Excited! 75 more days!

[gemduncan]

I'm so excited! We are going on our very first cruise on Feb 29-March 4 on The Dream to Bahamas. We are traveling with DD6. I booked our port arrival for 10:30am. However, I talked to a Disney Cruise person and she said that we won't actually get to board the ship until 1pm. However, it sounds like there are lots of fun things in the port area before we board the ship like Character meets & greets! This means that we probably won't get to eat lunch on ship until after 1pm. Bummer. We have the early dining time.

One disappointing thing is that it's not guaranteed to meet Anna & Elsa on the cruise. We are doing 1 day at Magic Kingdom before we set sail, so I might need to use a FastPass for Anna & Elsa.

So excited! This is a surprise for DD6. I plan on telling her the day we leave for Florida!

 

[ladypiph]

You guys should be able to start boarding the ship around 11 AM - 12 PM especially with such an early PAT , Staterooms wont be ready until around 1PM. And as soon as you board restaurants serving lunch usually Cabanas and Enchanted garden will be open as well. Happy planning.

 

[gemduncan]

You guys should be able to start boarding the ship around 11 AM - 12 PM especially with such an early PAT , Staterooms wont be ready until around 1PM. And as soon as you board restaurants serving lunch usually Cabanas and Enchanted garden will be open as well. Happy planning.

I was told that platinum members get to board at 11am and anyone else with special privileges. The Disney Cruise person said I would likely board at 1pm. Our luggage would be dropped off at our stateroom at 5pm.

 

[Heidiatmn]

I love this thread as I am confused on this as well. I am cruising 2/22 and was excited to get the 10:30 PAT as well. Then I started reading that they don't start boarding until later anyways. So am I better off hanging at our hotel that has some fun stuff to do until 11:30 or so? Or is there an hours worth of paperwork and check in's you have to do no matter what time you arrive?

 

[ladypiph]

Are you leaving from Port Canaveral?

 

[gemduncan]

Are you leaving from Port Canaveral?

Yes, we are.

 

[gemduncan]

I love this thread as I am confused on this as well. I am cruising 2/22 and was excited to get the 10:30 PAT as well. Then I started reading that they don't start boarding until later anyways. So am I better off hanging at our hotel that has some fun stuff to do until 11:30 or so? Or is there an hours worth of paperwork and check in's you have to do no matter what time you arrive?

The DCL Agent told me that most of the characters are in the Port Terminal only until noon. And they have activities to keep the kids entertained before actually boarding the ship, so I'm keeping my 10:30am PAT

 

[AquaDame]

A lot of people like getting there early so they don't have to wait in as long of a line to get through security but the timing is really up to you. I have heard that getting to the port around 1-2 instead means a shorter line as well but I am the sort that frets about traffic so that would stress me out unless I was on DCLs coaches. We have typically been able to board before 1pm, but that will always depend on when they get everyone to debark and can turn the ship around for the next guests. If you can, go straight to Guest Relations or wherever they are handing out the tickets for Anna & Elsa that day - I hope you get to see them on board as well, they really are fun!

 

[ladypiph]

I love this thread as I am confused on this as well. I am cruising 2/22 and was excited to get the 10:30 PAT as well. Then I started reading that they don't start boarding until later anyways. So am I better off hanging at our hotel that has some fun stuff to do until 11:30 or so? Or is there an hours worth of paperwork and check in's you have to do no matter what time you arrive?

As long as you do your online check in, the check in process at the terminal is pretty smooth. I am shocked to hear that boarding is so late, my last sailing was March of this year and we had a 11 AM PAT and were on the ship by noon (we had boarding group 8), and all of our luggage was waiting for us outside of our room by 1:30 PM.

 

[gemduncan]

As long as you do your online check in, the check in process at the terminal is pretty smooth. I am shocked to hear that boarding is so late, my last sailing was March of this year and we had a 11 AM PAT and were on the ship by noon (we had boarding group 8), and all of our luggage was waiting for us outside of our room by 1:30 PM.

LadyPiph - was that your very first cruise? If not, I wonder if your boarding time was faster because you have been on DCL before? This is my first DCL, so I'm guessing that's why the DCL agent told me that actual boarding time is at 1pm.

 

[ladypiph]

LadyPiph - was that your very first cruise? If not, I wonder if your boarding time was faster because you have been on DCL before? This is my first DCL, so I'm guessing that's why the DCL agent told me that actual boarding time is at 1pm.

That was not my first cruise , so you are right that may have a different impact. I forget the timing for my first cruise so I couldn't even make the comparison but I know that there are a lot of things to do in the terminal while you wait, and if one person from your party heads straight to guest services the minute you board while the other one heads down to grab lunch, there may still be hope for getting tickets to see Anna Elsa along with other ticketed events.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

LadyPiph - was that your very first cruise? If not, I wonder if your boarding time was faster because you have been on DCL before? This is my first DCL, so I'm guessing that's why the DCL agent told me that actual boarding time is at 1pm.

I'd still plan on getting there at 10:30 if I were you. We've had a 10:45 or 11:00 PAT for all of our cruises and were on the ship no later than 11:30. The only time we didn't get on the ship until after 1:00 was when we did Disney transportation from WDW.

Also, if you are going up to Cabanas as soon as you arrive on the ship, do yourself a favor and when you enter the ship, head to the aft by turning left and use the aft elevators to go up to deck 11. You won't have to wait for an elevator and you'll arrive at the rear entrance to Cabana's.