X Embarkation-is it smooth?

[PoseidonGodoftheSea]

Can someone explain how X handles their embarkation? I understand it might vary depending on the port, but in general. Do you consider it to be well planned compared to other lines?

 

I was always impressed with how HAL handled theirs. Particularly in San Diego, very well done. Seattle, my home city, was a little confusing.

[CatServants]

Ours was smooth as silk! You'll be in the CC/suite line, but all the lines were moving so quickly and efficiently you couldn't really call them "lines". The only thing easier (but much, much sadder!)? Disembarkation. Hope yours goes as well!

 

Happy cruising:)

 

Denise

[Schplinky]

Embarakation really does seems to depend on the port more than the line, as you say, but we found our Celebrity embarkation to be relatively smooth in San Juan.

[tbelian]

All fairly smooth, with the possible exception of Vancouver. Vancouver was the most difficult, but even with that said, it was mostly painless.

[CatServants]

All fairly smooth, with the possible exception of Vancouver. Vancouver was the most difficult, but even with that said, it was mostly painless.

 

 

 

Really? Our silky smooth embarkation WAS Vancouver! It probably also depends on what time you get the port and LUCK!;)

 

Happy Cruising

 

Denise

[rjg41]

The only disaster we ever had on X was not X's fault. Returning from a Hawaii cruise, US Immigration and Naturalization service were done on board and was a disaster. Too few agents and/or and intentional slow down. The line extended all the way from the theater back past the midship elevators into the lounge and moved very slowly.

[PatC]

Hi RJG

 

We were on that Hawaii cruise also. I've never seen such turmoil, embarkation and debarkation. Sailing out of San Pedro was a nightmare and I wouldn't do it again, and coming back with customs there was horrible.

 

Other than that we've always had smooth sailing.

[leoandhugh]

Yes indeed, the handling of embarkation depends very much on the port because for the most part it is handled not by the cruise line itself but by a shore agency hired by the cruise line. Someone above mentioned the smooth way it is handled here in San Diego; I attribute that to the fact that the agency used has been doing it for a lot of years, despite the fact that until recently we did not have the number of sailings as say LA/San Pedro. The worst we have ever encountered was in Boston and, in talking to the supervisor, I learned they had been doing it for less than a month - 2 other sailings. And boy, was that obvious. The cruise lines always have some personnel at the dock to handle difficult cases (or difficult passengers!):)

[jackdiamond]

Our embarkation from Ft. Lauderdale Fl has always been smooth; we either proceed through the CC or Elite line.

[raudacruise]

As folks have answer, it depends and it really isn't due to Celebrity.

 

In March, we left the Embassy Suites in their shuttle at 11:00 or so to the Infinity in Fort Lauderdale. Got there at about 11:30am. Normally, this is not a problem. Abnormally, in this case, they were still disembarking the previous passengers. They did their best. We started on the ground floor of the cruise terminal where they had seats lined up based on first come/first served. They also told us that besides the Customs/INS delay there was also going to be Coast Guard inspection. After all the folks on the previous cruise cleard their baggage we were allowed to check in and moved up to the 2nd floor of the cruise terminal, again, first come/first served basis but had to wait for the Coast Guard inspection to end. Got on board at 2pm.

 

Similiar thing happened on deembarkation in San Diego (same cruise). For whatever reason, Customs/INS delayed first passengers off until after 10am. Stupidly, we had an 11am flight and missed it (remember you must check luggage 1/2 hour before the flight).

 

I can't blame Celebrity for any of this. And in fact we've done many cruises post 9/11. This just seems to have been some sort of wierd incident. Since its not on topic I will not go into our nightmare getting to FLL.

 

But hey, the cruise was FANTASTIC.

[florisdekort]

The process depends on too many factors to make a generic statement, like Immigration or no Immigration, the port itself, the cabin type you've booked, the time you arrive in port, etc.

[CelebrityMan]

Hi PGOS,

 

As Floris points out well, and succintly, all are different. Based on the infinite variables at each port, each embarkation/disembarkation can go awry, and their will be horror stories to prove it....

 

I think the best advice I could add is to plan to arrive early, rested, refreshed, and armed with a positive attitude enabling you to go with the flow.

 

 

 

 

 

CM

[NorCalCruiseGuy]

Embarkation depends on a lot of factors, some under the control of Celebrity and some not. In San Francisco for example, there is no real cruise ship terminal, so things can be a little confusing. Sailing from Rio a few years ago, the immigration official dropped boxes of passports, and we were delayed hours in boarding, while exhausted passengers were still disembarking in the middle of the afternoon. Also in Rio, all luggage is loaded onto the ship by hand on carts.