Just off Golden Ensenada weekender

We were delayed until 10:30pm leaving port on Friday night....divers still clearing out the water intake pipes.....air conditioning and all systems worked well on board. Everything except debarkation went smoothly, that was a nightmare thanks to the idiots rushing the main debarkation area and not doing what they were told to do and wait in a lounge until called by number. It make many folks angry as Elite members and people with low numbers were behind the masses of morons waiting for customs. The crew did not manage that mess well. I'll be happy to answer any questions.......:)

We were delayed until 10:30pm leaving port on Friday night....divers still clearing out the water intake pipes.....air conditioning and all systems worked well on board. Everything except debarkation went smoothly, that was a nightmare thanks to the idiots rushing the main debarkation area and not doing what they were told to do and wait in a lounge until called by number. It make many folks angry as Elite members and people with low numbers were behind the masses of morons waiting for customs. The crew did not manage that mess well. I'll be happy to answer any questions.......:)

This late sailing is starting to sound like a pattern. I noticed on my recent Golden short cruise that there were far more newbies aboard than usual, and they were confused about all sort of things, including disembarkation.

We will be doing that trip on 11/30. Hopefully by then all the mussels will be gone and they will have worked out the kinks of disembarkation.

It make many folks angry as Elite members and people with low numbers were behind the masses of morons waiting for customs. The crew did not manage that mess well. I'll be happy to answer any questions.......:)

I had a number in the very first walk-off group (scheduled for 8:00) but it was 8:20 before I got off and 8:50 before I made it out of immigration. Definitely not the best experience.

I had a number in the very first walk-off group (scheduled for 8:00) but it was 8:20 before I got off and 8:50 before I made it out of immigration. Definitely not the best experience.

This sounds like one of those tales of caution for people who wonder if their airline is booked for too early. On my recent cruise, we just sat in the Plat/Elite lounge until nearly 9:30 eating doughnuts and drinking coffee. :) After that, it was a quick swing through immigration and out the door.

Indeed! I was booked on a 10:20 am flight out of LAX. I knew I had a risk if missing it (and would have punted accordingly) but luckily made it with no issues.

Did you find the Golden similar to the weekend party cruises that Carnival has/had? Was it a wild rowdy crowd or just passengers wanting off to get to destinations early such as work? In describing the passengers not paying attention to the rules of disembarkation it makes one wonder.

Did you find the Golden similar to the weekend party cruises that Carnival has/had? Was it a wild rowdy crowd or just passengers wanting off to get to destinations early such as work? In describing the passengers not paying attention to the rules of disembarkation it makes one wonder.

There were some pretty rowdy "groups" on board, but overall I would not describe this as a "booze cruise". Good mix of old and young with very few children....but there were for sure a lot of people who would not adhere to instructions about debarkation. We sat in the Explorers lounge as instructed and were delayed a half hour because of the mess. Finally they had us go to the back of the ship and debark there, only to run into the huge line backing up at customs. We were between two Elite guests who were not amused to be waiting behind people with debarkation cards showing 600.....we had 300 and they had 100 as elite guests. Princess will get some nastygrams for sure.

There were some pretty rowdy "groups" on board, but overall I would not describe this as a "booze cruise". Good mix of old and young with very few children....but there were for sure a lot of people who would not adhere to instructions about debarkation. We sat in the Explorers lounge as instructed and were delayed a half hour because of the mess. Finally they had us go to the back of the ship and debark there, only to run into the huge line backing up at customs. We were between two Elite guests who were not amused to be waiting behind people with debarkation cards showing 600.....we had 300 and they had 100 as elite guests. Princess will get some nastygrams for sure.

We were on the Golden 13-17th and we did not have any type of debarkation cards. Is this something new? We debarked according to colored luggage tags.

We were on the Golden 13-17th and we did not have any type of debarkation cards. Is this something new? We debarked according to colored luggage tags.

I was wondering the same thing. I've never heard of numbers for disembarkation.

I was wondering the same thing. I've never heard of numbers for disembarkation.

The luggage tags have numbers on them because there are only so many colors and usually a lot of disembarkation groups. The sheet with the times on them is delivered with the luggage tags and it shows what group (ie: red 2 or brown 1 or green 3, etc.) and time you are to get off. Its nothing new.

If a lot of people didn't get the sheets (or they didn't bother to read them) that would explain the confusion.

We were on the Golden 13-17th and we did not have any type of debarkation cards. Is this something new? We debarked according to colored luggage tags.

They don't use debarkation cards anymore, you are supposed to pull off the little tag on your luggage tag as proof of group

The luggage tags have numbers on them because there are only so many colors and usually a lot of disembarkation groups. The sheet with the times on them is delivered with the luggage tags and it shows what group (ie: red 2 or brown 1 or green 3, etc.) and time you are to get off. Its nothing new.

