Pearl and platinum

[4 mickey]

Hi
are Pearl and platinum getting back their #1 boarding as prior to covid ?
i saw yesterday they were getting their check in area as before but what about #1 boarding ?

 

[OpieDoodle]

They get to check in before everyone else which should mean they have first dibs on PAT as well meaning unless they don't check in or they choose a different time they should be on first.

 

[4 mickey]

Yes but before ( covid
we used ( platinum not to have to choose a PAT as it was automatically granted in a way

so it lessen the stress of online midnight check in

sure hope it will be that way again ( as pre covid

 

[lorimay]

I wish I knew how this boarding group stuff worked because at midnight check in for this upcoming cruise we have next week, I got on immediately at 12am, everything popped up and filled in like a dream for me and I was on the pick a port of arrival time by 12:05ish and I was given group #5, how the heck did groups 2, 3, & 4 fill so quickly? I am guessing that only concierge were given group one.
I am now pearl and I am looking forward to getting the earlier check in time.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

I wish I knew how this boarding group stuff worked because at midnight check in for this upcoming cruise we have next week, I got on immediately at 12am, everything popped up and filled in like a dream for me and I was on the pick a port of arrival time by 12:05ish and I was given group #5, how the heck did groups 2, 3, & 4 fill so quickly? I am guessing that only concierge were given group one.
I am now pearl and I am looking forward to getting the earlier check in time.

2 & 3 are usually filled with Disney transportation passengers.

 

[poohs4me]

I wish I knew how this boarding group stuff worked because at midnight check in for this upcoming cruise we have next week, I got on immediately at 12am, everything popped up and filled in like a dream for me and I was on the pick a port of arrival time by 12:05ish and I was given group #5, how the heck did groups 2, 3, & 4 fill so quickly? I am guessing that only concierge were given group one.
I am now pearl and I am looking forward to getting the earlier check in time.

I know what you mean - recently I had to register my cabin (platinum) - party of 2 and did so right at midnight with no issues and got 5. Did my dad (silver) cabin - party of 1 - after I did mine and he got boarding party 3 - he was not concierge and was parking his car at the port. No clue

 

[lorimay]

2 & 3 are usually filled with Disney transportation passengers.

We are sailing from Miami this time.
No rhyme or reason.

 

[ljhayes]

We are sailing from Miami this time.
No rhyme or reason.

They still offer transportation in Miami.

 

[lanejudy]

Hi
are Pearl and platinum getting back their #1 boarding as prior to covid ?
i saw yesterday they were getting their check in area as before but what about #1 boarding ?

To answer your question… at this point in time it does not appear that DCL is returning to the old “no PAT” for Platinum CC. You do get to do online checkin earlier than Gold/Silver/new so that means you are most likely to get an early PAT/low boarding group if desired. But you still need to do it. Though it may not be necessary to stay up until midnight. We’ll have to see what some of the first reports say.

 

[Minnie352]

We sailed from Port Canaveral on the Fantasy, on 4/15/23. At 30 day checkin, I logged in at 12:01 am and have been doing this long enough to speed through check in. I got 11:15am port arrival time, BUT... got boarding group 7!

So, what I found out on embarkation day is that people on DCL buses from the resort get boarding groups 1-6. Because I was driving to port and parking there, the best boarding group I could get was 7! I was very mad. I stayed up til midnight only to see appx 1,800 people stroll past me to board for an hour. I talked to the customer service supervisor about it. She told me I was "lucky" to get group 7.

I understand they need to turn over the resort buses, but let them use the same queue as the rest of us! I dont think this change in check in date for Platinum and Pearl is going to help, since it doesnt seem to impact boarding group (if still assigned based on how people arrive to port.) Are people "fudging" their arrival method to improve their boarding group? Thoughts?

 

[anricat]

Are people "fudging" their arrival method to improve their boarding group?

How would you do that? You can't fudge it. You have to pay for the DCL bus so I don't know how you would trick the system.

Once boarding starts each group is maybe 3-5 minutes tops so really we're taking about maybe 30 minutes if you're in boarding group 7? In the scheme of an entire multi-day vacation, that's a mere fraction of your total vacation time.

 

[Minnie352]

How would you do that? You can't fudge it. You have to pay for the DCL bus so I don't know how you would trick the system.

Once boarding starts each group is maybe 3-5 minutes tops so really we're taking about maybe 30 minutes if you're in boarding group 7? In the scheme of an entire multi-day vacation, that's a mere fraction of your total vacation time.

