Ready, Set, Sail! Top Tips for Planning Your Dream Disney Cruise

If you’ve been to immoderate of the Disney parks oregon resorts, you’ll rapidly recognize that readying for your travel isn’t needfully a breeze. Going unprepared means you’ll extremity up wasting a batch of clip and unnecessarily spending much money.

Going connected a Disney cruise is nary different; however, a spot of readying beforehand tin spell a agelong mode towards making your onboard acquisition much relaxing, and you tin prevention immoderate money, too.

Here are immoderate tips and tricks to see erstwhile booking and readying for a Disney cruise.

Tips for Booking a Disney Cruise

If you’ve sailed with Disney before, make definite to enrol successful Castaway Club, Disney Cruise Line’s loyalty program. Having presumption volition springiness you precedence entree to caller sail dates arsenic they’re released. 

Once the dates are released, effort to book your cruise arsenic soon arsenic possible. This is typically erstwhile cruise fares are the cheapest, and these rates besides stack with immoderate different promotions.

For example, Disney often volition connection promotions for Canadian residents to assistance instrumentality the sting disconnected of the weaker dollar. Or, determination mightiness beryllium different promotions for kids to sail for free.

If the timing works retired right, you’ll payment from the champion disposable prices astatine the opening of the schedule, arsenic good arsenic immoderate different offers to stack connected the little prices.

While determination are exceptions, successful erstwhile years, dates for cruises thin to beryllium released successful the pursuing wide pattern:

• Early sailings are released from September–October 2 years prior. For example, aboriginal 2023 sailings were released successful October 2021.
• Summer sailings are released from February to March the twelvemonth prior.
• Fall and wintertime cruises are released from May to June the twelvemonth prior.

Once you’ve settled connected your dates and the prices, it’s present clip to book.

If you’re travelling with a group, it’s champion to telephone successful to publication your reservation, oregon bash it done a question agency. This way, you tin guarantee your cabins are placed successful adjacent proximity to each other, and that you’re each seated successful the aforesaid country for dinner.

They tin besides sometimes connection bonus onboard credits oregon acquisition cards that offset the outgo of your cruise by a little.

Be definite to wage with a recognition paper that maximizes your earn successful the question category.

For example, the American Express Gold Rewards Card and the American Express Platinum Card some connection 2 MR points per dollar spent connected travel, portion the HSBC World Elite Mastercard offers 6 HSBC Rewards per dollar spent connected travel. 

How to Prepare for a Disney Cruise

In the days and weeks starring up to your trip, determination are a fewer ways you tin hole that volition marque beingness onboard easier and little expensive.

Things to Buy successful Advance

Buy your Disney costumes and paraphernalia earlier the cruise. Everything onboard costs mode more, and this is simply a truly casual mode to trim costs and person immoderate fun.

Dressing up isn’t mandatory, but you’ll find galore children and adjacent adults decked retired successful costumes for quality meet-and-greets, oregon successful pirate cogwheel for Pirate Night.

The Disney Store whitethorn nary longer beryllium successful Canada, but it’s inactive casual to bargain costumes and t-shirts connected Amazon oregon astatine Walmart. If you miss the post-Halloween sale, effort a second-hand store similar Once Upon A Child, VarageSale, Kijiji, oregon Facebook Marketplace.

If you find yourself with an accidental to sojourn outlet malls successful the US, look retired for a Disney Outlet. If you tin find one, you tin people large deals connected everything Disney.

As for the pirate gear, cheque retired your section dollar store.

To substance your onboard purchases, purchase Disney acquisition cards and bring them with you. Make definite you bash this astatine a market store oregon astatine immoderate different store that volition maximize your earn from your recognition paper spending, and past usage it onboard to wage for your incidentals and tips.

Once you’ve boarded the ship, conscionable sojourn the Guest Services Desk and person them load your acquisition paper balances onto your onboard account. 

Buy Disney acquisition cards earlier your travel to maximize your recognition paper earning

Pre-Book Your Activities and Services

The easiest mode to spot what’s disposable connected your cruise is to download the Disney Cruise app. After you get the app, you tin nexus your reservation, and past you tin statesman to browse activities disposable connected your vessel.

Once you’ve had a accidental to look astatine what’s available, book your onboard activities in advance. This includes Port Adventures, spa treatments, specialty eating experiences, nursery reservations, and different activities.

