First Cruise 2005 summer, some question about check in....

[twinglez]

I have done several searches and have come up with more than I could read and difficult to find exactly what I was looking for. So posting now....

Next summer will be our first cruise. Our youngest children will be 5 years old (twins). I need guidance with check in...

We are going on the West Coast cruise...

- how early do you get to the port?

- how long is the wait in line to get onboard?

- how do I keep my kids occupied?

- can my husband do the check in and I show up later with the kids?

- dh wants to know if there is a VIP line that is shorter and quicker to get onboard?


***** we will be flying into Long Beach with family dropping us off at the port. They live about 20 mins from the Port in San Pedro.

Thanks!!

 

[hayesktrm]

I believe we got to the port around 11:00 AM. The lines weren't too long at all (although we did the 7 day land and sea so we didn't have to do all the check-in stuff--already done at the hotel). After we got on board, we looked around a bit, then went to lunch at Parrot Cay (I think that's the name of it). I believe you need to have the whole family with you when you check in (showing ID, etc.). I think the kids are so excited that they won't need to be occupied. I just looked at my documents and it says we leave port at 4:00 PM--I thought when we went on our last Disney cruise, we left at 5:00 PM. I could be wrong, but maybe the West Coast cruises leave one hour earlier. Make sure you let us know your experiences on board. We are on the July 9th West Coast cruise. As for a VIP line, I think the only line is for repeat cruisers. I have heard, though, that those lines are long too because they have so many repeat cruisers.

 

[TheWog]

Your situation will be different than the typical Disney Cruise. In Disney's terminal at PC there is a scale model of the ship to look at and investigate, there is a snack bar, cartoons playing, characters making appearances. No one has done a Disney West coast yet so it will be hard to say. Check in was not that terrible, but we (I) waited in line and moved slowly through and then DW and DS6 caught up to board. We arrived 11ish and were on board shortly after noon. Although I did the check-in they wanted to physically see my wife and I took care of the rest, so you would need to be there for that at least. They took the bags without her being physically with me in the parking lot, she was in the car. So you may not have some of the distractions provided to allow you to keep the children occupied. The only VIP line we saw was for Castaway Club members to check in, but not to board. I could be wrong as this was my first cruise. The later you arrive, probably the shorter you would have to wait as a lot of people will already be on board. Good luck.

 

[Sarangel]

You don't say *when* next summer you're cruising, but (for what it's worth) you may want to follow my plan, we're cruising in July, which is to wait for the reports to start coming in with this kind of information from others who are cruising earlier than we are.

The information from the Florida cruises is a good guideline, but things may be very different in California. Some things will remain the same, i.e. you may want to get there early in order to register for spa treatments or Palo reservations, but some things may be different. They may not, for instance, have a Castaway Club check in line.

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

 

[twinglez]

Sorry we will be on the July 23 cruise.