Closing terminal to enforce delayed check in

[JudithLynne]

We have just received notification of delayed embarkation/departure times for the Ruby out of San Pedro. This is our 38th cruise so this is nothing new to us except for this statement: “Please do not arrive prior to 1:00 PM as the terminal will not be open.”

Has anyone had that happen and should I take it seriously? Will the terminal really be closed and locked? Seems that people could check in and be on hold for boarding in the waiting areas.

If Princess is serious about closing down the terminal my guess is that there will be a long line at Berth 93 for those that ignore or didn’t see the notification.

[Colo Cruiser]

We have just received notification of delayed embarkation/departure times for the Ruby out of San Pedro. This is our 38th cruise so this is nothing new to us except for this statement: “Please do not arrive prior to 1:00 PM as the terminal will not be open.”

Has anyone had that happen and should I take it seriously? Will the terminal really be closed and locked? Seems that people could check in and be on hold for boarding in the waiting areas.

If Princess is serious about closing down the terminal my guess is that there will be a long line at Berth 93 for those that ignore or didn’t see the notification.

 

When?

 

Can you post the notice?

[shredie]

If the terminal is closed it is not Princess doing it. It would be the Port Authority.

[time4sun]

How can the terminal be closed? Won't the passengers from the previous cruise be disembarking?

 

Our flight arrives at 10am and we were intending to go to the port and hope for early boarding. Hate to pay a taxi to sit outside the gates if we can't even drop off our luggage?

 

Also, we haven't received any notification of this change although our booking does now show an 8pm departure time. Wish we had known that before we booked an ohhhh dark thirty flight!

[JudithLynne]

When?

 

Can you post the notice?

 

Yes Colo, here it is from our revised Travel Summary. Look at the end of the first paragraph for the statement about the closed terminal.

We depart 2-29-2016 at 8 PM, four hours late.

 

PROGRESSIVE CRUISE CHECK-IN INFORMATION

To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If

you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared

transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated checkin

times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to 1:00 PM as the terminal will not be open.

 

Once onboard, enjoy a meal at Horizon Court which remains open throughout the day to serve you.

1:00 PM - Dolphin & Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E 1:45 PM - Caribe & Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & R 2:15

PM - Aloha & Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with A & L 2:45 PM - Baja & Plaza Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with B & P

 

Our boarding pass (preferred) printed right after final payment reads: "check-in 1:00-3:00PM." There is no mention of a closed terminal.

[ar1950]

Last month we arrived around 10 am (the only time that was available for us to get the shuttle from the hotel). They were not letting people in the terminal that early. They did open the doors at 10:30 am which is what we had seen happen before. Unless there is a late arrival or some other issue I would think the "not open until 1 pm" is just a statement to try to deter people from showing up earlier.

 

Please come back after your cruise and let us know what your experience was.

Edited February 21, 2016 by ar1950

[KirkNC]

I agree, Princess does things like this to try and spread out arrivals.

[JudithLynne]

time4sun: go into your Travel Summary on the Princess website and look at the pdf version of your summary. There is a link to access your pdf summary. Read it word by word and you will see what I copied and pasted above for Colo.

 

As I booked through a TA, I will not receive my email notification until tomorrow, Monday, when my TA returns to work. However, others on our roll call have received and shared theirs.

 

Like you, we would like to be there early and board early.

[JudithLynne]

Last month we arrived around 10 am (the only time that was available for us to get the shuttle from the hotel). They were not letting people in the terminal that early. They did open the doors at 10:30 am which is what we had seen happen before. Unless there is a late arrival or some other issue I would think the "not open until 1 pm" is just a statement to try to deter people from showing up earlier.

 

Please come back after your cruise and let us know what your experience was.

 

 

Once on board, I will go to the Internet Café and let you know. We are tempted to go early and see if we can get in. In all of my 25 years of cruising I have never seen this sort of statement. We have gone out of San Pedro many times and never encountered a closed terminal.

Edited February 21, 2016 by JudithLynne

[Astro Flyer]

Once on board, I will go to the Internet Café and let you know. We are tempted to go early and see if we can get in. In all of my 25 years of cruising I have never seen this sort of statement. We have gone out of San Pedro many times and never encountered a closed terminal.

My cruise from SP in April has the same progressive check-in statement (seems to be more common now) minus the closed terminal until 1:00 statement.

