Port Canaveral - best port arrival time?

[ravmuse]

Hi all,

 

My family and I will be taking the Dream (our first Disney Cruise!) out of Port Canaveral. What is the best port arrival time to sign up during online check-in? I thought the earlier the better, but I read elsewhere that it gets really packed at the terminal before 11 due to all the early arrivals. I also read that around 12-12:30 is better because the early crowds have boarded and the Disney buses have not arrived yet. Do you suggest just trying to get the earliest port arrival time possible or is there another strategy?

 

Thanks in advance!

[moki'smommy]

Well, you basically discussed the issue. If you arrive at or about 11, you'll find all sorts of early birds, etc. Note that your boarding card is tied to your scheduled arrival time, so people who have a scheduled time of 2pm but arrive at 11 are not doing themselves any favors; they can check in and then sit and wait.

 

If you arrive about 12:30-1, you will miss all the early bird traffic (they'l be on board already). The bus traffic from WDW starts to arrive about 1:30 , so you are checked in and boarded before they get there. Chances are that you will check in and walk right on with no waiting (or very little).

 

SO...if you get an early boarding time offered (like 11-11:30), by all means take it. BUT if you don't have anything early offered, do not just show up early hoping to have everything move smoothly. It will, but you'll still get to sit and wait to board. If you have a scheduled 11-11:30 arrival time, you'll get an early boarding number (like 6 or 8), so won't be waiting. If you check in and get a number 25....have a seat for a couple hours!

 

If you arrive at your scheduled time, you will have little waiting. The problem is people who arrive earlier than their scheduled time or fail to schedule a time and just show up.

Edited March 4, 2014 by moki'smommy

[vacation_junkie]

Hi all,

 

My family and I will be taking the Dream (our first Disney Cruise!) out of Port Canaveral. What is the best port arrival time to sign up during online check-in? I thought the earlier the better, but I read elsewhere that it gets really packed at the terminal before 11 due to all the early arrivals. I also read that around 12-12:30 is better because the early crowds have boarded and the Disney buses have not arrived yet. Do you suggest just trying to get the earliest port arrival time possible or is there another strategy?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Our PAT time was 11-11:30. It was fairly quit in the terminal when we got there.

[uncletr21]

Does the arrival time get assigned by DCL or is it like dining and you select somewhere on the reservation amoung what is still open?

 

 

off topic-

I've sailed before, maybe 5 times, way back when, I have a castaway #, what sort of perks do you get on the Dream, if any?

[DISNEY FANTASY]

The earliest is the better as you can be late, your only penalised if your before your PAT, so sn early one gives you all the time to arrive before the ship goes.

Edited March 6, 2014 by DISNEY FANTASY

[bear3412]

does the arrival time get assigned by dcl or is it like dining and you select somewhere on the reservation amoung what is still open?

yes, during online check-in, similar to the dining reservations made in advance.

 

i've sailed before, maybe 5 times, way back when, i have a castaway #, what sort of perks do you get on the dream, if any?

you get to check-in online and make advanced ressies earlier than others.

You get a gift in the cabin upon arrival. If you have 5 sailings i would call/login and see if you are a gold castaway club member. Gold gets a discount in the shops aboard on some merchandise. Gold can log in 105 days out and make ressies, as opposed to the newbies at 75 days out.

Also iirc gold gets second dibs on new sail date releases fwiw.

hth

Edited March 6, 2014 by bear3412

[uncletr21]

Yes, thanks, it does help! I am Gold and within the 105 days to sail already.

[cleophus12]

We had an 11:30 for the Fantasy and virtually walked right on with little waiting time in the terminal. We had whatever the earliest time is now for the Dream and had to wait a brief time just because it took a little time to get everyone situated who wants to come in early. In both cases we had an early boarding number once we got there. The early PAT on the Dream got us onboard well before the crowds and Cabanas wasn't crowded at all then. I love having as much of the day as I can get in onboard for the first day.

Edited March 22, 2014 by cleophus12

[Irene7]

Does the arrival time get assigned by DCL or is it like dining and you select somewhere on the reservation amoung what is still open?

 

 

off topic-

I've sailed before, maybe 5 times, way back when, I have a castaway #, what sort of perks do you get on the Dream, if any?

 

You choose it from the times that are available. We picked 12:30 and arrived about 12:15 and waited about ten minutes to board. We used the time to take pix of the replica of the ship with Michey.

[STUR]

How hectic is it if you are Concierge We are a party of 7 staying at hotel day b/4 cruise with 2 Concierge suites and privet transfer from hotel @ 10:30 AM to Ship do we have to adhere to assigned boarding time We should arrive at about 11:30 to 12:00 noon

[DISNEY FANTASY]

How hectic is it if you are Concierge We are a party of 7 staying at hotel day b/4 cruise with 2 Concierge suites and privet transfer from hotel @ 10:30 AM to Ship do we have to adhere to assigned boarding time We should arrive at about 11:30 to 12:00 noon

 

Concierge is not hectic at all normally walk up at any time and your served quickly.

 

Embarkation normally starts at PC for concierge at 11.15 am, after that you should be able to check in and go straight on.

