San Diego Cruise Port

[RuthC]

16 hours ago, lais said:

Ruth, When was the last time you cruised out of San Diego?   
 

Not long enough ago! The memories still cause physical pain. I refuse to put myself through anything like that again. 

[RuthC]

16 hours ago, Hobar said:

Ruth is pretty emphatic.  But she doesn’t explain why she thinks it is the worst, and worse than what??

Ruth has explained that all too many times in the past. The apologists for the port haven't even been able to express an "I'm sorry it was so awful". 
It was, and if they won't admit it can happen, then I can't let it happen to me again. 

[RuthC]

8 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

Totally agree.  We have sailed out of San Diego a few times and have had nothing but frustration every time.  Being a 5-Star Mariner or occupying a Neptune Suite does not seem to matter in the least when trying to navigate through their complicated and illogical embarkation procedures.  

Regardless of what a few San Diego port supporters report, I have spoken to many San Diego residents who readily admit that the port is a mess with the blame to be equally shared by the port authorities, the security personnel and the city administration.  HAL is simply the unfortunate beneficiary of the poor service offered by all these people blaming everyone else but themselves.

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

[lais]

7 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Ruth has explained that all too many times in the past. The apologists for the port haven't even been able to express an "I'm sorry it was so awful". 
It was, and if they won't admit it can happen, then I can't let it happen to me again. 

What happened?

[57redbird]

20 hours ago, lais said:

There is a sign 

 

We didn't see the sign this past February....

[AncientWanderer]

I hope nobody reads this thread and avoids a cruise because the San Diego port is too terrible.  Seriously, we sail out of San Diego a lot, and it's not the greatest, but we've always been on the ship for lunch.  And certainly San Diego is a nice place to visit.  The airport is minutes from the port.  Pretty convenient relative to a whole lot of other places. But I'm sorry that @RuthC had such a bad experience.

[lais]

9 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

I hope nobody reads this thread and avoids a cruise because the San Diego port is too terrible.  Seriously, we sail out of San Diego a lot, and it's not the greatest, but we've always been on the ship for lunch.  And certainly San Diego is a nice place to visit.  The airport is minutes from the port.  Pretty convenient relative to a whole lot of other places. But I'm sorry that @RuthC had such a bad experience.

Once you get through security it’s very easy especially with checking in by facial recognition.  
I admit it was pretty bad just post Covid with everyone having to take a Covid test which backed everything up but it’s so easy now.  

[sciencewonk]

17 hours ago, lais said:

Just bypass any line if there is one and talk the lady at the front gate and let her know you are Neptune suite.   She will assist you.  No worries 

That was not the case with us.  The lady at the front gate refused to honor our Neptune Suite priority boarding pass.  We were made to stand in the sun for over an hour before we were allowed to board at the time printed on our boarding pass.  The San Diego cruise terminal is a mess.

[sciencewonk]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

Ruth has explained that all too many times in the past. The apologists for the port haven't even been able to express an "I'm sorry it was so awful". 
It was, and if they won't admit it can happen, then I can't let it happen to me again. 

As a San Diego resident from 1968 to 2022 I am willing to tell Ruth I'm sorry it was so awful.  Her experience has also been my experience.

[Boatdrill]

21 hours ago, RuthC said:

At the size it looks to be, I'd be surprised if you could even see it! The photo was taken when there were no crowds of passengers jockeying for position to try to line up and check in. Passengers taller than the stanchions holding the small sign!   

The sign was easily visible last Sunday when the Noordam was in port,

and people were milling around while there was a line at the security desk as they checked id's.  

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, sciencewonk said:

As a San Diego resident from 1968 to 2022 I am willing to tell Ruth I'm sorry it was so awful.  Her experience has also been my experience.

Thank you, although I know none of it was your fault. I am sorry, although not at all surprised, that I am not the only one who has had a terrible time embarking there. 
As long as the people who work there act like criticism of the process is akin to telling them their baby is ugly, the port will remain off my personal list. 

