The portal was opened to welcome the delegations the moment that Terminus came to a halt in orbit around the planet where the meetings were taking place. The technology that they had wasn't advanced enough to pull them aboard while the ship was traveling at faster-than-light speeds, so the negotiation teams had been waiting for multiple hours already, and they were eager to get checked into a room and settle down for a nap before the meetings started.
The Border Nations were also assembling, and they wouldn't be ready for at least another day due to the traveling distance from one side of the Death Wind Territory to the other. That also meant that Max's birthday party would take place before the negotiations began, or at least the start of it would.
Because Terminus was a Cruise Ship and was hosting dignitaries from multiple nations, a decision was made to extend the celebration to a whole week so that conflicting schedules wouldn't interfere with the party.