May 4th, 2025 - 13 Night Eastbound Transatlantic Cruise from Port Canaveral to Barcelona (Castaway Cay, Azores, Lisbon, Cádiz)

[NAB]

Oh, I agree. I just could not leave my bags behind in the room when we went down to do the transportation check in. I brought mine with me and they assured me it would make it to the ship (it did). I did feel better when they asked how many bags we had left in the room-seems like that was a 'double check' to be sure they would get all of them.

They always pick up our bags never had a problem and this is #22.

They always pick up way before the bus comes. They put this luggage on a truck. They ask us how many bags they picked up in our room when we check in with the person.

We are not staying on WDW resort this time to save money but are flying in the day before. My husband really wanted to cancel this trip because it is leaving from the U.S and we are Canadian. We would lose a lot of money if we did. Would have just stayed in Canada for now. Saying that we have nothing against any of you just so you know.

 

[Pinkjgray]

They’re offering a 35% discount on select rooms at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and Disney’s Old Key West Resort for a pre-cruise reservation. Did you get that email?

 

[NAB]

They’re offering a 35% discount on select rooms at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and Disney’s Old Key West Resort for a pre-cruise reservation. Did you get that email?

I don’t know if he saw that will have to ask him thanks.

 

[mpark90]

We have just finalised our plans!
We fly out 5 days earlier from the UK.
Staying 1 night in the Delta Lake Buena Vista then 4 nights at Pop Century! (We love the skyliner)

We only have 2 daysworth of park tickets but we like to go to the outlet mall, resort hop and Disney Springs.

We are taking Disney DCL Transportation from Pop! And have just pre-paid gratuities.

I am so ready to go

 

[Pinkjgray]

Hello and welcome!

I’m going to the UK to visit family and friends after the cruise. I’m ready to go as well.

 

[Flossbolna]

So, we had a serious talk about the different tastings I booked. I think I like the idea of them more than anything else and went a bit crazy with booking what sounded interesting. I also think they are kind of expensive, 45-60 $ depending on what you get. We usually don't drink a lot, so the tastings tend to be a lot of alcohol for us. And we came to the conclusion that that money is much better spend on a couple of drinks each in one of the bars (we love Europa and Oh-la-la on the Fantasy) than on a tasting. For 90-120$ you can get quite a few drinks between the two of us!

I am going to cancel all my tasting reservations in the next couple of weeks, but wanted to ask if anyone here is sad that they didn't get the tasting they wanted. Send me a DM and we can coordinate a time for me to cancel, so that hopefully you will be able to grab it.

We currently have the following booked, each booking is for two people, so two spots will be released:
Day 1 9:30pm Rum Tasting 45$
Day 5 4 pm Mixology 45$
Day 7 10pm World of Gin 60$
Day 8 8 pm Mojito & Caipirinha Tasting 50$

We are also looking into changing our excursion plans. I don't like the idea of a big bus excursion with DCL in the Azores, so am looking into local vendors, either for a private car (if it's not too expensive) or a smaller group excursion. For Lisbon we currently have the Sintra on your own booked, but looking at the timing, this will most likely just give us 2 hours there, which is not a lot. Lisbon is beautiful, so I think we will just wander on our own, maybe find a self guided walking tour or so. Same for Cadiz. There I actually found a "free" (they expect a tip at the end, so not really free) walking tour that we might do instead of the DCL one that we have currently booked. A month from Sunday I will be flying to the US! Not long anymore.

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello and welcome!

I’m going to the UK to visit family and friends after the cruise. I’m ready to go as well.

I am sure you know, but since it is new (I think it's just about to start): There is now a system where you have to register your travel to the UK beforehand, it's called ETA. Make sure you have that if you are planning to go to the UK!

 

[Pinkjgray]

Thank you! Yes, I’m aware. However, I’m a British citizen.

