Our whiteboard pretty much sums up this day.  Getting off the boat is never a fun day.  We always have so much fun on the cruises and it all comes crashing down on the morning that you have to leave.  While no one wants to leave the boat, we will describe the procedure for you so you’ll be better prepared when the sad day comes.

The first step can come months before you ever get on the boat.  You can opt for Disney Transportation from the cruise ship to the airport.  If you have selected this option, you can also select an option to automatically check your luggage onto your flight from the cruise ship.  I’ll mention it again below, but make sure you keep some essential objects with you.

The next step in the process will come in the form of a letter and some luggage tags that you will find in your stateroom two nights before you are supposed to disembark. 

Here is the letter from Port Canaveral.

Here is the letter from Miami.

Here is the letter from San Juan:

You have two options when you disembark.  The first is Express Walk Off.  If you select Express Walk Off, you will keep all your luggage with you.  In the morning, as soon as the ship has been cleared by the local Customs Officials (there will be an announcement), you can carry your own luggage off the ship.  You can select this option if you need to get off first thing so you can make an early flight or need to get an early start to your drive home.

The other option is to have the crew take your luggage off the ship and have it waiting for you in the terminal.  If you select this option, you must set your luggage outside your room by 10 pm the night before you return to port.  It will be collected by the stateroom attendants.  You will not have access to it until you leave the ship.  This means that any medicine, toiletries, or clothing that you need must be kept with you.  I would also advise keeping your passport and anything else you consider important with you.  You should also consider keeping a small bag that you can pack these items with.  You will also need to keep your Key to the World Card with you as you will need it when you disembark.

You may enjoy breakfast in the dining hall before you disembark the ship.  You will return to the same dining room that you had dinner in the night before (or would have if you had gone to the dining room).  There are two separate breakfast times – your breakfast time is based upon your dinner seating time.  The one that corresponds to first seating is usually extremely early.  The one with second seating at dinner is usually between 8:00 am to 8:30 am.  You can bring any luggage you have with you (including all of it if you’ve chosen to handle your luggage yourself) and leave it in the hallway outside the dining room.

After you have had breakfast, you can head to any public space, such as a lounge area, to wait until you can leave the ship.  Departures are staggered to facilitate an orderly exit from the ship.  Ship-wide announcements let you know your departure time based upon the character that was on the luggage tags left in your stateroom.  Once you’ve heard your luggage tag group announced (e.g., red Mickey, blue Donald), you can make your way towards the atrium to disembark the ship.  You will scan your Key to the World Card one last time and head off the ship.  

You will then find yourself in the Port Terminal.  If you need to, find your luggage.  Once you have all your luggage, head towards the Customs line.  Present your Passport to the customs official along with any necessary documentation.  This is usually a quick process.  You can then head outside to find your method of transportation.  If you need to take the Disney Cruise Line transportation, there will be signs to direct you to the buses. 

You can find a ride sharing option (Taxi or Uber) if you didn’t drive.  If you did drive, you can head to the parking structure and head home!  In Port Canaveral, you pay before you park.  In Miami, we paid as we were leaving.  There were several kiosks to put our parking ticket in to pay and get the ticket validated so we could exit.

While leaving the ship is never fun, we hope this information will clear up any questions that you had about the process.

 
If you have enjoyed this article, please be sure to check out our Disney Cruise Line information page or Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Information page, which has useful hints in addition to our cruise trip reports!

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