Embarkation Questions (4 night Wish)

[PetePanMan]

Looking for advice and info on how best to handle embarkation process for Wish. This will be first our first DCL cruise so we have no loyalty benefits/ tiers.
- Is it likely that we will be only able to board late given some many others will have priority boarding?
- Realistically, what boarding time should we expect?
- are there any benefits to boarding late?
- any advice on best plan after boarding late?
TIA for any info!

 

[Girl of the South]

Check in at Midnight EST and you may get an earlier Boarding Group Number. Which is not the same as your PAT (Port Artival Time). They try to stager people arriving.

If you take DCL transport you will get an earlier time, usually.

Benefits to arriving late - you don’t have to sit around waiting for your Boarding Group to be called. There’s an initial crush for lunch. And cabins aren’t usually ready until around 1:30.

People sometimes want to get on early to go stand in line to see about changing their dining time, getting on the waiting list for Palo . . . But it’s your first cruise. I suggest you just go with the flow and avoid the hassle.

I don’t think getting on the ship 90 minutes earlier than someone else is worth stressing out over. But that’s just my personal opinion.

Happy sailing!

 

[RedHead0186]

In addition to what @Girl of the South said, once you complete online check in and get your PAT, keep checking back. Sometimes earlier PATs open up and you can switch (if you want to, that is).

Also, port arrival time and boarding group are different. You'll be given a PAT, which is the time you should arrive at the terminal. Once boarding starts, they'll call groups in order, usually about 5-10 minutes apart. Once your group is called you can board. They usually start boarding about 11:30, but it can vary. You don't get a specific boarding time.

 

[PetePanMan]

Does anyone know approximately when the final groups normally board?

 

[Girl of the South]

My guess is 12:45 - 1:30 but I have never sailed on the Wish.

 

[jrez]

It seems that open boarding usually occurs no later than 1:00.

 

[lanejudy]

To add to the above — “open boarding” is when they stop calling boarding groups and allow anyone to board. The “final” boarding groups may never be called because it is open boarding before then.

PAT of 12:30-ish is a great time to arrive. You’ll likely have shorter check-in lines and low wait before open boarding is called.

 

[Skippyboo]

I think I had 1pm -115pm PAT on my first cruise. I forgot the boarding group number. Was able to hit the open sit down restaurant and eat. The rooms were open by the time we were done eating so just went to the room to unpack.
There’s going to be one sit down restaurant open and the buffet- Marceline Market on the Wish (various food stations but the CM serves the food unlike the older ships where you scoop the food yourself). Market is on the back of Deck 11. That’s also where the pools, Funnel vision, there are food courts stations towards the forward part of deck 11- pizza, burgers, chicken tenders, ice cream, bbq and Mexican.

You have to go your muster drill around 330ish and then afterwards you want to go back to deck 11 or 12 where you can see the funnel vision for the Sail Away party. Characters come out and dance , ship blows the horn as you pull away from dock.

The first dinner time is 545pm. When you get to terminal, you can connect to ship’s WiFi in DCL app and all the activities, menus, dining rotations will be visible. The shops don’t open while the ship is in port. So they will open later on the first day.