Port arrival time…got later time with Platinum than gold?

[NYCDisneyCruise81]

We have our first Platinum cruise Jan 5 on the Fantasy from Port Canaveral. I checked in exactly at 12am, four people, finished by 12:08am and was only able to get 12pm arrival and boarding group 9. I was surprised since last year, with technical difficulties for the Dream out of Port Everglades I got 11:45am and boarding group 7. I guess I was expecting earlier time and a lower number. It’s still good obviously but amy ideas why I have always gotten better times/numbers with a lower level status?

 

[Bruno33]

There’s probably a higher proportion of higher-status cruisers this time.

 

[Mommb]

Another possibility is that at Port Canaveral, there are a number of people coming on Disney Cruise buses from Walt Disney World who get an early Port Arrival time.

 

[dreamer17555]

It depends on a number of factors- How many ppl coming from DCL transportation and how many cruisers there are that are also platinum (or higher). PC always has a lot of people using DCL transportation because they pick up at all the Disney resorts (20+ hotels), Hyatt MCO, and MCO. PE only picks up from 3 resorts (now 2), and FLL. Also because the airport is so close to the port many more guests choose things like Uber or hotel shuttles over paying for DCL transportation.

 

[cvjw]

I’ve had the same as platinum. Just depends on how many platinum cruisers on your cruise.

 

[otten]

We have our first Platinum cruise Jan 5 on the Fantasy from Port Canaveral. I checked in exactly at 12am, four people, finished by 12:08am and was only able to get 12pm arrival and boarding group 9. I was surprised since last year, with technical difficulties for the Dream out of Port Everglades I got 11:45am and boarding group 7. I guess I was expecting earlier time and a lower number. It’s still good obviously but amy ideas why I have always gotten better times/numbers with a lower level status?

The value and advantage of the early access perks is heavily dependent on how many people on your particular saoling are in each group. If there are more platinums or pearl, then being platinum is less of an advantage. There are simply more people ahead of you on this cruise. We have friends who are platinum and on their last cruise over the summer they couldn't get Palo!

Oh and yes, at other ports the Disney Transportation PAT advantage doesn't have much effect on the PAT available to people not using DCL transport but since at PC A LOT of people use DCL transport it has a noticeable impact on the earliest PAT available to everyone else.

 

[mmouse37]

The value and advantage of the early access perks is heavily dependent on how many people on your particular saoling are in each group. If there are more platinums or pearl, then being platinum is less of an advantage. There are simply more people ahead of you on this cruise. We have friends who are platinum and on their last cruise over the summer they couldn't get Palo!

Oh and yes, at other ports the Disney Transportation PAT advantage doesn't have much effect on the PAT available to people not using DCL transport but since at PC A LOT of people use DCL transport it has a noticeable impact on the earliest PAT available to everyone else.

I am Pearl and could not get Palo before the sailing. We boarded and waited in line for the dining changes team to arrive and were able to get Palo then.

MJ

 

[serrem2]

We are Platinum and got an 11:30 PAT (boarding group 9) at 12:08AM on check-in day. It was for a cruise on the Wish (100+ concierge cabins) and the ship was completely booked (probably many Pearl CC members).

It worked out fine. We got to the port at 11:35, checked our bags, parked, checked in, and they were calling our boarding group before we had time to find seats in the waiting area. We were on the boat before noon. Quickest, easiest boarding in 21 cruises!

 

[happycamper47]

I don't think CC level has any effect on PAT anymore, except for PEARL, who can show up whenever. For everybody else it's the luck of the "internet"...

 

[serrem2]

I disagree. With Platinum, you can check in (and get PAT) 38 days before the cruise, with gold or silver, it's a few days closer to the sailing date. So whatever your CC status is, if you check in at 12:00 AM on your earliest possible day, you should get the best choice of PAT's that are still available. As I understand it, Disney keeps open a number of earlier PAT's on the assumption that many Pearl members, concierge guests, and people taking Disney transportation will check in early. Our last three cruises we checked in at midnight on the earliest day and got PAT's of 11:30, 11:30, and 11:45 (boarding groups 9, 6, and 15). We were Platinum for all three trips.

