What do I need to have prepared for online check-in?

[Doingitagain]

Thank you everyone. Your tips and tricks helped me to check in last night for our HNL to AUS cruise. For this one they did ask for the Australian visa to be uploaded as well as the passport. I am traveling with my mom and she does not have her visa yet. She needs medical clearance and her appointment is in the next couple of days. To get around this issue, I uploaded my visa in her account and it was accepted for now; so I was able to complete check in and get our PAT with boarding group 6. When her visa gets approved, I will swap mine out for hers.

I am not sure you can swap out an approved document. You may need to call or do it at port.

 

[mama&me]

I am not sure you can swap out an approved document. You may need to call or do it at port.

It wasn’t approved yet. It was just accepted and pending but will definitely take it to the port.

 

[gpjacobs]

Just wanted to thank EVERYONE for this thread. It was SUPER helpful checking in for our first Disney Cruise on the Wish next month. Followed the recommendations of selecting driving, paying cash, etc. to speed through the process, then went back and corrected things as needed.

A few things that were happy surprises:

We're pre-booked for Disney transportation to and from the port, coming from the Hyatt at MCO. When it came time to select a PAT, it defaulted to the following screen, which reads: "You are not required to select a port arrival time. Please arrive anytime during the Embarkation period, at least one hour prior to all-abord time at the latest. Once you are fully checked in and boarding has begun, you may make your way onto the ship at your leisure."

Additionally, Disney's tech was able to auto-detect all our passport information, so we didn't need to manually enter it in (just did a quick confirmation).

All in all, very pleased. Was assigned 11:30 a.m. PAT and Boarding Group 6, which I think is fairly high up after Concierge and CC members. The whole process, including corrections, took about 35 mins.

UPDATE:
Forgot to mention, my first priority was getting Royal Gathering. I had four slots in queue for Nassau day but faced the dreaded blue circle ... Ended up only getting two spots for the kids (hoping they allow adult chaperones to come without a reservation) for the first offering on Castaway Kay day. Slots on Nassau day "sold out" in less than 10 minutes. Slots on Castaway Kay day filled sometime overnight.

Thanks again!

 

[Dru]

I've read nearly this whole thread, beginning in 2022, detailing the torturous and stressful process of online registration/checking. My question: what happens if I don't complete online checking, and just show up two hours before the ship departs, with all my documents?

 

[enzy65]

I've read nearly this whole thread, beginning in 2022, detailing the torturous and stressful process of online registration/checking. My question: what happens if I don't complete online checking, and just show up two hours before the ship departs, with all my documents?

I don’t know about not completing the online check in. I read all the thread before our last checkin and we did not do it at midnight because it sounded like a nightmare.
Waited until like 2pm and it took less than 10 minutes, on a laptop and was easy to do, granted we had all documents prepared and ready to go. We are not the type to want to be 1st on the ship either.
I wish they would go back to the old way before covid, when you did it all at the port.

 

[MostlyLurking]

Thank you to everyone who contributed here! This was invaluable. Check in opened for Silver on two ships this evening and I was done in 6 minutes, obtaining an 11:30 PAT, BG3.

 

[RedHead0186]

I've read nearly this whole thread, beginning in 2022, detailing the torturous and stressful process of online registration/checking. My question: what happens if I don't complete online checking, and just show up two hours before the ship departs, with all my documents?

I'm not sure, but I personally wouldn't bank on that. If you don't complete online check in before it closes, DCL might assume you're not sailing and cancel your reservation (kind of like how airlines will cancel your ticket if you don't check in XX time ahead of your flight). I know they can manage/update documents at port if something went awry during online check in, so theoretically you could show up and just do it all there. But I'm not sure that they'll allow it.

If you're not angling for an early PAT (which, if you were willing to just show up at port with your documents tells me you're not), then you really have nothing to worry about. Many of the tips here are how to get through the process quickly to get an early PAT. And even that has spaced out since they tiered online check-in by Castaway Club status.

Just have a photo of passports or birth certificates for each person in your party and 'headshot' photos for each person in your party (looking straight on, shoulders up, no hats and no glasses if they cause a glare). You'll have to hand-enter information for each person-their DOB, address, passport info (if it doesn't auto-populate after you upload the picture), emergency contact, travel plans to/from port, and how you want to handle your onboard account. If you're not rushed for time, just do it anytime before online check in closes, at your leisure, and you'll be fine.

 

[reneetm]

If I'm using birth certificates instead of passports, do I upload a copy of that?

 

[RedHead0186]

If I'm using birth certificates instead of passports, do I upload a copy of that?

Yes

 

[kirstyfly]

Thanks for this post it was very helpful when I needed to do our Auckland at sea cruise in December check in yesterday.

 

[S. C.]

