Ticketed events and late PAT

[princessebird]

My family is going on our first DCL cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston in December. We have been on countless cruises on a bunch of other cruise lines (and five of those out of Galveston), and we tend to favor a late arrival at the port for a variety of reasons. I didn't realize until late that the reason you want an early port arrival time on DCL is to pull tickets for the ticketed meet and greets (#MomFail). The earliest PAT I could get was 1pm. Are we in trouble to not get any ticketed meet and greets? Any advice?

 

[bcwife76]

If you have a PAT of 1pm do you think you'll be on the ship close to that time? I only ask because we had a PAT of 11:30 for our cruise on the Wonder at the end of September and for a variety of reasons we didn't walk on the ship until 1pm - we went straight to WaveBands (or was it Diversions??) and got tickets for both the Princess Meet and Greet and Frozen Meet and Greet with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

My family is going on our first DCL cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston in December. We have been on countless cruises on a bunch of other cruise lines (and five of those out of Galveston), and we tend to favor a late arrival at the port for a variety of reasons. I didn't realize until late that the reason you want an early port arrival time on DCL is to pull tickets for the ticketed meet and greets (#MomFail). The earliest PAT I could get was 1pm. Are we in trouble to not get any ticketed meet and greets? Any advice?

You'll be fine. These tickets don't really "sell out" like FP+ in the parks. As long as you are onboard around 1:00 and head to the listed location to pick up tickets when you board, you shouldn't have any trouble getting them. I actually haven't heard of someone not able to get tickets if they went to pick them up that first afternoon before 3:00. The tickets are more to spread out crowds so you aren't waiting in impossibly long lines than to limit who gets to meet the characters. The only people I've read who were unable to get tickets were those who didn't pick them up that first afternoon.

 

[Csstingray]

My family is going on our first DCL cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston in December. We have been on countless cruises on a bunch of other cruise lines (and five of those out of Galveston), and we tend to favor a late arrival at the port for a variety of reasons. I didn't realize until late that the reason you want an early port arrival time on DCL is to pull tickets for the ticketed meet and greets (#MomFail). The earliest PAT I could get was 1pm. Are we in trouble to not get any ticketed meet and greets? Any advice?

We sailed on the Magic earlier this month out of Miami. Our PAT wasn't until 2:30, but we boarded the ship just before 1:00. They announced open boarding around 12:30. We went right to lunch when we got onboard, and didn't stop to get tickets for the Princess Gathering and Frozen meet and greet until after that, probably between 2-3 pm. I think you'll be fine!

 

[princessebird]

Whew! Thank you all so much for your replies. Much relieved. We won't dilly-dally once we are aboard, but I won't fret too much about it before we board. We should be at the port around noon, so I anticipate being on board at 1pm, depending on when we are allowed to board.

 

[SonicGuy]

You have to remember that most people do not read these boards and do not know about such things. We live in Dallas and this January is our third DCL out of Galveston. Two years ago when we went we saw ALOT of people upset because they didn't have tickets to the gingerbread building. Again - they didn't know ahead of time. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

Have fun!

 

[princessebird]

You have to remember that most people do not read these boards and do not know about such things.

Wait...there are people who do not obsessively plan and don't stay up until midnight to try to strategically grab FP+ for an Anna and Elsa M&G for 65 days away?

 

[BrandiBelliveau]

Wait...there are people who do not obsessively plan and don't stay up until midnight to try to strategically grab FP+ for an Anna and Elsa M&G for 65 days away?

There are & I've often found myself thinking how nice it must be to not obsess.

Signed - someone who obsessively searched for info before booking their cruise 500+ days away & continues to obsess daily (only 390 days till we are on a flight to Florida)

 

[SonicGuy]

There are & I've often found myself thinking how nice it must be to not obsess.

Signed - someone who obsessively searched for info before booking their cruise 500+ days away & continues to obsess daily (only 390 days till we are on a flight to Florida)

I agree. Sometimes I think to myself - We'll just wing it - and then I think about all the people I see show up at a restaurant and are completely SHOCKED that not only can they not walk in and be seated, but that the restaurants are basically booked for 6 months!

 

[BrandiBelliveau]

If I'm spending $20k on a vacation I'm making sure I do t miss out on the must dos of the trip! (That's my guess on our final number after cruise, disney world, flights, etc)

I agree. Sometimes I think to myself - We'll just wing it - and then I think about all the people I see show up at a restaurant and are completely SHOCKED that not only can they not walk in and be seated, but that the restaurants are basically booked for 6 months!

.

Even just thinking about "winging it" gives me a stomach ache :|