Solstice 5/17/17 Vancouver departure nightmare

[lumpyi]

Strange there's no thread on what happened on 5/17/17 at Vancouver. Most passengers got on after a 4 hour wait... to check in and to get thru customs. Heard a lady say her daughter started at 11 am and at 3pm still hadn't boarded. I started at 12:30 and got on at 4:20. Ship left approximately 2 hrs late at 7 pm instead of 5pm. Muster drill was at 5:30 and a second muster drill was needed for those still boarding. No eating venues were open untill 6pm or later, lunch onshore was what most people had. Maybe some venues where open for priority embarkation passengers and few early arrivals, but the bulk had to wait till dinner. Myself and others in our waiting area tried to have a positive approach in that we want to start the cruise with positive thoughts and bear with the negatives till we boarded which turned into pleasurable overall cruise.

[BigB0882]

We are headed to Vancouver on Thursday and our ship leaves on Sunday. I have read multiple reports of nightmare situations with embarkation and getting to/from the airport. I am a little worried, to be honest. We have sailed Celebrity one time and it was last year out of Seattle and it was the easiest embarkation ever. No line at all and we had no priority advantages. I was hoping it was the same at all Celebrity ports. Fingers crossed that we wont have this problem.

[6502programmer]

Sooo, the port calendar has this to say:

 

WednesdayMay 17, 2017 Celebrity Solstice 12:51-19:15 Volendam 07:26-17:16 Radiance Of The Seas 08:14-19:16

 

It looks like the ship arrived significantly delayed. I know the 5/17 sailing was due to depart at 5:00p, so it left over two hours late. It sailed from Hawaii on 5/11. Embarkation was Honolulu on 5/8. I suspect that there was something that required a delay, likely a course deviation due to weather. If it got in a 12:51, they probably had two hours to clear everyone off, so that puts it at 3p for earliest embarkation. I also suspect that the reason there was little food onboard was because they were sailing from Honolulu, and were nine days out from an "away port". They didn't start loading dinner up until lunch time, and even then, were doing so in the midst of trying to get all the luggage off and on as quickly as possible. I'm sure it was no fun, but it sounds like you kept the right kind of attitude to enjoy your cruise. If anything, think of the folks who had air booked out of YVR on the 17th, knowing they were going to be at least five hours delayed getting off the ship. UGGGGGGH!

[4cats4me]

This seems to happen every May and September in Vancouver at the beginning and end of the cruise season. Happens with Princess, too.

 

 

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[delk]

From one Vancouverite, I'm sorry your embarkation was not a good experience. It's not usually that difficult here. Having sailed from our home port and returned to the same port we never experienced any troubles. I know that that weekend was a particularly busy one. But again, I hope you will accept our apologies. We really are a nice country.

 

Yes, getting taxis can be difficult and our traffic can be trying at the best of times. I hope you had a great cruise.

 

There is our version of light rapid transit called sky train. It goes directly from the waterfront to the airport. Ask anyone and they should be able to direct you.

 

 

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[abbydancer2003]

This seems to happen every May and September in Vancouver at the beginning and end of the cruise season. Happens with Princess, too.

 

 

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We've sailed out of Vancouver (on Princess) lots of times and only had a problem once - last May. It took us about 2 hours to board (usually it's under an hour), and like you, we had two muster drills, since other people reported 4 or more hours waiting for customs. We left about 4 hours late, and as a result our itinerary was completely changed, in order to actually get to Glacier Bay.

[SnorkelMoose]

I was on this sailing, and I agree that embarkation was a nightmare. It took us four hours to get onboard. With that being said, we had a Celebrity employee apologize to us repeatedly and told us that there was an issue with U.S. Customs/Border Protection. The actual time to check-in with Celebrity and receive our room keys was not very long (20 minutes?). After receiving our key cards, we were herded into a giant waiting room with chairs, and Celebrity would send five rows of passengers at a time to go through Customs. I don't fault Celebrity at all for this; it was apparent that the problem was with Customs, which had a backlog of people due to the number of ships in port.

 

Also, the captain (Tasos Kafetzis) tried to improve everyone's moods, and asked that--despite the embarkation process--he and the crew would do their best to ensure that we all had a great cruise. He was always giving announcements and keeping people updated, and he did it with such a great sense of humor, that I completely forgot about the troubles in Vancouver. I had a great time, and I appreciated Celebrity's treatment once I boarded the ship.

[39august]

Did all passengers get OBC to cover the lunch they had to buy since they could not board earlier? RCI usually gives $20 pp in these cases. Just happened to us last month.

