Eclipse 6 January. Boarding in Buenos Aires

[sheeng]

OMG - After 50+ cruise the very worst embarkation ever! From taxi drop off at the port to boarding the shuttle to the ship was over 3 hours! The first half was out in the open in 88 degree heat. We did have some rain which was a relief. I cannot tell you how far the line stretched but it was many, many blocks. It got really ugly as we got close to the terminal entrance with buses unloading and passengers pushing to the front of ‘our’ queue. There was little attempt to control the crowd by terminal personnel. Once inside the warehouse like building some control was enforced but it was sweltering, still chaotic and zero communication!
Sail-away was scheduled for 5:00. It’s now 6:30 but not everyone in onboard. Our tile reports my bag to still be in the terminal.

I could go on and on but I won’t. Plenty blaim to go around but I now have a glass of wine in hand and life is good🤗

 

[tomcruiser1234]

Ouch.   That doesn’t sound like fun at all. I wonder if that was the first sailing out of that port since it moved down from LA. 

 

Hopefully they get it figured out in 90 days.  

[tomcruiser1234]

Anybody else have problems. Gotta ask. 

 

I will have knee surgery 8 weeks before our April 20 cruise out of Buenos.   I wont do well standing for even an hour 

 

thanks

[lovecruzin]

I’m sure X could make it more comfortable for pax but…

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/new-buenos-aires-check-process-after-storm-damages-cruise-terminal

[Ex-Airbalancer]

47 minutes ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Anybody else have problems. Gotta ask. 

 

I will have knee surgery 8 weeks before our April 20 cruise out of Buenos.   I wont do well standing for even an hour 

 

thanks

You will be fine in 8 weeks 😁

[Jim_Iain]

Wow... sorry to hear.    Was there any access for Suite passengers?   Or those with CheckIn times?

[foodsvcmgr]

We will be on the next sailing, I hope they use these two weeks to figure out possible improvements.

Not looking promising for the Concierge lunch lol……

Thanks for the info and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[MagPie60]

Sucks. 

 

I'm just going to say - Vancouver in August to board the Eclipse to Alaska was no better. We (Canadian and American passport holders) lined up in some arena-like building for almost 3 hours to do US border formalities. There was NO water, no circulating air and no washrooms without leaving the line and going back to the end. Our "foreign" friends (Australian passport holders) were cleared and on the ship at least two hours before us. We witnessed one old gentleman suffer incontinence while waiting. There were also line-jumpers facilitated by the staff. 

I will never embark ANYWHERE in the world, ever again without an empty bladder, 2 litres of water and a couple of fans. 

[SFCAcruiser]

2 hours ago, sheeng said:

OMG - After 50+ cruise the very worst embarkation ever!....

I could go on and on but I won’t. Plenty blaim to go around but I now have a glass of wine in hand and life is good🤗

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post here. It is useful to know for those of us boarding through end of March. 
BTW did Celebrity ever notify you about the change of terminals?

[tomcruiser1234]

36 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

You will be fine in 8 weeks 😁

Hoping so.  Having the left knee cleaned out and replacing the right knee. Had to cancel the 13 day from Chile, just 2 close. 

 

I would think in 90 days things will get better at the terminal. Always great though to get the updates on CC. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

4 minutes ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Hoping so.  Having the left knee cleaned out and replacing the right knee. Had to cancel the 13 day from Chile, just 2 close. 

 

I would think in 90 days things will get better at the terminal. Always great though to get the updates on CC. 

I have both hips and knees done , I was climbing ladders  after 2 months 😁
if you don’t think you are ready get one of these 

Edited January 7 by Ex-Airbalancer

[tomcruiser1234]

Just now, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I have both hips and knees done , I was climbing ladders  after 2 months 😁

Was 1 arm in a cast also.  😊. 

 

The body is amazing. Use it or loose it. 

 

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Was 1 arm in a cast also.  😊. 

 

The body is amazing. Use it or loose it. 

