SFO is it always this bad?

[caribill]

Your visit to San Francisco was during two giant events. San Francisco is host to the next Super Bowl and the waterfront is hosting football camp, Super Bowl trophies viewing and associated autograph events plus the DreamForce convention, all of which effected normal processing.

 

None of that should have caused Princess to require most passengers to carry all their luggage off of the ship.

[ldlewis45]

Nope, I refuse to believe that Princess couldn't have organized two lines of departing US passport holders and asked the CBP to provide two agents per line leaving half of the agents to still serve approximately 20% of the passengers given that the line for US passports was almost 2 hours long at one point and the agents serving the foreign guests were sitting idle in between the princess crew going up and down the line pulling out the foreign passport holders for immediate service.

 

While I know the cruise line has very little say in the number of agents that are provided, you will never convince me that they couldn't have asked for two of the provided agents to stand in a different spot and check passports, but that wasn't possible because they created a system where there was not room for more than one line.

 

It was abysmal planning on Princess' part.

Yeah, no, lol. Princess has nothing to do with that part. I work for CBP. Duty orders are handed out by the supervisors, not the cruise ship personnel. Officers A, B, and C are assigned to returning U.S. citizen lines, Officers D and E are assigned to the foreign passenger lines, that kind of thing. Sometimes, that means that some officers are standing idle, but even so, they're doing what they've been assigned. Now, the cruise lines have every right to speak to a supervisor to REQUEST that more officers help, or that some positions are switched around, but there's no guarantee that the sups will agree. Some sups are basically industry "yes-men" and will bend to their will, but some will just say, "This is working perfectly fine. Deal with it."

[pris993]

Yeah, no, lol. Princess has nothing to do with that part. I work for CBP. Duty orders are handed out by the supervisors, not the cruise ship personnel. Officers A, B, and C are assigned to returning U.S. citizen lines, Officers D and E are assigned to the foreign passenger lines, that kind of thing. Sometimes, that means that some officers are standing idle, but even so, they're doing what they've been assigned. Now, the cruise lines have every right to speak to a supervisor to REQUEST that more officers help, or that some positions are switched around, but there's no guarantee that the sups will agree. Some sups are basically industry "yes-men" and will bend to their will, but some will just say, "This is working perfectly fine. Deal with it."

 

As a retired federal employee this is what gives federal workers a bad name. Do believe Princess should do everything possible to make a bad situation work better, not sure they are doing their part either. And we as paying passengers should write letters to the CEO of Princess expressing our dismay. Maybe that would actually help Princess get more support in the future for appropriate staffing. Complaining on cruisecritic does not do much good.

[Cruiserkenn]

None of that should have caused Princess to require most passengers to carry all their luggage off of the ship.

 

Yes, thanks for saying so. Princess has disembarked passengers at Pier 35 for years, so why should it be so chaotic? They should know how to do it.

 

Some will say I am wrong, but these kinds of crazy things don't seem to happen in Seattle or at LA/ San Pedro. I have had at least 10 smooth disembarks at those locations.

 

The OP mentioned Princess transfers. How were things different for those with Princess transfers?

[sueandkent]

Yes' date=' thanks for saying so. Princess has disembarked passengers at Pier 35 for years, so why should it be so chaotic? They should know how to do it.

 

Some will say I am wrong, but these kinds of crazy things don't seem to happen in Seattle or at LA/ San Pedro. I have had at least 10 smooth disembarks at those locations.

 

The OP mentioned Princess transfers. How were things different for those with Princess transfers?[/quote']

 

Those with Princess transfers were give color group brown or yellow along with tags and luggage pick up the night before. This was not offered to any other pax although a previous poster mentioned asking and having their luggage handled for them.

Edited September 17, 2015 by sueandkent

[capriccio]

Those with Princess transfers were give color group brown or yellow along with tags and luggage pick up the night before. This was not offered to any other pax although a previous poster mentioned asking and having their luggage handled for them.

 

OP - how long a cruise was this? We were on a B2B (5 day/4 day) out of FLL last year and, if I remember correctly, midway thru the 4 day we received a notice in our cabin that we needed to contact passenger services if we were NOT going to carry off luggage. I guess they figured (and probably rightly so) most 4 day passengers traveled with a carry-on or single suitcase only. That wasn't us since we had been on the B2B. We just went to passenger services and told them we needed our luggage off loaded and they asked what time we wanted to disembark. We were given our color coded tags and everything worked as normal. If you were on a short cruise your ship should have just sent out a similar notice and lots of chaos and hard feelings could have been avoided. If you were on a longer cruise, it really makes no sense at all!

