Live from the PC Terminal 8/2/11

[Zandy595]

So--are they consistently enforcing the port arrival times??? Just wondering.

It sounds like they will let you in the terminal to check-in, but you get a higher boarding number if you have a later arrival time.

 

[sullins5]

Yikes on Budget car rental situation- glad we decided against that option. Yeah on checking in just before 11 and getting on the ship at 11:45! MREBUCK, what was your original port arrival time on-line?

I am so excited for next week!

"Yikes"...What happened with Budget?

 

[conandrob240]

Read posts above. It seems he arrived at Budget at 10:30 but because of crowds there and lots of luggage didn't get on a shuttle headed to the terminal until 11:45am. Maybe I read it wrong?!

 

[sullins5]

Read posts above. It seems he arrived at Budget at 10:30 but because of crowds there and lots of luggage didn't get on a shuttle headed to the terminal until 11:45am. Maybe I read it wrong?!

No..lol, I just didn't understand "called s can 11:45"..I guess. I wonder if it's gonna be bad, if dh drops us off first at the port, if dh will be sitting at Budget for a while?

Let's hope all this 'transition' is gonna run smoooooooooth for everyone!

 

[Mickeygolf]

Hopefully Woobie will tell us the whole story on Budget when they return. I know I would like to know because that's what we are planning to do. Anyone else who has used the Budget shuttle that could shed a little light on the process would be greatly appreciated. I know there was a previous report that the shuttle for Budget worked extremely well, hoping that Woobie's situation was not the normal routine.

 

[sullins5]

Hopefully Woobie will tell us the whole story on Budget when they return. I know I would like to know because that's what we are planning to do. Anyone else who has used the Budget shuttle that could shed a little light on the process would be greatly appreciated. I know there was a previous report that the shuttle for Budget worked extremely well, hoping that Woobie's situation was not the normal routine.

Here's hoping...

 

[KJF]

Got to budget car rental at 10:30. Called s can at 11:45. Many families with all their luggage. About to get dropped off. Finally.

Doing this next week - was Budget complete chaos or was there a line for the shuttle? Were there cabs there if you'd rather take that instead of waiting on the shuttle?

 

[conandrob240]

Uh-oh. I think it actually means "called a cab" at 11:45am. That the Budget shuttles were THAT bad

 

[tyedye]

Was on 8/12 cruise. Check in time was 12-12:30, arrived around 11:45... drove up to unload luggage, parked car, went thru security, and got in CC line to check in. Line was kinda long but moved along at good pace. When we checked in he said we were boarding number something but it was open boarding already. Walked on ship and was eating at Cabana's by 1 pm.

 

[lidec]

Has anyone come from the WDW resorts yet. i assume they are arriving as usual and the time hasnt affected them. I was hoping they would leave the resorts a little earlier and be at the boat by 1.

 

[CoolHandsGirl]

Since this thread is a sticky, thought I'd add the link to a great thread that has started if you haven't seen it yet (or it eventually gets lost further down the boards!) about the experience of transferring from the MCO Hyatt to the PC terminal since the new port arrival times have started:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2782210

 

[zuperdaave]

We were on the 8/12 sailing. Absolutely no problems embarking at all (now DISembarking was another story and took a lot longer than on prior cruises!). We had a 12-12:30 arrival time and arrived right around 12:30. It was seamless. Line to check-in was maybe 10 mins? And just as tyedye said, they also told us it was open boarding. We walked right on. Honestly, it was the smoothest and fastest embarkation of any cruise we've ever taken! So future cruisers who are driving in should fear not: the new system (at least from our perspective) worked really well!!

 

[autimom]

We were on the 8/12 sailing. Absolutely no problems embarking at all (now DISembarking was another story and took a lot longer than on prior cruises!). We had a 12-12:30 arrival time and arrived right around 12:30. It was seamless. Line to check-in was maybe 10 mins? And just as tyedye said, they also told us it was open boarding. We walked right on. Honestly, it was the smoothest and fastest embarkation of any cruise we've ever taken! So future cruisers who are driving in should fear not: the new system (at least from our perspective) worked really well!!

If I am lucky enough for there to be a next time, I am keeping the luggage with me and not jumping out of bed at 6am on debarkation day.

