Can you board earlier then your designated boarding time?

[sea2la]

Can we board before our designated time? As a newbie for DCL, I didn't know that they designated time slots to choose from. Our time is 12:30-1pm. We are arriving early at 8am at MIA and just wondering if we got there around 11am and try boarding early.

If not, I was thinking about renting a car for few hours with Alamo and taking their free shuttle to POM.

 

[xlxo]

This has been discussed in a few threads. If you show up early...

• you add to the congestion at the terminal.
• they might allow you to start the security screening early and registration early. But you will be held at the terminal until it gets close to your boarding time. There will be character pictures to keep the kids busy.

I would leisurely arrive around 12:10pm.

 

[clten]

With DCL, you didn't get a boarding time, you got a Port Arrival Time. Your boarding group # will be tied to your Port Arrival Time but you may be able to board before the 12:30-1PM time (each sailing is a bit different -- depends on when they first start boarding, how quickly it goes, etc.)

With your 12:30 - 1 pm Port Arrival Time (PAT), you may show up to the terminal at 11 as you planned. If the terminal is very crowded, you may have to wait to enter. (This happens very rarely, but you should be aware that it is a possibility.) Once you are in the terminal, you will check in and be given a Boarding Group #. Since the Boarding Group # is tied to your PAT, you may be given a higher group # than someone who arrives after you, if they had an earlier PAT. They typically start boarding around 11 (give or take 15/20 minutes; depending on how quickly they cleared out the prior cruisers) and call boarding group numbers every 5-10 minutes until they call open boarding. (Which on my cruises, when we have arrived later has always been before 12:30).

 

[cwdefouw]

The one time we sailed on Disney out of Miami, last year. I do not recall them checking Port Arrival Times before allowing someone to enter the terminal. Doesn't mean they won't for the OP, but we are talking about a smaller ship, utilizing a terminal that was designed for, and regularly handles 4000 passengers or more for RCCL.

OP, I would suggest heading to the port around 11:00, as you planned. Just be aware that you could be waiting in the terminal for a little longer after they start boarding at approx. 11:30-11:45. When we went, it took about 30 minutes in line just to get through security and into the terminal. As others mentioned, your Port Arrival Time of 12:30 - 1:00 is tied to your Boarding Group Number. You will get a Boarding Group Card with a number when you check in to get your keys. I would expect that your boarding group will likely be somewhere between 15 - 25. Once they start boarding, groups are called usually every 2 to 4 minutes, sometimes less. Once most of the people waiting in the terminal have boarded, they switch to open boarding, they will announce this, and if they haven't called your group yet when this happens, you will be allowed to board when they announce open boarding.

 

[lbgraves]

Your PAT is listed on the manifest they use when you show your ID to enter the terminal area.

 

[jahber]

Your PAT is listed on the manifest they use when you show your ID to enter the terminal area.

It is at Port Canaveral, but no one checked a manifest when we sailed out of Miami in October.

Our boarding process was delayed by at least an hour. At 1:15ish they called #9, which was our number. We were talking to a family that had boarding #33 with a PAT of 1:30. She had booked 3 days before, so she took what she could get. I don't know how long she waited, but when things like that happen, it really causes the terminal to be extremely congested with people who's PAT hasn't even come yet.

 

[sea2la]

The one time we sailed on Disney out of Miami, last year. I do not recall them checking Port Arrival Times before allowing someone to enter the terminal. Doesn't mean they won't for the OP, but we are talking about a smaller ship, utilizing a terminal that was designed for, and regularly handles 4000 passengers or more for RCCL.

OP, I would suggest heading to the port around 11:00, as you planned. Just be aware that you could be waiting in the terminal for a little longer after they start boarding at approx. 11:30-11:45. When we went, it took about 30 minutes in line just to get through security and into the terminal. As others mentioned, your Port Arrival Time of 12:30 - 1:00 is tied to your Boarding Group Number. You will get a Boarding Group Card with a number when you check in to get your keys. I would expect that your boarding group will likely be somewhere between 15 - 25. Once they start boarding, groups are called usually every 2 to 4 minutes, sometimes less. Once most of the people waiting in the terminal have boarded, they switch to open boarding, they will announce this, and if they haven't called your group yet when this happens, you will be allowed to board when they announce open boarding.

Thanks for the information. also to clten