[RDC1]

Nope, I refuse to believe that Princess couldn't have organized two lines of departing US passport holders and asked the CBP to provide two agents per line leaving half of the agents to still serve approximately 20% of the passengers given that the line for US passports was almost 2 hours long at one point and the agents serving the foreign guests were sitting idle in between the princess crew going up and down the line pulling out the foreign passport holders for immediate service.

 

While I know the cruise line has very little say in the number of agents that are provided, you will never convince me that they couldn't have asked for two of the provided agents to stand in a different spot and check passports, but that wasn't possible because they created a system where there was not room for more than one line.

 

It was abysmal planning on Princess' part.

 

CBP is the one that specifies who a particular agent will check not the cruise line. So while Princess might have culpability in how the passengers were routed, they are not the one that determine, or for that matter have direct input into, the specific role of each CBP agent. They might request, but they cannot control.

 

I suspect that the ship did not have much choice, being limited by ship design. With the new terminal tied up by Celebrity, it sounds like the old terminal was not set up to process in bound passengers through CBP. That means that CBP would not allow any passengers off of the ship without being checked on board. If that is the case then the exit from the check point on board would need to flow directly off of the ship. Not very many places on the ship where you can put the agents, have the line, and also have immediate flow off the ship, and make sure that no one can get off the ship without getting checked. That would also explain why all baggage was carry off.

Edited September 17, 2015 by RDC1

[RDC1]

Yes' date=' thanks for saying so. Princess has disembarked passengers at Pier 35 for years, so why should it be so chaotic? They should know how to do it.

 

Some will say I am wrong, but these kinds of crazy things don't seem to happen in Seattle or at LA/ San Pedro. I have had at least 10 smooth disembarks at those locations.

 

The OP mentioned Princess transfers. How were things different for those with Princess transfers?[/quote']

 

Is the building still set up for CBP to be able to manage and process inbound passengers? I would not be surprised if that building has been modified, or had other changes, either permanent or temporary, that removed the ability for CBP to process passengers in that building, thus the process being conducted on board ship.

[hobo1937]

Yes' date=' thanks for saying so. Princess has disembarked passengers at Pier 35 for years, so why should it be so chaotic? They should know how to do it.

 

Some will say I am wrong, but these kinds of crazy things don't seem to happen in Seattle or at LA/ San Pedro. I have had at least 10 smooth disembarks at those locations.

 

The OP mentioned Princess transfers. How were things different for those with Princess transfers?[/quote']

 

Several years ago we ran into the situation in San Pedro where they had 4 CBP agents for non us citizens and 2 for US and of course most passengers were US....it was a mess. So yes it can happen there too.

[Cruiserkenn]

Those with Princess transfers were give color group brown or yellow along with tags and luggage pick up the night before. This was not offered to any other pax although a previous poster mentioned asking and having their luggage handled for them.

 

Thanks for your answer. It makes me feel a little better.

[LilyRose761]

We disembarked from the Golden Princess in SF on Aug. 30. We got off quickly, with no problem. The biggest hangup is the traffic on the Embarcadero, which is a SF problem, not a Princess problem.

[SharkieRools]

Is the building still set up for CBP to be able to manage and process inbound passengers? I would not be surprised if that building has been modified, or had other changes, either permanent or temporary, that removed the ability for CBP to process passengers in that building, thus the process being conducted on board ship.

 

Was Pier 35 ever set up for CBP to process passengers? I seem to recall disembarking several times form that terminal where CBP processed passengers on the ship.

 

On another note the NFL hosted "Kickoff to 50" events in Pier 35 over the weekend, perhaps their stuff wasn't cleared out in time for there to be proper handling of disembarking passenger's luggage. :confused:

[RDC1]

Was Pier 35 ever set up for CBP to process passengers? I seem to recall disembarking several times form that terminal where CBP processed passengers on the ship.

 

On another note the NFL hosted "Kickoff to 50" events in Pier 35 over the weekend, perhaps their stuff wasn't cleared out in time for there to be proper handling of disembarking passenger's luggage. :confused:

 

Yes, Prior to the new pier being set up I had a couple of cruises end there. At that time it had the standard set up. The exit from the ship restricted the passengers into a specific corridor to the CBP processing area.

 

If it is no longer the main terminal they may have removed the walls used in CBP processing.

[sueandkent]

OP - how long a cruise was this? We were on a B2B (5 day/4 day) out of FLL last year and, if I remember correctly, midway thru the 4 day we received a notice in our cabin that we needed to contact passenger services if we were NOT going to carry off luggage. I guess they figured (and probably rightly so) most 4 day passengers traveled with a carry-on or single suitcase only. That wasn't us since we had been on the B2B. We just went to passenger services and told them we needed our luggage off loaded and they asked what time we wanted to disembark. We were given our color coded tags and everything worked as normal. If you were on a short cruise your ship should have just sent out a similar notice and lots of chaos and hard feelings could have been avoided. If you were on a longer cruise, it really makes no sense at all!

