Arriving Early at Port Canaveral

[marathonziggy]

Hi! We are sailing on The Wonder on January 8th. We will be taking the DCL Bus from MCO to the Port. Our flight arrives into MCO at 8:00 AM. I am not sure what time we will arrive to the Port. Does anyone know what time the first DCL Bus leaves MCO? If we get there so early, is there anything to do within walking distance of the Port. Are we allowed to arrive at the Port so early?

Thank You!

John

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

There's really not much within walking distance of the port terminal except other cruise ship terminals. The terminal itself is kind of cool, with a large model of the ship and a map of the bahamas on the floor. There are some TVs running Disney cartoons to keep kids occupied. I've always thought the wait went pretty quickly and is no worse than waiting in line for one of the E-ticket rides at the parks.

 

[rae519]

Hi Lloyd - hope you have a great holiday!!!

As for arriving early at the Port - we drove down and were the first car in line - we had a bit of a wait til 10AM when the parking lot opened but it was worth it - we were able to get in line at embarkation (PLEASE have your paperwork completed before you get to the desk and have all your people together!!!!!) -
anyway, get there early and get on the ship early and you can have your reservations at Palo!!! (HURRAH~!)

Rae

 

[Jeanny]

I believe the first buses start loading and leaving around 9:30 a.m. and get to the port around 10:30 a.m. when it officially opens.

With the Orange Terror Alert in effect now, this timeline may change. But if you arrive at MCO at 8am, you can just walk over to the DCL bus (reps around to help direct you) and get in line for probably one of the first buses, time will go by quickly.

 

[rae519]

With the terror threat up, I wouldn't be surprised if the airlines suspended their service of taking luggage at disembarkation. THIS IS MY OPINION AND NOT A FACT, FOLKS!!!

We encountered this a while ago when the threat level increased, so I do have a little basis for my opinion.

Still I want to advise everyone to please have the documents ready and your people with you when you get in line - the biggest complaint I have is when I stand in line and the person in front of me (usually a Castaway Club member who should know better), has NOTHING filled out and a zillion people traveling with her/him that haven't filled out their documents.

Mom said that there should be a line for those people and you can imagine what she said it should be called!!!!

Rae

 

[disneyholic family]

well Rae, clearly you and i are the same about getting there EARLY.....
we were planning on leaving the hotel (the GF) at 9 but were ready before that, so we headed off for the port (in our rental car)....
when we got there the gate was already open.....i don't remember the time, but it was much earlier than the official time......there were other people already inside but not many....but in any case, as with everything on the ship, it all moved smoothly.........
we drove up, dropped everything with the luggage people, parked the car, and headed on into the terminal....
we went over to the concierge line and guess who we was in line in front of us.....my daughter noticed the shirts they were wearing......none other than the famous Barb and Tony....we knew they were going to be on the cruise, but there they were......in the flesh.....somehow it all became even more real at that point....
after checking in, we headed over to the big window right in front of the ship....Barb was sitting there, as was another DIS board person....whose name has suddenly escaped me....so it was fun talking with everyone there as we waited to board...
we were all so excited that i can't tell you whether we waited a minute or an hour...everything passed by very quickly....
i think it was about 12:30 when they started the boarding which also went quickly.....and then....we were on board....
what fun...
i can't wait for this summer when we get to do it all again....

 

[rae519]

You made a very good point - one of the best places for a "meet and greet" is at the Port where you really have nothing to do after you do your embarkation paperwork but WAIT!

We try to wear identifable shirts so that we can meet others - not that we are anywhere near the Disney Royalty Couple, but for our own cruisers, it's easier to spot us!!!

Rae

 

[disneyholic family]

it definitely was a perfect time to meet everyone..
we hadn't planned it or anything...
it just happened (because of Barb's shirt).....
i think the name of the other disboard person who came up to chat is Katie (I can't remember the name she uses here something with 'cal' in it.....i'm braindead).....
anyway, it was so nice to talk with everyone......there was another family sitting there who'd cruised 4 times before, so they had lots of tips for us......
all in all it was a very happy, very exciting time....
actually i think Tony and Katie each took a few group pictures of all of us...i remember seeing it posted somewhere after the cruise....
i think we must have sat there at least an hour and a half, but it flew by....and then later on the ship we had people to wave at and stop and chat with....

as i said, i can't wait to do it all again!!!
but this time we're doing the 4 day (the first time was the 3 day)...