SFO is it always this bad?

[sueandkent]

Got off the Grand yesterday morning in SFO and what a mess disembarkation was which is not normal for Princess. We were not at the new terminal an X ship was there. So EVERYONE except Princess transfers was walk off. There were no color groups, bag pickup the night before or anything. Customs and Immigration entered the ship and did all that in the Vista lounge. The line up snaked throughout deck 7. Line cutters ( and there were lots) were openly chastised (and rightly so) to the point of it becoming hostile. It was a mess. I've never seen anything like this in all my Princess cruises. Is this normal for SFO?

[Cruiserkenn]

Gosh, I hope this gets fixed. I have a future cruise on the Grand scheduled, too.

 

Thanks for the warning.

 

I hope we hear more about this.

[BEAV]

No, not really normal IMO.

 

The Celebrity Infinity which is at the new Pier 27 terminal is docked there for 5 days and serving as a hotel for the HUGE Dream Force Convention in SF this week.

 

So any other ships calling this week are forced to use the old terminal Pier 35.

[MTJSR]

Your visit to San Francisco was during two giant events. San Francisco is host to the next Super Bowl and the waterfront is hosting football camp, Super Bowl trophies viewing and associated autograph events plus the DreamForce convention, all of which effected normal processing.

[Thrak]

No, not really normal IMO.

 

The Celebrity Infinity which is at the new Pier 27 terminal is docked there for 5 days and serving as a hotel for the HUGE Dream Force Convention in SF this week.

 

So any other ships calling this week are forced to use the old terminal Pier 35.

 

It sounds a bit spendy: Dreamforce attendees can get a room between $325 and $800 a night

 

I'm glad it should be over and done with before we need to board Coral on Monday. :)

[CoffeHound]

Got off the Grand yesterday morning in SFO and what a mess disembarkation was which is not normal for Princess. We were not at the new terminal an X ship was there. So EVERYONE except Princess transfers was walk off. There were no color groups, bag pickup the night before or anything. Customs and Immigration entered the ship and did all that in the Vista lounge. The line up snaked throughout deck 7. Line cutters ( and there were lots) were openly chastised (and rightly so) to the point of it becoming hostile. It was a mess. I've never seen anything like this in all my Princess cruises. Is this normal for SFO?

 

We also just got off the Grand. Quite frankly, I knew we were in big trouble when we got bumped to the old terminal which was never a great experience; however, I do think that Princes really dropped the ball. They created the choke point by sending every passenger through one tiny space. Further they had only 2 customs people working the line for all of the US passport holders (more than 80% of the ship) and 6 officials serving the foreign passengers who were being shuffled to the head of the line to boot.

 

Honestly, this was my first Princess cruise and both embarkation and disembarkation win as the most unpleasant I have ever been through, which I never thought I would say after my panama canal cruise with X which held that dubious honor for the last 4 years.

 

This cannot have been the first time Princess has had to clear customs onboard, and yet it really seemed like it was because they had NO CLUE how to get it done.

 

I felt awful for the arriving passengers who were greeted with a sign on the locked doors that said "We will not begin the check in process until 1 PM".

[capriccio]

Further they had only 2 customs people working the line for all of the US passport holders (more than 80% of the ship) and 6 officials serving the foreign passengers who were being shuffled to the head of the line to boot.

 

"They" in your sentence is not Princess or any other cruise line for that matter. Immigration and Customs makes their own staffing decisions; I don't think a cruise line has any say in the matter.

Edited September 16, 2015 by capriccio

[SoCal Cruiser78]

It was a mess. I've never seen anything like this in all my Princess cruises. Is this normal for SFO?

 

As others have mentioned, there are a couple major events in SF right now, but I have experienced a similar situation there with no other ships in port, at Pier 35 long before 27 opened. We were on Celebrity, had arrived in port on time, but were told there was a CBP delay. Passengers were told to vacate cabins, lounges and theatres so staff could clean. We were then crammed into hot passageways, with poor communication about what was happening.

 

Celebrity staff blamed CBP for the delays, and CBP, in turn, blamed Celebrity for not being better organized. I suspect it was a little of both. We disembarked so late that some missed flights, and boarding pax were lined up for a block or so.

