Isn't choosing a PAT better so you don't need to arrive extra early at the port? If you arrive early can you still access all the amenities?
Many people like to be aboard ship as early as possible so get the earliest PAT possible. But getting an early PAT doesn't mean you get right on the ship as soon as you arrive. They don't start boarding until 11:30-12:00 and start with the family of the day and then concierge, then start calling board groups about every 5 minutes. So an early arrival could mean you still wait in the terminal for some time. We arrived from the Hyatt last January at 10:15-10:30 am with a boarding group of 6 and had to sit in the terminal until 12:20 to board. Not my favourite way to spend a morning.
The other downsides to boarding early is that there are lines to check in and the terminal gets packed. Your room won't be ready until 1:30-2:00, so you have to carry your bags around for a couple of hours. Yes, things are open, but I'm not personally comfortable leaving my bag to go into the pool, and it's heavy and cumbersome to carry around, shove under a table or maneuver around the buffet with it. If you take transportation from the resorts or the Hyatt, you'll be there early, but if you take
DCL transportation from the airport, you can pick your time.
For us, our preferred arrival time is around 1-ish - the port isn't busy, lines are short, you can board right away, and by the time you get through everything, it's almost time for you to be able to drop your bags at the room. Lunch usually ends around 2-3 (depending on where you're eating), so if you aren't arriving early because of coming from a resort or the Hyatt, I wouldn't suggest trying to plan to arrive much later than 2 or so even though all-aboard is 3:45. There's really only one route in so if there's a traffic slowdown or an accident, it can seriously impact you, so I wouldn't be heading out too late.