 

If a lot of people didn't get the sheets (or they didn't bother to read them) that would explain the confusion.

everyone get the sheets, they just choose to ignore them

Sad to say but it's a California cruise and full of people from California. I'm beginning to think we have some of the rudest people in the US living in this state.

Sad to say but it's a California cruise and full of people from California. I'm beginning to think we have some of the rudest people in the US living in this state.

And they let them vote too!

They don't use debarkation cards anymore, you are supposed to pull off the little tag on your luggage tag as proof of group

That is what we did. We were green 2 and left when our group was called. We had no card. I do believe that they were not checking and people left when they wanted to. That is probably what caused the problem on the next cruise, not so much on ours.

Sad to say but it's a California cruise and full of people from California. I'm beginning to think we have some of the rudest people in the US living in this state.

As a California native, I like to think the rude ones are transplants ;).

We were on the Golden 13-17th and we did not have any type of debarkation cards. Is this something new? We debarked according to colored luggage tags.

There were still using them as of earlier this month on the Golden, but for walk-offs only.

There were still using them as of earlier this month on the Golden, but for walk-offs only.

I was a walk off so I had a card, not tags.

And they let them vote too!

And the way they vote! :eek:

As a California native, I like to think the rude ones are transplants ;).

I was born here in 1953. I don't know if they are transplants or not but you very well may have a good point. People weren't like that "when I was a boy". :)

Sad to say but it's a California cruise and full of people from California. I'm beginning to think we have some of the rudest people in the US living in this state.

I agree.....:(:(:(

Bob

Sad to say but it's a California cruise and full of people from California. I'm beginning to think we have some of the rudest people in the US living in this state.

Thrak, when did you turn into such an old grouch? I live in California, too, and I've been to 21 different countries (and 47 US states.) We do not have a monopoly on rude.

There were some pretty rowdy "groups" on board, but overall I would not describe this as a "booze cruise". ... We were between two Elite guests who were not amused to be waiting behind people with debarkation cards showing 600.....we had 300 and they had 100 as elite guests.

The problem was Princess not making things clear to all the newbies. From the first day in the MDR at lunch, I was answering questions about what to expect on the cruise. On longer cruises, newbies learn the ropes over a series of days, but here it was just wham bam with all the information. I think the disembarkation issue was probably a result of poor communication, and the fact that Princess was touting some "silent disembarkation" plan that made no sense to me. I think they weren't making group announcements over the PA system. I was in the P/E/S lounge waiting, and we got updates from the Captain's Circle host, but I never heard anything over the PA speakers. I was on the Oct 13-17 cruise, which may not be the same one here, but I think things were probably similar.

Thrak, when did you turn into such an old grouch? I live in California, too, and I've been to 21 different countries (and 47 US states.) We do not have a monopoly on rude.

 

 

 

The problem was Princess not making things clear to all the newbies. From the first day in the MDR at lunch, I was answering questions about what to expect on the cruise. On longer cruises, newbies learn the ropes over a series of days, but here it was just wham bam with all the information. I think the disembarkation issue was probably a result of poor communication, and the fact that Princess was touting some "silent disembarkation" plan that made no sense to me. I think they weren't making group announcements over the PA system. I was in the P/E/S lounge waiting, and we got updates from the Captain's Circle host, but I never heard anything over the PA speakers. I was on the Oct 13-17 cruise, which may not be the same one here, but I think things were probably similar.

They've had the "silent" disembarkation for years now. You're supposed to gather in your designated area at the designated time and await further instructions. A crewmember with a walkie-talkie will announce when the group is cleared to disembark. Then everyone gets up and goes. Like I said, they haven't had ship-wide general disembarkation announcements for a long time.

I was a walk off so I had a card, not tags.

That's new since last year, then - we were assigned disembarkation numbers only by deck - we were Elite in a Window Suite but it was on Fiesta Deck so were assigned the second to last walkoff group (22!). We asked for and received a better number, but had nothing to prove it one way or the other.

I don't understand why they start disembarkation so late, other than perhaps not understanding the short cruise market, since they are new to it (or perhaps there are extra fees involved in arriving earlier). Monarch used to start at 6:30 am, which meant that those of us who had to go to work that day were able to be at the office on time. It's not as if they have such a long way to go from Ensenada that they can't make it to the pier at 5:00 am and be cleared within an hour or so.

I also wonder whatever happened to the expedited disembarkation program where US citizens could just walk off without reporting to immigration. That was a great time saver as well.

...The problem was Princess not making things clear to all the newbies...On longer cruises, newbies learn the ropes over a series of days, but here it was just wham bam with all the information...

I agree. I think that for the short cruises anyway, Princess should have some sort of quick reference sheet given to all blue card holders at the pier with essential FYI. The daily Patters have too much extraneous info, IMO, for newbies to easily see what is important.

Princess could write "Emergency Notification" at the top of it ;).