It’s that time, unfortunately. The Disney Fantasy pulled into Port Canaveral at 6:30 a.m., marking the beginning of the sad day of disembarkation. There are two options available for this process:
- Express Walk-Off
- Group Disembarkation
Express Walk-Off
If you choose express walk-off, you keep all your luggage with you and carry it yourself. This option is ideal if you have an early flight to catch or are in a hurry to end your vacation (though you’ll have to explain that one to me!). Once the ship is cleared by the port authority and customs, passengers can begin disembarking.
Be aware that there’s usually a pretty lengthy line for express walk-off, so it’s not always as “express” as you might think. However, the advantage is that you don’t need to wait for cast members to offload and assemble luggage in the terminal.
Group Disembarkation
This option allows you to enjoy a farewell breakfast, either in the dining room or at Cabana’s, before leaving the ship. After the express line clears out, passengers are called to disembark based on their luggage tag group.
The night before, each stateroom receives luggage tags designating which baggage counter to retrieve suitcases from. True to Disney style, these tags feature a variety of characters—ours for the week was Tinker Bell.
Once your tag group is called, you head to the atrium to line up and scan off the ship. Inside the terminal, you locate your designated baggage area to collect your luggage before exiting through customs.
Disney Cruise Line “Placeholder” for Your Next Cruise
The best thing to do when finishing a cruise is to start planning your next one! Disney Cruise Line offers the opportunity to purchase a “placeholder” that applies a discount to a future fare.
You can purchase a placeholder directly through the Navigator App for $250. Once purchased, you’ll receive an email with a confirmation number valid for 24 months. The placeholder entitles you to 10% off a sailing, with the $250 being applied to the down payment.
If you’re unable to use the placeholder within 24 months, the amount is automatically refunded to your original payment method (or a check is issued if the original card is no longer valid).
Each stateroom is allowed to purchase up to two placeholders, but these must be redeemed for multiple staterooms on the same sailing. For example, if you’re a family that needs multiple staterooms or want to bring guests along, this can be a great option.
A word of caution: not all sailings are eligible for the discount—holiday weeks are typically excluded. Make sure to check the fine print when it’s time to apply your placeholders!
Tipping on Disney Cruise Line
While the cruise fare covers most of what happens on the ship, there are many cast members who make your stay unforgettable and greatly appreciate gratuities. This is especially true for your Room Host and Main Dining Room (MDR) Serving Team—the cast members you see every day who take the time to know you by name.
At the time of booking, you have the option to select “prepay gratuities.” This is the most popular choice and automatically charges your stateroom a set amount per day for your service team. This amount is typically around $15–18 per day (per occupant) and is divided among the Room Host, Head Server, Server, and Beverage Server.
On the last day of the cruise, you’ll receive envelopes in your stateroom labeled with each of these positions, along with certificates showing the total tip amounts allocated. These payments are applied directly to their paychecks. Of course, you can always add additional gratuities by either:
- Visiting Guest Services to have the extra amount charged to your account, or
- Adding a cash tip to the envelope.
We personally prefer to add additional cash tips to show our appreciation.
It’s important to note that the prepaid gratuities only cover these specific service roles. For alcoholic or specialty drinks at the bars or restaurants, an 18% gratuity is automatically applied to your bill. The same applies to meals at Palo or Remy.
Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our company…
Since we’re never in a hurry to leave the ship, we decided to enjoy one last meal with our dining team. The Main Dining Room (MDR) where you had dinner on the last night of the cruise is also your designated disembarkation breakfast location. For us, this meant a return to Enchanted Garden.
The breakfast menu was light but satisfying, and I couldn’t resist my favorite: brioche French toast paired with fried eggs.
We spent some time chatting with the servers, as the restaurant was only about a third full while many other guests opted to either dine at Cabanas or take the express walk-off option.
During our conversation, we found out from Ida that he will be transferring to the Disney Treasure after this upcoming sailing. We knew from our last cruise with him that he was hoping for this opportunity, so we were very excited to hear the good news. With our two favorite servers now heading to the Treasure, we’ll definitely be looking to book a sailing on that ship soon!
When our group was finally called, it was time for some heartfelt hugs and goodbyes before we joined the line to disembark the ship.
Disembarkation
I will say this was one of the more unorganized disembarkations we’ve experienced. As we made our way into the Atrium, there seemed to be lines forming from all different directions without much structure. If you’ve ever been to the parks, you’re familiar with long, orderly queues—this was anything but.
It felt like they began calling groups before the express walk-off passengers had cleared, causing everyone to conglomerate together. Another issue seemed to stem from how luggage groups were called. In the past, one group was called at a time, allowing each to clear out before the next was announced. This time, it felt like all groups were called simultaneously, creating a mass of confusion in the Atrium.
The typical logjam that used to occur in the terminal—after collecting luggage and waiting for customs agents to check passports—was noticeably reduced, thanks to the new facial recognition scanners recently installed at Port Canaveral. That aspect of the process was greatly streamlined.
Despite the initial chaos, we found a spot to merge into the line and followed the flow until we made it off the ship. Once in the terminal, it was a breeze to locate our bags, and we only waited a few minutes to get our faces scanned.
All in all, it took about 30 minutes from the time our group was called to when we reached our car. With light traffic, we were home by 10:30 a.m. My wife is happy to be back—and even happier to eat without me needing to take a picture first!
Scott—if you want to make it up to her, she wears a size 7-night Eastern!
Now that we’re home, it’s time to start planning our next adventure at sea!
Thank you for following along on our Disney Fantasy sailing. I hope you enjoyed the journey and learned a little more about what Disney Cruise Line has to offer.