San Diego Port - Embarkation - Assistance

[CruisinAway123]

Hello,

 

I'm hoping someone with experience embarking at San Diego with HAL's wheelchair assistance can help.  I'm trying to get a sense of the port, how far you have to walk to drop off baggage and meet up with HAL and a wheelchair/attendant, etc.  I will be accompanying my parents on a cruise in/out of San Diego in January.  My father is able to move about and walk on his own and should be OK once onboard, but he suffers from AFIB and some other issues that make walking even relatively short distances very difficult.  My parents will have a Neptune Suite (which I mention in case that changes the location of where they need to go/how they check in with HAL at this port) - I'm in a less fancy stateroom but HAL is great about letting me stay with them to help them through the embarkation process.  We have a very short flight to San Diego arriving around lunchtime on embarkation day and plan to take Uber/taxi immediately to the port.

• Will we be able to drop off our luggage immediately or do we have to walk far with it?
• How far do we have to walk before we meet up with HAL staff and a wheelchair/attendant?
• Is there seating along those walks and in any waiting areas?
• Anything else that would be helpful to know and/or we should consider?

 

Some background in case it helps someone think about the San Diego port and HAL embarkation experience in the context of our issue/concerns....  The limitations for walking even short distances has become a challenge for my father in the last several years and it is, understandably, frustrating for him.  It's only in the last 1-2 years that he's relented and started to request wheelchair assistance from airlines and, during a 2018 HAL cruise to Alaska, from HAL for embarkation and disembarkation.  While the wheelchair assistance provided by the airlines and HAL is very helpful, it does have it's limitations and risks -- some of which we experienced during the Alaska trip.  You are dependent on nothing going wrong in their systems (as it did at the Vancouver airport) and you might be waiting for a chair and/or attendant to become available.  At the Vancouver port, we had to wait for about 30-45 minutes for a wheelchair to become available because HAL was (understandably) balancing finishing disembarkation support with the earlier shuttle arrivals for embarkation.  Sitting and waiting would not have been much of an issue itself -- but from where we entered the port to where we FIRST met up with any HAL team members there was a hallway the length of the ship and NO SEATING the entire length of it.  My father simply can't walk or stand that long without an ability to stop and rest.  When we saw the length of the walk, we found seating at the entrance and I walked the length several times to request help, check on status, and then help guide the attendant back to where my dad was waiting.

 

The real solution is for us to travel with our own collapsable transport wheelchair so myself or my mother can be free to help with some of these distances and/or so we at least know there is a seat while we're waiting for help.  Having one would have alleviated all issues during our Vancouver experiences -- if we'd had our own chair a HAL staff member could have immediately helped us check-in and get situated upon our arrival at the port, as we were waiting for an open wheelchair not the HAL staff.  Both myself and my mother prefer this solution and it would make the trip much less stressful for us.  But my father is not ready to accept myself or my mother to have to push him and is insisting on arranging airline/airport and HAL courtesy support.  I do appreciate that it will be frustrating and stressful for him to accept that help at this point.  But he is not the only person to consider and it would be much less stressful for my mother (and myself) if he we knew we were traveling with our own lightweight, collapsable transport chair at the ready.  I'm still hopeful he will change his mind after some reflection, but in the meantime am seeking to at least get a better "lay of the land" from someone familiar with the port so I'm able to prepare for a smooth embarkation day and so my mother has some peace of mind.

 

Once we're onboard, they've selected a stateroom located close enough to most activities he enjoys, so he plans to just hand out in those areas of the ship and thinks he'll be ok.  Although having a transport chair onboard would make it possible for us to help him get to some things on either end of the ship, he probably will be ok and very happy once settled onboard in his stateroom of choice.  He does enjoy the "steaming along" enjoying the view from the balcony and their stateroom is very close to his favorite restaurants and haunts on the ship.

 

Thank you very much for your help!

[OlsSalt]

Link to general information about Port of San Diego and contact links - hopefully someone can give you more precise information about wheelchair use - but you can drop off your luggage close to the terminal entrance but one still has to go through security first, and then HAL check in.

 

Always easier if you are the only ship in port - check their calendar to see who else is in port that day. Good luck getting this to all work out - I can't imagine it will not considering accessibility requirements and the numbers of other cruise passengers also sharing mobility issues,  but good to confirm everything ahead of time. 

 

A Neptune aft-suite is certainly a very nice reward to be worth it all  in the end. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by OlsSalt

[cougaraz]

I cannot speak with good authority on the wheelchair aspects of the San Diego terminal, but I can speak to the terminal and can say that compared to many others, the terminal is small and the distances between entrance and embarkation areas correspondingly small.  The terminal is located right on Harbor Drive, just a five minute drive from the airport.  Basically the foot of the pier joins the waterfront.  Depending on traffic configuration, taxis or other vehicles can get very close to the terminal.

