So, what you're saying is that for $7.50 per day I'm able to spend three hours on the internet doing something compared to being able to access it for only about 20 minutes most other places?
Given your experience, why would you see an improved check-in as something positive? I would have thought you'd be more likely to praise a quick, easy and timely disembarkation.
I believe the WHTI permits US citizens to enter the United States using documents other than a passport; it does not necessarily permit passengers to enter Canada although I believe that courtesy is extended to passengers arriving at a Canadian port on a cruise ship.
I read the recounting of your adventure. Maybe I'm luckier than I imagined... we have one track here in Ottawa.... east to Montreal, west to Toronto. Fortunately, no need to make quick decisions as the trains hardly ever run.
I'm glad not to have experienced anything like that. Between the cruise lines' unpreparedness for returning passengers and what seems like a general decline in civility, patience and tolerance, more of this sort of behaviour may be in the offing.