Port of San Diego

[5CruisinDisney]

We are sailing on the Panama Cruise in September and I am looking for some feedback on the San Diego Port. I know there have only been a couple of cruises in and out of there so far this year, but was really hoping to hear how it went.
Paula

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are sailing on the Panama Cruise in September and I am looking for some feedback on the San Diego Port. I know there have only been a couple of cruises in and out of there so far this year, but was really hoping to hear how it went.
Paula

Generally speaking, the immigration/customs procedures there are a mess. Be sure to allow plenty of connection time for after cruise flight, if you are flying out immediately.

Typically the problem is that the immigration people board the ship before it docks and all non-US passengers have to meet with the immigration people for clearance before the ship is cleared for anyone else to depart. And there's almost always one group (if not more) of non-US passengers who either "didn't hear the announcement", or "didn't think it applied to them", or just didn't want to get up that early (it's usually pretty early in the morning).

On our recent PC cruise (not DCL) passenger clearance for departure was delayed so much that there were people who missed their flights out. We were supposed to be departing the ship by 8:30, and we couldn't get off until almost 10:00.

 

[5CruisinDisney]

Generally speaking, the immigration/customs procedures there are a mess. Be sure to allow plenty of connection time for after cruise flight, if you are flying out immediately.

Typically the problem is that the immigration people board the ship before it docks and all non-US passengers have to meet with the immigration people for clearance before the ship is cleared for anyone else to depart. And there's almost always one group (if not more) of non-US passengers who either "didn't hear the announcement", or "didn't think it applied to them", or just didn't want to get up that early (it's usually pretty early in the morning).

On our recent PC cruise (not DCL) passenger clearance for departure was delayed so much that there were people who missed their flights out. We were supposed to be departing the ship by 8:30, and we couldn't get off until almost 10:00.

Wow! That would make for an icky end to a vacation. This is our starting point. I have read a couple of posts of lines outside the cruise terminal and down the sidewalk. Not something I really want to do either. We have only been to PC and Galveston and both are completely different experiences.

 

[woody73]

We are sailing on the Panama Cruise in September and I am looking for some feedback on the San Diego Port.

You will be embarking at S.D.

We've sailed from S.D. several times. Be prepared for delays. In addition to CBP delays in clearing the prior cruise, we encountered a CDC surprise inspection before ship was cleared for guests to embark. CDC surprise inspections. Embarkation started hours later than expected.

We typically bring bottled water and power bars in case of delays at S.D.

The port terminal building is nothing fancy.

Woody

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow! That would make for an icky end to a vacation. This is our starting point. I have read a couple of posts of lines outside the cruise terminal and down the sidewalk. Not something I really want to do either. We have only been to PC and Galveston and both are completely different experiences.

Well there are several issues that caused the major lines this past spring.

First, there were only a couple of San Diego cruises and they were pretty fully booked. Everyone one wanted to be there as soon as they could, so a lot of people arrived at the same (early) time.

Then there's the issue of the major construction that's basically been going on in the port area for a loooooog time. That cut into the spaces that people could be.

That, coupled with the late debarkation of previous cruise, made the next cruise embarkation start later than planned.

If you're aware of the problems, it's sort of easier to "roll with the punches".

As much as it seems that I'm not a fan, I would take a cruise into (or out of) San Diego, if it's one I want. I would just be realistic about the fact that the port situation there isn't ideal.

 

[mybeachbabies]

We were on the May 17th Cruise to Nowhere out of San Diego. It was by far the worst cruise check-in we have encountered, but we booked a 2015 cruise to Cabo out of San Diego so obviously the long check-in didn't scar us too much LOL

Our port arrival time was 11am. We got there a little early to make sure we could find parking etc. We got into the line around 10:30am and the line was already all the way out of the port and starting down the sidewalk. Because of the construction, we had to stand on the sidewalk with only a fence separating us from the traffic for over 1 hour before they even opened the port. The port opened at 11:30am and the line started moving. There were still a lot of Panama Canal Cruisers we passed who were trying to get their luggage and leave. We made it inside pretty quickly, but then we stood in line for almost another hour waiting to get to a check-in person. I guess they were having system issues or something. We finally checked in after almost 2 hours and headed up stairs to the waiting area. There were no seats available so we got in line to take a picture with Mickey. They started boarding as we finished with Mickey and we were on board about 10 mins after that. I'm really thankful it wasn't too hot outside and that no one (we have 4 kids) had to go to the bathroom during the 2 hour wait.

As the previous poster stated, I think a lot of the problems stemmed from the previous Panama Canal passengers taking a long time to disembark, all the extra luggage they had, people arriving for our cruise were disregarding port arrival times (I think because it was such a short cruise everyone wanted to get the most out of it) so those of us that had 11am PAT ended up in line behind people with afternoon PAT and of course the system problems with the key to the world cards. I'm hoping Disney learned from that and the next set of cruises leaving from San Diego will go a lot more smoothly.

The disembarkation line was long too especially for a cruise that didn't stop anywhere.

I think if you go into it knowing it could be a bit longer than usual and prepare yourself, you will be ok.

