Determine Your Check-in Day

As of May 1st, 2023, these are the number of days before your Disney cruise start date when you can check in based on your Castaway Club level.

Pearl (26th+ cruise) – 40 days
Platinum (11th-25th cruise) – 38 days
Gold (6th-10th cruise) – 35 days
Silver (2nd-5th cruise) – 33 days
1st Disney Cruise – 30 days

Your window opens at 12:01am ET on that day before your sail date. Your reservation listing should show your check-in date or you can use a date calculator and subtract that number of days from your sail date. Note that the big fun countdown in the DCL app is misleading a bit because they factor in the hours of the current day below the big day number so they’re actually one day faster if you just go by that big number. You can check in as soon as it crosses past midnight and turns into your day.

What You Need

To help the check-in process go faster, gather the following information for everyone in your sailing party beforehand. You will need to upload these or enter them in the various check-in screens.

• Picture of everyone’s passport info page clearly showing the photo, all of the information legibly, and signature (or birth certificate and ID if not using a passport). Saved in jpg or PNG format.
• A passport-style photo for each person but not the same picture used in their passport or ID. Just a selfie headshot against a solid background that clearly shows their face like a passport picture though. Saved in jpg or PNG format.
• The name and phone number of an emergency point of contact who is not sailing with you for each person in your group (could be the same or a different person for everybody).
• If flying immediately before and after the cruise, gather the flight info, including the flight number.
• If staying at a hotel immediately before or after the cruise instead, get the hotel names.
  The name and phone number of a point of contact who is not sailing with you for each person in your group (could be the same person for everybody).
• The credit card you intend to use for charges on the ship. You can add more cards for different people once you’re on the ship. It’s faster just to enter one for everyone for now.

Do the Check-in

Once your check-in window opens, go into your reservation on the Disney Cruise Line website or app. You will see a button/link to check-in. If it’s not there yet, keep refreshing until it shows up.

There will be several tabs to fill in for the personal info for each passenger, your travel plans before and after the cruise, your method of payment for cruise expenses on the ship, and a few confirmations. If you’re traveling with children, there are some forms you can fill out about who can get off the ship with them and sign them up for the kids clubs. Just start from the beginning and it’ll take you through each screen.

Note: The tabs will show a checkmark after you complete each section so that you know you are done with that one. However, the tab for Guest Information will say “Pending” instead of a checkmark after you’re done with those screens. Don’t worry, that’s normal. Keep going as long as you’ve filled in the screens and uploaded the pics for each person.

It could take a few weeks for Disney to review the passport and photo pics that you uploaded. Once they approve both for everyone, you will get an email saying that your check-in is completed. Or, if they disapprove, go in and see why. Usually, it’s because your picture is not clear enough so just retake a better one and try uploading again. It should be completed by a few days before your cruise at the latest, so don’t fret unless it’s getting really close, in which case, call the DCL customer service line to ask about it.

Port Arrival Time

Once all the first few tabs are filled in, you will be taken to the Port Arrival Time selection tab where you can finally pick your port arrival time! I call this tab out because this is the one that most people are so concerned with during the check-in process.

Everyone tries to get the earliest arrival time because they want to get on the ship as early as possible. Definitely a good thing! After all, the more time on the ship, the better!

However, just know that the port arrival time is just the earliest time in which you can get to the port, whether you’re getting dropped off or parking your car there. That isn’t necessarily the same time that you will get on the ship though if it’s before noon. More on that later. This is their way of spreading out the crowds so everyone doesn’t show up at once in the beginning.

I will also say that you do not have to overly stress over getting a very early time either. The difference between the various arrival times and corresponding boarding groups is fairly short. Even if you get boarding group 20 instead of 10, for example, the time difference could only be a half hour or so. They call the groups to board pretty quickly once they start boarding. It’s pretty much like the boarding groups for an airplane. You know how once they start, everyone pretty much starts standing up and you all get called in pretty quickly? It’s basically the same thing.

Note: if you’re in a concierge cabin or taking the official Disney transportation from the Orlando Airport or Disney World Resorts to Port Canaveral, you do not have to worry about rushing to check in to get an early time. Just do your check-in the next day. Concierge boards before any groups and DCL Transportation guests will be assigned a pickup time for the Disney buses, which is usually one of the first few groups anyway, so it doesn’t matter what you pick. In fact, pick a later one on purpose so you leave the early ones for folks who are not taking Disney transportation. Help them out!

Note 2: As of August 2023, Pearl Castaway Club members do not have to pick a port arrival time either. They will automatically be placed in the first boarding group time.

Finishing Up

After you pick your port arrival time, you will be asked to read the cruise contract. It’s a long doc with all the fine print. Save it off to read more later. You’re all checked in!

On the final screen, you’ll see a link to your Port Arrival Form, which shows a QR code for each passenger. Near the top will also be your port arrival time and boarding group number. This is your most important document to have!

Save this somewhere that you can access easily during the trip but also print it out if you can. During the various checkpoints at the port, it’s easier to show them the paper and have them scan all the codes at once than to constantly flip through multiple QR codes on your phone.

Very important: Make sure to bring your Port Arrival Form with you to the port, along with your passports/birth certificates/IDs, whichever ones you used during check-in. Just pack them now.

At the Port

When you get to the port during or after your port arrival time, you will drop off your checked luggage, go through the various security checkpoints, and then go into the cruise terminal waiting area to sit and wait til they start calling the boarding groups. It’s almost time to cruise!

The boarding group number on your port arrival form determines the order in which you will get on the ship. They generally don’t start calling the boarding groups to board until around 11:30am but will go through the groups pretty quickly after that. You can board anytime after your group is called too. It all works pretty much like boarding a flight at the airport. Just make sure to get there before the last call!

Bon voyage!