Disney Cruise Online Check-in and Reservation Tips and Tricks

[@Reheheheheheha]

This was so helpful as a first time cruiser!! Thank you!!

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful! Hope you have a wonderful Cruise!

[@melissahudson3488]

Thank you, very helpful!

[@EricD]

So glad it was helpful!

[@auntging]

Even as an avid Disney cruiser, I think this will be a helpful reminder when check ins come close. Thanks!

[@EricD]

So many random things to remember when checking in... So glad it was a helpful refresher. :) And thanks for spinning the plates in one or two of the clips in the video. 👏🏼👍🏼

[@mashpojayde-o]

This is amazing, thank you!!! As an Aussie looking to book a Disney cruise (having massive FOMO from the current sailing haha so excited they are coming back!) this is so helpful, because I have no idea where to start!!! Really great tips!

[@EricD]

Thanks for the kind words! And I totally understand the FOMO. It looks like everyone is having an amazing time on the Wonder! I'll be sharing some more tips and videos for first time Disney Cruisers in the next month or two so hope those can help out too.

[@bodobri]

Sooooo glad I found this video BEFORE I did my check in and reservations!

[@EricD]

Thanks Brianna! Glad it was helpful. One more tip just incase, it is smart to have your laptop and app available for check-in just so if one is moving slow or not working you can switch to the other. Sometimes they both work fine, sometimes one will be moving slower. Good luck!

[@0511Austin]

we've just booked our first ever disney cruise and this was super helpful. We'll be travelling with a 4 year old who tells me she MUST meet a specific princess. Thank you :)

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful and hope you guys have a wonderful time! And yes be ready to reserve the Royal Gathering as soon as it is available! It really is awesome to meet so many princesses one after another.

[@bweck]

Thank you for the great info. I thought we were ready but we were not. We would have really been scrambling for what we needed to uploaded had we not watched your video. Also, the app worked better than the laptop computer.

[@EricD]

This makes me so happy to hear. Glad it was helpful. And great tip on using the App, I experienced the same thing on my most recent check-in. Have a great cruise.

[@danaw.822]

Just found your channel because we are taking our first Disney Cruise and it’s all so new to me.

[@ginaperez1804]

Thanks for the video I needed the reminder to get everything prepared for check in. I m looking for a cruise but haven’t booked yet

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful! And good luck deciding on which cruise. There are lots of great options so it can be tricky deciding which ports and ship. :)

[@LivinglifewiththeTourist]

Thanks for the tips! Looking forward to the wish in a few weeks and hope we cross paths!

[@EricD]

Thanks so much! Hoping we cross paths too. The Wish is such a great ship with so many unique themed areas. Hope you guys love it!

[@LivinglifewiththeTourist]

@@EricD definitely it’s going to be a fun one! I have always sailed with Royal Caribbean but but DCL. But yeah man feel free to message closer to time! Always looking to make to friends on cruises!

[@justinchambers44]

Great information just what we needed to know!!!! thank you Eric from a first time Disney cruiser!!!!

[@EricD]

So glad to hear it was helpful! Hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise!

[@RyGuyDCL]

Here in a few months I know the Facebook group for our next cruise will have lots of new people with lots of questions about the process for check ins and reservations. I will be sharing this as a great way to help them out! Thanks for putting this together, Eric!!!!

[@EricD]

When it's time to make activity reservations its always stressful. Especially for first timers... And even a bit for those of us who have been on a few. haha Thanks so much for sharing. Hope you guys are doing good.

[@RyGuyDCL]

@@EricD This last cruise was the first one where I was more actively involved in the process which was helpful. Now I know why my wife was a little stressed making sure she had everything she needed for those different check ins.

[@EricD]

Yes! After watching this video my friends and family who usually just let me handle all those details were very surprised with how the process works, "You've been handling all that before each cruise" haha :)

[@tinakusiak2944]

Great video! Really calmed my nerves about the cheek in for my first crusie thank you

[@EricD]

Glad it helped! The one additional tip I'll share is to have both the website and app ready. Just incase one doesn't work at Midnight Walt Disney World time you can switch over to the other one.

[@CinderAliLovesDisney]

Hi Eric. Thank you for sharing these helpful pieces of information. I would hope Tyler paid you back. Ha ha. 😄🤪 I love seeing your trips with friends and family. ~Ali 🎀🏰💖

[@EricD]

Haha glad you appreciated my commentary about getting paid back haha. Thanks for watching! And I have some very fun trips planned with both friends and family this year so I'm getting excited to share them. Hope 2023 is going good for you guys so far!

[@caralinecraft5738]

Very helpful thanks for doing this video!!

[@EricD]

So glad it hear that. Hope you have a great cruise!

