July 12, 2024 By: Magically Martinez Vacations Inc.
Magically Martinez Vacations Inc are Taking to the Seas! Here are our top 5 tips for booking a last-minute Disney Cruise.
We’ve been planning our last-minute Disney Cruise Line Experience on the Disney Wish. We took a look at the calendar and picked the only set of dates this year that worked for us. In doing so we gave ourselves just enough time to order our passports and sail away.
TIP #1: Make sure you have passports prior to booking your trip!
We applied for our passports at our local post office exactly 32 days prior to our trip. While this worked out for us, we do very much caution against this. We paid for the expedited turn around, and we got them prior to the three-week timeline quoted. However, there are plenty of horror stories out there of this not being the case for many people. So, save yourself some anxiety and get your passport first. If you already have a passport, make sure it does not expire within 6 months of your return date.
TIP #2: Do your research!Know before you go. Before you start planning when you want to take your trip, head over to Disney.com and look at the different ships in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. The itinerary each is offering, how long each voyage is, what unique offerings does each ship offer. We choose our trip on the Disney Wish for several reasons. We have some nervous cruisers with us, so it was important it was a brief trip to start, and the Disney Wish offered a 3-Night Bahamian Cruise. We wanted to leave out of Port Canaveral to ease our efforts of getting to the port. We also wanted to visit Disney’s Private Island Castaway Cay. Our sailing choice checked all these boxes.
If you are unsure of which options may suit your family’s needs, then contact an expert. Which leads us to Tip #3.
Tip #3: Use a Travel Agent!There are many moving parts to a Disney Cruise Line vacation. Working with somebody who knows the ins and outs of this adventure is so helpful. Travel agents book your trip including all the incidental pieces (like transportation to and from the airport, a room the day before, etc.) help you meet deadlines (and there will be a lot of them) and will watch for promotional deals that may come after you place your deposit. They can help reschedule things if you must change your dates and are truly are an invaluable resource.
Tip #4: Get a room in town the day before the cruise!
Airlines are notorious for having delays, often which are outside of your or their control. To minimize the risk of missing the final all aboard time for your cruise, fly in the day before. We are staying at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort the day prior to our sailing. This will allow us a relaxing resort afternoon/evening following a long day of travel. It also prevents us from having to kill time until we can board. We also got a really good boarding group, even though we weren’t able to check in at the 30 day mark because we didn’t have our passports yet.
Tip #5: Use Disney Transportation!While we no longer get the lovely perk that was Disney’s Magical Express. We do have the option of taking a Disney bus to the port. We found this to be a much cheaper option than booking transportation elsewhere. Disney will be picking up our luggage from our hotel room the morning of the cruise. We will be given a call time to meet in the lobby and they will transport us to Port Canaveral. Upon our return to Port Canaveral, they will then take us to the airport. This makes things easy and stress free.
If you are interested in learning more or booking a Disney Cruise Line adventure, please reach out to Melanie at melaniemartinez@pixievacations.com
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