Port of San Diego Question

[pepe3penelope]

We got of th 5 nighter on Friday morning. Like the PP said, there were 2 overhead announcements for guests to report to the Walt Disney Theater. I remember the announcement of customs finally clearing the ship around 9:10. It was so frustrating how long it took to clear the ship. Never had such a long delay with LA (San Pedro) or Port Canaveral.

When we arrived to the port at 10am for 10:30 PAT, I easily dropped DH and the kids w/the luggage. Easily got a porter for the luggage. They waited for me to return from dropping the car at valet across the street at the Wyndham. The port building had 1/2 already full and waiting to go through security then our group was next.

Hope you had a great cruise!

 

[GooniesAndy]

Thanks all for your help! We did have a great cruise, though it was over too quickly! The 2-nighter before us must have cleared quickly, because the port was clear when we arrived just before 11 for our 11AM PAT. Drove right in, turned in our luggage, and went on into the building. Everything was ridiculously fast, other than picking up the bands for the kids. Apparently most people didn't do their registration online so it was taking forever. They called our boarding number right as we got to the front of the line, though, so we were able to go straight onto the ship at that point. This morning we got into port a bit late, right before 7, and again they were calling three or four people until 8ish. They need the Game of Thrones "shame" lady to find them and follow them around with her bell until they go where they're supposed to go. Still, once they got hold of that last guy things went quickly and they called the express people around 8:10/8:15. We were in the first group they added after the concierge-type people went, and it took us all of a minute to locate our luggage and get it onto a cart. Maybe five more minutes in line to get out, no passports checked, just handed over our customs form and walked out. Walked to the taxi line where they called to see if there was a van in the line anywhere, which they pulled out and ahead, and fifteen minutes we were home.

 

[MunFam]

Because of my lost luggage, I don't think I will ever sail out of San Diego again. But do note, DCL paid for my taxi ride home because of their poor paper luggage tags and the time we wasted trying to locate my luggage. It was misty-wet conditions when we arrived back at the SD Port and that lousy paper tag fell off, leaving only the grommet and the string! Corporate Disney was there and took note and will hopefully be changing the debarkation tags to not only a stronger and waterproof tag, but one that is pre-printed so that I don't have to waste my precious time filling out stupid luggage tags the night before debarkation, that eventually fall off! I cannot BELIEVE I paid that kind of money for a cruise and Disney treated my luggage so poorly. The Port DOES NOT check tags against a receipt tag, so ANYONE can walk away with your luggage. LOCK YOUR LUGGAGE! It sits in groups waiting for you to identify and claim it...but then again, anyone can claim and take your luggage! A TERRIBLE SYSTEM!

It is always helpful to have personal luggage tags in addition to the tags DCL gives you. They also lost our luggage at the port of San Diego. I had custom luggage tags on the tops of all of our bags with giant red bows with white polka dots. I took a picture of each bag when I put it out the night before, so when the bag went "missing", it took less than 5 minutes to locate it because they had a picture to pass around and find the silver bag with the red and white bow with the special luggage tag. Easy-peasy.

But you make a frightening point about luggage theft...then again, no one checks luggage on the carousels at the airport either and if you miss your flight, your bag just spins there on the honor system until an airline employee scoops it up.

 

[GooniesAndy]

It is always helpful to have personal luggage tags in addition to the tags DCL gives you. They also lost our luggage at the port of San Diego. I had custom luggage tags on the tops of all of our bags with giant red bows with white polka dots. I took a picture of each bag when I put it out the night before, so when the bag went "missing", it took less than 5 minutes to locate it because they had a picture to pass around and find the silver bag with the red and white bow with the special luggage tag. Easy-peasy.

But you make a frightening point about luggage theft...then again, no one checks luggage on the carousels at the airport either and if you miss your flight, your bag just spins there on the honor system until an airline employee scoops it up.

We had something similar happen in May, when one of our bags was put in the wrong tag area. I had taken photos of each of our suitcases and they were able to find it quickly. I put our own luggage tags on the outside with updated contact info, plus I always put something on the inside with our information on it in case a tag goes missing. Since we also use a mishmash of luggage, and a lot of suitcases look the same, I also use the tackiest, most random ribbon I can find and tie it to the handle of each bag. I figure that helps me find it and also should tell someone else that it is NOT their bag if they start to grab it.

I wouldn't say it's a Port of San Diego thing, though... they use the same luggage tags on every ship and I rarely have ever had someone check to be sure I owned my luggage, in a port or in an airport.

 

[closetmickey]

I cannot speak to dropping out luggage but can share out experiences with the port....

We sailed on the October 9th 2 night. Embarking and debarking were a breeze. We reserved parking ahead of time at the Wyndham across the street. We arrived at the port at 10:30 with an 11:00 PAT. We dropped our luggage with porters who were filling luggage carts just outside the entrance. Maybe around 75 people were already inside. Sometime before 11:00, we were the second group to be led from the smaller holding area through security scanners and then to the larger check in area. Check in was a breeze. We were given boarding group 6. The family of the day boarded around 11:40 and our group was called at 11:50.

As for debarking, we ate at Cabanas around 8:00/8:15 and were able to debark right after. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes in the atrium line to debark the ship. Guess we were lucky!!