On 4/15, the difference between boarding groups 1 and 7, was 50 minutes. I was wanting to get on early so that I could make changes to our dining, and avoid the Cabanas opening day crush.
I didnt know if people were paying for the transfer in order to move up their boarding group. It might be worth it to someone. Just curious. Certainly cheaper than booking concierge (on our date concierge was not available).

 

[tinkerone]

We sailed from Port Canaveral on the Fantasy, on 4/15/23. At 30 day checkin, I logged in at 12:01 am and have been doing this long enough to speed through check in. I got 11:15am port arrival time, BUT... got boarding group 7!

So, what I found out on embarkation day is that people on DCL buses from the resort get boarding groups 1-6. Because I was driving to port and parking there, the best boarding group I could get was 7! I was very mad. I stayed up til midnight only to see appx 1,800 people stroll past me to board for an hour. I talked to the customer service supervisor about it. She told me I was "lucky" to get group 7.

I understand they need to turn over the resort buses, but let them use the same queue as the rest of us! I dont think this change in check in date for Platinum and Pearl is going to help, since it doesnt seem to impact boarding group (if still assigned based on how people arrive to port.) Are people "fudging" their arrival method to improve their boarding group? Thoughts?

I'm not sure what happened with your sailing but that does not sound right. First, group 7 would be no more than 10 minutes after the first calling. It goes by very quickly. There was people sitting across from us in the hall who were boarding group 27 and they were on in less than 30 minutes.
Also, there is no way 1800 people would have strolled past you to board for an hour before your group was called. That would mean that a third of those sailing would be in groups 1-6. Not a reality. IF everyone from groups 1-6 were in fact at the port you would would not have 1800 people in those groups but I would doubt that all of the people in group 1-6 would have been there. Everyone wants an early boarding group with an early pat but not everyone actually makes it in that time. Things happen. Transportation changes. Traffic backs up. Good intentions can get muddled.
Not sure what went on during your cruise, our last was Feb. 27th, but if what you say happened did in fact happen, something is way wrong.

 

[Clarkson U]

We never take Disney transportation since we live less than three hours from PC. In 10 cruises from PC we have never gotten a boarding group worse than 14 and since the restart we have gotten nothing worse than 6 and have gotten as high as 4 at PC. So I don’t think DCL reserves 1-6 for concierge and their own busses! It’s not possible.

 

[Minnie352]

We never take Disney transportation since we live less than three hours from PC. In 10 cruises from PC we have never gotten a boarding group worse than 14 and since the restart we have gotten nothing worse than 6 and have gotten as high as 4 at PC. So I don’t think DCL reserves 1-6 for concierge and their own busses! It’s not possible.

That's great you've had such good luck. I am repeating what the supervisor told me was the volume, and what I experienced. Our cruise was full. I'm sure it changes based on passenger volume and volume from the resorts. It was packed both inside and outside the terminal.

 

[Sakura1017]

We sailed from Port Canaveral on the Fantasy, on 4/15/23. At 30 day checkin, I logged in at 12:01 am and have been doing this long enough to speed through check in. I got 11:15am port arrival time, BUT... got boarding group 7!

So, what I found out on embarkation day is that people on DCL buses from the resort get boarding groups 1-6. Because I was driving to port and parking there, the best boarding group I could get was 7! I was very mad. I stayed up til midnight only to see appx 1,800 people stroll past me to board for an hour. I talked to the customer service supervisor about it. She told me I was "lucky" to get group 7.

I understand they need to turn over the resort buses, but let them use the same queue as the rest of us! I dont think this change in check in date for Platinum and Pearl is going to help, since it doesnt seem to impact boarding group (if still assigned based on how people arrive to port.) Are people "fudging" their arrival method to improve their boarding group? Thoughts?

Either way if people take DCL busses and their port of arrival time is later and the busses get to the terminal, they are still going to be waiting there. Unless they are bypassing port of arrival time with those on the busses.

 

[randumb0]

We sailed from Port Canaveral on the Fantasy, on 4/15/23. At 30 day checkin, I logged in at 12:01 am and have been doing this long enough to speed through check in. I got 11:15am port arrival time, BUT... got boarding group 7!

So, what I found out on embarkation day is that people on DCL buses from the resort get boarding groups 1-6. Because I was driving to port and parking there, the best boarding group I could get was 7! I was very mad. I stayed up til midnight only to see appx 1,800 people stroll past me to board for an hour. I talked to the customer service supervisor about it. She told me I was "lucky" to get group 7.