 

Concierge do not to adhere to any PAT

Edited March 23, 2014 by DISNEY FANTASY

[AlexandNessa]

Yes, if you are concierge, you will get a notice when you do your online check-in that you are not required to pick a PAT.

 

Last cruise, we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel before hand and requested our private transfer be a noon pick up. We made a quick detour for a beer run, and we were on the ship around 1:15 ish. It was lovely. No line at concierge desk to get your key cards. Then the concierge check-in person asked us if we wanted an embarkation photo. Since we didn't, she just escorted us past the line of people waiting and directly on the ship. The concierge lounge was a little crazy (it always is on embarkation day), but our room was ready immediately, and we could drop our stuff off and then wait in the lounge without the burden of bags.

 

We will do this again in October.

Edited March 23, 2014 by AlexandNessa

[moki'smommy]

Concierge is not crazy at all. There is a separate concierge check in line and a special waiting area (for people who get there before boarding starts.) Normally, you walk to the concierge line and check in--no waiting. Worst case, you wait behind another concierge family or two. After you check in, a member of the shoreside staff will escort you to the front of the line and onto the ship.

 

From there, you can go to the concierge lounge and drop your bags (if it is before your suite is ready.) Concierge cabins are normally available by 1 pm, rather than 1:30 for other cabins. In our Magic experience, we could drop our bags at the concierge reception in Sessions (the classic ships don't have a concierge lounge), but I've read from a member here that they were not able to drop their stuff at the reception but only at the lounge on D/F. You can snack in the lounge or go to lunch. The concierge will introduce herself and go over your booked schedule; any additional bookings you'd like will be made at that time. Then enjoy the cruise,

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Concierge is not crazy at all. There is a separate concierge check in line and a special waiting area (for people who get there before boarding starts.) Normally' date=' you walk to the concierge line and check in--no waiting. Worst case, you wait behind another concierge family or two. After you check in, a member of the shoreside staff will escort you to the front of the line and onto the ship.

 

From there, you can go to the concierge lounge and drop your bags (if it is before your suite is ready.) Concierge cabins are normally available by 1 pm, rather than 1:30 for other cabins. In our Magic experience, we could drop our bags at the concierge reception in Sessions (the classic ships don't have a concierge lounge), but I've read from a member here that they were not able to drop their stuff at the reception but only at the lounge on D/F. You can snack in the lounge or go to lunch. The concierge will introduce herself and go over your booked schedule; any additional bookings you'd like will be made at that time. Then enjoy the cruise,[/quote']

 

Concierge staterooms are available from 1pm on Dream and Fantasy and normal time of 1.30 pm on the older ships, concierge only keep your carry on bags on the newer ships as the CL lounge is exclusive but not on the older ships where they commandeer diversions etc, for embarkation meet.

Edited March 23, 2014 by DISNEY FANTASY

[moki'smommy]

Concierge staterooms are available from 1pm on Dream and Fantasy and normal time of 1.30 pm on the older ships, concierge only keep your carry on bags on the newer ships as the CL lounge is exclusive but not on the older ships where they commandeer diversions etc, for embarkation meet.

 

Obviously you and I had different experiences with Magic concierge. In my experience, there was a concierge reception in Sessions and carry on bags could be left there while we went to lunch. No, Sessions is not an exclusive concierge lounge, but it was closed as a "private function" during the embarkation afternoon. There was a CM checking KTTW cards at the door as well as the concierge staff inside.

 

DCL changes things on a regular basis. All we can do is to report what was done on our cruise.

Edited March 23, 2014 by moki'smommy

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Obviously you and I had different experiences with Magic concierge. In my experience' date=' there was a concierge reception in Sessions and carry on bags could be left there while we went to lunch. No, Sessions is not an exclusive concierge lounge, but it was closed as a "private function" during the embarkation afternoon. There was a CM checking KTTW cards at the door as well as the concierge staff inside.

 

DCL changes things on a regular basis. All we can do is to report what was done on our cruise.[/quote']

 

Yes agree it changes they did it for me on the Fantasy but not Magic or Wonder, I think maybe for security as on the old ships the bags are not in an enclosed area like the CL and open to public, technically at that time, and they have to be transported to a different deck.

[moki'smommy]

Yes agree it changes they did it for me on the Fantasy but not Magic or Wonder, I think maybe for security as on the old ships the bags are not in an enclosed area like the CL and open to public, technically at that time, and they have to be transported to a different deck.

 

I have no experience with a concierge stay on Fantasy or Wonder. And obviously, you keep referring to the concierge meet being in Diversions while in my experience it was in Sessions. Totally agree with need to transfer bags and security issues--they did ask us to return for our bags before 3 pm and did not transfer them to our suite.

 

Guess you'll find out the current policy in May.

[AlexandNessa]

We've sailed concierge on the Magic/Wonder 7x. We've always had the concierge meet in the Cadillac Lounge or Sessions. In our experience, we were always welcome to leave our bags wherever the meet was, and on at least one occasion that I remember, our bags were tagged and brought to our stateroom for us.