checking in late to ship?

[sbrownell]

We will be staying at Disneyworld prior to our cruise and will have already have done all the check in required (at least that's what I'm told) for the ship at time of hotel check in. We were considering doing a park in the am and checking in on the later side of the crowds. Has anyone done this and what is the latest you could check in?

We realize we will probably be out of luck on Palo's ressies, but that's not that big a deal.

 

[rae519]

You will get your Key to the World card which opens both your resort room and the cabin on the ship. You will still have to check in and go through the process. It's not that long or difficult though.

In April '01 - we did the 4 land/3 sea vacation and were told that we could be picked up at Noon at Animal Kingdom rather than leaving from our hotel (Contemporary). We saved AK for that day and it proved to be long enough there.

Our tablemates in February '02 did not arrive until nearly 3:30PM due to bad flying weather. They did miss the buffet and felt a bit rushed but with the Mustering at 4PM, I sure wouldn't push it past 3:30!

Enjoy!

Rae

 

[mmouse37]

All aboard is usually posted as 3:00 pm by Disney. Of course, if a whole plane or DCL bus full of guests was delayed I am sure Disney would wait.

MJ

 

[Kaa]

DCL requests that you be onboard the ship by 3:30pm.

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

I would suggest getting there as soon as possible. We had delayed flights on our first cruise and we were one of the last groups to get to the ship. Everything the first day and evening seemed very rushed. We had to hurr to get on the ship we had to hurry to our room we had to hurry to get ready for dinner. The kids were tired and it made for a long day and even carried into the next day. This year we are flying in day early.

 

[PiperG]

We also did the AK on the last day of our "land" portion. The only thing I would change was the time we arrived at AK. We enjoyed a relaxing breafast at the Poly and just hung around for a while, and probably got to the AK about 10:00 or so. I think the bus for the ship left between 12:30 and 1:00.

Everything went very smoothly, relative to the DCL transfers. Its a slick system, and with just the three of us, I think an easy way to get around. No car to rent etc. . . .

We just felt a little rushed. Next time, we will just plan to leave the Poly a little earlier.

 

[NCRedding]

Last October we stayed at the Poly. We did early entry to MK, ate Breakfast at Crystal Palace, and left for port at 11:00. We parked the rental at the port and we were on board by 12:15. I got ressies to Palos with no problem. It worked great for us.

 

[sbrownell]

We have rented a car and really want to make the most of our park hopper passes. Don't care much about getting on the ship too early. So with that said, would you do AK in the am and could you leave around 1pm to get there at a decent time?

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by sbrownell
We have rented a car and really want to make the most of our park hopper passes. Don't care much about getting on the ship too early. So with that said, would you do AK in the am and could you leave around 1pm to get there at a decent time?

That would be a good plan. As I said in my post though, don't get to late of a start. Its a big park and the time goes by fast! There is a lot we did not see or do.