I understand they need to turn over the resort buses, but let them use the same queue as the rest of us! I dont think this change in check in date for Platinum and Pearl is going to help, since it doesnt seem to impact boarding group (if still assigned based on how people arrive to port.) Are people "fudging" their arrival method to improve their boarding group? Thoughts?

I was on that same cruise, drove to the port and had boarding group 5. I finished online checkin around 12:10

 

[AquaDame]

We sailed from Port Canaveral on the Fantasy, on 4/15/23. At 30 day checkin, I logged in at 12:01 am and have been doing this long enough to speed through check in. I got 11:15am port arrival time, BUT... got boarding group 7!

So, what I found out on embarkation day is that people on DCL buses from the resort get boarding groups 1-6. Because I was driving to port and parking there, the best boarding group I could get was 7! I was very mad. I stayed up til midnight only to see appx 1,800 people stroll past me to board for an hour. I talked to the customer service supervisor about it. She told me I was "lucky" to get group 7.

I understand they need to turn over the resort buses, but let them use the same queue as the rest of us! I dont think this change in check in date for Platinum and Pearl is going to help, since it doesnt seem to impact boarding group (if still assigned based on how people arrive to port.) Are people "fudging" their arrival method to improve their boarding group? Thoughts?

I was also on this cruise, am platinum, drove to port, and got boarding group 6. My PAT was 11:30, with no line outside. We walked right up to a check in person with an iPad and were behind at most four families at the xray machine. They were already on group 4 by the time we reached the top of the stairs, and we waited no more than 10 minutes for them to call 6. While I was still in the queue to go through the ears they called group 7. I'm baffled how you had to wait over an hour... are you sure that wasn't including the time NO ONE was boarding..?

 

[dwg]

I am more concerned about getting an earlier PAT time than the boarding number. Once boarding starts the numbers go pretty quickly.

We were on the Wish last November and we arrived at the port a little past our PAT time so once we parked we walked into the terminal without delay. I noticed signs outside the terminal indicating what PAT times were allowed to enter the terminal and people waiting outside the terminal for their PAT times to be called so they could enter.

So we will be on the Wish in September and I noticed this paragraph regarding arriving at port under online checkin:

"Guests will not be permitted at the terminal or in parking areas before their scheduled arrival time. Guests who arrive early will be asked to return at their scheduled arrival time, and Guests arriving after their scheduled time may be delayed and asked to wait behind those arriving at their scheduled time."

When we arrived at the port we were directed to drop off our luggage and then park. No one looked at our PAT time until we actually were entering the terminal. Based on the above paragraph from DCL has the process changed? If we happen to arrive early will we still be able to drop off our luggage and park the car? If we have a later PAT time I want to be able to at least drop off the luggage and park the car even if it means not being able to enter the terminal yet. Anyone with recent Port Canaveral experience regarding port arrival and PAT times?

 

[Clarkson U]

I am more concerned about getting an earlier PAT time than the boarding number. Once boarding starts the numbers go pretty quickly.

We were on the Wish last November and we arrived at the port a little past our PAT time so once we parked we walked into the terminal without delay. I noticed signs outside the terminal indicating what PAT times were allowed to enter the terminal and people waiting outside the terminal for their PAT times to be called so they could enter.

So we will be on the Wish in September and I noticed this paragraph regarding arriving at port under online checkin:

"Guests will not be permitted at the terminal or in parking areas before their scheduled arrival time. Guests who arrive early will be asked to return at their scheduled arrival time, and Guests arriving after their scheduled time may be delayed and asked to wait behind those arriving at their scheduled time."

When we arrived at the port we were directed to drop off our luggage and then park. No one looked at our PAT time until we actually were entering the terminal. Based on the above paragraph from DCL has the process changed? If we happen to arrive early will we still be able to drop off our luggage and park the car? If we have a later PAT time I want to be able to at least drop off the luggage and park the car even if it means not being able to enter the terminal yet. Anyone with recent Port Canaveral experience regarding port arrival and PAT times?

That language has been there for the past few years yet the basic rule has been of late that you are allowed Into the area just can’t enter the terminal until PAT.

Pre covid it used to be that Disney security would Actually check PAT before they even let you in to drop off luggage but that seems to have changed in the past year even with the language you cited.

I don’t think I would do anything different for your September cruise as of right now. It might change closer to Sept so that will be important to know in August.