What was your port arrival time experience?

[MaryKLady]

We have an early PAT time but now I'm starting to wonder if going later might be better...not as much standing around in the terminal, my cabin could be ready, etc. I'm starting to see the advantage of arriving later. What was you experience either way?

 

[diznymom]

We stay at a WDW resort and take the DCL bus to the port. We arrive later. We love this set up. There is no / little line. The actual check in takes longer than the line. As soon as we are checked in, we go through the tunnel, get our first picture taken. We usually hae no carry on luggage, so we head straight to Cabanas for lunch. As soon as we are done w/ lunch, we go to our room and check it out.

 

[NHDisneyFan]

PAT of 10:30 last Monday. Arrived at 10:30, no wait to drop off luggage. Breezed through 3rd floor security. Quick trip through the check in line. We stood around for maybe 10 minutes and were then walking onboard in group 3. First in line for Cabanas. Nice seat outside. Rode aquaduck with short wait. Toured some areas of the ship we didn't get to last time. Dropped off our backpack when the rooms opened. Enjoyed the rest of the full day. Why miss 3 hours on the ship if u don't have to? Enjoy!

 

[OrcaPotter]

I live about 50 minutes from the port. For a 10:30 PAT, we leave home between 9:30-9:45 and get there about that time. We have family that drops us off. The entire process has always been a breeze. Typically, we get through security with no wait, check in with little to no wait, and boarding has typically already started by then so we walk right on due to our PAT. Only once did we wait about 20-25 minutes for our boarding number to be called. We had no problems finding a seat then.

IMHO, I wouldn't stress getting to the port before 10:30, especially if that's not your PAT. We eat lunch as soon as we board to get ahead of the crowd. We have found that by 12-12:30 Cabanas is packed.

It's this process I'm most curious to experience on the Oasis this June to compare. I'm hoping it will be just as easy.

 

[Dug720]

I live about 50 minutes from the port. For a 10:30 PAT, we leave home between 9:30-9:45 and get there about that time. We have family that drops us off. The entire process has always been a breeze. Typically, we get through security with no wait, check in with little to no wait, and boarding has typically already started by then so we walk right on due to our PAT. Only once did we wait about 20-25 minutes for our boarding number to be called. We had no problems finding a seat then.

IMHO, I wouldn't stress getting to the port before 10:30, especially if that's not your PAT. We eat lunch as soon as we board to get ahead of the crowd. We have found that by 12-12:30 Cabanas is packed.

It's this process I'm most curious to experience on the Oasis this June to compare. I'm hoping it will be just as easy.

This. Especially because your Boarding Group is tied to you PAT. So if you get there way ahead (or even a little ahead) of your PAT, you're likely to see people who arrive after you but at their PAT boarding before you.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

It's this process I'm most curious to experience on the Oasis this June to compare. I'm hoping it will be just as easy.

We were on the Harmony last month. It was just as easy, if not easier than DCL.

 

[LilacBarries]

Our last cruise we had disney transportation from Coronado springs and got there rather late IMO ( don't remeber exactly what but after 3) and its because of the order they do the resorts/our party size. I felt like we missed out on time we could have had on board. For our next one I'm 90% sure we're driving down so I'm going to try for an early PAT but we're also with a much larger group (8 vs 2) so not sure how that will work. We're doing a4 night so I want to our maximize time on board.