Ahoy, Patina!
First, congratulations for booking your very first Disney cruise. You are sure to be amazed at all the ways Disney Cruise Line makes their guests feel at home on their beautiful ships! You'll be treated like VIPs from the moment you step onboard, and enjoy incredible customer service throughout your sailing. Not to mention, you'll have more to see and do than you can imagine!
First-time Disney cruisers are able to book Port Adventures up to 75 days before their sail date. You'll also be able to book Adult Dining reservations and Spa Services at that time. My advice is to go ahead and look through the Port Adventures available to you, choose your favorites and prioritize them. When your reservation window opens (typically at 12:01am Eastern Time), log in to the
Planning Center on the Disney Cruise Line page, and select your favorite activities first.
If a particular Adult Dining venue doesn't have availability online, guests can sometimes secure a reservation once onboard the ship. They set aside a limited amount of tables for guests that might need to make a change to their reservations. You can also check with cast members at the Port Adventures desk once you're onboard to see if there have been cancellations on any of your top choice excursions that might have filled up.
Payment will not be due at the time of booking. All of your onboard expenses will be billed to the credit card you link to your stateroom account, and will be settled up at the end of your sailing. At any time, you can stop by Guest Services to request a print out of all your onboard charges. You can also apply cash or Disney Gift Cards to your stateroom account - just make sure to stop by Guest Services before the end of your sailing to do so!
I hope this helps with your planning! - Diane W.