Our Vancouver debarkation fiasco yesterday

[san diego sue]

Two years ago we were on the Zuiderdam. We knew what a nightmare dissembarcation would be. So we took Hal's transportation to the airport. Our luggage was taken to the airport before we boarded the bus. Never had to claim it in the terminal. Our bus was waiting in an area away from all the crowds. We were escorted to our bus once we exited the ship. Once at the airport , we claimed our luggage in a roped off area, got a luggagecart which was free and then proceeded with all the checkin stuff and US immigration.

Is this still done when you have HAL transportation? We were so amazed how easy this was done.

[cruz chic]

Not to hijack your thread, but the only flight we could get out of Vancouver is 12:50. DH has to be at work the next day. If we dock at 7:00 and are taking HAL transportation, will we be okay? TIA!

I will usually take HAL transportation and I'm usually in one of the first groups to get off. You "should" be ok with this flight...if nothing goes wrong. I think the first 10 cruises I never had any delays in docking. Since then....I've had some problems. Once I had a 2PM flight and barely made it for that. It was the only flight home that day. You just never know what can happen. I'm still in the work force so I have a limited amount of time to stick around after docking.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

David, I am so sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately this simliar thing has happened to us on our last several cruises. Partly because of problems getting customs to clear the ship so that passengers can disembark. But mainly I have found that the time you mark even if the ship gets in on time means basically nothing. If we had not jumped ahead of everyone when we got off the Statendam we may have easily missed out flight as well. We waited for numerous colors/numbers to be called and after it had been 50 minutes from the time we were to get off we just pushed ahead of the line and said sorry we will miss our flight.

After that last time we decided that no matter when our flight is we will mark the earliest possible and if we have to mark down an earlier flight time we will. I have to admit I think they just throw the desembarkation forms in the air and where they land is what color and number you get :D

[DAllenTCY]

Lisa,

As my wife would tell me 1,000 times in the last two days, I....of all people....should have known better.

So the debarkation request form has gone the way of the embarkation health questionaire.

[robertmnch]

I'm very sorry to hear that you missed your flight. There's nothing fun at all about going through that.

 

However, I would never, ever, book a flight that leaves a mere three hours after docking, particularly here in Vancouver. Canada Place has been an absolute gong-show for some reason this cruise season, there's plenty of construction and traffic on the way to the airport, and afternoon is prime-time for US/International departures.

 

Vancouver is Home to the Winter Olympics in February, 2010 so there is a LOT of construction going on all over Vancouver. Allow extra time catching flights as the Airport is a mess right now. Been there and done that in January 2009!:(

[griswalds]

David

 

I don't blame you in the least for being annoyed with HAL. At your expense, this thread has become somewhat of a fascinating read on how one should never listen to HAL, question their every move and never let your guard down.

 

I have never understood why cruise lines have not figured out that the last impression you are left with on your cruise is often your most "lasting impression". HAL screwed up plain and simple, not to mention that they gave you the wrong information. So unless you jump lines, lie on your return flight times, ask 5 different HAL staff what colour your tag means and then rush to the front of the line ignoring the colour called as it no one really checks it anyways, and have your luggage all strategically stacked ( I still don't get that one), you are taking a big risk?

 

Sorry, David all you needed was accurate information and little customer service. The sad part is most ships lose their customer service on the last day. Most, not all. Griswalds

[DAllenTCY]

To Copper10-8, I listed our outbound flight number and departure time.....Alaska/Horizon flight 2033 departing at 3:10 to Seattle. Same flight as on the online check-in form.

Our request was for first independent debark.

David

[kryos]

I'm sorry this happened to you and I sure hope you didn't have to wait too long to get another flight.

 

You're right ... HAL says you have to wait until your color is called to leave the ship, and that's a load of crap. I've had a couple of staff members tell me on the QT that no one checks the colors as you disembark. As soon as they start calling numbers, you can leave at any time. The only risk you run is that it is possible not all of the luggage might be out in the terminal for numbers that were going to be called later ... but even that is rare.

