Port Arrival Time - Canaveral

On my first DCL cruise, we got the first PAT slot on a spring break cruise. I did online check in at midnight.

Like the line from Apollo 13......"and that is how we do THAT!"

Hi I hope my question is reasonably related.

We are a family of 14 with 5 cabins ( not concierge ) Disney cruise newbies. We are flying to mco the night prior to cruise probably using the Disney bus transport from the airport. . What is the typical online check in window prior to the cruise date , 75 days? We are on the dream sept. 11th. Ty all so very much ![emoji3]

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Hi I hope my question is reasonably related.

We are a family of 14 with 5 cabins ( not concierge ) Disney cruise newbies. We are flying to mco the night prior to cruise probably using the Disney bus transport from the airport. . What is the typical online check in window prior to the cruise date , 75 days? We are on the dream sept. 11th. Ty all so very much ![emoji3]

 

 

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The online check in date varies, dependent on your Castaway Club level (if you've cruise DCL before).

Concierge/Platinum Castaway Club level - 120 days out from cruise

Gold Castaway Club level - 105 days out

Silver Castaway Club level - 90 days out

First time DCL cruisers - 75 days out

Thanks so much ![emoji3]

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Can someone tell me what exactly is the window of time you have to arrive (kind of like a fast pass grace period), how long before or after your designated time will they let you board? I'm worried about if we are running late by a few minutes due to traffic or whatever. Thanks!

Can someone tell me what exactly is the window of time you have to arrive (kind of like a fast pass grace period), how long before or after your designated time will they let you board? I'm worried about if we are running late by a few minutes due to traffic or whatever. Thanks!

Your PAT is actually a 15 minute window (30 on some cruises). People will say they have an 11:00 time, but it is really listed as 11-11:15 on line. If you show up any time after your PAT, you will be allowed to enter the terminal and check in. If you show up early, your entry into the terminal may be delayed briefly, especially on the bigger ships. Often you are allowed in as soon as you get to the front of the line, even if you are early.

However, If your time is 12:30 or before, showing up early won't get you onto the ship early. If you have an afternoon PAT, showing up about 12:30-1 will get you boarded as soon as possible.

Not sure I understand one thing, you mention if it's prior to 12:30 you won't get on the ship? Is that the earliest time? If so, why all the early check in times available and what do they do with all those people hanging around before you can get on the ship?

Not sure I understand one thing, you mention if it's prior to 12:30 you won't get on the ship? Is that the earliest time? If so, why all the early check in times available and what do they do with all those people hanging around before you can get on the ship?

Boarding begins about 11:15. Your PAT is tied to your boarding pass number. If you have a 2:00 PAT and you arrive at 11, you will get into the terminal shortly after you arrive, but you will not get an earlier boarding card number. You will wait around the terminal, likely until "open boarding" is announced about 1pm.

If you have an 11:00 PAT and arrive at 11:30, you will get into the terminal and get the same boarding card as if you had arrived at 11:00, meaning you will either get onto the ship as soon as you have checked in OR as soon as your number is called. The only "penalty" for showing up later than your PAT is that if your card number has already been called by the time you have checked in, you may have missed a few minutes on the ship.

SO...your PAT is tied to your boarding card number. The system is designed to minimize your waiting in the terminal. With a morning PAT, the closer you show up to your time, the more efficiently the system works for you. About 1pm, they will announce "open boarding," which means they are no longer using the number system--everyone can board as soon as they are checked in. SO, if you have an afternoon PAT, the "sweet spot" for showing up is about 12:30. This way, you'll be checked in and ready to board as soon as "open boarding" is announced.

Think of PAT like the fast pass system at WDW. Arrive on time or sightly after and you will sail right thru to the ship. Arrive before your time and you have to wait for your group# or general boarding.

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Question - when I did my online check in I got a message telling me I am not required to select a PAT because I've booked air travel through Disney. My flight arrives at MCO at 8:30. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm not sure if I'm going to be left to wait at the airport for the bus or if I'll be left waiting outside the cruise terminal for it to open. And yes I booked the air through Disney because it is a transatlantic cruise and they found a much better air deal than I could for the return flight from Copenhagen.

Question - when I did my online check in I got a message telling me I am not required to select a PAT because I've booked air travel through Disney. My flight arrives at MCO at 8:30. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm not sure if I'm going to be left to wait at the airport for the bus or if I'll be left waiting outside the cruise terminal for it to open. And yes I booked the air through Disney because it is a transatlantic cruise and they found a much better air deal than I could for the return flight from Copenhagen.

No, you will not be left waiting for a bus or outside the terminal. You will get off your flight and proceed to the Disney Welcome Center, lower level, terminal B. You will be assigned to the next available bus. NOTE--on our last TA, there were probably 300 people waiting for bus assignments by 9:00...it only took a short time, but we were on the 4th bus. What happened was that a bus departed every 5 minutes. When the first bus arrives from MCO, the terminal opens to those passengers only. After those DCL bus passengers have cleared security, the terminal opens to the lined up, waiting guests. For subsequent bus arrivals, there are two lines running--one takes people from the bus as each DCL bus arrives.

The first bus will depart the airport between 9:15 and 9:30...so you could have a short wait for a bus.

As to the PAT, the computer is coded to show that you booked air thru DCL. You will get the earliest available boarding card number based on when you actually check in. For example, if you are on that first bus, you should expect a boarding card number of 2-4 (which are the assignments for the earliest possible PAT.) After that, it will depend on exactly what time you check in, but it will be a low number and be linked to your exact check in time.

If you are flying in the day before your cruise and are staying in Port Canaveral that night are you able to take the Disney bus from the airport that day, or does it have to be the same day as your cruise?

If you are flying in the day before your cruise and are staying in Port Canaveral that night are you able to take the Disney bus from the airport that day, or does it have to be the same day as your cruise?

The bus only runs on cruise days. You can stay in the MCO area and return to the airport to take the DCL bus on the cruise day. Most of the MCO area hotels operate complimentary shuttles to/from the airport.

We stay in the MCO area because the hotels out in the Port are very expensive by comparison when you have a group of 8 to 10 people and would need 2 to 4 rooms.

Oh, for those driving the day of or flying in the night before, you can skip thru a lot of the online checkin, select your PAT and then go back to fill in the online check in with all the specific details later.