Hello, Chelsea! I’m honored to welcome a fellow Mitten-Stater back to planDisney!
You’ve definitely chosen a great time in the December cold to head on a
Very Merrytime Disney cruise! Winter is also when my family loves to take a Disney cruise, since we both know all too well that it starts to get chilllyyy around our Great Lakes! I’m excited that this is your first Disney cruise, and I would be happy to explain the debarkation process.
During the debarkation process, Disney Cruise Line will not take your luggage from the ship to the airport. If you would like Disney Cruise Line to take your luggage off the ship for you on your final morning, you will place it outside your stateroom door with the luggage tags Disney Cruise Line will provide onboard the night before you debark. After leaving the ship, following a delicious final breakfast on board, you will locate your luggage in the cruise terminal. After locating your luggage and clearing it with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, you will walk it outside to the waiting
Disney Cruise Line Ground Transportation buses that will take you to Orlando International Airport. Your luggage will be loaded on the same bus you’re heading back to the airport on.
If you would like to walk your luggage off the ship on your final morning, there’s no need to place it outside your door the night before, and you can participate in the Express Walk-Off process, which is simply you walking off your own luggage, instead of Disney Cruise Line collecting and placing it in the cruise terminal.
It’s all a very easy and smooth process. I know that you’re wondering about what to do with your luggage if you’re to spend the rest of the day exploring, since you’re flying home that evening, and I have a few suggestions.
If you’re heading back to the airport, you can check in your luggage and then take a rideshare service anywhere in the Orlando area. My suggestion? Spend the day at
Disney Springs in Walt Disney World Resort! It’s a short drive there, and you’ll find tons of restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment, and last-minute shopping, which will be the perfect Disney send-off!
If you’re not taking the Disney Cruise Line Ground Transportation back to the airport, you could also rent a car for the day in Port Canaveral and store your luggage in it while you explore. When it’s time to head home, you can return the rental car at the airport.
My last suggestion to ease those Debarkation Day Blues is to reserve a
Placeholder Reservation while on board the
Disney Wish. You can do this any time on board in the
Disney Cruise Line Navigator App, under “Book Onboard and Save”. This is a cruise placeholder reservation that will save you between 10%-25% off a future Disney cruise within the next two years. Trust me, Chelsea, the Disney magic you're about to experience is so profound that you’re definitely going to want to come back again!
Chelsea, I hope that I clarified the debarkation process and offered some great suggestions. I WISH you an incredible first Disney cruise and memories to last a lifetime! Please sail back to planDisney if you have any more planning questions.
Seas the Adventure,
Rana