Boarding in Seattle

S

Snowblower

Guest
If all goes well with the passenger debarkation from the previous cruise Princess will start allowing passengers on between noon and one o'clock.

Snowblower
 
S

Soprrrano

Guest
Our cruise on the Saphire Princess boards in Seattle at noon. Should I get there at 11am or will I be waiting for an hour with all of my luggage?
 
S

Snowblower

Guest
Soprrrano, you will be waiting for a while in one line or another no matter what time you get to the terminal. The main complaint I have seen all summer about these Alaska cruises is the boarding process at the new terminal (Sapphire & Diamond). If you search this BB you will find several posts about this issue. I have been there twice this summer (Diamond in May, Sapphire in July). We arrived both times at about 11:00am. The Diamond was a total disaster, taking the better part of 3 1/2 hours to get on the ship. The Sapphire was a little better at a little over two hours. Only advice I can offer is the first thing you do when you arrive at the terminal is get your luggage tags on your big luggage (non-carry-on) and give them to a luggage porter. I see so many people standing in line with all their large luggage waiting to check in and they don't need to keep it with them. The porter will give the bags to the baggage handlers that will see they get to your stateroom. You can then proceed to check-in with out the stress of hauling all the heavy luggage around. Makes it much easier standing in line.

One other thing to keep in mind. Everybody is so excited about starting a vacation and getting on the ship they all try to get there when the ship starts boarding (including my family & myself!!!). Having 2,800+ people on these ships and most arriving near the same time will cause a delay just because there isn't enough staff to check everyone in at once. There has been two times where our flights were late and we didn't arrive at the ship until one hour prior to sailing. We walked right up to the attendant, checked-in and walked right on the ship with out delay..........but can you wait that long to get on the ship???????
 
S

Soprrrano

Guest
Dear Snowblower,
Thanks for the advise.
I dislike standing in lines more than anyone, but I guess I'm just afraid that if I get there later then the gym classes, lectures, other classes, and reservations at Sabatinis will be gone. Did you find this to be true when your airplane was delayed and you got there one hour before boarding?
 
J

Jeana

Guest
We sailed with Princess in the past (from FL) and boarding took about 15 min each time! (About noon-ish). I'm surprised to learn the boarding was that slow. Princess is usually good with their boarding. Is it because the port is small?????????
 
S

Snowblower

Guest
Had no problem getting the reservations we wanted when we were late. You have to remember that many of the passengers are first timers and don't have a clue about any of the procedures and it takes some time for them to figure it out. Others have that compelling drive to go to the Lido Deck and stuff their faces for hours at the buffet.

Jeana, as for boarding Ft Lauderdale is probably the best cruise terminal we have sailed from. The Los Angeles terminals (Point San Pedro & Long Beach) are a close second. Seattle was not fun because they board both Holland America and Princess from the same terminal at the same time. Can you imagine boarding a second ship at the same time in Ft Lauderdale? Lots of passengers..... The cruise terminal is setup so that there is no way of going anywhere inside the terminal without triping over other passengers. It also rains a lot in Seattle and although we have been lucky, I have heard stories of passengers standing out in the rain waiting to get into the terminal. Not a way i want to spend the beginning of my vacation.
 
S

Soprrrano

Guest
LOL Snowblower, You just described me in that entire first paragraph. Because I live in California, I do tend to forget to include "weather" in my planning. And you're right, I went to Holland America and they do have a cruise leaving out of Seattle that same day. We're getting there a few days early to visit family and when we wake up in the morning, we'll see how nice the weather is before we head out to the Pier. Thank you for your advise! Someone also suggested taking one carry-on and no other luggage, but I don't think that will work in Alaska with the down coats, gloves, boots, umbrellas, we have to bring.
 
Top