Boston port

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

I looked up the 2026 Sapphire cruises from Copenhagen. The itinerary indicates that Boston is the first U.S. port. In that case you will have to be processed through immigration after you retrieve your luggage. There is no way to know for sure how quickly the process will go. In Ft. Lauderdale Princess used facial recognition for immigration. Only a few were actually referred to an immigration official. I don't know if Princess has or will have this technology on the Sapphire.  

Not sure I would say Princess uses facial recognition at PE. The embarkation/disembarkation is run by Princess contractors who manage the FR cameras in the arrivals area but facial recognition surely must be the sole responsibility of the USCBP folks.

[vino100]

Well we survived embarkation. We arrived around 1:00 and the line was huge. The longest embarkation I have had.
everything else has been wonderful   

[retrembl]

On 7/27/2024 at 7:37 AM, vino100 said:

Is there just one port in Boston for ships to dock? I’m on the Emerald princess. 

Yes there is only one pier at Boston Harbor.  It's the Black Falcon Pier in South Boston.

[walkingsoon]

3 hours ago, vino100 said:

Well we survived embarkation. We arrived around 1:00 and the line was huge. The longest embarkation I have had.
everything else has been wonderful   

 

Vino100,

 

What time did you get on the ship? I'm there in a couple weeks, willing to wait or go early - any timing advice after your experience? Don't care about embarkation lunch, just hoping to minimize time in crowds. Until reading your post, I had planned to arrive about 1:00. 

 

I recall back in the 90's, long embarkation waits were quite common, some were absolute horror shows. They generally got better over the next two decades until the standard was to embark pretty much as quickly as you could walk. Since Covid restart, though, Princess seems to be regressing. Medallions and phone apps really haven't helped.

 

I appreciate any advice you have!

 

Walkingsoon

[vino100]

I don’t know about earlier boarding, but the line was much shorter after 1:30. 
enjoy your cruise. 

[HotRoot]

11 hours ago, vino100 said:

Well we survived embarkation. We arrived around 1:00 and the line was huge. The longest embarkation I have had.
everything else has been wonderful   

Did you notice how they handled the handicapped - wheelchairs, walkers, scooters?  Was there a place to "park" them while companions waited in line?

[lx200gps]

We sailed on the Emerald out of Boston on July 14 and yes, embarkation was the worst we had ever encountered anywhere. We prefer to arrive (and therefore check in) as early as possible but it did us no good this time. We arrived at the parking lot on Fargo, took a shuttle and were at the terminal by about 9:30. About 75-100 people already in line ahead of us. We then stood in line for at east an hour before the line started moving. I can't say for sure, but my impression was that the initial delay in starting check in was due to the security people not being ready earlier. Actual Princess check in was normal once we got past security and had checked in, we sat in the waiting room for only about 10-15 minutes before boarding started. FYI, there was no PES "lounge" set up, everybody sat in the same area and boarded according to where you sat in the waiting room.

 

Re the question about how they handled folks with wheelchairs etc, we did notice that there was an area set aside with a few folks who needed boarding assistance.  It was well positioned right in front of the elevator that led from ground floor where we stood in the huge line, up to the second floor where security, check-in and the waiting area was set up.

 

One final comment, if you are sailing on the Canada/New England itinerary on Emerald and, like we did, have a stop in Portland as the first US stop before arriving back in Boston, do yourself a favor and review some of the postings here on CC about the US Immigration process you will have to go through in Portland the day before arriving back in Boston. This is particularly important if you have an excursion arranged in Portland. We docked in Portland around 8AM and some US citizens were only cleared to leave the ship around 1PM.

[Honolulu Blue]

26 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

One final comment, if you are sailing on the Canada/New England itinerary on Emerald and, like we did, have a stop in Portland as the first US stop before arriving back in Boston, do yourself a favor and review some of the postings here on CC about the US Immigration process you will have to go through in Portland the day before arriving back in Boston. This is particularly important if you have an excursion arranged in Portland. We docked in Portland around 8AM and some US citizens were only cleared to leave the ship around 1PM.

 

I'm in exactly this position as I'll be boarding the Emerald on Sunday and we have a late-in-cruise stop in Portland.  Princess warned us about extra immigration scrutiny there in a letter last week that announced a change in itinerary to announce that we will be leaving the stop before Portland an hour early and arriving to Portland at 9 AM, which will be an hour earlier than we were originally scheduled.  Your comments are noted.  I don't have an excursion currently scheduled in Portland and probably won't schedule one now.  

 

Thank you for the rest of your post, though I didn't quote it above.  It was very helpful and part of the reason why I keep coming back here.

[lx200gps]

19 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

I'm in exactly this position as I'll be boarding the Emerald on Sunday and we have a late-in-cruise stop in Portland.  Princess warned us about extra immigration scrutiny there in a letter last week that announced a change in itinerary to announce that we will be leaving the stop before Portland an hour early and arriving to Portland at 9 AM, which will be an hour earlier than we were originally scheduled.  Your comments are noted.  I don't have an excursion currently scheduled in Portland and probably won't schedule one now.  

 

Thank you for the rest of your post, though I didn't quote it above.  It was very helpful and part of the reason why I keep coming back here.

