You’ve booked your Disney Cruise, paid for it, scheduled your excursions, booked mixology classes, and got that highly prized cabana. What now? It’s time to get on board! We will walk you through the process!
There are many ways to arrive at the Disney Cruise Terminal (we have examples for Port Canaveral and Miami). You can arrive by Disney transfer, RideShare (Taxi/Uber/Lift/Limo), or private car. In the case of Disney Transfer, your luggage will be taken care of for you. If you arrive through some other means, there are luggage porters out front that will take your luggage and make sure it gets on the ship. You do have to make sure you have the Disney Cruise Line luggage tags on your bags. Your name and room number are on these tags. Once you hand the bags to the luggage porter, the next time you will see them will be on the ship.
After you have dropped off your luggage, you will proceed to the cruise terminal itself. At this point, the cruise terminal may or may not be open. We try to arrive a little bit before our port arrival time (we always select the earliest one available). I like to be in the cruise terminal as early as possible so we can check for available upgrades and get on board early so our vacation can begin.
Once you are at the entrance of the cruise terminal, you will encounter a crew member or port terminal employee that will want to check your cruise documentation. They are looking for the booklet that Disney Cruise Line sent you. They will also verify that your citizen documentation matches up to your cruise documentation. This will be a passport for non-United States Citizens (if leaving from the United States). If you are a United States citizen leaving from a United States port and returning to the same port (a closed loop cruise), you can use some sort of government picture id with your birth certificate. A passport will always work for a United States citizen.
Items prohibited on board ship and on Castaway Cay.
- Firearms, ammunition, knives (including dive knives), swords, daggers and any other types of weapons
- Toy guns or other replicas of firearms and weapons
- Highly flammable liquids and combustible substances
- Liquid oxygen
- Non-prescribed controlled substances, illegal drugs, medically prescribed and synthetic marijuana
- Hookah pipes
- Power tools and toolboxes (except those utilized by vendors providing services)
- Potentially dangerous sporting equipment, including baseball and cricket bats, hockey and lacrosse sticks, pool cues, ski poles, fishing gear and archery equipment. (Golf clubs are permitted as long as they are stored inside your stateroom.)
- Scuba equipment such as tanks, spears, spear guns, slings, dive knives, pry bars, and underwater scooters. (Masks and snorkels are allowed)
- Remote-controlled helicopters, airplanes, drones or similar devices
- Kites, balloons, surfboards, wave boards, inflatable floats, pool noodles, inflatable pools and wagons
- Bicycles, scooters, skateboards, hoverboards, inline & roller skates, any footwear with wheels (i.e. Heely’s type shoes) and Segways, or other wheeled mobility devices with less than 3 wheels and devices that cannot maintain stability and balance when stopped, unpowered or unoccupied. Training wheels or similar modifications are not permitted.
- Wheeled transport devices other than those required by Guests with disabilities
- Electrical appliances such as rice cookers, hot plates, coffee makers, blenders, electric irons, electric blankets, heating pads, bottle sterilizers and warmers
- Please note: A limited number of approved bottle warmers and bottle sterilizers are available upon request through Guest Services
- All ships offer self-service laundry facilities with irons and ironing boards. Portable fans are permitted in your stateroom. However, you must contact Guest Services to have the Chief Electrician approve your fan.
- Candles and incense
- DVD, VCR, and Blu-ray players
- Gaming systems such as Playstation®, Xbox and Nintendo Wii (due to compatibility issues with the stateroom TVs)
- Musical instruments
- Pets
- Ice chests and coolers, except for those permitted for storing medications, baby food and items related to dietary restrictions
- Homemade, precooked or perishable foods or open food containers. Also, please refer to our guidelines on restricted food and beverages
- Over-the-door hanging organizers
- Metal detectors
- Fireworks or pyrotechnics
- Seasonal and/or celebratory light bulb strings
- Extension cords or surge protectors
- Ham radios
Once you are through security, it is time to get your Key to the World card. There will usually be lines for first time cruisers, Silver/Gold Castaway Club members, and another line for Platinum Castaway Club Members/Concierge Guests.
Once you get in the proper line, you will receive a health survey form that asks if anyone in your group had fever or diarrhea within the past 72 hours. You will fill this form out and turn it in once you reach a check in desk. Don’t worry about which desk to go to, the crew member helping out will send you to the next available desk.
At the desk, you will turn over your cruise documentation along with your citizenship documentation. The person at the desk will get a picture to associate with your key to the world card. Your citizenship documentation will also be scanned and given back to you. You will receive your Key to the World card.
If you are a repeat cruiser on Disney Cruise Line, you will receive a lanyard as well.
The last item you receive will be your boarding group number card.
Once you have all your items, you can then proceed to the seating area to wait for your boarding number to be called. If you arrive early, the cruise terminal can definitely start to fill up with everyone waiting. You should be able to find a character greeting or two (usually Mickey Mouse is one of them) to keep you busy. There are restrooms, but may not be very much in terms of food or beverages (although there are water fountains).
Eventually, Disney will announce a family of the day and allow them to board “first” – although by this time, the concierge guests have already boarded the ship behind the scenes. Once the family of the day boards, they will begin to announce boarding numbers. If you have the announced boarding number (or lower), you can show your boarding card to the crew member and they will send you towards the ship.
Once you get past the photographers that want to take a family photo, you will have to scan your Key to the World Card for the first time and your cruise can begin!
Note: This article was originally published over at Rope Drop Radio, my favorite Disney Podcast. You can subscribe to Rope Drop Radio via iTunes. Derek and Doug are two dads who love Disney. Their goal is help you navigate all things Disney from the parks to the cruise. They want to share tips and tricks, travel plans, and must see’s to help you have an amazing Disney trip! Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter as well!
If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!