KSDM embarkation 5/20

[Laminator]

3 hours ago, decrepit old man said:

Does every single person here have priority boarding? Would like to know what the wait times are like for us peasants

Apparently nearly every HAL pax has priority boarding as witnessed by the 600 or more pax who were sitting in the non priority area waiting to board at 10:30am this past Saturday.

[sp2]

We will be on this cruise in August. I see folks referring to going through customs/immigration before boarding.  We are Canadian. Will we need to go through this process? Or is it US immigration since we will be travelling to Alaska? Does having Nexus shorten the wait time? Thanks!

[rafinmd]

20 minutes ago, sp2 said:

We will be on this cruise in August. I see folks referring to going through customs/immigration before boarding.  We are Canadian. Will we need to go through this process? Or is it US immigration since we will be travelling to Alaska? Does having Nexus shorten the wait time? Thanks!

It is US Immigration.  I think there is a NEXUS line but some have reported that it is poorly marked and the line may be so long that you can't immediately get to the start.

 

Roy

[cattman]

17 hours ago, dreamer321 said:

I boarded the same day on Koningsdam. I had a 10:40 checking time with priority boarding. Super smooth process. I took a taxi from my hotel at 9:45 am, dropped my suitcase with the porter just past 10:00 am went up to HAL priority check-in line and was called up to agent immediately. All my paperwork was in order and went through security very quickly.  I then went to the Nexus/Global Entry line and only had 4 people ahead of me. I presented my passport and was cleared quickly. I was then directed to the HAL waiting area about 10:40 am. They started boarding the ship about 11:10 am and I dropped off my carry-on luggage in my room and was ordering a cocktail at the Ocean bar by 11:15 am. All in all, a very smooth process. I’m glad they improved the customer experience from a couple weeks earlier.

 

Our boarding experience was the same for our May 13 Koningsdam cruise. One of the easiest of our 15 Alaska cruises. We were in our Neptune Suite by 11:15

[HappyInVan]

On 5/21/2023 at 7:03 PM, decrepit old man said:

Does every single person here have priority boarding? Would like to know what the wait times are like for us peasants

 

Unfortunately, not good for non-priority pax. Everyone passes through check-in, security and US Immigration. But, priority pax bypass the K's waiting room. A lot of people can pile up there as pax clear Immigration faster than pax can trickle down the gangway.

 

In fact, I'm so cheesed at HAL that I've cancelled my October SS booking out of Vancouver. What's the point of paying a premium price when there is no access to CO and PG. No HIA or priority access.