butterflyfish

Thanks for the clarification everyone! This helps.

I'm not a first time cruiser, but am first time on Disney so I wasn't sure what their check in process is like (it threw me that we had to sign up for a port arrival time during online check in).

I think my plan will be dad drops off mom/kid/grandma/luggage and we wait in the terminal for him to come back from dropping off car rental then all check in together. We all would like to board together since it is the first cruise for kid and want to experience the excitement with him!

Or auntie (that's me :D) can ditch the whole group and board way ahead of everyone else and start my vacation early!

Need some clarification on having some of the family start the check in process while one family member drops off the rental car... I've read a few comments that this is possible, but don't the check in agents need to match the person to the passport during check in? If the person dropping off the car is not there, how does Disney know they are the actual person that is supposed to be getting on the ship?

I don't want to end up waiting in line only to be told that the missing person needs to be there to complete the check in process.

Sorry if this is a confusing question...I just figure with all the security issues of today, checking in someone who is not physically present would be an issue.

If this is indeed the case, at what point do you meet up with the person dropping off the car? In the terminal before you board? On the ship?