 

So there is a history of this in SF. I am curious as to why all except transfers were forced to do a walk off and hand carry luggage, though.

Edited September 16, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78

[TracieABD]

To the OP and others on this cruise-

This is no bueno...:(

 

Nothing like a bad disembarkation to take the shiney off your vacation.

 

Hope your travels home were uneventful!

Tracie-Lynn:)

[MTJSR]

Honestly, this was my first Princess cruise and both embarkation and disembarkation win as the most unpleasant I have ever been through,

 

Embarkation too? Details please! there have been consistently wonderful boarding reviews, ever since the bugs were worked out of the new terminal.

 

Quote: Nothing like a bad disembarkation to take the shiney off your vacation. I ignore most negative disembarkation reviews. People are suffering high anxiety, in a hurry to get home, see the cats or whatever the reason. With 3,000 people all edgy, nerves get rattled for any little reason. Deep breath people!

 

.

Edited September 16, 2015 by MTJSR

[Chunder Worthy]

AHA! My office (tower/bldg) here in SF's FiDi has a view of the dock where the Golden Princess normally stops and we were wondering where it was going to put in due to the interloping "festivities" ship. Anyway, sorry to hear of the tumult.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

It sounds a bit spendy: Dreamforce attendees can get a room between $325 and $800 a night

 

I'm glad it should be over and done with before we need to board Coral on Monday. :)

 

I hope X at least gives cruise credits at those prices :).

 

I also hope all goes smoothly for you on the Coral on Monday. I feel the same way about my cruise next week on the Ruby from Pier 92 in LA. The Donald was there speaking yesterday at Pier 91 (a stone's throw away) on the USS Iowa. I'm sure the media was swarming, so feel lucky I wasn't trying to board then.

Edited September 16, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78

[JF - retired RRT]

It doesn't seem right the the "hotel" gets the new terminal. All they have to doe is walk in and out. Nothing to lug. No passports to check.

 

Ain't fair Magee!!

[BEAV]

It sounds a bit spendy: Dreamforce attendees can get a room between $325 and $800 a night

 

I'm glad it should be over and done with before we need to board Coral on Monday. :)

 

Yes, but good luck getting a hotel for $325 during this week's convention. A quick search on Expedia for hotels tonight show's your standard Hilton, Hyatt, Marriotts, etc, all at $600 and up.

[CoffeHound]

"They" in your sentence is not Princess or any other cruise line for that matter. Immigration and Customs makes their own staffing decisions; I don't think a cruise line has any say in the matter.

 

Nope, I refuse to believe that Princess couldn't have organized two lines of departing US passport holders and asked the CBP to provide two agents per line leaving half of the agents to still serve approximately 20% of the passengers given that the line for US passports was almost 2 hours long at one point and the agents serving the foreign guests were sitting idle in between the princess crew going up and down the line pulling out the foreign passport holders for immediate service.

 

While I know the cruise line has very little say in the number of agents that are provided, you will never convince me that they couldn't have asked for two of the provided agents to stand in a different spot and check passports, but that wasn't possible because they created a system where there was not room for more than one line.

 

It was abysmal planning on Princess' part.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yikes! :eek:

[Nancyquilts]

It sounds a bit spendy: Dreamforce attendees can get a room between $325 and $800 a night

 

I'm glad it should be over and done with before we need to board Coral on Monday. :)

 

It must be a great profit for X, because we had booked its previously planned Alaska cruise which was going to Sitka from SF. Love Sitka, but our Princess cruises from SF haven't gone there. They substituted a coastal plus the convention.

I am sad to see that service at Pier 35 is so horrible. It used to be a great place to disembark, as we just walked off the ship without going through immigration. Luggage was taken out as normal, and the main problem was the crowd on the street as you left.

[WAussieSFO]

We also got off the Grand yesterday. Sounds like it was a good thing that we had changed our given meeting time from 10:30am to 7:20am. When we joined the line to get off we were standing near the Wheelhouse Bar. The line moved quite quick once it started moving. After passing through the Vista Lounge we were then directed to the dining room on deck 6 which was a holding room as the ship had not yet been given clearance for passengers to disembark. After only a few minutes wait, clearance was given and off went. We walked to BART and were home in the East Bay by about 9:15am.

