Diamond Princess 5/15 late embarkation

[BJS]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>You should be good to go with the first color - just change it at the Pursers desk the day before disembarkation.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Always check your color with the sheet to see if you have the correct tags. We have been given the incorrect ones on more than one occasion. When you take the wrong color to the Purser's desk make sure to take your flight information because they will want to see it to confirm you need another color.

 

Future cruises:

5/04 HAL-Amsterdam-Alaska

9/04 Star Princess-Med.x2 Venice to Barcelona/ Barcelona to Rome

11/04 Dawn Princess-Southern Caribbean

Jan. 05 Diamond Princess-Mexican Riviera

July 05 Star Princess-Baltics

Aug. 05 Star Princess-Baltics

Past cruises:

04 Dawn Princess- Southern Caribbean x2

03 Grand Princess-W.Caribbean

03 Sun Princess -Mexico

03-Tahitian Princess-Tahiti/ Cook Islands

03 Royal Princess-x2 British Isles & Norwegian Fjords/ Iceland

03 Island Princess-Panama Canal

01 HAL Ryndam x 2-S. America San Diego to Valpariso/ & around Cape Horn to Rio

00 Sky Princess-China/Orient

79 Sitmar's Fairwind- Caribbean/Panama Canal

[zimmerjulie]

TracyQ,

in response to your other question, you can wait in public lounges/areas. They probably have a few that they recommend, so that they can have the others ready for new passengers, but when I was there Saturday, people were scattered a bit, mostly between the coffee bar that was open and the public areas around the "atrium", as this was where the gangway was located.

 

Also, in re-reading my last post, I realized that I should elaborate on the extend of the thin covered area. It is not very extensive and most people were standing outside uncovered.

 

Also, the Princess representative who was directing people to the end of the line (it was difficult to figure out!) was also asking if anyone needed a wheelchair and if anyone was Platinum level. If you are Platinum, there is a separate line, so don't get stuck in the general line .

[Sandy R]

Thanks to all for the valuable information. We'll be boarding the Diamond in Seattle, on August 21st. From what you describe, it sounds like there was no priority embarkation for Elite or Platinum passengers, that everyone was lumped together in that long embarkation line. Would love to know if they adhered to the Elite and Platinum perk of priority boarding and allowed those passengers to board first. It appears to be a Seattle problem... the Diamond inaugural embarkation in San Pedro went remarkably smoothly. Hope Seattle gets their act together soon... there's no excuse for messy embarkations and debarkations!

 

Sandy

[Lynda90]

I don't know if princess is lying or just not wanting to bother to check. I just called and they "promised" we could drop our bags off with porter and proceed to ship. Also that platinum, elite and suites go to separate line and there should be no waits. I told them of all the information that was posted on this board and they said they don't pay any attention to it and that they have not had a single complaint. So much for them wanting to investigate this situation.

 

Lynda

[TJ O&apos;Pootertoot]

So - something I've heard different answers about is what TIME to actually get to the port.

 

I am flying in the day before so I can get there before noon though I'd rather have a bit more time in Seattle.

 

Is it better to just go at like 3:00 when (presumably) a lot of people have already gotten on the boat?

 

I guess one problem with the Sapphire/Diamond is the sheer number of people...

 

TJ

[zimmerjulie]

Again,

there was a Princess representative asking people throughout the line if they were Platinum members, and directing them to the priority line.

 

I don't think there is a definitive answer about what is the best time to get to the ship. The things that really screwed them up last Saturday are laregely unpredictable: ship arriving a bit late, customs delays in clearing the vessel, etc. I am not sure about the news that you have to travel to security with your luggage (stay with it for awhile after giving it to the porter.) I don't know if this will stay the same, or change. They definitely need to work a few things out.

[emmysmom]

I hope they get all the kinks worked out by August 14th! We plan on being there early to board as soon as possible! Very excited for our first cruise.

[karfest]

We also had a horrible experience disembarking from the Dawn Princess in LA- most of which was not the fault of Princess. The agents were late, many people did not report for immigration, people were not showing up at the proper times, etc. I felt really badly for the workers who were being verbally abused by passengers. We made our flight with 7 minutes to spare- I know now why they tell you to book later flights!

I'm sure the passengers waiting to embark were none too pleased, either. I can't imagine they had this ship cleared much before 1pm.

But- how dare we complain? we are with our loved ones, going to or returning from a fabulous vacation, with all the food and drink and sun and entertainment we can handle! Do you think we'll get many folks to feel sorry for us?

It's good to be informed (wheelchairs, etc) but don't let these glitches ruin your experience.

