Boarding Dream - Wait lines/times

[SonicGuy]

Do you think they were just understaffed outside the terminal? This generally isn't a very long line and I am surprised to hear of the long delays. Even if I multiplied the number of people generally out there x4 I can't imagine waiting as long as people had to wait.

Let's hope it was a freak thing and that they can get us in faster than that in the near future.

We too were on the 20th and they seemed to have every station open they could. The outside line was being used as crowd control for going through security and up to registration. They were deliberately letting folks in in small clusters.

 

[SonicGuy]

Sorry, I have clearly missed something. I was on the 20th cruise. We had no port arrival time in any of our documents. When we arrrived at the terminal they were grabbing from a stack of boarding cards that read 15 then 16 then 17. I watched the man grab through the stack to give these boarding numbers. When did this new policy go into effect?
Thanks, T

Terry: the assigned port arrival time was an online choice made when registering. It was simply a tool for Disney to get a grasp on who was coming when. It really meant nothing.

 

[Terri2007]

Thanks. I am having some trouble understanding earlier posts. Particularly one that states if you arrive earlier then your port arrival time, you will get a later boarding number corresponding to your arrival time. This confused (and worried) me, because regardless we like to arrive early and lunch on the ship.
Thanks.

 

[SA53]

We traveled by DCL transfer and I think we entered through a side door or something (I may be wrong) and the entire process took about 10 minutes before we went upstairs to the terminal. It was chaotic there with multiple lines but we found the non-US resident line (we're Canadian) which was empty and 20 minutes later we were at the Cabanas!

Do you know if your entire party has to be non-US residents or just non-US citizens? 3 of my family are Canadians with green cards living in the US and my dd is a sweet little Texan. We all live in the US, though 3 of us have Canadian passports.

I would love to find a way to be in a shorter line

K in SA

 

[FlyingPegasus]

Oh gosh these pictures are scary! I am dreading going through this process with my scooter! Do they make any exceptions for handicapped people boarding?

I was going to drive myself and leave my van at the port, but now I am thinking it might be easier to have my DD drop me off.

My sister and our friend are flying in and looks like it will be fun trying to find each other.

Is there valet parking at the port?

While waiting in line outside the gate there is really no where to go other than walking up down the sidewalk along the line of people (the sidewalk is alongside the busy road that takes you in and out of the terminal area)....she certainly could walk up and down the line if she did not want to stand in one place...but it is only about a block long if I had to estimate.

Also keep in mind that the sidewalk is pretty busy with people being dropped of, porters with luggage carts coming and going, people milling around...she would just have to be careful.

Here is a pic of the sidewalk when we were waiting for one of our Dream cruises.....



And some of the crowd in the terminal





Here is what the terminal looked like before we reboarded for our B2B








You can see how crowded the terminal gets now....and it is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to get your group to the boarding area when your number is called because people are standing there blocking it. I know it is tough to fit everyone but people were giving us the dirtiest looks because we were saying excuse me and trying to get to the front of the crowd to board. they need a better way to keep that area clear...I know everyone is excited but there has to be a better way.....also it is hard to hear the boarding numbers called....someone mentioned an electronic board showing the current boarding number...that is great idea!!!

MJ

 

[sweetpee_1993]

First time cruiser here on the Dream in September. I think the whole check-in/boarding thing is probably my biggest worry at this point. If it's going to be a long, crowded wait if we arrive early until the time we board I don't think I want to arrive early. What is the time window for arrival at the port and boarding? When do they stop boarding so the ship can get under way?

 

[misseulalie]

What happens if you are a platinum member? We typically like to arrive around 10:30. What kind of wait should we expect? Where did you see the biggest wait times? Going through security and checking in, or waiting to board the ship?

 

[stargazertechie]

So if I'm reading this correctly, people who take the DCL transfer are actually getting to skip the line?

I'm debating about driving 2.5 hours to a farther airport directly after our wedding reception to get in 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

If DCL transfers get to skip the line (and if people aren't getting on the ship until 1PM even if they get there at the crack of dawn), I may just stick with the slightly later flight from our home airport.

 

[dsneygirl]

We were on the Dream 2/27. DH dropped us off approx 12:30. (he returned the car to budget) We waited maybe 10min for security and by the time we got upstairs there was no line in the Castaway Club checkin at all. We were supposed to be in boarding group 28 but there was a mix up and a manager gave us 3 so we could board right away. We waited another 15-20 for my DH to get back from the car drop off. Total time less than 1 hour. If we had waited for group 28 it would have maybe been another 10 min or so.

ETA: It was exactly 1 hour because I looked at my watch saw it was 1:25 and we headed right to our cabin.

 

[NTOFD]

What happens if you are a platinum member? We typically like to arrive around 10:30. What kind of wait should we expect? Where did you see the biggest wait times? Going through security and checking in, or waiting to board the ship?

