How fast do PAT fill up?

[Jennifer777]

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here but I don't even understand the point of having PATs if they aren't enforced anyway. We had a 10:30 - 10:45 slot last time. I waited up until midnight to get it and when we showed up at the port at 10:30 that day we ended up waiting in line for an hour behind a bunch of people who showed up before their PATs. The terminal was packed with people who had much higher boarding numbers than we did and they were packed in so tight around the ship entrance area that it made it nearly impossible to get through because they didn't want to move, even when we showed them our boarding number and asked to get through. We finally got on board just before noon. I know this isn't the case for every sailing but we won't be doing an early PAT again unless DCL/port staff or whoever is in charge finds a way to actually enforce PATs. Until then, we'll relax at our pre-cruise hotel all morning and show up at noon to avoid the mayhem. I'm sure I'm not alone so perhaps this is one of the reasons an early PAT was still left this close to sailing.

 

[k3chantal]

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.

This is what we do plus arrange for character meets, tastings or Palo dining, etc......that were either not available or not exactly the way we want it when we were online..........
On the Mediterranean cruise we went on, they have excursions on the day you debark. You can't sign up for it prior to the cruise. I wanted to get onboard quickly so I could get my party of nine on the trip. (turns out we were the first to sign up but hey we got what we wanted and there was only a total of 50 spots)

 

[serenitynow]

Other cruise lines have found ways to help with boarding numbers and crowds. I don’t understand why Disney hasn’t found a solution to this problem. It’s difficult to push past the huge crowd surrounding the entrance ramp, it’s scary for small children whose parents are trying to juggle suitcases and littles and lots of people try to force their way onboard before the boarding number has been called, so this must be very stressful for the Cast Members as well, doing boarding detail.

Let’s face it, normally Disney knows how to run lines and holding areas in their parks. I guess they are going to wait until someone gets hurt before they come up with a better system.

 

[CrawfordMomof3]

Just found out this video from 2017:

It seems the vending machines were still at the exact location you mentionned (skip to 0:53 of the video to catch a short glimpse)

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Sunshine2U]

Micromanaging??? I'm not micromanaging, I'm 'insuring a quality experience'.

I'm stealing this one. Here's to quality experiences!!!

 

[wellow]

Does anybody knows what will happen if you show up later than your PAT?

Let's say if I have a transportation issue and reach the port 30 mins after my PAT. I am thinking if taking Uber from WDW to PC.

 

[cwis]

Does anybody knows what will happen if you show up later than your PAT?

Let's say if I have a transportation issue and reach the port 30 mins after than my PAT. I am thinking if taking Uber from WDW to PC.

What Disney doesn't want is you showing *earlier* than your PAT. You boarding number will be tied to your PAT, if you show up later, you might end up boarding faster.
However, for consideration to those who would want to arrive earlier, if you plan to arrive later than your PAT and if you can still change it on-line, I would suggest that you do, in order to free the PAT.

 

[RedSox68]

Other cruise lines have found ways to help with boarding numbers and crowds. I don’t understand why Disney hasn’t found a solution to this problem. It’s difficult to push past the huge crowd surrounding the entrance ramp, it’s scary for small children whose parents are trying to juggle suitcases and littles and lots of people try to force their way onboard before the boarding number has been called, so this must be very stressful for the Cast Members as well, doing boarding detail.

Let’s face it, normally Disney knows how to run lines and holding areas in their parks. I guess they are going to wait until someone gets hurt before they come up with a better system.

This is always been my complaint after we discovered what other cruise lines have accomplished with the process. My first non-Disney experience in Alaska with HAL, they checked you in, gave you a group number and had a huge room with rows of chairs where you were placed. Then they would take the passengers row by row. Nice, easy, uncomplicated solution. Even in Manhattan, as much as I hate the crowds of the 3,500+ passenger ships, once you check in they give you a number and you have a huge sitting area. AND they take your embarkation pictures IN the terminal while you wait, so that once you board you just head right to lunch, no lag of people stopping to have pictures taken. AND they rope off and keep the entranceway clear guarded by security and crew members.

Maybe when Disney enlarges the terminal they will move into a better solution for check in and (please) provide more seats.

 

[southerngirl528]

Other cruise lines have found ways to help with boarding numbers and crowds. I don’t understand why Disney hasn’t found a solution to this problem. It’s difficult to push past the huge crowd surrounding the entrance ramp, it’s scary for small children whose parents are trying to juggle suitcases and littles and lots of people try to force their way onboard before the boarding number has been called, so this must be very stressful for the Cast Members as well, doing boarding detail.

Let’s face it, normally Disney knows how to run lines and holding areas in their parks. I guess they are going to wait until someone gets hurt before they come up with a better system.

It seems that CM's/Security need to be posted at the entrance to the port, not unlike a FP entrance in the theme parks. If it's not time for your FP, chances are slim to none you're getting in more than the 5 min window.

The terminal is really not big enough for a ship fun of people all jammed in at once. DCL really needs to do something. DCL came up with some innovation in streamlining processes when they first launched Disney Cruise Lines, where are those innovating Imagineers now?

 

[DvF Diva]

We selected the earlier PAT selection available (1030-1045), and arrived at 1030a; the security line was out the door, the terminal was full, and it still looked like at least half the ship checked in before we did.
We were assigned boarding group number 6, which gave us just enough time to get into the photo line and get a picture with Goofy right before our group was called.

Not sure PAT really is all that useful, to be honest. LOL

 

[DvF Diva]

Does the terminal have any vending machines?