 

HAL only tells you that crap because they don't want a whole shipload of passengers storming the gangway as soon as the numbers begin to get called. But the fact is that you can just waltz right off the ship just as soon as the disembarkation process starts. I'd have been among the first few off had I been wearing your boots.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Copper10-8]

To Copper10-8, I listed our outbound flight number and departure time.....Alaska/Horizon flight 2033 departing at 3:10 to Seattle. Same flight as on the online check-in form.

Our request was for first independent debark.

David

 

Copy - Thanks!

 

I take it this wasn't a 'silent' disembarkation

[eh2zed]

What happened here was really unacceptable. Even though 3 pm was clearly tight there were many colours that got off ahead and most would have been sufficient to make this flight. We are finding that disembarkation has become more of a free for all. I do hope you take it up with HAL

[Down-Unders]

Yes, but this cruse was originally scheduled to arrive at 7am. Because of the drydock, she left Tampa a day later, so Victoria was not included in the itinerary.....therefore the arrival at noon yesterday.

I had already changed my outbound flight once, so I couldn't a second time.

David

 

 

 

If the ship was to arrive early and it did not arrive until noon you needed to be proactive and talk to someone in authority to make sure you got your flight. I tend to agree with your wife you should have known better, blaming helps us avoid taking responsibility for our own actions.

[Aussie Gal]

Our only bad disembarkation took place a couple of years ago when we disembarking in Tampa after a long voyage on the Veendam. First of all, as it was the first port of call into the U.S. and a large majority of the passengers were Canadian, it took hours for immigration to be finished so that the passengers could start leaving the ship.

 

Then, the CD who was calling the colours completely missed our colour which was say Purple 1. We had paid to do a tour of Tampa before going out to the airport and we were looking forward to seeing a little of this city.

 

We were like David and stood back and waited and waited. Finally, we decided to leave the ship only to find our bus had gone and the only bus left was the one that was going directly to the airport. Of course we got on board, but as our flight wasn't until the middle of the afternoon, we ended up waiting at Tampa airport from 10am until we boarded our flight around 4pm. It was a long day brought about by the CD not calling our colour and of course being so many dollars out of pocket due to missing the tour of Tampa.

 

On every other cruise, we have never had mishap whatsoever and we still blame that CD for his inefficiency.

 

Jennie

[brucory]

But the fact is that you can just waltz right off the ship just as soon as the disembarkation process starts. I'd have been among the first few off had I been wearing your boots.

 

 

If everyone adopted this attitude, it would hardly be a "waltz" - particularly for those requiring assistance or special needs. There is usually only one exit, and there needs to be some order to how its managed, or should we all just push our way out?

 

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Jade13]

I don't understand. Are you American? If so, why would you request debarkation at 1:00pm for a 3:00pm flight? I believe you are supposed to be at the airport at least 2 hours early for an international flight. If we had the wrong tags we would just go down to the front desk and have them changed.

 

I saw you explanation that the ship was scheduled to arrive at 7:00am originally. If I were you I would have requested the very first time slot.

[Jade13]

After that last time we decided that no matter when our flight is we will mark the earliest possible and if we have to mark down an earlier flight time we will. I have to admit I think they just throw the desembarkation forms in the air and where they land is what color and number you get :D

 

 

I thought HAL's new thing was that they just asked you which time you wished to depart? I could have sworn last year on both Noordam and Eurodam we had the option to check off 8:30am -9:00, 9:00-9:30am, 9:30-10:00am etc.

[fann1sh]

David, thank you for starting this thread. I'd just booked a 12:20 flight from YVR on disembarkation day, because that's the only non-stop of the day to my airport. (Docking is supposed to be at the usual 7 a.m. time.)

