Port Arrival Time and Testing

[mr_buggy]

We are sailing out of port Canaveral next week with our unvaccinated 1 year old. Are we allowed to show up before our port arrival time to do her test, or do we have to show up at the assigned time? We have a pretty late PAT assigned and I'd like to minimize the amount of time we are sitting around in the hotel waiting.

 

[Mommb]

I haven't sailed in the past 2 years, but my understanding from people who have sailed lately is that Port Arrival Time is just that -- the time at which you are permitted to enter the port area.

An advantage to having a late arrival time is that you will probably be able to board the ship soon after testing and check-in are complete, so you will do most of the day's wait in or around your hotel rather than in the crowded boarding area.

 

[SnappySerape]

I just got off the Wish today and had paid for a COVID test at the port. My PAT was 1pm and my test was scheduled for noon. I showed up at noon and was able to drop off luggage and park without any issue. I was asked when my PAT was but when I said I had a scheduled COVID test over in the tent, it was no problem! The test results were pretty quick, maybe 20 minutes. I think I walked into the terminal just before 1pm.

 

[mr_buggy]

Hi All, just wanted to give an update in case someone finds the thread via a search. Before the cruise I had called DCL and they confirmed what was mentioned earlier in the thread that I could only show up at my PAT. However.......

I had a 1:30 arrival time. Due to various timings in dropping off my rental car and taking the shuttle I arrived at port Canaveral at 12:55. When we arrived no one checked the PAT and we were directed across the street to the testing area. Over there no one cared about the port arrival time and they gave our kid the test and we waited for the results. We ended up going over to the check in area at 1:25 or so and they let us in and we checked in without issue. So long story short, it was as I thought and the port arrival time only matters for when you actually go to enter the check in line. I don't know how strongly they are enforcing the PAT at checkin as we were technically allowed in early, but by the time we got there they were boarding all groups so I don't know if we had a earlier time if my experience would have been different.

 

[lanejudy]

I had a 1:30 arrival time.

I suspect your experience had more to do with having a later PAT. If you'd had an 11:30am PAT and arrived more than 30 minutes early, you may have had a different experience. Likely by the time you arrived they were close to (if not already) "open boarding" which means they no longer pay attention to PAT or boarding groups because the crowds have been cleared from the terminal. PAT is essentially used to manage crowds in the terminal; once those crowds have moved onboard, no need for crowd control measures in the terminal.

 

[mr_buggy]

Yep, we were in open boarding by the time we got there. I'm posting this more as a datapoint for people like me who goofed and got a bad PAT. I really feel though that there could have been more slots made available in the PATs after open boarding started. I get why they are doing it but I think they went a bit overboard.