 

[NAB]

So, we had a serious talk about the different tastings I booked. I think I like the idea of them more than anything else and went a bit crazy with booking what sounded interesting. I also think they are kind of expensive, 45-60 $ depending on what you get. We usually don't drink a lot, so the tastings tend to be a lot of alcohol for us. And we came to the conclusion that that money is much better spend on a couple of drinks each in one of the bars (we love Europa and Oh-la-la on the Fantasy) than on a tasting. For 90-120$ you can get quite a few drinks between the two of us!

I am going to cancel all my tasting reservations in the next couple of weeks, but wanted to ask if anyone here is sad that they didn't get the tasting they wanted. Send me a DM and we can coordinate a time for me to cancel, so that hopefully you will be able to grab it.

We currently have the following booked, each booking is for two people, so two spots will be released:
Day 1 9:30pm Rum Tasting 45$
Day 5 4 pm Mixology 45$
Day 7 10pm World of Gin 60$
Day 8 8 pm Mojito & Caipirinha Tasting 50$

We are also looking into changing our excursion plans. I don't like the idea of a big bus excursion with DCL in the Azores, so am looking into local vendors, either for a private car (if it's not too expensive) or a smaller group excursion. For Lisbon we currently have the Sintra on your own booked, but looking at the timing, this will most likely just give us 2 hours there, which is not a lot. Lisbon is beautiful, so I think we will just wander on our own, maybe find a self guided walking tour or so. Same for Cadiz. There I actually found a "free" (they expect a tip at the end, so not really free) walking tour that we might do instead of the DCL one that we have currently booked. A month from Sunday I will be flying to the US! Not long anymore.

We have done a lot of tasting over the years. They were fun when they let people take turns making the drinks.

I don’t drink much either and most times my husband got a lot of drinks. Went to the chocolate one ate the chocolate…lol Not sure if he has any planned this time.

Tell the truth I have no idea what our excursions are. My husband and daughter planned it all. I go with the flow…lol

I’m the weird one that doesn’t care if we get Palo but he likes it and we get a free one so we do it.

 

[Flossbolna]

Thank you! Yes, I’m aware. However, I’m a British citizen.

Ok, this simplifies entering the UK a lot!!

 

[Flossbolna]

We have done a lot of tasting over the years. They were fun when they let people take turns making the drinks.

I don’t drink much either and most times my husband got a lot of drinks. Went to the chocolate one ate the chocolate…lol Not sure if he has any planned this time.

Tell the truth I have no idea what our excursions are. My husband and daughter planned it all. I go with the flow…lol

I’m the weird one that doesn’t care if we get Palo but he likes it and we get a free one so we do it.

I am so much of a planer myself that I would not be able to just go with the flow! But then it’s really nice if someone else just takes care of everything!

 

[Flossbolna]

So, we are officially checked in. Thanks to having the transfers from WDW we ended up with boarding group 4. Not sure we will even be at the port by the time they call that group!

I have started a corner in the house where I collect stuff for the trip. I lost a few pounds since last summer and was thrilled to have a wider variety of swim wear to choose from for the trip.

We also finally booked a non Disney excursion for Ponta Delgada. Still debating just getting a taxi at the port to take us places. Supposedly that’s something that’s available. But I am too much of a planner to not have some more precise plan, I am afraid…

 

[RedHead0186]

So, we are officially checked in. Thanks to having the transfers from WDW we ended up with boarding group 4. Not sure we will even be at the port by the time they call that group!

You probably will arrive at port just as or right before boarding starts. We did WDW transfers to port last month and they announced family of the day boarding right as we were entering the terminal. They started calling boarding groups right as we got upstairs. We were BG 5 and only waited about half an hour in the terminal before our group was called.

 

[Pinkjgray]

So, we are officially checked in. Thanks to having the transfers from WDW we ended up with boarding group 4. Not sure we will even be at the port by the time they call that group!

I have started a corner in the house where I collect stuff for the trip. I lost a few pounds since last summer and was thrilled to have a wider variety of swim wear to choose from for the trip.

We also finally booked a non Disney excursion for Ponta Delgada. Still debating just getting a taxi at the port to take us places. Supposedly that’s something that’s available. But I am too much of a planner to not have some more precise plan, I am afraid…

I think you’re Platinum, correct? I didn’t know you get the option to check in earlier than the other levels. I knew you get to book excursions at an earlier time. That’s awesome! The DCL transfer got us to the port early. I think approx 10:45a.

