SorryâŚI meant, I wasnât sure what the âwake up at midnightâ part referred to!
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Midnight is when the port arrival times open and you can get the earliest one.
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Oh! Okay.
Thatâs not something we care about. We prefer to board to the ship closer to when our room will be ready.
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Then you get to go to bed early!
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There is some wisdom in this approach. I think most people want to get the earliest PAT possible to maximize their time on the ship (and I generally count myself among these people). Last month, when boarding the Treasure, we had a PAT of 10:45 am. When we arrived at approximately that time it was a zooâall kinds of people like us lined up everywhere waiting to get on the ship. Things went fairly smoothly, but it was busy and crowded everywhere with lines at every turn. Once we got on and headed to the buffet lunch, so did everyone else. It was hard to find any free tables at all. A couple of hours later, I looked from our balcony out to the port area and could see some people were just arriving to the ship. Not many. It made me thinkâhow much more pleasant and easy might arrival be if I got here at 1:30 pm instead of 10:45 am? Yeah, Iâd miss a couple of hours on the ship, but. . . next time I might do it that way! If I can stand the FOMO. 
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When I sailed back in March, I think my time was for noon. It wasnât too crazy people wise. It was easy to get into Animatorâs Pallet for the sit down lunch. Had plenty of time to explore the ship after eating and before evening activities. I think thatâs the time Iâd shoot for again next time I cruise.
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So in case anyone else is wondering - yes, if you take Disney transport, it says you donât need to select a port arrival time during online check in.
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Helpful science! Thanks.
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And if it helpsâŚI got boarding group 4 when I finished the check in 
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No BG1?? 
Whatâs the time for 4?
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No ideaâŚ.will find out in 35 days!
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I have a question, b/c Iâve only been on one cruise (my second in 70 odd days). Look, there are four ships at the docks. Granted they are not the size of a Disney ship, but still, Iâm glad I didnât go into town today to deal w/ that crowd. How crowded is it when you go to shore?
This is near Gouvia on Corfu Island in Greece.
We had lovely visitors, and crowd sourced some joy instead (fed them bread)
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It all depends on how big these ships are and how big the town is. I donât know much about Greece but I donât think those are enormous ships. They look like classic ones to me.
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It really depends on the ships and the ports. Iâve been in Cozumel with two ships and with 5 ships and our excursions are the same. I think the port itself could feel a squeeze, but excursions will have caps.
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I thought they were much smaller than a disney ship. And weâve been through ports b/c we have to clear customs and port authority every time we go to a new country; those lines can be crazy. Thankfully personal vessels are directed to a different area (thatâs another horrible tale⌠Greece is the WORST country to clear). Anyway, Corfu has been pretty crowded, but I wasnât in town today to know if what weâve seen so far is normal.
This morning a tour curise (boat taking ppl on a day tour around the island showing them stuff) took a different route through the anchorage to point out the naked Austrian on his sailboat. We heard it all b/c they use a loud speak and the boat was next to us, âYOOHOO there is a naked man and he doesnât look very happyâ DH and I were laughing and surprised. Anyway⌠I assume that could have been an excursion⌠yoohoo
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I was SO excited this morning⌠we sailed by our cruise ship docked in Corfu 
I have pictures, and we might try to go over to the port area before they leave, but itâs Fing HOT out right now.
65 days NCL: Pearl & 81 days until WDW
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This is late to the party about BGs but I had it typed up in my drafts and itâs my mini series on what I know about BGs having worked to get the best one each time.
The TL;DR version is: if you canât get an early (like 6/7/8 or under) BG, it isnât the worst to pick a later one and stroll leisurely onto the ship after the main masses have been herded on. And if youâre going out of Port Canaveral you can get BG3 by taking a DCL shuttle from MCO directly (not the Hyatt) and be on the first bus there if you check in at the DCL desk in Terminal B, Level 1 on the earlier end (8-9amish).
And for any of the deets if anyone is interested:
BG1 is what Concierge seems to get (and they can show up early and once the ship is ready will be let on before BG1 is even announced over the speaker), BG2 seems to be reserved for Pearl Castaway Cay Status or any other non-concierge VIPs, and any transportation you book via DCL starts at BG3.
