Help: San francisco embarkation

[cruiselvr1]

All those who embarked from San Francisco, please let us know if it's still bad. We are due to leave in November, and we have to decide if we need to change to San Pedro.

[pris993]

I live 30 miles south of San Francisco, have taken ships out of San Francisco about 6 times in the last 10 years. Never had such a problem. I think a the recent situation is unusal.

[cruiselvr1]

I live 30 miles south of San Francisco, have taken ships out of San Francisco about 6 times in the last 10 years. Never had such a problem. I think a the recent situation is unusal.

You must be from RWC?

[4cats4me]

If it were me, I'd go out of San Pedro.

[Love.II.Cruise]

I live 30 miles south of San Francisco, have taken ships out of San Francisco about 6 times in the last 10 years. Never had such a problem. I think a the recent situation is unusal.

 

That's good to hear. We don't plan to sail out of SF anytime soon, but would one day like to do an Alaskan Cruise out of SF.

[Amuse Bouche]

After following the other thread, I think that the mess was an isolated incidence, or as one person put it, a perfect storm.

 

We live here, aren't really crazy about the SF bay area, but we have booked a cruise out of San Francisco for next April. I have no inclination to change. If you think about it...if you are inconvenienced for 4 hours before your cruise begins, you have 348 hours of cruising bliss ahead of you on a 15 day cruise!! 4/352 is a pretty darn small fraction!!!

Not to mention, we have all spent our lives accepting that we will never have a good airline experience!! Why piddle on embarkation? You know it will be great once you pull away from the dock.

 

Enjoy your cruise. Take your time and go with the flow. If you miss lunch in the MDR, order two desserts for dinner! :p

[timetravler]

I would not hesitate to sail out of San Francisco, ever. The sight of sailing under the Golden Gate bridge is spectacular. Now since you are thinking of sailing from there in November, that is more then 7 months away. Any problems they may be having now will certainly be solved by then. When I did sail out of San Francisco, I had absolutely no problems what so ever. I arrived at the port via the Vallejo ferry at 11:40 AM and was on the ship by 11:50 am. Now this was before the staggered embarcment was used. Never the less nothing beats sailing from SF except maybe Venice, Italy.

[Treven]

I'm booked on the Sea Princess, round trip out of SFO to Alaska, in early June. Hopefully they will have ironed out most of the wrinkles by then.

[crosj]

I have sailed out of San Francisco several times without one bit of a problem. As a matter of fact I am once again sailing from there on May 23. Its easy for us as we live about 45 south of San Francisco.

[Coolmama_1]

After following the other thread, I think that the mess was an isolated incidence, or as one person put it, a perfect storm.

 

We live here, aren't really crazy about the SF bay area, but we have booked a cruise out of San Francisco for next April. I have no inclination to change. If you think about it...if you are inconvenienced for 4 hours before your cruise begins, you have 348 hours of cruising bliss ahead of you on a 15 day cruise!! 4/352 is a pretty darn small fraction!!!

Not to mention, we have all spent our lives accepting that we will never have a good airline experience!! Why piddle on embarkation? You know it will be great once you pull away from the dock.

 

Enjoy your cruise. Take your time and go with the flow. If you miss lunch in the MDR, order two desserts for dinner! :p

 

Great attitude! I've been thinking the same thing. Of course it is always easier to have a good attitude when you are not in the middle of the mess! Surely they will have this resolved before we cruise, right?:rolleyes:

[CruisinMinnie]

I heard from a friend who embarked the Star Princess on April 3rd. She said that boarding was a breeze. :)

[cruiselvr1]

Great attitude! I've been thinking the same thing. Of course it is always easier to have a good attitude when you are not in the middle of the mess! Surely they will have this resolved before we cruise, right?:rolleyes:

Also when it isn't raining.

[sfwoody]

Just returned on the Star this morning to San Francisco. Not only was the boarding the fastest of the 60 or so cruises I have taken, but when we disinbarked we didn't even have to show a passport or stand in any line. We cleared customs when we stopped in San Diego just by taking our declaration cards to the front desk. We were returning from Mexico.

 

On the other hand the traffic driving during easter week to board the ship was horrible as it is close to Fishermans Wharf.

 

This was my 5th sailing from S. F. and never had any delays.

[delidan]

Sail on the Star 4/3, arrived at 12:00 was on the ship at 12:20. I don't know where all these horror stories come from.

[Pam in CA]

Sail on the Star 4/3, arrived at 12:00 was on the ship at 12:20. I don't know where all these horror stories come from.

They came from disembarkation and then embarkation on March 19th. It was truly horrific. I was stuck on a staircase (after my color was called to disembark) for over an hour and a half, just around the corner and the short corridor to the gangway. I missed my flight as I'm sure many others did. Embarkation started very late and was equally screwed up and the ship sailed hours late.

[denims]

They came from disembarkation and then embarkation on March 19th. It was truly horrific. I was stuck on a staircase (after my color was called to disembark) for over an hour and a half, just around the corner and the short corridor to the gangway. I missed my flight as I'm sure many others did. Embarkation started very late and was equally screwed up and the ship sailed hours late.