 

[Mickeygolf]

Please tell us why. Thanks!!!

 

[son3disfan]

We were on the 8/12 sailing. Absolutely no problems embarking at all (now DISembarking was another story and took a lot longer than on prior cruises!). We had a 12-12:30 arrival time and arrived right around 12:30. It was seamless. Line to check-in was maybe 10 mins? And just as tyedye said, they also told us it was open boarding. We walked right on. Honestly, it was the smoothest and fastest embarkation of any cruise we've ever taken! So future cruisers who are driving in should fear not: the new system (at least from our perspective) worked really well!!

Probably because you showed up when you were suppose to!
Imagine if everyone else showed up at their designated times!

Good to hear things ran smoothly for you.....we are planning at arriving at 12:00. Even though we would love an upgrade, I think our cruise is almost sold out, so we are not going to try.
I am assuming that is the only reason people are not adhering to their port arrival times?

 

[Zandy595]

Even though we have a good idea of what's going on now, I still wish people would post live reports. It's fun to read.

They're probably getting ready to start boarding now.

 

[TiggerAllie]

We were on the 8/16 cruise:
Returned the rental car to Avis just after 11, and the shuttle dropped us off at the port ~ 11:25.
Handed the luggage off to the porters and started in on the lines: security, then check-in. The lines were long but they moved very quickly.
We had 3 staterooms in our party with 3 different boarding times: 11, 12, 12:30. Even though we were the only CC members, they sent the whole group together to check-in.
Check-in was a breeze--we were done by noon. They gave us all the same boarding group: #5. They were on #15 when we started in the check-in line and #20 by the time we actually boarded.
The line through the mouse-ears moved quickly and we were on the ship by 12:15, eating lunch at Cabanas by 12:30.
Cabanas was full but we got a table and with the pod-style (lido) buffet, there were no lines for food.
Rooms were open by 1:25 (when we were done eating).
Easy breezy!

Disembarkation was also a breeze (off the ship at 7:45--no lines, DCL bus to MCO was on the road by 8:10).

 

[TiggerAllie]

duplicate post

 

[elgerber]

We were on the 8/16 cruise:
Returned the rental car to Avis just after 11, and the shuttle dropped us off at the port ~ 11:25.
Handed the luggage off to the porters and started in on the lines: security, then check-in. The lines were long but they moved very quickly.
We had 3 staterooms in our party with 3 different boarding times: 11, 12, 12:30. Even though we were the only CC members, they sent the whole group together to check-in.
Check-in was a breeze--we were done by noon. They gave us all the same boarding group: #5. They were on #15 when we started in the check-in line and #20 by the time we actually boarded.
The line through the mouse-ears moved quickly and we were on the ship by 12:15, eating lunch at Cabanas by 12:30.
Cabanas was full but we got a table and with the pod-style (lido) buffet, there were no lines for food.
Rooms were open by 1:25 (when we were done eating).
Easy breezy!

Disembarkation was also a breeze (off the ship at 7:45--no lines, DCL bus to MCO was on the road by 8:10).

This was our experience as well, but I think we were about 10 minutes ahead of you. We had boarding number 4, so we literally walked right on as soon as we checked in. We debarked a bit later, but were at Avis before 9.

 

[bz8bls]

Hopefully Woobie will tell us the whole story on Budget when they return. I know I would like to know because that's what we are planning to do. Anyone else who has used the Budget shuttle that could shed a little light on the process would be greatly appreciated. I know there was a previous report that the shuttle for Budget worked extremely well, hoping that Woobie's situation was not the normal routine.

Budget was HORRIBLE. We arrived at Budget approximately at 10:30 (had a 11:00 arrival time). They only had one agent working and only one shuttle...so we called a cab (actually shared with another family). There were at least four families that called cabs while we were there. Arrived at the the terminal around 12:30. Lines were very long, but moved quickly. We received a #5 boarding so we were onboard by 1 p.m. I think they are letting people on according to their port arrival time because there were other families in the terminal waiting to board and we boarded before them. I am sure we would have been on earlier if Budget would have been operating more efficiently.

Also, Budget looked like the line was just as long at the terminal on debarkation. We decided to take a cab to airport instead of picking up the Budget rental for a return to MCO. Got a pretty decent rate for a family of five.