Keep successful caput that you tin lone marque reservations online aft your cruise is paid successful afloat and erstwhile your booking model opens. Some activities and reservations capable up quickly, truthful publication arsenic soon arsenic possible, arsenic you tin ever cancel aboriginal connected if you alteration your mind.

Book your onboard activities acold successful beforehand earlier they capable up

If you’re caller to Disney cruising, you’ll person to hold until 75 days anterior to departure before you tin marque reservations.

If you’ve sailed with Disney earlier and are enrolled successful their Castaway Club, oregon if you’ve booked a concierge stateroom, reservations unfastened up 90–130 days anterior to sailing, depending connected your status. 

Book quality meet-and-greets 30 days out. Not each quality encounters tin beryllium booked beforehand, but pre-booking tin minimize the hold clip to spot them.

Other than checking the preservation time, I recovered unit bash not cheque the fig of radical you’ve reserved for. So, if idiosyncratic travelling with you didn’t get a quality conscionable reservation, conscionable bring them with you astatine your reserved time.

If you aren’t capable to snag 1 of these reservations, you’ll apt person different accidental erstwhile onboard erstwhile they unfastened up much preservation space.

Book your quality meet-and-greets successful beforehand to prevention time

Book the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Only 1 booking is allowed per sailing per guest. If you’re readying to publication this enactment for your child, publication earlier successful the the time truthful your princess oregon prince tin deterioration their hairdo and outfit for longer that day. 

Book a cabana for Castaway Cay. For immoderate stops connected Disney’s backstage island, beryllium definite to reserve a cabana acold successful advance, arsenic they’re constricted successful fig and spell fast.

Aside from shaded seating, cabanas connection immoderate other amenities and services, specified arsenic a idiosyncratic host, unlimited bottled h2o and soda, snacks, caller fruit, floats, motorcycle rentals, snorkelling instrumentality and soil toys, sunblock, and more. 

They outgo from $399–949 USD for the day, and tin accommodate up to 10 people. For larger groups, there’s lone 1 cabana that tin accommodate a enactment of up to 16.

To beryllium honest, grabbing these beforehand without having immoderate presumption oregon having booked a concierge stateroom is astir impossible, but possibly you’ll get lucky!

Reserve nursery clip for your infant. Unlike different kids clubs connected the ship, determination is simply a strict babe to unit ratio astatine It’s a Small World Nursery. 

Space is limited, and lone disposable connected a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations tin beryllium cancelled up to 4 hours beforehand.

Consider purchasing a photograph package. If you emotion having memorable photos from your trips, a photograph bundle whitethorn beryllium a bully investment.

It’s not cheap, but Disney photographers are decent, and determination volition beryllium plentifulness of opportunities to marque usage of the package. You’ll beryllium capable to get photos taken astatine quality meet-and-greets, during dinners, astatine ports, and astatine strategical locations and times passim the cruise.

There are besides magical shots that tin lone beryllium taken by Disney’s photographers.

If you acquisition a bundle up to 3 days earlier the commencement of your cruise, you’ll people a 15% discount. To get a consciousness of the cost, a bundle with unlimited photograph downloads connected a five-night cruise is $229.95 (USD) earlier immoderate discounts.

You’ll besides person 45 days from debarkation to entree each the photos you purchased, truthful marque definite you download and backmost up each of your photos earlier they’re gone.

If you take not to get a photograph package, unit members are much than blessed to instrumentality a photograph for you connected your telephone oregon device. If you person a household oregon person who did not acquisition a package, they may be capable to use yours, though technically each photograph bundle is meant to beryllium utilized lone by those staying wrong the aforesaid stateroom. 

Tips for Embarkation Day connected Disney Cruises

As the embarkation time for your cruise approaches, you tin marque the process a spot easier by taking attraction of a fewer items successful advance.

You’ll decidedly privation to be prepared for the check-in process, which opens up 30 days anterior to sailing.

Take caput shots of each the guests successful your party, and person your passports ready. The earlier you cheque in, the earlier clip slot you tin take for embarkation, which means you tin commencement having amusive sooner.

Try to cheque successful aboriginal truthful you tin beryllium amongst the archetypal to committee the cruise

The website gets laggy close erstwhile check-in opens, truthful if you tally into this issue, hold a fewer hours earlier trying again. You tin besides participate each the accusation needed to registry the kids for the kids nine astatine this time.

Once complete, you’ll get a Port Arrival Form, which you’ll request to bring with you. 

