Worst boarding in 29 years - complete failure

[cusematt4]

Hi all - we understand that Whittier is a small and seasonal port.  But having 3 security lines knowing that 500 plus people arrive at a time by train and hundreds by buses is unacceptable.  In over 20 cruises, this is the worst boarding process with the worst lines we have ever encountered.  3 lanes for trainloads or people at once.  0/10 boarding experience and total failure to start a cruise by Princess.  

 

We have taken many othe seaaonal cruises in small and large ports, never ever even close to this chaos.  So that isn’t an excuse.  We were told the ship decides to only put out 3 lanes. 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 03:01 AM by cusematt4

[Thrak]

We boarded in Vancouver when there was a "Behemoth of the Seas" also boarding. One long, long, loooooooooong line for both ships snaking back and forth through two rooms. It took an incredibly long time to reach the first boarding check in and then we had to do a separate check in for our ship. We somehow managed to survive.

Edited Thursday at 03:20 AM by Thrak

[cr8tiv1]

I see that there is now a "building".  When I was there...eons ago, it was just a canvas canape.  Making improvements.  Look on the bright side, only one ship in Whittier.  

 

I'm sorry @Thrak. That is a true travesty.  

[STLCARDS82]

Sorry this happened to you..How long did the total process take?

snd you know CC......

Cruise Critic "The official Cruise site for Fanatic's!!

[paddingtonbear]

7 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I see that there is now a "building".  When I was there...eons ago, it was just a canvas canape.  Making improvements.  Look on the bright side, only one ship in Whittier.  

 

I'm sorry @Thrak. That is a true travesty.  

Yes the building is an upgrade since we were there queuing in the sun. But, it was our first cruise and we were so excited. Met lots of nice people in the queue. 

Edited Thursday at 10:35 AM by paddingtonbear

[kdr69]

Security is not part of the Cruise Lines domain maybe discuss with US Customs and Border?

[Coral]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I see that there is now a "building".  When I was there...eons ago, it was just a canvas canape.  Making improvements.  Look on the bright side, only one ship in Whittier.  

 

I'm sorry @Thrak. That is a true travesty.  

I swore I was there the first year they used Whittier (2004?) and there was a building back then.

 

2003 was in Seward.

Edited Thursday at 11:41 AM by Coral

[Essiesmom]

41 minutes ago, Coral said:

I swore I was there the first year they used Whittier (2004?) and there was a building back then.

 

2003 was in Seward.

There was a building in 2010.  I’ve never arrived by train, but lines were not a problem…. EM

[Outerdog]

1 hour ago, kdr69 said:

Security is not part of the Cruise Lines domain maybe discuss with US Customs and Border?

 

Strange. I have never gone through a CBP screening leaving a US port, bound for another US port, with a final destination of a non-US port.

 

But that's just me.

 

[hpeabody]

I recently experienced boarding at Seattle Pier 91. It was not fun to stand and inch forward with checked suitcase and carry on for an hour or so. It was mayhem, could not even tell where the end of the line was.  I have never been at a port where there are no porters waiting curbside to take your luggage.  The situation was a looooooooong snaking line to get into the luggage check area which is inside a building.  Then proceed to the security metal detectors and check in lines snaking with the same people.  Not a good experience, oh it was cold and rainy too.

[Paula_MacFan]

We boarded the Sapphire in Whittier on June 1.  We breezed through with no issues at all, took minutes.  

[WisCruiser2]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

Strange. I have never gone through a CBP screening leaving a US port, bound for another US port, with a final destination of a non-US port.

 

But that's just me.

 

I'm thinking the OP was talking about the initial line to go through the scanners? 

[Wishing on a star]

For some reason, there must have been some catch, some situation...

We arrived by train.. some years ago now.. but I do not remember any problems.

There are more people if it is a larger ship, so I can see some lines at times.

But, if there is some real problem and issues and delays at Whittier, I have never heard of this being an ongoing problem.

 

If you are under the impression that the ship,  Princess, has that much control over U.S. customs,  that would be a mistake.   They operate that customs check-point, as an office of the U.S. government.  

 

If arriving by the train  (there are no 'trainloads) then your larger bags should have been pre-checked when you boarded that morning.  If this has changed, then I a wrong.  But this was always done in the past.

In the past, most busses arrive well after the train.  Perhaps Princess is offering some early bus departures, or the companies that offer this transfer?

[Wishing on a star]

NOTE:  These cruises stop at Canada, as by law, cruises from the U.S. are required to also stop at at least one foreign port. 

I am not sure what the current situation and policy is with the U.S. and Canada.

Edited Thursday at 02:33 PM by Wishing on a star

[JimmyVWine]

7 hours ago, STLCARDS82 said:

How long did the total process take?