 

I have read threads about the cruise terminal being closed to as late as 5:00 to do a deep cleaning as a result of cases of norovirus. Since passengers bring it to the terminal & ship it's their attempt to break the cycle of norovirus. That may be the reason the terminal is closed until 1:00 and in that other situation they kept it closed until nearly 5:00. Passengers with Princess transfers from LAX were taken to Long Beach (near the Queen Mary & Aquarium of the Pacific) for a couple of hours of independent walking around town before going to the cruise terminal in SP.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes Colo, here it is from our revised Travel Summary. Look at the end of the first paragraph for the statement about the closed terminal.

We depart 2-29-2016 at 8 PM, four hours late.

 

PROGRESSIVE CRUISE CHECK-IN INFORMATION

To help facilitate a smooth start to your voyage we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Please arrive at the check-in time listed below. If

you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport. Guests travelling on shared

transport or arriving as a group will be checked in together. Priority check-in will be available to guests with a Preferred Boarding Pass within the allocated checkin

times. Boarding will commence shortly after check-in. Please do not arrive prior to 1:00 PM as the terminal will not be open.

 

Once onboard, enjoy a meal at Horizon Court which remains open throughout the day to serve you.

1:00 PM - Dolphin & Emerald Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with D & E 1:45 PM - Caribe & Riviera Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with C & R 2:15

PM - Aloha & Lido Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with A & L 2:45 PM - Baja & Plaza Decks - Cabins on these decks begin with B & P

 

Our boarding pass (preferred) printed right after final payment reads: "check-in 1:00-3:00PM." There is no mention of a closed terminal.

 

 

Thanks for posting it.

If we were going I still think we would arrive at 10:30 like we always do.

[jennybenny]

Two years ago we did a cruise after dry dock. They delayed our boarding, and advised us that we could not arrive until after 1.

 

We got there a little early, so did some others, but many people followed the rules. Maybe there's an issue with the Ruby that is causing the delay. We did have to wait outside for a bit before they opened the door to the terminal. We left around 10 PM from San Francisco this cruise.

 

I think your delay has less to do with progressive check in but more with some issue causing a delayed departure of 8 PM.

Edited February 21, 2016 by jennybenny

[BCB@Sea]

I received my "progressive cruise check-in information" e-mail this morning for the 3/5 cruise. Boarding starts at 12:30pm for the first group. There is no mention of the terminal being closed.

[SakeDad]

I received my "progressive cruise check-in information" e-mail this morning for the 3/5 cruise. Boarding starts at 12:30pm for the first group. There is no mention of the terminal being closed.

 

Us as well, but on the Crown like you. I read another thread that one of the Princess Class ships is taking longer to turn around for housekeeping, etc....is the Ruby in that Class? Not sure why that would add 4 hours to departure time, though. What is the scheduled arrival time for the ship that day?

[Colo Cruiser]

Us as well, but on the Crown like you. I read another thread that one of the Princess Class ships is taking longer to turn around for housekeeping, etc....is the Ruby in that Class? Not sure why that would add 4 hours to departure time, though. What is the scheduled arrival time for the ship that day?

 

 

Crown/Ruby/Emerald are sister ships.

[capriccio]

Two possiblities - a deep cleaning or perhaps Princess has been informed of a US Coast Guard inspection. Those occur more frequently when a ship returns to the US after months away. I know that some passengers were warned of a delayed boarding in those cases at Fort Lauderdale last fall with a similar emphatic message about the terminal being closed. I gather the Coast Guard can schedule an inspection whenever they want; maybe that is the case here.

Edited February 21, 2016 by capriccio

[Astro Flyer]

Us as well, but on the Crown like you. I read another thread that one of the Princess Class ships is taking longer to turn around for housekeeping, etc....is the Ruby in that Class? Not sure why that would add 4 hours to departure time, though. What is the scheduled arrival time for the ship that day?

 

There seems to be more posts about cabins not being available until 1:00 on the Royal & Regal but basing things on posts is not always accurate. ;)

[SakeDad]

Two possiblities - a deep cleaning or perhaps Princess has been informed of a US Coast Guard inspection. Those occur more frequently when a ship returns to the US after months away. I know that some passengers were warned of a delayed boarding in those cases at Fort Lauderdale last fall with a similar emphatic message about the terminal being closed. I gather the Coast Guard can schedule an inspection whenever they want; maybe that is the case here.

