Boarding Groups

[MomOTwins]

This thread has me thoroughly confused.

I am about to go on my first Disney cruise in a week and I have a port arrival time of 10:45. It’s possible that I might not get to actually board the ship for several hours after that? Should I not bother showing up at my port arrival time since I got to check in so much later than all the silver/gold/platinum/Concierage cruisers?

Hanging around a cruise terminal instead of a hotel seems like a bad use of time. How long does each boarding group take?

Boarding does not begin until usually around 11:30--but it can be later if the ship is delayed getting in, for example, so yes it is possible you may end up waiting. Silver and Gold do not get to board before first-time cruisers (Concierge and Platinum do, but that does not take long --each boarding group is like 5 minutes or so). Since you have an early PAT, you should be in one of the first few groups to board. It will take some time to get through bag check and the check in line, so I think 10:45 is a reasonable time to arrive if you want to avoid waiting long.

That said, if you want to avoid the crowds, you can certainly wait to arrive until after 1pm and it will be shorter waits.

 

[pixiedustedme]

This thread has me thoroughly confused.

I am about to go on my first Disney cruise in a week and I have a port arrival time of 10:45. It’s possible that I might not get to actually board the ship for several hours after that? Should I not bother showing up at my port arrival time since I got to check in so much later than all the silver/gold/platinum/Concierage cruisers?

Hanging around a cruise terminal instead of a hotel seems like a bad use of time. How long does each boarding group take?

It does not take several hours, ever. Open boarding should be called between 12 & 12:30, and everyone can board at that point.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Officially, for the party to board together, the entire party needs to be Platinum. Or else wait to board with the Silver passengers boarding time.

Um... no.

Since all 5 people are in the same room, they all get to board at the same time. If the 5 people were in different rooms, each room has it's own boarding number and would have to board when their specific number is called.

 

[Dug720]

Um... no.

Since all 5 people are in the same room, they all get to board at the same time. If the 5 people were in different rooms, each room has it's own boarding number and would have to board when their specific number is called.

It is unclear from the post if they are in one or more cabins. The poster stated he checked in for the party.

Yes, if they are in one cabin they are all considered Platinum for the cruise. But if they are in more than one, only the people in a cabin with a Platinum member are considered Platinum for the cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It is unclear from the post if they are in one or more cabins. The poster stated he checked in for the party.

Yes, if they are in one cabin they are all considered Platinum for the cruise. But if they are in more than one, only the people in a cabin with a Platinum member are considered Platinum for the cruise.

I was responding to serenitynow's answer to GatorMomInNC's question.

Officially, for the party to board together, the entire party needs to be Platinum. Or else wait to board with the Silver passengers boarding time.

GatorMom said "2 first time cruisers in our 5 person cabin". I took that to mean only one room.

Not to hijack, but we will have 2 first time cruisers in our 5 person cabin, but the other three of us are platinum.

 

[Starwind]

Like I said, it was only a guess. That is the wild card considering some have reported being on the first bus without a PAT and getting 2 or other numbers. They may only have a few per group since most people probably add the transfers after selecting their PAT - and party size may make a difference. It’s possible they did not have enough for your size party until 15.

So transfers without PAT seem to be the wildcard.

We were only two

Maybe they just randomly assign boarding groups to those arriving on the MCO buses ;-)

SW

 

[traveln4fun]

Not to hijack, but we will have 2 first time cruisers in our 5 person cabin, but the other three of us are platinum. Will our whole party be able to board with platinum? And if not, any suggestions on how I can politely tell my friends they are on their own as we are going on without them?

If you are all staying in the same stateroom, you will all board at the same time. Your room will be assigned the highest CC level, so if you are platinum, everyone in your stateroom can book activities and board at the same time when platinum booking opens.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

This thread has me thoroughly confused.

I am about to go on my first Disney cruise in a week and I have a port arrival time of 10:45. It’s possible that I might not get to actually board the ship for several hours after that? Should I not bother showing up at my port arrival time since I got to check in so much later than all the silver/gold/platinum/Concierage cruisers?

Hanging around a cruise terminal instead of a hotel seems like a bad use of time. How long does each boarding group take?

Your Port Arrival Time is just that. The time you should arrive at the port. Boarding numbers are tied to the port arrival times. A PAT of 10:45 is usually the second earliest PAT available so you should be given a low boarding number. Boarding usually begins between 11:15 and 11:30. With a 10:45 PAT, I'd expect you to be boarding no more than 15 minutes after they begin boarding the ship. You will not be waiting for several hours unless there is an unusual circumstance that delays boarding. Some possible reasons for boarding to be delayed: Coast Guard inspections, extra cleaning needed following a Norovirus outbreak, mechanical issue they want resolved before allowing people onboard, ship docked late due to mechanical or weather issue, etc.

 

[scgustafson]

Not to hijack, but we will have 2 first time cruisers in our 5 person cabin, but the other three of us are platinum. Will our whole party be able to board with platinum? And if not, any suggestions on how I can politely tell my friends they are on their own as we are going on without them?

I have seen some incorrect responses above, but the entire cabin is granted the status of the highest Castaway Club member for when it comes to online check-in and activity booking, as well as cruise terminal check-in and boarding. So, all members of your party are in the same cabin with a Platinum member, you will go to the Platinum line to check-in at the cruise terminal and then board when they call boarding group 1.