1st Very Merrytime sailing - delays boarding due to decorations going up?

[KevinFL]

We are sailing the Nov 11 2023 Fantasy 1st Merrytime sailing. Has anyone sailed the first one of these? Wondering if there is a delay in when they first let people on the ship due to getting these decorations up.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are sailing the Nov 11 2023 Fantasy 1st Merrytime sailing. Has anyone sailed the first one of these? Wondering if there is a delay in when they first let people on the ship due to getting these decorations up.

A number of years ago, we did the first Merrytime cruise of the season on the Wonder. They were still working on the decorations as we boarded.

 

[sponica]

I know the first HOTHS were delayed but I think that's because they had to remove the 25th decor and put up the Halloween decor. If the HOTHS decor is down, maybe they won't need to delay the merrytime sailing

 

[cvjw]

I know the first HOTHS were delayed but I think that's because they had to remove the 25th decor and put up the Halloween decor. If the HOTHS decor is down, maybe they won't need to delay the merrytime sailing

HOTHS decor will be down. We are sailing 11/4 and it is a non themed cruise sandwiched in between Halloween and Christmas!

 

[4 mickey]

Isn’t Nov 4 th the first Merrytime

 

[Carohs]

A number of years ago, we did the first Merrytime cruise of the season on the Wonder. They were still working on the decorations as we boarded.

This was the same for us just last year. When we boarded, they had a section of the lobby behind a wall they skirted us around. Family welcome announcement was made as usual. I don't recall any delays in boarding.

 

[Dug720]

I know the first HOTHS were delayed but I think that's because they had to remove the 25th decor and put up the Halloween decor. If the HOTHS decor is down, maybe they won't need to delay the merrytime sailing

They could have also had one or more inspections going on. Those are unannounced (or maybe a day's notice depending on the type) and delay boarding because of the crew involvement in those.

 

[cvjw]

Isn’t Nov 4 th the first Merrytime

It is not.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Isn’t Nov 4 th the first Merrytime

Our Wish sailing on Nov 10 is a very merrytime, but I’m not sure if it’s the first.

 

[lanejudy]

Isn’t Nov 4 th the first Merrytime

For 2023 it looks like:
Wish - Nov. 6th
Fantasy - Nov. 11th
Magic - Nov. 13th
Dream - Nov. 20th

Nov. 4th on the Fantasy is not a Very Merrytime cruise. It's an "in between" without either Halloween or Christmas theming. However by the end of your cruise you may start to see some preparations for the Merrytime cruise.

 

[RedHead0186]

We are sailing the Nov 11 2023 Fantasy 1st Merrytime sailing. Has anyone sailed the first one of these? Wondering if there is a delay in when they first let people on the ship due to getting these decorations up.

I am on that cruise as well! It seems the earliest PAT is a little bit later than usual-not sure if it's because of the decorations as you mentioned or something else. Usually the earliest PAT is 11:00am, it seems that on our sailing it's 11:30 am (so a half hour later than usual out of Port Canaveral).

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

We were on that cruise last year. I would say it was slightly delayed. We were the first family to board in group 2 and didn’t get on until 12:15pm. When we got on they were still building the tree and setting up. The gingerbread house was not finished until later in the week of the cruise. I would say maybe we were 30 mins delayed. All of our other cruises in the last two years, we were on by 11:45am with group 2.