Disembarkation times

[Goofy1932]

I can see that disembarkation times are around 7:30am. This is our first cruise ever and I read that higher level passengers are able to leave the ship sooner. As this is our first cruise how early can we expect to be off the ship and at port ready to drive away? I am looking at maybe going to Magic Kingdom the day we get off the ship but I do not want to arrive really late in the day.

 

[BarlowFamily]

The disembarkation times are assigned with colored luggage tags the day before. I'm not sure if the order they are called changes, in our 5 cruises we have never been the first or last color called. We have decided on all future cruises that we will just do the express disembarkation. If you don't have too much luggage, you can bring it all with you to breakfast and get off the ship right after its been cleared.

 

[Goofy1932]

The disembarkation times are assigned with colored luggage tags the day before. I'm not sure if the order they are called changes, in our 5 cruises we have never been the first or last color called. We have decided on all future cruises that we will just do the express disembarkation. If you don't have too much luggage, you can bring it all with you to breakfast and get off the ship right after its been cleared.

I didn't even know that was a thing. We will just keep our bags with us in the room then and leave when cleared. Thank you.

 

[auntlynne]

Lots of DCL cruises under my belt - I had never even thought loyalty status came into the plan to clear the ship.

I do think dining time would matter, as disembarkation starts during first breakfast (the early dinner seating).

Concierge are possibly escorted off the ship, so no waiting?

I also thought your deck might come into play - in that case, those who paid more for the cabin to be high deck would go first (that’s common in other cruise lines).

Skip breakfast - or maybe Cabanas is open early, take your bags with you and get off with the Express Walkoff. Customs won’t be inundated at that point.

Then it’s just the drive and parking at Transportation Center or your Disney resort. Perhaps take 417 and miss the mess of I-4 morning traffic.

 

[cvjw]

Cabanas opens at 6:30 for a quick breakfast. Then be in line at 7:15 for express walkoff. You can be at the MK by around 9:00 am if you are driving.

 

[Goofy1932]

Cabanas opens at 6:30 for a quick breakfast. Then be in line at 7:15 for express walkoff. You can be at the MK by around 9:00 am if you are driving.

Thank you. As long as we get there by 10 or 11 we'll be fine. It's just my wife and I so there will be no kids in tow. I plan on using the new lightning lane multi pass and single pass to book about five of the attractions that we want to ride and just do walk on with all of the others that typically never have a wait anyway. We'll probably be done riding things and shopping by 6:30 or 7 after dinner at Be Our Guest and then back to the resort.

 

[kiford]

Lots of DCL cruises under my belt - I had never even thought loyalty status came into the plan to clear the ship.

I believe that this is new since COVID as I never recall having anything called before disembarkation (although we usually have later dining, so we aren't usually leaving the ship until later), but I don't think it's tied to CC status. It's definitely tied to the colour of your luggage tag, and I suspect that's more about the location of your stateroom than loyalty status.

We had DCL transfers to WDW last September and they wanted us on those buses at 9 am I think. We were at our hotel well before 10:30 and I think our hotel was the last stop of four. So you don't need to disembark at the crack of dawn to get to MK for a reasonable hour. The major downside of doing express walk-off is that the lines in the ship go all the way down the hall which also means that the line for customs is crazy long. As far as I remember, no one asked what colour our luggage tags were when we disembarked so they don't really police it. And if you have your luggage you can disembark after the main walk-off line without an issue. That would give you time for a decent breakfast, not too crazy lines and still get to MK before 10. You'll definitely get there by 11 because they kick everyone off the ship by about 9:30!

 

[Goofy1932]

I believe that this is new since COVID as I never recall having anything called before disembarkation (although we usually have later dining, so we aren't usually leaving the ship until later), but I don't think it's tied to CC status. It's definitely tied to the colour of your luggage tag, and I suspect that's more about the location of your stateroom than loyalty status.

We had DCL transfers to WDW last September and they wanted us on those buses at 9 am I think. We were at our hotel well before 10:30 and I think our hotel was the last stop of four. So you don't need to disembark at the crack of dawn to get to MK for a reasonable hour. The major downside of doing express walk-off is that the lines in the ship go all the way down the hall which also means that the line for customs is crazy long. As far as I remember, no one asked what colour our luggage tags were when we disembarked so they don't really police it. And if you have your luggage you can disembark after the main walk-off line without an issue. That would give you time for a decent breakfast, not too crazy lines and still get to MK before 10. You'll definitely get there by 11 because they kick everyone off the ship by about 9:30!

I might have originally been mistaken. I heard that Concierge are allowed off first but that may be an escorting sort of thing the same as when they are allowed to get on the ship.

 

[cvjw]

I believe that this is new since COVID as I never recall having anything called before disembarkation (although we usually have later dining, so we aren't usually leaving the ship until later), but I don't think it's tied to CC status. It's definitely tied to the colour of your luggage tag, and I suspect that's more about the location of your stateroom than loyalty status.

