Yacht club embarkation

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Just two more days until we get to try MSC and the yacht club for the first time. Super excited!!  I understand we can show up at the port whenever we want and I believe someone will be at the tent around 10. Correct? My question is, is there any benefit to getting there early?  Like, if we get there at 10 would we get in the ship any sooner than if we get there around 10:30-10:45?  Do they escort all the YC passengers at the same time or a small group at a time based on when they check in?  I’ll be ready to get to Top Sail and have a cocktail as soon as possible!  😁

[Nikodemos]

On our cruise, they escorted small groups to the TSL.  I guess the advantage of being early is starting TSL cocktails earlier and ordering lunch in the YC restaurant or grill earlier to make sure that those cocktails don't go too much to your head 😉

[jules815]

We usually try to leave our port hotel no later than 10:15. 

 

I'm so excited for you!  

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 hour ago, Nikodemos said:

On our cruise, they escorted small groups to the TSL.  I guess the advantage of being early is starting TSL cocktails earlier and ordering lunch in the YC restaurant or grill earlier to make sure that those cocktails don't go too much to your head 😉

We aren’t big drinkers so one will be sufficient before lunch. Lol

 

16 minutes ago, jules815 said:

We usually try to leave our port hotel no later than 10:15. 

 

I'm so excited for you!  

I think we’re planning to leave ours by 10 and it’s a 20-25 minute drive. 

[Morgsmom]

Lol, same response as on the FB page - 10:30 - 10:45 is an optimal time to arrive.

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

You can arrive as you see fit but boarding for YC likely won’t begin before 11am. Maybe sooner, but probably not. The YC dining room isn’t open for lunch until noon so even if you board after 11 (as we did due to stragglers from the previous cruise) you can’t have lunch until 12. 
 

My recommendation is arrive between 10:30 - 11 and take in every moment. It’s so weird but I have my usual embarkation butterflies (on your behalf) and it isn’t even my cruise!  I’m very excited for you and can’t wait to hear all about your impressions of YC in general and MSC as a whole. Safe travels!

[RichYak]

10 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

It’s so weird but I have my usual embarkation butterflies (on your behalf) and it isn’t even my cruise!  I’m very excited for you and can’t wait to hear all about your impressions of YC in general and MSC as a whole. Safe travels!

I say we all have a drink at 11am on Sunday to play along 😂

[NCteacherlovescruising]

8 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

You can arrive as you see fit but boarding for YC likely won’t begin before 11am. Maybe sooner, but probably not. The YC dining room isn’t open for lunch until noon so even if you board after 11 (as we did due to stragglers from the previous cruise) you can’t have lunch until 12. 
 

My recommendation is arrive between 10:30 - 11 and take in every moment. It’s so weird but I have my usual embarkation butterflies (on your behalf) and it isn’t even my cruise!  I’m very excited for you and can’t wait to hear all about your impressions of YC in general and MSC as a whole. Safe travels!

Our plan is to leave our hotel around 10. It’s apx 20-25 minutes to the port, and we have to park, so that will get us to the tent around 10:30 or so. 
 

I will be sure to let you all know what I think of the ship and MSC. Thank you!

 

8 hours ago, RichYak said:

I say we all have a drink at 11am on Sunday to play along 😂

There ya go!

[Oviedo32765]

9 hours ago, RichYak said:

I say we all have a drink at 11am on Sunday to play along 😂

[xcell]

19 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 My question is, is there any benefit to getting there early?  

Your vacation starts that much sooner...drink in hand!!!! Enjoy....

[kelleherdl]

On 6/23/2023 at 2:21 PM, NCteacherlovescruising said:

My question is, is there any benefit to getting there early?  

You are paying a premium per day fare for the Yacht Club.  One way to measure your cruise value is $/pp/day.  Why not use that full embarkation day, or at least as much of it as you can. You won’t be able to recapture any time on disembarkation day. You will be politely asked to ‘remove yourself.’ 😀

[NCteacherlovescruising]

4 minutes ago, kelleherdl said:

You are paying a premium per day fare for the Yacht Club.  One way to measure your cruise value is $/pp/day.  Why not use that full embarkation day, or at least as much of it as you can. You won’t be able to recapture any time on disembarkation day. You will be politely asked to ‘remove yourself.’ 😀

We intend to!  That’s why I was asking if there were any benefit in getting there earlier than 10:30. It doesn’t appear there is. 

[stp_mmh5]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We intend to!  That’s why I was asking if there were any benefit in getting there earlier than 10:30. It doesn’t appear there is. 

Only benefit I would say is prime choice of parking spaces. They didn't open the garage for incoming guests until 1020-ish. And by the time we parked and got checked in it was shortly after 1030. I noticed that shortly before boarding, the main holding area was quickly filling up, so I imagine the lines for baggage drop off, security and standard check-in started getting long close to 11.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 hour ago, stp_mmh5 said:

Only benefit I would say is prime choice of parking spaces. They didn't open the garage for incoming guests until 1020-ish. And by the time we parked and got checked in it was shortly after 1030. I noticed that shortly before boarding, the main holding area was quickly filling up, so I imagine the lines for baggage drop off, security and standard check-in started getting long close to 11.

Thanks!  I didn’t realize they wouldn’t let us enter the parking lot until 10:20 or so. Weird, but ok. We will try to time it around then. 

[stp_mmh5]

Just now, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Thanks!  I didn’t realize they wouldn’t let us enter the parking lot until 10:20 or so. Weird, but ok. We will try to time it around then. 

It did seem odd to us as well, but I guess it makes sense if they were trying to minimize the crossing of incoming/outgoing passengers. It worked for us because the garage and lot were pretty empty, so choice of spots. When we left, we noticed how full at least the ground level was, even after we walked off around 9.

 

 

[kelleherdl]

29 minutes ago, stp_mmh5 said:

It did seem odd to us as well, but I guess it makes sense if they were trying to minimize the crossing of incoming/outgoing passengers. It worked for us because the garage and lot were pretty empty, so choice of spots. When we left, we noticed how full at least the ground level was, even after we walked off around 9.

 

 

This only started about a month or so ago. It was a zoo before. There are no NCL sailings this summer so parking at Terminal 10 is ample. Two 4,500+ ships sailing from Terminal 10 is a no bueno for parking. NCL has a lot of included airfare and bus transfers to Orlando International. That is the only thing that makes this possible. Port Canaveral needs another ‘big ship’ terminal like Terminal 3.