Resort boats

[schumigirl]

I heard from someone staying at RP right now and on Saturday they said the lines for the boats were crazy, but they were all asked to show room keys to show they were staying at the resort before getting on the boats.

I haven`t heard of this outside of late night at HHN on occasions, but wonder if anyone else had experienced this recently. They said they weren`t asked yesterday but were asked on Saturday. We all know anyone can use the boats to visit other resorts and enjoy pools and restaurants or just wander round the resorts, so I wonder if this is going to be commonplace in the future.

Interesting one for sure.

 

[saskdw]

Interesting.
I would only think it's an issue at SF as you have people from Adventura and CB using their boats regularly.

 

[Sue M]

I heard from someone staying at RP right now and on Saturday they said the lines for the boats were crazy, but they were all asked to show room keys to show they were staying at the resort before getting on the boats.

I haven`t heard of this outside of late night at HHN on occasions, but wonder if anyone else had experienced this recently. They said they weren`t asked yesterday but were asked on Saturday. We all know anyone can use the boats to visit other resorts and enjoy pools and restaurants or just wander round the resorts, so I wonder if this is going to be commonplace in the future.

Interesting one for sure.

I know when we stayed at Sapphire last Aug the early morning boat queues were ridiculous. Wasn’t a problem the rest of the time but a 2-3 morning boat wait wasn’t fun. It may be a good idea to key check for early morning boats. The rest of the day is fine. This isn’t the time of day people are using the boat to dine or pool hop so I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Just my opinion.

 

[mamapenguin]

This is interesting.I have not experienced that before. I am one that if I see a line I keep walking. I may check out the next dock, but if I can’t get right on I keep walking. I hope more people post their experiences.

 

[wdwrule]

We don’t often use the resort boats as we prefer to walk however recently my sister and I attempted to take a boat to Strong Water late one Friday night from Citywalk (about 2 weeks ago). The lines were outrageous. We figured we’d get on either a RP or SF boat… whichever one came first. When one arrived, it shared both of those resorts so it was taking forever. Lots of time in between boats and the TM told me that they were filling each boat with 50% RP & 50% SF, so we just ended up walking.

It made me wonder if they are short on boat captains or something.

ETA: they were not checking room keys on that night.

 

[kristenabelle]

I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often, tbh. If I'm staying at a DVC property and day-tripping to Uni, I'll take an Uber to HRH/RP instead of the deck drop-off in CityWalk. I'll usually walk to the parks from there and not take the boat, but it's relatively easy for non-resort guests to take advantage of some amenities (not pools). But maybe too many folks were doing this, or they anticipated holiday crowds?

 

[Sue M]

We don’t often use the resort boats as we prefer to walk however recently my sister and I attempted to take a boat to Strong Water late one Friday night from Citywalk (about 2 weeks ago). The lines were outrageous. We figured we’d get on either a RP or SF boat… whichever one came first. When one arrived, it shared both of those resorts so it was taking forever. Lots of time in between boats and the TM told me that they were filling each boat with 50% RP & 50% SF, so we just ended up walking.

It made me wonder if they are short on boat captains or something.

ETA: they were not checking room keys on that night.

Interesting. I’ve never seen resorts sharing boats. I wonder if they were short staffed.

 

[saskdw]

Interesting. I’ve never seen resorts sharing boats. I wonder if they were short staffed.

Portinfino and Hard Rock shared boats in the evening when we were there in December. I'm pretty sure they were short staffed. I think I remember reading somewhere they were having trouble getting enough qualified driver for the boats.

 

[schumigirl]

Portinfino and Hard Rock shared boats in the evening when we were there in December. I'm pretty sure they were short staffed. I think I remember reading somewhere they were having trouble getting enough qualified driver for the boats.

They have been struggling for Boat Captains, particularly over the last year or so, hopefully it`s resolved soon. We`ve never had to share a boat with another hotel since we first stayed there way back when.

 

[Skippyboo]

Where does it say that resort boats are only for that specific resort’s guests?

 

[saskdw]

They have been struggling for Boat Captains, particularly over the last year or so, hopefully it`s resolved soon. We`ve never had to share a boat with another hotel since we first stayed there way back when.

I don't think very many people from the Hard Rock take the boat. The walk is so short is just isn't worth the time unless you have mobility issues. So I guess it makes sense to have those resorts share when they are short staffed. The SF and RP boats have way more people using them. This is the first time we've seen shared boats as well.

It seems Universal had a lot of trouble getting their laid off staff back after the Pandemic. Lot's must have found other jobs.

 

[schumigirl]

I don't think very many people from the Hard Rock take the boat. The walk is so short is just isn't worth the time unless you have mobility issues. So I guess it makes sense to have those resorts share when they are short staffed. The SF and RP boats have way more people using them. This is the first time we've seen shared boats as well.

It seems Universal had a lot of trouble getting their laid off staff back after the Pandemic. Lot's must have found other jobs.

That`s what we have heard for the longest time, once the pandemic hit, so many went on to other options and never came back when the parks and hotels opened up.

The longer serving boat captains all commented they had never seen the hotels share boats before either, hopefully they`ll be back to full compliment before too long.

We did have one new Captain one day in May!!! Oops......I do wonder if he is still there!

 

[disneyseniors]

I heard from someone staying at RP right now and on Saturday they said the lines for the boats were crazy, but they were all asked to show room keys to show they were staying at the resort before getting on the boats.

I haven`t heard of this outside of late night at HHN on occasions, but wonder if anyone else had experienced this recently. They said they weren`t asked yesterday but were asked on Saturday. We all know anyone can use the boats to visit other resorts and enjoy pools and restaurants or just wander round the resorts, so I wonder if this is going to be commonplace in the future.

Interesting one for sure.

Maybe some inconsiderate people are trying to use the transportation provided for the guests only? That's the only incidence I can think of to cause requiring showing your resort keys. It's probably a good thing if that is getting out of hand.

 

[schumigirl]

Maybe some inconsiderate people are trying to use the transportation provided for the guests only? That's the only incidence I can think of to cause requiring showing your resort keys. It's probably a good thing if that is getting out of hand.

Anyone can use the boats to visit the hotels for dinner and so on, it`s always been that way except on occasions during HHN late night when they did limit it to folks actually staying in the specific hotels the boats were heading to.

I do know some Sapphire guests complain about longer boat lines due to Aventura/CBay, but it`s allowed, unless they specify otherwise.

They can get really busy which is why we walk if the line for the boats is huge....even if our feet really hurt!!!

 

[disneyseniors]

Anyone can use the boats to visit the hotels for dinner and so on, it`s always been that way except on occasions during HHN late night when they did limit it to folks actually staying in the specific hotels the boats were heading to.

I do know some Sapphire guests complain about longer boat lines due to Aventura/CBay, but it`s allowed, unless they specify otherwise.

They can get really busy which is why we walk if the line for the boats is huge....even if our feet really hurt!!!

I guess I was thinking of WDW where some people try to use the transportation that are not staying there. I doubt if that is the case at Universal, I hope!

 

[QueenofPrideRock]

I guess I was thinking of WDW where some people try to use the transportation that are not staying there. I doubt if that is the case at Universal, I hope!

Technically the transportation at WDW is open to the public. I think it's moreso an issue at monorail resorts with people trying to park at Contemporary to walk to MK etc., but that's a slightly different scenario.