9/24 Seashore Hurricane related Itinerary change & embarcation experience

[kwokpot]

The current 9/24 Seashore itinerary as expected has been updated due to the pending hurricane. The change letter is below.

 

Embarcation was a disaster. We are embarking at Terminal C and entrance into the terminal was determined by cabin decks; upper decks went to the forward terminal entrance and lower decks to the aft terminal entrance. We had to ask specifically for Diamond Card/Priority embarkation, otherwise they were going to give us group 16( we checked in at 11:30). Once we went up to the waiting area it was one sea mass of people with no discernable boarding group priority. We had to ask 5 different officials where Priority boarding was. We had to find the supervisor to ask what's going on and why no one knew where and when Priority boarding is. The majority of passengers were non English speaking which meant queuing was an unknown concept.  There was no orderly lines, just mobs of people everywhere. When the supervisor called for priority boarding we had to fight our way to the entrance. 

A terrible and stressful way to start a cruise vacation.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by kwokpot

[styles27]

Hoping once you got on board things improved. Stay safe!

[Georgia_Peaches]

I’m sorry about your itinerary change but I’m sure you’re going to have a great time in spite of the chaotic embarkation. We witnessed the same sort of thing when we embarked as well. As we were yacht club we also had priority but it was a tad uncomfortable being paraded past fellow passengers camped out on the terminal floor for lack of an open seat. MSc really ought to re-examine their embarkation process. Enjoy your cruise!

[travelwide]

We hope you continue posting your experiences on this cruise. 🥂

[Homosassa]

The embarcation chaos is caused by the passengers themselves who are determined to arrive before boarding may start and be the first on board ship.

 

MSC, at least pre-covid, stated that boarding starts at noon in Florida.

 

We arrive at 1 PM and have no problems just walking through check in and boarding the ship.

[styles27]

51 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The embarcation chaos is caused by the passengers themselves who are determined to arrive before boarding may start and be the first on board ship.

 

MSC, at least pre-covid, stated that boarding starts at noon in Florida.

 

Our assigned boarding time was 11:00 on Divina out of PC.
What doesn’t help the chaos is some people don’t pay attention to their arrival time assignment and they arrive when they want. 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

6 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Our assigned boarding time was 11:00 on Divina out of PC.
What doesn’t help the chaos is some people don’t pay attention to their arrival time assignment and they arrive when they want. 

Ours was 10AM which was odd to me because I would think it takes a while to clear the ship of previous passengers...and it did!  Though we arrived at 11, we weren't led aboard until noon.  I get the mad rush though...it's part of the excitement of embarkation day.  People want to make the most of their first day on ship.  I guess those same people shouldn't complain when they have to wait when they've arrived early.

[rigs32]

I find it strange that MSC assigned me a boarding time rather than letter me choose, like every other cruise line.  If I have to check out of my hotel by noon, there's not a lot of places I can hang out with my luggage until my 2pm arrival time.  

[styles27]

10 minutes ago, rigs32 said:

I find it strange that MSC assigned me a boarding time rather than letter me choose, like every other cruise line.  If I have to check out of my hotel by noon, there's not a lot of places I can hang out with my luggage until my 2pm arrival time.  

Unfortunately they don’t look at your boarding time when you arrive at the pier so you can head there when you check out. 
I say unfortunately because this leads to long lines and chaos sometimes. 

[mscdivina2016]

On 9/24/2022 at 3:17 PM, kwokpot said:

The current 9/24 Seashore itinerary as expected has been updated due to the pending hurricane. The change letter is below.

 

Embarcation was a disaster. We are embarking at Terminal C and entrance into the terminal was determined by cabin decks; upper decks went to the forward terminal entrance and lower decks to the aft terminal entrance. We had to ask specifically for Diamond Card/Priority embarkation, otherwise they were going to give us group 16( we checked in at 11:30). Once we went up to the waiting area it was one sea mass of people with no discernable boarding group priority. We had to ask 5 different officials where Priority boarding was. We had to find the supervisor to ask what's going on and why no one knew where and when Priority boarding is. The majority of passengers were non English speaking which meant queuing was an unknown concept.  There was no orderly lines, just mobs of people everywhere. When the supervisor called for priority boarding we had to fight our way to the entrance. 

A terrible and stressful way to start a cruise vacation.

 

You don't want to be near that storm.

You are probably going to have a rocky few days but you are safe.

[phissy]

2 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

You don't want to be near that storm.

You are probably going to have a rocky few days but you are safe.

Steve,

Stay safe .  Thinking of you and Deb.

Take care, 

Pat

[mscdivina2016]

19 minutes ago, phissy said:

Steve,

Stay safe .  Thinking of you and Deb.

Take care, 

Pat

Thanks Pat,

We fly over near you on Saturday to board the Spirit then the Encore 2 weeks later.

Just hope the airport doesn't close.😀

[phissy]

3 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Thanks Pat,

We fly over near you on Saturday to board the Spirit then the Encore 2 weeks later.

Just hope the airport doesn't close.😀

Hope you are able to get out.

YVR should have great weather. We have been having high 70's and sun. No rain this summer.

Should warn you about Ketchikan . NCL built their own port ( 8 miles away) and you have to take bus into Ketchikan now. Be aware of cut off time for bus. Ours was 9:30am and many did not make it into town because of that.

Have a great time and Aloha for Hawaii!!!

Safe travels.

Edited September 26, 2022 by phissy

[kelleherdl]

We are having breakfast in LeMuse right now on Divina.  We are on-station with Seashore headed to Puerto Plata.  
 

Dennis