Platinum members can check in with concierge across from the Micky ears entrance where the snack bar used to be. You get boarding #1.

The only wait you might have is getting into the terminal.

 

[LeslieG]

DCL is certainly not the first cruise line with a large ship. How do other cruise lines accommodate large numbers of passengers on embarkation?

 

[Niagara2]

Royal Carribean built a beautiful new terminal to handle the 6000 guests getting on and off the Oasis and Allure. Biggest ships in the world and the easiest, fastest checkin boarding and debarking we have ever expereinced. They did it right. Less than half hour from arrival to sitting at lunch!
Trying to figure out arrival time for April Dream. What a bummer to start like that but once on board I am sure that will be a fading memory! Looking forward to the Dream.

 

[nonniemaria]

Just did online check in and picked the first available arrival time of 12-12;30==so this is when we arrive at the port or is it we must be parked and inside the terminal. I too am confused about this as it seems there are mixed comments about whether this arrival time is actually important or just to let them know when guests are arriving?
We are on the sold out 4/21/ cruise which after reading all this and being our first cruise on Disney is somewhat disconcerting!

 

[sjsjbrook]

We arrived around 12:45 and were on the boat by 1:45 on Feb 27th. It was a very smooth process and we were boarding number 25.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

We just sailed on the Dream on Feb 20th. Since our family is often LATE to rise, we arrived at the terminal at around 10:45 am. There was a tremendous line to get into the terminal (before the line for security) from the luggage drop off area. (approx 40 min). Then 30 min for security. Then 20 min for castaway club line. Then 60 min to get on ship (we were boarding group 17). We actually got on the ship at around 1:40pm.

Of course we could have easily gotten on sooner with less lines if we had actually dragged ourselves out of bed!

Regardless, we knew it would be more lines because of the increased capacity... Can any recent Dreamers tell what time they arrived for a smoother (less lengthy) boarding experience.

Unfortunately we have a lot more cruises to go before we would get the concierge boarding experience (or put out for the concierge level).

Arrived at 11:30. Just as bad as your expereince I was group 20

 

[Terri2007]

It sounds like a combination of things on the 20th. After reading all the posts, it doesn't sound like anything since has been that bad (long). On the other hand due to the increased capacity and increased demand, it sounds like the breeze days of arriving at 10:30-11 am on the Wonder and getting on just after noon are gone. C'est la vie.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

Is it just me or is no one in the pictures smiling? I hope this gets sorted out soon. Waiting 4 or 5 hours to board is just plain unacceptable. We pay a premium to cruise with DCL and really expect the service to reflect that.

We currently plan on arriving around 10:30, I hope we get on board in time for lunch

 

[Terri2007]

Is it just me or is no one in the pictures smiling? I hope this gets sorted out soon. Waiting 4 or 5 hours to board is just plain unacceptable. We pay a premium to cruise with DCL and really expect the service to reflect that.

We currently plan on arriving around 10:30, I hope we get on board in time for lunch

I am not trying to defend anything... really. I hate to wait, I just hate to wait in a line more. I don't think anyone has waited 4 or 5 hours. It sounds like we (Feb 20th, arriving between 10:30 - 12 noon) got the worst of it. Around a 3 hour wait. It seems that since that time things have improved.

Regardless, on our next cruise, unless something else changes, I am planning on arriving at 9:30 (really 10 am because my family never gets ANYWHERE on time when we are on vacation...which is one of the reasons why we have only been on Toy Story Mania ONCE despite multiple trips to WDW..., but I digress) and reading book, telling stories or surfing the net so we get on around noon!

Best.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

We were on the sold out Feb. 20th cruise. Our experience wasn't bad at all.

We arrived at the port around 11:45; we waited maybe 15 minutes to get to security; there we had maybe a 10 minute line. We proceed right to the CC counter, where we lined up for maybe 20 minutes, give or take a few minutes. I suppose we got some pixie dust because we did not get a boarding number before we lined up in the CC line. I had to ask the CM for a boarding number and she gave us number 11 . I did notice the family beside us had number 27. So when we finished checking in, we simply boarded! I think we were in Cabanas before 1:00.

Our table mates (also CC members) had a really, really long wait; I think they said they arrived at the port around 11:15 and didn't board until after 2:00.

I had registered my dd for Oceaneer's Club online, so we didn't do that line (having experienced it before, we skipped it this time). I registered her that night at the club and it took maybe 5 minutes max.

I hope everyone enjoys their cruises!

 

[breakingd_awn]

We just went on the Feb 27th 4 day , we got to the port around 11. The longest wait was just getting into the DCL terminal. It was probably 30 minutes just to get in. After that security and check in wasn't long at all. Castaway club check in was maybe 5 minutes wait. The line to get piture taken with mickey was the longest