San Francisco boarding (Carnival specific)

[groundloop]

Since Carnival only recently started sailing out of San Francisco I'd like to hear from anyone with recent experience as far as how smooth (or not smooth) the boarding process went.  

 

I was a little bit surprised last night when I did online check-in right at midnight and only managed to get an 11 AM arrival appointment and boarding group C03.  (On recent cruises I've gone for the latest arrival appointments to avoid the crowds and be able to go directly to the cabin but I let my wife talk me into trying for an early one this time because she's super excited to be cruising to Hawaii).

[HB.Blake]

cruising out of SF in 2023 to Alaska.  Driving up from Socal the day before.  Have a good trip to Hawaii

[hapytobehr]

Cruised out of SF in May to Alaska.  It was a cluster****.  We had to wait outside WITH our 3 bags of luggage and my walker for well over an hour until they finally completed debarkation (the ship came back late).  When they finally allowed us inside there was still a wait.  

 

I believe we didn't board until after 1 (with a 10:30 check in time).

 

However, some people have sailed after that and said it wasn't too bad.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

[thenexus2k]

Having just done a Miracle to Alaska a few weeks ago, I can tell you that the boarding process is HORRID in San Fran. I do not think it's Carnival's fault, but the porters there were slow and disorganized. When you arrive, the porters do not take your luggage, but instead make you get in a series of long lines, and they grab your luggage when they get to your line. Seems easy enough, but they made a mess of it. 

My older parents had an 11:00 check in. My wife and I had a 1 PM check-in. When my wife and I got to the port around 12:30 ish, my parents were still in line. There were four long lines at that point, that were indiscernible at first glance. However, I did venture to the front and noticed 4 small signs (11, 11:30, 12, and 12:30. Being that there was no 1 PM line yet, we went to the end of the 12:30 line to wait. 

Fortunately, it's San Francisco, so we were not waiting in the 95 degree Florida sun, but it was 2:30 before we had our bags taken, and got to go into the terminal to check in. Once we were in Carnival's hands, the checkin line took maybe 15 to 20 mins, and we were on the boat by 2:45-3:00. Yeah, the boat was late to leave....

Even funnier was the the return. Since were in the back corner of the boat, we got to hear the dock workers' expletive laden argument with the crew about how to secure the tie ropes to the dock. Then disembarking at 9AM, there were already passengers lined up to get on, and I got to hear one woman lay into a porter about why they wouldn't let her board yet (besides the mess, she was an hour early, and passengers were still getting off from the previous cruise. I love people....)

One other minor annoyance - SF has these little fly-gnat like things that are EVERWHERE, especially at the Alcatraz tour docks next door. They don't bite, but they do swarm and annoy the crap out of you. Some of them stowed away and rode with us to Alaska (contained to the balcony). There weren't enough to be annoying anymore, but we were two stops/5days in before I stopped seeing them.... 

[csm5986142]

We were on the Miracle out of San Francisco over the 4th of July.  Unfortunately our boarding experience was kind of a mess too, but I think it might have been due to the holiday weekend and staffing issues.  I heard someone mention that most of the employees had been sent from southern California and weren't accustomed to working that port.

We arrived at 10:05 for our 10:00 – 10:30 arrival appointment time.  The doors to the terminal were locked and there were lines outside separated by arrival appointment times.  The doors opened around 10:30.  We went through the typical check-in process.  Boarding did not begin until 11:30, so it was a pretty packed waiting area by then. 

When they did begin boarding, instead of calling for guests in suites first and then proceeding down the line with Boarding Group A01, A02, etc. (as had been done on our other cruises this past year) they called for anyone with "priority" or "diamond/platinum" on their boarding pass which caused lots of confusion and nearly everyone in the waiting area rushed towards boarding, only to be turned back (to have to weave their way back through the crowd) when told it was not their turn to board yet.  It was a mess.  We were Platinum w/Boarding Group A01, so we proceeded on without issues, but I felt bad for everybody involved (including the staff), it was such a chaotic mess. 

On a brighter note, I have done the Hawaii Itenerary twice (both times in the fall) and it's my favorite.  You will have such a good time!

 

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by csm5986142

[thenexus2k]

Oh, and the Hawaii cruise is AWESOME! Have a good time! 

[ryanpatricksmom]

We had an entirely different experience.  When you arrive they have lines (outside) clearly marked for your boarding time.  They only allow the passengers with those boarding times to move up to the terminal. Once in the terminal it was a breeze.  What may have set our situation apart is that we stayed at the Hyatt at the airport the night before and took a Carnival transfer to the port.  We were dropped off to stand in the line, but our luggage was taken directly to the porters.  We didn't see it again until it arrived at our cabin.

 

We may have waited 15-20 minutes before our line was allowed to enter.  We could easily have taken a later transfer if we had really wanted to avoid the wait.

 

For debarkation I did find that the signage at the terminal was a bit confusing.  We stayed at a hotel less than a mile from the port so we decided to walk with all of our luggage (it proved to be a poor decision due to bumpy, crowded sidewalks).  It was ridiculously difficult to figure out how to leave the port area as a pedestrian.

 

 

[zentraveler]

Boarded the Carnival Miracle in SF this morning for the 5 day cruise to Ensenada. I have to say this was the smoothest cruise boarding I have have on a large cruise ship. 

 

Arrived at 10:10 for the 10-10:30 group. Clear lines so only that group boarded. Was in the waiting area at 10:35 (had priority suite boarding but don't think that added much). They called us to the ship about 11:10. Recommend however much you have pre-checked on line - Verifly, Carnival website etc - bring paper copies of your boarding pass, vaccine card and your passport. Keep them handy You will need to show them a few times and it is smoother with paper. I was finished with lunch by 11:45 and in my cabin not far later. (If you are in a suite just ignore the do not enter signs and go to your cabin - that is not clear but what guest services told me to do.)

