Ovation of the seas head to San Fran - medical emergency

[davidrlewis2302]

6 hours ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

DS is on the 9 May cruise. Shouldn't have any itinerary changes since they were departing YVR at 1:00 am. OBC for missed lunch but wonder if they'll delay dinner since they won't start check in until 5:30 pm. So boarding at 6:30 to 7:00 for most.

That's not terrible considering the delay.

The Lions Gate bridge is a bit of a problem for cruise ships this size. It's missed the low tide on the way in which has added to the delay, but thankfully because it was waiting for the low tide on the way out anyway, your itinerary isn't too messed up.

Vancouver has a bit of a longer term problem as cruise lines make their ships bigger.  They can't homeport there because all their schedules have to rely on the tides.  Which is a shame because it's such a lovely port!

I hope your DS enjoys their cruise.
 

Edited May 8 by davidrlewis2302

[DandDM]

A minor complaint… we are scheduled to arrive at 2pm with walk off disembarkation beginning at 2:30 (could be optimistic as the is the ship’s first stop in Canada). Info sent to the room says we are to our of cabins by 1pm - a full hour before we arrive.  My number is 17, which is scheduled to debark starting at 4:30. Last disembark is between 5:30 and 6pm. 
 

I guess the ship wants to rush us off, and have cabins ready for the new passengers when they arrive, but this is crazy. Expect a huge mess tomorrow. 

[bonsai3s]

Certainly a difficult situation...for both the passengers disembarking and boarding.

 

Some will have to check out of their hotels at 11am...and cannot check-in no earlier than 5:30pm...some even later. 

 

There will be unhappy passengers disembarking and unhappy passengers before they even board.

 

Having lunch onboard, for new passengers, is out the window. A few may even miss dinner in the main dining room.

 

* Just hoping the best for those disembarking, and those boarding.

[DandDM]

We are at the port!  Right on time. Wonderful day in Canada, supposed to get into the low 70’s today. 
 

Was out around 9 am this morning and was surprised how many people already had their bags and noticed families starting to claim areas in the lounges and windjammer. 
 

around noon, the cruise director made an announcement reminding everyone that we would not arrive until 2pm and basically was begging folks to leave their bags in the cabin. Then closer to 1pm, he made another announcement saying that even though the instructions were to vacate our cabins, bags could be left there. 
 

Haven’t been a fan of the cd on this cruise, and now even less so, although I understand he is just the voice and likely didn’t set the plan. 
 

anyway, spent some time on deck checking out Vancouver and now having one last snack in windjammer. 

[djmike]

10 minutes ago, DandDM said:

We are at the port!  Right on time. Wonderful day in Canada, supposed to get into the low 70’s today. 
 

Was out around 9 am this morning and was surprised how many people already had their bags and noticed families starting to claim areas in the lounges and windjammer. 
 

around noon, the cruise director made an announcement reminding everyone that we would not arrive until 2pm and basically was begging folks to leave their bags in the cabin. Then closer to 1pm, he made another announcement saying that even though the instructions were to vacate our cabins, bags could be left there. 
 

Haven’t been a fan of the cd on this cruise, and now even less so, although I understand he is just the voice and likely didn’t set the plan. 
 

anyway, spent some time on deck checking out Vancouver and now having one last snack in windjammer. 

Happy you all made it.  If you get a chance could you let us know when they’ve started letting people off the ship please?

[kwokpot]

14 minutes ago, djmike said:

Happy you all made it.  If you get a chance could you let us know when they’ve started letting people off the ship please?

It's utter chaos. There are multiple lines without clear directions. The people in charge have been changing their minds

3 times.we are disembarking now

[kwokpot]

We changed lines 4 times in 90 minutes. At least the line were in now is moving decently.

[DandDM]

19 minutes ago, djmike said:

Happy you all made it.  If you get a chance could you let us know when they’ve started letting people off the ship please?

Got the formal notice at 2:20. As kwotpot mentioned, pretty chaotic, but I see people on the gangway!

[djmike]

Thank you both for the update

[DandDM]

. I am off the ship and thru customs. 
 

was tough to find a moving line, but once I did, moved pretty quickly. 

[kwokpot]

10 minutes ago, DandDM said:

. I am off the ship and thru customs. 
 

was tough to find a moving line, but once I did, moved pretty quickly. 

Exactly. It would have been a lot smoother with more accurate crowd management in the departure deck.

Edited May 9 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

45 minutes ago, DandDM said:

. I am off the ship and thru customs. 

Did you actually go through passport control? All we did was hand in the declaration form. No one checked anything, NOTHING.There was less checking than a Caribbean cruise!

[DandDM]

30 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Did you actually go through passport control? All we did was hand in the declaration form. No one checked anything, NOTHING.There was less checking than a Caribbean cruise!

Yup. That was it for me too. I had my passport out, but no one looked at it. 

[djmike]

It took us about 90 minutes to get on, lines moved quickly. 
 

Feel for everyone in yesterday’s situation, people who missed flights, people delayed and of course the crew who had to deal with upset people. 
 

dinner in the MDR was quick as I think most opted for the WJ. 

 

beautiful day at sea so far as we sail to Alaska.