Arriving at Port after noon

[magicplace4me]

I believe I'm in the minority and maybe it's because I've never cruised before but I think I would rather hang out at the hotel pool until late morning and arrive at the port between 12 & 1 PM. I don't see the point in standing around for a couple hours. What will we encounter arriving at this time?
We cruise in less than a month!

 

[chunkster20uk]

I would like to know about this too.

We have cruised before and are on a short trip so are planning on getting to the Port at 2.00pm, after shopping at the Florida Mall.

We have made all our reservations at Palo and the spa, so don't really have to rush.

This makes a change from the last trip where we and our friends were first at the front of the queue.

 

[mmouse37]

You are not in the minority......many people don't arrive at the port until after 12:00....actually most of the DCL buses arrive about this time as they don't leave the resorts until about 11:00 or so.

I for one like the atmosphere of entering an empty terminal when it first opens and securing a spot on the boarding line....I like the excitement of seeing everyone start to come in and get in line...but that is me!! The time goes fast and we often make friends on line. Now, if I had small children I might not do this but my guys are older so it works.

Boarding time is about noonish, sometimes a bit earlier so you will miss the first rush of people boarding, but with all the DCL buses arriving when you plan to you may encounter long check in lines. I would rather be checked in early and on the boarding line and be some of the first onboard.....I love spending as much time on the ship as possible the first day.

You could certainly arrive at about 2:00 and miss all the rush.....

MJ

 

[Kim&Chris]

I'm glad I read this post. I was nervous about getting to the port as early as possible, but now I feel better about getting there around noon.

We'll be staying at a Disney resort the night before, and want to enjoy a character breakfast before driving to the port.

Now I know I can take my time (well, sort of)

 

[LIFERBABE]

and I was gung ho about arriving early. We had a Budget rental car, and stayed at BWV the night before and decided to take our time getting there.

If you have all your docs completed, you just get in line once you arrive. Our Ds's watched TV in the lounge. We were in line around 1:30 and waited about 20 min. They had lots of check in windows open and I was glad we didnt rush to get there as I had planned. We even stopped in town and picked up some wine and gassed up our rental before dropping off.

We still had a great time and enjoyed the few hours before we left port at 5 pm.

We didnt rush to get off the ship either.

 

[imlazar]

I believe I'm in the minority and maybe it's because I've never cruised before but I think I would rather hang out at the hotel pool until late morning and arrive at the port between 12 & 1 PM. I don't see the point in standing around for a couple hours. What will we encounter arriving at this time?
We cruise in less than a month!

We were on board by around 12:30 last time, given that the cabins don't open until 1:30, we had to lug a stroller and a bunch of carry-on stuff around with us to lunch. On our next cruise I wouldn't plan on getting to the terminal before 12:00.

 

[lilo62]

No worries! My DH and I don't usually board the ship until 1 or 1:30PM and then we go straight to have some eats at the buffet!

You will have plenty of time! Be leisurely - after all - you are on vacation!

 

[slindamood]

Our first cruise we were at the terminal quite early and had fun waiting and boarding early. But it did get crowded and was a lot more hustle.

Our second cruise we took it easy, went shopping on Merritt Island the morning of the cruise, dropped our car off at AVIS and immediately got on a shuttle and arrived at the terminal about 1 PM. There was no line to check in, and the initial boarding line was onboard, so we got right on, dropped our bags in our room, and got to Parrot Cay for lunch before it closed. It was sooooooo relaxing a start.

Nothing wrong with taking it easy.

 

[Jsme]

Well I like to get my moneys worth of my cruise and the sooner you board the more you get.

DCL has a nice buffet style lunch at PC and BBB/TSB. The pool is less crowded during this time. You can handle many things during the wait to go to your stateroom. We were able to get all of our stuff done at GS while no one was in line, have lunch, ask about a second Palo ressie and confirm our spa treatment appointments.

 

[poohssmum]

For our first cruise, we arrived at the terminal around 3:00 ... we flew in that morning, rented a car and drove ourselves out to the port. Yes, there were no lines and no waiting and we were able to get right into our stateroom. BUT we'd missed the window to sign the kids up in the club and basically had to sit around our stateroom waiting for the lifeboat drill when the kids just wanted to get into the pools. Needless to say, we missed the sail away deck party because the kids didn't want to dance, they wanted in that pool.

Last year we got to the port around Noon. Yes there were lines, we waited a bit BUT by 1:00 we were all comfortably settled around the Mickey Pool. Because this was our 2nd cruise, and I'd spent a lot of time reading this board, I knew to pack the bare minimum in my carry on and we all had our bathing suits on under our clothes.

We'll follow a similar plan this year and will probably arrive somewhere between 11 and Noon to spend those few hours hanging by the pool relaxing and really "starting" our vacation