Just off Golden Ensenada weekender

[jasbo49]

We were on both the Oct. 13 and Oct. 17 sailings, and there was definitely a different vibe. I'd say the average age was 20 years younger on the weekend cruise (Oct. 17). It was more of a party crowd, but heck, when I was young I liked to have a little fun on the weekends too.

 

I also think the weekend sailing had a lot of first-timers who didn't know how things worked, including some courtesy issues. It was obvious a lot of people hadn't read the disembarkation sheet and just expected other people to figure out their problems for them. To be fair, I think their mindset was more like: when the boat stops, I'll get off.

 

All in all, I guess this is what you have to expect, or at least allow for, with super-short cruises. I'd say we're probably finished with them.

 

Jim

[sdnich]

We are on the 11/30 cruise and wondered where we can have breakfast and how late do the serve if they do?. We are not in a hurry to get off but do not want to hold the crew from doing there job either

[Mindy97]

They don't have 6:30Am disembarkation because ICE (Immigration and Customs) has to clear the ship before we can disembark, and evidentally they don't get up that early :) I have, on occasion, seen disembarkation start in San Pedro as late as 9Am. Not recently, but I have seen it.

 

I was on the cruise before this one, the 4-day, and it was as different as night and day. Older, more settled crowd. The disembarkation was smooth as butter. I was in one of the first regular groups, since I need assistance. There was no line for Customs, not even across from the ship on the "porch" area. I was amazed. We were out of there, in the car, luggage loaded, scooter stored, and on the Harbor Freeway before 9AM.

 

I think the idea of giving newbies a short "quickstart guide" is a good idea. They need to make it short and simple, though or it won't get read.

 

M.

[Qcruise]

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 went to customer service and change our luggage tags to walk off. We were given a card with number 300 on it and told to go to a lounge on deck 7. We walked our luggage off.....estimated at 8:10am....but by 8:15am no calling of numbers. They said a crowd had assembled at the main exit and they could not call numbers. The crowd obviously won the battle because we sat in the lounge patiently until the told us to walk back to the Vista lounge to leave there, but we came in behind the mob in line. Very sad.

[sassyredhat]

Well this is discouraging.

We are leaving on the 10th. We waited a long time to get to Platinum specifically for priority boarding and disembarkation. Well, internet perks too. :D

 

I will not be happy waiting......:)

 

Pat

[shredie]

Well this is discouraging.

We are leaving on the 10th. We waited a long time to get to Platinum specifically for priority boarding and disembarkation. Well, internet perks too. :D

 

I will not be happy waiting......:)

 

Pat

 

You get to wait in the Platinum lounge with coffee, juice, pastries and newspapers. No standing in really long lines unless you want to.

[candide333]

We were on the Sept 28th 4 day out of San Pedro and had Early Walk Off and there was a long line at the pier, but we were in our car by 8:30. Nothing like Fort Lauderdale where we missed our plane.

[RickEk]

We went to customer service and change our luggage tags to walk off. We were given a card with number 300 on it and told to go to a lounge on deck 7. We walked our luggage off.....estimated at 8:10am....but by 8:15am no calling of numbers. They said a crowd had assembled at the main exit and they could not call numbers. The crowd obviously won the battle because we sat in the lounge patiently until the told us to walk back to the Vista lounge to leave there, but we came in behind the mob in line. Very sad.

 

So, quick question... you did this on disembarkation day? :confused:

[Qcruise]

We went to customer service the morning before debarkation to change our status......

[sassyredhat]

You get to wait in the Platinum lounge with coffee, juice, pastries and newspapers. No standing in really long lines unless you want to.

 

 

:D

 

Pat

[Cruisin' Chick]

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 agree that this has been the way it's been done for at least a few years (I remember even on our December 2010/January 2011 cruise). I think this is a great idea, especially after dealing with passengers on previous cruises who feel the need to drape themselves all over stairwells waiting for their number to get called. Instead, you are given a location to wait and then the announcement for the color/number is given only in the applicable venue. So if you're not in your assigned place, you won't get word when you can leave.

 

Every cabin does get disembarkation info. It's more that people are just too lazy to read it, IMO.

 

Since we live an hour's drive from San Pedro, we have always waited to get off the ship, rather than plead for an earlier time. It just doesn't seem right to try to jump ahead of others just because we need to get home a half hour sooner. No biggie. If you intend to go into work that morning, that's one thing, but otherwise, it's just selfish. We also are careful with our return plans if we're returning to another port -- either we'll stay a day or more and extend our vacation (we don't go on vacations every year) or we'll make sure not to stress ourselves with a morning flight.