[mike x ftc]

We have sailed from Vancouver a few times now and have only had issues once on a very busy September day when there was 3 big ships in and the poor staff just struggled to cope with the sheer numbers of people but it hasn't soured our love for Vancouver. We live in the UK and basically look for cruises that give us an excuse to go back! We use the Skytrain every time, it's brilliant. Vancouver is a beautiful city with so much to offer.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I love the city of Vancouver but I will never sail out of that port again. If there's more than one ship in, forget it. Three ships the day I tried to board. I had to stand in line with no food and no water for almost 4 hours. It's US Customs that's the issue. I was exhausted by the time I finally boarded the ship.

[Navymom2x]

We sailed out of Vancouver in July of last year and it was a breeze. Took taxi from hotel down the ramp unloaded luggage onto carts we went right in an on the ship by 11:30. Loved Vancouver and the ship port.

 

;3

[merinski]

Sooo, the port calendar has this to say:

 

WednesdayMay 17, 2017 Celebrity Solstice 12:51-19:15 Volendam 07:26-17:16 Radiance Of The Seas 08:14-19:16

 

It looks like the ship arrived significantly delayed. I know the 5/17 sailing was due to depart at 5:00p, so it left over two hours late. It sailed from Hawaii on 5/11. Embarkation was Honolulu on 5/8. I suspect that there was something that required a delay, likely a course deviation due to weather. If it got in a 12:51, they probably had two hours to clear everyone off, so that puts it at 3p for earliest embarkation. I also suspect that the reason there was little food onboard was because they were sailing from Honolulu, and were nine days out from an "away port". They didn't start loading dinner up until lunch time, and even then, were doing so in the midst of trying to get all the luggage off and on as quickly as possible. I'm sure it was no fun, but it sounds like you kept the right kind of attitude to enjoy your cruise. If anything, think of the folks who had air booked out of YVR on the 17th, knowing they were going to be at least five hours delayed getting off the ship. UGGGGGGH!

 

Just so you know... We were on the Solstice coming to Van on May 17th from Hawaii. There were no delays. The ship got in around 6:30am that morn. Disembarkation was a nightmare. (another thread) We were at sea 5 days from Kona to Van. It's too bad that the embarkation on the 17th was so bad too.

[sergeant655]

I have traveled out of Vancouver several times and last year left on a day with 3 ships in. I arrived at 11:15 and was on by 12:45. If you arrive earlier it will be a shorter wait. on 3 ship days It is CBP that slows down the process. they will only allow 50 passengers at a time in line. There is a waiting room that is set up between security and CBP and they will only allow 50 at a time in to the CBP line. Security screening will stop if that waiting room fills to capacity. It happened just after i entered that waiting room. The 2 biggest challenges for disembarkation is CBSA and taxis. Vancouver does not have enough taxis and UBER is not offered here. There is a push for uber and more taxi cabs . Seattle is not immune to problems ether. I just got off a ship at pier 91 and had to wait almost an hour to get a taxi with only 2 ships in and the taxi line was really disorginized. signage was hard to understand.

[SnorkelMoose]

sergeant655, I agree about arriving earlier. I was with my Mom on that cruise, and even though we're seasoned cruisers and usually arrive early for the embarkation process, we decided to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast that morning (our hotel was roughly three blocks away from the pier.) "Even with three ships in port, how bad could it be," we thought. LOL--we realized our mistake as soon as we rolled our luggage down the ramp way at the Pan Pacific entrance. Complete chaos. More than once, someone (from the Port?) called out to the Celebrity passenger line, "IF YOU'RE ON HOLLAND AMERICA, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG LINE!" Apparently there were some unfortunate HAL passengers that had been directed to the Celebrity area. Some people were still debarking from ships, and nobody seemed to be in charge. I ended up in a queue for taxis, as one point (LOL)!

 

Anyway, once my Mom and I were in the Celebrity queue, it was just a matter of waiting for a long time.

 

A really, really long time.

 

Moral of the story: get there as early as early as possible, especially when multiple ships are in port.

 

Also, sergeant655 - your debarkation experience in Seattle was just like mine. At least an hour to get a taxi.