 

 

Be sure to celebrate every new body part anniversary with a birthday cake 🤣

[jelayne]

We boarded and disembarked in BA in 2017 and it was much the same.  Long lines, only a couple of luggage scanners, multiple ships embarking and disembarking passengers, not enough shuttles- general chaos.  But what I remember most is the amazing cruise that took us to Rio for Carnival. 

 

 

[upwarduk]

8 hours ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Anybody else have problems. Gotta ask. 

 

I will have knee surgery 8 weeks before our April 20 cruise out of Buenos.   I wont do well standing for even an hour 

 

thanks

I would fill in a Special Needs form.

[sheeng]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow... sorry to hear.    Was there any access for Suite passengers?   Or those with CheckIn times?

No access in the outdoor line. Talking to many people around us in line none were paying any attention to their check in time. When we entered the bag drop warehouse it remained one line sharing 2 luggage scanning machines. It was crazy - when the belt filled up the machine switched off while those 10 or so suitcases were picked up by

porters and carried to busses. Our waiting time was about 2 hrs 40 minutes at this point. 
We had a short wait for a bus and the bus to fill up and were then driven to the checkin terminal where we saw the first Retreat signage🤗  Of course by now Luminae was closed so no lobster rolls for us.

[sheeng]

13 hours ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

Thanks for taking the time to post here. It is useful to know for those of us boarding through end of March. 
BTW did Celebrity ever notify you about the change of terminals?

Yes, we were notified about a week before.

[LXA350]

Already at the previous embarkation port, Valparaiso the checkin process did not go smoothly. I hope that X is doing the maximum they can to improve the process going forward.

[1Virgo]

14 hours ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Hoping so.  Having the left knee cleaned out and replacing the right knee. Had to cancel the 13 day from Chile, just 2 close. 

 

I would think in 90 days things will get better at the terminal. Always great though to get the updates on CC. 

 

Has your surgeon cleared you for flying?  If not, I would ask.   

[Ex-Airbalancer]

39 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

 

Has your surgeon cleared you for flying?  If not, I would ask.   

 

By their 4 week check up they will know if there is complications 

[1Virgo]

18 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

 

By their 4 week check up they will know if there is complications 

have you had a TKR?     I have.  3x on same knee.  I would never say go ahead and travel without consulting an orthopaedic surgeon

[Ex-Airbalancer]

11 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

have you had a TKR?     I have.  3x on same knee.  I would never say go ahead and travel without consulting an orthopaedic surgeon

See post #11 

I would imagine tomcruiser will be talking with their doctor during the follow visits about future travel plans 

[tomcruiser1234]

Hey all. Didn’t mean for my stupid knees to hijack this stream.  

 

Thanks for all your thoughts. 

 

There is about 5 cruises that will be using that port at Buenos before Eclipse heads to Liberty Jersey. 

Those flying in early may not want to go to the port until later in the afternoon   Most departures are not till after 6:00 pm. 

 

Hopefully not everybody will have to go through what Sheena did. 

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

We have embarked at Buenos Aires twice -- once in 2015 at the actual cruise terminal and in 2019 at a convention center (near the cruise terminal).  Both times our embarkation went rather smoothly.  Hope the situation improves for future embarkations.

[BoopTennis]

On 1/7/2024 at 7:46 AM, sheeng said:

No access in the outdoor line. Talking to many people around us in line none were paying any attention to their check in time. When we entered the bag drop warehouse it remained one line sharing 2 luggage scanning machines. It was crazy - when the belt filled up the machine switched off while those 10 or so suitcases were picked up by

porters and carried to busses. Our waiting time was about 2 hrs 40 minutes at this point. 
We had a short wait for a bus and the bus to fill up and were then driven to the checkin terminal where we saw the first Retreat signage🤗  Of course by now Luminae was closed so no lobster rolls for us.

Thanks for your comments. Did you wait with your checked bag for it to get scanned or did they take that separately to the ship? Just curious how many checked bags are going to get lost in this mess 

They transported passengers to another place to embark? Were you able to take carryon luggage with you?