I'm not sure, but I personally wouldn't bank on that. If you don't complete online check in before it closes, DCL might assume you're not sailing and cancel your reservation (kind of like how airlines will cancel your ticket if you don't check in XX time ahead of your flight). I know they can manage/update documents at port if something went awry during online check in, so theoretically you could show up and just do it all there. But I'm not sure that they'll allow it.

If you're not angling for an early PAT (which, if you were willing to just show up at port with your documents tells me you're not), then you really have nothing to worry about. Many of the tips here are how to get through the process quickly to get an early PAT. And even that has spaced out since they tiered online check-in by Castaway Club status.

Just have a photo of passports or birth certificates for each person in your party and 'headshot' photos for each person in your party (looking straight on, shoulders up, no hats and no glasses if they cause a glare). You'll have to hand-enter information for each person-their DOB, address, passport info (if it doesn't auto-populate after you upload the picture), emergency contact, travel plans to/from port, and how you want to handle your onboard account. If you're not rushed for time, just do it anytime before online check in closes, at your leisure, and you'll be fine.

Wow, I wasn't expecting to have to do all of that for check in. I haven't cruised Disney since 2005. I got off a Carnival cruise 2 weeks ago and for that check in just had to give the number from passport no pictures of anything uploaded? Carnival each person checked themselves in, am I understanding correctly I have to check in everyone in the cabin at once? Yikes does not sound fun at all for check in. Have an upcoming cruise with Disney March 2024.

 

[Skippyboo]

Wow, I wasn't expecting to have to do all of that for check in. I haven't cruised Disney since 2005. I got off a Carnival cruise 2 weeks ago and for that check in just had to give the number from passport no pictures of anything uploaded? Carnival each person checked themselves in,

am I understanding correctly I have to check in everyone in the cabin at once? Yikes does not sound fun at all for check in. Have an upcoming cruise with Disney March 2024.

I just did it last week. It wasn’t too bad took around 20 minutes. It is five sections.



Guest Information took the longest-that’s where you drop selfies and passport scans into the boxes. List emergency contact

If the information is the same for everyone in your cabin, you can mark also applies to list of guests like when it asks how you are getting to the port, staying after cruise etc

 

[S. C.]

We will have 2 that are silver and 2 first time cruisers all sharing same stateroom. Do we all check in at same time or different days?

• Silver – 33 days before sailing.
• First-Time Disney Cruisers – 30 days before sailing.

 

[RedHead0186]

We will have 2 that are silver and 2 first time cruisers all sharing same stateroom. Do we all check in at same time or different days?

• Silver – 33 days before sailing.
• First-Time Disney Cruisers – 30 days before sailing.

Since you check in by stateroom, you'll check in with the highest Castaway Club level in the room. So for you, that'll be silver check in (33 days out). And you'll be able to check in everyone at once, even the newbies.

 

[S. C.]

Since you check in by stateroom, you'll check in with the highest Castaway Club level in the room. So for you, that'll be silver check in (33 days out). And you'll be able to check in everyone at once, even the newbies.

Thank you, I was hoping that was the answer you made my day

 

[lucas]

Wow, I wasn't expecting to have to do all of that for check in. I haven't cruised Disney since 2005. I got off a Carnival cruise 2 weeks ago and for that check in just had to give the number from passport no pictures of anything uploaded? Carnival each person checked themselves in, am I understanding correctly I have to check in everyone in the cabin at once? Yikes does not sound fun at all for check in. Have an upcoming cruise with Disney March 2024.

Hi there, friend! Haven't seen you in quite awhile!

The check-in process isn't all that bad. We are sailing in a few weeks on the Dream from Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades. Ft. Lauderdale is our home base down here in South Florida. No more driving up to Port Canaveral for us for DCL cruises and I am so happy about that!

 

[MinnieSueB]

Sailed thru check in last night (we are Gold) right at midnight in less than 5 minutes and got a 12:15 boarding time. It's a little later than I anticipated - not complaining just thought we would be earlier. It is the Christmas cruise so maybe a lot of Pearl & Platinum cruisers are going. lol

 

[SeattleSuz]

Wow, this is really good information to know. NCL had you do everything at the port. So, this is pretty helpful for us since I am on the West/best coast and can easily do it at midnight EST (9 pm PST).

 

[bushmaster]

Checked in right at midnight for our Jan 27 Fantasy cruise the other night and received a 12:00 PAT and boarding group 8. We are Platinum. The tips on pics etc were very helpful, thanks!

 

[CarolynFH]

I too want to thank you for the clear instructions in post #1. I had everything ready for checkin for our January cruise on the Magic. However, the system didn’t like DH’s selfie being in the iPhone .heic format, so I ended up taking another one of him with my phone in .jpg, and that one uploaded just fine. We waited until the morning to check in because we plan to eat lunch at a favorite restaurant before going to the port and didn’t care about getting an early PAT or boarding group number. We were offered PATs between around noon and 2:15, chose 1:00, and got boarding group 16. Thanks again!