April 11th: Ruby Embarkation, OMG! The longest lines We Have EVER Seen!

[travellingnana]

1 hour ago, cvpends said:

Bad traffic on Bay Bridge, so 11:15.  I recommend earlier 🙂

Thank you!  

[AZjohn]

4 hours ago, cvpends said:

Bad traffic on Bay Bridge, so 11:15.  I recommend earlier 🙂

Bad traffic all of Bay Area 😊

[swomom]

Folks, this has nothing to do with SF traffic. I boarded the Ruby on 3/27 and finally got off on 4/11.  This. Is. Covid. Princess has no idea how to handle all the quarantined passengers. Please read PescadoAmarillo’s posts…..she experienced it all.  Of the 9 people in my travel group, 6….yes 6! ended up with Covid. There is no way people are going to get tested onboard knowing that you are going to get locked into a cabin for 10 days. And to tell us that it is computer problems? Oh, please

[calval]

I was one of the people who stood in that line........ we were told by a ship officer the Majestic is too large for 35. So they put the Ruby at 35. 35 is not good for Turn around days. More of a stop for the day terminal. We all survived. Had a great time. Just plan ahead...... there will be several times large ships will use Pier 35 in the coming weeks. See Port of San Francisco cruise ship schedule showing the pier numbers.

[1498sg]

Is the Riu hotel with in walking distance of this pier

[Blondilu]

Wow, that's crazy.  The 2 times I sailed out of SF it was a breeze.  Of course, this was before the time of Covid.

 

Sis and I did have one embarkation where the lines were at least this long.  In 2015 we sailed out of Southhampton.  There was an outbreak of Noro and they needed to do a deep cleaning of the ship.  Our shuttle from London was scheduled to pick us up at 11am and they really couldn't delay that.  So they took us on an excursion for a few hours but even then when we got to the ship the line was out the door and down the side of the Royal Princess and back again.  

[Blondilu]

26 minutes ago, 1498sg said:

Is the Riu hotel with in walking distance of this pier

Depends on how much luggage you have.  But it's less than a mile.  

[TBfrPH]

We were in this line like most everyone else.  It wasn't fun, but that didn't deter us from having a very terrific cruise afterwards. 

 

There have been a couple well-documented anomalies, and they were likely due to C19.  I can attest from personal experience that they are not the norm.  Typically we get to our cabin within 1 hour of arrival at the terminal, sometimes as fast as 30 minutes.  

 

If someone is determined to swear off Princess or never to sail out of SFO based on a couple outlier incidents,  then minds are unlikely to be changed.  Just want to explain that typical conditions are quite different.

[bjkTX]

Wow.  Several years ago we had a cruise out of San Francisco.  Reading here on Cruise Critic scared me about the lines waiting to get on the ship to the point I mentioned it to my Veterans Primary Care doc when she asked me how my back had been doing (not good) and I told her I was really dreading the possibility of having to stand in line for hours at the cruise terminal - or give in for the first time and use a wheelchair!  The next thing I know the VA had issued me a very nice walker to take with me 🙂  Fortunately the line wasn't terrible and I didn't need any help - but it doesn't sound like I'd want to spin the wheel again 🙂

[bmc alabama]

This is starting to become endemic!

 

 

[Napagirl]

On 4/11/2022 at 2:37 PM, LACruiser88 said:

 

We are on the Majestic Princess and are in San Francisco today, alongside the Ruby Princess.

 

We walked off the ship this morning at 10:30 for a walk towards Fisherman's Wharf.  We walked past the embarkation terminal for the Ruby Princess.

 

OMG!  The line for embarking passengers reached all the way to Pier 39!  A distance of at least 300 yards.  In all of our years of cruising, we have never seen such a line.

 

We had lunch on the wharf and on our return walk back at 2:00, the line was even longer.  It cleared up today  but it is windy and chilly.  And all of these poor folks are standing in this long line with their carry-on luggage.

 

We will NEVER embark on a cruise ship in San Francisco!

I was in that line! Took us three hours total to get on board. SF is our home port and we have never experienced that before. There could be other reasons but I'm pretty sure it's the pier. That pier is not meant to be more than a port stop. It's not big enough to handle all the passengers embarking and disembarking. Looks like SF needs to build another like pier 35!

[Napagirl]

Oh goodness, not build another pier 35, I meant to say another 27!