Getting on the ship

[Travel Lover]

How is the process of getting on the ship for Disney? I have been on some and never even waited in line then another I waited a little and then one I waited at least an hour or more standing in line. How long do you usually have to stand in line to get on the DCL? Does it go by fast? Does EVERYONE get there when it opens so is that the most crowded time?

Just wondering what to expect since we will have two small kids. I can try to prepare them as well as myself for it :-)

 

Sandra

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We have done 7 DCL cruises so far. Each time you boarded from noon to 12:30, depending when the crew had lunch ready and heavy duty cleaning equipment put away. They user you to lunch first thing at either the buffet or a restaurant. Buffet has the best selection for lunch. You may go to your stateroom at 1:30, not before as the room hosts are not done cleaning until then. However the pools are open and lots of kids have swim wear on under their clothes or in their carry on bags. Towles are furnished. One Mickey ear is reserved for toddlers who are not potty trained yet. You must have swim diapers on to use it by law. They do sell them on board, but they are very expensive and they don't have many, so best to bring a lot from home. The other ear is for kids a little older, but not big enough for the regular part of the Mickey pool. It's very shallow. Then the rest of the pool is for all the kids.

They open the port around 10:00 A.M. and will let you into the terminal then. The line to check in goes very quickly and there are several to choose from. The line to board the ship will back up a long ways, but moves very quickly once they start letting you on board. You can leave your luggage to save your place or take turns watching it. There is an observation area there to look at the ship, water fountain, rest rooms, and best of all for your young children, there are several small TV's playing cartoons or animated Disney movies on them with small couches all around them. Also in the center of the terminal, in front of the model of the ship, occasionally different characters will appear for photos with all the guests. That will help pass the time if you get there early. You may want to pack a small snack for the kids if you arrive early. I believe everyone has to be on board by 4:00 because they have to attend the safety drill.

Getting back off the ship people line up a long ways, and they will let you go off in spurts so it doesnt get too crowded getting your luggage and pass through customs. We have had to wait 20 minutes to get off when we got back. At the ports you will be taken off in groups according to your excursion, if you take one. Of course you may get on and off as you please if your not doing an excursion or just want to go exploring after your excursion. Sometimes when excursion groups leave it can get very crowded near the exit, but if you go after or between those groups it's very quick to get on and off. If you bring a stroller I would advise an Umbrella style one as the halls on the ship can get very busy around dinner time and they fold easily for going on excursions. I hope this helps some. I'm sure you'll all have a magical cruise!

mom x4,grandma x4

[Travel Lover]

Wow, thank you so much. I was a little confused, what time should we get there then. You said you got on 12-12:30 but then mentioned 10 is when the terminal opens up. So do we need to get there at 10 to get on at 12? That is a long time to wait. IF we waited until 11 or so will that make us too far back in line? So, on the waiting, did you mean that I could watch the kids with the tv area and my husband can stand in line?

Thanks for the tips.

 

Sandra

[Travel Lover]

One other question, How are their safety drill at the beginning? They are usually so hard since they cram you in like sardines and it last so long. I am hoping that disney being geared toward kids is better organized and faster.

Sandra

[jelbnl]

If you want to be one of the first to board when they allow it, you'll need to be at the port when they open it up, usually 10 or 10:30. If you really don't care, then you can get there at 11, but you'll be WAY back in the line. Your husband can save your place in line while waiting to board, while you go other places with the kids. There are a few TV's playing Disney cartoons, but kids get bored easily with that, mine (4 and 7) do. With the new on-line booking for Palos, SPa, etc there really is no reason to rush onboard now, since all those ressies should already be done.

 

Also, forgot to add, the lifeboat drill on DCL isn't much different from other lines. They still pack you in like sardines, though they tri to make it quick. I lasts about 20 minutes or so, but for little ones that does seem like a lifetime.

[MrPete]

Getting on and off a Disney ship is a snap. They really have this one figured out. Never appears to be any lines.

