Recent Alaska Cruisers out of Vancouver

[freetocruise]

Could you please tell me something about the embarkation procedures? We are on the June 15th sailing of the Coral Princess and we are a group of 6 ranging from elite to never sailed before.

 

Is there a special embarkation lounge for platinum/elite? What is the best time to arrive - how early can you arrive? Where do you go to start?

 

I have searched this forum and found some information but am looking for the most recent.

 

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

[kathiatkins]

Could you please tell me something about the embarkation procedures? We are on the June 15th sailing of the Coral Princess and we are a group of 6 ranging from elite to never sailed before.

 

Is there a special embarkation lounge for platinum/elite? What is the best time to arrive - how early can you arrive? Where do you go to start?

 

I have searched this forum and found some information but am looking for the most recent.

 

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

 

There is no special embarkation lounge for anyone. If there is wheel chair requirements you can get zipped past the line in a group.

[SuzyL]

We sailed out of Vancouver on 5/18 which happened to be a holiday in Canada (Victoria Day). After dropping off our rental car at Canada Place (same place where the ship is docked), we wheeled our luggage over to the cruise terminal and left it there at about 10:30 am. Princess employees were loading the luggage at that time. Since it was too early to board, we had breakfast then returned to the terminal at noon and embarked. I can't remember the earliest you could arrive...11 am perhaps? Maybe we were lucky, but there wasn't a line and we were on the ship in minutes.

[paul929207]

Last summer we got to Canada Place about 11am. Basicly walked straight thru the checkin process and onto the ship.

[cindep]

We left on the Island on May 25, 2009 from Vancouver. We arrived between 10:30 and 11:00. They had porters ready to take our luggage. We then went and stood in line until the Princess employees came to work. I believe we next got checked in and received our cruise cards. We were then sent to a separate area to sit and wait until the ship had cleared and we could board. I'm Elite and DH is Platinum. There was definitely a separate area for us to sit and wait and we boarded first.

 

Also, there was lunch available in the dining room on embarkation day from 12:00 - 1:30. We only had maybe 30 or 40 people come in. Enter like you know what you're doing ... request a table for lunch. We had absolutely no problems with being sent to the Horizon Court.

[ceilidh1]

I work shoreside for Princess so will try to help you out. We don't officially open check in until 11am, but this depends on how quickly we can disembark the ship in the morning. If all goes smoothly, the longshoremen will be available to take your luggage after 10:30am - if the ship is late getting in or there are problems with disembarkation, then it may not be until 11:00am. Once you drop your luggage, you will go through security - this is where your carry on bags are screened to make sure you're not carrying explosives, knives, etc. After security you will pre-clear US immigration. This is done so that you don't need to do it at your first port of call. This can often be a huge line. If you are a US or Canadian citizen or have a US permanent resident card you will go through on line., All International passengers must be processed through a different line and will be directed to a small lounge area to fill out the necessary paperwork. If you find yourself stuck in lines all the way to the this point, please don't yell at the cruisline staff - it is nothing at all to do with us, this is the US immigration! After clearing immigration you will go to the respective cruiseline area and fill out a health questionnaire and proceed to check in. Providing the ship is ready to board you will then be able to get your cruisecard and walk on. Lately we have had coastguard drills for the staff and this has held up boarding a little - if this happens there will be a lounge area set up for you to wait until the ship is ready. In this instance they will have a separate "elite" area, but most times we do not need it as you walk on right away. As far as what time to arrive, there is no right or wrong answer. It used to be that if you arrived after 2pm there would be shorter lines. However, now that this is printed on all documentation more and more passengers are doing just that, so we find we DO have long lines between 2 and 3 pm! If you get there right when we open check in there will be less of a wait, but then you are taking a chance on the fact that check in may/may not open on time depending on how disembarkation goes. If you get there very late (such as 3:30 and later) I would say you will have less chance of a line. Bear in mind that I am speaking from experience with Princess here - other lines may do things a little differently!

 

I will try to answer any other questions you may have!

[tiyana4]

I work shoreside for Princess so will try to help you out. We don't officially open check in until 11am, but this depends on how quickly we can disembark the ship in the morning. If all goes smoothly, the longshoremen will be available to take your luggage after 10:30am - if the ship is late getting in or there are problems with disembarkation, then it may not be until 11:00am. Once you drop your luggage, you will go through security - this is where your carry on bags are screened to make sure you're not carrying explosives, knives, etc. After security you will pre-clear US immigration. This is done so that you don't need to do it at your first port of call. This can often be a huge line. If you are a US or Canadian citizen or have a US permanent resident card you will go through on line., All International passengers must be processed through a different line and will be directed to a small lounge area to fill out the necessary paperwork. If you find yourself stuck in lines all the way to the this point, please don't yell at the cruisline staff - it is nothing at all to do with us, this is the US immigration! After clearing immigration you will go to the respective cruiseline area and fill out a health questionnaire and proceed to check in. Providing the ship is ready to board you will then be able to get your cruisecard and walk on. Lately we have had coastguard drills for the staff and this has held up boarding a little - if this happens there will be a lounge area set up for you to wait until the ship is ready. In this instance they will have a separate "elite" area, but most times we do not need it as you walk on right away. As far as what time to arrive, there is no right or wrong answer. It used to be that if you arrived after 2pm there would be shorter lines. However, now that this is printed on all documentation more and more passengers are doing just that, so we find we DO have long lines between 2 and 3 pm! If you get there right when we open check in there will be less of a wait, but then you are taking a chance on the fact that check in may/may not open on time depending on how disembarkation goes. If you get there very late (such as 3:30 and later) I would say you will have less chance of a line. Bear in mind that I am speaking from experience with Princess here - other lines may do things a little differently!

 

I will try to answer any other questions you may have!

 

Great info!!!! Thanks so much. We will be sailing from Canada Place in August. It looks like 11:15 am may be a good time for us to arrive. Thanks again.