Disney Cruise; non-US citizen check-in

[Lynda Silk]

Hi,
I just wondered if any other Canadians know of a faster way to check in for the cruise at the terminal in Port Canaveral. Even if you purchase the land package, we have had to go to the Non-US check-in and this can take some time (once we were in line for 30-40 minutes). Disney talks about the quick, no hassle check-in where you just use your card but it doesn't seem to apply to non-Americans. We have cruised before on the Wonder but again, we were directed to the non-US citizens check-in instead of using the Castaway Club check-in. Is there another way to do this? I was just curious if we were doing something wrong.

The other thing I wanted to mention (although I know we can't do anything about it!) is the 6pm immigration call on the day we leave the ship. It's awful as it is that our cruise is over and we have to leave the ship, but getting up for the 6am immigration meeting is brutal! Our lucky American friends get to sleep in a little bit at least! Oh well, I'm just whining; I know there's nothing that can be done about that. At least they let us go back to our cabins now; on our first cruise, we had to head directly to the restaurant for breakfast.

If anyone can advise me re the check-in, I'd be truly grateful!
Thanks!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We, too had a lengthy line up at the non-US line. We had fun with it though looking to see where other people were from by looking at the passports. We'd take a bunch of little paper cdn flags with us and handed them out to anyone who wanted them. We also had a ton of suckers which we handed out as well, esp to the kids who looked bored waiting in line (we did check with the parents first). We also gave flags and suckers to the CM's as well. It helped pass the time because it was about 30 minutes in line. I wish when the line got longer that they added some CM's but hey we were there to cruise and have fun so we just had fun in the line.

6am immigration isn't a thrill but I figured since the immigration lady still had wet hair that it was ok for mine to be wet. Meant we were tired that last day but we did make it to breakfast in time!!!
I figured the 6am immigration was ok since we did get a stamp in our passports. Trivial maybe but the custom officer couldn't understand why I was smiling as he was stamping.

Wish they would do something about the long check in line but since we already cleared customs on the ship we weren't stopped leaving the terminal.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hi Cdnmickeylover!
Thanks for your reply! At least we know we are doing the right thing and going to the right place to check in.

I think we found the lengthy check-in more aggravating the first time we cruised because we had read so much about just walking on the ship! We also had gone to Animal Kingdom and then taken the DCL bus to the port, so there were a lot of people who were on the bus who were not American citizens. That's when we had to wait 30-40 minutes in line. If I hadn't read so much about the "walk on" check-in; I wouldn't have minded so much. It's all about managing those expectations, I guess, which is why I just love these boards! You're right too that we should just have fun in line; after all, we are going on a cruise so 30-40 minutes shouldn't be a problem. We didn't have to wait very long on our second cruise so it was just the first cruise that was really an issue.

Re managing those expectations, these boards are fantastic! You can get so much information and everyone is so nice! And I love the fact that there's a site for just Canadians! There are sometimes differences whether you're a Canadian or an American, so it's great to be able to talk to Canadians. And I love the fact that people from BC to Nova Scotia, from Ontario, Quebec, etc, etc, respond!

Thanks again for your info!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I think we didn't have a problem with the line because we were so up for our first cruise. We had a great drive down too and I'm sure if there'd been any problems we wouldn't have been happy about the wait. It was aggravating a little though since the other lines were non-existent when we were checking in. The line to get onto the ship was a long one though! That was ok though as we had met people on these boards -- I highly recommend connecting with other people you are cruising with as we had a blast. We had actually met some of them in Baltimore prior to cruising which was great. We had on matching t-shirts too so that helped locate everyone and the CM's kept commenting on it.

This year will be just as great except we are hoping for a shorter line but oh well it can't be helped.

 

[avdeane]

I've got a question and hoping somebody may know the answer. Since there are two check ins for US and Non-US citizens, how would we do it if my husband is a US citizen but is a Canadian resident? Of course I would have to go through the Non US line but which line would he have to check in at? Anybody know? He's going to be applying for Canadian citizenship at some point but not sure when that will happen.