You're quite welcome. Yes, the whole Portland immigration exercise was a nightmare, especially for US citizens. There were the same number of CBP agents processing the few hundred of us non-US citizens as there were handling the THOUSANDS of US citizens. We were on shore in Portland by 9:30AM while the last of the US citizens didn't get cleared until almost 2PM.

[Freckles1983]

I’m booked on the emerald in September with Portland as the first us stop on the journey.  I’ve got a cruise tour booked thru princess that morning and I’m concerned that it might get cancelled or we may not make it in time.  Would the refund be as an OBC?  And if I don’t use that OBC before I get off the ship the next day in Boston, what happens to that money?  

[loriva]

On 7/31/2024 at 2:27 PM, Freckles1983 said:

I’m booked on the emerald in September with Portland as the first us stop on the journey.  I’ve got a cruise tour booked thru princess that morning and I’m concerned that it might get cancelled or we may not make it in time.  Would the refund be as an OBC?  And if I don’t use that OBC before I get off the ship the next day in Boston, what happens to that money?  

 

If Princess cancels the excursion--because they are finding pax are not making it due to the extended CBP immigration processing--you will get a refund in refundable OBC.  If not used before the end of your cruise, Princess will send you a check in 3-4 weeks.  If you miss the excursion due to delays in CBP processing, you will be sorry out of luck.  You might want to ask at the shorex desk early in the cruise if those on excursions are given priority places in line for the CBP processing to ensure they are able to make their excursions--similar to being first for tender tickets.  If not, you could cancel before the deadline and would also obtain a refund.  (All this presumes, you booked the excursion with a credit card, not using non-refundable OBC.)

[HotRoot]

On 7/31/2024 at 1:27 PM, Freckles1983 said:

I’m booked on the emerald in September with Portland as the first us stop on the journey.  I’ve got a cruise tour booked thru princess that morning and I’m concerned that it might get cancelled or we may not make it in time.  Would the refund be as an OBC?  And if I don’t use that OBC before I get off the ship the next day in Boston, what happens to that money?  

We were on a Princess ship and the first US port was Honolulu.  People on the Princess excursions were in the first couple of groups let off the ship.

[vino100]

We had a Princess excursion in Portland. They prioritized Princess excursions so no one missed their excursions. They were still calling people to go through immigration at 1:30 ! Not sure how non princess  tours were impacted. I usually plan my own excursions,but I’m glad I didn’t this time. 

[walkingsoon]

Boarded Emerald today. Expecting a bad embarkation, as several described above, I chose to lunch off ship and board late.

 

My uber arrived curbside at 1:51, I presented my blue lane provided medallion on the promenade deck at 2:00. It could've been quicker, but I walked casually and stopped at a restroom on the way. A few people (very few) about, but no line to drop bags, at security or to check in. Nice! 

 

I don't know how it was earlier in the day. We're sailing (actually delayed in Boston 24 hours) with 3300+ according to GS, well over 100%.

 

Four Points by Sheraton in Newton popped up as my Hotwire Hot Deal, way undercutting the closer-in hotel prices. Lower hotel taxes outside Boston proper seemed to account for much of the savings. A reasonable hotel (amusingly, it actually spans I-90), and worth the extra few rideshare miles, in my opinion.

 

Walkingsoon

[WisCruiser2]

On 7/27/2024 at 12:38 PM, Teechur said:

We didn't have any problem with the port itself. The traffic leading to the port, and around Boston was horrific.

The traffic in downtown Boston is ALWAYS horrific!

[Cruisemeister2002]

Know I'm going off thread, but does Princess provide a shuttle bus to Quincy Market. Why I ask is because on previous P&O cruises they have always provided this service.

[HotRoot]

2 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Know I'm going off thread, but does Princess provide a shuttle bus to Quincy Market. Why I ask is because on previous P&O cruises they have always provided this service.

Today, on our unscheduled port day in Boston, Princess is providing a free shuttle to the New England Aquarium.

[HotRoot]

Prior to our arrival in Boston, I was curious how they deal with handicap as this is our first cruise with a wheel chair.  For those others traveling with mobility devices, here is how it worked for us.  We were directed to a line to the left.  Everybody else was directed to a line to the right which I could not see the end of.  As space in the waiting for the elevator line opened up, they would take people from the left line.  People from the right line were pretty much continuously moving except when they were taking people from the left line.  This was just showing your passport, The right line was directed to escalators.  There was only one elevator.  Those with canes and walkers were "shoved" in.  Wheelchairs and scooters were not so crowded.  When we exited the elevator, we were already in the handicap security line.  When the line was empty, they took unhandicapped people.  My husband did not have to get out of the wheelchair, empty his pockets, nor take off his belt.  They just pushed him around the scanner and patted him down.  I did normal security.  They then directed us to the far end of the room (orange wall).  We checked in at a table.  Showed them our passports and had our medallions activated.   And boarded the ship. Timewise, all I know is our Uber picked us up at an airport hotel (Revere) at 10:30 am.  We were sitting in Crooners at 11:30 am.

 

For all, they were very tough on liquids.  Plastic water bottles were not allowed.  If you had your own personal water bottle, it had to be emptied.  A typical fast food liquid container was not allowed.  I saw one man with two full unopened cases of cans of Mountain Dew.  They put them through the scanner and he was allowed to take them onboard.

 

Hope this helps someone.