Boarding/check in process

We have a 10:30 boarding time, what time should we get to the port and how long does it take to check in?

11/7/16 Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas

10:30 is your PAT which is your port arrival time. Your actual boarding time will be closer to 1130.

We have a 10:30 boarding time, what time should we get to the port and how long does it take to check in?

 

 

11/7/16 Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas

As noted, you have a 10:30 Port Arrival Time.

You will receive a boarding number during the check in process in the terminal. That number is tied to the PAT you selected.

Boarding begins, typically, around 11:30 with Concierge guests first, followed by Platinum Castaway Club members, then they start announcing boarding numbers.

Once the boarding number being announced catches up with the number being issued at check in, open boarding is announced. Anyone, holding any boarding number, may board. This typically occurs around 12:15-12:30.

With a 10:30 PAT, I'd guess that you'll be onboard around,11:45 or so. But it could be later, if the ship is late arriving from the previous cruise, has issues with people getting off, or there's a surprise inspection, delaying boarding.

The only part of the above that I don't totally agree with is that when "open boarding" opens depends on the ship. It is usually more like 1:00 on the bigger ships.

Check in is very quick. The check in itself is about 5 minutes if you have all your documents ready. The line to get to the desk can be anywhere from nothing to 20 minutes or so. When you have checked in and received your boarding card number, you are free to wander the terminal (no need to stand in line like the "old days.") If you have kids 3-12, you can choose to register them for programming participation in the terminal. BUT if the line is long, just wait and do it on board; there is almost never a line on the ship! Yes, you do register them even if you pre-registered on line, and you get their bands.

There is not much else to do in the terminal. There are intermittent character appearances and CCTV screens showing old Disney movies. But no worries--you won't wait long.

Do you know anything about the sit down lunch on board (I prefer it to the lido deck mob) how long do they serve? (We have a 12:00 check in time).

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We always do the "sit down" lunch. It is actually a buffet, but you are escorted to a table and your beverage order is taken. Then you head to the buffet line, which is never a mob scene. Service is usually until 2pm. They are happy to get beverage refills for you as well. The food selection is basically the same as upstairs, although on the Fantasy we found a slightly smaller selection--still plenty to choose from and tons to eat. Remember that your cabin is not available till 1:30, so after boarding, just head to the restaurant with your carry ons. THey can be placed under your table.

Do the food places open right away?

11/7/16 Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas

Do the food places open right away?

 

 

11/7/16 Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas

The food outlets (Cabanas, one of the MDRs, and the fast food locations on the pool deck) are open when boarding starts. Room service opens at 1:30, which is when you have access to your cabin. There is also food in the concierge lounge, Cove Cafe, and Vista Cafe when boarding begins.

On the Fantasy, the sit down lunch with drink severs at Enchanted Garden does not open until noon. It is indeed a smaller buffet than Cabanas, but much less hectic. We had a 10:30 PAT and were the third group to board at 11:40. I believe the Cabanas may be open as soon as boarding started which was around 11:30 for our trip.

On the Fantasy, the sit down lunch with drink severs at Enchanted Garden does not open until noon. It is indeed a smaller buffet than Cabanas, but much less hectic. We had a 10:30 PAT and were the third group to board at 11:40. I believe the Cabanas may be open as soon as boarding started which was around 11:30 for our trip.

You are right--I do remember on the Fantasy that we hung out in the area by the midship detective kiosk (there are some benches there that you can sit on) while waiting for Enchanted Garden to open. On the classic ships, we've found the restaurant to be open as soon as we boarded. Since we are platinum, we are there fairly quickly. In fact, on one B2B when we had skipped breakfast, we opened the dining room on the Magic! We've always found Parrot Cay/Carrioca's to be open on the classics as soon as boarding started. Haven't done the Wonder since it became Tiana's.

Sorry--we prefer the classic ships and I sometimes have to make an effort to remember our few cruises on the newer ones. We cruised them...and went right back to the Magic!

We always do the "sit down" lunch. It is actually a buffet' date=' but you are escorted to a table and your beverage order is taken. Then you head to the buffet line, which is never a mob scene. Service is usually until 2pm. They are happy to get beverage refills for you as well. The food selection is basically the same as upstairs, although on the Fantasy we found a slightly smaller selection--still plenty to choose from and tons to eat. Remember that your cabin is not available till 1:30, so after boarding, just head to the restaurant with your carry ons. THey can be placed under your table.[/quote']

Don't know what ship ccruisequeen is on, but the Wonder no longer has a buffet in the MDR for embarkation day. When they changed Parrot Cay to Tiana's Place, it was removed. There is a sit down lunch service in Triton's now.

Don't know what ship ccruisequeen is on, but the Wonder no longer has a buffet in the MDR for embarkation day. When they changed Parrot Cay to Tiana's Place, it was removed. There is a sit down lunch service in Triton's now.

Sounds nice. We like the sit down service on Princess on embarkation day.

Do on line check-in if you can....

You are right--I do remember on the Fantasy that we hung out in the area by the midship detective kiosk (there are some benches there that you can sit on) while waiting for Enchanted Garden to open. On the classic ships' date=' we've found the restaurant to be open as soon as we boarded. Since we are platinum, we are there fairly quickly. In fact, on one B2B when we had skipped breakfast, we opened the dining room on the Magic! We've always found Parrot Cay/Carrioca's to be open on the classics as soon as boarding started. Haven't done the Wonder since it became Tiana's.

