Embarkation in San Francisco

[VentureMan_2000]

We found Embarkation in San Francisco to be very easy.

There are two parts to getting on the ship:

First is your Check-In where they take your photo and check you in.  There are about 6 Lanes you stand in outside with the check-in times clearly marked for each lane.  Check-in is based on your arrival time... not necessarily your "priority" status.  They do have lanes for Diamond and Platinum.  Funny note here: there were so many "Priority" check-ins that their line was 2 to 3 times longer than the normal check-in line.  We were done checking in well before the folks who got into the "priority" line the same we got in the check-in line.  

Our Check-in time was 11:00am.  We were checked in by 10:15am.
 
Second, Check-in is a separate event from boarding.  After you check-in, you take a seat in the terminal with all the other passengers that have checked in (there is lots of comfortable seating - you sit where you want as there is no special seating sections) and wait for them to call the different groups to board based on priority.   

They do not allow anyone to board until all previous passengers are off and U.S. Customs gives the go-ahead.  That being said, here is the Priority order to board the ship that I observed:

Wedding Party
Passengers with Disabilities
Diamond
Platinum
FTTF ( well, I didn't observe this since they didn't have FTTF, but I believe they are next )
Gold
Red
Blue 

The 'Red" (my group) was released to board the ship at 11:00am, so we sat for 45 minutes after checking in - watching others board based on their priority order being called.

[CruiserBruce]

This would obviously depend on the cruise line involved. Carnival?

 

 

[VentureMan_2000]

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

This would obviously depend on the cruise line involved. Carnival?

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

 

Yes, Carnival.  I believe the only other cruise line that embarks in San Francisco is Princess, which is another Carnival Corp cruise line. 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Yes, Carnival.  I believe the only other cruise line that embarks in San Francisco is Princess, which is another Carnival Corp cruise line. 

Those are the only two cruise lines that regularly homeport there.  But many cruise lines start infrequent cruises from SF. And Princess and Carnival have different boarding procedures. 

[PopCorn-007]

On 8/3/2023 at 1:12 PM, VentureMan_2000 said:

The 'Red" (my group) was released to board the ship at 11:00am, so we sat for 45 minutes after checking in - watching others board based on their priority order being called.

 

What time did they start the boarding ?

[VentureMan_2000]

44 minutes ago, PopCorn-007 said:

 

What time did they start the boarding ?

 

Perhaps 9:30am (a guess).  At 10:15 when we sat down, we noticed the wheelchair crowd were being taken aboard by Carnival staff.  So, I'm assuming the Wedding folks boarded at least 30-45 minutes before them. This wheelchair boarding went on for maybe 15 minutes.  At 10:30, they started boarding the rest of the list by priority.