Questions for early Alaskan cruisers!

[Swalkerwoman]

Having read through all the responses on this, I must admit I'm still confused about the boarding process. I have heard that port security doesn't open until 11 am, and that the boarding times given when checking in online don't really mean much. We signed up for the 10:30-11 am group, and would really like to be on the ship as soon as possible. However, we also don't want to get there really early just for the sake of standing in line, and have it not really make a difference. Is it worth it to line up early, and if so, how early? What time did people actually start boarding the ship? Thanks!

We arrived at the terminal about 12:15 and basically there were no lines.
You might want to note that even though you get on the ship early, you are not allowed to go to your rooms until 2:00 p.m. and there are limited activites going on at that time.

 

[EdTreo]

We just got back from our cruise (sailing date May 24th) and we used the Disney transfers. I thought the process was very disorganized, slow and not worth the cost. It seems that the people working for Disney in this process are untrained and not extremely motivated. Perhaps they didn't put enough effort into their training because they will only be leaving from Vancouver this year.

This is my general feeling as well.

You must collect your own luggage after disembarking the ship and take it to the bus area. They load it for you and we waited almost 45 minutes before we left!

This is probably Canadian cruise terminal regulation and it was explained under the debarkation procedure. It's also the reason why we took our own luggage and was adviced similarly by the concierge manager if you have an early flight and catch a cab.

 

[EdTreo]

We arrived at the terminal about 12:15 and basically there were no lines.
You might want to note that even though you get on the ship early, you are not allowed to go to your rooms until 2:00 p.m. and there are limited activites going on at that time.

Looking from previous post it looks like it's crowded early on and got better later. We got there around 9:45 and there was a long line.

 

[EdTreo]

I had called and asked disney if we had to collect our bags or if they will be loaded on the bus and they told me you had to collect your own bags and bring them to the bus.
I think I will get our own transfer as I don't see it as a perk using disney transfer for this cruise

We took 6 luggages with us and walked from Fairmont Pacific Rim to the Port with relative ease. It was fun for the kids going thru the tunnel.

 

[Swalkerwoman]

This is my general feeling as well.



This is probably Canadian cruise terminal regulation and it was explained under the debarkation procedure. It's also the reason why we took our own luggage and was adviced similarly by the concierge manager if you have an early flight and catch a cab.

I had no problem collecting our own luggage; I had a problem waiting to depart the terminal with a full bus!

 

[Christy May]

When checking in for our August cruise, I noticed that we had to pick port arrival times. Is DCL holding folks to these times? We have 7 cabins of cruisers but only 3 are Castaway Cay club members, so we were able to book excursions and register at 90 days while everyone else has to wait for 75. If we have different times is there going to be an issue if the group stays together? I know my family can always switch to later but we would like to avoid it as we have to be out of the hotel by 11am.

Are the characters out in the terminal like at Port Canaveral?

Thanks for any info!

We just got off the boat yesterday. We had a boarding time of 1130 - 1200.
Many people were in line, we were never asked to show our boarding time.
I think all people in your party can board at the same time.
Yes there were characters in the terminal... FUN FUN FUN

 

[Christy May]

Yes they do have an Alaska scrapbook and refill kit in the gift shop, however, they didn't put them out the 1st couple of days.

Just got off the boat yesterday, they had LOTS of scrap book paper in
the store..

 

[starwood]

FYI I did some credit card research on fees and I just found that if you have a capital one card there are no international fees. Chase charges 3%, Amex 2.7% and Discover 2%.

 

[kgsmith]

FYI I did some credit card research on fees and I just found that if you have a capital one card there are no international fees. Chase charges 3%, Amex 2.7% and Discover 2%.

Thank you! This is helpful.

 

[wdhinn89]

FYI I did some credit card research on fees and I just found that if you have a capital one card there are no international fees. Chase charges 3%, Amex 2.7% and Discover 2%.

Ugh! Discover used to be free.

