??Time to arrive at Seattle pier-HELP !!!

[gg3]

Have a pre-cruise pkg. for Friday nite at Seattle Westin, cruising on Diamond Princess Saturday, 6/25. Shuttle is to pick us up at Westin at 11:55 am and take us to dock. That seems a little late to me.

1. will we be waiting in a long line at that time ?? for how long??

2. does a Princess pre-cruise pkg. give you any perks as per luggage handling or priority in line ??

3. should we just take a Taxi to the pier earlier?? Suggested time?

Please help me since I can't phone my TA - she's on an Alaskan cruise:)

Thanks, gg

[seattlekckckc]

Hello! We just got off of the Diamond on Saturday, and I live in Seattle and have friends that work at the Pier, so I will give you my best info...

 

1) If you arrive after 12noon, and that is if the shuttle is on time, you will be at the height of arrivals. We got there at 11.15, and there was already a pretty good line built up. This is all dependant on when the disembarkation carryover from the previous cruisers, and when they will be ready to let you on, of course.

 

2) I have never needed a pre-cruise pkg, I am sorry I am no help on this one. However, I have had some "priority" handling when you grab a porter, they take you to the front of the baggage check line. Worth $5.00 to me!

 

3) Unless you can get the shuttle to come earlier, I would for sure grab a cab earlier. To get on the ship as early as possible is worth the extra $$ imo. I weigh it also with the money you would be tipping the driver of the shuttle as well. For us, being one of the first ones on board, and eating in the buffet before it gets CRAZY is worth a $15 cab ride! But then, I have traveled with people who like to get on as late as possible, so I guess it depends on your group! I like the time to explore the ship and get settled. I have found that when we get on earlier, our bags usally beat us, where as late boarding gets us really late luggage, almost not in time for dinner!!! I would grab a cab at 10.45 or 11, personally.

 

HTH, Casey

[Pat]

We were at the Renaissance last week pre-cruise.......caught a cab at 10:00, it cost us $10 and we were onboard before noon. You do have to stand in a couple of lines, but there were only about 25 people in front of us, it is quite exciting everyone is talking and laughing while they are waiting and time flew by, Seattle is very organized, one of the Princess Reps told us that people had gotten really angry the first two cruises of the season because people cut in line, were pushy etc, so they have cracked down and everyone goes in the order they got there.......She said SHE WAS ENFORCING THE NEW RULES.......(and boy did I believe her!!!!!!) The counters opened at 11:30 for check-in. The Lunch buffet was ready and waiting for us. GO EARLY!!!!!!!!!!

[gg3]

Thanks Casey & Pat for your timely, pertinent information. I know sometimes all these decisions seem kinda petty, in the scheme of things, but it is really important to me for this cruise to be sooo special for my husband. gg

[Italy52]

We were at the Renaissance last week pre-cruise.......caught a cab at 10:00, it cost us $10 and we were onboard before noon. You do have to stand in a couple of lines, but there were only about 25 people in front of us, it is quite exciting everyone is talking and laughing while they are waiting and time flew by, Seattle is very organized, one of the Princess Reps told us that people had gotten really angry the first two cruises of the season because people cut in line, were pushy etc, so they have cracked down and everyone goes in the order they got there.......She said SHE WAS ENFORCING THE NEW RULES.......(and boy did I believe her!!!!!!) The counters opened at 11:30 for check-in. The Lunch buffet was ready and waiting for us. GO EARLY!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

So glad to hear that things are finally getting organized. We sailed the Sapphire on 5/22. We live in Washington so we drove our own car. We arrived at the pier around 10:15 AM. Parking attendants made us drop off our luggage under the canopy in the middle where people were departing-we were not allowed to drop off luggage near sign for luggage dropoff. When DH returned from parking our car in the lot, we rolled our luggage to the long line outside the Princess facility. Princess was checking our cruise documents to make sure we had our luggage tags on our bags, and checking our ID (passports or whatever was needed). As representative was checking, a big gap developed in the line and people started cutting in. Needless to say, people were getting a little upset. Once inside the processing area there were about 15 counters to help with processing. The only drawback was there was no place to sit once processed. Doors to security did not open up until after 12 noon due to prior cruise not totally disembarked.

 

Each cruise embarkation is different. We have sailed 19 times. We always go prepared for the worst. Don't let anything bother us. And, if things go well, then we consider ourselves lucky. Embarkation and Disembarkation are my least favorite part of the cruise experience. Things can go wrong and it be no body's fault. It's just like flying...things happen and that is just a part of life.