Koningsdam Vancouver embarkation: progressive cruise check-in schedule

[iditarodfan]

I received this email for my cruise:

 

We look forward to welcoming you on board Koningsdam. As there will be multiple ships in Vancouver, all guests will proceed through shared security screening and U.S. Customs and Border Protection clearance. To ease congestion, we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please do not arrive prior to the times advised below or you may be turned away and asked to return later.

 

Our 4 & 5 Star Mariners, Club Orange, and Pinnacle & Neptune Suite guests are invited to arrive anytime. Check-in begins at 10:30 AM.

 

* 10:30 AM - Decks 10 & 11 Panorama & Sun Decks
* 11:30 AM - Decks 7 & 8 - Shubert & Navigation Decks
* 1:00 PM - Decks 5 & 6 - Gershwin & Mozart Decks
* 2:00 PM - Decks 1 & 4 - Main & Beethoven Decks

Boarding will begin at 11:30 AM and those who arrive early may wait in the terminal until boarding begins. All guests must be in the terminal by 2:30 PM.

 

 

How strictly does Holland America enforce the boarding time?

[QuattroRomeo]

We've sailed from Vancouver in the past 2 years and there seemed to be a fair amount of latitude- nobody really checked the times on our boarding pass. But I haven't seen this type of instruction before by deck, maybe they are trying something new to keep the congestion down. When is your embarkation day?

 

[simplyrubies]

13 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

We've sailed from Vancouver in the past 2 years and there seemed to be a fair amount of latitude- nobody really checked the times on our boarding pass. But I haven't seen this type of instruction before by deck, maybe they are trying something new to keep the congestion down. When is your embarkation day?

 

I think it's for the April 27th 7-day Inside Passage cruise. I received the same email a few hours ago. 

 

My guess is that they will enforce the progressive schedule, though how strictly I'm not sure.

 

Ex. If someone with a 2pm check-in tries to check in at 10:30 with the 4 and 5* Mariners, Club Orange, Neptune & Pinnacle Suites, and two decks I can easily see them being turned away to prevent congestion

[iditarodfan]

2 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

2 hours ago, simplyrubies said:

I think it's for the April 27th 7-day Inside Passage cruise.

When is your embarkation day?

 

Yes, it's the April 27th sailing.

[3rdGenCunarder]

It would be interesting to see if the other cruise lines are doing this on busy days. If HAL pax abide by this but Princess and NCL and whoever else don't, HAL's system won't make much difference.

[Navybikermom]

I just received the same thing for our May sailing out of Rotterdam. Not at all happy with the 2pm time slot. Our hotel is near the terminal and we probably have to be out of the room by 11am, so we have to bide our time with our luggage until 2! Ugh….. well, that’s what I get for getting a cabin in steerage I guess.

[cbr663]

My experience in the past is that neither the port nor HAL were strict enforcing check in times, but this is the first time I have seen check-in done by decks at Canada Place so no one will know until the season starts.

 

If you have never sailed out of Canada Place know that it receives many, and I do mean many, complaints regarding the check-in process.  Many people find it very confusing and a long and tedious process.  You have to start underground and endure long lines and several staircases and different level changes.

 

Also know that the boarding time of 11:30 is only an estimate.  This means that if you arrive before boarding time there is every likelihood that you will be arriving to wait in a very large group to board.  There is a segment of cruise passengers that love to hurry up and wait.

[badtwin]

1 hour ago, Navybikermom said:

I just received the same thing for our May sailing out of Rotterdam. Not at all happy with the 2pm time slot. Our hotel is near the terminal and we probably have to be out of the room by 11am, so we have to bide our time with our luggage until 2! Ugh….. well, that’s what I get for getting a cabin in steerage I guess.

Two possible options if the Rotterdam port is close enough to other things or has good transport to them. You may be able to drop your luggage at port even if you can't check in for your cruise.  Or your hotel may have a baggage room it will let you use after check out. 

 

We stayed in Utrecht before a cruise out of Amsterdam.  Our hotel held our luggage while we did some touring then we picked it up and caught the train to the port.  Later boarding was delightful with very little waiting.

[julia]

I received this same email for our Noordam May 5th sailing from Vancouver, again stating "several ships in port" (its just us and the Nieuw Amsterdam!)  I'm not sure how effective this will be, since 4*,5*,CO, and suites all have priority. We shall see...