 

Sorry--we prefer the classic ships and I sometimes have to make an effort to remember our few cruises on the newer ones. We cruised them...and went right back to the Magic![/quote']

Just curious but why do you prefer the classic ships? Also, do you have an opinions about the Wonder? We are booked for a cruise on that one. Thanks.

As someone pointed out, online check-in is definitely the way to go. It makes embarkation day a little easier. Get onboard, get everyone fed, then get the kids registered at the kid's clubs (age dependent of course). Those lines can be a little congested later in the day after the sail away party. And if you're on the Dream, get your first ride on the AquaDuck out of the way too. That line will be long for the remainder of the cruise, except for Castaway Cay Day and who wants to be on the ship while docked at CC?

Just curious but why do you prefer the classic ships? Also, do you have an opinions about the Wonder? We are booked for a cruise on that one. Thanks.

In fairness, I've not been on the Wonder since the "re-imagination" dry dock. I've seen photos, both professional and taken by guests, and I'd like to cruise to see what they did in Tiana's. But that's not in the cards for us in the next few months at least.

What I like about the classic ships/don't like about the newer ships...I really like the size of the classics. They are much more intimate and friendly. The fact that there are 1500 fewer guests definitely shows. The dining rooms are less crowded and less noisy. On the Fantasy, the tables are so close that you are almost sharing a table with those near you (think Princess if you've cruise that line), and it is difficult for the servers to get to the various tables safely. It may not be that way throughout the MDRs, but it was in the areas where we were located. If you are stopping at Castaway Cay, you'll definitely see the difference the numbers make--the guest areas were enlarged to handle the bigger load of the newer ships, but that makes it all the more enjoyable when on the classics. Even things like finding a place to sit or viewing your photos is easier on the classics. We also found a lot more unsupervised children on the newer ships--they were destroying the self serve ice cream areas despite the best efforts of a CM stationed there to keep the area clean. Really, it was so bad that I looked at it and decided that I didn't want ice cream. I don't hate kids and I realize that they are on vacation, but there is a concept of appropriate social behavior. "Parent" is also a verb, and it does not mean that you go off duty when you step onto the ship.

While kids walking thru adult areas is an issue on all ships, on the new ones it is essentially a problem that is built into the design of the ship. There are concierge level cabins forward of the adult areas. Guests in those cabins need to move from the forward area to midship or aft to go anywhere or do anything. People have argued that it makes no sense to expect children in those cabins to take the elevator to a different floor to walk to the midship area. I could agree IF they were going somewhere on the pool deck; if they are going to the kid programming or other public areas, it makes just as much sense to take the elevator to deck 5 and traverse the space on that level.

We preferred the shows on the classics to those on the Fantasy. Frankly, we really didn't care for the shows on the Fantasy. Shows stick around on the ships for 7 or more years and they went thru a phase where we were not impressed with them about the same time they were being developed for the Dream and Fantasy. They seem to be swinging back now based on the newest offerings on the Wonder and Magic.

We tend to cruise "off season" when most traditional schools are in session. This decreases the number of school aged kids on the ship. If our off season experience on the bigger ships was typical, I'd hate to see it on a "school's out" cruise.

Positive on the newer ships--the Midship Detective Agency was fun for all ages. We once booked an inside cabin on the Fantasy just to experience the virtual porthole--also a fun bit of whimsy. Satellite Falls is a nice adult area. The AquaDuck is a fun experience and there are times when the lines are minimal (this is obviously not at 3pm on a sea day!) The AquaDunk (new addition on classic ships) is less to my liking. I like the idea of the raft on the Duck and found the staff very helpful with how to get out at the end! The TV/movie system on the new ships is greatly improved. Movies are at no additional charge on all ships, but on the newer ones it is like a pay per view system where you can start a film at any time; on the Magic and Wonder, they have a specific start time...miss it and you'd wait for the next start.

A huge part of it is that we've cruised the classics since 1998. It just feels like "coming home" to us. The newer ships were a "nice to try out" situation, but didn't have that same friendly feeling. It was a lot more "This is your cruise" than "Welcome home." We don't even look at the Dream and Fantasy cruises when checking out the possibilities. We do check what the Magic and Wonder are doing and how they fit into our schedules. And while there are many things we LOVE about DCL, we also check other lines.

Just curious but why do you prefer the classic ships? Also, do you have an opinions about the Wonder? We are booked for a cruise on that one. Thanks.

We just did our first DCL cruise in January on the Wonder. We loved that ship. Never felt crowded. Castaway Cay was not crowded. There was plenty to do on board and the adult areas are fantastic. If it weren't for the price I would have another cruise booked right now.

Don't know what ship ccruisequeen is on, but the Wonder no longer has a buffet in the MDR for embarkation day. When they changed Parrot Cay to Tiana's Place, it was removed. There is a sit down lunch service in Triton's now.

I use a walker to get around. Can you please show me on this deck plan how I can get into the Triton lunch?

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You'll enter the ship on deck 3 and will be greeted by a group of CMs. One will come over and welcome you personally and ask where you wish to go. He/she will then direct or escort you, providing answers to questions or a quick talk along the way. Basically, you enter the ship and walk to the hallway across the ship. Turn left. Walk past the Promenade Lounge. past the aft elevators and you are at the entrance to Tiana's. This deck plan doesn't show the walkway, but it is there along the windows of the ship in the gray area labeled Promenade Lounge.

I use a walker to get around. Can you please show me on this deck plan how I can get into the Triton lunch?

 

 

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The bottom left hand side of the dining room is a ground level entrance, no stairs involved.

Actually lunch (including boarding day lunch) was held in Triton's midship. The entrance is at the entrance to the Promenade lounge. Breakfast every day too.

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