Pack h2o bottles. There are nary h2o fountains connected the vessel and portion stations are limited, truthful it tin beryllium easier and cheaper to bring a refillable h2o vessel oregon tumbler for convenience. 

Tag your bags. Disney volition nonstop you baggage tags successful the message earlier your cruise, and beryllium definite to tag each luggage and carry-on bags that you don’t privation to transportation astir with you connected the vessel portion you hold for your stateroom to beryllium available. 

Pack what you request for the archetypal fewer hours. Chances are that your stateroom won’t beryllium acceptable until mid-afternoon, and your luggage won’t beryllium delivered until then.

You whitethorn privation to bring a alteration of apparel oregon deterioration a swimsuit underneath arsenic you board, due to the fact that 1 of the champion places to spell portion you hold is the pool. It’s a large clip to cheque retired the h2o thrust oregon descent too, arsenic enactment ups are usually minimal astatine this point. 

Plan for spending a fewer hours onboard earlier your stateroom is ready

Pack intoxicant successful your carry-on. Disney Cruise Line is the lone cruise enactment that allows guests to bring their ain intoxicant onboard. As agelong arsenic you’re of ineligible drinking age, you can bring up to two 750mL bottles of vino and six cans of beer, but it indispensable each beryllium successful your carry-on.

As per authoritative rules, intoxicant tin lone beryllium consumed successful your stateroom, oregon astatine the edifice for a corkage interest of $26 (USD).

Complete the wellness questionnaire. This request volition apt alteration with time, but arsenic of now, a wellness questionnaire needs to beryllium completed anterior to boarding. It fundamentally states that you and your enactment are escaped of immoderate COVID-19 symptoms. 

Have your Port Arrival Form ready. It volition beryllium scanned anterior to entering the cruise terminal. 

Go astatine your assigned embarkation time. There is nary constituent successful going earlier, arsenic they won’t fto you board. Boarding is strictly by your Boarding Group number, which is recovered connected your Port Arrival Form.

Tips for Maximizing Time Onboard Disney Cruises

Make afloat usage of the Disney Cruise app. Disney nary longer gives a people retired of the regular schedule; instead, each activities for the time are listed connected the app, on with their clip and location.

The app is besides an casual mode to substance household oregon friends who are besides onboard without having to acquisition a Wi-Fi package. If you request the net to bash thing else, you’ll request to acquisition a Wi-Fi package, which isn’t cheap. 

As soon arsenic you’ve boarded, head to the kids club. At the cruise terminal check-in, kids are fixed wristbands if you registered them for the kids nine during the online check-in process.

Don’t hide to instrumentality the bands astatine the extremity of the cruise, oregon it’ll outgo you $12.95 (USD). The archetypal clip your kids participate the clubs, they’ll inactive request to verify immoderate information, truthful you whitethorn arsenic good bushed the unreserved and bash it close erstwhile you board.

Embarkation time besides 1 of the fewer times that the kids nine is unfastened to parents arsenic well, truthful it’s a large clip to cheque retired the installation for yourself.  

Head to the Kids Club arsenic soon arsenic you committee the ship

Enjoy each the quality meet-and-greets. Just walking astir the ship, you’re definite to tally into random characters.

For pre-arranged meet-and-greets, get astatine slightest 15 minutes aboriginal to minimize the wait, different you could beryllium waiting successful enactment for a while. 

There are plentifulness of opportunities to conscionable Disney characters connected Disney cruises

Lastly, for theatrical performances, platform shows, parties, and fireworks, arrive 30 minutes early if you privation to grabs seats with the champion view.

Conclusion

Disney cruises are a batch of fun, but if it’s your archetypal time, it tin beryllium a spot overwhelming. A small spot of prep tin spell a agelong mode towards starting your Disney cruise acquisition the close way.

Prior to the cruise, support an oculus retired for immoderate promotions that are available, and effort to publication arsenic acold successful beforehand arsenic possible. Disney cruises travel astatine a premium, truthful you’ll privation to find savings wherever you can.

In the clip starring up to your cruise, you tin hole for the travel and prevention wealth by purchasing immoderate goods and services successful advance. You tin besides person everything acceptable for embarkation time to marque the process casual and quick.

Once onboard, hopefully each of your hard enactment and readying volition person contributed to a smoother sailing experience. If you person immoderate different tips and tricks, beryllium definite to stock them successful the comments!

The station Ready, Set, Sail! Top Tips for Planning Your Dream Disney Cruise appeared archetypal connected Prince of Travel by Amy Tung.