It has been a long time since I have been on a Disney Cruise....HELP

scristina

Cruising Cristina
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
I can check-in in a few days and I really am lost. I have not been on a Disney Cruise since my kids were little and now I am taking my adult daughter and my grandson. I feel totally lost on what all I need to do to prepare.

I know I have been told that normally the window to book your arrival time starts at 8 pm the day before you can make other appointments or arrangements. Now, this is not a total go on it because it could be at midnight but normally they open it at 8. Again that is what I have been told.

I am on a 5 day Western with Cozumel and Castaway Cay as our ports. I have read some navigators saying that 2nd night could be optional dress up and 3rd night could be pirate night. Will I find this out when I check in on Sunday?

Any help you guys can give me will be much appreciated.

I am not sure what I need to prebook for my grandson because I know he is very headstrong and if I book a character time I am afraid he will not want to leave where ever he is at. So, I am thinking I might not do that.

I have so many questions I can not even think of them at the moment. I have looked at numerous helpful hint pages.
 
If there is a character meet that you CAN book, I would do it, and that gives you the option of having a shorter line for a meet. There’s no cost!

You should be able to check the onboard experience to see when Pirate night is scheduled. I am not sure they will have dress suggestions on that page.
 
The last time we did online checkin, we got in around midnight. We selected our Port Arrival Time and did our excursion/tasting bookings.
I’m not sure when formal night will be, but you should be able to check on the website for pirate night. Login, go to my reservation and then my plans. It will give you times in port for each day and when pirate night is even though you can’t add excursions yet.
As far as character bookings go, my advice is to make them and if he doesn’t want to go, you can just not go.
 
I think some people were saying they were able to check in at 10PM, but weren't able to do the excursion/tastings/Palo bookings until midnight.

Character bookings...if you're on a Marvel Day at sea cruise (some Disney Magic cruises), then I would definitely book things. If it's a regular cruise, I doubt your grandson would be interested in the pre-book tix for the Princess Gathering or the Frozen meet and greet. (Although some boys DO like those meet and greets, and there is nothing wrong with that!) There are plenty of times to meet characters outside of the ticketed times--so it can be a 'decide that day' if he wants to see characters dressed in their Pirate costumes, or wants to see Mickey, Chip and Dale, or whoever. It's really just the Frozen characters that don't meet at any other time--and with the Frozen meet and greet you never know who will be there...we've had Anna/Elsa/Olaf our first time and the second time was Anna/Elsa/Kristoff...some people have only had Anna/Elsa.

As others have said, Pirate day/optional dress up day should be already listed when you look at the itinerary.
 


While the website asks for passport information, you can just skip it or say you'll be travelling with ID and a birth certificate. You can go back and fill in the correct information later. The rush is to pick your port arrival time and book onboard activities.

Looking at past navigators might give you an idea of which nights are which. If your grandson likes meet and greets than pre-reserving a time slot might be a good idea. You can always cancel it later. Do be aware that the pre-books are Princess and Frozen (sometimes with Olaf). Not always a favorite for boys.
 
I can check-in in a few days and I really am lost. I have not been on a Disney Cruise since my kids were little and now I am taking my adult daughter and my grandson. I feel totally lost on what all I need to do to prepare.

I know I have been told that normally the window to book your arrival time starts at 8 pm the day before you can make other appointments or arrangements. Now, this is not a total go on it because it could be at midnight but normally they open it at 8. Again that is what I have been told.

I am on a 5 day Western with Cozumel and Castaway Cay as our ports. I have read some navigators saying that 2nd night could be optional dress up and 3rd night could be pirate night. Will I find this out when I check in on Sunday?

Any help you guys can give me will be much appreciated.

I am not sure what I need to prebook for my grandson because I know he is very headstrong and if I book a character time I am afraid he will not want to leave where ever he is at. So, I am thinking I might not do that.

I have so many questions I can not even think of them at the moment. I have looked at numerous helpful hint pages.
The online check in and activity booking windows open at midnight Eastern time (whatever time that is where you are). That's how it was always done. Except for a brief period of time in the past year or so where one or the other of those windows would open earlier (generally around 8:00/9:00 pm eastern). That seems to have stopped now, however, and it's back to midnight.

There are lots of character meet & greets that are not bookable (just get in line). That seems like it would work best for you.
 


Online check-in and activities booking only occurs at midnight Eastern time. There was a brief time when people could check-in earlier the evening before, but that is over. When I checked in for our recent cruise, I tried checking in early, and couldn't do it even a minute before midnight. I checked on the boards and others who had recently checked in reported the same.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!








Top