Crown debarkation "cluster" today

[Qcruise]

Just got off the Crown from our nice three nighter to Ensenada this morning....boy what a "cluster" it was. There were three ships in port, so we were docked in berth 46, which is 2.5 miles away from where we got on the ship. So customs came on board and ran every passenger through one of the dining rooms before getting off and being bussed to the terminal. If I can avoid a sailing like this in the future I will, but you don't find this out until a month or so before sailing. I suppose Princess did the best they could, but it was a mess. Other that that I'll say the Crown has some serious maintainence issues with her restrooms for sure. Two nights there were multiple restrooms on many of the floors off the theater and dining rooms that were closed due to problems.....it was pretty bad. The cabin was fine, and service was great too......any questions.....??

[atdahop]

Thanks for the update. How was the A/C in the cabins and the public areas?

[Coveguy4]

Getting on her in 8 days.....Hope it's a non issue with docking pier location

[TERESAh]

Just got off the Crown from our nice three nighter to Ensenada this morning....boy what a "cluster" it was. There were three ships in port, so we were docked in berth 46, which is 2.5 miles away from where we got on the ship. So customs came on board and ran every passenger through one of the dining rooms before getting off and being bussed to the terminal. If I can avoid a sailing like this in the future I will, but you don't find this out until a month or so before sailing. I suppose Princess did the best they could, but it was a mess. Other that that I'll say the Crown has some serious maintainence issues with her restrooms for sure. Two nights there were multiple restrooms on many of the floors off the theater and dining rooms that were closed due to problems.....it was pretty bad. The cabin was fine, and service was great too......any questions.....??

 

Should I request a mattress topper? How are the mattresses and pillows?

[shredie]

Yes. There were public restroom issues. They need to address those ASAP. The docking thing is pretty rare. There aren't often three ships in port.

[atdahop]

Getting on her in 8 days.....Hope it's a non issue with docking pier location

 

If you are on the 10th sailing as i am it is a non issue. The Crown will be the only ship in port for that day. Also in Encenada we will be the only ship in port.

[Qcruise]

Air conditioning worked fine throughout the ship....and our bed was very comfortable, but our friends was too firm.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like your cruise was a bust. Thats too bad. :(

[critterchick]

OH, good, I don't have to start a thread.:D

 

We are also just off the Crown. We sailed her on one of her Code Red cruises over New Year's and to be honest I wasn't really looking forward to this cruise. With constant graphic reminders of the symptoms of gastrointestinal distress (always at lunchtime, I might add), a crew that was run ragged from all of the dining venues needing extra help with serving and cleaning and a passenger debark that must have gone from Saturday to Tuesday (just a tiny exaggeration), we left the ship thinking she was our least favorite ship of all time. Disembarkation was a complete and utter fail - even though we docked at the usual port, passenger disembarkation didn't even start until after 9:00 (was supposed to be 8:00) and no explanation was given for the delay (this weekend we found out that there had been a full crew immigration check, which one would think they could have told us, since they aren't surprise inspections). THAT was a cluster of monumental proportions and led us to swear off ever leaving a bag out to collect again -we didn't leave the ship until 11:00 (we cleared onboard), and we were in the fifth group of luggage tags.

 

Fast forward to this weekend. Embarkation was flawless - we parked our car at 12:55 and made it to the dining room for lunch (it closed at 1:30), even had time to drop off our luggage in the cabin first.

 

The cruise was most enjoyable (it helped to be a Pats fan:D) - no Code Red, no endless lines for meals and snacks, room service delivered in 30 minutes or less, fabulous meals in Crown Grill and Sabatini's. The only downside for us was the musical entertainment - the orchestra played a couple of sets for dancing and played few songs to which one could actually dance. The Emperor Penguins combo had one of the worst singers on the high seas - she had a range of less than an octave, had trouble holding pitch and sounded like she was breathing helium. And they were EVERYWHERE. We never timed it to catch Rockin' Paradise - they weren't very good on the NYE cruise, but I read a glowing thread about them and thought that perhaps she was ill, so was looking forward to another go, but it didn't happen.

 

The crew were cheery, other than the pursers, who were glum and unfriendly. Thankfully we had no issues that needed their help, so our contact with them was minimal.

 

Oh, yes, disembarking, that's what this thread is about.:o We were dreading it - it brought our Roll Call down as those who got notices about the pier change (we didn't) were told that one person in each party would have to shuttle to the pier and leave the rest of the group and luggage behind, then return to pick them up.:eek: Thankfully somebody realized what a mess that would be.

