Disembarkation

[jamer]

Disney Dream 6/26..How does Disney's disembarkation work? Is it easier to take your own luggage off? Appears all must be off ship by 9:30am. Also Castaway Cay: Pelican Plunge, must you be a good swimmer, concerns about 7 year old who thinks she can do anything:eek:

[Tagong]

Smoothest and most relaxed debark process I've ever experienced. That said, I was on Magic which is a bit smaller than Dream. The a la carte breakfast in the morning is a beautiful Disney touch.

 

Not sure about Pelican Plunge as my 2.5 yr old defiantly couldn't swim out to it.

[BullDawg91]

We have taken our own luggage off each time and it's quite simple. No waiting. You just leave when you're ready. You don't wait on a group to be called or anything.

 

I seem to recall the swim to Pelican Plunge is a little challenging for a small child, but my 8 year old made it no problem. There are life vests available. I don't recommend snorkeling with her. We made the mistake of snorkeling after lunch and we never made it out to the interesting stuff. The 8 yr old was too tired and even the 11 yr old got tired and decided to turn back.

[slightlysilly]

We took our luggage off the Dream since we had small luggage and carry on bags. When you go through to customs, you walk through a huge room where all your bags are, so unless you want to pack in the morning or need to get off the ship first thing in the morning, you can leave them outside your stateroom the night before. If you are leaving after the second breakfast it probably cuts 60 seconds or so off your time to carry your stuff off yourself.

[owensamo]

I haven't sailed the Dream, but disembarkation is the same for all the ships at Port Canaveral. Not that this is not necessarily the case for any other disembarkation ports.

 

The last night of the cruise, you will receive Disney Character luggage tags to fill out and put on your bags. The tagged bags are then put out in the hall the night for the room stewards to collect. After the ship docs, the luggage gets unloaded into the luggage hall, and and are sorted by the Disney Character tags.

 

Once the ship clears customs, people can start leaving whenever they choose Breakfast is staggered based on your dining time, though you can also dine in the buffet on debarkation morning. Because of the staggered dining, Disney's done a fairly good job of keeping the lines for debarkation short without having to manage specifically who leaves when.

 

Once you have had breakfast and gathered all your hand bags, disembark the ship and they will scan your Key to the World card one last time. Then, you will head down stairs (escalators or elevator) to the luggage hall. When you enter the hall, there will be porters available to help with your luggage if you choose (remember - they work for tips!), but you don't need to use one if you wish to manage your bags yourselves.

 

Collect your luggage from the area with the Disney Character tags you placed on it. If you have trouble locating a bag, there are Cast Members around to help - sometimes the tags get torn off during transportation. Once you have your bags, get in line for customs. Make sure you have your customs form and your ID (Passports or photo id and birth certificates) ready for the customs officials. They may ask some questions or not. Once you are through customs, you can leave the terminal and head out to your transportation of choice.

 

We've never had a problem putting our luggage out the night before - we had one bag that had been damaged in transit on a cruise to Barcelona, so they managed to lose the tag on that bag and we had to find someone to locate it for us. If you do choose to carry all your luggage off the ship, you'll head down to the luggage hall and get in line for customs immediately. Just be aware that you'll have to keep track of the luggage in the morning (they usually request you carry all bags to breakfast in the main dining rooms and not return to your room) so that could be a consideration.

 

As for Pelican Plunge, they do have life vests for available right before you swim out to the platform. We've never tried it as my daughter isn't a strong swimmer, but I do recall seeing a lot of smaller kids going down the slides with life vests on.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[slightlysilly]

I forgot about Pelican plunge. I wouldn't worry too much about it. (Even though you will) there are life guards situated all over the place and there are height requirements. Just keep an eye on her as you would anywhere else. She will be fine and will have a blast!

[moki'smommy]

Disembarkation from a DCL ship in Port Canaveral is different than on most other lines in that there is no such thing as waiting for a group to be called. First, you are asked to be off the ship by 9:00 (not 9:30). You are also asked to take any remaining luggage with you to breakfast and to be out of your stateroom by 8:00. The above times are for non-concierge.

