Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is a Key to the World Card?

When you’re sailing Disney Cruise Line you will be automatically issued a Key to the World Card (KTTWC). You’ll find your card (one per person) in a sealed envelope outside your stateroom door.

The Key to World Card is the size and shape of a standard credit card. The card is printed with your name, the ship’s name, the dates of your sailing, your muster assembly station designation (the C on the card below), a letter to indicate whether the cardholder is an adult or minor (the A on the card below), and your personal Castaway Club number (the greyed out area on the card below). You may also see the indications about whether you’ve purchased Disney-operated bus transfers to/from the embarkation or debarkation port to an airport or resort. For example, the indication “PA” means that you’ve reserved a Port to Airport transfer following your sailing.

Prior to the pandemic, the Key to the World Card also indicated your rotational dining order, but this information is now located in the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app.

You’ll use your card in a number of ways, including:

• To open your stateroom door. If you purchase a DisneyBand+ you can also use that to open your door.
• To serve as part of your identification when you enter or leave the ship. Most ports will require a card, not just a DisneyBand to allow you onto your ships’s dock for re-embarkation.
• As a charge card in the ship’s onboard shops and lounges.
• As a means to buy washer/dryer credits in the onboard laundry rooms.
• As a means to link photos taken onboard to your photo account.

Most Key to the World Cards are light blue but special categories of guests (such as those in concierge rooms) may have a different color. Some guests are passionate about wearing their Key to World card on a lanyard around the neck, but I find it just as simple to keep it in my pocket or tucked into a hold on my phone.

The fine print on the back of the card states, “Must be used by the same person at all times. The Key to the World Card is issued at check-in for each member of your party. Please safeguard this card at all times. Your Key to the World Card must be shown, along with a legal picture ID for guests ages 18 and over, any time you embark or debark your Disney Cruise Line ship. Please notify a Guest Services representative immediately if your card is lost or stolen.”

Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is an offshoot of our “Disney in a Minute” posts. Both are bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic, but here we’ll be focused on all thing Disney Cruise Line (DCL). Have a question about a DCL term that is unfamiliar to you? Suggest it here for an upcoming segment.