HELP! That is basically where I have found myself at the 40-day mark from our cruise.
With worrying about covid testing to how to get to the port I feel more stressed about this part of my Disney vacation than any other. I am here to help you guys through my own
experience.
I have used Disney transportation once before from the airport to Port Canaveral. We booked this cruise last minute and got a very late boarding group. I was under the false assumption that somehow because we booked Disney transportation (this for us cost $75 per person round trip) it would get us onto the ship when we arrived at the port. We got lucky. A group of cast members took pity on us as we got to the port when they were loading groups 1-3 and we were in a MUCH later group; those cast members were able to get us on the ship with group 7.
After recently calling DCL about our next cruise I learned that we had just gotten lucky on our previous cruise and that there is no guarantee that you will be let on board early and not have to wait 3-4 hours at port when using Disney transportation.
The only way to avoid this possible wait is to get the earliest port arrival time possible. You are able to select your boarding time when you go through check in on the DCL website exactly 30 days from your sail day. The help given by the DCL cast member was to wait up until 12am on the night before the 30th day out from our cruise to ensure we were one of the first groups to start the process.
To get to the section in which you select your port arrival time you have to get through the document section.
You will need two photos for each person in your party – one of your passport (or other documents) and another of the person in the passport photo. The picture of the passport needs to be clear with no glare. The photo of the person whose passport your submitting needs to be well lit on a solid background so that DCL can match the person to the photo. Once through this process you'll be able to select that time.
I asked the DCL cast member if SafePassage (the system that tracks covid tests and vaccinations) effects the online check in and was told that it is a completely separate process - one less thing to worry about when getting the best port arrival time.
I “wish” you luck If you are on this journey with me. We will update this blog with more information after we are able to check in and select a port arrival time.
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