[@RyGuyDCL]

Also, SOOOOOO happy to hear that Tyler paid you back after granting him charging privileges LOLOLOL!!!!! Those charges onboard can really add up if you're not careful.

[@EricD]

Haha I'm glad too... Especially after he had a massage and made the most of onboard WiFi haha.

[@RyGuyDCL]

@@EricD LOLOLOL!!!

[@alexandrapaciello962]

Eric, thank you so much. This was great and you are amazing

[@EricD]

Thanks so much for the kind words Alexandra! Hope you have a wonderful Cruise!

[@bodobri]

Adults can go into the kids club and play?! This video was so helpful as I prepare for our first Disney cruise!

[@EricD]

Adults can go into the kids clubs during "Open house" hours so check the schedule most of the first day is open house and then other periods throughout your cruise. And on the first day aboard the Wish they let Adults use the slide to the kids club.

[@patrickk4730]

Thanks, this was great! It helped us get our 11 am boarding time 🎊 🎉

[@EricD]

That makes me so happy to hear! Glad it helped. And have a great cruise.

[@patrickk4730]

@@EricD thanks again

[@kevinhawk]

Very helpful thank you!

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful! Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[@noramosqueda1268]

Thank you. Excellent video.

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cindyyinger5718]

Thanks for this video. It was so helpful. Quick question... what would I click on to reserve the Rainforest Room length of cruise package ? Day 1 Embarkation? Thanks for your help.

[@EricD]

Prior to 2020 you used to be able to book the length of cruise Rainforest pass online. But Lately you need to visit the Spa on the first day of your visit. I recommend just going up there when you board the ship prior to grabbing lunch, that is how they were selling them on my most recent cruise. Thanks for watching.

[@mattstorace9985]

Very helpful!

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful!

[@debbierenier4493]

This was such a helpful video seeing the screens. One question, when signing up for the photo package do you need to select everybody's name or just 1 since we are all in the same cabin.

[@EricD]

For the Photo Package its one price per state room so you just need to select one persons name from the Stateroom. But everyone in that stateroom will have access and be included in the photo package once you are on the ship. Thanks for the kind words and hope you have a great cruise.

[@kristinebriggs3511]

Thank you for this... we're very out of practice! Also, will you tell me where you got your DCL shirt, please? My husband loves it!

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful! And I got my shirt at the main gift shop on the Wish, "Mickey's Mainsail". Not sure if they have the same shirt on the other ships, but I was excited to find it.

[@kristinebriggs3511]

@@EricD Thanks! We'll keep an eye out for it on our upcoming Wonder and Dream cruises.

[@nickovoxsipa]

Very helpful…at the 30-day mark you have to do the check in first or you can decide if doing the other reservations first? I didn’t really understood that part of the video

[@EricD]

At the 30 day mark you can get reservations first for the special meet and greets like the Royal Gathering before trying to get your port arrival time... In fact I recommend getting the reservations first because they go fast.

[@nickovoxsipa]

@@EricDok, thank you

[@markleistman2955]

For the Passport Photo, does it need to be the bttom part with all the information or the bottom AND top part that has your signature?

[@EricD]

The example they show contains all the information on the page with your photo including the long line of numbers at the bottom. It's ok if you get a little more beyond that in the image but that full page should be captured in your photo of it.

[@IsaHopez]

This was super helpful; thanks so much! I got a question: The moment I put my credit card in the "onboard account", does it immediately charge me for the port adventures?? If not, when do I have to pay for them? Sorry if I don't explain myself well, english is my second language.

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful! And no you will not be charged for your port adventures until your cruise begins. On my recent cruise we were charged for our port adventures the day the cruise began... Then the weather was bad so one port adventure was cancelled so it was automatically refunded to us the same day. So no worries about it charging until the cruise begins. Hope that helps.

[@naturalcheryl1944]

Awesome information. Two questions……can you have one person in your party working on scheduling princess greeting times while another person is working on obtaining the port time? Can you upload all of the necessary personal and flight information prior to midnight 30 days out or do you have to wait until midnight to have access to do that?

[@EricD]

Yes you could have one person on the app working on getting the princess gatherings and one person on like a laptop beginning to upload the personal info needed to get the port arrival time. And the online checkin stuff is all locked until midnight 30 days out. So you can't load the flight info or anything early. (On one of my cruises the website actually didn't unlock right at midnight so I had to switch over to the app. The website finally was working at 12:10 a.m. but the app worked fine at midnight while the website struggled. So if one doesn't work try the other option.)

[@naturalcheryl1944]

@@EricD Thank you so much for the information!

