Leaderboard

Well I guess it's best to start at the beginning, embarkation day or maybe even before that in the pre cruise booking of character meet and greets and shore excursions. So, Disney does things a little different as you would expect. Sometimes it's better and sometimes not so much. They don't allow you to book any excursions through them or make any reservations for any onboard activities such as character meet and greets until after final payment. When you can book them is dependent on your loyalty status with the cruise line. We were first timers so we had the lowest priority which means about 75 days prior to the cruise that we were able to make reservations. We made those reservations just after midnight of the first day possible. We got everything we wanted except one character meet and greet. We were able to secure that last reservation on the ship immediately once we boarded. They apparently hold back some of the reservations until cruise day. I found this to be a bit annoying that you can't book these further ahead especially the shore excursions. You also can select your check in time at the port during your online check in. We were able to get a 10:45 time because we were driving to the port. We arrived around that time or maybe closer to 11:00. Upon arriving at the correct terminal there was a bit of a slow moving line. Once we got to the front of the line we were sent to a specific spot where a curb side agent verified our arrival and gave some instructions. Next, we pulled up to the bag drop area where a porter took our luggage and advised us of the parking options, preferred (closer but more expensive) and the garage not much further, cheaper and covered unlike preferred. We found a spot on the third floor which is the floor you enter the terminal. There was another agent that verified our room number again and then there was a security screening. We entered the terminal and we were greeted with a typical Disney queue to check in at a counter. The wait was not too very long but at this point we were in our fifth line already so I was really appreciating Royal Caribbean's expedited arrival and seamless check in process. We were given a boarding group number at the check in counter which had already been called at this point. There was yet another line to meet a Disney character but we were tired of lines and ready to be on the ship so we got in the line to get on the ship. We waited in a line to scan our Key to the World Card and then another line to actually step onto the ship. So, after seven or eight lines I was more than ready to finally step foot onto the ship. This was perhaps Disney's biggest opportunity for improvement. The one thing they do extremely well is make you feel special: They announce your family name as you walk onto the ship and applaud as your step foot onto the ship thus the reason for the last line. I will post more as I have time including plenty of pictures.