off at an airport. You bags will then be taken away and the next time you will see them will be in your stateroom.
Checking In
Again, just like at an airport you enter the terminal building and proceed to a check in desk. You will be issued with your room key or in the case of Princess your ‘medallion’ and directed to security.
Security
At security, you have to go through scanners, just like you do at an airport. You put your luggage on a belt so it is scanned. It is worth checking with your cruise line to see if they let you take alcohol onboard as the scanners may pick this up. With Princess I believe at the time of writing, you can take two bottles of wine onboard for consumption in your stateroom.
Proceed onto the ship
With security done and dusted all that is left to do is board the ship. Forget the days of rickety gangplanks, modern ships and terminals have airport style walkways. Simply follow the very clear directions and before you know it you will be on the ship.
Sky Princess embarkation complete
That is really all there is to it. I do recommend watching the embarkation video if you have ten minutes as once you have seen the steps in action they all make a lot more sense.
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