Embarkation at Port Canaveral

[nycqueen]

Would you explain the procedure here.......is it fairly smooth after parking your car at the lot?

[momofmeg]

When we did Sovereign a few years ago it was pretty smooth but I am not sure if Disney uses the same spot or if they have their own. Anyone know? Also if you stay a couple of nights at Radission-they let you park free and they have a shuttle to the port. that is what we are doing.

[gizfish]

Disney has its own cruise terminal, all deco themed to keep with the theme of the ships. There embarkation is one of the least painful. Unless you are incredibly early, there are minimal lines if any. If you do the land sea option, you don't even have to check in. You just walk right on the ship after passing through security.

[nycqueen]

So if you are just doing the cruise, there are two check-in lines?:confused:

[momofmeg]

Is the terminal close to the RCCL terminal? We are only doing the cruise also. I seem to remember that we saw arrows pointing this way to sovereign that way to Disney but it has been awhile so I am not sure. We did the Disneyworld thing a couple of years ago-as we live close enough to drive to FL-there is no need for us to do both at the same time. We are more into cruising then theme parks. We could have gotten a super deal on a Disney hotel in Orlando but as it is a good hour from the cruiseport we saw no need to do that just figured we would book a room at Radission which was a decent price and with the free parking it would've only been slightly more. Has anyone did that- stayed at the Radission and then took a shuttle to the cruise port?

[Bunny686]

:D Disney Cruise Line makes getting onbloard and getting in the Disney mood pretty painless. On our first cruise we left our car in the long term parking lot and that worked out well. On our second, we used a Bidget Rental Car to get to the port. Dropped off the luggage and passengers, and then took the car back to Budget on A1A and returned in the courtesy van. Went very smoothly and we plan on doing the same on September 4th. :p

Boarding the Magic has gone better than our recent boarding at Port Canaveral
on the Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas. Of course, that is probabaly because of the much larger passenger load on the Mariner. There were long lines of traffic waiting to drop off passengers.

Looking forward to walking through those "Mouse Ears" on September 4th. :cool:

[NCmom]

General procedure: This is as of our 10/03 cruise, we'll be going next month so things may have changed.

Arrive at port, give name to security guard along with picture ID--just keep them out, you'll be asked frequently. Unload bags at terminal as directed. Remove car to parking lot area as directed--pay at the entrance gate. If you are parked across the street from the terminal, you will need to show your picture ID to enter the area.

Outside the terminal are two lines for security to x-ray your carry-ons--These are on the two sides: one nearest the parking lot area, one nearest the buses. After going thru security, you'll go up the escalator to the terminal lobby.

At the top of the esacalator will be 2 lines where they are checking to insure that you have filled out all your paperwork correctly. (Only one of you needs to stay in this area, the others can go wait to the right of the area where there are couches and TVs, or go see Mickey who is generally standing in front of the ship model.

After they have verified that all paperwork is in order, you will be directed to the left side of the terminal--all adults will need to check-in here with picture IDs. They take an imprint of the credit card, verify IDs and then issue your keys to the world, which are your cabin key, boarding pass, and charge all in one.

Then you will go to the Mickey Ears, where they may or may not be a line. This is where you board--there is usually a drug dog smelling bags as you enter. Again be prepared to show picture ID. Then you'll be stopped to have your picture made for the on-board photo; then you'll enter the atrium, be announced, and you are done.

While it sounds like a lot, it probably took me longer to type it than to actually do it..

[TheWog]

NCMOM described it perfectly. Not a bad process at all. You can also drop bags at the tents in the parking lot and they will take them from there.