Checking in before PAT?

[justme0729]

Our port arrival time is 12:30 but we are taking a shuttle from Orlando to port canaveral at 9:30. Will they let us check in early? What time do you think we will board if they do?

 

[Barbydoll8]

The port does not open until 10:30 and it takes about 45min to an hour from the airport to the port. Yes you can check in early but that does not mean you will get onto the ship any earlier.
I would call DCL and see if you can bump your PAT time up a bit.
They don't start boarding anyone until about 11:30-12pm.

 

[flybone89]

You Port Arrival Time (PAT) will coincide with a boarding number you are given at check-in (they write it on a card unless they changed it recently) and when they actually call that number is what will dictate when you board. So yes you can check in early - port will be open by the time you arrive - but you will still be assigned a later boarding number around where the order of your PAT was and after earlier PATs. Net, checking in early is an option when necessary, but it won't change boarding order.

Impact is just that you will have to wait longer to be called, in a crowded terminal, full of people who showed up at 1030 - or sooner! - with much later PATs but showed up hoping to board earlier, and still board in the same order (sorry cynical rant

You will be ok to check in early. Have a nice cruise!

 

[MelSpees]

Impact is just that you will have to wait longer to be called, in a crowded terminal, full of people who showed up at 1030 - or sooner! - with much later PATs but showed up hoping to board earlier, and still board in the same order (sorry cynical rant

You will be ok to check in early. Have a nice cruise!

This is what I was going to point out. The staggered PATs are an effort to keep the terminal from being too crowded. When everyone comes before their PAT it defeats the purpose. We try to get there just a little before our picked/assigned time. I know there may be times when it can't be helped because of shuttles or whatever. Since your boarding number is attached to your PAT it really doesn't help to be there too early.

 

[Dug720]

This is what I was going to point out. The staggered PATs are an effort to keep the terminal from being too crowded. When everyone comes before their PAT it defeats the purpose. We try to get there just a little before our picked/assigned time. I know there may be times when it can't be helped because of shuttles or whatever. Since your boarding number is attached to your PAT it really doesn't help to be there too early.

This. A couple of years ago, I was on the shuttle from MCO with the earliest PAT they had (10:30 I think?). I took a shuttle from my airport area hotel back to MCO in time to be lined up and on the first shuttle leaving for the port. When I was checking in, I was given Boarding Group 3 (there were a LOT of Platinum cruisers that cruise for some reason, so they pretty much made up the numbers for 1 and 2, so "general" boarding started with Group 3. There was a family checking in next to me - so they had obviously been on the same bus as this was right after we'd gotten there and the terminal was not open to the non-DCL transportation public yet - who obviously had a much later PAT (I think the dad was saying they had booked the cruise later and all the early PATs were gone) and received a Boarding Group number well into the 20s. The dad asked about it rather loudly (when he was explaining they'd booked later) and the cast member was very polite but said that the Boarding Groups were already assigned based on the PAT.

Now, have people likely been given lower Boarding Groups than what was assigned based on their PAT? I'm sure that sometimes the CM will pixie dust them - people on here have reported getting the number being given out at their arrival time regardless of PAT - but if it happens it is at their discretion. And being loud and pushy is probably not going to help your cause.

Also, I have heard of non-Port Canaveral ports (Miami and Vancouver I know...possibly New York) enforcing the PAT if the terminal gets close to fire code capacity. At that point they would be checking PAT and denying entrance if you were early until your PAT and/or when the terminal is clear enough to allow more people in.

 

[justme0729]

The port does not open until 10:30 and it takes about 45min to an hour from the airport to the port. Yes you can check in early but that does not mean you will get onto the ship any earlier.
I would call DCL and see if you can bump your PAT time up a bit.
They don't start boarding anyone until about 11:30-12pm.

If our PAT is 12:30, would we get on the ship at about 12:30 or later?

 

[Dug720]

If our PAT is 12:30, would we get on the ship at about 12:30 or later?

I think usually by then it has gone to Open Boarding (this is when the number they are calling to board matches the number being given out), but not necessarily as there are times boarding can be delayed for any number of factors (inspections going on on board, a deep clean/disinfect, a late arrival into port, some kind of guest emergency that delays boarding).

Your assigned boarding group would be with those with a 12:30 PAT, but as soon as they go to open boarding, you may board even if they have not called your number.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Now, have people likely been given lower Boarding Groups than what was assigned based on their PAT? I'm sure that sometimes the CM will pixie dust them - people on here have reported getting the number being given out at their arrival time regardless of PAT - but if it happens it is at their discretion. And being loud and pushy is probably not going to help your cause.

Agreed! My first cruise i booked just 45 days before sailing and got a later PAT. I was flying in the morning of and taking the DCL bus to the terminal. My flight arrival was early and I was on the first bus out of MCO. I didn't ask for anything but the CM at check-in gave me boarding number 2. Lots of pixie dust there.

If our PAT is 12:30, would we get on the ship at about 12:30 or later?

If you arrive earlier and they begin boarding on time, meaning by 11:30, then you might board by noon or a little after.

 

[Dug720]

Agreed! My first cruise i booked just 45 days before sailing and got a later PAT. I was flying in the morning of and taking the DCL bus to the terminal. My flight arrival was early and I was on the first bus out of MCO. I didn't ask for anything but the CM at check-in gave me boarding number 2. Lots of pixie dust there.

I think that's the key. Leading with an ask for an earlier time - especially if it's not done politely - can set you up for nada. While just checking in and not asking might actually do more in this case. Above all, be polite. I could see the walls going up for the CM when the father of the family next to me started getting louder.