 

I'm guessing that many of those on these short cruises are from Southern California anyway. Which means you're just going to hit rush hour traffic trying to hit the 405 at 8am.:eek:

[rdsqrl]

. . . .Since we live an hour's drive from San Pedro' date=' we have always waited to get off the ship, rather than plead for an earlier time. It just doesn't seem right to try to jump ahead of others just because we need to get home a half hour sooner. No biggie. If you intend to go into work that morning, that's one thing, but otherwise, it's just selfish. . . . .:[/quote']

I agree. Not to start a fight, but I'm always gobsmacked by those who post that they requested walk-off because they drove to the pier. Hello, what's the freakin' hurry? Your car isn't departing without you; others' flights, however, can and will. Given that the entire ship can't do walk-off, it's always struck me as the height of self-absorption to barge ahead of those who might have legitimate time constraints.

 

(Of course, this is purely academic outrage. Hell would freeze over before I'd sign up for self-disembark! Shlepping my own bag falls squarely into the category of things I don't do when I can pay others so to do.)

[shastatroy]

We are on the 11/30 cruise and wondered where we can have breakfast and how late do the serve if they do?. We are not in a hurry to get off but do not want to hold the crew from doing there job either

 

Canaletto Dining Room, International Cafe and Horizon Court were open this morning during disembarkation.

[LucyR.]

The Golden Princess is attracting people because the rates are lower than Carnival cruise ships that charge a lot more. I am a VIP on Carnival but Princess gives me more stuff as an ELITE VIP.

 

Yes, Princess is attracting first timers to their cruise line in Los Angeles.

I notice how tacky some of the new cruisers who walk around eating at the International Café eating their desserts standing around and then get another snack.

 

It is a fact that Princess has attracted Carnival cruisers with their low rates.

 

Princess is trying to be a fun ship like Carnival I have noticed. Just watch and see when you cruise on Princess out of L.A.

 

Princess has had the reputation of being a nice quiet ship but this is the year 2014 and times have changed in L.A. So all you Princess lovers be prepared for all the noise of music playing real loud and people running around the ship talking real loud. They make as much noise as the Mother Ship.

[shredie]

I'm on the Golden right now. Two things: we left port at 5:30 pm, somewhat earlier than has been usual. Just before we sailed yesterday, I saw a guy escorted off in handcuffs. It was exciting! No idea what he did.

[jasbo49]

I'm on the Golden right now. Two things: we left port at 5:30 pm, somewhat earlier than has been usual. Just before we sailed yesterday, I saw a guy escorted off in handcuffs. It was exciting! No idea what he did.

 

Cool. Just when you think they've run out of reasons to sail late comes a new one: We had to wait for the cops to come round up the ne'er-do-wells.

 

Seriously, I'm glad you guys got to sail away in the daylight and enjoy it.

 

Jim

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Deleted.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[ar1950]

I agree. Not to start a fight, but I'm always gobsmacked by those who post that they requested walk-off because they drove to the pier. ...................................

 

Great word! Gobsmacked. Excellent British expression. :cool:

[DVC Calif]

Great word! Gobsmacked. Excellent British expression. :cool:

 

...Not to start a fight, but I'm always gobsmacked by those who post that they requested walk-off because they drove to the pier...

 

... Hell would freeze over before I'd sign up for self-disembark! Shlepping my own bag falls squarely into the category of things I don't do when I can pay others so to do.)

 

Plus an excellent Yiddish word to boot!

[PatriciaF]

I am sure most of the short 3 day weekend cruises are full of either newbies or the bachelor/bachelorette partiers. Cheaper, quicker, and for us 7 million people in the greater LA area, requires only a car ride, rather than a plane ride to port.

 

Those sailing out of LA are probably trying to get off the ship to get back to work on Monday AM.

[jasbo49]

Plus an excellent Yiddish word to boot!

 

And a few days ago, she (she? not sure) managed to use "vituperative" in a sentence. Nice.

 

Jim

[satxdiver]

We were on the Golden this past week arriving back in port on Friday. We had walk off and given pass 100. We had a flight out of LAX waiting. The Monday-Friday cruise went well with the usual crowd aboard. None of the things mentioned here happened, just the usual quiet cruise. There were a lot of newbies aboard. We left the port Monday on time and returned on time. We were able to leave the ship at 7:50 AM and were out the door and on the shuttle to the airport at 8:15.

