Planning any type of vacation can be stressful, but when it comes to cruises, especially Disney cruises, it’s even MORE stressful since you have to plan most of the things you’ll be doing and where you’ll be eating beforehand.

And a lot of the time, guests are met with a wrench thrown in their plan that makes for even a more stressful vacation. We always want to make sure you’re prepared, so we’re sharing one thing that almost ruined our boarding day for a Disney cruise, so it doesn’t ruin yours!

Even if you’ve been on a Disney cruise before, there is still a lot of planning that goes into booking a vacation — more than you may think. Believe it or not, your information WILL NOT be saved from your previous cruise, and that’s the mistake you need to avoid on boarding day! Don’t add any more stress to your vacation and be prepared with more than you think you’ll need.

If you assume all of your information is saved, but in reality, it’s not, you’ll be scrambling to find everything when it’s already all packed away — license, passport, credit cards, etc. And this can be especially exhausting if you’ve already stayed up late in hopes of getting an earlier boarding time.

One of our biggest tips is to keep a photo album on your phone with copies of all of the documents you may need on your trip. Take pictures of your licenses, passports, credit cards, and anything else you may need and create a separate album labeled ‘Cruise Documents,’ so it doesn’t risk getting lost.

There are also several ways to check in for a Disney cruise. The first is online — if you’ve sailed a Disney cruise before, you can check in between 33 days and 40 days before your sailing, depending on your Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club level. If this is your first Disney cruise, online check-in begins 30 days before your sailing. Guests have up until one day before your sail date to complete the online check-in. We recommend completing it as early as possible for a better chance of choosing your preferred Port Arrival Time!

To complete the online check-in, you will need to have some information readily available. This includes:

• Personal information for each member of your party
• Images of citizenship documentation for each member of your party
• Photos of each member of your party (separate, front-facing photos for each member of your party from their shoulders up, different from their passport or other ID, with a plain background clearly showing their faces)
• Details of a friend or family member who could be contacted in an emergency
• Important details about your travel plans before and after your cruise
• A credit card for your onboard account

Guests will start from the My Reservations page of the Disney Cruise Line website to check in online. Then, you should see a “Cruise Details” tab, where you can select a section titled “Online Check-In.” As long as you’re in the correct window of check-in (30 to 40 days depending on status), you can click the link there to begin or continue the check-in process.

The second way to check in is in person on your embarkation day. Guests can start checking in at the cruise terminal at 2 PM. This is best for guests who did not have the time to check in online.

If you’re heading out on a Disney cruise soon or even just planning to book one, keep this as a reminder and don’t make the same mistake, so you can have a relaxing and worry-free vacation! Follow us at the Disney Food Blog for more vacation tips and tricks!

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Have you ever sailed on a Disney cruise? Let us know in the comments below!