diff --git a/src/Explorer/Quickstart/QuickstartGuide.tsx b/src/Explorer/Quickstart/QuickstartGuide.tsx
index 9df39de0f..48a7a9a79 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Quickstart/QuickstartGuide.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Quickstart/QuickstartGuide.tsx
@@ -96,12 +96,18 @@ export const QuickstartGuide: React.FC = (): JSX.Element => {
       <Stack style={{ flexGrow: 1, padding: "0 20px", overflow: "auto" }}>
         <Text variant="xxLarge">Quick start guide</Text>
         {currentStep < 5 && (
-          <Pivot style={{ marginTop: 10, width: "100%" }} selectedKey={GuideSteps[currentStep]}>
+          <Pivot
+            style={{ marginTop: 10, width: "100%" }}
+            selectedKey={GuideSteps[currentStep]}
+            onLinkClick={(item?: PivotItem) => setCurrentStep(Object.values(GuideSteps).indexOf(item.props.itemKey))}
+          >
             <PivotItem
               headerText="Login"
               onRenderItemLink={(props, defaultRenderer) => customPivotHeaderRenderer(props, defaultRenderer, 0)}
               itemKey={GuideSteps[0]}
-              onClick={() => setCurrentStep(0)}
+              onClick={() => {
+                setCurrentStep(0);
+              }}
             >
               <Stack style={{ marginTop: 20 }}>
                 <Text>
diff --git a/src/Explorer/Tabs/QuickstartTab.tsx b/src/Explorer/Tabs/QuickstartTab.tsx
index 5a3aac58c..b077c8273 100644
--- a/src/Explorer/Tabs/QuickstartTab.tsx
+++ b/src/Explorer/Tabs/QuickstartTab.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Spinner, SpinnerSize, Stack } from "@fluentui/react";
+import { Spinner, SpinnerSize, Stack, Text } from "@fluentui/react";
 import { configContext } from "ConfigContext";
 import { NotebookWorkspaceConnectionInfo, PostgresFirewallRule } from "Contracts/DataModels";
 import { NotebookTerminalComponent } from "Explorer/Controls/Notebook/NotebookTerminalComponent";
@@ -69,7 +69,15 @@ export const QuickstartTab: React.FC<QuickstartTabProps> = ({ explorer }: Quicks
           />
         )}
         {isAllPublicIPAddressEnabled && !notebookServerInfo?.notebookServerEndpoint && (
-          <Spinner styles={{ root: { marginTop: 10 } }} size={SpinnerSize.large}></Spinner>
+          <Stack style={{ margin: "auto 0" }}>
+            <Text block style={{ margin: "auto" }}>
+              Connecting to the PostgreSQL shell.
+            </Text>
+            <Text block style={{ margin: "auto" }}>
+              If the cluster was just created, this could take up to a minute.
+            </Text>
+            <Spinner styles={{ root: { marginTop: 16 } }} size={SpinnerSize.large}></Spinner>
+          </Stack>
         )}
       </Stack>
     </Stack>
diff --git a/src/Phoenix/PhoenixClient.ts b/src/Phoenix/PhoenixClient.ts
index aea03f8aa..ddc4d563a 100644
--- a/src/Phoenix/PhoenixClient.ts
+++ b/src/Phoenix/PhoenixClient.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,11 @@ export class PhoenixClient {
   }
 
   public async allocateContainer(provisionData: IProvisionData): Promise<IResponse<IPhoenixServiceInfo>> {
-    return this.executeContainerAssignmentOperation(provisionData, "allocate");
+    return promiseRetry(() => this.executeContainerAssignmentOperation(provisionData, "allocate"), {
+      retries: 4,
+      maxTimeout: 20000,
+      minTimeout: 20000,
+    });
   }
 
   public async resetContainer(provisionData: IProvisionData): Promise<IResponse<IPhoenixServiceInfo>> {
@@ -80,9 +84,12 @@ export class PhoenixClient {
       }
       const phoenixError = responseJson as IPhoenixError;
       if (response.status === HttpStatusCodes.Forbidden) {
-        throw new Error(this.ConvertToForbiddenErrorString(phoenixError));
+        if (phoenixError.message === "Sequence contains no elements") {
+          throw Error("Phoenix container allocation failed, please try again later.");
+        }
+        throw new AbortError(this.ConvertToForbiddenErrorString(phoenixError));
       }
-      throw new Error(phoenixError.message);
+      throw new AbortError(phoenixError.message);
     } catch (error) {
       error.status = response?.status;
       throw error;
diff --git a/src/Terminal/JupyterLabAppFactory.ts b/src/Terminal/JupyterLabAppFactory.ts
index 6d85c9e7b..f6698d58d 100644
--- a/src/Terminal/JupyterLabAppFactory.ts
+++ b/src/Terminal/JupyterLabAppFactory.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ export class JupyterLabAppFactory {
     // Attach the widget to the dom.
     Widget.attach(panel, document.body);
 
+    // Switch focus to the terminal
+    term.activate();
+
     // Handle resize events.
     window.addEventListener("resize", () => {
       panel.update();