Yes, near the front bathrooms on your right as you come up the escalators (you go past the bathrooms and make a right, as if you're trying to get behind the bathrooms). I was some pretty yuck stuff available, as in tons of sugar and preservatives. Nothing I would actually want to eat. And I'm willing to eat Munchos, Bugles, Corn Nuts, Twizzlers, and all that type of junk food. LOL

 

[southerngirl528]

Nothing I would actually want to eat. And I'm willing to eat Munchos, Bugles, Corn Nuts, Twizzlers, and all that type of junk food. LOL

That's a pretty sad commentary of the vending selections!

 

[Weedy]

We recently sailed on Royal out of NJ. They had the line up in chairs. Worked great. Much less stressful in my opinion.

 

[RedSox68]

We recently sailed on Royal out of NJ. They had the line up in chairs. Worked great. Much less stressful in my opinion.
View attachment 341489

Yes -- that is how HAL did it the two times we sailed with them. Numbered rows and plenty of seating.

 

[southerngirl528]

We recently sailed on Royal out of NJ. They had the line up in chairs. Worked great. Much less stressful in my opinion.

Yes -- that is how HAL did it the two times we sailed with them. Numbered rows and plenty of seating.

Thanks for the pic, Weedy! My question is do they have like hundreds and hundreds of chairs?? I cannot imagine that, but it would be nice! Only cruise I've ever taken where there were rows of seats was out of Port of Honolulu for the Wonder sailing in 2015, and there were only a few rows of chairs similar to what it LOOKS like in the photo Weedy posted. I would say there were about a hundred chairs available tops there, but the terminal was humongous! So plenty of room to mill around.

 

[RedSox68]

Thanks for the pic, Weedy! My question is do they have like hundreds and hundreds of chairs?? I cannot imagine that, but it would be nice! Only cruise I've ever taken where there were rows of seats was out of Port of Honolulu for the Wonder sailing in 2015, and there were only a few rows of chairs similar to what it LOOKS like in the photo Weedy posted. I would say there were about a hundred chairs available tops there, but the terminal was humongous! So plenty of room to mill around.

The HAL terminal in Vancouver had a large glass enclosed waiting area with dozens of rows of chairs -- and they were long rows! When we checked in, we were placed in row three and sat for only about 15 minutes, and we were taken for boarding. It was the quickest process I've ever had.

 

[southerngirl528]

The HAL terminal in Vancouver had a large glass enclosed waiting area with dozens of rows of chairs -- and they were long rows! When we checked in, we were placed in row three and sat for only about 15 minutes, and we were taken for boarding. It was the quickest process I've ever had.

That's good to hear, RedSox68! For our Wonder sailing out of Vancouver a few years ago, I thought that terminal was a nightmare, at least at the time we checked in. Going through Customs it was literally PACKED, shoulder to shoulder in queues. Took us a LONG time to get through that mess. Though we got to the port quite early, by the time we finally got out of the Customs lines, the ship was already boarding and we just walked on.

 

[RedSox68]

That's good to hear, RedSox68! For our Wonder sailing out of Vancouver a few years ago, I thought that terminal was a nightmare, at least at the time we checked in. Going through Customs it was literally PACKED, shoulder to shoulder in queues. Took us a LONG time to get through that mess. Though we got to the port quite early, by the time we finally got out of the Customs lines, the ship was already boarding and we just walked on.

I'm really not sure why we were so lucky. We stayed at Pan Pacific and had the porter take our luggage right to the terminal from our room. When we got down there, about 10:30 a.m., there was no one in line. We were onboard I think by 11:00 a.m.

 

[mmmears]

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here but I don't even understand the point of having PATs if they aren't enforced anyway. We had a 10:30 - 10:45 slot last time. I waited up until midnight to get it and when we showed up at the port at 10:30 that day we ended up waiting in line for an hour behind a bunch of people who showed up before their PATs. The terminal was packed with people who had much higher boarding numbers than we did and they were packed in so tight around the ship entrance area that it made it nearly impossible to get through because they didn't want to move, even when we showed them our boarding number and asked to get through. We finally got on board just before noon. I know this isn't the case for every sailing but we won't be doing an early PAT again unless DCL/port staff or whoever is in charge finds a way to actually enforce PATs. Until then, we'll relax at our pre-cruise hotel all morning and show up at noon to avoid the mayhem. I'm sure I'm not alone so perhaps this is one of the reasons an early PAT was still left this close to sailing.

Oh my. This happened to us last year. It was a mess, we couldn't even get INTO the terminal. We were stuck on that walkway on the 2nd floor for what seemed like forever. Then we check in and got something like boarding group 2 or 3. And the people next to us had a really high one and were complaining about it. I guess they just showed up early. In the end we barely had to wait at all once we were handed that boarding slip, and then we practically had to fight our way to get to the ship since it was packed with people whose numbers weren't close to coming up any time soon. What a mess.

I'm really not sure why we were so lucky. We stayed at Pan Pacific and had the porter take our luggage right to the terminal from our room. When we got down there, about 10:30 a.m., there was no one in line. We were onboard I think by 11:00 a.m.

Same with us. It was quick and easy in Vancouver. Nothing like our experience at PC.

 

[Dug720]

I do think that DCL could make it clearer that your PAT and Boarding Group are tied together and getting there earlier won't bump you up in boarding.

While other lines may have better organization in the port (I only experienced having to wait for boarding to start my HAL Alaska cruise - my three RCCL cruises I walked right on...fathom I had to wait, and there were no numbers as to where to sit, but that ship only held 700 people, so no big deal), they also don't tie boarding to your scheduled time to arrive. You get there when you get there and just get whatever number is being given out.

Disney, on the other hand, does link the boarding group to the PAT, but it's not really communicated by them that they do, so people who are accustomed to different lines in particular are used to showing up early and waltzing on board - which is why there are people who want to argue about their number and/or clog up the works for everyone else.