Midnight eastern time is my 10pm so most times Iâve made a point to check in as close to midnight eastern as possible.
First cruise out of Miami we had a 12:45pm port arrival and were somewhere in the teens for BG.
Second cruise also out of Miami and I was elated to get BG8 with an 11:45am arrival.
Both of those were more of a leisurely stroll through check-in & it was so nice to not feel rushed through getting to the port and enjoy those moments leading up to taking that first step onto the ship. Plus our rooms were available pretty close after boarding.
Then our next 3 cruises we went and ruined it for ourselves by booking everything in a way where we found out just how much we LOVED being on before most everyone and finding out there was nothing like a perfectly empty ship as beautiful as Disneyâs to stroll through. Plus getting up to the buffet and out before itâs totally crazy was a game changer.
We accomplished that by first booking the DCL shuttle directly from MCO to Port Canaveral and at online check-in we were given (didnât have to select anything for an arrival time) BG3 and arrival time of 11:15am. And then, those 3rd, 4th and 5th sailings were all back to back to back sailings.
So for cruises #3 & #4 we got to wait to be the last ones off and then, a short wait in the empty terminal, & were first back on for sailings #4 & #5, just as soon as ship was ready. We were onboard even ahead of Concierge (I did still have to do online check-in for these sailings, I just waited until after Silver had been open a few hours & then picked later BGs getting BG12 with 12:30pm arrival for #4 and BG16 with 1pm arrival for #5 but since we were going to be managed as back to back guests it didnât matter at all what I picked here).
For our next 2 cruises it just didnât work out to use any DCL shuttle, because it worked out far better for our plans to drive a car to port & have it parked there waiting for us. So, for cruise #6 we got BG10 with 11:45am arrival out of Port Canaveral & for cruise #7, BG6 with 11:30am arrival out of San Diego.
For both of those we arrived to drop off luggage & park at 30 min ahead of our actual arrival time and it was a lot of waiting in lines and feeling like cattle being herded the whole time. So, itâs definitely my least favorite way: trying but not succeeding at getting a lower group.
Then our most recent completed cruise we decided to go the route of the DCL shuttle to get there and were again BG3 but this time they didnât list a 15 min window for arrival, instead they had a wider range like 11:30am-2:30pm or something like that. But we were still at Port Canaveral plenty early, along with just about 2,000 other eager to set sail passengers.
That cruise was the most packed Iâve ever been on a ship and the terminal when we showed up at 11:15 on the DCL shuttle was FULL already, of people, sitting or standing & all waiting for the BGs to start being called.
We had the happy surprise that when we got off the DCL shuttles at port they told us we were now BG1 (and handed us a little cardstock for each stateroom to show it) so we were able to get out of that waiting madhouse ahead of most everyone there. (Concierge was boarded before us - we could hear their cheers as soon as they were cleared to board and going up their gangway & we knew that any back-to-back sailors who might be there were already onboard as well).
Our upcoming cruise we are going to be bottom of the pecking order because itâs a sailing full of Pearl & Platinum sailors and we are measly Golds. So Iâm trying to remember the good things about having a later boarding group. 
It also happens to be another cruise where it just works out that we have a car parked. Plus, itâs out of Ft. Lauderdale and reports are inconsistent on if the DCL shuttles actually get you to the port to actually board when the earlier BGs are called, so weâre not going to pay the premium price it would be to take the DCL shuttle to gamble for that. And will just embrace our bottom-feeder status.
If you are going out of Port Canaveral though, the DCL shuttle from the MCO (like direct from the airport, not the Hyatt hotel in the airport) is my best tip on getting on as early as possible (but you could still wind up waiting in a crammed terminal to be on the early end). The only way to assure you get some of that peace in a quiet ship boarding is by doing a back-to-back or Concierge and either of those are better than some bus ride to port (just a much higher price tag ).
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I can not for the life of me figure out how to prepay for unlimited digital photos. Iâve tried the app, mobile browser, and desktop, and the links all go in a circular loop.
Does this not open up to purchase until right before the trip?
Separate question: when do you prepay gratuities? I was about to do it, then I thought I should wait in case the cruise is cancelled or something. Is it refundable?
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Grats are refundable in any circumstance.
I paid for our photopass the day we boarded. Not sure when it opened up.
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