 

I know that isn't much detail, but hope it helps some.

 

[vms]

I just embarked from San Diego on 11/11/18 and although I didn't use wheelchair assistance, I can also confirm that the distances were quite short compared to a port like Vancouver.

 

Taxi's/ubers were dropping off in the "front" parking area. Security check for boarding pass/passport was right there. Walking 15-20 steps forward was an attendant to take luggage, and another 20-30 steps was the entrance to the waiting area with seating. HAL personnel were there and assisting those that needed wheelchair assistance. Those in wheelchairs needing assistance were brought around the security lines in the crew line where they went through the metal detector/security screening. They then proceeded to the check-in desks, which is another room with seating to wait for your boarding group to be called following check-in. The security line was reasonably long with no place to sit once you got into it until you passed through to the check-in room as it looped back and forth like a line at Disneyland.

 

Once called for boarding, there was a short loop around to the photography station, and then the option of stairs or elevator to the second floor to the gangway. There was no seating between the entrance after the boarding group was called and getting on the ship that I was able to see.

 

The distance from the end of the building where the security line was to the spot where you would enter once your boarding group was called was approximately the distance from the bow of the ship to the mid-ship elevator.

 

Hope that helps!

[Marianne]

Your cab driver should be able to drive into the Port, up to the area where the porters are.  If you have a lightweight chair, it would make it much easier for you.  Otherwise, when you leave the vehicle, you will have the porter take the luggage, then you will have to cross over to the line waiting to enter the building.  Sometimes the line is long, othertimes not -- maybe after you arrive from the airport, the lines should be shorter.  And inside the building there can be long walks, and long snaking lines, thus the chair would make it easier for boarding. 

 

I think I'd call HAL and discuss the boarding situation with staff.   They probably have a waiting area for assistance to board.  I too have mobility issues, but do not use a wheelchair.  I did, however, find the lines long, and distances where one had to go trying and tiring.  

 

On disembarkation getting to the cab area is short, but I'd ask for wheelchair assistance on disembarkation.  Hope this info helps.

Marianne

[Crew News]

I can only report my experience with my wife and wheelchairs in San Diego. 

If you have completed the Request for Assistance Form for HAL, you will be met at the entrance of the terminal (which is past the Security Checkpoint (passport and E-doc only) as stated above.  A HAL pusher with wheelchair will puch through the carry-on luggage Security Checkpoint, In-processing, and then to the waiting area for those needing assistance in boarding.  Until boarding time approaches, your pusher will disappear.  When your HAL pusher reappears a few minutes before boarding, you will be pushed all the way to your stateroom with the first group to board the ship.  Those passengers accompanying you will be allowed to board with you in the first boarding group irregardless of what category of stateroom that they have booked.

 

It is important that you HAL knows in advance that you will be needing assistance in boarding.

 

FWIW renting a scooter will be cost effective and give your father the mobility to not only wander the ship but also for use in ports.  If you choose a scooter option, it will be waiting for him in his Neptune Suite where he can keep it parked when it is not needed.  My DW rented a scooter for 19 cruises and it truly enhanced her enjoyment of each cruise.

[DAllenTCY]

So much depends on what time you arrive at the San Diego pier.  In most cases, there is a 4-step process for transferring guests from the parking lot at least until 1pm or so..  Later arrivals usually will bypass 2 or more of these short hops.

   1.  Pier arrival to an indoor area (where prior requests for chairs are moved up on the list)

   2.  Waiting Area to the check-in counter.....and then another waiting spot depending on your Mariner Level/Stateroom type.

(Neptune Suite would be the first to be escorted by staff to the gangway, as soon as the ship has been cleared for embark, and only after back-to-back and President's Club).

   3.  After your number or letter has been called ...... eventually onboard just past the gangway.

   4.  Once on the ship, you will be switched to an awaiting shipboard staff pusher.

On average, there are 50-60 guests needing wheelchair assistance to board.  Occasionally, there will be 120 or more.

Only on rare occasion does the shoreside pusher take you directly to your stateroom, that because it is too time consuming.

 

You inquired about luggage drop off and porter availability.  Once disembarkation has been completed (usually by 10am) there will be longshore staff available on the pier.   On half of them go on lunch break at about 11 am.  The remainder take theirs subsequently.   So, you might have a bit of difficulty with porter assistance immediately upon your arrival if before 12:30 pm.

 

I hope this is helpful for your planning.

 

David

P.S.  There is a section of the terminal just after security screening where no seating is available.....perhaps 200 feet long.

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by DAllenTCY

[CruisinAway123]

This is very helpful.  Thank you all very much!