Surviving Embarkation

Hi guys. I have been on one cruise before. It was a short, 4 night Bahamas super cheap cruise with girlfriends. It was very rowdy. I nearly ran off the ship the first few hours I was so freaked out with the crowds and the horde descending on the buffet and bars. It got way better but that first few hours generally shell shocked me.

I have convinced my husband, 4 years later, to go on an Alaska cruise. Out of Vancouver on celebrity infinity.

He has never been on a cruise and has never really wanted to. I want to avoid that "festive mess" and overwhelming feeling for him. But I don't know how or what to do?! On my only cruise, I just followed the herd and freaked out.

Help me ease him in to enjoy cruising.

Any tips for a nice embarkation ??

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a 4 night cruise is a booze cruise, period, all of people trying to cram as much fun as possible into as short a time as possible.

to avoid the insanity, do not be there right away. wait until say noon or 1pm. the cabin will be ready at 1 pm, so you could go straight there to drop your carry ons off.

check the Celebrity board to find advice/ideas on calmer places to have lunch, even if there is a fee involved.

Avoid buffet, nearly all cruise ships have a sit down restaurant open on embarkation day. Cruise staff will always try and send you to the buffet. Ignore them. You will have to study layout of ship so you can find the restaurant without help from crew. That way you can have a relaxing lunch and a drink to toast the start of your cruise. This is my cruise tradition ☺ in fact I always have lunch in a sit down restaurant on sea days. It's a nice calm way relax. If you go on your roll call or celebrity page the experienced cruisers will be able to tell which restaurants are open. Also the crowd on celebrity is totally different than a 4 day booze cruise, so though they are looking for a fun time it won't be all about the partying ☺ I'm sure you will both have fun.

I agree with the other responses. Just relax. You do not have to be the first on.

Eating in the MDR instead of the buffet for lunch after boarding will reduce the stress.

After lunch, find a quiet spot to sit and relax. Many of the lounges are not open in the afternoon, but you can go sit and read or talk or whatever you two like to do.

I'd agree with all of the above posters but for the crucial fact your next cruise is from Vancouver...

The sitdown lunch is simply not worth the grief of getting caught up in the embarking hordes - unlike all US ports, for cruises out of Vancouver you have an additional step: US Immigration! To avoid having to station enough staff in tiny Alaskan ports to process shiploads of cruisers, instead CBP staff work here pre-clearing you.

Arriving at Canada Place at noon is about the worst start to a relaxing cruise possible, unless you are the only vessel that day (in which case it's perfect). The cruise schedule is here. If it's this season, the Infinity always shares the port with one HAL ship, and every second week there is also Crystal Serenity for a chunk of the summer.

Based on multiple embarkations, living here and walking around a lot in cruise season, and that my wife's office window overlooks the pier I'd say we have a pretty good idea how busy things get for Vancouver cruise departures, and we now wait until 2pm to turn up at the pier if there is more than one ship in port. Tour the city, have a massage, spring for a nice sit-down lunch somewhere downtown, and when you roll up you should have minimal delays in the boarding process.

A 4 nighter is not the same a s a week-long cruise! 3-4 nighters are "party" cruises!

Just go, and have fun. You don't have to participate in anything...do what you want...when you want! So easy!

Alaskan cruises are NOT "party" cruises...folks are there to see the Alaskan sights...it's all about Alaska!

Hi guys. I have been on one cruise before. It was a short, 4 night Bahamas super cheap cruise with girlfriends. It was very rowdy. I nearly ran off the ship the first few hours I was so freaked out with the crowds and the horde descending on the buffet and bars. It got way better but that first few hours generally shell shocked me.

 

I have convinced my husband, 4 years later, to go on an Alaska cruise. Out of Vancouver on celebrity infinity.

 

He has never been on a cruise and has never really wanted to. I want to avoid that "festive mess" and overwhelming feeling for him. But I don't know how or what to do?! On my only cruise, I just followed the herd and freaked out.

 

Help me ease him in to enjoy cruising.

Any tips for a nice embarkation ??

 

 

 

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Have never cruised out of Vancouver, but for our Ft Lauderdale cruise with our family, we're just going to show up later and not do lunch on board. We're driving down the day of as we only live 2 1/2 hrs north. We plan on getting a nice lunch somewhere in Ft Lauderdale before dropping our car off the park n go and getting to the port a little after 1 or thereabout. Much less stressful, and we can walk right onboard and to our staterooms to start enjoying! If something like that is a viable option for you I would consider it.

As others have said, 4 night Bahamas cruises are a far cry from a longer Alaskan cruise. You'll still have a little of the first day chaos, but it should be better and you won't get anything approaching the party crowds that tend to favor the shorter, cheaper cruises. I'm jealous of you getting to go on that Alaskan cruise as we haven't managed to check that box yet, enjoy!