 

Interesting that one of our fellow pax (crew member?) got an escorted walk off in handcuffs. The only incident we saw was when the piano player the first night got into an argument with four pax. On Wednesday night while taking our usual seat in the piano bar we learned that he was leaving the ship in Ensenada. He had been fired. The four he got into an argument with on Monday were complete jerks and not sure why they were at the piano bar with their poor attitude. If you don't like the pianist, there are plenty of other places to go so just move on.

[UTAH]

My wife and I were on this cruise as well. But, being on B2B's, we were shepherded quickly through Customs/Immigration and then right back on board as the last group off, first group back on.

 

It was a slow disembarkation - but senior staff told us it had little to do with the people crowding the exit area. It had more to do with Customs/Immigration being staffed at too low a level that day. They were staffed at a level to serve one ship - but two ships were in port disembarking at the same time.

 

Believe it or not, this was not a late disembarkation. Even with the noted problems, Princess still got everyone except the B2B's off the ship by 11:30 a.m. We exited and reboarded at 11:45 a.m. after the clutter had cleared.

 

The next cruise, a 3-dayer, had one of the fastest disembarkations I've seen. They called all the walk-offs within the first 30 minutes. And, when we went through Customs/Immigration, sure enough there were twice as many staff on duty. We were in a taxi for LAX within 15 minutes of leaving the ship and reached LAX 3 hours before our 1:00 plane ride home.

 

Bill

[critterchick]

Since we live an hour's drive from San Pedro' date=' we have always waited to get off the ship, rather than plead for an earlier time. It just doesn't seem right to try to jump ahead of others just because we need to get home a half hour sooner. No biggie. If you intend to go into work that morning, that's one thing, but otherwise, it's just selfish. We also are careful with our return plans if we're returning to another port -- either we'll stay a day or more and extend our vacation (we don't go on vacations every year) or we'll make sure not to stress ourselves with a morning flight.

 

I'm guessing that many of those on these short cruises are from Southern California anyway. Which means you're just going to hit rush hour traffic trying to hit the 405 at 8am.:eek:[/quote']

 

How about doctor's appointments, pets that need to be fed or home improvement projects that might take an entire day? I don't think that one can proclaim another's motives as "selfish" just because they don't involve earning money. People with early flights can get into the first groups, and the rest can, too, if they plan accordingly. Why they wish to do so isn't anybody's business but their own.

 

The Golden Princess is attracting people because the rates are lower than Carnival cruise ships that charge a lot more. I am a VIP on Carnival but Princess gives me more stuff as an ELITE VIP.

 

Yes, Princess is attracting first timers to their cruise line in Los Angeles.

I notice how tacky some of the new cruisers who walk around eating at the International Café eating their desserts standing around and then get another snack.

 

It is a fact that Princess has attracted Carnival cruisers with their low rates.

 

Princess is trying to be a fun ship like Carnival I have noticed. Just watch and see when you cruise on Princess out of L.A.

 

Princess has had the reputation of being a nice quiet ship but this is the year 2014 and times have changed in L.A. So all you Princess lovers be prepared for all the noise of music playing real loud and people running around the ship talking real loud. They make as much noise as the Mother Ship.

 

Would anybody going on a 3-night weekend cruise on any line really expect to have a quiet experience? People work hard and play hard these days, and, while there will always be over the top behavior from a few, I find the overall atmosphere to be quite entertaining.

 

And there isn't much seating around the IC, so it's not surprising that some eat their snacks while standing. Better than trying to navigate the stairs and spilling, IMO. And I don't believe that there's a rule against seconds.

 

We're just off Golden today and a good time appeared to be had by all. There was something for everyone - pool parties, great dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar, probably the same in the disco but we never went up there. There were birthday parties, bachelor/ette parties, large family groups and couples.

 

We arrived at the Platinum/Elite/Suite disembarkation area a little before 8:00, the first posted departure time for walk-offs, and were told we could leave right away. I have no idea when the process started (it hadn't at 7:30), but we were through immigration without having to stop in line at all. Smooth as silk.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

We're just off Golden today...We arrived at the Platinum/Elite/Suite disembarkation area a little before 8:00, the first posted departure time for walk-offs, and were told we could leave right away. I have no idea when the process started (it hadn't at 7:30), but we were through immigration without having to stop in line at all. Smooth as silk.

 

Just curious if they announced walk-off groups in the P/E/S disembarkation lounge? I will be Platinum on my next cruise, and seem to recall reading on another thread that all walk-offs should stay together in the announced venue (Princess Theatre when I've done it), regardless of status.

 

I generally do walk-offs, but would like to experience the lounge at least once. TIA.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Ryndam2002
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