Thanks for the info.

 

[WiscBill]

FYI I did some credit card research on fees and I just found that if you have a capital one card there are no international fees. Chase charges 3%, Amex 2.7% and Discover 2%.

Chase offers some cards that do not have international fees. You need to check with them for the particular card you have. For example, the Disney card issued by Chase does have such fees, but the British Airways card does not.

 

[890537]

I'm sorry, but I'm still confused about the boarding times. We have a 2:00 boarding time because we wanted to eat lunch in Vancouver before we got on board. If we show up at 1, will we have to wait until 2? Is the arrival time you selected actually enforced in any way?

Also- does anyone know if there is there baggage storage available at the pier or Amtrak? We have a late afternoon train back to seattle after the cruise and not sure what to do with the luggage during that day.

Hi Emily,
We took the evening train to Seattle after our cruise. Amtrak does have luggage storage - it's $3 per bag.

Pam

 

[kelly3kids]

We did this on our cruise May 17th-24th and LOVED it. WWe did the summer camp because it was more in our budget. Many of the dogs have ran the idinarod and you can see how happy they are when you arrive. They are so excited to run and can almost not wait till you get on. A great memory.

Thank you. That helps. We are looking at the summer camp for that same reason but we are looking at the one that is not through the cruise to save more money.

 

[EdTreo]

FYI I did some credit card research on fees and I just found that if you have a capital one card there are no international fees. Chase charges 3%, Amex 2.7% and Discover 2%.

FIA Amex is also free btw.

 

[Caropooh]

FIA Amex is also free btw.

Only for Platinum and Centurion Cardholders

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/foreign-exchange-fees-going-up-1267.php#foreignfeecharts

 

[LAWalz23]

We just got off the boat yesterday. We had a boarding time of 1130 - 1200.
Many people were in line, we were never asked to show our boarding time.
I think all people in your party can board at the same time.
Yes there were characters in the terminal... FUN FUN FUN

Thanks for the info! It will make my mom very happy!!

 

[LAWalz23]

This is my general feeling as well.



This is probably Canadian cruise terminal regulation and it was explained under the debarkation procedure. It's also the reason why we took our own luggage and was adviced similarly by the concierge manager if you have an early flight and catch a cab.

Dumb question but are there porters to help once you collect your luggage, right?

 

[Christy May]

A way to avoid the "10% exchange rate" at businesses in Canada, there is the option of exchanging US funds for Canadian at your local bank or currency exchange centre. (You can also do this at most airports or at banks in Canada.) You will pay a fee to exchange funds, and you will pay again if you choose to exchange the leftovers back to US, but it will likely be less than 10%.

VISA is widely accepted in Canada, but you will pay the exchange rate and quite possibly that int'l surchage as well.

Next trip we will be sure to get Canadian money at the airport. We were
so messed over with the currency difference. We ate at places who quoted us a canadian price, we gave them our american money which they then
"came up with a price in their head" that was what we owed then brought us our change in canadian money. Like i said, next time we will know to get a
currency exchange when we get there.

 

[mindelmouse]

Only for Platinum and Centurion Cardholders

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/foreign-exchange-fees-going-up-1267.php#foreignfeecharts

agree on that one. We did research on this before our med cruise last year and the only card (other than platinum and above amex) that offers no fees for international exchange is capital one. That's why we went out and got one just for that purpose. It was tough on the med cruise though because we got it too close to the cruise and they gave us a very low credit limit at first. But for this cruise we're all set, we've established ourselves and have more credit than we'd possibly need.

 

[Doingitagain]

Only for Platinum and Centurion Cardholders

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/foreign-exchange-fees-going-up-1267.php#foreignfeecharts

I have an American Express Platinum card through the Delta Skymiles program, and that is NOT considered an American Express Platinum card and I will be charged the 2.7% fee. I checked on this twice with Amex. I will be using our Capital One Mastercard. I have used that internationally many times with no issue.