I'd agree with all of the above posters but for the crucial fact your next cruise is from Vancouver...

 

The sitdown lunch is simply not worth the grief of getting caught up in the embarking hordes - unlike all US ports, for cruises out of Vancouver you have an additional step: US Immigration! To avoid having to station enough staff in tiny Alaskan ports to process shiploads of cruisers, instead CBP staff work here pre-clearing you.

 

Arriving at Canada Place at noon is about the worst start to a relaxing cruise possible, unless you are the only vessel that day (in which case it's perfect). The cruise schedule is here. If it's this season, the Infinity always shares the port with one HAL ship, and every second week there is also Crystal Serenity for a chunk of the summer.

 

Based on multiple embarkations, living here and walking around a lot in cruise season, and that my wife's office window overlooks the pier I'd say we have a pretty good idea how busy things get for Vancouver cruise departures, and we now wait until 2pm to turn up at the pier if there is more than one ship in port. Tour the city, have a massage, spring for a nice sit-down lunch somewhere downtown, and when you roll up you should have minimal delays in the boarding process.

Thanks! Very helpful. We come in very late the night before and are staying by the airport. Can we drop bags and then leave for an in town lunch, or do we have to keep our bags til we are through customs?

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This is all great advice. Hopefully we can just get on later if we can find somewhere to park our suitcases. If not I will find the main dining room! Thank you!

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Don't worry! You're going to find your cruise to Alaska on Celebrity to be quite different from the 4 Day Bahamas cruise you took. ;)

Short cruises tend to be "Different".

Thanks! Very helpful. We come in very late the night before and are staying by the airport. Can we drop bags and then leave for an in town lunch, or do we have to keep our bags til we are through customs?

You can drop bags with the Longshoremen (no tip required - very well paid chaps!) from 10am-ish. Treat it like airport checked bags - keep anything important on you, especially documentation - but big suitcases full of clothes etc can be dropped off and will appear in your cabin later.

Sorry cathMartin-dumb questions. Is giving the longshoremen the last time I see my bags til the cabin, or do I need to retrieve them and have celebrity do "whatever" with them?

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Sorry cathMartin-dumb questions. Is giving the longshoremen the last time I see my bags til the cabin, or do I need to retrieve them and have celebrity do "whatever" with them?

 

 

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You will next see your bags in the cabin unless Celebrity suspects you have one or more prohibited items in there. If so you will be called to the "Naughty Room" to open the bagfor inspection. This has never happened to us in about 50 cruises.

Thanks!!!! A plan is formulating. Now, looking for a dim sum walkable from pier. Never had it, so I need a restaurant with helpful staff. Suggestions welcome! We will be there on a Sunday if that matters

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+1 to what Paul said.

There is also luggage storage at the pier - so if for some reason you are traveling with only big bags and no backpacks etc. to carry essentials around in, you could leave one or more bags that you don't want to carry around downtown but do want to carry on to the ship with them for $8 each (CDS/Priority Baggage - same company, not sure which brand will be displayed at pier this season).

The hotel at the pier - Pan Pacific - or directly across the street - Fairmont Waterfront - also both have bell staff who are generally happy to stash a bag or three for a generous pre-emptive tip (word is that $5 per bag is sufficient).

But really unless you have nothing small enough to walk around with for keeping docs handy, just handing everything over to the Longshoremen is the way to go. As long as you put them next to the correct conveyor - which are clearly marked with which ship they go to - they should definitely get to your cabin, and if you do take my advice to lunch on-shore your bags should make it before you do!

Edit: Man that was poor timing! Just saw your dim sum Q when I posted this...

'Helpful Staff' and 'Dim Sum' are not phrases that usually belong together unfortunately. Generally speaking, the more authentic the experience the surlier the staff! While those of us with lots of Dim Sum experience mostly prefer to order from menus (food always arrives at right temp/texture), the wheely carts bringing random goodies around is part of the fun, especially for your first go. That means I'd have to somewhat grudgingly point you at a rather mediocre resto, Floata, if you're after the sort of thing you usually see in the movies (huge room with asian decor, lots of carts, big round tables). If you can forego the carts, the best Dim Sum and likeliest to have staff with decent English and a willingness to help out some poor Gwai Loh is probably Kirin. If you don't mind hopping in a cab or a very long walk, the most award-winningest dim sum service downtown has been Dynasty on Broadway for the last two or three years.

Wow thanks!!! I just looked at the menus and have no idea what I am looking at. Maybe we should save dim sum for when we have an old hand with us... I'm from Charleston sc. We have great restaurants but almost zero Asian influence.

Any other ideas on a fun lunch near to cruise port?

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As I recall there is a good selection of places around Canada Place.

We are almost neighbors. We live in Greenville, SC. Have a son & family in Mt. Pleasant. They own My Father's Moustache - a restaurant in MP.