[SDARCH]

3 hours ago, Navybikermom said:

I just received the same thing for our May sailing out of Rotterdam

I just received the notification as well.  We must be on the same voyage.

[cbr663]

22 minutes ago, julia said:

I received this same email for our Noordam May 5th sailing from Vancouver, again stating "several ships in port" (its just us and the Nieuw Amsterdam!)  I'm not sure how effective this will be, since 4*,5*,CO, and suites all have priority. We shall see...

 

Yes, this group all have priority to check in and wait to board.  That was our experience sailing in a NS on the Koningsdam last year.  Once boarding commences, it will literally be by row after row of people who are waiting, with those with priority starting first.  The priority is to board a few minutes prior to everyone else, or however long it takes for people in the queue to be scanned while boarding.  They try their best to conduct the boarding so everyone is actually moving through the terminal and on the gangplank and when they reach the actual ship it is scan on and step aboard and move forward for everyone else.

Edited April 24 by cbr663

[julia]

2 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 

Yes, this group all have priority to check in and wait to board.  Once boarding commences, it will literally be by row after row of people who are waiting, with those with priority starting first.  The priority is to board a few minutes prior to everyone else, or however long it takes for people in the queue to be scanned while boarding.  They try their best to conduct the boarding so everyone is actually moving through the terminal and on the gangplank and when they reach the actual ship it is scan on and step aboard and move forward for everyone else.

I am MORE than familiar with the boarding process, thank you! 🫢

[Crew News]

This by-deck boarding notice is also applicable to the Nieuw Amsterdam on May 5.

 

Much as happened in Fort Lauderdale over the past three years, if there is nobody in line to check-in, the HAL reps will let passengers continue with check-in.

 

I will experience two of these new Vancouver procedures over the next two weeks, discuss the subject in two Meet & Greets, and will report back.

[oakridger]

I do appreciate that Vancouver Canada Place is trying something to improve the mess that boarding often is there.  Hopefully this plan will help streamline the experience!

 

I will be watching to see how it goes for @Crew News!

 

~Nancy

[YourWorldWithBill]

As others have said, we received the same notice for our May cruise from Rotterdam. Boarding in Vancouver can use any help it can get, but I don't have a lot of faith this will help. Maybe it will help in some ports.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The problem with Canada Place is once you get down into the bowels of the building to start the process, where are they going to make you wait? Or will they send early passengers back out to the street or up into the hotel? I hope they'll at least accept the luggage. 

 

When I boarded Queen Victoria in Southampton last fall, they were holding early arrivals in a queue alongside the terminal building. Priority passengers (Grills, Diamond, Platinum) got waved through, so I went right in and checked in quickly. The odd thing is that there weren't many people in the building and most of the check-in staff had nobody in front of them. It seemed like a waste of person-hours to have staff doing nothing while there were people who could be checked in. There was plenty of seating, too. But that's their rule and they stick to it. 

[cruiseaholic78]

18 hours ago, Navybikermom said:

I just received the same thing for our May sailing out of Rotterdam. Not at all happy with the 2pm time slot. Our hotel is near the terminal and we probably have to be out of the room by 11am, so we have to bide our time with our luggage until 2! Ugh….. well, that’s what I get for getting a cabin in steerage I guess.

If your hotel is near the cruise terminal you could leave your luggage there and walk to the very end where Hotel New York is situated, you can then spend some time watching the world go by.

 

The reason for the timing slots is probably due to the total **** *** at the last boarding on 21 st April, the lines for dropping off luggage were ginormous and many were complaining.Everyone had a 12:00 boarding time so it looks like they are trying this time round to do it better.

[Firstladies]

I am new to cruising!  My email for the Noordam April 30 shows 11:30 for deck 6. But I am confused about the difference between cruise check in, boarding and going through security/customs. Do I show up at Canada Place at 11:30 for security?  Or do I go earlier to get through security and customs, so that I can check in at 11:30? Advice will be appreciated!

[cruisingrob21]

1 hour ago, Firstladies said:

I am new to cruising!  My email for the Noordam April 30 shows 11:30 for deck 6. But I am confused about the difference between cruise check in, boarding and going through security/customs. Do I show up at Canada Place at 11:30 for security?  Or do I go earlier to get through security and customs, so that I can check in at 11:30? Advice will be appreciated!

