Best time to disembark?

[bow0303]

Hello again all. Another question for you seasoned DCL cruisers.

We are fortunate to be able to visit WDW after our cruise and wondering the best time to disembark to beat the crowds and head to the parks. We would like to experience the ship for as long as we can but would prefer not to have to experience it stuck on an elevator or in a stairwell. We haven't decided if we're taking the transfers or a towncar. Would leaving earlier work better for towncar and later for the transfers? Any help you can give is much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Tom]

We'll be doing the same thing in about a month. By that point, we consider the cruise over. We'll get up early, skip breakfast, and disembark. That's what we did when we sailed on the Fantasy in 2012. We caught one of the first buses and got to WDW pretty quickly.

 

[bow0303]

We'll be doing the same thing in about a month. By that point, we consider the cruise over. We'll get up early, skip breakfast, and disembark. That's what we did when we sailed on the Fantasy in 2012. We caught one of the first buses and got to WDW pretty quickly.

Thanks. What time is early?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We have disembarked at PC many times most if these we could get off at 7.30 am and in WDW by 9am.

 

[janoimagine]

7-7:30 will put you at your resort or at the parks by 9ish ... Enjoy!

 

[Bolna]

I don't get the reason for rushing off the ship - but then I am not an early riser, so having to get up at 6am on my last day truly kills my vacation enjoyment. However, on my last cruise I found out that starting at 7am (or maybe a little later) there will be constant announcements about who can leave the ship now, so it is not a really relaxing morning anyway. But I would still prefer to sleep until 7am, get ready in my own time, head to my breakfast (which will be around 8am if I have second dining) and then leave the ship. Works well for me. Have no idea how it works with traffic to WDW though as my cruise was leaving from Miami...

 

[EOD K9]

I don't mean this comment in regards to crowds or transfers, but there is never a best time to leave a Disney ship.

 

[bow0303]

I don't get the reason for rushing off the ship - but then I am not an early riser, so having to get up at 6am on my last day truly kills my vacation enjoyment. However, on my last cruise I found out that starting at 7am (or maybe a little later) there will be constant announcements about who can leave the ship now, so it is not a really relaxing morning anyway. But I would still prefer to sleep until 7am, get ready in my own time, head to my breakfast (which will be around 8am if I have second dining) and then leave the ship. Works well for me. Have no idea how it works with traffic to WDW though as my cruise was leaving from Miami...

I would prefer to wake up at a decent time and have breakfast before getting off the ship. We have the 1st dining times so maybe that will let us get up, eat and be off at a decent time.

 

[bow0303]

I don't mean this comment in regards to crowds or transfers, but there is never a best time to leave a Disney ship.

I know. We don't cruise for another few months and here I am asking how early to get off the boat. Would seem like a buzzkill but at least we have the parks to look forward to. If not for that we might be the last people on the boat.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

On disembark day we feel like the gig is up so we don't hang around. We usually are up, dressed, fully packed (we don't do the setting the bags out the night before thing), and go to the buffet as soon as it opens if we stick around for breakfast. As soon as the ship clears and the gangway opens we are ready to go. I've found getting a move on early makes disembarking quick and painless. I went to the MDR breakfast on the girls cruise and took my time leaving. That's the first time I'd ever even seen a line at customs much less stood in one. For 20 minutes. Then on the Fantasy a week later Tracey & I didn't move early to leave. We just sorta took our time. Again, line all the way up the gangway to scan off the ship then a line for customs. Again, these are things we typically don't see when we leave before the MDR breakfasts. We are accustomed to walking off, walking right up to customs, then proceeding right on to our car. The whole process to get from the ship into our car usually takes 15 minutes total if that. That's why I'm good with getting off the ship quickly. Less people. Less waiting in lines. This equates for me less stress.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I don't mean this comment in regards to crowds or transfers, but there is never a best time to leave a Disney ship.

Word. Up.

 

[bow0303]

On disembark day we feel like the gig is up so we don't hang around. We usually are up, dressed, fully packed (we don't do the setting the bags out the night before thing), and go to the buffet as soon as it opens if we stick around for breakfast. As soon as the ship clears and the gangway opens we are ready to go. I've found getting a move on early makes disembarking quick and painless. I went to the MDR breakfast on the girls cruise and took my time leaving. That's the first time I'd ever even seen a line at customs much less stood in one. For 20 minutes. Then on the Fantasy a week later Tracey & I didn't move early to leave. We just sorta took our time. Again, line all the way up the gangway to scan off the ship then a line for customs. Again, these are things we typically don't see when we leave before the MDR breakfasts. We are accustomed to walking off, walking right up to customs, then proceeding right on to our car. The whole process to get from the ship into our car usually takes 15 minutes total if that. That's why I'm good with getting off the ship quickly. Less people. Less waiting in lines. This equates for me less stress.

