Arrive Early - Why?

[BBBFamily]

We have teens - so there is no rush to get to the Mickey pool.
We have made ressies online for Palo & the Spa - no need to rush for these.
They board via #s - no need to hurry to get in line to be 1st on the ship.

Other than the total excitement of finally being on the ship -- Why do you want to arrive at the terminal as early as possible and/or get onboard as early as possible?

 

[Castaway Stowaway]

I think you get your boarding # in the order in which you arrive.

 

[burma]

getting their early is in my opinion only for 2 reasons .. first you want to get on the boat early ... second you want to have lunch before having to go to your room to unpack and get ready for the drill and deck party ... Its really if you want to spend the day on the boad otherwise there is no need to get there so early ..

 

[goin2disneyagain]

We didn't arrive early and we didn't feel deprived. We still were able to eat and enjoy our lunch before the boat drill.

 

[geffric]

i want to "offically" start my vacation, eat at the buffet, and enjoy the Magic.


BTW, I have teens too and they want to EAT!! Buffet, ice cream, burgers et al. Last time we got on the ship, both kids ran to scoops and had big sundaes, then picked up some pizza, then we went to lunch and they continued to eat all afternoon...

DH and I sat on deck 9 listened to the music and had a drink of the day.. and talked and enjoyed each other 's company..

 

[Muushka]

We got to the terminal at 10:30 for our first cruise (even though we already had out Palo reservations). Hated hanging around for the 1-2 hours.

Second cruise got there at 12:45. Loved it, walked on the ship, no line.

 

[lbgraves]

Get to the terminal early to get the #2 boarding number & be one of the first onboard so that we can start enjoying our vacation. Hmmm...if the kids were older & could explore on their own, I would be at the adult pool or just sitting in the cove cafe enjoying the Magic.

 

[BrianD]

It's eagerness to start the vacation, getting your pick of a table at Topsiders/BBB, and then getting to explore around the ship with it virtually empty. We did this on our first cruise and want to do the same exact thing again on our next one. It's a personal choice though.

 

[misseulalie]

well, because of a bomb threat, we didn't board until almost 3pm. We ate lunch and realized if we had early seating, we would be eating again in 2 hours. So if you have early seating, I would say board early, if you have late seating, you could still have lunch on board and be hungry for dinner.

 

[mommykeg]

If we use DCL transfers from the MCO Hyatt, how soon will we be able to get to the port? Does anyone who has used them know when the first bus leaves? And how do you ensure a spot on the first bus of the day?

 

[cathyscrapper]

The sooner I'm onboard, the sooner my vacation begins!!!!

 

[matsterrocks]

What will you be doing earlier that day? If your hitting the parks or some other entertaining thing then no need to rush your vacation has already started but if your just sitting in your hotel room watching tv then why not get there early. We are staying at the GF before our cruise so we will spend the morning enjoying the resort and the pools there and get to the peir early afternoon.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I have had our cruise booked for a little over a year and I want that #2 boarding card. Why? Cuz I just want to get to the ship and get the party started!!! Really no other reason. PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!

 

[Cruisin]

Another reason to arrive a bit early is to have a look at the terminal itself.

If you arrive later, you will be focused on getting on the ship and not spend any time enjoying the terminal itself.

There are lots of interesting things to look at in the terminal and you can also stand out on the outside deck and watch them load the ship up for your voyage.

 

[BBBFamily]

We have the land/sea package so we'll be at the Poly prior to the start of the cruise portion of our vacation. We'll really feel like we got our monies worth if we stay a little later at the hotel before heading to Port Canaveral.

On the other hand -- Misseulalie makes a good point -- we do have early dinner seating so that's a good reason to get on the ship earlier and eat earlier -- So we can be at maximum stomach capacity for the evening entree!

Great ideas!

 

[crisi]

To some extent, it depends on what else you are doing with your day.

We will fly in the night before, and we won't stay anywhere too exciting (probably the MCO Hyatt). We will have a quick breakfast before heading out - so by the time we board relatively early we will be hungry for lunch and ready for something with rum in it. And it is a nice terminal to spend a little time in.

However, if we fly in earlier the day before, we might stay at a nicer resort with a pool for one night. If that is the case, the kids will spend the full morning in the pool before we go to the port - and we might elect to board later.

For folks doing the land/sea thing - I wouldn't be eagar to catch the bus out of the park until I had to.

 

[b&bdiscruisers]

OK guys, what's this about a boarding card? We've cruised 6 times with Disney, the last being June 2005 on the Wonder. At that time there wasn't any boarding card. Have they started something new that I am in the dark about? We always try to get there early, as all have said, to get the vacation started & it's so exciting & want to take it all in. So tell me about the boarding card thing!

 

[two-foxes]

OK guys, what's this about a boarding card? We've cruised 6 times with Disney, the last being June 2005 on the Wonder. At that time there wasn't any boarding card. Have they started something new that I am in the dark about? We always try to get there early, as all have said, to get the vacation started & it's so exciting & want to take it all in. So tell me about the boarding card thing!

Right after you go through security at the terminal, a CM will hand you (or one person in your party) a card like the pic above with a boarding ## on it. When it is time to board the ship, they call "Boarding #1" then a few minutes later..."#2".... etc, so, there is no waiting in a huge line. It was quite nice. However, make sure you remember where you put your boarding card. I did not remember and had a wee bit of a panick attack when they called #2 and I, for the life of me, couldn't remember where the darn card was!

 

[b&bdiscruisers]

Thanks, two-foxes, this is such a nice change! So, you are saying that there isn't a line anymore & that you can just move around the terminal & when they call your number then you line up? Now it won't be so tireing to just stand in one place for an hour, taking turns to go walk around!

 

[two-foxes]

Thanks, two-foxes, this is such a nice change! So, you are saying that there isn't a line anymore & that you can just move around the terminal & when they call your number then you line up? Now it won't be so tireing to just stand in one place for an hour, taking turns to go walk around!

Thats it! Makes you wonder why they didn't do it before....quite flawless, IMHO. Grab a seat, watch some Disney cartoons, explore the terminal....