PORT ARRIVAL TIME WINDOWS ... ? enforced

[castle4us]

I think the big issue here is not people who don't want to follow the new rules, but the fact that DCL never told anyone these rules were coming. They should have had better communication about it, and given more advance notice. Many people with a 10:30 arrival time have been bumped to 11:30 for my August cruise. Personally, I have a rental car that needs to be returned by 10am. I had thought this would work out ok, but now obviously it wont. If I change my rental car reservation this late, I forfeit my good rate that I got months ago. So our choices are to end up in that holding queue on the curb, hang out at the Budget rental shop until the terminal opens, or pay the late fees for the rental car.

This is exactly true for me too, with the rental car.

I couldn't find any info in my cruise docs about port arrival time and online it still lists 10:30. Will I have to keep checking onlone to see if the time changes to 11:30 or later or does DCL notify you?

 

[pointandshoot]

Do people really think arrival time is completely in control of the traveller and they should be punished if arriving early. Wow!

Just having gone cross country for an Alaska cruise, I had mechanical plane issues, boarder crossing delays, rental car counter mix ups, and driving direction foul-ups. A 10 hour trip become 20 when it was over. And I have travelled a zillion miles and consider myself a good planner.

This sound like some frequent Disney cruisers not getting their perks because of guest arrival times. I have only cruised Disney once so I am not familiar with their boarding process for frequent guests. Forgive my lack of knowledge on the matter.

I would suggest not blaming the other guests but maybe direct your comments to Disney and the process in which they take care of you. If you are a frequent Disney cruise customer, they should have an agent(s) assigned to take you promptly regardless of the time you arrive.

TSA has segmented lines for the type of traveller. Airlines have designated agents for loyal customers. For the money you have spent, you should be able to arrive at ANYTIME and expect service. Disney has mastered queueing elsewhere. Maybe use some of that experience here.

Not sure I like sticking families in the sun. Sounds like Disney's process of slotted arrival times could be rethought to align to loyal customers. Arriving on time for a Fastpass is a bit easier than coordinating travel when things are out of your control.

 

[eva]

Yes, as long as you are linked and all of the rooms are paid in full, when you go to make your reservations at the time for gold members you should be able to make a reservations for all of the adults, as long as there is space at that time. You cannot do this for excursions, just Palo. Also, if you are only able to get space for 6 out of the 8, you can still get to the terminal at your earlier time and board, then go to the spot for Palo and request to have 2 more added to your reservation. Just have their reservation number with you.

Thanks for the info. Glad we can book the entire group online for Palo and Remy at the 105 window. That is very helpful. But us arriving earlier won't work, we are all flying in together the day before and will arrive at the port at the same time. Right now we are trying to decide on whether to rent a van near the airport and stay in that area or stay overnight at WDW and take their transportation. Either way, I would not feel good leaving them at a hotel and going on without them. The only person that has cruised with DCL before will be nearly 80 years old at the time. I don't feel to comfortable leaving a bunch of newbies and an elderly woman back at the hotel to make their way to the ship. We will just have to see what port times we get and see how things work out. Thanks again.

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

The below I just pulled from our cruise check in window. Does anyone know if you can still go thru the parking garage on the second floor to check in?


Please select time period - from the list of available times below - that reflects when you will arrive at the cruise terminal.

Important Additional Information:

Guest arriving early may be asked to wait until their scheduled time for entry into the cruise terminal.
If you are traveling with another party and the initial time period is no longer available, we recommend that you arrive at the later time in order to ensure we can accommodate the entire family.
Upon arriving at your designated time, the team will assist you in completing your cruise check-in and provide you with the best possible experience prior to boarding the ship.

Note: Your ship boarding time, as listed on your cruise itinerary, may be different than your selected terminal arrival time period. We thank you in advance for observing your selected terminal arrival time.
Choose a Port Arrival Time.
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM

01:00 PM - 01:30 PM

01:30 PM - 02:00 PM

02:00 PM - 02:30 PM

02:30 PM - 03:00 PM

03:00 PM - 03:30 PM

 

[swissgirl66]

We belong to the cruisers leaving port on August 2 and I need your experienced help. Where can I check online if my so far port arrival time from 11:00 - 11:30 has been changed?

I was checking in my cruise plan, but could not find it (silly me ), can you someone guide me to were I actually see this time again?

We leave Switzerland in 7 days and are not sure if we have online access in between.

 

[lbgraves]

You can go to the printable docs for the cruise. Bring up your reservation. Click on "my online check in" on the left. Click on "view or edit". Click on Daisy's porthole picture to view your port arrival time.

 

[swissgirl66]

Great, found it, thanks so much

You can go to the printable docs for the cruise. Bring up your reservation. Click on "my online check in" on the left. Click on "view or edit". Click on Daisy's porthole picture to view your port arrival time.

 

[BigDogHU75]

We are on the Aug 2nd cruise which is only 22 days away and the port arrival times for the non-concierge guests in our party still show up at 10:30 - 11. DCL is saying that they are in the process of changing that but I think they will just leave it for the ones who have done online check-in already. Just my guess so it wouldn't hurt to keep checking.



As of right now DCL is not enforcing port arrival times so you should not have any problems. According to DCL, when the new opening time for the terminal goes into effect on Aug 2nd they will start enforcing port arrival times.



