What would you do? Platinum and non sailing party

[chrisrunty]

We love taking friends and family on Disney Cruises with us. We've been platinum for awhile now and when we brought my elderly parents on their first Disney Cruise they let them sit in concierge with us. (mom has mobility issues) and board early. The next set of friends we took with us, (also their first cruise) at checking in when I asked they also gave our friends #1 boarding. So we all board together, which is just a joy for me to see their faces! So IMO we've been VERY lucky with boarding. We have another cruise coming up with my best friend and her little girls. She's been saving up for years to come with us on their 1st Disney cruise. We once again have "board anytime" and when I registered them I had to select 11:30 PAT. We are all traveling together. When I asked a Disney customer service today about boarding together they suggested I split up myself and husband on the reservations into the two staterooms to guarantee we all board together. I've never done this and seems like it could be a confusing mess.

So to my question! What would you do? Take a chance at the port? Split up into the two staterooms? I really only care about boarding early and together. Thank you in advance if you read this far!!

 

[CamColt]

We had a similar situation, however this was in Miami where we just checked in right next to each other. The CMs in seeing we were together gave our friends #1 also, however I in no way was planning on that. I thought they would get a later number and we would just wait and board with them no big deal. Personally I would take my chances, but plan on boarding with your friends #, not #1. If it works out they get 1 then great, enjoy the pixie dust! If not, you are onboard a few minutes later. I personally would not go through the hassle of changing guests names on the reservations just for a few extra minutes on board. While it's a nice perk of being platinum, it's not that big of a deal, IMO. Good luck! I hope it works out for you!

 

[Sytrace]

We love taking friends and family on Disney Cruises with us. We've been platinum for awhile now and when we brought my elderly parents on their first Disney Cruise they let them sit in concierge with us. (mom has mobility issues) and board early. The next set of friends we took with us, (also their first cruise) at checking in when I asked they also gave our friends #1 boarding. So we all board together, which is just a joy for me to see their faces! So IMO we've been VERY lucky with boarding. We have another cruise coming up with my best friend and her little girls. She's been saving up for years to come with us on their 1st Disney cruise. We once again have "board anytime" and when I registered them I had to select 11:30 PAT. We are all traveling together. When I asked a Disney customer service today about boarding together they suggested I split up myself and husband on the reservations into the two staterooms to guarantee we all board together. I've never done this and seems like it could be a confusing mess.

So to my question! What would you do? Take a chance at the port? Split up into the two staterooms? I really only care about boarding early and together. Thank you in advance if you read this far!!

I would board with your friends which will most likely be a half hour later than when you would have started to board. For example, as Platinum, you will be in BG 1 and they typically start at 11:15 to 11:30. Your friends have PAT of 11:30 so their BG number will probably be 9 to 12. In most cases, Open boarding is called at noon. So, by waiting a half hour or so from when you normally would board as platinum for their group to be called, you can all board together and not have to change names on reservations etc. Seems like a hassle for an extra 30 minutes.
I would also imagine they might want to have photos taken in the terminal with Mickey and again in the hallway before being announced. Having that extra terminal time would give them this opportunity to experience all the magic DCL offers and still get you all on the ship together.

 

[Shanti]

We love taking friends and family on Disney Cruises with us. We've been platinum for awhile now and when we brought my elderly parents on their first Disney Cruise they let them sit in concierge with us. (mom has mobility issues) and board early. The next set of friends we took with us, (also their first cruise) at checking in when I asked they also gave our friends #1 boarding. So we all board together, which is just a joy for me to see their faces! So IMO we've been VERY lucky with boarding. We have another cruise coming up with my best friend and her little girls. She's been saving up for years to come with us on their 1st Disney cruise. We once again have "board anytime" and when I registered them I had to select 11:30 PAT. We are all traveling together. When I asked a Disney customer service today about boarding together they suggested I split up myself and husband on the reservations into the two staterooms to guarantee we all board together. I've never done this and seems like it could be a confusing mess.

So to my question! What would you do? Take a chance at the port? Split up into the two staterooms? I really only care about boarding early and together. Thank you in advance if you read this far!!

If you really care about boarding early & together, I'd do what the CM suggests to avoid any possibility of aggravation on embarkation day.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We are Gold CC members and we too are cruising with friends that have never sailed DCL before. We will be doing a European cruise next year. When we reserved our staterooms my wife and I each have a stateroom booked; with them split up into one of them so we can make sure we are able to stick together not only for checking in and boarding but for reservations as well. We were told that we could either get key cards moved around to the appropriate staterooms once on board or an additional key card can be made for people not assigned to your stateroom so they can have access to the room. I have read several responses in a past post from people that said they have done this.