I think that settles it. Going to do the buffet then in line to leave.

 

[Tom]

On disembark day we feel like the gig is up so we don't hang around. We usually are up, dressed, fully packed (we don't do the setting the bags out the night before thing), and go to the buffet as soon as it opens if we stick around for breakfast. As soon as the ship clears and the gangway opens we are ready to go. I've found getting a move on early makes disembarking quick and painless. I went to the MDR breakfast on the girls cruise and took my time leaving. That's the first time I'd ever even seen a line at customs much less stood in one. For 20 minutes. Then on the Fantasy a week later Tracey & I didn't move early to leave. We just sorta took our time. Again, line all the way up the gangway to scan off the ship then a line for customs. Again, these are things we typically don't see when we leave before the MDR breakfasts. We are accustomed to walking off, walking right up to customs, then proceeding right on to our car. The whole process to get from the ship into our car usually takes 15 minutes total if that. That's why I'm good with getting off the ship quickly. Less people. Less waiting in lines. This equates for me less stress.

So, the whole "putting your bag outside the room the night before" thing is optional? That's great to know. We didn't know that on our first (and only, so far) sailing. It made me really uncomfortable, but I assumed it was some sort of "customs" thing.

So, if we're just heading from the room to the exit, we just haul our own bags, eh?

 

[Tom]

Thanks. What time is early?

I think we got up in the 7:00 hour, took our time getting ready, and disembarked around the time we were supposed to go to breakfast. We had an 11:00 lunch ressie somewhere at WDW, and we made it in plenty of time!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

So, the whole "putting your bag outside the room the night before" thing is optional? That's great to know. We didn't know that on our first (and only, so far) sailing. It made me really uncomfortable, but I assumed it was some sort of "customs" thing.

So, if we're just heading from the room to the exit, we just haul our own bags, eh?

It is optional! We always do it, I hate dragging suitcases around with me, but if you are going straight from the room to disembark, that would work fine.

 

[bow0303]

It is optional! We always do it, I hate dragging suitcases around with me, but if you are going straight from the room to disembark, that would work fine.

Great that this is optional. If its quicker to carry your own luggage and be able to start the 2nd part of the trip how could you go wrong?

 

[Tom]

It is optional! We always do it, I hate dragging suitcases around with me, but if you are going straight from the room to disembark, that would work fine.

Fantastic!

I would much rather tote our bags to the elevator and out of the ship, if that means we'll have them when we wake up and don't have to find them in the warehouse.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So, the whole "putting your bag outside the room the night before" thing is optional? That's great to know. We didn't know that on our first (and only, so far) sailing. It made me really uncomfortable, but I assumed it was some sort of "customs" thing.

So, if we're just heading from the room to the exit, we just haul our own bags, eh?

It's optional. If you put your bags out the night before you have to retrieve them in the terminal and have your stuff with you when you go thru customs. We haul everything ourselves because I can't repack the suitcases until after I'm done getting dressed in the morning. I have stuff I need to put in the right suitcases. So, instead of working to get the bags out then having things in suitcases they don't belong in the next day we just keep everything and schlep it all ourselves. It's not always easy. Trust me. We've really worked to get all our crap out of the room with us to debark. ((8-night Magic!)) It's a choice, one we go into knowingly.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Great that this is optional. If its quicker to carry your own luggage and be able to start the 2nd part of the trip how could you go wrong?

The gangway will open for the self-debark passengers (people schlepping all their own stuff) first. Pay attention to the debark info you are provided the day before you leave. You'll get all the details and times then. I want to say the gangway opens around 7:30, maybe earlier. We try to be set to go around the time the gangway opens. I think Cabanas usually opens at 6:30 or 7:00. If you were going to your assigned main dining room breakfast you'd need to take your luggage out of the room with you before you go to breakfast. If you go to the buffet and move quickly we have left the luggage in our room and returned to fetch it before we were slated to be in our main dining room breakfast. This made a quicky breakfast possible without hauling all the stuff. Just keep in mind those room stewards need to turn over your room so don't leave your stuff after the time you're supposed to be in your assigned main dining room breakfast as a rule of thumb.

 

[ChuckElias]

I was going to mention the buffet breakfast, but somebody beat me to it. You can go when you want to, instead of waiting for the late dining room breakfast if you have second seating.

We never do this b/c my wife insists on seeing our serving team one last time. But if it were up to me, I think I'd do the buffet personally.