Hello, Katie,
Congratulations on booking such a fun Port Adventure for you and your party. To make that fun a reality takes a significant amount of logistical planning and support from all parties. There are planners and coordinators with the independent tour companies, the transportation companies and operators, the venue managers and operators, the port authority, the crew members of your cruise ship, and of course, the overall Disney Cruise Line. When you book your Port Adventure through the Disney Cruise Line, you take advantage of all of that planning and coordination to help make your Disney Cruise vacation the most magical possible.
You are right. There are transit times involved in any Port Adventure. That is particularly true for excursions such as the Blue Lagoon Island Dolphin Encounter, which involves a ferry ride to an entirely separate island near the port of Nassau. The good news is that when you reserve Port Adventures through the Disney Cruise Line, those transit times are all built into the planning and logistics that are included in your bookings. The approximate total duration of your overall Port Adventure begins at the time you reserve and encompasses all of the transportation and activities involved.
Most Disney Cruise Line Port Adventures start while you are still on the cruise ship. In my family's experience, our Port Adventures usually begin by gathering Guests who have signed up for the activity in a large space such as the Walt Disney Theater or one of the larger lounges on board the ship. On somewhat rarer occasions, the gathering place may be a location outside the cruise ship but usually still somewhere within the port area. The night before your Port Adventure, be sure to read the messages sent to you in the Disney Cruise Line Navigator App or delivered to your stateroom to learn where you should meet and what items you should bring with you. When it is time to transition to the independent tour operator, a Disney Cruise Line entertainment Cast Member will escort your group to the handoff location. From that point on, you will be in the capable hands of your tour guide or guides. They will lead you every step of the way as you utilize included transportation to get you to and from your destination as well as any stops of interest along the way.
Tony's Tip: If you have a DisneyBand+, that will usually be adequate for boarding the cruise ship after your Port Adventure. But in order to pass through the port to get to your ship, you should be sure to take your Key to the World stateroom key card and your government ID as well. Depending on the Port Adventure, you may also wish to be prepared with items such as a water bottle, sunscreen, and clothing and footwear appropriate for the different aspects of the excursion.
Katie, I'm glad you are already thinking ahead about how you will proceed with Port Adventures on your Disney Cruise Line vacation. And I'm also glad that the Disney Cruise Line will be there every step of the way to help make your vacation as relaxing as possible. You deserve it!
Bon voyage!
~Tony