I totally agree with what kritter posted. This is basically what concierge told me on Thursday. I am still in touch with the shoreside concierge manager and she is trying to find out more information for me. I could be totally wrong but it sounds like they will have different queue areas for each boarding time and another queue area for those who did not select a port arrival time. If you show up before your arrival time then they will make you wait in the queue area.

It will be interesting to see what really happens on Aug 2nd.

Great, found it, thanks so much

For those cruising the beginning of August, please report back your experience on port arrival times. My family & I will be sailing on Aug. 16. The other stateroom that is linked to ours has a port arrival time for 12:30 -1:00 p.m. and they are renting a car for the day and have to return it by a certain time. Our port arrival time is 11:00 -11:30. I guess we will see what happens. Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide.

 

[DVCconvert]

I have a done the on line check in for a november cruise on the dream, we are in a suite, here's what the DCL website says under 'boarding time':

Since your travel party includes Platinum or Concierge Guests, you are not required to select an arrival time. You may arrive any time during embarkation hours and board the ship at your leisure after check-in.

 

[DVC4US]

For those cruising the beginning of August, please report back your experience on port arrival times. My family & I will be sailing on Aug. 16. The other stateroom that is linked to ours has a port arrival time for 12:30 -1:00 p.m. and they are renting a car for the day and have to return it by a certain time. Our port arrival time is 11:00 -11:30. I guess we will see what happens. Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide.

I plan on doing this. If I can I will post from my iphone once we are in the terminal or if not I will get online and post later that day. Either way, I will try to let everyone know what we experience on the 2nd.

 

[BigDogHU75]

I plan on doing this. If I can I will post from my iphone once we are in the terminal or if not I will get online and post later that day. Either way, I will try to let everyone know what we experience on the 2nd.

Thank you!

 

[DVC4US]

I have a done the on line check in for a november cruise on the dream, we are in a suite, here's what the DCL website says under 'boarding time':

Yes, that is what it says for all platinum/concierge guests. The problem with this is that it only helps you once you are in the terminal. As of right now there is not a separate security line to get into the terminal. This is one of the things we have voiced as a concern to DCL and they are looking into it for us.

 

[DVC4US]

I have Disney transportation and i was asked to select a time!

That is interesting to hear. I thought those who have DCL transportation did not have to pick a port arrival time. Maybe they are going to make you wait at the airport for the bus that will get you to the terminal for your port arrival time.

 

[Dizzyworld]

I couldn't find any info in my cruise docs about port arrival time and online it still lists 10:30. Will I have to keep checking onlone to see if the time changes to 11:30 or later or does DCL notify you?

Go to the bottom of the "Table of Contents" page of your cruise docs. for the information about the terminal opening at 11 am.

I checked my online check-in and it still says 10:30, but I'm wondering since we are on the previous cruise (B2B) if that is the reason it hasn't changed?

 

[Nikki'sMommy]

Well, one would hope that adults are able to know the difference between right and wrong and the importance of following directions. If you have a 12pm check-in, you shouldn't arrive at 10am. Teaching children that the rules DO apply to them is a great way to start a family vacation!

Are you related to my mother???

 

[lbgraves]

That is interesting to hear. I thought those who have DCL transportation did not have to pick a port arrival time. Maybe they are going to make you wait at the airport for the bus that will get you to the terminal for your port arrival time.

Nice to know I didn't imagine seeing that.

 

[BelleProfHP]

Wow, you sound like my mother...

Well, I *am* a mother and had one of my own who taught me the same. Additionally, I deal with HS-ers all day long who believe that the rules don't apply to them, due in large part to their parents acting the same way.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Looks like Platinum (and possibly Concierge) guests who may be traveling in a party that includes a cabin of gold/silver/newbies, will have to wait around to board with whoever got the latest booking time too.

I can see circumstances where the early boarding is the most important thing for some folks and now they get to pay off their cruise 45 days before due date, but loose one of their perks. I think unless I need that early booking window for a Castaway Cay cabana or some mandatory Palo booking, there's no point in paying off my cruise at 120 days if others in my party are not platinum also.

I know my cabin mate(s) and I could board alone...but that makes a family boarding picture impossible (unless the family wants to call me on my cell phone to come back of the ship to pose with them!).

Ah well, we'll know in three weeks and then see how it all shakes down in the weeks following. My sympathies to all the August cruisers.

.

 

[steves100]

I have an 11:00 time for 8-14 so we are fine. But, for all the people that had 10:30 times, they should be moved to 11:00 not 11:30, totally unfair.

The reason this is a big deal to alot of people is reservations at Palo/Remy and changing dinning times like us. Disney screwed up our reservation, we will be gold after this trip.

They had us down for late seating preferred. I specifically asked for early when we book on board last year. So now we need to wait online to make the change.

Also, since no one but platinum members got brunch maybe we want to wait online to hopefully get Palo brunch.

Also why do Disney transportation folks get an advantage by getting a boarding number and not people staying near Port Canaveral????

 

[ibouncetoo]

.

Also why do Disney transportation folks get an advantage by getting a boarding number and not people staying near Port Canaveral????

My guess is this won't any longer be the case, your boarding # will most likely be linked to your arrival time, not the time you check in. But that remains to be seen.

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