 

 

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[Tweedy]

Sooo, the port calendar has this to say:

 

WednesdayMay 17, 2017 Celebrity Solstice 12:51-19:15 Volendam 07:26-17:16 Radiance Of The Seas 08:14-19:16

 

It looks like the ship arrived significantly delayed. I know the 5/17 sailing was due to depart at 5:00p, so it left over two hours late. It sailed from Hawaii on 5/11. Embarkation was Honolulu on 5/8. I suspect that there was something that required a delay, likely a course deviation due to weather. If it got in a 12:51, they probably had two hours to clear everyone off, so that puts it at 3p for earliest embarkation. I also suspect that the reason there was little food onboard was because they were sailing from Honolulu, and were nine days out from an "away port". They didn't start loading dinner up until lunch time, and even then, were doing so in the midst of trying to get all the luggage off and on as quickly as possible. I'm sure it was no fun, but it sounds like you kept the right kind of attitude to enjoy your cruise. If anything, think of the folks who had air booked out of YVR on the 17th, knowing they were going to be at least five hours delayed getting off the ship. UGGGGGGH!

 

I walk around Canada Place in the morning and was quite shocked to see the Solstice already tied up. That was at 6:30am. I was a bit disappointed as I like to see them sail into Canada Place. I think the time on the report you are referencing is incorrect or a different time zone then PST.

[CruzinOwl]

We were on the 5/17 Solstice sailing and must have just missed the back-up in embarkation. We were dropped off at Canada Place between 10:30 and 11:00 (probably closer to 10:30) and were boarding the ship by 12:00. At that time, they were limiting the number of passengers in the Customs area and we had to wait in line awhile, but obviously not as long as many others. We headed to the main dining room for the Concierge lunch, but food was also being served at the Mast Grill when we wandered by after our lunch.

[Cruise Raider]

I was on that cruise and everyone received notification that the port would have three ships in and we should plan on arriving after 11 AM. Well, so glad I had not taken that advice as we booked our air long before receiving that letter and our flight landed at 8:20 AM. We gathered our luggage and got in a cab to the port as we planned on dropping our luggage off and having breakfast with some friends that live in the area. By the time we arrived, around 9:30 AM, in the underground parking area and cabs were directed to the right spot and porters were waiting to take our non-carry on luggage. We had to ditch our breakfast plans (we did get food on the plane) as there were lines out the door to get into the terminal for check in.

There weren't a lot of instructions on where to go but some fellow pax guided us to the proper check in area and we were seated until check in began around 10 AM. Lines grew very quickly but it was at least organized, although some people were already getting huffy at this point.

From there, we were herded into this large room with a LOT of empty chairs ... nobody seemed to be there to give instructions on where to go next but to be fair, Celebrity (or maybe the port of Vancouver?) didn't expect so many pax to board prior to 11 AM and it was now closer to 10:45 AM by now. Nobody was sitting in the chairs and again, some pax took charge to let us know where to go for the security lines. The people working at the port seemed to be overwhelmed as the security lines, which were super long by this time, were being shared by passengers of all three ships. After getting through security, it was evident we were on our own as nobody seemed to know where to go next! I think this was complicated by people that were still disembarking so they had all their luggage and the civility of the people in the area was quickly diminishing. Some were cutting off others and pushing and shoving, hitting them with their luggage, name calling, etc. By the time we finally found the next room for US immigration, people were cutting in front of others and the frustration was palpable. This line afforded us another hour of standing and waiting, while some pax were given a green laminated card allowing them to go to the kiosks for immigration. But, without having information on what to do with that green card, I heard some people just threw them away. Those green cards were ever valuable but useless for those that were not instructed they didn't have to wait in that extremely long line. With only 2 US immigration offers on duty, I really think this is where all the problems stemmed from.

Again, I am so thankful we canceled having breakfast with our friends as many of those that waited until 11 AM to board had up to a 6 hour ordeal to get onboard, ours was closer to 3 hours. And .... since I had already eaten on my flight, all that chaos was in my rear view mirror as soon as that first glass of champagne was handed to me as I boarded the ship!! It was bad (not the worst I experienced though) but I refused to let it affect even one minute of my wonderful cruise....and wonderful it was!! This was just a little blip and soon forgotten!!

[awhcruiser]

Don't think I want to take a cruise out of Vancouver, unless there is only one ship in port!

[ORV]

I just disembarked from Vancouver on 5/28 and there were absolutely no problems, we were one of the first off after self disembarkation.

 

On the other hand we embarked in Sept of 16 on Solstice to Honolulu and it was the biggest mess I've ever seen. The problem was the organization of the port workers, not Celebrity, not CBP, and not the luggage porters.

[Karlzmom]

I have no doubt that is the time stated on the calendar but the ship was docked before we went to breakfast in the morning. We walked over to look at it in anticipation of boarding. I'm not sure how they calculated the time as the ship was clearly docked hours before the stated time.

