Interesting Boarding Announcement for Vancouver

[Florida_gal_50]

16 minutes ago, zgscl said:

So glad for the advice to come late. I arrived at the pier at 1:30. Walked through the vaccine/VeriFLY check, security and checkin. Sat in the folding chairs for about 20 mins before being released to stand in the boarding line. Walked on the ship at 2:04 which is really not bad. They were putting half the folding chairs away when I got there. I asked how it was earlier and they said it was completely full. Not sure what time they actually started boarding. 
 

As to customs there were signs saying we would pre-clear US customs, however we did not need to. As it turns out they are canceling Victoria tomorrow so we actually are heading directly to the US

Did you hear why Victoria is being canceled?

[zgscl]

4 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Did you hear why Victoria is being canceled?

Due to technical issues with one generator & speed restrictions to protect marine life supposedly. Works out fantastic for me as I wasn’t going to get off anyway and we get $100 OBC & port fees refunded. Sorry for anyone who was looking forward to it though! 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, zgscl said:

Due to technical issues with one generator & speed restrictions to protect marine life supposedly. Works out fantastic for me as I wasn’t going to get off anyway and we get $100 OBC & port fees refunded. Sorry for anyone who was looking forward to it though! 

Thanks for the information.  Glad you aren’t disappointed.  For me the more ports the better so I’d be disappointed.  

[Guest ldtr]

2 minutes ago, zgscl said:

Due to technical issues with one generator & speed restrictions to protect marine life supposedly. Works out fantastic for me as I wasn’t going to get off anyway and we get $100 OBC & port fees refunded. Sorry for anyone who was looking forward to it though! 

What is your first US port?  Did they say anything about clearing immigration there?

[zgscl]

Just now, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thanks for the information.  Glad you aren’t disappointed.  For me the more ports the better so I’d be disappointed.  

Victoria for me is no big deal as we live in Seattle and are there at least twice a year on an Alaska cruise or go for a weekend getaway. I would be very disappointed if we miss SF. While I lived there for most of my life I am specifically looking forward to sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. I have only done so on a cruise once about 21 years ago. We arrive at 8 so will have to make it a very early morning to make sure I don’t miss it. The departure is at night so that will be a fun experience as well. 

[zgscl]

3 minutes ago, ldtr said:

What is your first US port?  Did they say anything about clearing immigration there?

Our first port is San Francisco. No word yet on what the process will be. Well, actually one of the Vancouver port people (who was monitoring who sat in which chair and was adamant we sit shoulder to shoulder) said we will go through customs and immigration in San Diego. I put zero stock in what he said. Will post back when we have something officially from the ship. 
 

Many years ago we did the Canada New England cruise from Montreal to Boston & we went through immigration at the first Us port (on the ship in a lounge and everyone had to clear before anyone could get off-leading to increasingly frantic and and aggressive announcements for a naughty list of people to report to the lounge they were doing it in IMMEDIATELY) and then customs in Boston. I haven’t done a cruise with a mid-cruise US boarder crossing since. This was about 2014 so it could have changed since then. 

[martincath]

Glad your later embarkation went smoothly! Unless CBP have seriously loosened up their procedures, Immigration at first port should be the expectation.

 

Warning - you definitely want to be among the very first people lining up because SF is inefficient as heck at dealing with immigration! Golden Princess, far from the biggest vessel around, took over three hours to get the last pax cleared on our visit a few years back, and that was with every desk operating at Pier 27 - it's just not big enough to fit any more desks, even if CBP are fully-staffed-up.

 

If you have excursions booked soon after planned arrival time, there's a good chance of missing them unless you get off the ship before the immigration queues build up - given how far in advance Alcatraz tickets need booked for example, even off-season, there might be a lot of peeved patrons who miss their trips because they aren't allowed off until they've been processed...

[HAL4NOW]

4 hours ago, zgscl said:

So glad for the advice to come late. I arrived at the pier at 1:30. Walked through the vaccine/VeriFLY check, security and checkin. Sat in the folding chairs for about 20 mins before being released to stand in the boarding line. Walked on the ship at 2:04 which is really not bad. They were putting half the folding chairs away when I got there. I asked how it was earlier and they said it was completely full. Not sure what time they actually started boarding. 