 

It was a 3 day cruise. No notice was given in advance of the final disembarkation info. There was no where that indicated it was even an option to have it changed. The terminal did not appear set up like a normal terminal to handle customs but who knows what part we actually were even in. They did have big signs up on the doors where the boarding pax would go indicating those doors would not open until 1pm. We actually were by there on the hop on hop off bus around 3:30pm and there were still many pax arriving. Ship did leave on time at 5pm.

[caribill]

I suspect that the ship did not have much choice, being limited by ship design. With the new terminal tied up by Celebrity, it sounds like the old terminal was not set up to process in bound passengers through CBP. That means that CBP would not allow any passengers off of the ship without being checked on board. If that is the case then the exit from the check point on board would need to flow directly off of the ship. Not very many places on the ship where you can put the agents, have the line, and also have immediate flow off the ship, and make sure that no one can get off the ship without getting checked. That would also explain why all baggage was carry off.

 

Since the OP did not say everyone was carrying their luggage to the immigration check, I assume that people could get their luggage from their cabin after the check.

 

What I have seen in the past is that either no passengers can disembark until all are processed through immigration or once processed they are given a paper with their name in it which says they can disembark.

[caribill]

It was a 3 day cruise.

 

Then that was the reason for having to disembark with the luggage.

 

Princess should have made this clear.

 

If they issued no notice, then they dropped the ball.

 

However, notice may have been given in a small paragraph in the disembarkation notice that had all the disembarkation times or in the Patter.

[sueandkent]

Since the OP did not say everyone was carrying their luggage to the immigration check, I assume that people could get their luggage from their cabin after the check.

 

What I have seen in the past is that either no passengers can disembark until all are processed through immigration or once processed they are given a paper with their name in it which says they can disembark.

 

You had to have your luggage with you. Once cleared you were immediately directed off the ship. I kept the patters and there's nothing noted in them. It's not a big deal for me but all those blue cards didn't get a very good end impression of Princess cruises, even if it wasn't all Princess's fault.

Edited September 18, 2015 by sueandkent

[crochetcruise]

Then that was the reason for having to disembark with the luggage.

 

Princess should have made this clear.

 

If they issued no notice, then they dropped the ball.

 

However, notice may have been given in a small paragraph in the disembarkation notice that had all the disembarkation times or in the Patter.

 

THANK YOU! I am now aware this might be a possibility on my cruise, arriving in Melbourne. I have a luggage cart which I will bring with me-an extra suitcase of presents for my cousins to bring from my home town. Some practise in managing my walker with 1 hand and the luggage cart with the other is indicated for everyone's safety! :D I've over 415 days of possible practice, so should be quite accustomed to managing independently if I need to use the luggage cart for 2 suitcases.

[CoffeHound]

THANK YOU! I am now aware this might be a possibility on my cruise, arriving in Melbourne. I have a luggage cart which I will bring with me-an extra suitcase of presents for my cousins to bring from my home town. Some practise in managing my walker with 1 hand and the luggage cart with the other is indicated for everyone's safety! :D I've over 415 days of possible practice, so should be quite accustomed to managing independently if I need to use the luggage cart for 2 suitcases.

 

Please do not worry. Princess was more than willing to provide assistance to people with mobility challenges. They had a special area set aside and staff dedicated to making sure they got off of the ship safely and on time for their connections.

 

But I'm sure the staff will like your luggage cart as it will make it easier for them:D

[BEAV]

Was Pier 35 ever set up for CBP to process passengers? I seem to recall disembarking several times form that terminal where CBP processed passengers on the ship.

 

 

I disembarked at Pier 35 many, many times over the years, and immigration formalities were always handled on board ship. Pier 35 was never set up with CBP "booths" with computers, which I assume explains why immigration was always handled on board ship (at least in my many experiences). After disembarking, you could collect your luggage in the terminal and hand your custom form to either a CBP agent -or- cruise rep as you exited the building.

Edited September 18, 2015 by BEAV

[RDC1]

It was a 3 day cruise. No notice was given in advance of the final disembarkation info. There was no where that indicated it was even an option to have it changed. The terminal did not appear set up like a normal terminal to handle customs but who knows what part we actually were even in. They did have big signs up on the doors where the boarding pax would go indicating those doors would not open until 1pm. We actually were by there on the hop on hop off bus around 3:30pm and there were still many pax arriving. Ship did leave on time at 5pm.

 

That makes sense as far as luggage goes. On 3 or 4 day trips they usually do not pick up luggage unless you go to customer service and request it. Have done several out of LA and luggage is expected to be carry off on those short trips.

 

Since it was a 3 day was it a one way cruise out of Vancouver? If so then that also explains the allocation of CPB personnel if this was the first US port.

Edited September 18, 2015 by RDC1