What time can you book excursions?

[brewcrew]

Ninety days out from your cruise, you can book your excursions. Am I able to book exactly at midnight (EDT)?

 

[gismo1554]

Yes it should open at Midnight but recently some people have had trouble doing everything at that time and found a few hours later its all working.

 

[Flossbolna]

My recent experience was: online check-in open at midnight, excursion and dining and such opened at 3am.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

I just checked in right after midnight last night for our December cruise and was able to book excursions and dining at that time. Maybe it just depends on how many people are trying at the same time?

 

[brewcrew]

The booking window opened at midnight last night and I was able to book everything I wanted except the cabanas. They were all sold out at 12:02 am. I am a "gold" so today is 105 days out. Does Disney hold onto the cabanas for concierge? I called Disney this morning and said that I can put myself on the waitlist once I get onboard.

 

[Jestocost]

The booking window opened at midnight last night and I was able to book everything I wanted except the cabanas. They were all sold out at 12:02 am. I am a "gold" so today is 105 days out. Does Disney hold onto the cabanas for concierge? I called Disney this morning and said that I can put myself on the waitlist once I get onboard.

I don't think they "hold" the cabanas for concierge guests, but concierge and platinum CC members can book them 120 days out and in many cases they all are reserved at that time.

 

[over50visits]

Ninety days out from your cruise, you can book your excursions. Am I able to book exactly at midnight (EDT)?

In my experience over the years, yes. And seems like most discussions on this board over the years confirm that. Hope it works for you! Remember, if you don't get what you want, there are two things that might help: (1) 3 days prior to sailing you are committed, so some people may cancel their reservations for <whatever> at the last minute. So you might check back then. (2) You can visit the shore excursions or Palo/Remy desk (depending on what you want) when you board the ship, with reportedly good results. We like to dine at Palo twice for dinner, and always wait until the morning of the day after boarding to see if we can get a second dinner reservation (it wouldn't be fair to try to get one as soon as we get on, there are plenty of people who don't have even a single reservation trying on embarkation day). We have almost always been successful.

Have faith, think good thoughts, and remember your vacation will be a blast no matter what extras you can or cannot reserve.

 

[LindyWebb]

I have never sailed with Disney before but do shore excursions often "sell out"? With other cruise lines I booked the excursions kind of last minute. Never even giving it much thought. All of these message threads about the online check in have me wondering.

 

[Dug720]

I have never sailed with Disney before but do shore excursions often "sell out"? With other cruise lines I booked the excursions kind of last minute. Never even giving it much thought. All of these message threads about the online check in have me wondering.

Cabanas on Castaway Cay almost always do when the Concierge/Platinum booking window opens.

Other than that, it really depends on the itinerary, the people cruising, and the excursion. Alaska excursions including float planes or helicopters often do sell out before sailing because there is such limited availability on those. But others that are on busses and so forth have more space and allow for more people. Oh! The Sea Lions at Blue Lagoon in Nassau often sell out quickly - again limited space combined with sea lions being more unusual in encounters than dolphins.

I think that often people are more concerned with getting dinner or brunch (especially brunch) reservations in Palo and/or Remy (depending on ship).

Do keep checking if something you want is sold out though. Unlike other cruise lines which charge you for you excursion at the time of booking, Disney does not charge until you are on the ship - so I think that leads people to jump on excursions and hold them while they think about it since they're not giving their money to Disney any sooner than they have to. (Me, I LIKE having to pay for them upfront so that as much of my trip is paid for as it can be.) Sometimes things open up again.