Resort to PC transfer time

[Lilac36]

My DH and I are going on a Western Caribbean cruise with my in-laws, and my brother-in-law and his family in March (fingers crossed that this actually happens). My brother in law is driving to the port directly with his family. My DH and I are meeting my in-laws in WDW for 3 days before our cruise, but my in-laws are going to be driving from WDW to PC since they will be in Florida already as snowbirds. Given that DH and I will be away for 10 days we will each have a large suitcase, plus a smaller carry-on each. My MIL packs like she is never going to see dry land again and will probably have 4 large suitcases between her and my FIL. Because of the luggage situation, my husband and I are going to take the Disney transfer bus from the resort to PC. Does anyone know what time it picks up resort guests? Will DCL assign us all the same boarding group?

Since we are traveling with a large group but arriving in 3 separate modes of transportation we want to make sure we all board together (my FIL LIVES for the "Welcome aboard the XXXX Family" announcement so we need to board together). We are all silver members if that helps.

 

[ThinkTink1]

If you are taking the motor coach you won’t be assigned a boarding number.... depending on which resort you are staying at will depend on what time you are being picked up at and they don’t usually have a set time until the day before the cruise... you get a letter delivered to your room the night before the cruise to let you know how to handle your bags and what time the bus will come.... in the past they’ve always seemed to pick up the deluxe resorts first so if you’re at a moderate or value the buses are scheduled later.... NOW with all that being said fir the questions I could answer with stupid corona I am sure the luggage situation and how the load the buses because of distancing I’m sure will change.... buses are great if you don’t want to worry about the logistics of getting yourself there but you definitely are not in control of your timeline.... I hope I answered some of your questions and pray that everything is back to being able to cruise for your trip!!

 

[Lilac36]

Thank you!!! That makes

If you are taking the motor coach you won’t be assigned a boarding number.... depending on which resort you are staying at will depend on what time you are being picked up at and they don’t usually have a set time until the day before the cruise... you get a letter delivered to your room the night before the cruise to let you know how to handle your bags and what time the bus will come.... in the past they’ve always seemed to pick up the deluxe resorts first so if you’re at a moderate or value the buses are scheduled later.... NOW with all that being said fir the questions I could answer with stupid corona I am sure the luggage situation and how the load the buses because of distancing I’m sure will change.... buses are great if you don’t want to worry about the logistics of getting yourself there but you definitely are not in control of your timeline.... I hope I answered some of your questions and pray that everything is back to being able to cruise for your trip!!

Thank you!!! That makes sense. We are staying at the Grand Floridian and my in-laws will be there as well so coordinating with them will probably be a bit easier. Its the brother-in-law with the very excitable nieces and nephew who will be the logistical issue.

 

[Marc D]

Whatever the resort you are staying at, you will usually arrive close to or after open boarding (edited) has been called. You could all wait for each other in the terminal to board together. Usually, resort pick ups are between 10:30AM and 1PM, with arrivals between 12:30PM and 2PM. If you want to board earlier, your best bet is to use a private car.

 

[BCV23]

Are you staying at a WDW resort? If so, you may be able to send your luggage with DCL while riding with your in-laws (if there will be room for you). If I recall correctly, it was $25 for up to 6 bags and $5/bag for any extra. It would save you money but more importantly will afford more flexibility with arrival time. IIRC, there must already be other DCL guests at your resort who will be using DCL transfers. We have done this twice, I think. Bell services picked up our luggage as they made the rounds around 8 am.

Of course, things may be different post pandemic.

 

[karen4546]

are you concierge on the DCL cruise? If so and you want to arrive sooner, you can take the Magical Express to the airport and then the DCL bus to the ship. We did that for our cruise. We scheduled MExpress to pick us up at YC at 7am and when boarding for DCL bus started, they let us board first and we were off in just a few minutes. I guess we got to the port by 10am? We checked in at the concierge lounge and then boarded the ship. This was the first cruise after the hurricane in 2017 (Irma?). I think the cost was $120?

 

[Lilac36]

are you concierge on the DCL cruise? If so and you want to arrive sooner, you can take the Magical Express to the airport and then the DCL bus to the ship. We did that for our cruise. We scheduled MExpress to pick us up at YC at 7am and when boarding for DCL bus started, they let us board first and we were off in just a few minutes. I guess we got to the port by 10am? We checked in at the concierge lounge and then boarded the ship. This was the first cruise after the hurricane in 2017 (Irma?). I think the cost was $120?

Unfortunately we are not Concierge. I might do some research about private transportation to get us to the port if we won't arrive until later. I will want to board with our actual boarding group to take advantage of our time on the ship since none of us have sailed on the Fantasy before. And it seems cruel to make my nieces and nephew wait around the port until we arrive on the bus.

