10 Things You Need to Do to Get Ready for Your Disney Cruise

So you’ve booked your first Disney cruise! What do you do now? I’ve got a list for you.

1. Check Your Proof of Citizenship – I’m going to say this right now: this is the most important thing you will do to get ready. Find your proof of citizenship. That will usually be a passport, but sometimes a birth certificate and government-issued photo ID on a closed-loop cruise. Don’t wait until you’re packing. Do it now. Make sure you lay eyes on it, and check passport expiration dates. Make sure your passports will have 6 months of validity left at the time you sail. If you can’t find them, or they’re expiring, start the process to get new ones now. It’s the one thing you can’t cruise without.

2. Get Travel Insurance – I always recommend travel insurance, through Disney or otherwise. Travel insurance can be purchased through Disney up until final payment (or at time of deposit if you are sailing Concierge), or an outside company until right before you leave. With an outside company, the coverage will generally be more comprehensive when purchased earlier. Most health insurance plans will not cover travel in a foreign country. I have too many stories to tell of perfectly healthy people with thousands of dollars in bills from an unexpected illness or accident on a cruise. Don’t risk it. It’s a small expense for your peace of mind.

3. Download the App – Download the Disney Cruise Line app. You’ll need it once onboard, and there are fun countdowns you can enjoy before you leave.

4. Join Your Cruise Group – If you are on Facebook, you may want to join the cruise group for your sailing. You can usually find it by searching “Disney Cruise Line” plus your sail date. The cruise group is a great way to keep up with information about your sailing, important dates, meet other people, and sometimes coordinate sharing hard-to-book items like cabanas and Palo brunch or private excursions. One of the most popular group activities is a Secret Santa-like gift exchange onboard called Fish Extenders. That’s all set up through your cruise group!

5. Research Your Ports – Now that you know where you’re going, it’s time to do a deep dive on the ports and options for port excursions. You may not be able to see exact times and offerings for your sailing yet, but you can get an idea for many common ports on the DCL website. The Unofficial Guide to Disney Cruise Line has some suggestions, as well as some excursions to avoid. You probably don’t have to nail down your choices too early, but at least have some ideas.

6. Book Your Flight – If you’re flying, you’ll want to book that flight! I wish I could offer good advice on when to book, but airfare is crazy and unpredictable these days. My advice is to book and check out an app like JetBack, which will monitor prices for you and get you flight credits or refunds if fares go down for a yearly subscription fee. I’ve had amazing luck with it!

7. Book Your Pre-Stay – If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it one hundred times. Don’t plan to arrive on the day of your cruise! Even if you’re driving, make sure you get within an hour or two of the port before spending the night. This is another instance where I have stories of people missing their ship because they cut it too close and didn’t make it! This is also a good time to figure out how you are getting to the port if you are flying into a local airport!

8. Book Your Activities – Depending on how many times you’ve sailed with Disney before, your activity booking window will open between 75 and 130 days of sailing. Some things, like Palo Brunch, island cabanas, and tastings, will fill quickly; others will not. Don’t despair if the things you want fill up before your booking window opens! There is plenty to do onboard without booking a thing, and you might be able to book that preferred item once you board the ship.

9. Do Your Online Check-in – Between 30 and 40 days before your sailing, depending on how many times you’ve sailed with Disney, your online check-in will open. This can be done in the app or on a computer. The only rush for this is to get an earlier port arrival time if that’s your goal.

10. Book Royal Gathering – At midnight, 30 days before you sail, you can book the Royal Gathering, which I like to call the Princess Palooza. It’s basically a time when 4-5 princesses are all out for a meet-and-greet. You stand in line once and meet them all individually. It’s free, but very popular and can fill up almost instantly. Again, don’t despair if you don’t get it! Try again once onboard. And don’t worry, there are other times you can see the princesses on the ship; it just won’t be all of them together.

Do you have any questions about these? Anything I forgot?