[lais]

1 hour ago, sciencewonk said:

That was not the case with us.  The lady at the front gate refused to honor our Neptune Suite priority boarding pass.  We were made to stand in the sun for over an hour before we were allowed to board at the time printed on our boarding pass.  The San Diego cruise terminal is a mess.

Did this happen to you just post Covid?   It was a mess due to the Covid testing holding everything up but now it is so much more organized.  I hope you cruise from there again and see the difference. 

[lais]

1 hour ago, sciencewonk said:

That was not the case with us.  The lady at the front gate refused to honor our Neptune Suite priority boarding pass.  We were made to stand in the sun for over an hour before we were allowed to board at the time printed on our boarding pass.  The San Diego cruise terminal is a mess.

Did this happen to you just post Covid?   It was a mess due to the Covid testing holding everything up but now it is so much more organized.  I hope you cruise from there again and see the difference. 

[lais]

1 hour ago, sciencewonk said:

That was not the case with us.  The lady at the front gate refused to honor our Neptune Suite priority boarding pass.  We were made to stand in the sun for over an hour before we were allowed to board at the time printed on our boarding pass.  The San Diego cruise terminal is a mess.

Did this happen to you just post Covid?   It was a mess due to the Covid testing holding everything up but now it is so much more organized.  I hope you cruise from there again and see the difference. 

[DAllenTCY]

This is a very well presented and recent video regarding the port.

 

If you are not flying in, then just skip over the review of Terminals 1 and 2 at the airport.

 

 

David

Edited October 11, 2023 by DAllenTCY

[Hobar]

11 hours ago, lais said:

I hope you mean the 23rd as there is no ship on the 24th. I’m also going on the 23rd. 

Yes, Saturday, March 23rd.   Thank you.  Would be sad to show up the 24th with no ship in the port.  I am traveling with my mom and my sis. Will be lovely (and fun) to meet you.  You’ll love us, well, maybe 🙂  And if embarkation is as bad as more recent posters say, well, I will make sure to have drinks in hand. No reason to wait until we are on board to start the party.   

Edited October 11, 2023 by Hobar

[iflyrc5]

A heads up for those boarding the Eurodam on Oct 12th - the ship will be going through several government inspections by the Coast Guard and Public Health folks so that will probably cause some delays in boarding

[MikeD4134]

On 9/28/2023 at 10:02 AM, lais said:

The port opens at 10:30. Last year they were allowing porters to pick up luggage after 9:30 but this year could be different because it depends on Union rules.  
your luggage cannot be mixed up with off loading bags as offloading bags are inside the terminal.  
also there is still construction on the pier which could be a hold up. 
10:30 is a better time to drop off your bags. 

Unions do not make rules.  They negotiate Terms and Conditions of Employment, and management or the owners or government regulators make rules.

[CruisingGrandmaW]

@RuthC @lais 

Just got off the Eurodam Panama Cruise which I boarded in San Diego on Oct 12th.

My boarding time was 2:30 - but I took my chance & arrived at 11:30.

Boarding was FAST & EASY with literally no waiting time nor long lines.

(There was a steady stream of passengers in line --- but it moved quickly along - so much so it was hard for me to walk quickly enough with my bad knees -- to prevent ME being the one that made the line move slowly.)

 

There were more Port Employees than I've ever seen stationed upon first entering Iron gates from the "drop off baggage" parking lot and all inside the Terminal.

 

Every passenger in line appeared to have done all their "Online check-in".

The first couple of stops was someone checking to make sure we had our Boarding Passes (with bar code) out & available along with our Passports.

These were quickly scanned by a second employee & we moved right along to the "face recognition" station to have our photos taken.

Going thru Security xray was a breeze with ALL stations opened & well manned; employees at beginning of line assisting passengers to place items on conveyor belt quickly as not to hold up the line.

We were on board within 16 minutes from dropping off our baggage. 