 

[NYCDisneyCruise81]

Thanks everyone! I am happy we got Palo as we haven’t done that before.

 

[otten]

Are you in your sailing’s cruise group? You could ask what PATs others got? We sailed the first cruise out of Vancouver last March and the earliest PAT anyone got was noon. We got 12:30 and bg 8. They started boarding earlier than planned though.

 

[holula]

I don't think CC level has any effect on PAT anymore, except for PEARL, who can show up whenever. For everybody else it's the luck of the "internet"...

I actually agree with this, on my last cruise they had clearly reserved some of the earlier times for the lower CC levels. I don’t bother checking in when it opens as it’s 5am for me so I normally do it around 8-9am (this is UK time) and the earliest was around 12pm.

When gold opened then some gold members were able to get 11.30 PAT.

 

[WB1971]

It’s a ridiculous system that doesn’t give priority to higher castaway status like it should. People paying $45 for a transfer are prioritized. Not happy with this system as a Platinum cruiser who lives near the port and doesn’t need DCL transfers.

 

[Mommb]

It’s a ridiculous system that doesn’t give priority to higher castaway status like it should. People paying $45 for a transfer are prioritized. Not happy with this system as a Platinum cruiser who lives near the port and doesn’t need DCL transfers.

The goal of the port arrival system is to spread out the number of people in the terminal over the course of boarding. Disney Cruise transfers from Walt Disney World (and from other locations with a limited number of buses) are prioritized because they don’t have control over when they arrive at the port — they board the bus as told and arrive when the bus arrives. People driving themselves or taking private services can plan to arrive at or after a specific time.

This system doesn’t always work as intended, as there are reports of people waiting for a long time to enter the terminal or, conversely, entering before their PAT. Once boarding starts, my experience has been that it moves quickly, especially if guests wait until their group is called or about to be called to approach the boarding lane.

 

[European]

It’s a ridiculous system that doesn’t give priority to higher castaway status like it should. People paying $45 for a transfer are prioritized. Not happy with this system as a Platinum cruiser who lives near the port and doesn’t need DCL transfers.

Then again those people do spend a lot of money on Disney: hotels, food, merchandise. And the transfers (which I don’t think are cheap). So I do think it’s fair they get priority. I wish I lived near a DCL port, I would be happy to give up a priority boarding.

 

[happycamper47]

Then again those people do spend a lot of money on Disney: hotels, food, merchandise. And the transfers (which I don’t think are cheap). So I do think it’s fair they get priority. I wish I lived near a DCL port, I would be happy to give up a priority boarding.

It's also the people who stay at the Hyatt or just buy transfers from the airport. None of which spend any extra money at WDW. So it's not a balanced system.

 

[WB1971]

Then again those people do spend a lot of money on Disney: hotels, food, merchandise. And the transfers (which I don’t think are cheap). So I do think it’s fair they get priority. I wish I lived near a DCL port, I would be happy to give up a priority boarding.

Platinum Castaway had open boarding before 2020. If it was fair and worked then, it can work now. You also didn’t have to stay up unit midnight to check in. That’s part of what I consider a significantly worse system than what previously existed. Zero legitimate reason to degrade the experience. My online check in, port arrival and boarding as a first time cruiser with Royal were far better this year at the same port. DCL is a far better product to me, so frustrating they have to make this part of the vacation a pain and take too long for loyal repeat guests.

 

[European]

It's also the people who stay at the Hyatt or just buy transfers from the airport. None of which spend any extra money at WDW. So it's not a balanced system.

If you just buy transfers from the airport, you have to stick to your PAT. If you’re staying at Hyatt and get transfers, I am sure they have an agreement with Disney which benefits both parties.

 

[NYCDisneyCruise81]

Are you in your sailing’s cruise group? You could ask what PATs others got? We sailed the first cruise out of Vancouver last March and the earliest PAT anyone got was noon. We got 12:30 and bg 8. They started boarding earlier than planned though.

Oddly there is no sailing group here or on the Facebook groups, first time for that too!