5 Mistakes Rookies Always Make on Disney Cruises

Making mistakes is natural when vacationing aboard the Disney Cruise Line, but we’re here to help you have a smooth sailing experience!

If it’s your first time cruising with the Disney Cruise Line or any cruise line, really, it’s easy to overlook some rules or make mistakes. If you’re nervous about your first/next cruise, don’t worry! We’re here to help!

Sailing with Disney is an incredible experience for sure! However, it’s easy to make mistakes, and we’re letting you know about five common rookie mistakes so you can make sure to avoid them!

The first major rookie mistake folks make is accidentally packing prohibited items.

Of course, there are the obvious items like weapons, drugs, and alcohol. But the Disney Cruise Line also bans all sorts of appliances, electronics, and electronic items. From big scissors to heating pads, there is actually a LONG list of regular household objects Disney prohibits on its cruise ships.

Sailing isn’t quite like visiting the parks. If you somehow start a fire or create conflict in close quarters, the results are sure to be lethal. For a full list of prohibited items, please check the Disney Cruise Line website before packing.

The next mistake rookies tend to make is forgetting something important.

This could mean sunscreen, a travel first aid kit…or something far worse, like a passport.

Forgetting your passport or losing it is pretty awful. We recommend keeping a picture of your passport and birth certificate on your phone, and your cruise line might be able to get you on the ship. However, this is up to the discretion of your cruise representative. It’s also a good idea to make color copies of the photo page of your passport and your birth certificate, just in case of an emergency.

Create a priority list, and make sure passports are at the top. You can always buy sunscreen and ibuprofen on the ship (albeit at an upcharged rate), but some things are truly irreplaceable.

Even though sailing with Disney may feel like doing the Disney Parks on the high seas, it’s still an experience that can largely take place outside of the United States.

Some rookies forget they need to adjust their cellphone plan when traveling abroad via ship.

Unless you want to either not have your phone work or get charged a ridiculous rate, be sure to examine your phone plan options before travel. That may mean setting up options for internet use (which the ships also provide) and cell coverage both in foreign countries and while sailing.

The next big mistake is forgetting to book excursions in advance. 

There are tons of cruise add-ons so available to you both onboard the ship and at ports. Most of these have limited availability, though, so if you miss the booking window, you might be out of luck.

When it comes to port adventures, those are booked based on status. They are as follows:

• First-Time Guests: 75 days prior to sail date
• Silver Castaway Club Members: 90 days prior to sail date
• Gold Castaway Club Members: 105 days prior to sail date
• Platinum Castaway Club Members: 120 days prior to sail date
• Pearl Castaway Club Members: 123 days prior to sail date
• Concierge Guests: 130 days prior to sail date

• To book reservations in advance, do the following:

• Log in to My Reservations.
• Go to the “My Plans” tab.
• Select the day you’d like to reserve an activity on your day-by-day itinerary.
• Select “Add Activities” and choose from the options provided.
• Once you’ve selected all your activities for that day, review your choices and add them to the cart.

These steps can be repeated to add activities on other days. On-board reservations can be made the day of your sailing on your navigator app or with guest services.

Finally, the last mistake is kind of a big one: Not taking advantage of your ship’s offerings.

From special experiences, shows, spa treatments, games, parties, and lots more, there’s plenty to keep you occupied.

If you don’t do a little homework before your trip, you could miss out. Research, research, research.

We’ve sailed with the Disney Cruise Line a bunch of times, and we’ve made our fair share of mistakes. However, we’re hoping our hard lessons help you during your next adventure!

For all kinds of cruising tips, tricks, and updates, stay tuned right here at AllEars!

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What are some mistakes you’ve made when sailing with the Disney Cruise Line? Let us know in the comments!

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