Embarkation Time??

Hi, all,

I receive a letter for Jun 26th Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Whittier about Embarkation time. It says there is delay and telling people not to board earlier than what it states in the letter. I read other articles that people can embark early. So with the letter received, shall I follow? or am I still able to go early and just walk around the ship, without going to my room? (the letter says the room won't be ready if people go early). Any advice? p.s. I plan to check out the hotel room at noon and go directly to the ship terminal. Thank you.

Knowing which ship would be extremely helpful.

Star Princess has had some delayed boarding for deep cleaning due to GI illness on board.

Beyond that the staggered check in e-mail that everyone receives just before embarkation day has always and forever been just a suggestion. Show up as early as you want.

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As above, if it is the standard letter about staggered boarding, you can forget that. It sounds like this is the "deep cleaning" letter since it mentions a delay. In that case, you will need to follow it as they will not begin boarding until the specified time.

If it is the "deep cleaning" letter, no one will be permitted to board until mid to late afternoon (approximate time should be specified). If you get to the terminal early, you will be hanging out at the terminal. You may be permitted to check in, but you will not be allowed to board.

My suggestion--if you are staying at a hotel near the cruise terminal, check out of the hotel at noon as you must. Or ask if a late check out is possible. Then drop your luggage at the terminal and go somewhere for lunch. After that, it will be about time for returning to the terminal. If you are staying remote from the terminal, it will be a pain but necessary to take your bags with you to lunch.

Honestly it's a good idea to board late in Vancouver anyway (queues are shortest as you approach the 90-mins-before-departure-deadline). If it is the 'deep clean' issue then the only definite fact is that if you do the Arrive Early thing you will wait longer than usual before actual boarding begins, and the Canada Place halls are very boring to just sit around in! If you arrive late you will likely also wait more than usual to board - since all the earlier people will not start boarding until later than usual, so the time when the queues start to drop will slide later too - but no idea how MUCH more waiting than usual!

Look on it as an opportunity to get in bonus sightseeing - go and drop your bags early if you are not in a downtown hotel (longshoremen are almost always ready to take incoming bags by 10am, sometimes as early as 9:30am) and hit the town. Make sure that you are aware of the ship's departure time, and do stuff close to the pier last so that you can walk back without worrying about traffic delaying you.

It's Island Princess.

Honestly it's a good idea to board late in Vancouver anyway (queues are shortest as you approach the 90-mins-before-departure-deadline).

Last month I arrived at Canada Place about 10:45. By the time I dropped my bags (I was walking from the Skytrain so had to walk thru the first barrier separating passengers by ships with all my luggage before reaching the porters), checked in, walked all the way back to the convention center to go thru immigration, then back to the Princess waiting area to go thru security, boarding had started and I was ushered straight to the gangway. Was in my cabin at 11:40, greeted by room service delivering the water I had pre-ordered.

So long as the OP's letter is not for delays due to deep cleaning I would not wait until noon to leave the hotel as they would be arriving at the busiest time for check-in. I have read live-froms with people arriving after 1:30 to avoid the crowd only to find those who arrived at noon still in the queue.

So I can check in my luggage early with Princess and go out to do sightseeing on my own and go back at my predetermined check-in time?

So I can check in my luggage early with Princess and go out to do sightseeing on my own and go back at my predetermined check-in time?

Sort of. You can drop off your luggage with the longshoremen. These are the "porters" who take your luggage. There is no "check in" of the luggage and you don't get any sort of receipt to prove that you dropped it off with them. They don't work for Princess.

But yes, you can drop off your luggage with the longshoremen at the terminal, which is what you will do whenever you arrive. Then you can leave the terminal area and do whatever you wish. You return later, check in with Princess, receive your card, and board the ship.

It's Island Princess.

So I can check in my luggage early with Princess and go out to do sightseeing on my own and go back at my predetermined check-in time?

My report above was from Island Princess so I would be surprised if you could not do the same.

Yes you can drop bags with the porters as early as you wish and head back out. But DO NOT check in before your are ready to board as you will be processed by immigration as re-entering the USA so you cannot leave afterwards.

So I can check in my luggage early with Princess and go out to do sightseeing on my own and go back at my predetermined check-in time?

The way you can tell if it's the standard letter that everyone gets or the deep cleaning letter is if the time specified says "no one can check in until XXX"; if the letter says "deck 7 check in at XXX, deck 8 check in at XXX, etc"...then you are pretty safe showing up when you want to.

Last month I arrived at Canada Place about 10:45. By the time I dropped my bags (I was walking from the Skytrain so had to walk thru the first barrier separating passengers by ships with all my luggage before reaching the porters), checked in, walked all the way back to the convention center to go thru immigration, then back to the Princess waiting area to go thru security, boarding had started and I was ushered straight to the gangway. Was in my cabin at 11:40, greeted by room service delivering the water I had pre-ordered.

 

So long as the OP's letter is not for delays due to deep cleaning I would not wait until noon to leave the hotel as they would be arriving at the busiest time for check-in. I have read live-froms with people arriving after 1:30 to avoid the crowd only to find those who arrived at noon still in the queue.

You hit the sweet-spot of <11am, which generally should mean waiting about an hour. Absolutely, unless it's a 1-ship day I would expect processing time of 90-120mins for the folks arriving at noon so 1:30pm is not late, it's still within the busy time almost any cruise day. When I say 'go late' I mean go after the busy time which is generally noon through at least 2pm, even later if it's a 3-ship+ day.

You got about the best possible timing that you can expect for the pre-busy period with just under an hour curb to cabin - any earlier you'd likely have had to wait before the first steps began, and much later and the queues would have started to build. That's what we used to aim for - but now we know the port better we have a lie in, spend late morning getting a good massage for a fraction of the price it costs onboard, eat a really nice lunch, then when we arrive between 3pm and (Departure-90mins) we have managed to literally not even stop walking except when we had to interact with check-in staff and CBP, 20mins or less curb to cabin.

I do agree that leaving the hotel at noon is about the worst possible timing - even hotels really near the pier you'll be hitting the timeframe when hundreds of folks roll in on Amtrak from Seattle, which is scheduled such that the first batch of folks arrive just after noon at the pier.

My report above was from Island Princess so I would be surprised if you could not do the same.

Yes you can drop bags with the porters as early as you wish and head back out. But DO NOT check in before your are ready to board as you will be processed by immigration as re-entering the USA so you cannot leave afterwards.

Actually you can leave, it's just really silly to do so as you have to reenter Canada seeing CBSA, and then go through Security and CBP again to get back onboard!

Hi, all,

I receive a letter for Jun 26th Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Whittier about Embarkation time. It says there is delay and telling people not to board earlier than what it states in the letter. I read other articles that people can embark early. So with the letter received, shall I follow? or am I still able to go early and just walk around the ship, without going to my room? (the letter says the room won't be ready if people go early). Any advice? p.s. I plan to check out the hotel room at noon and go directly to the ship terminal. Thank you.

Not sure about Alaska but for Fort Lauderdale these kinds of notices are common. Its an attempt to control the flow of people. We always disregard it and show up at 10:30 as usual. They open the doors at 11 and typically we're on the ship around 11:30-11:45.

usually it's 11am-2pm.