Reservation "Scramble"

[WallyBear]

We are cruising for the first time on DCL next year (Magic) and I keep hearing about standing in all these lines the first day. What are they and do I really need to stand in line all day or can I do everything before the trip (except for the picture which we will pass on).

Thank you!

 

[Bishoparc]

There really isn't much to stand in line for. If you booked your excursions ahead of time then your tickets for those will be in your room, same if you pre-book any of the nicer restaurants. The only thing we had to get on day 1 were tickets for either the princess or Anna & Elsa meet and greet but it wasn't a huge line. Even the check-in line moved pretty quick for us both times. If you are worried about the check-in lines then just choose a later port arrival time. We did 1:30 last time and it was great.

For the photo packages you can even pre-purchase those.

As long as you've taken care of the stuff you want to do ahead of time you shouldn't have any trouble. Don't stress, just enjoy

 

[WallyBear]

Thank you! I had this vision of running around like a chicken with my head cut off the first day.

 

[Bishoparc]

Thank you! I had this vision of running around like a chicken with my head cut off the first day.

Oh goodness no. Unless you have just sat around and not taken care of your stuff ahead of time but even still, unless you board really early you will be fine.

 

[diznymom]

Don't pass on the picture. It doesn't take long (a minute or two). They have several people taking pictures as you board.

Book a later boarding time to avoid the huge crowds and lines to get aboard. Or, take DCL transportation from a WDW resort.

If you have kids, you can gt them registered at the kids club, or you can stand in line at the port

Meet and greet tickets have lines

If you have the dining you want and the excursions you want, you won't have to stand in lines for those.

 

[TeaBee]

We are cruising for the first time on DCL next year (Magic) and I keep hearing about standing in all these lines the first day. What are they and do I really need to stand in line all day or can I do everything before the trip (except for the picture which we will pass on).

Thank you!

We didn't wait in any lines except for security at port arrival. Our port arrival time was 12:30 and after making our way through security (no worse than the airport), we were able to walk right up to the desk to check in and then walk on the ship. My husband decided on a whim to add a jetski excursion at Castaway Cay, so we walked up to the excursions desk (no line) and made our reservation. We walked into the kids club and signed up my youngest with no wait. And that was it! We were happy with our dining time and didn't want to do any character meet and greets, so that wasn't an issue for us. The only other time we had to wait in line on the cruise was to reserve a placeholder future cruise and we waited maybe 15 minutes.

 

[JWigs]

There are lines to "check in" but it moves fast and literally you are then free to get on the boat. They didn't enforce times even though you listed a time you were supposed to check in by. I think we were maybe an hour early for the time slot we had signed up to check in.

We took WDW bus from MCO so we were at the mercy of the time the bus arrived

Enjoy it is a fun cruise!

 

[bumbershoot]

We didn't wait in any lines except for security at port arrival. Our port arrival time was 12:30 and after making our way through security (no worse than the airport), we were able to walk right up to the desk to check in and then walk on the ship. My husband decided on a whim to add a jetski excursion at Castaway Cay, so we walked up to the excursions desk (no line) and made our reservation. We walked into the kids club and signed up my youngest with no wait. And that was it! We were happy with our dining time and didn't want to do any character meet and greets, so that wasn't an issue for us. The only other time we had to wait in line on the cruise was to reserve a placeholder future cruise and we waited maybe 15 minutes.

Lucky with no lines especially for the kid signup!

There are lines to "check in" but it moves fast and literally you are then free to get on the boat. They didn't enforce times even though you listed a time you were supposed to check in by. I think we were maybe an hour early for the time slot we had signed up to check in.

We took WDW bus from MCO so we were at the mercy of the time the bus arrived

Enjoy it is a fun cruise!

You got to checkin when you got there bc you took the bus in. If you had driven in you almost certainly would have been held outside until your PAT.

 

[WallyBear]

We are leaving from Miami. Do you know if there is a bus system or do we just take a cab?

 

[TeaBee]

Lucky with no lines especially for the kid signup!

I think we were just behind the rush the whole day with our later PAT. We're planning on coming in at a similar time on our next cruise because there's nothing that we want to scramble for once on board (and because we're west coasters who won't be adjusted to the time change and want to sleep in a little the morning of the cruise).

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are leaving from Miami. Do you know if there is a bus system or do we just take a cab?

"Bus system" as in DCL transfers? Yes.