July 14, 2019
Horrendous Experience Boarding Costa
Pacifica in La Romana, Dominican Republic
March 25, 2019
LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic – I’m aboard Costa Pacifica for a 17-night Caribbean and trans-Atlantic cruise, but what an absolute nightmare start to this 80-day global-nomad stretch that will take me across the ocean to Europe and West Africa.
Arrived at the Port of La Romana at 11 a.m. after flying into Santo Domingo (SDQ) from Orlando (MCO), shocked to find an empty pier and only 25 other passengers waiting in the terminal. Turns out the ship wasn’t scheduled to arrive until 1:30 p.m.
Staff at the open-air terminal – with no food, water, or WiFi – informed me check-in wouldn’t start until 5 p.m., 3½ hours after the ship arrives. WTF?! Who comes up with this insanity?! I couldn’t be any more infuriated. The one time I show up early and it’s a total debacle!
I had expected the ship would have arrived at 7 or 8 a.m. and boarding would start about noon. This is standard practice in the cruise industry. But this isn’t a normal cruise. Passengers are boarding and disembarking at several ports around the Caribbean, not just here in La Romana. Unbeknownst to me, Costa Pacifica was coming in much later than a typical cruise arrival time – and so I was left waiting in the humid open air for nearly six hours. I’ve never seen anything like this in my 20+ previous cruises (including two with Costa).
It rained for part of the time while I waited for the ship to arrive.
Early this morning I woke up at 12:30 a.m. at Mom’s house in The Villages, Florida, so I was hoping to be going to bed in my cabin aboard the cruiseship by 4:30. This afternoon arrival and terrible check-in process destroyed my whole plan for the day.
One issue making me cranky was hunger. I only had a few snacks leftover from the flight for lunch (my dinner due to my super-early awakening today because of my sleep disorder).
I’d expected to board Pacifica early this afternoon, enjoy a meal at the buffet, settle into my cabin, and be in bed by 4:30. But despite the late boarding time, Costa offered no food in the terminal – and not even any water to drink!
Costa Pacifica Arrives at 1:30, But Boarding Delayed 3 Hours
Two hours after I arrived at the near-empty port, Costa Pacifica could be seen approaching the river about 1 p.m. The ship slowly turned and backed up to the pier.
Meanwhile some of the dock workers were playing stickball while waiting for the ship to get into the river and the port.
The cruiseship docked at the scheduled 1:30 arrival time. But staff would not begin checking in embarking passengers until 4:20, even though many of us had arrived before noon.
Passengers already aboard Costa Pacifica began disembarking. Some are leaving the ship; others are heading off on shore excursions.
I snuck past port security and made it to the gangway, but my ticket was worthless as security refused to board me so I could eat and get water. I waited for one of Costa Pacifica’s officers to come speak to me. I told the immigration officer I don’t expect my cabin to be ready immediately. If it were just vacated by a disembarking guest, I understand it would take a few hours to be cleaned. But I wanted to board and eat. He told me they were not allowed to board any new passengers until they are cleared by Dominican Republic immigration officials – and they won’t start working until about 5:00.
I was absolutely furious as I was told to return to the terminal and wait a few more hours for check in to start. Also I learned the D.R. requires embarking passengers to pay a $20 departure tax in cash — the first time in all my cruises I’ve ever had a tax imposed that is not included in the cruise fare.
Lesson learned? DO NOT EVER EMBARK A CRUISE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
But Costa is also to blame. What is it about Italian cruiselines and their abysmal boarding processes? Mom and I had a horrific three-hour check-in disaster in last November when we boarded MSC Fantasia in Genoa, Italy, for a trans-Atlantic cruise to Brazil.
In today’s situation, Costa should have checked us all in as soon as we arrived at the terminal so we were ready to board as soon as the D.R. immigration authorities decided to show up for work. Instead, the cruiseline had agents standing around for hours doing nothing. Why delay the boarding process and create an awful bottleneck? I’m just totally befuddled at the utter incompetency.
