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A funny thing happens when a two-year-old sees the Disney Fantasy for the first time through the car window at Port Canaveral: sometimes they say nothing at all, look at it for a very long moment, and then turn back to their window-cling butterflies as if a twelve-deck cruise ship is not remarkable.
That is a common first-timer moment, and the quiet worry that comes with it, that you paid a lot of money for this and hope the kid warms up once you are actually on board, is one nearly every cruising parent has felt.
She was. But not until she found the soft serve machine on the pool deck at approximately 12:20pm, at which point the Disney Fantasy became her favorite place on earth.
Embarkation day sets the tone for the whole cruise. Here is how we do it now, after three sailings and the kind of specific knowledge you only get from doing it wrong first. If this is your first sailing, I also have a broader set of first-time Disney cruise tips worth reading before you go.
Arrive Early at the Terminal
The terminal opens for check-in at around 10:30am for most sailings, and the ship starts boarding in waves based on your check-in number. Families with young children can often take advantage of special boarding assistance that puts you earlier in the line. Check the Disney Cruise Line app and the documents in your online account for the details on your specific sailing.
We aim to be at the terminal by 10am. This sometimes means leaving our hotel at an unreasonable hour with two toddlers, but it is worth it. Being in the first boarding wave means you walk onto a ship that is not yet crowded and you get first access to everything.
On our third sailing we were in the second wave by about 15 minutes and the difference was noticeable. The pool deck was busier, the soft serve machine had a short line, and the spots near the kid pool were already taken. Earlier is better.
What to Do in the First Two Hours
Your stateroom will not be ready until around 1:30pm or 2pm. This is always the case and it is worth accepting rather than fighting. Your luggage, which you checked at the terminal, will arrive at your stateroom even later, usually by 5pm or so. This is why the carry-on bag with a change of clothes and everything essential matters so much. Pack the swimsuits at the top of it, because the pools open hours before the staterooms do, and clip a lanyard with a clear card holder to each adult. You will show your Key to the World card a dozen times before you ever see your room, and fishing it out of a pocket while holding a toddler gets old by the second time.
Here is where we go in those first two hours:
The Pool Deck. It is the least crowded it will be for the entire sailing. The kids’ pool area, the AquaDuck water coaster, the soft serve machines. All of it is available and all of it has shorter lines than it will have on sea days. Embarkation day is the time to ride the AquaDuck, because it is the one window where you can get on without a 45-minute wait.
Lunch at Cabanas. The main buffet is open for embarkation day lunch and it is a good way to get the kids fed with something familiar while you settle into the rhythm of the ship. It is busy but not overwhelmingly so in the first hour of boarding.
The Oceaneer Club check-in. This is something a lot of first-time cruisers skip and I think it is a mistake. On embarkation day, the Oceaneer Club usually has an open house period where kids can explore and parents can see the space. If your goal is to drop the kids at the club for Palo dinner on night three, walking them through the space on day one so it is familiar makes that evening much easier.
Walk the ship. Sounds obvious, but first-timers often spend embarkation afternoon doing too much one-thing-at-a-time and never get a feel for the layout. Deliberately walking every main deck together, finding the elevators, locating the kids’ areas, and finding the theater pays off in feeling much less disoriented for the rest of the cruise.
When the Stateroom Opens
Go directly to your stateroom when you get the notification that it is ready. Before you do anything else, do the following:
Make sure the beds are in the right configuration. If you pre-requested a specific setup (two twins instead of a queen, for example, or the pullout sofa made up for a toddler), confirm it. If it is not right, call housekeeping while you have time before dinner to fix it.
Locate the life jacket drill materials. The ship does a muster drill on embarkation day. On newer sailings this is often digital rather than a physical assembly, but you still need to check in. Get it done early in the afternoon so it is not hanging over you.
Put your things away. This sounds very small. It is not small. On a cruise ship stateroom with two kids and multiple bags, the difference between having unpacked and organized versus living out of bags is enormous by day two. Take 20 minutes and put things where they belong.
Embarkation Dinner
The first dinner of the cruise is in your first rotational dining restaurant. You will have your assigned dining time (main seating for families with toddlers, please, I have been over this) and your server team for the week will meet you here.
Pack one nice-ish outfit for the kids specifically for the first dinner. Not formal. Just not the swimsuit. The first dinner feels like an occasion and it is worth showing up a little dressed up, at least for the 20 minutes before the ketchup finds the dress.
Get to the First Show
Most Disney cruises have a show in the Walt Disney Theatre on embarkation evening, usually a variety or welcome show. It is short, maybe 30 to 45 minutes, and it is a good way to end the first day with something fun the kids will enjoy. It is also less crowded than the shows later in the week because a lot of families skip it.
Do not be surprised if a tired toddler falls asleep in the Walt Disney Theatre, vertical one minute and gone the next. The shows are good, the kids are usually worn out, and it ends the day on a high note.
Resist Trying to Do Everything
This is the hardest embarkation day advice to take but it is the most important. The cruise is five days (or four, or seven, depending on your sailing). You have time. You do not need to ride every slide, attend every activity, and eat at every venue on day one.
The families I have seen visibly struggling by day three are often the ones who came out of embarkation day at a sprint. With toddlers specifically, embarkation day is long. There is a lot of stimulation. There are nap schedules to manage and new environments to adjust to.
Pick two or three things for the afternoon, have a good dinner, catch the show, and get the kids to bed at a reasonable hour. Day two will be better for it, and so will you.