 

...and we were getting on when you were getting off.

 

What a %$@!^@#^ mess!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::mad:

[J&KCruisers]

For the OP who lives in Modesto, sailing out of San Francisco is probably one of the best ports for a sail away! No way I would ever trade the Golden Gate Bridge for Sea Port Village in San Pedro.

 

From Modesto, you would trade a two hour drive to SF for a 6 hour drive to LA?

 

We have had both good and bad experiences with embarkation/disembarkation, SF is a pretty good location and any location can have a bad day.

 

Go with SF! Have lunch in Chinatown and get to the port at 2:00 and you will walk right on.

 

Happy Cruising:D:D

[karatemom2]

We've cruised out of San Francisco twice for Alaska cruises in the summer and never had any problems. It can get a bit chaotic, but nothing that would keep me from sailing out of that port. It is a beautiful place from which to cruise. It seems like the terrible situation experienced recently might have been just an isolated incident.

[LARGIN]

The disembarkation/embarkation problem on 3/19 was an abnormality. I would like to hear responses from those NOT on the 3/19 cruise... I plan to arrive a little after noon on 4/28.. Will I be able to walk right in or will I have to wait until 2:45 as stated in the email?????

[shellbeachjim]

The disembarkation/embarkation problem on 3/19 was an abnormality. I would like to hear responses from those NOT on the 3/19 cruise... I plan to arrive a little after noon on 4/28.. Will I be able to walk right in or will I have to wait until 2:45 as stated in the email?????

While our cruise on 3/19 was an abnormality/perfect storm, the biggest lesson I learned from it is not to take a cruise from San Francisco if the previous cruise is ended an extended season outside the US and will likely get the full immigration and Coast Guard treatments. For people who weren't there, it really was as bad as you've read.

 

Now to your question. Based on the reports I've read for cruises after 3/19 it appears the boarding is back to normal. I didn't check the port's website, but do you know how many cruise ships are in port on 4/28? That might be the biggest factor for you at this point in time.

[AliceS]

I was in the ABNORMALITY, too. I purchased Princess Transfers and it was really BAD. I did write a letter to Princess and had a message on my answering machine with an apology. I am a loyal Princess cruiser and not one to complain, but this was over the top. No more sailings from SFO for me.

[capriccio]

While our cruise on 3/19 was an abnormality/perfect storm, the biggest lesson I learned from it is not to take a cruise from San Francisco if the previous cruise is ended an extended season outside the US and will likely get the full immigration and Coast Guard treatments.

 

Not just San Francisco. A few years ago we were departing on the Royal Princess (with only 650 passengers) after it returned to FLL after a season of never stopping in a US port. While it wasn't chaotic like 3/19 in San Francisco, passenger disembarkation was delayed due to full immigration and Coast Guard inspections so our embarkation was delayed (we were grateful it was one of the small ships), and departure was also delayed due to both the later embarkation and the need to load up on supplies since the ship was leaving for a 28 day cruise to/from Manaus, Brazil.

[LARGIN]

While our cruise on 3/19 was an abnormality/perfect storm, the biggest lesson I learned from it is not to take a cruise from San Francisco if the previous cruise is ended an extended season outside the US and will likely get the full immigration and Coast Guard treatments. For people who weren't there, it really was as bad as you've read.

 

Now to your question. Based on the reports I've read for cruises after 3/19 it appears the boarding is back to normal. I didn't check the port's website, but do you know how many cruise ships are in port on 4/28? That might be the biggest factor for you at this point in time.

 

Only one ship in town... Mine.. :D

[Cruise Raider]

...and we were getting on when you were getting off.

 

What a %$@!^@#^ mess!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::mad:

 

Yes, like Larry says What a freaking mess. You had to be there to know how truly bad it was. I mentioned in another post that I have 3 more cruises booked out of the city in the coming months. One I cannot get out of so will go with snacks and maybe a cocktail hidden in a water bottle just to get through it. Hahaha...just kidding about the cocktail....but it is a sad statement that you have to take food to get onto a cruise. If this next one is no better, I am going to cancel the next ones. I have sailed out of SF about a dozen times and never seen such a mess as when they started this staggered boarding. What's up with Princess trying to anger their customers??? I know this was a perfect storm but I think the staggered boarding just added to the chaos.

[LARGIN]

Yes, like Larry says What a freaking mess. You had to be there to know how truly bad it was. I mentioned in another post that I have 3 more cruises booked out of the city in the coming months. One I cannot get out of so will go with snacks and maybe a cocktail hidden in a water bottle just to get through it. Hahaha...just kidding about the cocktail....but it is a sad statement that you have to take food to get onto a cruise. If this next one is no better, I am going to cancel the next ones. I have sailed out of SF about a dozen times and never seen such a mess as when they started this staggered boarding. What's up with Princess trying to anger their customers??? I know this was a perfect storm but I think the staggered boarding just added to the chaos.

 

I just booked another out of SF this afternoon. I guess I am a gluten for punishment. :D