 

[5CruisinDisney]

All of this feedback is GREAT!!!

This will allow us to plan accordingly so that we are prepared. I googled the construction that they have going so that will help too.

 

[Thnlk]

We departed out of there last May for the Alaska Repo cruise. We got to the port about 1100. Waited in line about 5 min and checked in. It was the quickest we had ever done embankment.

 

[huskydogg]

Just curious. Does anyone know why they moved from San Pedro to San Diego? We sailed out of San Pedro a few times and never any major issues. Even one of the cruises there was a virus on the ship they had to clean up from and it didn't delay more than 30 mins later than usual (1130 PAT).

 

[MadLove]

Does anyone know what the parking situation is at the port and/or how it will be after construction? We will be cruising in October 2015 and I thought I read there was no parking at that port at all.

 

[mybeachbabies]

The main parking lot that was right across the street is now closed because they are building there. There are 2 smaller lots about a block down at the corner of Pacific Highway and Broadway. We had no problem finding a parking space at 10:30am. You just pay in advance and leave the ticket in the car. When we disembarked the lot was full so if you have a later port arrival time it may be harder to find parking in those lots. While standing in line, I noticed there may have been more parking down by the USS Midway but I don't know if it was overnight parking or just day parking for the Midway.

I'm not sure what the parking situation will be like in 2015 after the construction is done.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Coincidentally, here's an article just released today about the construction in the port area:

http://www.portofsandiego.org/north-embarcadero.html

 

[Stinkerbe11]

We parked at the Wyndham.http://www.sandiegocruiseshipparking.com It cost 9.00/day and was an easy walk to the port (2 night cruise, so only had a carry-on).

After our embarkation experience in May, I won't show up until late afternoon if sailing out of SD again

 

[dsnydaddy]

We departed out of there last May for the Alaska Repo cruise. We got to the port about 1100. Waited in line about 5 min and checked in. It was the quickest we had ever done embankment.

Thanks, I was hoping that after the problems with the post-PC cruise they would have squared things away and made it more smooth. Hopefully the EBPC cruise embarkation is as smooth as yours was.

 

[Flossbolna]

Generally speaking, the immigration/customs procedures there are a mess. Be sure to allow plenty of connection time for after cruise flight, if you are flying out immediately.

Typically the problem is that the immigration people board the ship before it docks and all non-US passengers have to meet with the immigration people for clearance before the ship is cleared for anyone else to depart. And there's almost always one group (if not more) of non-US passengers who either "didn't hear the announcement", or "didn't think it applied to them", or just didn't want to get up that early (it's usually pretty early in the morning).

On our recent PC cruise (not DCL) passenger clearance for departure was delayed so much that there were people who missed their flights out. We were supposed to be departing the ship by 8:30, and we couldn't get off until almost 10:00.

While I agree that getting off the ship in San Diego was a mess after this May's Panama Canal cruise, it was not because of international travellers!

There was no need for international travellers to pass immigration on board the ship on the DCL PC cruise. I had read about this before and was concerned that this would be the case, but we as international travellers disembarked with everyone else and went through immigration in the terminal building.

However, immigration for everyone took ages! That delayed the disembarkation process. We stood in a long long line that did not move just to get off the ship and then waited for a long time to go through immigration. At some point they advised the US travellers to go and join the non-US line (where we were standing) as that was moving quicker!

As the previous poster stated, I think a lot of the problems stemmed from the previous Panama Canal passengers taking a long time to disembark, all the extra luggage they had

As I explained above, yes it took the PC passengers a long time to disembark, but that was due to the long lines at immigration, not the luggage. Also, it took us ages to get a taxi to the car rental place and it seemed that picking up passengers was a mess, too. So even once we had our luggage it was difficult to get out of the port area.

---

Generally I think, if you are embarking at San Diego and the cruise before you is one that has to go through immigration because it was not a close loop one, you have to expect serious delays with the previous cruise disembarking and hence delays for your embarkation.

 

[5CruisinDisney]

Generally I think, if you are embarking at San Diego and the cruise before you is one that has to go through immigration because it was not a close loop one, you have to expect serious delays with the previous cruise disembarking and hence delays for your embarkation.

This is what I was concerned with. The cruise before us is coming out of Vancouver down the coast. But since we are now well informed of what to look forward to, we can be better prepared.

 

[dsnydaddy]

This is what I was concerned with. The cruise before us is coming out of Vancouver down the coast. But since we are now well informed of what to look forward to, we can be better prepared.

Yep. Preparing to wait...

 

[dsnydaddy]

The good news is that for a 14 day cruise I'll not miss much if it takes an hour or two to board. Standing in the hot San Diego sun however may irreparably wilt me!

 

[5CruisinDisney]

The good news is that for a 14 day cruise I'll not miss much if it takes an hour or two to board. Standing in the hot San Diego sun however may irreparably wilt me!

Waiting to get on board - not so bad.....standing in the hot sun with the entire family - not so good.

 

[DMickey]

Is there still an issue with disembarking in San Diego? I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering if a 10:50 am flight is to early?