 

Because of all the comments here, I switched my flight to the following day, and will stay overnight. Happily, the change of date will save me $200, which should cover a Priceline hotel room.

 

If I was in your shoes, I'm not sure I'd feel any better knowing your bad experience helped someone else. Still, I'm most grateful. Thanks. - Patricia

[lovebug33]

A lot of this is the passengers, too. On our cruise on Princess, they said please wait for certain people to get off because they had early flights. DH and I were going to Universal Studios, so we were planning on sitting there until the end or our number was called. People were pushing and shoving to get off and saying, "I want off, I don't care about people and their flights! :eek:" This happened on an airplane we were on, too, when people shoved to get off when we were supposed to be waiting for people with tight connections. Unless I need to get off, I don't push or shove or jump ahead, I just wait. If more people did that, the OP wouldn't have had a problem!

[cruz chic]

If everyone adopted this attitude, it would hardly be a "waltz" - particularly for those requiring assistance or special needs. There is usually only one exit, and there needs to be some order to how its managed, or should we all just push our way out?

 

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I agree....it's people with this kind of attitude that fouls it up for everyone. HAL is also to blame for not checking ticket colors.

[Boytjie]

I blame HAL for distributing a document pertaining to debark priorities, receiving it back before 10pm as requested on Friday, and not paying the slightest bit of attention to it.

 

It seems that they did pay attention to you and gave you what you asked for:

 

"I told the young lady that we would like to be among the first to debark, because we had a 3pm flight, and I would like to leave the ship no later than 1pm."

 

"On Saturday afternoon, a letter indicatiing that we would be called off at 1pm accompanied by 4 "BLUE 1" luggage tags were found in our cabin."

Why not just suggest that if you have a flight, take your luggage off at the first opportunity?

David

 

HAL should have been more proactive on accomodating those with potential flight problems. When you asked for 1 pm at the latest, they may have just dropped the ball.

 

Disembarkation times are always estimates at best - anything can go wrong that could delay it and there hours between arrival and flying is very short.

 

I do understand that the arrival change messed things things up for your flight, expecting a 7 am arrival and having it changed to noon.

 

 

Added later:

 

Our request was for first independent debark.

 

David

 

Now I am confused: did you ask for self disembarkation or for a time slot (at least 1 pm)? It is usually an either/or choice.

[Boytjie]

I have to admit I think they just throw the desembarkation forms in the air and where they land is what color and number you get :D

 

Then our forms must always magically fall in the right spot! :D We get what we ask for every time (and it has been different every time).

[donh1]

One of the big problems I see is allowing passenger to wait in their rooms for their disembarkation. People get impatient and head for the gangway to mill around. The orderly disembarkation seems to collapse. On Celebrity last March it went very smooth. Various colour codes were told to wait in specific areas of the ship until your colour was called. IE Casino, upper show lounge, lower show lounge with a specific time. People were moved off the ship in an orderly fashion. No waiting. I repeat....no waiting.

 

Everyone jammed up in around the gangway and the elevators nearby is very dangerous. Actually if it were reported to the local fire officials I am certain changes would be made. The cruiselines are civilly liable for the well-being of their passengers and crew. Next time I am subjected to this risk I will write a letter to the cruiseline reminding them of their civil liability with a CC to the local fire officials. A more orderly disembarkation means less missed flights.

[suse]

Sorry it was a real drag. How was the cruise, though?

[LVSue]

Your disembarkation sounds like an utter nightmare! But I do thank you for posting. Normally we stay overnight so have never had to worry about making a flight, but we are planning on a 1:00 flight from LAX after disembarking at Long Beach. Your misadventure has convinced me to pay the $16 for on-board check-in so that we can independently disembark with only our carryon stuff AND don't have to worry about check-in at the airport.

[DAllenTCY]

To answer Copper10-8 first, no it was not a silent debark. We would have been better off if it had been. On the contrary, Johnny kept insisting that you could not debark until your color was called, because your luggage would not be available. It sounded as though they were checking at the gangway by the way he kept repeating that announcement.