We had DCL transfers to WDW last September and they wanted us on those buses at 9 am I think. We were at our hotel well before 10:30 and I think our hotel was the last stop of four. So you don't need to disembark at the crack of dawn to get to MK for a reasonable hour. The major downside of doing express walk-off is that the lines in the ship go all the way down the hall which also means that the line for customs is crazy long. As far as I remember, no one asked what colour our luggage tags were when we disembarked so they don't really police it. And if you have your luggage you can disembark after the main walk-off line without an issue. That would give you time for a decent breakfast, not too crazy lines and still get to MK before 10. You'll definitely get there by 11 because they kick everyone off the ship by about 9:30!

Customs in port Canaveral uses facial recognition software now. If you have a US passport, you just walk thru. No stopping. Super quick. Maybe 5 minutes in may. The line to not use facial recognition software was much longer.

 

[tink1970]

I might have originally been mistaken. I heard that Concierge are allowed off first but that may be an escorting sort of thing the same as when they are allowed to get on the ship.

In my concierge experience, we're escorted out of the lounge by one of the concierge hosts which basically means having an elevator held and then if there is a line to exit the ship, essentially a fastpass to disembark. That said, it's been almost a year since my last cruise so the process could have changed (and the sadness could make my memory fuzzy ).

 

[rab1974]

Hi. Its been since 2018 since I've been on a Disney cruise. Next one is this September. If I may ask on this thread, how does Disembarkation work again with the Disney transfers (the DCL bus back to MCO)? We have a very late flight that day so getting off the ship early isn't a priority but understand we do have to leave "as soon as we can." Is there a method to their madness on assigning us a bus based on the post-cruise info we provided during online check-in? I remember just walking out of the terminal and getting on the first available bus that is headed to MCO.

 

[auntlynne]

I might have originally been mistaken. I heard that Concierge are allowed off first but that may be an escorting sort of thing the same as when they are allowed to get on the ship.

Ah, I see you said higher level - so that would indeed be Concierge (I translated it to mean Castaway status).

Yes, as posted above, those guests have their own system for boarding and disembarkation.

Does this apply to you?

 

[Girl of the South]

You just get on the DCL bus that’s there and when it fills up it leaves. I don’t know what time the latest bus is. If you are heading to MCO it’s a great airport to get to early with the food court and shops and a lot of seating pre Security.

 

[lanejudy]

I’ve never had an assigned debarkation at Port Canaveral. Concierge is escorted off whenever they choose — not necessarily first. “Express debarkation” begins around 7:30 with folks lining up by 7am; keep your luggage with you and carry it off.

Breakfast on the last morning is assigned based on dinner seating. Early dinner has early breakfast at around 6:45am (?). Late dinner is late breakfast at 8 or 8:15am (?). Cabanas is open but it isn’t really advertised.

 

[Goofy1932]

Ah, I see you said higher level - so that would indeed be Concierge (I translated it to mean Castaway status).

Yes, as posted above, those guests have their own system for boarding and disembarkation.

Does this apply to you?

Not even close. LOL

 

[kiford]

Customs in port Canaveral uses facial recognition software now. If you have a US passport, you just walk thru. No stopping. Super quick. Maybe 5 minutes in may. The line to not use facial recognition software was much longer.

Good to know - I don't think they had it in January on our last cruise. Although this will be a bit of a pain for our November cruise as our friends have US passports but we do not and we will be driving with them. Any idea if there's a Nexus line?

 

[cvjw]

Good to know - I don't think they had it in January on our last cruise. Although this will be a bit of a pain for our November cruise as our friends have US passports but we do not and we will be driving with them. Any idea if there's a Nexus line?

This wasn’t being used in January - we sailed then too. There were 2 separate lines at customs. The line to the left was for US passports - using the facial recognition software. The line to the right was for everyone else. The left line moved lightening fast. The right line was long.

 

[kiford]

This wasn’t being used in January - we sailed then too. There were 2 separate lines at customs. The line to the left was for US passports - using the facial recognition software. The line to the right was for everyone else. The left line moved lightening fast. The right line was long.

Ugh. That's a bit like what they used to do years ago - one line for US passports and one line for everyone else. And the everyone else line was always long and moved slow. I guess they'll have to sit and wait for us to get through.

 

[auntlynne]

Ugh. That's a bit like what they used to do years ago - one line for US passports and one line for everyone else. And the everyone else line was always long and moved slow. I guess they'll have to sit and wait for us to get through.

But you have less expensive prescription drugs, so it’s worth the extra time at the end of a cruise.

 

[enzy65]

So what line at customs do you use if you sail with DL/BC??
Last time in 2023 we didn’t show anything and the customs person just asked if we were US citizens and sent us on our way.