[sueandkent]

We also got off the Grand yesterday. Sounds like it was a good thing that we had changed our given meeting time from 10:30am to 7:20am. When we joined the line to get off we were standing near the Wheelhouse Bar. The line moved quite quick once it started moving. After passing through the Vista Lounge we were then directed to the dining room on deck 6 which was a holding room as the ship had not yet been given clearance for passengers to disembark. After only a few minutes wait, clearance was given and off went. We walked to BART and were home in the East Bay by about 9:15am.

 

 

You were lucky. We were given 8am and we were down around 7:55 and it was total chaos by then. This was not my first rodeo with Princess so I know what a good job they usually do of disembarkation. This was just a joke. They also needed way more crew to be supervising the line. By the time we got through immigration in the Vista they directed us out the door onto the promenade deck and there were 3 of the cruise director staff scanning your cards out but only two had scanners. Why didn't the 3rd one go to line control.

Anyway, we did know the conference was on, I did not know the X ship was being used as a hotel. Explains why it was still there this morning. Rest of cruise was great and Princess continues to provide a great product. I was also disappointed in the Port Of Vancouver at embarkation. Neither were great but the Vancouver situation was not the fault of Princess, that would have been a port issue.

Looking forward to my next Princess experience next month :)

[Level six]

No, not really normal IMO.

 

The Celebrity Infinity which is at the new Pier 27 terminal is docked there for 5 days and serving as a hotel for the HUGE Dream Force Convention in SF this week.

 

So any other ships calling this week are forced to use the old terminal Pier 35.

 

I wonder if the Golden will be able to use pier 27 on Sat, Sept 19th? We are boarding there. When do they inform passengers that they are not at that dock I wonder? Do you know when the Dream force convention is over.

[BEAV]

I wonder if the Golden will be able to use pier 27 on Sat, Sept 19th? We are boarding there. When do they inform passengers that they are not at that dock I wonder? Do you know when the Dream force convention is over.

 

You're in luck!

 

Infinity leaves SF Friday, Sept 18 for Ft Lauderdale.

 

Golden will be at the new "regular" Pier 27 on Saturday the 19th.

 

Here's a link to the Port of SF cruise ship schedule and pier assignments.

 

http://sfport.com/index.aspx?page=2462

[Level six]

I just looked it up and it looks like the Golden is still docking at pier 27:

 

 

Grand Princess Sep-15-2015 7:00 AM Victoria Sep-15-2015 4:00 PM Puerto Vallarta Pier 35

Golden Princess Sep-19-2015 7:00 AM Victoria Sep-19-2015 4:00 PM Honolulu Pier 27

Coral Princess Sep-21-2015 7:00 AM Astoria Sep-21-2015 11:00 PM Los Angeles Pier 27

Jewel of the Seas Sep-2 2-2015 7:00 AM Astoria Sep-23-2015 5:00 PM Monterey Pier 27

Grand Princess Sep-25-2015 7:00 AM Cabo San Lucas Sep-25-2015 4:00 PM Nawiliwili Pier 27

Le Boreal Sep-28-2015 8:00 AM Vancouver Sep-28-2015 6:00 PM Monterey Pier 35

[Level six]

You're in luck!

 

Infinity leaves SF Friday, Sept 18 for Ft Lauderdale.

 

Golden will be at the new "regular" Pier 27 on Saturday the 19th.

 

Here's a link to the Port of SF cruise ship schedule and pier assignments.

 

http://sfport.com/index.aspx?page=2462

 

Thanks, we were looking it up at the same time!!

[Pierlesscruisers]

It was abysmal planning on Princess' part.

Princess does not handle the disembarkation or embarkation process. It is all done by 3rd party contractors at all ports. Yes, the Captain can make a report to the home office if something was done incorrectly or improperly, but the staff doing the actual processing of the passengers are not Princess employees. And I don't believe that either Princess or the contractor have any real control over the CBP personnel other than complaining up the chain about the number of people available to do the CBP work. Tom

[Arizona-Cruising]

We had breakfast waited got in line by Crooners at 9:50 and was off ship by 10:30 they had US in one line and Non US in another actually went fast and kept moving. Just one of those things I felt bad for the 1st time cruisers this is not the norm and the took our luggage the night before we requested it from the pursers desk.

Great trip just to short