 

It was a complete mess. No information - just lines, waiting and more lines. Every time it looked like we were finally on our way to board we simply moved to the next line that was just around the corner. Needless to say it didn't really have an "ahhhh" feeling that one typically gets when boarding - no champagne, just orders to be a make-up muster drill at 6p.

 

The 6p drill didn't start at 6p...so the people who showed up on time were again forced to cool their heels and wait, without information, for an extended period of time.

 

Of course, the booked mess at Seattle upon disembarkation seemed like a cruel joke.....

 

 

 

Sooo, the port calendar has this to say:

 

WednesdayMay 17, 2017 Celebrity Solstice 12:51-19:15 Volendam 07:26-17:16 Radiance Of The Seas 08:14-19:16

 

It looks like the ship arrived significantly delayed. I know the 5/17 sailing was due to depart at 5:00p, so it left over two hours late. It sailed from Hawaii on 5/11. Embarkation was Honolulu on 5/8. I suspect that there was something that required a delay, likely a course deviation due to weather. If it got in a 12:51, they probably had two hours to clear everyone off, so that puts it at 3p for earliest embarkation. I also suspect that the reason there was little food onboard was because they were sailing from Honolulu, and were nine days out from an "away port". They didn't start loading dinner up until lunch time, and even then, were doing so in the midst of trying to get all the luggage off and on as quickly as possible. I'm sure it was no fun, but it sounds like you kept the right kind of attitude to enjoy your cruise. If anything, think of the folks who had air booked out of YVR on the 17th, knowing they were going to be at least five hours delayed getting off the ship. UGGGGGGH!

[riclop]

That was bad.

[SC_Floaters]

9 Night Alaska GlacierCruise on Radiance of the Seas, Vancouver to Anchorage, departed 17 May 2017…

This was oursixty-first (61st) cruise since 2008. Our third Vancouver to Anchorage itinerary. Our fifty-second cruise on theRoyal Family of ships, (45 on Royal Caribbean and 7 on Celebrity).

Check-in at CanadaPlace was a nightmare. Three ships were in port all set to depart at 5:00pm.They were the Royal Caribbean Radiance, Celebrity Solstice and Holland Volendamwith a combined passenger capacity of 6,785 cruisers. All trying to go througha terminal designed for one ship…

The Pan PacificVancouver’s conference rooms were set up for each cruise line’s check-in. Thenall passengers were gathered into one large conference room, given numbers andwere directed to security and US Customs & Border check points.

It did not seem thatmany of the people directing this event knew what was really going on.

It took my wife and Ithree hours to go from check-in to on board. We thought that was lengthy(actually the longest we ever spent in that process). We did talk to one couplethat said it took them over 5 hours from check-in to on board.

The ship, supposed todepart at 5:00pm, left the pier at 7:00pm. The Captain said it was due to somelast minute supplies that needed to be loaded on board, however, as we sat inthe Deck 4 Cascades Dining room for dinner we watched passengers hurriedly boarding up toabout 6:30pm…

Dennis & Sue

[bunnyrab]

Sooo, the port calendar has this to say:

 

WednesdayMay 17, 2017 Celebrity Solstice 12:51-19:15 Volendam 07:26-17:16 Radiance Of The Seas 08:14-19:16

 

It looks like the ship arrived significantly delayed. I know the 5/17 sailing was due to depart at 5:00p, so it left over two hours late. It sailed from Hawaii on 5/11. Embarkation was Honolulu on 5/8. I suspect that there was something that required a delay, likely a course deviation due to weather. If it got in a 12:51, they probably had two hours to clear everyone off, so that puts it at 3p for earliest embarkation. I also suspect that the reason there was little food onboard was because they were sailing from Honolulu, and were nine days out from an "away port". They didn't start loading dinner up until lunch time, and even then, were doing so in the midst of trying to get all the luggage off and on as quickly as possible. I'm sure it was no fun, but it sounds like you kept the right kind of attitude to enjoy your cruise. If anything, think of the folks who had air booked out of YVR on the 17th, knowing they were going to be at least five hours delayed getting off the ship. UGGGGGGH!

 

Apparently the port calendar is not very reliable. We arrived in Vancouver on Radiance of the Seas May 17, 2017 & were off the ship & making our way over to Sky train @ 8:05 A.M & we were not the first off.

We were also returning from Hawaii & some people on our ship were transferring over to Celebrity Solstice for the Alaska cruise or cruises. North & than South.