[BTromboneFrack]

We went to Alaska in August on the Miracle.   First of all, be ready for the traffic in that part of town when two cruise ships are loading.   We stayed near the airport the night before, took a taxi to the cruise port and when we got within half a mile of the port, the traffic virtually stopped.   It took us a half an hour to go a half a mile, and then we had to get out of the taxi early because the driver didn't want to drive into the mess of traffic in front of the Miracle.   Supposedly, the Princess ship that was also in port took the usual Carnival dock.  That moved the Carnival dock to the next one down.   I remember telling my wife that it looked like the Carnival staff set the boarding procedures up at 3 in the morning and we were making do with what they put together.   Luckily for us, my wife needs assistance getting on the ship (she uses a walker)l.  That helped a little bit in avoiding the lines, but the big problem was we didn't make our 10:30 AM boarding time because of the traffic.   We were told to go to the end of the line because we missed our time, but all of the people in line were GREAT and told us to go ahead of them because our time was first.   The lines went on FOREVER out on the sidewalk.    An hour after we boarded (about 1:00 PM) the lines STILL were very long and we could see them from the ship.   It's not Carnival's fault.  It's just that car access to the port is extremely crowded and Princess got the one dock that was set up for cruising.   My suggestions are to get there early, try to find a porter that will take your bags (they seemed to be hard to find), and be patient.   It was evident that all of the Carnival employees were not on the same page because the dock actually WAS set up the night before.  

 

[zentraveler]

Just now, BTromboneFrack said:

We went to Alaska in August on the Miracle.   First of all, be ready for the traffic in that part of town when two cruise ships are loading.   We stayed near the airport the night before, took a taxi to the cruise port and when we got within half a mile of the port, the traffic virtually stopped.   It took us a half an hour to go a half a mile, and then we had to get out of the taxi early because the driver didn't want to drive into the mess of traffic in front of the Miracle.   Supposedly, the Princess ship that was also in port took the usual Carnival dock.  That moved the Carnival dock to the next one down.   I remember telling my wife that it looked like the Carnival staff set the boarding procedures up at 3 in the morning and we were making do with what they put together.   Luckily for us, my wife needs assistance getting on the ship (she uses a walker)l.  That helped a little bit in avoiding the lines, but the big problem was we didn't make our 10:30 AM boarding time because of the traffic.   We were told to go to the end of the line because we missed our time, but all of the people in line were GREAT and told us to go ahead of them because our time was first.   The lines went on FOREVER out on the sidewalk.    An hour after we boarded (about 1:00 PM) the lines STILL were very long and we could see them from the ship.   It's not Carnival's fault.  It's just that car access to the port is extremely crowded and Princess got the one dock that was set up for cruising.   My suggestions are to get there early, try to find a porter that will take your bags (they seemed to be hard to find), and be patient.   It was evident that all of the Carnival employees were not on the same page because the dock actually WAS set up the night before.  

 

That  is so interesting! I live here and took a Lyft 5 miles to Pier 27 and there was no traffic at the port this morning and we "cruised" right up to drop off the bag. And there were ONLY porters - lots of them. I did not see a Carnival bag drop like Princess had in July, but just a group of roving porters. From reading these posts it seems that the given is that there is some considerable variability. It seemed to me that all of the embarkation staff were an outside company who either works for the port or is hired by Carnival to manage embarkation. Ours was well staffed and well run. Princess in July - not so much and more chaotic. 

[ldubs]

41 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

Boarded the Carnival Miracle in SF this morning for the 5 day cruise to Ensenada. I have to say this was the smoothest cruise boarding I have have on a large cruise ship. 

 

Arrived at 10:10 for the 10-10:30 group. Clear lines so only that group boarded. Was in the waiting area at 10:35 (had priority suite boarding but don't think that added much). They called us to the ship about 11:10. Recommend however much you have pre-checked on line - Verifly, Carnival website etc - bring paper copies of your boarding pass, vaccine card and your passport. Keep them handy You will need to show them a few times and it is smoother with paper. I was finished with lunch by 11:45 and in my cabin not far later. (If you are in a suite just ignore the do not enter signs and go to your cabin - that is not clear but what guest services told me to do.)

 

I think you are making a very good recommendation.  Our experience back in April was the folks doing the check in were trained to kind of tick the boxes.  If everything wasn't according to the checklist, then delays happened.   

 

We also saw long lines, but they were apparently for the next boarding group.  We luckily were at the tail end of ours and walked right in to the check-in kiosk.  Unfortunately, we were using a doc of recovery instead of a negative test and it took a while to find someone who knew what that was.   

 

The good news is the rest of our party boarded without any unusual delay.  I suspect if not for the doc of recovery, we would have been fine.   

[groundloop]

1 hour ago, zentraveler said:

....Recommend however much you have pre-checked on line - Verifly, Carnival website etc - bring paper copies of your boarding pass, vaccine card and your passport. Keep them handy You will need to show them a few times and it is smoother with paper.....

 

Yep, I always keep paper copies of everything as a backup.  I've been on 5 cruises since the restart and only once, in Seattle, did I feel like Verifly made things go quicker.  This time I'm probably not going to bother with it at all.

[zentraveler]

18 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

Yep, I always keep paper copies of everything as a backup.  I've been on 5 cruises since the restart and only once, in Seattle, did I feel like Verifly made things go quicker.  This time I'm probably not going to bother with it at all.

All the pre-boarding uploading of documents, Verifly etc. seem like a waste of time. I was watching closely and saw no evidence it made any difference at all.