Exactly.  The length of lines no longer concerns me.  I only care about how efficient the process is in moving people on to the next stage of the boarding process.  

[reedprincess]

2 hours ago, WisCruiser2 said:

I'm thinking the OP was talking about the initial line to go through the scanners? 

Which still isn't CBP.

CBP is Customs and Border Patrol. Not scanners and such security - that's TSS, although pretty sure the ones at Whittier and other ports are contracted security..

 

[reedprincess]

2 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

NOTE:  These cruises stop at Canada, as by law, cruises from the U.S. are required to also stop at at least one foreign port. 

I am not sure what the current situation and policy is with the U.S. and Canada.

Yes, and their end at Vancouver is that foreign port. 

There's no CBP Pre-clearance or other extra steps at Whittier. Normal boarding, same as what would be at Port Everglades for a sailing through the Canal or whatever.

It's a one way, US to Foreign Port..

[WisCruiser2]

The OP referenced "security" lines, which I took to mean the scanners that you and your carryons go through, didn't say anything about CBP. I don't know if 500 people arrive on the train at the same time, but do remember lots of buses whose arrival tines seemed to be staggered.

In February we boarded the Enchanted at Port Everglades - when we arrived around 11 there were long lines outside the terminal. We soon learned that while the process had started and a some people had boarded, it was soo shut down while local police (and maybe Customs?) were searching the ship. We waited over 90 minutes before we started moving and then once through security had to wait another hour or so - both Blue and Green lanes! Princess had nothing to do with the delay...

[Robkat]

6 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

There was a building in 2010.  I’ve never arrived by train, but lines were not a problem…. EM

Us too!  We were on the Diamond, and from when we arrived by bus from Anchorage, they had us on the ship lickety split.

OP's experience is awful to hear, but hopefully it was one-off. 

[paddingtonbear]

7 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

There was a building in 2010.  I’ve never arrived by train, but lines were not a problem…. EM

Maybe you are right. I do remember a long line of us under a canopy snaking around the port. Maybe there was a building at the end of it! 

[EDVM96]

 

37 minutes ago, paddingtonbear said:

Maybe you are right. I do remember a long line of us under a canopy snaking around the port. Maybe there was a building at the end of it! 

That's correct,

 

The photo is from 2011:

It's already the same building like today.

[paddingtonbear]

1 hour ago, EDVM96 said:

 

That's correct,

 

The photo is from 2011:
 

It's already the same building like today.

I loved our trip. Every second of it. We did 7 days land by ourselves then the Star Princess cruise to Vancouver. Fabulous. I’m just a bit foggy on some of the details like the port building! Thank you for the photo. 

Edited Thursday at 10:05 PM by paddingtonbear

[Coral]

11 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

There was a building in 2010.  I’ve never arrived by train, but lines were not a problem…. EM

I can imagine if there were a lot of buses arriving at once through the tunnel, there could be a line. I personally have not experienced any long lines.

 

Here is the building in 2004 (first year Princess was in Whittier):

 

[Coral]

9 hours ago, hpeabody said:

I recently experienced boarding at Seattle Pier 91. It was not fun to stand and inch forward with checked suitcase and carry on for an hour or so. It was mayhem, could not even tell where the end of the line was.  I have never been at a port where there are no porters waiting curbside to take your luggage.  The situation was a looooooooong snaking line to get into the luggage check area which is inside a building.  Then proceed to the security metal detectors and check in lines snaking with the same people.  Not a good experience, oh it was cold and rainy too.

I ran into that also! I agree it was a pain.

[Coral]

20 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi all - we understand that Whittier is a small and seasonal port.  But having 3 security lines knowing that 500 plus people arrive at a time by train and hundreds by buses is unacceptable.  In over 20 cruises, this is the worst boarding process with the worst lines we have ever encountered.  3 lanes for trainloads or people at once.  0/10 boarding experience and total failure to start a cruise by Princess.  

 

We have taken many othe seaaonal cruises in small and large ports, never ever even close to this chaos.  So that isn’t an excuse.  We were told the ship decides to only put out 3 lanes. 

 

 

It is all in the timing. I have done B2B cruises with Whittier turnaround and the majority of the time, the building is empty. It has to do with the timing of the tunnel, how many buses, a lot of flights arriving at the same time, etc.....

 

I am sure with the medallions - people were checked in a whole lot quicker than a long time ago when we checked in the old fashion way.

 

Also - not sure what ship you were on but the majority of ships doing Alaska when the pier was built were between 77,000 tons and 109,000 tons. Fewer passengers than the ships sailing today (max 2600 passengers).

Edited Thursday at 11:44 PM by Coral