Worst Embarkation Ever....

[ms.sunburn]

Have to agree with you there. I stupidly keep trying Anytime, and have since it was introduced in 2001, and now just stick to late Traditional.

 

Something must have happened or there was a reason why embarkation was disorganized. Generally, it's painless and very organized. Keep in mind that the staff you see in the terminal are not Princess employees even though they have a Princess uniform. The day before, they could have been HAL and the next day another cruise line. :)

 

Last Spring, I did the BVE on the Crown in San Pedro and boarding was delayed, lines were backed up, there were crowds everywhere... all due to 2-3 passengers doing a B2B who didn't think the instructions to get off and go through Immigration applied to them. They couldn't be found on the ship for an hour which meant that the ship couldn't be cleared for embarkation until they'd disembarked. It was a mess and a wedding was delayed. I felt so sorry for them as their guests were boarding the ship only for the ceremony and their time was severely limited due to 2-3 selfish passengers. The Princess officers were furious.

 

The anytime dining experience on the cruise we just completed was not the greatest, agreed. There was complete disorganization at the door, lack of communication between the person doing the seating and the greeter and some of the wait staff seemed unhappy and a bit overwhelmed.

 

It looked to me that the staff count works fine when everyone is served at once, but there aren't enough to handle people coming and going at different times. We had better experience at the Horizon Court buffet. Have to say the staff did try their best though.

[Posaune]

We have only had one problem boarding in Fort Lauderdale and it was because a back to back couple did not leave the ship to go through immigration and they could not find them. Delayed the entire boarding process. All the back to back folks were held until they could find this couple.

[4cats4me]

2 hours from parking to boarding....is WAY too long.....our normal arrival to ship is about 30 minutes...... so is 2 hours normal for Princess ships?

 

 

No. When we boarded the regal in March in Ft Lauderdale, we arrived to the port around 11:30 and were onboard by 12:15. We did have priority boarding, however.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited November 9, 2015 by 4cats4me

[caribill]

Several years ago we arrived around 11 and after a slight delay due to Coast Guard inspection boarded about 12:30.

 

After lunch in the dining room we noticed very few passengers on the ship. Turned out part of the ship failed the Coast Guard inspection and it had to be repeated. While they did not kick us off the ship for this, they had stopped all boarding shortly after we got onto the ship. Boarding did not resume for at least two hours.

 

Obviously for the great majority of passengers, embarkation day was a disaster. For a couple of hundred of us, it was a relaxing afternoon on the ship.

Edited November 9, 2015 by caribill

[FritzG]

If you intentionally arrive before they begin the boarding process (usually around 11 am give or take - on our cruise last month it was 11:10), you are obviously going to wait. If you arrive early and are not designated a preferred passenger (BVE, wedding parties, suites, elite and platinum loyalty levels) you may have to wait until at least some of the preferred passengers are processed (on our cruise we - we're elite - entered the terminal at 11:20 or 11:25 and they weren't allowing regular passengers into the terminal yet; we were waiting in the lounge by 11:35). Actual boarding usually starts around noon. Arrive after the initial lines have been processed and walk right on.

 

In our experience all bets are off if the ship has to go through any type of immigration inspection of the crew or coast guard inspection of the ship but I've seen threads this season that Princess has notified passengers in advance (at least in some cases) of delayed boarding.

 

I think this is getting to be a problem. When we disembarked the Royal British Isles/TA in September around 10a.m. we were dismayed at what we thought was a huge line for taxis. It turned out to be the line for the next cruise. Unless most of them had priority boarding they were going to have a long wait in the sun without any refreshments. Actually this time everyone had a very long wait because immigration didn't send the requested number of agents, and from what I've read on these boards embarkation and sailing were very late.

[WISH84]

On the Regal this past Tuesday...short 5 day cruise.....

We arrived at 12:30 and spent half an hour just getting to the point we could unload our bags?

 

It's very frustrating to get to the port when you know boarding is currently taking place and it takes so long to get through the process.

 

We normally arrive to the port early knowing we have just put ourselves into a "sit and wait" situation and we don't mind it. I would rather sit and wait at the port terminal than sit and wait in the hotel. I just can't seem to concentrate on anything else other than "gotta get to the pier" :cool:

[Linerguy]

We arrived in FLL on the REGAL on 11/3, at the end of the 10nt repo cruise. We were given a 10:30 a.m. disembarkation time. It took about 20 minutes to get outside to take a taxi to our hotel, and the line for arriving passengers was already ridiculously long. This tells me that people simply ignored the suggested boarding time, and went to the pier earlier than they were told to. By the length of the line, my guess is that a lot of people started lining up by 10 a.m. or so.

 

I understand people being excited about their cruise, but they tell people when to arrive for a reason.