 

And as for the muster drill, it was so non eventful that I don't even remember one!

[sdf89]

Just a different point of view, my youngsters, on their first cruise, liked the muster drill and were tickled with learning about the vests, etc. They did not seem to notice the sardine feeling as much.

[oscarmoraz]

We have done 7 DCL cruises so far. Each time you boarded from noon to 12:30, depending when the crew had lunch ready and heavy duty cleaning equipment put away. They user you to lunch first thing at either the buffet or a restaurant. Buffet has the best selection for lunch. You may go to your stateroom at 1:30, not before as the room hosts are not done cleaning until then. However the pools are open and lots of kids have swim wear on under their clothes or in their carry on bags. Towles are furnished. One Mickey ear is reserved for toddlers who are not potty trained yet. You must have swim diapers on to use it by law. They do sell them on board, but they are very expensive and they don't have many, so best to bring a lot from home. The other ear is for kids a little older, but not big enough for the regular part of the Mickey pool. It's very shallow. Then the rest of the pool is for all the kids.

They open the port around 10:00 A.M. and will let you into the terminal then. The line to check in goes very quickly and there are several to choose from. The line to board the ship will back up a long ways, but moves very quickly once they start letting you on board. You can leave your luggage to save your place or take turns watching it. There is an observation area there to look at the ship, water fountain, rest rooms, and best of all for your young children, there are several small TV's playing cartoons or animated Disney movies on them with small couches all around them. Also in the center of the terminal, in front of the model of the ship, occasionally different characters will appear for photos with all the guests. That will help pass the time if you get there early. You may want to pack a small snack for the kids if you arrive early. I believe everyone has to be on board by 4:00 because they have to attend the safety drill.

Getting back off the ship people line up a long ways, and they will let you go off in spurts so it doesnt get too crowded getting your luggage and pass through customs. We have had to wait 20 minutes to get off when we got back. At the ports you will be taken off in groups according to your excursion, if you take one. Of course you may get on and off as you please if your not doing an excursion or just want to go exploring after your excursion. Sometimes when excursion groups leave it can get very crowded near the exit, but if you go after or between those groups it's very quick to get on and off. If you bring a stroller I would advise an Umbrella style one as the halls on the ship can get very busy around dinner time and they fold easily for going on excursions. I hope this helps some. I'm sure you'll all have a magical cruise!

mom x4,grandma x4

 

Great information! Thank you so much for the ideas!

Cindy

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Sorry I confused you. Although the terminal opens around 10 to 10:30, we arrive about 11:00. The lines are still short for checking in, the line to board is long, but it moves very quickly once they start boarding. Once we were clear across the terminal, back to the escalators and still only took 10 minutes to get on.

For some reason every time we go on the Wonder, the lines are shorter, for the Magic, they were longer, but all moved faster than we expected. When we had little kids with us, we did take turns watching the luggage while the other one went to watch the TV'S and go outside to the observation deck, or to a character meet n greet. But lots of people just leave their luggage and roam around. They return just before the line starts to move. No one ever seems to bother it, although I have never seen a camera or cam corder just sitting there. They may have even locked their carry on bags so security. You can see it from all around the room, it's big and wide open.

If you arrive at the terminal around 1:00 they isnt any line most of the time, you just walk right on. We like to arrive early because they announce your name and where you are from as you get on board, and late afternoon they dont always do this. Plus we are ready for lunch and a little exploring the ship before it gets too many people on it, we get some great pictures when we board early. Hope I cleared up the confusion for you.

mom x4,grandma x4

[Travel Lover]

Thank you all so much. We do not get to go until fall next year. I hate that it is so far away. But it was already booking up so we thought we better go for it now to reserve us a place !!!! We wanted to wait until our youngest daughter was at least 2. I wish she was older so she too could enjoy all the kids stuff and we could also have some alone time. Guess we will just pay for the nursery, b/c it has been hard enough for us to wait two years for another cruise much less 3. It sounds like we are going to have to just book another one for the following year.

 

Sandra