Please share disembarkation tips (night before, morning of...)

Put a ribbon or tape on the handle of your suitcase it’s helps finding your luggage in the hundreds of bags and helps from someone taking your luggage by accident
 
One recommendation to add. If you have a more than one or two bags as soon as you get down the escalator grab a porter. You tell them your character and what your suitcases look like then they will hunt for them and take them through the line. It’s much easier especially if you have kids to wrangle through the crowded room.
 
Unless you want to have them send your luggage to the airline for you, you do not have to put your luggage out the night before. We find it a lot less stressful sometimes to just keep our stuff and carry it off ourselves when we leave in the morning. That way, those liquids you still need or anything you forgot can get shoved into the checked bag in the morning. OR--go ahead and put some of the bags out but keep one for those last minute items. This does not work if you are having Disney check your bags through to the airport.

Assuming you put your tips either pre-paid or on your stateroom bill (I've never had it any other way, but not paying in cash I guess), your servers etc will get the tip whether you give them the envelope or not. So don't stress about whether or not you're going to breakfast and how to get them the envelopes. We almost never make it to the dining room for breakfast that morning--Cabanas works better for us.

In the morning, get on the elevator going up, ride it up, and then back down to the level to disembark. Everyone coming down will be already full of people and luggage!
 
I always dread debarkation, afraid I will leave something, but it has always turned out fine, just BUSY and focused (after a whole week of just milling around with hardly any schedule, it makes it seem more daunting!). Just do like so many others said, stay calm, go to Cabanas in the am (especially if you are not normally a 5 30 am-type of riser), and dont rush to get off of the ship unless you have a flight or other reason to get off quickly. The lines will be very long, and you can just sit for a little while in the lobby, off to the side, breathe, double-check your stuff, and take some time to let many of the crowd get out of the door. Have at least one extra tote bag to leave out for those last-minute things you might find it your cabin after you think you've already packed up that morning, and then if you dont need it, it can just be crammed into your other carry on bags. We've found flip-flops or a toiletry bag as we are leaving the stateroom, or now we cant get DS 's pj's to fit into the regular carry on bag. Who's dress shoes are these? This actually takes stress off of me, because I know I can just cram in whatever we find and someone can carry it off . Also, take pre-printed address label stickers from home if youve got them, and this takes out the (possible) laborious effort of writing all of your info onto every Disney luggage tag the night before. Super time saver for multiple suitcases!
Thank you soo much for the printed label suggestion. I had never heard that tip before...just printed some for my family. Took just a minute or two and could save several times that when it comes time!
 


Please, please! Do not pack your Key to the World card in your packed luggage. One cruise the family before us did this. You cannot get off the ship easily without it! They held up the line for about 15 minutes. No one was happy with them!
 
We were thinking we would just take our own luggage off next cruise. The last night always seems wasted with us needing to pack up, which even had us coming back from Castaway a bit sooner than we would like. I don't see what the big deal would be with having to roll out our suitcases. The upside would be fully enjoying the last day, getting up a tad earlier, and packing then instead. Am I missing something?

Yep, this. Obviously depends on your transportation situation. If you're in the garage the express walk-off is pretty painless. We'll finish packing disembarkation morning, grab breakfast in Cabanas then swing back by the room to grab the bags and go. Also depends on your family composition; probably not the best alternative with younglings.
 
We were thinking we would just take our own luggage off next cruise. The last night always seems wasted with us needing to pack up, which even had us coming back from Castaway a bit sooner than we would like. I don't see what the big deal would be with having to roll out our suitcases. The upside would be fully enjoying the last day, getting up a tad earlier, and packing then instead. Am I missing something?

Another option is to repack as you go so on the last day it is minimal packing that you have to do. With luggage not due out until 10:30, if you only have a few things left that should be not that time-consuming - definitely not requiring leaving Castaway very early.
 


Thank you soo much for the printed label suggestion. I had never heard that tip before...just printed some for my family. Took just a minute or two and could save several times that when it comes time!
I did this and used the sample I found either here or on Google. It was the wrong color for what our area was. Luckily, I'd used yellow stripes, so the red stripes underneath weren't obliterated. Use a clear sticker if you can and just put your info. Don't try to recreate the stripes, like I did.
 
If you haven't already booked your flights, don't book at time before Disney recommends. Most of the time, the ship gets in on time and you can get through customs in a reasonable period of time. But if you're stuck there that one time that the ship is late or customs is slow, the last thing you want is to stress about getting to the airport on time. It sucks spending time waiting at the airport, but I'd rather that than adding to the depressing thought that your vacation is at and end and you're going home an additional thought that you may have to come up with Plan B to actually get home.
 
We just got off the Fantasy. Based on this thread, we went to Cabanas for breakfast. Never again. At least in the MDR you are guaranteed a table. It was chaos in Cabanas and no room to sit anywhere. So you have to stalk people. And wait. While the clock is ticking. They closed the entire buffet 10 minutes after we sat down (with our food).
 
Disney paid for the shipping!
That’s fantastic! I’ve worked at several resorts and hotels over the years and we’d either COD the lost item or call the person and either bill their card on file or ask for a new card which we would use for USPS.

We had David Hassellhoff stay with us and he left behind his charger and had us overnight it to his hotel in NYC. Always found it strange because he could totally afford a new one. 🙃

Disney definitely goes above and beyond.
 
I've heard people say Disney pushes people toward the main dining rooms (away from Cabana's) on the last day of the cruise - anyone know why? Isn't Cabana's easier for them?
They want people off and eating at Cabanas people will linger.
 
Booking a placeholder was easy in January. You fill out a form and drop it in a box at the reservation desk. The deposit is put on your room bill.
 
We just got off the Fantasy. Based on this thread, we went to Cabanas for breakfast. Never again. At least in the MDR you are guaranteed a table. It was chaos in Cabanas and no room to sit anywhere. So you have to stalk people. And wait. While the clock is ticking. They closed the entire buffet 10 minutes after we sat down (with our food).
Is it crowded in the outdoor areas too? I saw a post recently where someone took their luggage outside, upstairs a deck from Cabanas and nobody was up there. They were able to take turns grabbing food from cabanas and then sat up on deck enjoying their al-fresco breakfast in peace.
 
The day before "they kick up off the ship", we grab a few extra slices of bacon, cheese, fruit, and a couple of croissants, etc. from Cabanas and keep them in the fridge for the next morning. We then enjoy a leisurely breakfast in our room, sitting on the verandah, people watching. We also carry an aero-press and one of us runs upstairs to the beverage station for hot water and creamer so we can enjoy a good cup of coffee with our breakfast.

https://smile.amazon.com/AeroPress-...ld=1&keywords=aeropress&qid=1594069971&sr=8-3
 
Put a ribbon or tape on the handle of your suitcase it’s helps finding your luggage in the hundreds of bags and helps from someone taking your luggage by accident
I've done this. It works a treat! I used ribbon with Disney characters on it. The ribbon was orange and stood out plain as day.
 
If I could just add a question onto this thread....you can walk off with your luggage on your own in the morning, right? You don’t have to give it to them the night before?
Yes, we have started to do this on our last two cruises. It is just as easy for us to just walk off with our luggage. The cruise before that we waited over an hour for them to call our character. 😳
 

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