Boarding Procedures for HAL in Boston???

[teacherman]

We are due to board Volendam this coming Saturday in Boston.  All it tells us is that boarding begins at noon and ship sails at 3.  This is our first time in Boston.  Is the boarding a "horrendous" experience, with everyone trying to get in the same line, or is the facility large enough to not have everyone crammed together?  Should we arrive about noon, or wait until 1?  Any information/advice is welcome.  Thank you.

[zqvol]

15 minutes ago, teacherman said:

We are due to board Volendam this coming Saturday in Boston.  All it tells us is that boarding begins at noon and ship sails at 3.  This is our first time in Boston.  Is the boarding a "horrendous" experience, with everyone trying to get in the same line, or is the facility large enough to not have everyone crammed together?  Should we arrive about noon, or wait until 1?  Any information/advice is welcome.  Thank you.

Better to ask this on the HAL board

[1025cruise]

There are 2 lines in Boston. First the line to drop your luggage. Then the line to enter the terminal. There is no separation of suites, status, etc until after security.

[navybankerteacher]

Of course, the fact that Volendam will only board about 1,200 passengers vs. the several thousand most larger ships carry will limit the chaos.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, teacherman said:

Is the boarding a "horrendous" experience, with everyone trying to get in the same line, or is the facility large enough to not have everyone crammed together?  Should we arrive about noon, or wait until 1?  Any information/advice is welcome.

Agree with all that's been said above. Would add that the Boston terminal is very, very basic (old converted commercial pier) so it's basically like a warehouse inside with some dressing up. I wouldn't arrive so early that you'll be waiting for things to get going-- it's like the interior of a Costco with nothing in it. 

 

I've boarded the former Veendam in Boston many times and the process is generally quick and painless. Volendam is a slightly updated version of Veendam and only carries a hundred or so more passengers. It should be fine. I would personally show up around or just after 1-- let the folks who show up early clear out and you get to have a lazy morning in Boston. 

[Alberta Quilter]

On 7/3/2024 at 8:40 AM, teacherman said:

We are due to board Volendam this coming Saturday in Boston.  All it tells us is that boarding begins at noon and ship sails at 3.  This is our first time in Boston.  Is the boarding a "horrendous" experience, with everyone trying to get in the same line, or is the facility large enough to not have everyone crammed together?  Should we arrive about noon, or wait until 1?  Any information/advice is welcome.  Thank you.

Would you please report back on your timing and the process?  I'm boarding on July 27th and have a similar question.  I've boarded in Boston once before; we were lucky and got seats within the terminal but others waited outside for quite some time.

[navybankerteacher]

On 7/3/2024 at 12:17 PM, princeton123211 said:

Agree with all that's been said above. Would add that the Boston terminal is very, very basic (old converted commercial pier) so it's basically like a warehouse inside with some dressing up. I wouldn't arrive so early that you'll be waiting for things to get going-- it's like the interior of a Costco with nothing in it. 

 

…

Because there are no cruises sailing from Boston between very early in November until early May (just about six months), there is very little incentive to spend much on improving the facility - so it can sit idle for half the year,

[1025cruise]

I drive to the Boston port, so I prefer to get there later. But I know not everyone will have that option.

[cunnorl]

We will be boarding the Zuiderdam on the 20th. I would very much like to avoid long lines and waiting around. We would like to drop our luggage early and then go to lunch. Come back later. Do they allow that in Boston?

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, cunnorl said:

We would like to drop our luggage early and then go to lunch. Come back later. Do they allow that in Boston?

I'm sure you could. There isn't much right there-- its sort of an industrial port area thats slowly being developed. You are about a 15+ minute walk to some of the chain restaurants that are in the Seaport area and a quick Uber to Boston proper. 

[Rubyfisch]

On 7/4/2024 at 11:22 AM, Alberta Quilter said:

Would you please report back on your timing and the process?  I'm boarding on July 27th and have a similar question.  I've boarded in Boston once before; we were lucky and got seats within the terminal but others waited outside for quite some time.

We were on a Volendam in May. We got there a little before noon, and basically never stopped moving. People were already on the ship. We got through all the processing steps right at noon. They stopped boarding for a few minutes as they were escorting off the crew whose contracts were up, with all their luggage, to take them over to Logan. We were on board right have noon.

 

It was very similar last year on Zuiderdam, although we were maybe 20 or 30 minutes later.