I will be happy to answer any questions about our trips and the planning process, just post it in the comments.
Post one - decisions and planning
I'm not a novice to Disney trip planning, but I've never planned for a cruise. Haven't even considered it, really, it was kinda a dream. I didn't think my husband would ever want to take a cruise - it's just not his kind of vacation (or so he thought). I also thought my kids would be bored with it - stuck on a ship, no rides, no multi-park visits (I was wrong). Everything I had read about a Disney cruise said it was pure magic, with a price tag to match. So yeah, I thought "just a dream" not an option for us.
Admittedly, the cruise was first my husbands idea, sort of. Yeah I dropped hints that someday I think I'd like to take a cruise. I mentioned how so many of our friends and family had taken Disney cruises and LOVED them. But I never said to him "I think we should take a cruise" or "what do you think about a Disney cruise vacation?". So I guess my husband listens to me more than I give him credit, because he heard those hints. Out of the blue he texted me one day - look at these deal on a Disney cruise, want to go? Um yeah! Are you kidding me?!
This was late November and that "deal of a price" was for a cruise in late January/ early February! What?! How am I supposed to plan for that? I live in the world of 180 days dining reservations and 60 days fastpass+ planning.
Not the case for a cruise (although I have read that the earlier you book, the better the price, not so sure that's always true, it's probably a seasonal rule) We did base our date choice by the availability of 'main dining'. We knew we wanted to eat at the earlier seating vs. late at night.
Other than that choice, there really wasn't any other decisions I needed to make! We didn't have a stateroom preference, we were going with least expensive for our first cruise which meant inside stateroom. We weren't going to take any excursions, they are an additional cost. There were still some available to book, had we wanted to though.
Because Disney cruises have 'rotational dining' (I'll explain that later, probably in another post on the dining) there's no dining reservations to be made.
All the on board activities can't be booked until you're actually on the ship. We did sign the girls up for the kids clubs ahead of time, which isn't necessary, but can be done any time before you embark to speed up the registration process.
We didn't have passports! I admittedly panicked (a lot) about this. My husband checked into it and because we were taking a cruise that left the U.S. and returned to the U.S. only stopping in the Bahamas, we were ok with just photo ID and our birth certificates. Yep, I still was panicking that it wasn't going to be OK. My research said those two proofs of citizenship were enough for a Bahamian cruise. Because we were sailing just 60 some odd days from the time of booking I didn't think we had time to get passports. So until the time of check in at the port I prayed all I read was correct and we would be allowed to board.
Obviously it was, or I wouldn't have a trip to tell you about. But always check with the current laws and regulations.
So the short version - we found the dates and itinerary we wanted on the Disney cruise website, my husband called and spoke to a Disney agent (we could have booked straight from the website, but he had a couple questions for them) booked our cruise and paid for it in full (that close to departure required full payment, if you book earlier you just need to place a deposit).
I took care of the rest online later - Set up your Disney account (which we already have) sign in with your registration confirmation number and then you can do the online check in, decide if you want Disney transportation to the port, register your kids for the kids clubs and book excursions...
Next post Embarking (aka getting on the ship)