Thanks for any help!!

 

[Timon]

I don't know if we were the exception but when we got to the terminal at 11:00 am, the U.S. line was huge!!! There must have been 100-200 people in line. We went right to the Non-US line and we were second in line, by the time I got our passports out of our bag, they were calling us up!

Maybe we were just lucky

 

[Cruisin]

We went on the Jan 29 3 day Wonder cruise and we used the Castaway Club line. Actually there were no line ups at any of the lines when we arrived so we got through really quickly. We arrived at about 11:00 am. So just use whatever line is shorter, the Non-US line or the Castaway Club line, if you are a returning cruiser.
I agree that the 6AM immigration call is the pits. I am not sure why they have to do that. We went on the RCL last year and we had our passports returned to us at Guest Services the night before we docked and then we just all could walk off the ship the next morning when we were ready.
I wonder why Disney can't do that. Maybe it has to do with which countries you went to?

 

[mbb]

Originally posted by Cruisin'Kroezes

I agree that the 6AM immigration call is the pits. I am not sure why they have to do that. We went on the RCL last year and we had our passports returned to us at Guest Services the night before we docked and then we just all could walk off the ship the next morning when we were ready.
I wonder why Disney can't do that. Maybe it has to do with which countries you went to?

Yech. 6am, on the last day...when I'm already cranky because we have to leave...

I thought the major cruise lines had done away with this long ago...we first cruised years ago on NCL and they were starting the "new" process...on the next cruise!!AAGGH!

Is it the countries you went to, or the volume of passengers to process...more ships=more less happy people...??? Or does an Immigration officer have to be on board to process the people/passports..??

 

[Scratch42]

You have to get up really early TWO Mornings!LOL

The secret is to get there before everybody else! Even Immigration! It's a pain to get up a little bit earlier but in the long run, you have to be up, so why not wait for them!

We were lucky, they started 10 mins earlier! It may have been earlier but DCL CM wasn't there with our passports!

It's a small price to pay for happiness!

Scratch

 

[mbb]

Originally posted by Scratch42
You have to get up really early TWO Mornings!LOL

I'm gonna rethink the Cruise idea....

Why do you have to get up early TWO mornings...for St. John ferry?



Mary Beth

 

[Scratch42]

Then they head back to the US Virgin Islands! But one consolation, even US Citizens have to get up for that one!

It's fun and games!

Scratch

 

[Lynda Silk]

Gosh, I didn't even think about the St. Thomas stop! We are going on the Eastern Caribbean cruise in October and I forgot that I had read about the early morning when we reach St. Thomas! Oh well, since I'll be on the Disney cruise, this is a small price to pay. But thanks for all the info everyone's sent! And again, a lot of it's about managing expectations so at least I won't be surprised!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We're doing the Eastern in October too -- Oct 2nd and although we have to get up 2 mornings that's ok because we get 3 sea days. I think US citizens will be even crankier because they have to get up for the first one too and I believe we meet in different places? Ours will be shorter because there are less non-US people than US people on board -- or at least there were when we were there.

We had a slow checkin but part of it I think is because in front of us there were a couple of families from Japan who didn't seem to speak much English and were having trouble understanding the checkin process. Our checkin was actually quite quick.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Now that you mention it, we had a few families as well from Japan in front of us on our first cruise check-in and you're right, they didn't seem too familiar with English. I noticed they were from Japan because I'm Japanese Canadian, so they caught my attention.

It's interesting that some of the other post-ers mentioned the long lines in the US citizen check-ins. I guess it's just the luck of the draw!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We actually knew that they were Japanese from Japan as they had Japan passports. We also saw passports from the UK and Canada. There was another country too but we didn't recognize the passport. We couldn't help looking at the passports while we waited. I do think the lines are luck of the draw. Can't wait til October!

 

[mbb]

Originally posted by Scratch42
Then they head back to the US Virgin Islands! But one consolation, even US Citizens have to get up for that one!

It's fun and games!

Scratch

So it's definitely the Western itin. for us!!!