We didn't get released from the Koningsdam for our taxi ride until almost noon. About 80-100 of us were waiting in the BB King's venue for much of that time. When my DW and I left the ship, there were still about 30-40 people still waiting for clearance from crew who had directed us into that venue.

Have a wonderful cruise. Even with 6+ days of cabin isolation (quarantine doesn't feel like the correct term for what we experienced), we had a fabulous time. The crew demonstrated a very high level of care for all of us passengers. Many of them went out of their way to try to make people feel special.

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, zgscl said:

Victoria for me is no big deal as we live in Seattle and are there at least twice a year on an Alaska cruise or go for a weekend getaway. I would be very disappointed if we miss SF. While I lived there for most of my life I am specifically looking forward to sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. I have only done so on a cruise once about 21 years ago. We arrive at 8 so will have to make it a very early morning to make sure I don’t miss it. The departure is at night so that will be a fun experience as well. 

For sure that would be worse to miss San Francisco. 

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, zgscl said:

Our first port is San Francisco. No word yet on what the process will be. Well, actually one of the Vancouver port people (who was monitoring who sat in which chair and was adamant we sit shoulder to shoulder) said we will go through customs and immigration in San Diego. I put zero stock in what he said. Will post back when we have something officially from the ship. 
 

Many years ago we did the Canada New England cruise from Montreal to Boston & we went through immigration at the first Us port (on the ship in a lounge and everyone had to clear before anyone could get off-leading to increasingly frantic and and aggressive announcements for a naughty list of people to report to the lounge they were doing it in IMMEDIATELY) and then customs in Boston. I haven’t done a cruise with a mid-cruise US boarder crossing since. This was about 2014 so it could have changed since then. 

That was the same for me but it was a few years ago.  It sounds like it's the same.

[zgscl]

11 hours ago, martincath said:

Glad your later embarkation went smoothly! Unless CBP have seriously loosened up their procedures, Immigration at first port should be the expectation.

 

Warning - you definitely want to be among the very first people lining up because SF is inefficient as heck at dealing with immigration! Golden Princess, far from the biggest vessel around, took over three hours to get the last pax cleared on our visit a few years back, and that was with every desk operating at Pier 27 - it's just not big enough to fit any more desks, even if CBP are fully-staffed-up.

 

If you have excursions booked soon after planned arrival time, there's a good chance of missing them unless you get off the ship before the immigration queues build up - given how far in advance Alcatraz tickets need booked for example, even off-season, there might be a lot of peeved patrons who miss their trips because they aren't allowed off until they've been processed...

Thank you so much for this. Very helpful to know. I’m assuming folks who don’t get off still need to disembark and go through the process. Seems like first thing or last in line is the best place to be. 

[zgscl]

As you all guessed SF customs was an experience. We got a letter suggesting it should be done at 9:30 Or so. They kept making announcements that customs was crowded and please wait if you didn’t have plans. Around 11:30 they asked for all remaining guests to come down. It took about 40 minutes to make it through the line. When I got to the front they barely glanced at my passport and took my picture and said have a nice day. I think I could have single handedly gone through 2 thousand people faster than they did. Customs did require a zero count of passengers and no one was permitted to reboard until the ship had been cleared. Which I’m guessing happened around 12:30 or 1. The ship did announce that shore excursions would wait for people to get through customs. 
 

Disembarkation in San Diego was a breeze. Just walked right off, grabbed our luggage and left. No line or anything. 
 

 

[martincath]

7 hours ago, zgscl said:

As you all guessed SF customs was an experience. ...

Ouch - assuming it did start on time, that was even less efficient than our experience back in the day! SF CBP out of practise I guess, given how few cruises need immigration processing there...

[zgscl]

3 minutes ago, martincath said:

Ouch - assuming it did start on time, that was even less efficient than our experience back in the day! SF CBP out of practise I guess, given how few cruises need immigration processing there...

We started between 8 & 830. I’d hate to think how disembarkation would be there especially on a bigger ship. Boarding must really start late