Wow thanks!!! I just looked at the menus and have no idea what I am looking at. Maybe we should save dim sum for when we have an old hand with us... I'm from Charleston sc. We have great restaurants but almost zero Asian influence.

 

Any other ideas on a fun lunch near to cruise port?

You could try something a bit more accessible, but still with some Asian dishes - given our proximity to Asia and local demographics, it's a rare restaurant that doesn't have some fusion food.

You could do a lot worse than Cactus Club, which has a pretty broad menu (the Coal Harbour branch is just the other side of the Convention Centre, about two blocks west of Canada Place). Great views and while not cheap, even without the US Dollar Discount (currently 20% off) it delivers excellent value for money. Their stellar Tuna Tataki has morphed into a Stack (I've yet to try this incarnation, sounds halfway to Poke in style) but fortunately my absolute fave remains on the menu - the prawn ravioli (not Asian, but deeeelish). Any dish marked with the little RF is nothing to do with a Swiss tennis superstar, but instead a creation of Rob Feenie - a local celeb chef who works with CCC.

Other spots nearby popular with locals are a couple of the bars - Tap & Barrel has a patio next to Cactus Club, some of the best views in the city on a nice day. If you fancy a little cruise to whet your appetite for your real cruise, hop on the Seabus to North Vancouver ($2.75pp) - as well as the Lonsdale Quay market, like a much smaller Granville or Pike Place, there's another T&B in the old shipworks over there with views back to downtown and the cruise terminal.

Rogue has a branch across the street from the convention centre, plus the original inside Waterfront Station (if you come downtown from the airport by Skytrain, this is where you arrive - Seabus also goes from here).

Both of these do pretty good food and a great range of beers - most local, from here or WA or OR - and T&B also have many locals wines on draft. Rogue focuses more on beer - especially IPA which is extremely popular in the PNW.

Since it's a Sunday and I'm saving you an hour or so of waiting at Canada Place, you might also consider burning some of that time by waiting in line for Sunday Brunch at Medina. It's a sort of Moroccan/Belgian/West Coast fusion joint and has been doing the best brunch in the city since it opened. The best waffles anywhere - and I include all of Belgium in that, they've been coasting on their rep for years ;-)

Despite many worthy competitors raising the bar since, it remains THE hot ticket for lunch or brunch - queues occur pretty much daily even on winter weekdays and summer weekends with tourists added to the equation you can easily end up with a 45min wait for a 2-top. No resos, not even special treatment for celebs - you might be waiting in line with any of the many Hollywood types who call Vancouver home while filming.

Whoa medina sounds amazing. Is it walkable? Either way that is where I am going.

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As I recall there is a good selection of places around Canada Place.

 

We are almost neighbors. We live in Greenville, SC. Have a son & family in Mt. Pleasant. They own My Father's Moustache - a restaurant in MP.

Wei hey neighbor ! Heading to Greenville Tuesday! Lovely town!

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Wei hey neighbor ! Heading to Greenville Tuesday! Lovely town!

 

 

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And, does that mean YOU are the mustache? Great restaurant!

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Wei hey neighbor ! Heading to Greenville Tuesday! Lovely town!

 

 

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Was reading your post and you will love your cruise to Alaska...so tranquil & relaxing. You will both find this a great cruise so don't stress out about the party scene. Enjoy your cruise. Wish we were on the same cruise as it would have been fun to meet up with you all...

I am originally from Anderson, S.C. but now live outside of Seattle. My Sis-in-law and Brother-in-law are coming in from Greenville, S.C. for their 1st cruise to Alaska but we are on the Westerdam out of Seattle in July.

Whoa medina sounds amazing. Is it walkable? Either way that is where I am going.

Very easy to find on foot - 15mins, much closer than the 30min walk I see you're willing to do on your other post. Here's a google map from the pier - I recommend the route I flagged (Howe/Dunsmuir/Richards) rather than the other two equidistant options, as both of them have you going down alleyways - not scary ones, but why walk past dumpsters when you don't have to!

I also recommend walking on the east side of Richards on the last leg (your left side as you walk from the pier) as the queue lines up northward from the entrance. Richards is busy enough that jaywalking is unsafe, not just unlawful, and by the time you cross at the lights from the west side of the street and walk back to the end of the line another party or two might have snagged 'your' spot!

If you want to find out the ballpark seating time, it is crucial to leave one of your party in the queue to hold your spot. Folks get mighty miffed at even a hint of possible line-cutting given the popularity of Medina. They do round up a little, but not to Canadian Standard - if they say 45mins, they mean 'probably 35' rather than '20-25.'

Should the wait be longer than you're willing to handle, it's still well within your 30mins each way tolerance to head from Medina along to Kirin for dim sum then back to the pier.

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