What time will we disembark?

[katml14]

Does anyone know what time we will disembark if we will be utilizing the Disney bus to take us back to WDW?

 

[outahere]

Does anyone know what time we will disembark if we will be utilizing the Disney bus to take us back to WDW?

It all depends on when the ship arrives in port and when Customs and Immigration clears the ship. The normal scenario is that the ship is cleared by 7:30 and you can leave as soon as that happens. If you're not using the onboard airline check in, you will then claim your luggage and go through Customs, then go to the bus.

 

[tchrrx]

So, there's a good possibility that we'll be back at WDW by at least noon?

 

[mmouse37]

So, there's a good possibility that we'll be back at WDW by at least noon?

More like 10:30 or 11:00 as long as everything goes as planned. There are sometimes delays getting off the ship, but not as a routine.

MJ

 

[tchrrx]

More like 10:30 or 11:00 as long as everything goes as planned. There are sometimes delays getting off the ship, but not as a routine.

MJ

Awesome! That gives me quite a bit of time at the parks that I wasn't counting on. Hmm...wonder if I should make an ADR for that night or if we'll still be full from the cruise.

 

[inkkognito]

I advise skipping breakfast if you want to disembark early. You'll probably be tired of eating after the cruise anyway, so if you absolutely need something, get some fruit or a box of cereal to keep in your room and eat in there in the morning. We do that since we're local and are often off the ship a little before 7:30 and pulling into our driveway (we live literally next door to WDW) at or before 9 a.m.

 

[Silverfox97]

What a disaster it was on Saturday when the Magic didn't get cleared until ~8:30am. Let me tell you, it was a mass exodus and long, long lines to get off the ship & through customs.

I don't think this happens that often, though.

When we took WDW transport from the port to CBR back in 2005, we got back before 11am.

 

[inkkognito]

To give you some unofficial stats, I think we've had no more than three or four significant clearance delays in 78 cruises. The WORST WORST WORST was the return from the Panama Canal. That was literally hours! Then we had a situation where someone else took most of our luggage. Even though we got off the ship early, DCL would not do anything until literally every bag was claimed (guess they thought ours might show up...it didn't). Now we have garish duct tape strips on our bags and pom poms on the handles as a preventative (although Tony was so mentally scarred that he insisted on carrying off all our bags for a couple of years after that).

 

[kcashner]

I'm with Incognito. In almost 30 cruises, we have had 3 delays in the ship being cleared, and only one of those would I consider "serious." We cleared after 9 on one cruise and had the "joy" of the long lines, etc. It was a total mess. DCL did what they could, bringing out the characters and the programming CMs to entertain the kids, etc.

On 2 cruises, the ship cleared between 8:30 and 8:45. We had late breakfast and weren't in a hurry, so we just stayed in the dining room till most of the mess had cleared out of the hallways.

Normal clearance will allow you to be off the ship about 7:30. If you want to be off before your scheduled breakfast allows, go get something on deck 9. I would NOT skip breakfast that day if I had children; the last thing you need is to be checking into your WDW resort and have whiny children declaring themselves to be "Starving, MOM!" Although how anyone can be hungry after a cruise is beyond me!

 

[tchrrx]

Are we assigned a certain bus (and time) to get on to for WDW, or do they have a lot of busses ready and you get on one as soon as you can? I'm trying to decide whether we should try to be ready really early or not.

OT- How long of a bus ride is it? (Assuming that your resort is the first drop off point.)

 

[inkkognito]

They have buses leaving continually so you just get on the next one.

 

[kcashner]

The drive from Port to WDW is about an hour. You might sit on the bus for 2 minutes before it departs or you might wait 25 minutes--there is no way to predict. Each bus leaves as it fills up, and each typically serves 3 resorts in the same area at WDW.

DO NOT wait till the very end and get stuck on the last bus. I've had that joy twice (once to MCO, once to WDW). The WDW bus driver was having a fit because he had to go to 6 resorts...and you'll wait till they do a "sweep" of the ship to be sure that all guests are off. We weren't nearly the last ones off; just close enough to it that we were on the last bus.