 

But the Ruby has been doing the Mexican Riv and Hawaii this month and home porting in SP. When I worked on Disney doing the Mexican Riv out of SP we had a Coast Guard inspection one day. Given about 3 days notice and no crew were able to disembark until the full inspection was done and the ship passed. It was a long day for us as everyone gets very tense when the Coast Guard boards even if there are no known issues. Luckily we passed and went on our way.

 

Although even a Coast Guard Inspection should not effect the opening of the actual terminal as the guests would just wait inside until the ship is cleared.

Edited February 21, 2016 by SakeDad

[Hlitner]

There seems to be more posts about cabins not being available until 1:00 on the Royal & Regal but basing things on posts is not always accurate. ;)

 

This is a totally different issue than the check-in Cruise Terminal issue. It is relatively common to not allow passengers access to their cabins until around 1pm (sometimes later). This is to simply allow the cabin stewards sufficient time to fully deep clean each cabin (and the corridors). This is also common to many other cruise lines. When folks board they may be notified to avoid the cabin areas...which means most head directly to the Lido (or other dining venues). By the time you are finished with lunch you should hear an onboard announcement that the cabins are ready.

 

Hank

[Astro Flyer]

I read another thread that one of the Princess Class ships is taking longer to turn around for housekeeping, etc....is the Ruby in that Class?

 

This is a totally different issue than the check-in Cruise Terminal issue. It is relatively common to not allow passengers access to their cabins until around 1pm (sometimes later). This is to simply allow the cabin stewards sufficient time to fully deep clean each cabin (and the corridors). This is also common to many other cruise lines. When folks board they may be notified to avoid the cabin areas...which means most head directly to the Lido (or other dining venues). By the time you are finished with lunch you should hear an onboard announcement that the cabins are ready.

 

Hank

That's true Hank however my post was in reply to the question about which ships are taking longer due to housekeeping delays during turnaround day which seems to happen more often on Royal-class ships & not on the Ruby's class of ship.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[satxdiver]

We had this notice once before and yes, the terminal was not open so we stood outside. Disembarking pax leave through another part of the terminal not accessible to arriving pax since you would have to pass through US Immigration (they have guns and badges!). The progressive check in is a totally different issue than messages saying the terminal will not be open. I wonder what the reason is for this. In our case it was a late arriving ship.

[jollyjones]

That's true Hank however my post was in reply to the question about which ships are taking longer due to housekeeping delays during turnaround day which seems to happen more often on Royal-class ships & not on the Ruby's class of ship.

 

Not so - I was on the Ruby in Jan and was given a printed card at check in stating that the cabins would not be available till 1pm. I think it's because the stewards have more cabins now (mine had 19) so can't get them ready in time. All part of how the Princess product is changing for the worse - one reason I'm jumping ship (despite being elite) and looking elsewhere.

[jasbo49]

Our sailing two days earlier on the Crown has no such language about the terminal not being open until 1 p.m., so the OP's situation isn't just the usual staggered boarding issue.

 

My guess, based on nothing concrete, is something special like a Coast Guard inspection.

 

(Check that. Just noticed jollyjones' post above. Maybe it's a new thing on Ruby like the Regal, etc.)

 

Jim

Edited February 21, 2016 by jasbo49

[RDC1]

While I usually ignore the progressive check in announcements, I would believe them when they say that the terminal will not be open for check in before a certain time. I have encountered that before when, due to special circumstances, Princess has sent a notice saying that the terminal will not open until a specific time. Guess what the terminal was closed and while it did open before the time, it was only by about 15 minutes or so.

 

Considering that the departure is not until 8, I would believe them when they say that the terminal will not open until 1.

[always_cruisin]

That happened a few years ago before one of our Hawaii cruises. We received an email telling us the terminal would be closed until afternoon, and it was definately closed until that time. I believe it was for a Coast Guard inspection and deep cleaning the terminal. The ship arrived and passengers disembarked that morning, so they had an empty ship until they opened the doors that afternoon.

 

There really is no where to sit in the port area. Some people on our cruise were hanging out at the Ports of Call shopping center down the street (with their luggage, etc). We were in a pre-cruise hotel and just stayed there until the shuttle driver got word that the port was open (this was the Doubletree).