 

So those who have had bad experiences with boarding in San Diego in the past I can tell you things obviously have changed!

 

[X-elite]

Good to hear "CruisingGrandmaW"!

 

We'll be back to San Diego next January for Volendam and plan to check in around 2:00 p.m.

 

Boarding last January on Koningsdam in San Diego was very crowded. We're not as upset as "Ruth" in this thread, but we've vowed to never cruise on a Pinnacle-class ship again! The smaller the better...

[CruisingGrandmaW]

22 hours ago, X-elite said:

Good to hear "CruisingGrandmaW"!

 

We'll be back to San Diego next January for Volendam and plan to check in around 2:00 p.m.

 

Boarding last January on Koningsdam in San Diego was very crowded. We're not as upset as "Ruth" in this thread, but we've vowed to never cruise on a Pinnacle-class ship again! The smaller the better...

Yes Eurodam is much smaller than the Koningsdam.  The Disney ship was not in port boarding the same day.  While Princess was in Port - it was in Transit from LA & had arrived an hour before Eurodam.

 

Here is a website you can check to see what other ship may be in Port on day you are to embark the Volendam.  San Diego, California Cruise Ship Schedule 2023 (crew-center.com)

 

We've embarked in San Diego many times.  Once boarding the Koningsdam when Disney's ship was also boarding.  It was during the Holiday season so both ships were full with lots of "kiddies" in the line.  This was PRE-pandemic.  While no where near what Ruth experienced - certainly not as quick an embarkment as our Eurodam cruise.

 

BUT Eurodam boarding experience - many more employees in the terminal & a much better system of moving the line along quickly than what we've seen in years past.

Edited October 31, 2023 by CruisingGrandmaW
clarification of Eurodam boarding

[habhold]

We took a Mexican cruise with Princess last January out of San Diego, and the embarkation process was a mess.  It took all day, and the lines snaked around the block.  They eventually explained that sometimes guests can not disembark on time because of the tides, and in our case (we had a hotel with a view of the terminal) no one disembarked until 11 am.  That kind of screws up embarkation for the new cruise guests.  

 

It seemed to be an issue of how much of an angle there was on the gangways onto the ship. 

 

We signed up for 2024 April Konigsdam Solar Eclipse Cruise for this year.  I'm hoping the issue doesn't remain, but looking at the boards this seems to happen maybe once a week in San Diego, it is not the Cruise Line's fault.

 

Cross your fingers.

 

Hilary Abhold

Anacortes, WA

[julia]

@habhold   It is not necessary (or prudent) to sign your full name and location when posting on Cruise Critic.  I'm hoping the moderators will remove that information. 😲

[FlorenceItaly]

We love the San Diego port.  We embarked and disembarked TWICE in December/Jan 2023-2024.  It was easy and flawless.  Report at your assigned time and you will be fine.  Flying in and out of SD is also very easy.  We typically stay at a hotel waterfront and walk to the port.  Also, the port workers are wonderful.

Edited January 31 by FlorenceItaly

[liketraveling]

On 10/9/2023 at 8:48 PM, lais said:

I think San Diego is the best port for convenience.  You can walk around and explore the waterfront or whatever you’d like to see.  The hop on off bus is close by, Seaport Village, shopping, busses, trains and so close to the airport.  I’ve never been in such a convenient port anywhere.   And it’s a beautiful city. So what if you have to wait in line to get on the ship. Actually you don’t have to wait in line, you can go out and explore so much close by within walking distance.  Waiting in line is a choice not a necessity. 

Last time I was in San Diego it took 3-1/2 hours to get on the ship in November of 2022.  No ship is worth waiting that long to board.  I agree with you that the port is Convient to walk around and it is a corgeous city but the port operations stink.  I tried to board as a 4 star or club orange the sign was not there and they would not let me through.  When my group was called they were not going to let me go through till I had to practically shove my boarding pass in their face.