 

Disembarkation started early - we got to Crown Grill (Platinum/Elite/Suite meeting place) at 7:45 (15 minutes early) and Group A had already gone off. We were in B, and called about 8:00 (the announced starting time). We had to then walk or take the elevator down 2 flights and cleared immigration onboard in the dining room. After that we walked straight off the ship, onto the bus, our luggage was loaded below and off we went.

 

I would say that it took us about 20 minutes more than the usual walking off the ship and finding our car in the parking lot, really not a big deal. However, we were in an early group, were about the 30th to get on the bus (which held 40) so didn't have a long wait for it to fill up. I had a feeling that later departures would be delayed quite a bit more.

 

I still can't say that Crown is my favorite ship - that Riviera deck and extra passengers makes it crowded - I don't think this cruise was anywhere near sold out, so it wasn't bad, but the NYE cruise had terrible crowds. But we would go on her again - as long as nothing goes wrong, it's a fine time.

[critterchick]

Oh, and a pier coordinator acquaintance told me that this was only the second time that a ship has embarked/disembarked at 46 - there have been port calls there, but they are a completely different operation. I thought it ran remarkably smoothly considering that, but would far rather have been able to disembark, hop in my car and go.

 

We have to go through it again in the fall on RCI's return to the Left Coast. I wish that the USS Iowa would move there, in the company of Lane Victory, to make a nice maritime museum/park, and let the cruise ships have all three terminals at the Cruise Port. But that's Pedro for you.

[Coveguy4]

If you are on the 10th sailing as i am it is a non issue. The Crown will be the only ship in port for that day. Also in Encenada we will be the only ship in port.

 

Great! Traffic will be lighter getting to ship.....(thanks for the info)

[RickEk]

Oh, yes, disembarking, that's what this thread is about.:o We were dreading it - it brought our Roll Call down as those who got notices about the pier change (we didn't) were told that one person in each party would have to shuttle to the pier and leave the rest of the group and luggage behind, then return to pick them up.:eek: Thankfully somebody realized what a mess that would be.

 

Disembarkation started early - we got to Crown Grill (Platinum/Elite/Suite meeting place) at 7:45 (15 minutes early) and Group A had already gone off. We were in B, and called about 8:00 (the announced starting time). We had to then walk or take the elevator down 2 flights and cleared immigration onboard in the dining room. After that we walked straight off the ship, onto the bus, our luggage was loaded below and off we went.

 

I would say that it took us about 20 minutes more than the usual walking off the ship and finding our car in the parking lot, really not a big deal. However, we were in an early group, were about the 30th to get on the bus (which held 40) so didn't have a long wait for it to fill up. I had a feeling that later departures would be delayed quite a bit more.

 

I still can't say that Crown is my favorite ship - that Riviera deck and extra passengers makes it crowded - I don't think this cruise was anywhere near sold out, so it wasn't bad, but the NYE cruise had terrible crowds. But we would go on her again - as long as nothing goes wrong, it's a fine time.

 

Well, we were in the same group for disembarkation... :). I agree, it wasn't as bad as it certainly could have been. But then again, we were early. I did see that they were enforcing the group ticket thing. If you didn't have a ticket, you were sent back to get one.

 

Oh, and BTW, the ship sailed full...

[OskiBear]

I was on Baja Deck and we were sent to DaVinci to wait for disembarkation. I got there around 7:30am, waited until close to 8ish and were sent down the stairs to the identical dining room to clear customs (was this Botticelli or Michaelangelo?).

 

That process was a bit of a mess, with everyone crowding the hallway and stairs. Some folks had issues with their luggage. I suppose if you're going to have challenges managing your own luggage, you really shouldn't be doing the self-schlepp disembarkation process.

 

After that, it wasn't bad at all. I was dreading the shuttle out and drive back to pick up other passengers procedure they originally described. Thankfully, we just hopped on a bus and were driven to our parking lot.

 

It was kind of interesting to see such a large ship parked where it did. I used to live in San Pedro above Cabrillo Beach and it was weird to be down in this area on the Crown!

[Piepkorn]

Oh, and a pier coordinator acquaintance told me that this was only the second time that a ship has embarked/disembarked at 46 - there have been port calls there, but they are a completely different operation. I thought it ran remarkably smoothly considering that, but would far rather have been able to disembark, hop in my car and go.

 

We have to go through it again in the fall on RCI's return to the Left Coast. I wish that the USS Iowa would move there, in the company of Lane Victory, to make a nice maritime museum/park, and let the cruise ships have all three terminals at the Cruise Port. But that's Pedro for you.

 

October 3rd will be very interesting indeed. There are actually 4 ships due in that day, and we are trying to figure out where the 4th ship will end up at. Don't say LB as Carnival is there that day.

