Hi,
Our cruise check in opens on 2/4. I have heard that the tool opens at midnight, is that correct? Are there benefits to doing this at midnight as opposed to the say 7am?
My understanding is that I will need photos of passports, shoulder up photos of each traveler and there are forms to complete during the check in process. Anything I'm missing?
First time cruiser here...thanks in advance!
It opens at midnight Eastern. But this week, for the first time for me, I had to actually change the clock on my computer/phone to match Eastern time. I am in the Mountain time zone, and it wouldn't give me the button until I changed the clock on them. It was ridiculous.
The only downside to waiting is a later boarding time. You can book some character breakfasts and stuff at the 30 day mark, but those are done where you book your excursions, not the online check in. So if you are going for those, I would go up and do those and then worry about online check in later.
The online check in is a complete nightmare on the night it opens. We are talking Disney's servers melting down. You are lucky if you can get in for several hours, and once you do, there is a high chance of errors, unsaved uploads, and getting kicked back out. It is an exercise in frustrating and not a fun way to ramp up for your cruise 30 days out. Next time, I am waiting until the next day and not worrying about the port arrival time. Someone in our Facebook group did that and actually got a better time than I did anyway. And general boarding tends to open at 12:30-1, which is only 30 minutes later than I got. Last June I did much better, but there were less people sailing.
Besides the items you have listed, have your credit card handy to add to your onboard account, and your travel plans (flight numbers/times, etc.).
