San pedro cruise port problems

[carol459]

We just got off the Spirit in San Pedro after a cruise to Cabo. The embarkation was a pain and the debarkation was a pain.

We got to the port at 11am and found out that no-one had even gotten off the ship yet. We waited in line for an hour or so and then went through the check in (we are platinum with priority boarding) ok and received #1 boarding passes. We were called to board and went to get on the ramp to board and there was a security officer checking sail n sign cards and photo ID. We got on the ramp and as we stepped onto the ship, there was another security officer checking sail n sign cards and photo IDs!!!

Needless to say, this slowed the process for boarding. We were to sail at 4pm, but there was a line of people still having to go through the ID check at 4:30. In the meantime, a load of supplies had been dumped into the water and had to be retrieved. We didn't cruise until nearly 6pm.

 

When we got back to San Pedro, we were late because bad weather (high waves and wind) slowed us down. This caused a delay for everyone. We had priority off-loading and were among the first off the ship at 10am. The people who were supposed to get off early(!!) by carrying their own luggage were still waiting when we left. I imagine a few missed their flights.

 

Has anyone experienced customs or security delays?? Is this a Carnival problem or a port problem??

Comments??

 

Rick

[SadieN]

We were onboard waiting to debark while you were in port waiting to embark.

 

The delay was that we had to wait for the Disney ship to dock before we could. Then many people waited in line and rushed to get off the ship even if they weren't doing self assist. By the time we got off using VIP debark at 11 just over half of the luggage by numbers were put out. This caused a delay for everyone.

 

Carnival usually uses Long Beach (Splendor & now Inspiration) and San Diego (Spirit) in SoCal. No one could figure out why the Spirit was using San Pedro for these few months.

[spencercoop]

We were onboard waiting to debark while you were in port waiting to embark.

 

The delay was that we had to wait for the Disney ship to dock before we could. Then many people waited in line and rushed to get off the ship even if they weren't doing self assist. By the time we got off using VIP debark at 11 just over half of the luggage by numbers were put out. This caused a delay for everyone.

 

Carnival usually uses Long Beach (Splendor & now Inspiration) and San Diego (Spirit) in SoCal. No one could figure out why the Spirit was using San Pedro for these few months.

 

I think what they were doing was trying to see which port the Spirit cruises would sell better, San Diego or Los Angeles. But this is just a guess.

 

The reason they could not use long beach was because the Spirit is in port on Fridays and Sundays. The Paradise (now Inspiration) uses LB on Fridays and the Splendor uses it on Sundays.

[SadieN]

Your right about the Long Beach port schedule. Another consideration Long Beach is the availability of parking.

 

My guess about San Pedro and San Diego has to do with Port Fees.

[grnyel05]

I have sailed out of San Pedro five times and only had a delay embarking or disembarking once. That one time they did not start boarding until around 2:45 pm. On the other hand, I have also had one of my quickest boarding experiences out of San Pedro. I don't think San Pedro is any worse normally than Long Beach, as I have also had a couple delays both embarking and disembarking out of Long Beach.

 

Hope you had a fun cruise!

[carol459]

 

Hope you had a fun cruise!

 

We had a great cruise. I guess my real complaint was the single security officer checking ID/S&S as you got onto the boarding ramp, then having another single security officer checking ID/S&S as you stepped onto the ship.

Being a veteran cruiser, I have never seen that situation before and it caused a considerable delay getting onto the ship.

 

Rick

[freagan]

My guess would be the San Diego contract expired and Carnival got a better 1 season deal for San Pedro.

[pulledporky]

And to the other extreme:

We were on board by 11:30 AM 4 weeks ago. And 9 days later we were on the 110 freeway headed home by 8:00 AM (priority embark/debark). Disney came in after us.

[sassyredhat]

My guess would be the San Diego contract expired and Carnival got a better 1 season deal for San Pedro.

 

I heard this too. SD port fees are expensive.

Pat

[DrivesLikeMario]

The slow process you experienced is not normal for the Port of LA. Usually, you can get on and off ships pretty painlessly. I'm sure it had to do with not being one of the usual ships in port. Anytime there's the slightest change to their normal routine, they seem to have a hard time dealing with it.

 

There's plenty of parking there but the shuttles from the farther areas are hard to come by. 95% of the time, we've gotten there by 11am and always get one of the very front parking spaces right across from the ship. We've only had to park farther away twice. Once we were lucky to get the shuttle to the ship (it was raining) and once we walked (not fun with luggage - especially the stairs).