As far as I can tell, the embarkation times people are issued are another brilliant demonstration of Disneys successful conquest of crowd control. I didnt see anyway or anywhere that they were checking the assigned times, and I cant imagine them turning people away if they came at the wrong time. That said, if all 4,000 people arrived to jump on the Fantasy at the same time, the hall would be chock a block and the ship would be listing heavily to the Starboard...
We arrived at 11:00 for our first cruise and found the process to be quick, but the hall was pretty full at the time. We were handed a Group 3 boarding card and were onboard no more than 20 minutes after the first group through.
The hall itself is pretty self explanatory. Straight ahead once you enter there are mandatory medical disclaimers to fill out and dont forget to grab your first navigators at these tables. Check in is to the far left and enrollment in the kids club is to the far right, which must be done after youve checked in and received your keys to the world. Restrooms are immediately to your right when entering the hall.
All the way at the far end of the hall is the concierge/platinum check in and a viewing deck open to everyone. Concierge/platinum guests board prior to or in the first group if they want to or at their arrival if later than 10:30. Back to back guests reboarding exit the ship at 9:00 and are reboarded as soon as they switch over the computer systems. For us that was around 10:15. We waited in the concierge lounge of the departure hall in between. It was really cool to be the only ones in there, a couple of concierge guests and one non-concierge guest arrived around 10:00 and all were boarded early. The only problem with this, if you consider it a problem, is that the photo shoot was not set up and they do not announce your arrival onboard.
Something that was kind of fun was after we reboarded at 10:15, we watched Disney shoot a segment of a TV show onboard (they used the ships real CMs in it) as we sat in the Vista Cafe. Not sure which one, but saw blond parents around 30-yo and one or two blond kids. After that we watched the CMs practice the arrivals (test the audio, etc.). They were joking around and announcing crazy stuff, crazy family names. Its amazing that these guys, who work ridiculously hard, have so much genuine positive energy. Pretty cool.
If for some reason you dont get your kids registered in the departure hall, you can register them at the kids club after 12:00, but ask for the perforated arm bands, they gave us a sticky band there and it came off in the surf later in the week (a whopping $50.00 charge for the lost lowjack). Kids clubs are open 12:00-6:00 for open house, with secure programming (or check your kids in) from 6:00. Anyone can go have a look during the open house, so adults with or without kids and older teens should take a peek to see how much fun it is.
Cabanas and one sit-down restaurant are open for lunch, and all the deck activities are open until the lifeboat drill. I did not notice if the fast food areas on deck 11 were open. Rooms are open from 1:30, and they cordon off the halls until that time. People were waiting on the landing and stairs for the ropes to be retracted, so if youre limited to elevators or dont like crowds, wait until 1:45.
The lifeboat drill was fast and painless. You are not required to wear life jackets. Your muster station is printed on your Key to the World, but it is also on the back of your stateroom door, along with a map of how to reach that location.
Sail away was fun, nice, little show. It is potentially best viewed from deck 12, especially for adults. If you have kids, deck 11 is a little better, but try to get little ones a seat on a towel cabinet or encourage mid-sized kids to move out on deck in front. People will let them through.
The first night show is a nice little pitch for adults to spend quality time together and talks specifically to tweens and teens about how theres actually a lot of cool stuff to do onboard, even if they got razzed at home for going on a
Disney cruise with their family.
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