Another San Diego Port question

[NanaJPB]

I’ve seen several mentions of days when two ships are embarking .  On March 30, 2024, Three ships are scheduled:  Disney Wonder, HAL Konigsdam, and HAL Zaandam.  I expect it will be quite chaotic!  If there are just two slips, how will they handle the situation?

Thanks for any insights.

Joanna

Edited December 1, 2023 by NanaJPB
Correction

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

2 hours ago, NanaJPB said:

I’ve seen several mentions of days when two ships are embarking .  On March 30, 2024, Three ships are scheduled:  Disney Wonder, HAL Konigsdam, and HAL Zaandam.  I expect it will be quite chaotic!  If there are just two slips, how will they handle the situation?

Thanks for any insights.

Joanna

Wow that doesn't happen often.  I would guess two at the cruise pier and one at the Broadway pier.  I recall the Broadway pier was the cruise pier before the port built the fancy cruise terminal.  If it were me I wouldn't be in a hurry to board.  I would arrive later and hopefully avoid the morning crush.    

[CruiserBruce]

The Broadway pier is now the newest facility. There are 3 dock locations. 

 

The two HAL ships might be put on the two sides of the B Street pier, particularly if Disney is just visiting,  not a embarkation/disembarking visit.

 

Technically the Broadway pier is the shortest facility,  and the Zaandam is the smallest ship, so that might affect things.

[LynnSD]

I agree that arriving later should save you some frustration.  
This happened to us earlier this year.   We ended up getting lunch at Ketch in the Brigantine restaurant complex a block north of the pier; the line actually extended almost that far.   We could watch the line from there, and saved ourselves an hour of standing in the crowd on the sidewalk.  

[NanaJPB]

Thanks.  We’ll be boarding the Zaandam, so I hope you’re right, CruiserBruce.   Has anyone boarded there?  Easier?  Harder?  
 

we will have been in SD for 3+ days with a harbor view, so until checkout, we can watch the mayhem.

 

Joanna

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Here is how it looks.

 

[DAllenTCY]

As far as I've heard, the Disney Wonder will be on the North Side of B. St. and the Koningsdam on the South side.  That has been the case recently when both were in San Diego on the same day.

The Zaandam will be at the Broadway Complex (aka Pier).

 

Departure times:   Koningsdam  3 pm

 

                             Zaandam  3 pm

 

                             Disney Wonder 5 pm

 

David

[teacherman]

Just boarded Koningsdam on November 25.  The Disney ship was also there boarding.  This was our first time to San Diego and I am SO GLAD that I read info on these boards and asked questions.  Now, to elaborate:   Our boarding time was originally 11:00.  The week before the cruise, it was changed to 11:20.  Two days before the cruise, we were told we could come at 10:00 or 2:00.  We were also told that it is a "small facility" and there would also be another ship boarding.  Fortunately, we stayed the night prior to boarding at the Spring Hill Suites-Bayfront, directly across the street from the ship.

 

At the hotel breakfast the room was full of cruisers, half of whom were children going on Disney.  We spoke to another couple that told us they had decided to go over and get in line at 10, so they could enjoy the day on the ship and have lunch in the dining room.  We asked the hotel to extend our check out time until noon, which they did.

 

At 10:00 am, I looked out the window of our room and saw a line of passengers, and their luggage, that grew longer as I watched it.  We were watching a college football game, so I checked every 15 minutes on the line.  It eventually reached all the way to the next pier, and then curled its way around that pier.

 

At noon, the line was still growing, so we checked out and went to the rooftop bar.  We had a relaxing lunch and continued to watch the game on the big screen.  By 2:00 pm the end of the line was "almost" to the final entrance gate.  So we took our luggage and walked across the street to that gate.  It still took us 45 minutes, from that point, to get onto the ship.  This was only the Koningsdam passengers, as the Disney people were in a different line, but both lines eventually ended up merging inside the terminal to go through the scanners.

 

When we first entered the original gate, I was told that if I wished to check my luggage, I had to take it down the sidewalk, cross the parking lot where we were stopped several times by unloading cars and trucks, give the luggage to the porters, and then return to get back in the line.  I have never seen any system like this, and I have cruised from a LOT of ports in several different countries.

 

Once we finished our luggage drop off and got through the scanners, things moved pretty quickly.  On the last day of the cruise, I again spoke with the people who had told me they were going over at 10:00 to get in line.  They said they had waited 3 hours (in the sun with no place to sit and rest).  They never got to the dining room for lunch.  BUT, they also told me that IF THEY HAD simply taken a taxi to the pier from the airport, the taxi would have just driven through the gate and dropped them off.  People who flew in that morning and had a HAL transfer to the ship were simply taken immediately to the terminal gate and dropped off.

 

There was much discussion of this whole debacle during the cruise, and also much discussion of the day that there would be 3 ships in port.   On the other hand, the disembarkation was one of the best ever.  We were the only ship, breakfast was served until 9:00, and you just went down and selected the luggage tags you wanted with the departure time you preferred.  We were directed to go to the "UBER" line and make our call for pick-up ($26.00).  This was not our first "rodeo", so we simply took our luggage and walked across the street to make our call.  The car was there in 2 minutes ($17.00)  This is my story.   Get all the info you can, make your own decisions, and don't depend on HAL for guidance.   Safe travels.