In the past, it was (for the most part) well signed.  Generally at canada place you will go to the lower level to drop luggage and go through security, then up to be processed for check in.  Do not fret - there are always lots of folks that can help direct you.  There will always be people who show up as early as they can to get on board - even if their boarding time is at 1pm - for a variety of reasons.  Generally, the earlier you show up, the longer you may have to wait after check in to actually board, even if your time is 11:30 (but you should have priority over folks with 1pm boarding times).  If it works for you, consider showing up later as the lines may die down.

 

I'm on the same voyage on deck 5 and have a 1:30 boarding time, which is the same time as the notice says we should all be at the terminal.  So to answer your question, if you want to follow the directions you were sent, show up at 11:30.

[Crew News]

On 4/24/2024 at 11:41 AM, Crew News said:

This by-deck boarding notice is also applicable to the Nieuw Amsterdam on May 5.

 

Much as happened in Fort Lauderdale over the past three years, if there is nobody in line to check-in, the HAL reps will let passengers continue with check-in.

 

I will experience two of these new Vancouver procedures over the next two weeks, discuss the subject in two Meet & Greets, and will report back.

As promised, Vancouver check-in process on 4/27/24 Impressions.

 

The Convenntion Center hallway doors were open at 10:30 AM as change for this cruise. I estimated 25 passengers walking down the hallway heading to the HAL doorway.  My most memorable obdrvation was that a second luggage dropoff point was available inside the actual HAL check-in area in addition to the underground curbside drop-off point.  A second observation was that nobody was checked for Deck priority number to enter the HAL doorway entrance which served both HAL ships in port. 

 

When I entered the  HAL entrance at 11:00 AM and then the Priority lane, there were approximately 50 people snaking through the facial recognition process to the many terminals in operation.  Upon ariving downstairs agsin for the Security and US Immigration screening, there were about 200 passengers snaking through the bsggage screening and then US Immigration queus.  Much to my very pleasant surprise, the passengers from both ships rejoined their own queues with the Koningsdam passengers walking directly to the ship's gangway.  I boarded at 11:24 AM.  This was indeed the Vancouver terminals and HAL employees finest performance in many cruises I have experienced departing this port.

[oakridger]

WOW! @Crew News That is excellent news about the smooth and organized embarkation!! 🙂

 

Have a wonderful trip and I will be checking by each day to follow along with you.

 

Thank you,

~Nancy

[bluesplayer]

This is good news.  We boarded last year at our assigned time of 11:00 am.  We were in a Neptune suite..  4 star Mariner.  Took us two and a half hours to board..  all standing in lines.  Hope this new process is followed and helps.  

[rj59]

Smoothness depends largely on how many passengers on various ships are in port. Koningsdam on a Saturday might have a lot, whereas my Zaandam at the end of May only has a few small ships, so it should go smoothly. There's no way for port personnel in Vancouver to monitor check-in times, with all the ships and points of entry. I hate having to walk down into the basement, so now I go into the upper level from the side door and have carried my bags, but now it seems they wisely have drop-offs there, which also alleviates my worry of the basement porters putting my bag on a different ship. The problem for Koningsdam will be later in the summer, when there will be more passengers and more ships on a Saturday, along with regular tourism in Vancouver. So yesterday there was just Koningsdam and Zaandam, 4000 passengers if full, but on alternate Saturdays the rest of the summer it will have Royal Princess and Koningsdam, with 5200, probably more of the ships are over 100% occupancy. 

[Crew News]

With the expanded luggage drop off opportunity, one Vancouver bottleneck has been eliminated. Pausing only momentarly for facial recognition instead of queing to speak to a HAL rep also contibuted to a better process.

 

The Security scan and US Immigration was the hold up.  If the other cruise lines would enforce staggered boarding, things might be even more improved.

[greensprout]

4 minutes ago, Crew News said:

With the expanded luggage drop off opportunity, one Vancouver bottleneck has been eliminated. Pausing only momentarly for facial recognition instead of queing to speak to a HAL rep also contibuted to a better process.

 

The Security scan and US Immigration was the hold up.  If the other cruise lines would enforce staggered boarding, things might be even more improved.

With that, what are your recommendations for luggage drop off for the 5 May NS departure?