Last August, we took on our first cruise and yes it was wonderful!

March of this year, we decided to surprise our daughter with a Disney Cruise for her birthday. It was very hard to keep it from her as she is this kind of nosy and smart 8 year old who wants to know everything that’s happening in the family. She’s a planner too. Mind you, the day after she celebrates her birthday, she would again plan for her next birthday that’s coming in a year. So to hide it from her means lots of white lies from us. lol

Booking the cruise, as well as the activities that you will be doing at the ports of call was very smooth and easy. Everything is online which is very convenient. And at the time of booking, you don’t have to pay the full amount of the cruise. For a 4300 dollar- cruise, we paid 600 dollars upfront. The remainder can be paid in staggard and must be made in full 2 months before your cruise date. Which means that we since booked March, we had to pay it off by June or we can’t check in and book our port adventures.

Once you are fully paid, Disney will send you the physical cruise packet and luggage tags. You will bring all of these to the cruise. The luggage tags will be placed on the bags you wish to check- in before embarking on the ship.

Disney will send you an email, for us it was around July, that it’s time to check in online. During this process, you need to have your passports and documents (green cards/ visas) ready for upload. They will also ask for a recent photo of your party and have it uploaded too. I guess during this time you will also be able to book your port adventures- like sightseeing tours, etc. This is not included in the cruise price and will be charged after the cruise. Also, Disney will give you the option if you will be paying in cash for extras (like alcoholic drinks, merchandise, etc) or you want it charged to your credit card. If you pick the latter, you will be asked to put in you credit card details upon online check in. If you pay in cash, you’d have to settle your account to guest services before disembarking in the ship.

Our cruise was a 5 day, 4 night cruise to Bahamas from Florida thru Disney’s newest ship, the Disney Wish. To avoid mishaps, we booked our flight to Florida 2 days before the cruise. We decided to stay in Orlando and spend a day in Universal Studios to check out the Harry Potter World in Islands of Adventure. Our daughter is also a huge Potter fan like me 🙂 Will post a separate blog for this. Promise :). Our port of call is at Fort Canaveral, an hour away from Orlando.

We revealed the surprise on the day of the cruise and she couldn’t be more excited! She has been wanting to go on a Disney cruise ever since she knew there was one.

Booking an Uber to Port Canaveral is such a challenge. The first driver declined to take us there as it is too far. The second one was hesitant too but thankfully he obliged. This led me to realize that it’s better if we book the transportation provided by Disney to its cruisers. It’s 40 dollars per way per person and its point of pick up is the airport and any of the Disney World Resorts in Orlando. That’s what we actually did coming back to Orlando after the cruise. In addition, the price we paid for the Uber is more or less the same as the Disney shuttle.

By the time you check- in online, you will be given the option as to the time you want to embark on the ship. This makes the actual check -in smooth and very organized. We opted for 2 PM which I kinda regret, we could have chosen an earlier time as early as 11 am to maximize our time in the ship.

After the Uber dropped us off, we placed the luggage tags on our bags. There isn’t really a check in area, the staff will just collect your luggages as soon as you ask them you are ready to check them in. Just like traveling by plane, your hand carry item should have all your essentials- passports, wallets, visas, cameras, phones, etc and some change of clothes should you wish to swim while waiting for your luggages to be sent up.

Once they call your time, you will be lining up for customs and security where they will be checking passports and visas (should you need one). Hands down to Disney as the whole check in process was very organized and timely.

For the next 5 days, we shall be spending a day in Nassau, Bahamas, a day in Disney’s own private island- Disney’s Castaway Cay and one full day exploring the Disney Wish. I shall be telling you about it on my next blog :)))