[Colo Cruiser]

Just got off the Crown from our nice three nighter to Ensenada this morning....boy what a "cluster" it was. There were three ships in port, so we were docked in berth 46, which is 2.5 miles away from where we got on the ship. So customs came on board and ran every passenger through one of the dining rooms before getting off and being bussed to the terminal. If I can avoid a sailing like this in the future I will, but you don't find this out until a month or so before sailing. I suppose Princess did the best they could, but it was a mess. Other that that I'll say the Crown has some serious maintainence issues with her restrooms for sure. Two nights there were multiple restrooms on many of the floors off the theater and dining rooms that were closed due to problems.....it was pretty bad. The cabin was fine, and service was great too......any questions.....??

 

 

2.5 miles to Pier 46 from 91/92?. Wow. :eek:

[kristinar]

How do you find out how many ships in port on day of sailing? I'm leaving March 21st and returning March 28th....

[4x4bob]

How do you find out how many ships in port on day of sailing? I'm leaving March 21st and returning March 28th....

 

There is two very good methods of finding this out:

 

1. Mail me $50.00 and I will tell you.......or :D

 

2. Go to CruiseTT. Check ship and date.

bob

[atdahop]

How long was the average wait for the Anytime Dining rooms around 6:30-7:00?

[NavyVeteran]

Oh, and a pier coordinator acquaintance told me that this was only the second time that a ship has embarked/disembarked at 46 - there have been port calls there, but they are a completely different operation. I thought it ran remarkably smoothly considering that, but would far rather have been able to disembark, hop in my car and go.

 

We have to go through it again in the fall on RCI's return to the Left Coast. I wish that the USS Iowa would move there, in the company of Lane Victory, to make a nice maritime museum/park, and let the cruise ships have all three terminals at the Cruise Port. But that's Pedro for you.

 

I loved having the USS Iowa at San Pedro next to the cruise port. She was a great place to visit on turnaround day on a B2B I did there. It's about the only place worth going to that you can walk to from the ship.

[victory2020]

So did the ship move to it's usual berth after everyone disembarked? Or does everyone on this cruise have to do what you did in reverse?

[hpeabody]

Sorry to hear what a mess it was, My disembarkation in Nov was unbelievably easy. How was the MUTS screen and sound? It was in dire need of repair when I was aboard in Oct-Nov. Just Curious.

[kristinar]

There is two very good methods of finding this out:

 

 

 

1. Mail me $50.00 and I will tell you.......or :D

 

 

 

2. Go to CruiseTT. Check ship and date.

 

bob

 

 

Ooofff...just looked and there are three ships in the day we arrive home. I'm assuming that automatically makes it a cluster. Any advice as to how best to navigate (be first or last group off ship?

Thanks for the great info:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[DrivesLikeMario]

I'm also just off the Crown today and I'm wondering what time the OP got off?

 

I cannot praise Princess enough for the well-organized, well-oiled machine that got us through immigration, disembarkation, loaded, bussed to Pier 93 and in our car driving away at 8:10AM. That was one of the SMOOTHEST disembarkations I've ever had! :) I don't hand out praise easily, but it was earned today for sure.

 

I'm so impressed with the abundance of employees they had directing traffic. You can tell they learned lessons from the last time the ship had to do this. It was basically a non-issue and I wouldn't hesitate to do this kind of thing again.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Ooofff...just looked and there are three ships in the day we arrive home. I'm assuming that automatically makes it a cluster. Any advice as to how best to navigate (be first or last group off ship?

Thanks for the great info:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Get up early, get to breakfast before 6:30 and to your lounge before 7:15. If you're Elite, Platinum or in a suite, you'll be one of the first off the ship. There were 6 Immigration officers today and I haven't seen that many in years. It was incredibly quick and very well-organized. ;)

[critterchick]

Get up early, get to breakfast before 6:30 and to your lounge before 7:15. If you're Elite, Platinum or in a suite, you'll be one of the first off the ship. There were 6 Immigration officers today and I haven't seen that many in years. It was incredibly quick and very well-organized. ;)

 

Well-organized, yes. Incredibly quick, not so much, but certainly moved as well as a normal disembarkation. I think they would have done well to warn people that they would need to carry their bags down two flights of stairs. There were several in our group who struggled with that part of it. And we only saw about 100 suitcases waiting to be claimed, so it would have taken no time at all to find ones bag.

 

October 3rd will be very interesting indeed. There are actually 4 ships due in that day, and we are trying to figure out where the 4th ship will end up at. Don't say LB as Carnival is there that day.

 

There is room for two ships at 46. And the Lane Victory still goes out to sea, so I suppose they could get her to move for a day. The website I was looking at, portsamerica.com (a stevedoring company) isn't showing Ruby in port that day. How embarassing for them.;)