Boarding Question - West Coast vs. Port Canaveral

[giandave23]

Hello all -

With reading some of the post from the west coast cruisers - it sould like they are using a different system than what was in place when we cruised in Oct. 2003. Does anyone know if this is just because they are not sailing from their home port/terminal???

When we boarded in Oct 03 - it was just a first come first serve basis line(standing in the queue line - just like at the parks ) - but on the west coast they seem to be boarding by category..... I hope they leave it the same way it was - I like to get onboard as soon as we are allowed and walk around - that is one of my favorite times onboard.

Let me know if anyone knows of changes at Port Canaveral's Terminal!!

Have a Magical Day

 

[Debogan]

Hello all -

With reading some of the post from the west coast cruisers - it sould like they are using a different system than what was in place when we cruised in Oct. 2003. Does anyone know if this is just because they are not sailing from their home port/terminal???

When we boarded in Oct 03 - it was just a first come first serve basis line(standing in the queue line - just like at the parks ) - but on the west coast they seem to be boarding by category..... I hope they leave it the same way it was - I like to get onboard as soon as we are allowed and walk around - that is one of my favorite times onboard.

Let me know if anyone knows of changes at Port Canaveral's Terminal!!

Have a Magical Day

When we boarded in LA on Saturday we were not boarded by category. We got a group number as we came in the terminal. So in effect it is the same as first come first serve. You just didn't need to stand in line. Once you were assigned a number you just waited to be called. In fact, I think you could drop off your luggage and then as soon as you were able to check in your party at 10 am, you could probably leave the terminal and come back closer to noon

 

[rsjj]

When we boarded in LA on Saturday we were not boarded by category. We got a group number as we came in the terminal. So in effect it is the same as first come first serve. You just didn't need to stand in line. Once you were assigned a number you just waited to be called. In fact, I think you could drop off your luggage and then as soon as you were able to check in your party at 10 am, you could probably leave the terminal and come back closer to noon

while you're not standing in line, and just "waited around to be called", are you sitting in a big waiting area? are there chairs & loungers, and tv monitors that the kids can watch disney cartoons on? and is it a big space? (like at their home terminal in florida?) if not, i need to prepare some stuff for the kids to do, so they won't get antsy, waiting!...like coloring books, snacks, etc. thank you in advance! really appreciate any info you may have!

 

[CM_Mom]

The Terminal in LA requires isn't configured to board on Deck 3 into the Atrium like the DCL terminal in Port Canaveral. Because they have to board on Deck 4 they have changed the procedure somewhat.

 

[luv that cruise]

We were on 6/4 cat 3 so we went thru concierge line. more chaotic and they walked us to front of line for "immediate" boarding which took much longer than in PC. Seemed as if people arrived at terminal later so more crowds getting on later in the afternoon. Disembarkation went smoothly but caution to frequent cruisers that procedure is diifferent from PC so watch the show on TV if you don't find time to go to the presentation. Or... ask your dining server at last dinner as he/she will hand out the needed "stickers" at breakfast saturday morning.

 

[Debogan]

while you're not standing in line, and just "waited around to be called", are you sitting in a big waiting area? are there chairs & loungers, and tv monitors that the kids can watch disney cartoons on? and is it a big space? (like at their home terminal in florida?) if not, i need to prepare some stuff for the kids to do, so they won't get antsy, waiting!...like coloring books, snacks, etc. thank you in advance! really appreciate any info you may have!

It is a large space and there is a TV with Disney cartoons. However, I would still pack a few things to keep them busy. My boys did fine, but they are 9 & 12 so were able to stay amused and occupied by exploring the terminal, looking at the ship, and of course, fighting with each other - which seems to be a never ending source of joy for them.

 

[tarheel_girl]

Have something for the little ones to do! I'm a kindergarten teacher so this is an 'expert' opinion. There are a couple of tvs, maybe 27" high up on a wall. Once several people get into the terminal forget hearing the cartoons. The tvs are also up on a support 'beam' that is in the middle of the walkway. I wouldn't want children sitting on the floor in the middle of the walkway.

The boarding is not fun on the west coast. I hope it goes back to the 'regular' way when the ship returns to FL. Yes, you are given a boarding pass with an assigned number on it. Is it first come/first served? No. They will call your group number out and it is a free for all to the security check point. The shuttle from LAX dropped us off at 9:20am. We were the 4th group/family to arrive at the port. We weren't the 4th group/family allowed to board once our group number was called. We just had to squeeze in line with everyone else. Like I said, I teach kindergarten. I know how to share. But when you get there that early you ought to get to at least sit in line, like in Florida, in the order in which you came into the port. What happened on June 4th, was that they told everyone to have a seat. Then they called group one. There were no group one passes given out that day. So what did all the group 2 people do? Stood up and began to gather around the entrance to the check point. Of course I was one of them, once I saw what was happening. I would have rather sat on the floor in line for the three hours I was there than to board like that.

One thing to keep in mind to new cruisers. They don't remind you(or they didn't on our cruise) to have your key to the world card out and ready after passing through security. They have to have that card to swipe before you enter the ship. That was a little frustrating to us seasoned cruisers. I wasn't upset at the first-time cruisers, but at the workers for not reminding everyone to have that ready. I know the majority of the workers don't work for Disney all the time, but it does seem that message would have been stated and re-stated. That was my only complaint the whole week though. At least I got it over with before actually boarding the ship.

 

[dletz]

Do you get one boarding card per person, family or group. If you have 2 families boarding together, do they each have to get a card?

 

[Pineapple]

Hey Tarheel,

You should have seen the boarding in the afternoon when more people arrived. The line was all the way back to the double doors. Like you said, everyone was in line even though they shouldn't have been. And people frustrated Disney attempts to sort things out by conveniently "losing" their boarding pass. Being nice Disney people, they didn't throw anyone out of line like they should have. But you could tell they were getting frustrated. Disney should study how Southwest Airlines does it. They've been doing it for years and have the kinks worked out.

For Dletz:
The "boarding passes" are unofficial so you can get just one for your entire group. But being unofficial is what makes it so easy for scofflaws to "lose" their pass.

 

[CACruisin']

Boarding in LA seems to be very hit or miss. We had a Cat 3 so I had not expected to have any problems - WRONG! We arrived around 12:30. After repeated attempts to find someone who knew where concierge check-in was, we were finally directed to the Castaway Club line and stood in line behind about 50 people only to be told we were in the wrong place. grrr. At security, they were calling group 15, but we had not been given a group number at all. After more questions were taking to the front and directed into the back of a second line. However, the supposed concierge line with 20 or so people in front of us, was going slower than the other line. Again, I think we were misdirected. Once we were finally on board (more than an hour after arriving at the port) the REAL concierge service took over and it was wonderful.

My advice for LA is get there early, regardless of what category you are.

 

[lkohawaii]

When we went there was a face painting table and a table for the kids to color on. There was also Goofy posing for pictures with the families. I think we got to the terminal before 12 and in no time our number was being called and we were boarding the ship. I was one of those that couldn't find my number...luckily I was with my friend who had hers and I boarded together with her.