[Linerguy]

We normally arrive to the port early knowing we have just put ourselves into a "sit and wait" situation and we don't mind it. I would rather sit and wait at the port terminal than sit and wait in the hotel. I just can't seem to concentrate on anything else other than "gotta get to the pier" :cool:

 

While I understand that you knowingly put your self in that position, and apparently don't mind it, there are others who arrive early, have to wait, and then moan because it took so long to get on board.

[Bruin Steve]

I have found that embarkation and disembarkation issues usually have more to do with the port than with the cruise line...

With MOST of my Princess cruises, embarkation has been very easy...just get to the port early (helps if you have some priority) and you are on quickly...

 

Twice on Princess, I have had some issues embarking...but both were due to delays rather than the boarding process itself...

We once did a Baltic cruise on the OLD Crown Princess out of Copenhagen where Princess actually changed sailaway time to an EARLIER time! Big problem was, they let everyone know by phone call (this was in 2001, before email and smart phones were in that wide a use)--at our home number...problem was they did this within about 48 hours of the cruise...and we were already in Copenhagen for a pre-cruise! You can imagine.

Second time was on the NEW Crown Princess this past January. They had had an alleged Norovirus outbreak about two months before...and chose our cruise to do a "deep cleaning"--and delayed sailaway until 10:00 pm...and boarding until "starting at 6:00 pm"--with requested staggered boarding times. They sent out notices of this change only in the last day or two before the cruise. They actually started about 5:30--but, by that time, the terminal area was a nightmare--with crowds starting to amass by mid-afternoon outside the terminal doors. Most of the ship never got dinner...and the only event left on the night's program was the muster drill--which many passengers missed still waiting outside to board...

 

Of course, those two are sort of unique situations. Our normal experience with boarding has been very smooth sailing...and one great benefit with Princess, if you board early enough, is that they open one of the main dining rooms for lunch--so you are not forced to eat at the buffet...though they are often not very forthcoming with that bit of info--so you may have to seek it out yourself.

 

Worst disembarkation we've had was getting off an RCCL ship in Galveston--the "line from hell"...Though, most RCCL disembarkations we've had have been quick and smooth--so, again, I attribute this to the port rather than the cruise line.

 

As to Anytime Dining...There have been other threads on it here on the board. Princess is the absolute worst at this...for many reasons. They really need to get their act together on this...and it wouldn't be hard. I think we all have to keep giving them direct feedback on it and, maybe, sooner or later, they catch on...

Edited November 9, 2015 by Bruin Steve

[WISH84]

While I understand that you knowingly put your self in that position, and apparently don't mind it, there are others who arrive early, have to wait, and then moan because it took so long to get on board.

 

I agree. I've sat there watching someone complain that its "taking to long" and I look at my watch and think "technically" you (we) probably shouldn't even be here this early which is why I sit there in silence and just "people watch"

[Linerguy]

I sit there in silence and just "people watch"

 

One of the best things about cruising!

[caribill]

We were given a 10:30 a.m. disembarkation time. It took about 20 minutes to get outside to take a taxi to our hotel, and the line for arriving passengers was already ridiculously long. This tells me that people simply ignored the suggested boarding time, and went to the pier earlier than they were told to. By the length of the line, my guess is that a lot of people started lining up by 10 a.m. or so.

 

 

I bet a good number of the people in line had been brought to the terminal on Princess transfers from the airport.

[Coral]

I bet a good number of the people in line had been brought to the terminal on Princess transfers from the airport.

 

I would think a 5 night cruise would have less people flying in it for it compared to a 7 night cruise. I know I won't fly in for a 5 night cruise - waste of my time.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Coral

[capriccio]

I bet a good number of the people in line had been brought to the terminal on Princess transfers from the airport.

 

Possibly but in the 40 minutes we were in line outdoors for our cruise last month (we arrived intentionally around 10:40) I didn't see (and I was watching since I didn't have anything else to do :D) a single bus pull up and unload passengers. Lots of taxis, vans, and cars - and this was for a 10 day or 20 day cruise.

[BarbaraP]

I bet a good number of the people in line had been brought to the terminal on Princess transfers from the airport.

 

Princess transfers in the US are generally taken to a nearby hotel given refreshments and brought to the pier at the appropriate time. Only the luggage goes directly to the ship.

[Linerguy]

I bet a good number of the people in line had been brought to the terminal on Princess transfers from the airport.

 

I guess that's possible, but I did see a LOT of taxi cabs dropping people off.

[long cruiser]

I think the holdup for embarkation was due to theft that cruise planers (travel group)was either disembarking or embarking that caused the problem.We were on the regal last year and there were 1000 travel agents on board.

long cruiser

[Linerguy]

I think the holdup for embarkation was due to theft that cruise planers (travel group)was either disembarking or embarking that caused the problem.

 

Not likely.