[@ericabredehoft2050]

How do we know what days the Royal Gatherings will be offered? I presume like a port adventure, we have to select a day, and then go in and select a time. I don't want to waste time clicking through each day. Not sure if there is a better way? Thanks for all the info! We're doing our first cruise to Alaska this summer so this is all very helpful.

[@EricD]

Even before the character greetings become available you can see them listed if you look on the website or the app and click on "My Plans" Look at each day and select "Onboard fun" you will see different things like photo packages and drink tasting, but you should also see "Royal Gathering" likely on two of the days during your cruise (often a Sea day). That is where you will go to book them. So you can look ahead and see which day you want to try for. Hope that helps. Have a great time on your Alaska Cruise! Sounds amazing!

[@ericabredehoft2050]

@@EricD Thanks for your help!

[@OliverH_ATL]

Just to clarify the activities are available as early as 75 days out (depending on castaway level) however character meetings are available 30 days out (the same as the online checkin) Is that right?

[@EricD]

Yes that is correct. :) The character reservations go fast but aren't open until 30 days before. Hope that helps.

[@lindseyensom1572]

The question that asked, how are you leaving the port terminal. Is there an option of transit? We live somewhat close to our port so we are not driving or flying.

[@EricD]

I think you can select something like private transfer or private transit. So that should work since you aren't driving yourself or flying.

[@stephanievormwald6625]

This was super helpful! Do you know if we can reserve activities and complete online check-in for multiple/linked reservations? Or is each reservation on their own?

[@EricD]

If you have the reservations linked you should be able to do both. You may get an earlier port arrival time/boarding group for the first stateroom just because you will finish filling that one out first, but there is no problem with those family members waiting until the 2nd staterooms boarding group is called. If that makes any sense.

[@Mum_and_LizzyLark]

You said to click on the cruise day to get the special activity we want. I don’t know what day on the cruise they have the “Olaf’s Royal Picnic.” I don’t know who to ask. Is it done on all 3 days? I can’t get info. That’s what my 4 year old want from this ship, and I know that will go fast because only about 30 families get it. Any advice? We have Gold status from my mom who booked us. Thank you.

[@EricD]

Several weeks before your window to make reservations opens up you will be able to click through the activities on each day to preview what and when they are. So you will be able to find it before hand. Aboard the Wish Olaf’s picnic is usually during the day at Sea on 4 day cruises or on your day at Nassau if it’s a 3 night cruise.

[@Mum_and_LizzyLark]

@@EricD thank you! I also shared your video with our group. You are awesome! That info of when the picnic happening is truly helpful.

[@EricD]

Glad it was helpful :)

[@danaw.822]

Any recommendations for a first time on a Disney Cruise we are going on the Wish September 15-18 Halloween on the High Seas, I know I want to book the Royal Gathering where you meet the princesses

[@EricD]

Yes make sure you book the Royal Gathering as soon as you can at Midnight 30 days out. Since it will be a Halloween cruise I had a lot of fun wearing a costume on my Halloween cruise they will have a special night to celebrate Halloween, so I recommend really getting into it. And if you have little ones they will be able to trick-or-treat on the ship. The ship will be a little less busy on your day in Nassau so if you don't have any port adventures planned that is a great day to have fun in the pool and waterslides with smaller crowds. Hope that helps :)

[@heytherenow]

Thank you. How do I check in on my laptop? Just log in to the website or do I have to download an app in the computer?

[@EricD]

A link will appear on your main reservation page at midnight Walt Disney world time. Nothing is needed to download. But it’s smart to have the Disney Cruise app available on your phone. The last time I did check-in the link on the website was slow to appear so I used the app instead. For some reason the laptop website was like 20 minutes behind. 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@msmart100]

The cruise I am looking at has Aboard: 8:30 PM listed. Does this mean when the boat sets sail? It seems late to me. Would we, if we check in early enough, still board at 11?

[@EricD]

There are sometimes reasons why a ship can't leave a port until later in the day. Sometimes that is so you can enjoy the port longer or perhaps there are other reasons, like it arrived to the port later in the morning. But for your first day, based on when they start letting you board the ship there will still be plenty of things to do on board even if they haven't left the port. Restaurants, shows, etc. So I would still aim to be on the ship as early as the times will allow for that first day. (I know many cruises start boarding at 11 but I've seen others that are early afternoon) Hope that helps.

[@angel_wood08]

I have a question, if you used credit card/Mastercard do you have to upload that or can you ticket that you will pay in cash.

[@EricD]

When you are doing the online check-in you can click that you will be paying with cash and you aren't required to give your credit card info. Haven't paid in cash myself, but that is what I've been told.

[@liz248]

Thank you! This is beyond helpful for my first time checking in.

[@EricD]

So glad it was helpful. Hope you have a WONDERFUL Cruise!