 

If you wish to take your own luggage off, you can leave as soon as the ship is "cleared" which is typically 7:00. If you placed your luggage out the night before, you can leave starting about 7:30. An announcement is made. You will claim your luggage in the terminal and go thru Customs. Porters are there to help if needed.

 

You may have a short wait on board as they restrict the number of people in the terminal at any given time. Our max wait on a normal disembarkation has been about 10 minutes. Most lines are minimal as breakfasts start at different times. You leave as soon as you finish breakfast.

 

We did have a bag damaged because some a****** guest couldn't follow rules and placed a bottle of alcohol in his/her luggage. Our bag arrived home smelling of white wine. Fortunately, I pack a lot in plastic and between the washing machine and the plastic, my clothes were able to be salvaged. I hope his luggage was also full of glass shards.

 

Pelican's Point--depth depends totally on the tides. There are a couple of lifeguards working the area and life jackets (free) are available for use.

[jamer]

Thanks one and all. Sounds like we will put our bags out and just worry about the carry on(or off) bag and 7 year old not wanting to leave ship.

Pelican Plunge will be a wait and see. We do have two visits there.

[captcruiser]

Easiest is to take your own luggage off. If she can swim she will be fine on Pelican Plunge.

[moki'smommy]

Easiest is to take your own luggage off.

 

This depends on your situation. Considerations--amount of luggage, number of kids, physical able bodied? Sorry, we always used to take off our own luggage. However, my daughter is now using a wheelchair. I can't push the chair and drag 2 suitcases, so we put our luggage out the night before.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just as a point of reference, they ask that you be off the ship by 9. NOT 9:30.

[tbag124]

Reading that they ask you to be off the ship by 9. and out of your cabins at 8? I think I read that you go to breakfast based on your dining time. What time are the breakfasts? You leave right from there?

[Shmoo here]

Reading that they ask you to be off the ship by 9. and out of your cabins at 8? I think I read that you go to breakfast based on your dining time. What time are the breakfasts? You leave right from there?

 

Your debarkation breakfast seating is based on your dinner seating. You will have breakfast in the MDR that you ate dinner in the night before. Early seating is typically around 6:45 am, and late seating - 8:00 am.

 

Yes, most people leave directly after eating.

[moki'smommy]

If your assigned dining time doesn't fit with your disembarkation plans you can 1) ask your head server whether he can arrange a table for you at the opposite seating or 2) eat at the various pool deck outlets/restaurant. Note that the pool deck restaurant will stop serving PROMPTLY at 8:30.

 

Yes, you must be out of your cabin with all your stuff by 8 and off the ship by 9. About 9:15, they start the "sweep" of going thru the ship and firmly escorting all strays toward the door.

[flhokie]

Disembarkation on the Fantasy wa the worst we have experienced on any line. The lines to get off the ship were from the atrium to each end of the ship. I understand that customs& immigration can back up, but this was the line on the ship. We sat down in the atrium (it was 8 am) to try to wait it out a bit as my father cannot stand for very long periods of time. We were told by crew that we couldn't sit there---we must get at the end of the line or have him taken off in a wheelchair. We ended up opting for the latter option. We had breakfast at 6:45 am & did not get to our car until 9 am. They claimed it was because we were 20 minutes late docking (not customs issues). We much prefer the groups that other lines do.

 

The water is deep by Pelican Plunge, but my 4 year old DD did it. Anyone who isn't a strong swimmer is required to wear a life jacket (bins right there) & parents can wait off to the side and grab them as soon as they are in the water. DD didn't like it as she got saltwater up her nose.

[moki'smommy]

The above has been posted on other threads. I don't doubt it for a minute. We've had 4 terrible disembarkations on 30+DCL cruises. In most cases, it is due to something unusual. In the above, poster says they were told that they had docked 20 minutes late. That's going to delay Customs clearing the ship which must happen before anyone can get off. Unfortunately, once they start late, they rarely catch up; it typically snowballs.

 

We've had totally smooth, easy disembarkations most of the time (both classes of ships). And then there have been those horrible moments/hours.

 

The depth of Pelican Plunge is totally dependent on the season and the tides. It varies a little thru the day. It varies a lot over the course of a year. As noted, life jackets are readily available at no charge and lifeguards are at the structure as well as in the general area.