So, we are officially checked in. Thanks to having the transfers from WDW we ended up with boarding group 4. Not sure we will even be at the port by the time they call that group!

I have started a corner in the house where I collect stuff for the trip. I lost a few pounds since last summer and was thrilled to have a wider variety of swim wear to choose from for the trip.

We also finally booked a non Disney excursion for Ponta Delgada. Still debating just getting a taxi at the port to take us places. Supposedly that’s something that’s available. But I am too much of a planner to not have some more precise plan, I am afraid…

I think you’re Platinum, right? I didn’t realize you get the option to check in earlier than the other levels—that’s awesome! I knew you could book excursions ahead of time, though. The DCL transfer got us to the port early—around 10:45 a.m.

 

[RedHead0186]

I think you’re Platinum, right? I didn’t realize you get the option to check in earlier than the other levels—that’s awesome! I knew you could book excursions ahead of time, though. The DCL transfer got us to the port early—around 10:45 a.m.

Yes, online check in is staggered by Castaway Club level.

Your DCL transfer got you to port at 10:45am?! Wow, that's really early.

 

[Pinkjgray]

Yes, online check in is staggered by Castaway Club level.

Your DCL transfer got you to port at 10:45am?! Wow, that's really early.

Yes, we left the hotel (we were the last pick up) at 9:30a and got there right before 10:45a.

 

[NAB]

We didn’t know we could do check in early either so only saw the email in the afternoon. So we got group # 12 we don’t know how we are getting to the port yet since we will be staying off site. We could go back to the airport and grab a bus or just get an Uber.

Last time we used the bus from a resort and had 12 too but when we checked in they changed it to 6 . We went to the Platnuim line.

I’m ok with 12 been on this ship a lot so we can go slow . Restaurants don’t open until 12 either so we have been on and had to wait in a line to get in.

 

[Flossbolna]

I think you’re Platinum, correct? I didn’t know you get the option to check in earlier than the other levels. I knew you get to book excursions at an earlier time. That’s awesome! The DCL transfer got us to the port early. I think approx 10:45a.

I think you’re Platinum, right? I didn’t realize you get the option to check in earlier than the other levels—that’s awesome! I knew you could book excursions ahead of time, though. The DCL transfer got us to the port early—around 10:45 a.m.

Yes, we are Platinum. If you scroll down on this page, you can see the different check in days for the different levels:
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/itineraries/sail-date-summary/

It’s fairly new that you can check in earlier. I think it was introduced late 2022 or early 2023.

 

[Flossbolna]

You probably will arrive at port just as or right before boarding starts. We did WDW transfers to port last month and they announced family of the day boarding right as we were entering the terminal. They started calling boarding groups right as we got upstairs. We were BG 5 and only waited about half an hour in the terminal before our group was called.

This sounds perfect. My husband doesn’t like early mornings, so we often arrived at the port after they already started open boarding.

 

[Flossbolna]

We didn’t know we could do check in early either so only saw the email in the afternoon. So we got group # 12 we don’t know how we are getting to the port yet since we will be staying off site. We could go back to the airport and grab a bus or just get an Uber.

From what I saw, the earliest groups on the Facebook group were 11 for Platinums. It seems that 1 is concierge, 2 is Pearl, 3 transport from airport and Hyatt, 4, 5, 6 are WDW transport. No idea what 7, 8, 9, 10 are for… Maybe WDW transport with lower status?

I’m ok with 12 been on this ship a lot so we can go slow . Restaurants don’t open until 12 either so we have been on and had to wait in a line to get in.

Oh! And here I was wondering if I could get husband to go to lunch at Cabanas if we manage to get there early and won’t have to search for a table. The only time I enjoyed Cabanas was when we boarded at 1:30 and people had left to go to their rooms. Not a fan of the AP boarding day lunch menu. But it’s so much quieter. I loved Parrot Cay for boarding day buffet on the Wonder on my first couple of cruises.