To suse, we had a good time except for the fact that we could not get a reservation in the Pinnacle Grill even though we were willing to go early or late any one of the three nights. All 535 guests who boarded in San Diego were denied a chance to eat there.

I thought the food in the main dining room ranged from mediocre at best, to downright awful. I'm not a picky eater, but I could not eat the baked chicken (totally overcooked and excessively salty), the "prime rib" (which would be pot roast to anyone who knows the difference, and you could not order a baked potato (only what we call "twice badked" where it is basically mashed potato inside the potato skin). If there was any blue cheese in the blue cheese salad dressing, I couldn't find it. As for breakfast, it took 50 minutes to get the poached egg and corned beef hash (which was the canned type, not fresh). I had a Reuben sandwich for lunch, and I could not chew through it. On the other hand the shrimp cocktail, scallops, and steak were excellent, as were the many desserts.

As I mentioned on another post, I took the same cruise last year and thought every aspect exceeded my expectations. I booked this cruise in October because I was extremely satisfied last time.

One other note, nobody who boarded in San Diego received comment cards on the last day! Apparently guest relations was too overwhelmed with the problems encountered during the previous 15 days.

David

[Copper10-8]

One of the big problems I see is allowing passenger to wait in their rooms for their disembarkation. People get impatient and head for the gangway to mill around. The orderly disembarkation seems to collapse. On Celebrity last March it went very smooth. Various colour codes were told to wait in specific areas of the ship until your colour was called. IE Casino, upper show lounge, lower show lounge with a specific time. People were moved off the ship in an orderly fashion. No waiting. I repeat....no waiting.

 

Everyone jammed up in around the gangway and the elevators nearby is very dangerous. Actually if it were reported to the local fire officials I am certain changes would be made. The cruiselines are civilly liable for the well-being of their passengers and crew. Next time I am subjected to this risk I will write a letter to the cruiseline reminding them of their civil liability with a CC to the local fire officials. A more orderly disembarkation means less missed flights.

 

Got it! So we have now reached the point where we are blaming the cruise line for passengers who are congregating near the gangway, up and down the stairwells near the gangway, outside elevators, you name it:rolleyes: Even though, the CD in his/her disembarkation talk, specifically requests pax NOT to do that plus on each disembarkation morning, those same requests can be heard over and over again via the PA system; Yet despite of those requests, certain NASA rocket builders still choose to totally ignore those instructions and congregate to their little hearts content - brilliant!

HAL used to instruct pax to wait on the open decks and/or in the public lounges until their number/color was called. They changed that a few years ago and they started allowing all of us to also wait in our cabins; that was met with much approval but I guess we should all go back 'hanging out' in the casino

Here's a hot tip; It takes time to empty a ship of 1,800 passengers in an orderly fashion! Don't you think the cruise lines would think it just 'fabulous' if their ships can be cleared by the local officials withing 30 minutes of arrival so they can start the disembarkation process? Hello! McFly! Customs and Immigration inspections, and how long they last, are out of the hands of the cruise line(s). They are however, for a huge part, in the hands of the passengers.

How many times do we have to hear "Will Mr and Mrs Knucklehead from Cabin 5150 please report to the Hudson Room to present themselves to Immigration officials", repeated only four more times because Mr and Mrs Knucklehead aren't paying attention and/or are just too busy consuming their final breakfast in the Lido. Same with the endless PA announcement about fine folks needing to present themselves at the Front Office to 'settle their onboard account'. All stuff that needlessly holds up the entire disembarkation process.

I'm not saying that HAL and other cruise lines are never to blame for late disembarkations but let's call a spade a spade, friends! HAL has been trying this 'silent disembarkation' process for about a year now. If people don't pay attention or if we are advising everyone and their brother to ignore their assigned time and head for the exits, guess what's going to happen?