 

[karen4546]

Unfortunately we are not Concierge. I might do some research about private transportation to get us to the port if we won't arrive until later. I will want to board with our actual boarding group to take advantage of our time on the ship since none of us have sailed on the Fantasy before. And it seems cruel to make my nieces and nephew wait around the port until we arrive on the bus.

If you all don't board together, just have them meet you at a specific place and then go have lunch together (if time allows) and then go to the sail away party.

Or, maybe someone here could give you a suggestion on how to get the same or close to the same boarding group. Enjoy your family cruise and have so much fun!!!

 

[lanejudy]

Whatever the resort you are staying at, you will usually arrive close to or after all aboard has been called.

I think you mean buses from WDW arrive at the port after "opening boarding" is called, not after "all aboard" which is usually ~3:30pm. Open boarding is when the boarding numbers no longer matter because the terminal crowds have boarded; this tends to occur around 12:15 give or take. WDW resort buses tend to arrive between 12:30-2:00pm, depending on how many resorts needed pick-up on that run.

OP - I think your challenge may be if BIL and his kids want to arrive somewhat early and board in the late morning. You will all select your own PAT (Port Arrival Times) and boarding numbers are based on those, so you could all get the same PAT and same or close boarding numbers. But arrival will be the key issue.

And that all assumes normal operation; who knows what may be required for social distancing once cruising resumes.

 

[mcrowder1978]

We stayed at the Poly this past February before our cruise. I think they picked us up around 11:00 and then we stopped at Wilderness and the Contemporary before heading to the port. We arrived around 12:30ish, through security by 12:45ish and on the ship by 1:30, which was really nice because our room was ready at that point and we were able to drop our bags off before going to explore the ship. All in all it was super stress free and since there was open boarding at that point we didn't have to wait around in the terminal before boarding. I am definitely doing it again. Also, it was just my daughter and I so from a cost perspective it was cheaper that renting a car and having the hassle of turning it in and getting a shuttle from there to the port.

After the cruise we essentially walked off the ship pretty early and breezed through customs since we checked out bags the night before (we were flying Delta), hopped on the first bus out and were at the airport in no time. It took longer getting off of the ship as we were waiting in line for our thumbdrive with the pictures before they scanned us off than at customs. We must have gotten down there at the right time as there was no line and walked right out to the bus.

 

[Lilac36]

We stayed at the Poly this past February before our cruise. I think they picked us up around 11:00 and then we stopped at Wilderness and the Contemporary before heading to the port. We arrived around 12:30ish, through security by 12:45ish and on the ship by 1:30, which was really nice because our room was ready at that point and we were able to drop our bags off before going to explore the ship. All in all it was super stress free and since there was open boarding at that point we didn't have to wait around in the terminal before boarding. I am definitely doing it again. Also, it was just my daughter and I so from a cost perspective it was cheaper that renting a car and having the hassle of turning it in and getting a shuttle from there to the port.

1:30 arrival time isn't that bad. This my DH and my first cruise out of PC. The only other DCL one we did was from Barcelona and we did an excursion to Montserrat that morning through DCL and while it was incredible and I highly recommend, we didn't get to the ship until like 2:45 PM so we missed lunch and felt like we were rushing when we got aboard. I assumed we would have to pick people up from either the Poly or Contemporary because the last time we went, we were at the Poly and it seemed like every bus was GF and the Poly together.

 

[mcrowder1978]

1:30 arrival time isn't that bad. This my DH and my first cruise out of PC. The only other DCL one we did was from Barcelona and we did an excursion to Montserrat that morning through DCL and while it was incredible and I highly recommend, we didn't get to the ship until like 2:45 PM so we missed lunch and felt like we were rushing when we got aboard. I assumed we would have to pick people up from either the Poly or Contemporary because the last time we went, we were at the Poly and it seemed like every bus was GF and the Poly together.

It wasn't too bad. They were very organized. We got a letter under our door the night before telling us when to have our bags ready for pickup in the morning and when to meet up to get on the bus. Once we got to the meeting point they checked our travel documents and after the other families arrived they walked us out and the bus was there waiting for us. Since you mentioned it I think we did stop at GF too but all in all it didn't take too long even though we were the first on the bus. At each of the stops it was the same way where they had a DCL Crew Member shepherding the families to the bus so that there was little to no waiting at each. When we left the final stop it was about an hour ride to the port from that end of the parks, but I didn't notice it because they had a video running on the TV screens. We are looking forward to using the service again in February if our cruise happens, but this time we may be coming directly from the airport after staying at the Hyatt Regency MCO the night before.