 

Karen

 

[Desert Nurse]

There was a Platinum check in line but....the Seattle port wouldn't let anyone drop off their luggage or proceed through check in until they had completed disembarking the previous passengers. Getting there early on the 15th didn't help. The first passengers were on by 2:00 PM so they had stood in line quite a long time. You can't drop your luggage off until the big blue luggage drop door opens. There was a huge cheer from the crowd when it did. They we were packed like sardines in the terminal until they were allowed to open the door and let us on. From that time we were on the ship in no time. If I knew someone elderly or disabled, I guess I would recommend to come later, like 3:00 PM until they have a couple of good embarkations here. Thank goodness it wasn't raining while we were all standing outside! That would have been miserable.

 

Just to remind all of you, it is all worth the wait! We have both forgotton about the emabarkation ordeal and are having a wonderful time.

 

We have late traditional seating and although it was "full" we have 4 empty seats at our table every night. What a shame that the people that had those reservations didn't give them up in advance so someone else could use them.

 

Cricket

 

Diamond Princess, Alaska 5/15/04

 

Diamond Princess, Mexico, 9/25/04

 

Island Princess, Hawaii 3/20/05

[Sandy R]

Lyndabaker... this board is way more reliable than talking to a Princess agent in Los Angeles about a particular bit of information. It's not that they're lying, they just don't know what's happening aboard the ships. IMHO I would rather a Princess agent just own up that they don't know, rather than give me any answer they have no idea is really correct... it's very frustrating.

 

Desert Nurse... So where did the Platinum and Elite passengers go after check-in - to the end of the long line, to drop off their luggage?

 

Sandy

[zebra]

Sandy.. you're so right - Princess of course won't own up to problems, it's called "Public Relations"! Let me say again. We had the most wonderful cruise, we could not complain about anything except the disembarkation. For those on the ship now - if you thought embarkation was bad... I sincerely hope and trust they have ironed out the kinks of disembarkation because that was 10 times worse. Nevertheless we have cruised with Princess for 10 cruises and have booked another cruise whilst onboard. I might say that we have NEVER experienced such a shambles as the fiasco at Seattle!!!

 

To answer the Platinum embarkation question. Yes there is a seperate line for Platinum, Elite and Suite but we had got there at 10:30am and Princess was doing a training session with all the agents. They all appeared to be learning/new - so we were patient. We didn't have any problem and I would suggest to get there early because we hardly had to wait (approx. 45 minutes) and we were through to an area where there are chairs to wait for boarding. The wait was because of this process that takes so long to disembark the passengers from the previous cruise. Once the last passenger was off the ship they let us on immediately and after dropping our luggage off in our gorgeous cabin we went up to Horizon cafe for lunch. Here we sat at the window and watched the poor people who had arrived later - it seemed the later one arrived the longer the line was. As someone previous said the line went around the outside of the building.

 

On a lighter, brighter note - we chose Personal Choice (for the first time) - it was wonderful. We booked all our restaurants and times as soon as we got to our cabin and it worked so smoothly - never had to wait for a table.

 

All the negative information above is merely to alert one to the possibility of this happening to you - just be aware. You are going to have an awesome cruise!!!!!

 

Until Millenium 9/6/2004 to Europe!

 

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[Lynda90]

Sandy: I definitely agree with you. I believe this board and I think everyone is great to share their experiences. Princess should look into some of the problems that they claim do not exist.

 

Sandy: Thanks for all the info. Did you have to go with your luggage prior to getting on line to check in on the ship? Some are saying they had to do that while others did not.

 

Thanks,

Lynda

[Sandy R]

Cricket and Zebra... thank you so much for all the information. IMHO an informed cruiser is a happy cruiser!

 

lyndabaker... we haven't sailed out of Seattle yet but in San Pedro, we handed our baggage over to a porter before we ever entered the building. Prior to the announcement for disabled, Elite and Platinum to baord, I did mention to the gentleman with the microphone about Elite, since it had just started beginning with our cruise. He thanked me and said he had indeed forgotten. Ya gotta keep em on their toes!

 

Things do happen: Several years ago, we sailed down to Mexico with our adult children, who flew into L.A. for the cruise. The last day, we sat outside the harbor because the fog was so thick,the harbor patrol wouldn't let us in. We were on Princess but a Carnival ship was out there, too. Once dock, we had to wait until baggage was off-loaded. Passengers began to get off around 1:30 pm. Can you imagine 3000+ passengers converging on LAX, who missed their flights. It was a nightmare! We finally got the last of our group on a flight just before midnight. The more you travel, the better chance you have of having some sort of mishap... but the good usually outweighs a little inconvenience.

 

Sandy

[Lynda90]

Sandy: Thanks for the info.

 

Zebra: Did you have to go with your luggage prior to getting in line to check in on the ship? Some are saying they had to do that while others did not.

 

Thanks,

Lynda