Boarding after a land tour

[CruisinDoug]

We will be on The Summit next year in Alaska. Prior to the cruise we will be on a 5 day Celebrity land tour (#12). Once the tour is over and you arrive at the ship, do the tour people receive any type of priority boarding? Just curious.

[lougee1043]

there is never a problem boarding because people come back to the ship at various times ----there in no priority boarding at ports other then your original boarding port ---the good news is that if you are on a cruise booked excursion and are late getting back to the ship it will still be theree---if you book on your own and are late getting back you will be able to wave to the ship as it sails away without you and you are left to your own devices and expense as to how to catch the ship at its next port

[dkjretired]

Lougee:

 

I think what the OP is asking has to do with the original boarding of the ship at its first port of call after taking the five day Celebrity Tour through Alaska. You answer would be correct if the boarding was in the middle of the cruise but I don't think that was the question. I am not sure of the answer and perhaps someone could help the OP>

 

Don

[Bruin Steve]

We were just on the Summit--together with Land Tour #15...July 9 sailing (July 3 beginning of tour)...

 

Our last stop before the cruise was in Alyeska/Girdwood...

 

One aspect of the cruisetour with which I was not very satisfied (most of it was VERY good) was the transition from land tour to ship...

 

They had a table set up on the second floor of the hotel lobby...We were directed to leave our bags out of the room for collection AND check out of the hotel by 10:00 am...Then we were told to report to this second floor table at 11:00 am to check in for the ship (the reporting times were allegedly staggered to avoid a rush since several tours and buses were checking in) ...and then to meet back at the front of the hotel to board the bus at 1:30 pm...

 

So, basically, there was little anyone could do all day other than hang around in the lobby with their carry-ons...We did show up at the line to the table at 10 instead of 11 and no one stopped us...

 

They went through most of the check in here at the hotel, but left the room key cards with our tour director to disburse to us upon arrival at the ship...

 

At 1:30, they finally loaded the buses...and prior to heading for the ship, drove us to a "Wildlife Center" for about a one-hour stop...

 

They told us we would arrive at the ship around 4:00 pm...After the Wildlife Center, we drove to Seward...but were told that there was a backlog at the terminal, so rather than bringing us directly to the ship, they were going to trat us to a "tour of Seward"...The tour consisted of the bus driving slowly up and down the streets of the town and then stopping at a public park rest room for a lengthy "pit stop"...(from where we could see the ship a few blocks off...as we sat there in the hot bus, I could imagine myself checking into my suite instead and going for a snack at the buffet)...

 

But, alas, they didn't get us to the ship until 5:00...

There really was no check-in, as we did that back at the hotel...just had to walk through security (and there was a short line for that...and no priority into that line either for having been on a cruise tour, for being Captains Club members OR for cruising in a Suite)...

 

I wrote to Celebrity regarding this issue...I thought that they should NOT create a schedule that wastes an entire day for a one-hour visit to a Wilderness Center...and that gets us to the ship FINALLY after 5:00 pm when most of us would have prefered to be enjoying the amenities of the ship that day...

 

I wrote that this was NOT the way they should treat passengers who paid for Suites and for their most expensive cruise tour...

 

I received a letter back from the PR folks...

They explained that the wait in the morning at the hotel was because the bus had to first take passengers off of the Northbound cruise...Then they claimed "but everyone LOVES the Wilderness Center" and it's a valuable part of the tour...and that because they are "easing congestion at the ship", they give us the added benefit of the "Seward Tour"...

 

The claim is that this is the way the cruisetour is designed...and they're sorry that everything was not to my satisfaction...

 

I sort of wonder if you could check in at the hotel and have them give YOU the plastic card and then just get a cab to the pier? You'd miss the wildlife center...But, you could check in at 10 and be at the ship for lunch and a relaxing afternoon...

 

Or maybe NOT check in at the hotel...just take your docs and head for the ship???

[lougee1043]

dk

 

you were right i totally misread the question

[CruisinDoug]

Thank you for your responses. Something in the back of my mind has been telling me to expect some sort of delay or late arrival that day. But once on board I am sure it will be well worth it.

 

By the way, what is an "OP"?