Fleur25 Posted July 16 #1 Share Posted July 16 Hello All! Sorry if this has been asked before. My search turned up lots of questions about parking and hotels for this port but I'm interested in the actual terminal experience. We are sailing out of SF March 2025 on the Ruby Princess. First time sailing out of SF. We routinely use the Fort Lauderdale terminal so we know the terminal and check in process very well. We are platinum and also splurged for our first suite this time so both of those are supposed to include "priority boarding." We like to be on board as early as possible to enjoy the ship and check everything out. We always come prepared: green line/check in completed and medallion in hand. In Fort Lauderdale, we've always had a very easy on boarding process. We walk in, get directed to the next place by Princess staff and usually never stop walking until we end up in a lounge where we wait a little bit and then board. Sometimes there's a line and it move quickly. We have never waited outside to get in line and things have moved very well. Would the SF terminal experience be comparable? I feel like I read somewhere that people have had very unpleasant boarding experiences in SF. Can you please share yours? And if there's any tips or lessons learned from this location, would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks and happy cruising!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherlynn Posted July 16 #2 Share Posted July 16 Hi Fleur25! We're sailing out of SF in January. Although we only live 90 miles, we've never sailed out of here before. So I have some of the same questions as you! Thanks for posting 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepCalmBearOn Posted July 17 #3 Share Posted July 17 We are suite and Elite and boarding has been very quick at SF. I think we may have had priority boarding when we were Platinum too, but we were also suite passengers, so that may have been the reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGACamper Posted July 17 #4 Share Posted July 17 Just boarded from SF Monday on Carnival. 11am boarding time which we believe was the first time slot. Got to port (via Waymo - self-driving vehicle) around 1040 and on the ship and completed muster by 1110. We never stopped moving. Very painless! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memoak Posted July 17 #5 Share Posted July 17 We have always encountered long lines outside the terminal early in the day. We generally go across the street when we see the line have some lunch and the come bs k around 1:30 and all lines are gone simply walk through and get on board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleur25 Posted July 17 Author #6 Share Posted July 17 5 hours ago, memoak said: We have always encountered long lines outside the terminal early in the day. We generally go across the street when we see the line have some lunch and the come bs k around 1:30 and all lines are gone simply walk through and get on board I cross posted this question and heard the same thing from another cruiser. They said the hold up is the long lines outside the terminal but once in, things move quickly. Also the outside the terminal is open air and no seating. That sounds dreadful if you get caught in a rain shower! Thanks for the suggestion to grab lunch and watch the line. 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleur25 Posted July 17 Author #7 Share Posted July 17 12 hours ago, UGACamper said: Just boarded from SF Monday on Carnival. 11am boarding time which we believe was the first time slot. Got to port (via Waymo - self-driving vehicle) around 1040 and on the ship and completed muster by 1110. We never stopped moving. Very painless! That sounds great! Hope we get a similar experience. Ok, I have to ask....Waymo? Never heard of this. Was it fun? Scary? How did you get one of thses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGACamper Posted July 17 #8 Share Posted July 17 It was wild. You see these self driving cars around SF. You download the app and do everything from there. Our particular ride was disrupted because other cars wouldn’t let the robot car merge into the lane so we had to make another loop. At that point a remote driver called us and guided the car in. At one point the car even honked at another car that had stopped on the road in front of it. It was certainly as experience! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julia Posted July 18 #9 Share Posted July 18 Ok, I'll weigh in... We were attempting to board the Ruby in SF in April, 2022 and it was the worst cluster in the history of clusters. The embarkation was at Pier 35 (old) instead of Pier 27 (occupied, newer). The line was out the bldg and a mile down the Embarcadero when our Princess transfer arrived around noon. We said "no way" and took our luggage across the street to a restaurant for lunch. We could somewhat see the line, and kept checking, but it NEVER got better! We finally conceded around 3pm, walked down to the end, and stood in the cold wind for over an hour. It then snaked thru the dismal building, and we finally boarded at 4:45 (with a line of pax still behind us). Sailing was delayed til 6pm. Absolutely no priority to elites or seniors or handicap was offered outside. The entire cruise week, we could overhear stories about that embarkation... truly one for the books. With that said, we are booked on Ruby from SF in Nov. Hopefully, Pier 27, we have a suite, and are packing patience! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marden1970 Posted July 19 #10 Share Posted July 19 We've boarded at Pier 27 many times and find it easy, even though my husband needs wheelchair assistance for boarding. If boarding hasn't started by the time you're through check in there is an Elite/Suite waiting area with refreshments. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memoak Posted July 19 #11 Share Posted July 19 On 7/17/2024 at 9:20 PM, julia said: Ok, I'll weigh in... We were attempting to board the Ruby in SF in April, 2022 and it was the worst cluster in the history of clusters. The embarkation was at Pier 35 (old) instead of Pier 27 (occupied, newer). The line was out the bldg and a mile down the Embarcadero when our Princess transfer arrived around noon. We said "no way" and took our luggage across the street to a restaurant for lunch. We could somewhat see the line, and kept checking, but it NEVER got better! We finally conceded around 3pm, walked down to the end, and stood in the cold wind for over an hour. It then snaked thru the dismal building, and we finally boarded at 4:45 (with a line of pax still behind us). Sailing was delayed til 6pm. Absolutely no priority to elites or seniors or handicap was offered outside. The entire cruise week, we could overhear stories about that embarkation... truly one for the books. With that said, we are booked on Ruby from SF in Nov. Hopefully, Pier 27, we have a suite, and are packing patience! Why would you take your suitcases with you ? The shuttle delivers your luggage to your cabin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julia Posted July 19 #12 Share Posted July 19 1 hour ago, memoak said: Why would you take your suitcases with you ? The shuttle delivers your luggage to your cabin That was all part of the cluster, trust me! When our shuttle drove down the Embarcadero and saw the crowds of people outside pier 35 (departing pax, embarking pax) there was an audible gasp on the bus. Thousands of people. Our driver pulled into the building to park, and was ACOSTED and YELLED at by pier "authority" to GET OUT, GET OUT. There was no place to park in this dismal warehouse place, and he was able to get us turned around, and back out onto the Embarcadero. We proceeded down the street (passing the long line of arrivals) and he turned into an open parking lot. The driver was SO nice and apologetic (and stunned). He gave us the choice of waiting it out or leaving the shuttle. It was about 12:30 or so, and we were hungry after an early flight to SFO. We (and others) chose to get off, and so he got our bags for us. We trudged down to Hearthstone, (across the street from the mile long line) and proceeded to drink $18 negronis for three hours). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memoak Posted July 19 #13 Share Posted July 19 4 minutes ago, julia said: That was all part of the cluster, trust me! When our shuttle drove down the Embarcadero and saw the crowds of people outside pier 35 (departing pax, embarking pax) there was an audible gasp on the bus. Thousands of people. Our driver pulled into the building to park, and was ACOSTED and YELLED at by pier "authority" to GET OUT, GET OUT. There was no place to park in this dismal warehouse place, and he was able to get us turned around, and back out onto the Embarcadero. We proceeded down the street (passing the long line of arrivals) and he turned into an open parking lot. The driver was SO nice and apologetic (and stunned). He gave us the choice of waiting it out or leaving the shuttle. It was about 12:30 or so, and we were hungry after an early flight to SFO. We (and others) chose to get off, and so he got our bags for us. We trudged down to Hearthstone, (across the street from the mile long line) and proceeded to drink $18 negronis for three hours). We never try to board before 1:30 at any port. In SF we usually go over to Fog City for lunch. When we sail from Vancouver we do the 5 Sails high tea if it a weekend or Fairmont bar for lunch on a week day both are at Canada place 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpuma Posted July 19 #14 Share Posted July 19 We have sailed out of Pier 27 twice and it has been fairly uneventful. Once you get past security you will have the priority boarding and will be directed like at other ports. As others have said the line to get into the building and through security can get long in the morning. We always arrive very early so we got through it quickly but then had to wait in the terminal until they started boarding. We were in a Mini Suite on Princess both times so were second as far as priority so we boarded just after the suite guests. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julia Posted July 19 #15 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, memoak said: We never try to board before 1:30 at any port. In SF we usually go over to Fog City for lunch. When we sail from Vancouver we do the 5 Sails high tea if it a weekend or Fairmont bar for lunch on a week day both are at Canada place Us too... even with priority status, we try to board later and avoid the crowds. Apparently, something had happened with the previous sailing that delayed their disembarkaction and everything went sideways. However, Princess absolutely dropped the ball on assisting seniors and those with special needs, in that long, cold (no place to sit) line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleur25 Posted July 19 Author #16 Share Posted July 19 On 7/17/2024 at 11:20 PM, julia said: Ok, I'll weigh in... We were attempting to board the Ruby in SF in April, 2022 and it was the worst cluster in the history of clusters. The embarkation was at Pier 35 (old) instead of Pier 27 (occupied, newer). The line was out the bldg and a mile down the Embarcadero when our Princess transfer arrived around noon. We said "no way" and took our luggage across the street to a restaurant for lunch. We could somewhat see the line, and kept checking, but it NEVER got better! We finally conceded around 3pm, walked down to the end, and stood in the cold wind for over an hour. It then snaked thru the dismal building, and we finally boarded at 4:45 (with a line of pax still behind us). Sailing was delayed til 6pm. Absolutely no priority to elites or seniors or handicap was offered outside. The entire cruise week, we could overhear stories about that embarkation... truly one for the books. With that said, we are booked on Ruby from SF in Nov. Hopefully, Pier 27, we have a suite, and are packing patience! Thank you for the details. I'm a bit trepidatious because your experience sounds similar to others I've heard about. Hopfully we'll be going out of Pier 27...sounds like a better set up. Good luck to you in November. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julia Posted July 20 #17 Share Posted July 20 Please check the SF port schedule... some ships may have a "port day" at Pier 27, which requires others to be relegated to the older piers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memoak Posted July 20 #18 Share Posted July 20 18 hours ago, Fleur25 said: Thank you for the details. I'm a bit trepidatious because your experience sounds similar to others I've heard about. Hopfully we'll be going out of Pier 27...sounds like a better set up. Good luck to you in November. In our experience Pier 27 is not much better. Long lines out of the building early. If we see a line we just go across the street for lunch and then board around 1:30 or so 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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