Ahoy Wendy!
I'm so happy you sailed over to planDisney! Wonderful news to hEAR that you have a Disney Cruise Line vacation on the calendar. Getting to sail the seven seas with Captain Mickey feels like being a part of Captain Hook’s crew: a jolly good time and always on the lookout for some treasure, characters and pixie dust!
Your Port Arrival Time will depend on how soon you have the reservation paid in full and get your online registration completed for your cruise. Disney Cruise Line will let you
select a Port Arrival Time, and the earliest one available is typically 11:00 A.M. up until mid-afternoon. Generally speaking, the earlier your Port Arrival Time, the more likely you will be in one of the earliest boarding groups and will get onto the ship as part of the first Guests welcomed aboard.
I can’t tell by your dates which Disney ship you will be experiencing. But if you are staying at
Walt Disney World Resort before your cruise, taking Disney Cruise Line ground transportation to the port is always an added way to sprinkle pixie dust on your vacation. Under the "My Reservations" tab on the
Disney Cruise Line website, you can select Ground Transportation and put which Walt Disney World resort you will be staying at before you set sail, and Disney Cruise Line will handle the rest!
Here’s how
Ground Transportation works: you will receive paperwork in your Walt Disney World Resort room that includes instructions on where and when to meet your motor coach the next day. In this situation, you would
not need to select a Port Arrival Time during your Online Check-In process because your Boarding Group would be determined by when your Disney Cruise Line motorcoach delivers you to Port Canaveral. Once at Check-In at Port Canaveral, you would then receive a Boarding Group number which will determine when you can actually board the ship. When your group number is called, your nautical adventure will have officially started!
Like Tinker Bell, fly back to planDisney if you have more questions. Wendy, wishing you a magical voyage!
Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust,
Sherry