Disney Cruise Line® Returns to Sailing: Before Leaving Home and Embarkation Day

By Tink's Owner, Kristin.
On August 13th my family of four along with some other agents and their families embarked on a three night sailing on the beautiful Disney Dream.   We were very excited to get back to sailing with Disney Cruise Line®!

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Online Check in Process Beforehand:
Our online check in process began a few weeks prior to our actual sail date.  My family (comprised of four adults) needed to complete our online check in prior to sailing. We had to visit www.disneycruiseline.com and log in and begin our check in for everyone in our traveling party with Disney Cruise Line® first. This included uploading our travel documents, which were our passports (the booklet kind, not a passport card). Please know that Tink’s Magical Vacations highly recommends traveling with a passport that does not have an expiration date six months from your last day of sailing. 

During this checkin process, you also will need to take a photo for each traveling passenger -- the best sort of photo is one from the neck up on a plain white wall background.  A selfie is not recommended.  Please note that your Disney Cruise Line® paperwork will not be cleared until the week of sailing or a few days prior.   Once cleared you will need to print your QR Codes as you will need this once you arrive at the terminal. 

Our agency would encourage you to read through all of the updates that Disney Cruise Line® posts on its website extremely closely.  This LINK is VERY helpful!  Please note that Disney Cruise Line is constantly updating their information, so definitely  check this site regularly.

After filling out Disney Cruise Line's information,  the next step when your window opens up is to fill out information for Safe Passage! 

Safe Passage: 
Disney Cruise Line's third-party partner for Covid-19 testing and vaccination verification is by Inspire Diagnostics through their Safe Passage website.  

First, you will need to set up an account on the Safe Passage website for anyone in your traveling party who is over the age of 18.  If you are traveling with minors you will be able to upload their documents on their behalf.  An account cannot be created sooner than 33 days prior to sailing. 

If you are vaccinated:  You will need to have your vaccine card in hand as you will need to upload a copy of the actual card.   Once you are all approved through Safe Passage you will need to print or screen shot your QR Codes for each person over the age of 18.  

If you are not vaccinated:  You will need to follow the instructions very carefully as to what you need to do to be approved to sail.  Everyone in my family along with others traveling in our group were all vaccinated, so we can not speak of the process for unvaccinated guests at this time. 

Once we had both of our QR Codes, the first one from Disney Cruise Line® and our QR Codes from Safe Passage we were all cleared and ready to prepare for our sailing. 

Embarkation Morning!
Embarkation morning finally arrived!  Bright and early on the morning of August 13th, we loaded into our vehicle full of excitement.  Our family of four had all of our passports, with vaccine cards tucked neatly inside, as well as our Disney Cruise Line® QR Codes, as well as our Safe Passage QR Codes. Please note: Disney Cruise Line® fully enforces your assigned boarding time. As we drove toward the port, our excitement grew as we started seeing the ship docked in the distance.  

When we finally arrived at the Terminal, we were about 16 minutes early and were told to park and wait until our assigned time of 1pm.  When 1pm arrived we pulled up, told a waiting cast member our port arrival time and were instructed to pull forward to drop our luggage off.  A Disney Cruise Line® Cast Member approached the passengers side of our vehicle and asked our port arrival time again, and scanned our Disney Cruise Line® QR Code.  They then instructed one person (masked up) to get out of the vehicle and hand our luggage to a porter.  

Then we pulled up to enter the parking garage. We paid $17.00 a day to park via our credit card.  Then we approached the first checkpoint which was a Disney Cruise Line® Cast Member who asked for our passports, as well as our Disney Cruise Line® QR Code again.  She also asked us if anyone was exhibiting any Covid-19 symptoms. We were then instructed us to pull into a spot where someone from Safe Passage (Inspire) asked us for our Safe Passage QR Codes.  This person scanned all of our QR Codes and explained we could drive up to the third checkpoint where they asked us more Covid-19 screening questions.  Once that occurred, we were told that we were all set and the cast member put a golden ticket on our car windshield.  We then drove to a parking spot on the second floor. After getting our remaining carryons, we headed to another area where we waited for the Cast Member (his name was Richard) to tell us we could head into the terminal.  Richard told us he allowed about ten people to walk over the parking garage bridge to the escalators to the ground floor of the terminal.  

Finally, it was our time to cross over into the Terminal.  So many emotions were felt as we saw the familiar Disney Cruise Line® Terminal.  Upon entering the Terminal we noticed how differently it was set up -- counter areas to check in were based on Castaway Club status or Concierge status.  The Cast Member who checked us in was behind plexiglass and asked for our passports and gave us a Golden Sticker to put on.  This indicated we were cleared to sail and were Concierge guests.  We then went through the metal detectors and walked to the Concierge Lounge.  Inside the Terminal we noticed very few chairs, and very few people waiting. 

As we entered into the Concierge Lounge part of the Terminal (which is the area closest to the ship, the Cast Member asked our stateroom number and looked at our pictures on his screen and then we were on our way to board.  If we had wanted a family photo taken, this was done in a corner of the Terminal, not as it used to happen as you made your way toward the gangway.

Finally, we were at the entrance to the ship.  So many feelings were upon us as it had been such a long wait to be back on a Disney Cruise Line® ship.  Upon boarding, a cast member did have his microphone out to announce our family name.  Once inside the atrium we were instructed to wait on a large gold circle (there were several circles there for different families to use).  Captain Mickey and Captain Minnie Mouse greeted arriving guests with a special welcome show in the atrium.  Once the show was over, a Crew Member approached us and inquired if we wanted to have lunch in the Dining Room or in Cabanas.  We chose to eat in the Royal Court Dining Room, however, those who chose Cabanas were served by Crew Members, unlike before the pandemic hit when guests could serve themselves.

Another interesting aside: guests do not receive their Key To The World Cards prior to boarding.  Instead, they are placed in an envelope in the fish extender that is outside of your stateroom. 

The overall boarding process was seamless and took just under 45 minutes.  Given that we had been waiting so long to sail again with Disney Cruise Line®, the time to board was well worth the wait!