I begrudgingly returned to the terminal, where passengers continued to arrive for check in but were unable to do so. The hall began filling up, and it was clear many new customers were getting irritated that Costa agents are standing around; nothing was happening to get all these folks checked in and ready for immigration clearance to board the vessel.
As time wore on, the masses were ready to charge the check-in zone. I later heard about 700 guests boarded Costa Pacifica today. Clearly wasn’t the only cranky traveler here. I’m still amazed at how all the agents were standing around doing virtually nothing while hundreds of paying passengers grow ever more impatient.
Check-In Finally Begins at 4:20
At last Group 1 (Priority) was called to check in at 4:20 p.m. I had been given a Group 2 card. I had been at the terminal an agonizing 5 hours 20 minutes when check-in finally opened – and it was only 10 minutes until my bedtime! I was suffering from a headache and dreading how horrific the check-in process might be now that it’s finally underway.
Agents called Group 2 at 4:30. At last I made it inside the ropes! I kid you not there was nearly a stampede. A female agent whom I’ve spoken with numerous times during the past 5½ hours was trying desperately to control the irate passengers surging forward in their quest to get on Costa Pacifica.
“Don’t push! Don’t push!” she exclaimed.
Gee lady, I wonder why everyone is impatient and pissed off? Maybe because we’ve sat in the heat half the day with no food or water while the staff did nothing. Now there’s only two agents checking papers and then you have to pass through three different tables for various document checks and so forth. Why wasn’t this all done hours ago?!!
The good news is after the excruciating 5½-hour wait, it only took 30 minutes to jump through the check-in hoops and board Costa Pacifica.
I reached my cabin (2241) at 5:05, just a bit over six hours from when my airport shuttle dropped me off at the port.
Another bit of positive news: I didn’t have to pay the $20 cash departure tax since I landed this morning and am only in transit. Those who spent a night or more here in the D.R. had to pay.
Problems Continue after Boarding Costa Pacifica
I had endured such a terrible check-in wait, it was a relief to step on board and into my cabin. But my joy quickly turned back to aggravation and annoyance. I’m traveling solo but found two beds made up in my interior cabin, not the one bed that should be obvious when there’s only one person in the cabin! Unbelievable.
This is just surreal because every time Mom and I cruise together, we ask for two beds but they are always made up together as one for a couple. Now I board solo and there’s two beds. I just about fell over laughing when I saw two beds for one guest. You can’t make this stuff up!
I am also upset with the horribly dysfunctional nightstand. Hardly any surface space and no drawers. This boggles my mind.
Dropped my backpack in the cabin and headed upstairs for some nourishment. Although most of the buffet was closed despite the starvation conditions for six hours in the terminal, I was pleased to find a “snack” station with salad, pizza, bread, and desserts.
Amazingly there’s free pizza on this ship! The two Costa vessels Mom and I sailed on in 2016 & 2017 charged €6.50 for a pizza!
The safety drill for newly embarked passengers took place at 6 p.m. The guest services representative for English-speaking passengers was there. After the drill, I gave her my mind’s full about the atrocious check-in process.
Got ready for bed, went up top to finish posting today’s photos to Facebook, then back in my cabin at 8:13. The misery continued as I called the front desk to report that my suitcase was missing. This was seven hours after the ship had arrived, and still no luggage delivery. She said “they’re still delivering bags.” Just awful. Never have I boarded a cruise and not received my checked bags within a couple hours.
So many things have gone so poorly today. And then as I crawled into bed, I heard music and singing. Appears the ship’s theater is just above my cabin. I can’t believe how loud the noise is. Great! Just unfuckingbelievable. I’ve never had a cruise cabin before with such noise pollution. What a dreadful, disgusting start to my cruise!
About 4½ hours later than planned, I at long last fell asleep about 9 p.m.
We depart at 7 tomorrow morning for the whopping five-mile journey to our first port of call, Catalina Island. I didn’t think anything could beat the 14 miles between ports from Tahiti to Moorea on my Oceania Marina voyage in French Polynesia last month, but boy was I wrong!
