How fast do PAT fill up?

[cwis]

We are soon headed to our first Disney cruise, kind of bought last-minute (on the Disney Dream). After reading reports of everyone trying to sneak through all the pages of the check-in process as fast as they could, to help secure the earliest PAT, we thought there would be would have no chance of getting an early PAT.

To our surprise, only the 10:30-10:45am slot was impossible to select, all the other slots were still available, ~40 days before the cruise. We gladly selected 10:45am, and hope we'll have a low boarding number as we plan to arrive at the port way before our PAT.

Thus, I am wondering: were all the slots available because 10:30am is the only one everyone is interested in? Or, do all the slots remain available for some time, partly because many guests do not do online check-in?

 

[Bethany10]

I'm curious as to the answer on this, but I can say I often wonder how much being on these boards skews our point of view. I would think the ratio of people on the DIS to the people on the ship who haven't ever been here has to lean toward the latter. While I think being a participant here will make my cruise experience better, it also sets up expectations that may or may not be true once you find yourself on the ship. Does this make sense?

 

[cwis]

I'm curious as to the answer on this, but I can say I often wonder how much being on these boards skews our point of view. I would think the ratio of people on the DIS to the people on the ship who haven't ever been here has to lean toward the latter. While I think being a participant here will make my cruise experience better, it also sets up expectations that may or may not be true once you find yourself on the ship. Does this make sense?

That's exactly what I was thinking. This boards gives knowledge to all the control freaks, myself included. It may just be than most people on a Disney cruise enjoy their time without feeling the need to micro-manage everything from their PAT to their spa reservation or the order of their rotational dinings.

 

[Sytrace]

We are soon headed to our first Disney cruise, kind of bought last-minute (on the Disney Dream). After reading reports of everyone trying to sneak through all the pages of the check-in process as fast as they could, to help secure the earliest PAT, we thought there would be would have no chance of getting an early PAT.

To our surprise, only the 10:30-10:45am slot was impossible to select, all the other slots were still available, ~40 days before the cruise. We gladly selected 10:45am, and hope we'll have a low boarding number as we plan to arrive at the port way before our PAT.

Thus, I am wondering: were all the slots available because 10:30am is the only one everyone is interested in? Or, do all the slots remain available for some time, partly because many guests do not do online check-in?

You would be surprised at how many people do not micromanage a Disney cruise. Plus, platinum and concierge guests do not have to choose a port arrival time. Resort guests and airline guests also do not choose a PAT as those are indicated by the resort and by the airport check in folks. You are taking quite a few people out of those cases that will not choose a PAT and leave lots of spaces to fill.

 

[cwis]

You would be surprised at how many people do not micromanage a Disney cruise. Plus, platinum and concierge guests do not have to choose a port arrival time. Resort guests and airline guests also do not choose a PAT as those are indicated by the resort and by the airport check in folks. You are taking quite a few people out of those cases that will not choose a PAT and leave lots of spaces to fill.

I'm always surprised when people don't like to micromanage everything. THIS is half the fun of every Disney vacation, isn't it?

 

[hcox31]

To our surprise, only the 10:30-10:45am slot was impossible to select, all the other slots were still available, ~40 days before the cruise. We gladly selected 10:45am, and hope we'll have a low boarding number as we plan to arrive at the port way before our PAT.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Port Canaveral only opens at 10:30 so arriving way before your PAT is going to mean sitting around in the parking garage/outside/sidewalk. You're much better off arriving AT your PAT cause you're going to have to wait around anyway for boarding to start at 11:30 ish.

 

[MSPeeler]

If we have a PAT before rooms are ready, what are we supposed to do? Our last PAT was 1:30 and we arrived when our rooms were ready so we went and put our carry on bags away, ate some lunch, and waited for sail away on the deck. What else is there available to take up so much time?
Until recently, I didn't even know navigators were available pre-boarding in the Port, so I will definitely be checking one of those out while we wait of coarse. Where do we get one?

 

[lklgoodman]

If we have a PAT before rooms are ready, what are we supposed to do? Our last PAT was 1:30 and we arrived when our rooms were ready so we went and put our carry on bags away, ate some lunch, and waited for sail away on the deck. What else is there available to take up so much time?
Until recently, I didn't even know navigators were available pre-boarding in the Port, so I will definitely be checking one of those out while we wait of coarse. Where do we get one?

The cm at the port should have given you a navigator when you checked in. If you get on the ship before the rooms are ready, you have to keep any carry on bags with you, so if you have a lot of stuff and get on really early, it can be a pain. For our last 2 cruises we arrived after 12:30 for one, and around 2:00 for the other. I'd rather come late and have no waiting at the port and cabins were ready. The kids club usually have open house and can be pretty crowded. We usually eat lunch and then go check out the kid's club. My dh and dd usually stay at the club while I go back to the cabin and unpack. I think pretty much everything is open for you to check out, except the gift shops since they can't be open when the ship is at a port.

 

[lanejudy]

I think how quickly the early PATs are filled really can vary cruise-to-cruise. It’s going to depend on the guests and their plans — are there a lot of platinum CC members who don’t select a PAT, passengers taking DCL transfers who don’t select a PAT, returning cruisers (or even newbies) who simply don’t plan to arrive that early, passengers who aren’t aware they can do online check-in to select a PAT, etc.

hope we'll have a low boarding number as we plan to arrive at the port way before our PAT.

As a PP mentions, the terminal doesn’t open until 10:30am. With a 10:45 PAT there is no need to arrive earlier. You would only be in a crush of guests lining up and waiting to enter the terminal. It won’t get you onboard any earlier, as your boarding number is directly tied to your PAT. You will board behind B2B, Concierge, platinum CC and anyone with a 10:30 PAT. You’ll get the same boarding number whether you arrive early or late.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[cwis]

I think how quickly the early PATs are filled really can vary cruise-to-cruise. It’s going to depend on the guests and their plans — are there a lot of platinum CC members who don’t select a PAT, passengers taking DCL transfers who don’t select a PAT, returning cruisers (or even newbies) who simply don’t plan to arrive that early, passengers who aren’t aware they can do online check-in to select a PAT, etc.


As a PP mentions, the terminal doesn’t open until 10:30am. With a 10:45 PAT there is no need to arrive earlier. You would only be in a crush of guests lining up and waiting to enter the terminal. It won’t get you onboard any earlier, as your boarding number is directly tied to your PAT. You will board behind B2B, Concierge, platinum CC and anyone with a 10:30 PAT. You’ll get the same boarding number whether you arrive early or late.

Enjoy your cruise!

We certainly don't plan arriving at the port earlier than our PAT. All we wanted is an early PAT, not because we want to get on the ship early, but because we'll be at PC early on embarkation day. Should we be waiting somewhere with our carry-on, better be it onboard than in the parking lot!

 

[Dug720]

We certainly don't plan arriving at the port earlier than our PAT. All we wanted is an early PAT, not because we want to get on the ship early, but because we'll be at PC early on embarkation day. Should we be waiting somewhere with our carry-on, better be it onboard than in the parking lot!

You said in your first post you plan to arrive “way before your PAT” though...

 

[hcox31]

We certainly don't plan arriving at the port earlier than our PAT. All we wanted is an early PAT, not because we want to get on the ship early, but because we'll be at PC early on embarkation day. Should we be waiting somewhere with our carry-on, better be it onboard than in the parking lot!

Based on your PAT that you posted, you WILL likely be waiting in a parking lot if you arrive before it (which you posted in your original post).

 

[Shanti]

If we have a PAT before rooms are ready, what are we supposed to do? Our last PAT was 1:30 and we arrived when our rooms were ready so we went and put our carry on bags away, ate some lunch, and waited for sail away on the deck. What else is there available to take up so much time?

We go swimming in an uncrowded pool, and ride the Aqua Duck without a long line. I carry only one shoulder bag with necessities, and leave any other baggage to the porters to deliver to the stateroom. I've never had an issue with leaving my shoulder bag on a deck chair while we swim.

 

[cwis]

You said in your first post you plan to arrive “way before your PAT” though...

That's not a “wish” but merely a fact. We have a rental car to drop off at PC, and we hope that waiting for the shuttle will take enough time so that we won't be too early at the port. Our understanding is that, with a 10:45am PAT, we'll have no more than 15 minutes to wait after the terminal opens!

 

[lanejudy]

I don’t believe the car rental shuttles are allowed to drop off before the terminal opens. We spent quite a bit of time hanging around the rental place once because we had to return the car before 9am to be within the 24-hour rental period. We watched shuttle after shuttle arrive full of passengers picking up cars post-cruise before we could get a ride.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Dug720]

That's not a “wish” but merely a fact. We have a rental car to drop off at PC, and we hope that waiting for the shuttle will take enough time so that we won't be too early at the port. Our understanding is that, with a 10:45am PAT, we'll have no more than 15 minutes to wait after the terminal opens!

I was just confused as I don’t consider 15 minutes “way early”. As @lanejudy said, rental car shuttles are normally not allowed in until the port opens. Also, PAT does not mean getting on the ship.

 

[Weedy]

Typically at Port Canaveral the terminal opens at 10:30. When you arrive and check in you will be given a boarding number. Concierge and Platinum get boarding #1. They start boarding the ship 11:15-11:30.

 

[hcox31]

Typically at Port Canaveral the terminal opens at 10:30. When you arrive and check in you will be given a boarding number. Concierge and Platinum get boarding #1. They start boarding the ship 11:15-11:30.

Yup. We had a 10:45 PAT and we were boarding group 5 or 6 or something on our first cruise and we didn't get on until almost noon. Waiting in the crowded terminal with no where to sit with a cranky hungry 3 year old was not my idea of fun.

 

[serenitynow]

Does the terminal have any vending machines?

 

[cwis]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. As a clarification, I am well aware how PAT work, how they are somehow tied to the boarding number, and that staterooms will probably not be ready until mid afternoon. I was intrigued by the fact early PATs were still available 40 days before the cruise, while at the same time I've been reading “tips” as to how maximize the chance of getting an early PAT (by checking “use cash for incidentals”, filling all the forms with dummy “X” to speed up the checkin process…) This made me believe early PAT would be out of availability faster than Slinky Dash FP+, while in the real world of my cruise, this has certainly not been the case.

For those curious as to why we will be arriving early at PC: we're landing in Miami a few days before. A Disney Cruise was not part of our original plan, but the dates fitted so well that we couldn't resist! However, given were travelling from Europe and we'll have the jet lag to cope with, we'd rather drive early in the morning. We know this is the not the optimal pre-cruise setting, had we planned the DCL we would have bought tickets to MCO and stayed at the Hyatt. By chance, we don't have kids, so the wait is probably going to be more bearable until we finally board!