My Online Check In for the upcoming Dream cruise on 9/13!

[jrbeccles]

So I just completed my Online Check In for the upcoming Dream cruise on 9/13! We had already completed the Safe Passage app on day 32, where you enter you vaccination information (dates, vaccine type etc) and then about 2 days later you get a go/no go. We got a “Go” and a QR code from Safe Passage, and printed that out.  The Safe Passage was quite easy, just have the info in front of you.

Now to the Check In, while it’s was not difficult, it was also not a breeze. The first mistake I made was waiting for what I thought was Day 30 – I was thinking that as soon as my Disney Cruise app said 30 days I could check in – alas no. I had set my alarm for midnight as my app counted day from day 31 towards day 30. When it hit 30, I tried my check in and it wouldn’t work. After about twenty seconds it dawned on me that while the app said 30 days, it also had 23 hours left. Rats – can’t check in till tomorrow midnight!

So the next day, after setting two alarms, I was at the computer at midnight as the app counted down to Day 29. Then I was able to start the Online check-in process.

Staring off is the Guest Info section. First snag was Disney Cruise Line still wanted to use my old address from five years ago, although I’ve entered and edited my new address many times, and had three DCL cruises from the new address. Go figure. Then you had to post a picture of yourself. I had already taken a headshot picture of myself and one of the DW. Of course the Check-In didn’t like either of them for some reason, so I retook a selfie of myself and cropped it and it worked. The DW was sound asleep, so I cropped her picture and the app STILL didn’t like it, but has accepted it “upon review”. Then you had to enter the passport info. I had scanned both passports in anticipation, but guess what – the app won’t take a scan, it has to be a picture. So I took pictures of both and entered them and that worked. I entered phone number, emergency contact info etc. etc., and hit Save. Well it bounced as the app didn’t like the country code. I had entered “01”, but no - it insisted on just “1”. So I hit save again, and it bounced again. The app would let me manually enter the expiration date of my passport, which I had done. You had to use there little calendar to do so. So I went back and did that. Finally that worked. So that whole Guest Information process took at least 30 minutes.

Next was Onboard account. This should be easy right? No – as when I opened this section up the area for credit card info was not working and the buffering circle just went round and round for literally a minute. So I hit the back arrow, praying I won’t have to start the whole process from scratch. But luckily it went back to Onboard Account and when I opened it up finally the credit card info showed up. After that 2 minutes and done.

Third section was Travel Plans – 30 seconds max

Fourth section was Port Arrival time. We are the kind of cruisers that like to arrive at dawn, but everything I had seen so far showed the earliest port arrival time as around 1pm-ish, with many folks getting 3pm port arrival times. So when I clicked on the button I was super happy to see there was an 11:15 to 11:30 arrival time open. This had to be because I was doing this at midnight as the clock turned to 30 days. So lucky me – I hit save!

Last section was Cruise Contract – and to be perfectly honest I don’t read all 30 pages of it. I go right to the bottom and hit accept, then Save.

Yeah it’s done – the Port Arrival form is ready to print (I did three copies)

So my advice is take multiple selfies so you can find one the app likes, take pictures, not scans of your passports, and set the alarms and start at midnight if you want an early arrival time!!

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, jrbeccles said:

So my advice is take multiple selfies so you can find one the app likes, take pictures, not scans of your passports,

Do you have to do the check in on your phone?   Or can it still be on on an actual computer?

[jrbeccles]

14 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Do you have to do the check in on your phone?   Or can it still be on on an actual computer?

Shmoo - I used the computer as i feel more comfortable on it, but that's what made it a pain retaking pictures. I had to snap the pics and then email them to me so i could get them on my computer. However my DW would have used her phone for the whole process and finished in half the time it took me. 

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, jrbeccles said:

Shmoo - I used the computer as i feel more comfortable on it, but that's what made it a pain retaking pictures. I had to snap the pics and then email them to me so i could get them on my computer. However my DW would have used her phone for the whole process and finished in half the time it took me. 

I get it, I prefer using my computer over phone, also.

 

I'd probably take all the pictures on my phone and then download them to my computer to be used during check in, instead of emailing them to myself.

[estrawn]

jrbeccles Thanks for the great info on the newly complicated check-in process.  I'm sailing on Dream the day you get back so have a blast but leave some ship for me 🤣

[Klacruiser]

I will be sailing when you get back, I was thinking I should wait up till midnight to sign in, you have confirmed this as I want to get on early as well.  Thanks for all the tips.

[jrbeccles]

21 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I get it, I prefer using my computer over phone, also.

 

I'd probably take all the pictures on my phone and then download them to my computer to be used during check in, instead of emailing them to myself.

Shmoo - I did have all the pics downloaded on my computer. The problem was the Check In did NOT like them! Rejects. So I had to retake my picture using my phone, email that to me and it worked. Same with the passports. The Check In will not accept PDF files, only JPEGs. 

[ArthurUSCG]

19 minutes ago, jrbeccles said:

Shmoo - I did have all the pics downloaded on my computer. The problem was the Check In did NOT like them! Rejects. So I had to retake my picture using my phone, email that to me and it worked. Same with the passports. The Check In will not accept PDF files, only JPEGs. 

Next time open the PDF, click save as, then "save as type" and select JPEG

[estrawn]

I did my online check-in on Tuesday and got the email that I'm successfully checked in, here's your permission to board document (or whatever they call it).  Print it out and ready to go.  One thing I noticed is that the website says that my photos are still under review.  How long does the review take and is it really anything to be concerned about since they already sent me my boarding pass?

[Nymich]

 

On 8/14/2021 at 5:14 PM, jrbeccles said:

So I just completed my Online Check In for the upcoming Dream cruise on 9/13! We had already completed the Safe Passage app on day 32, where you enter you vaccination information (dates, vaccine type etc) and then about 2 days later you get a go/no go. We got a “Go” and a QR code from Safe Passage, and printed that out.  The Safe Passage was quite easy, just have the info in front of you.

Now to the Check In, while it’s was not difficult, it was also not a breeze. The first mistake I made was waiting for what I thought was Day 30 – I was thinking that as soon as my Disney Cruise app said 30 days I could check in – alas no. I had set my alarm for midnight as my app counted day from day 31 towards day 30. When it hit 30, I tried my check in and it wouldn’t work. After about twenty seconds it dawned on me that while the app said 30 days, it also had 23 hours left. Rats – can’t check in till tomorrow midnight!

So the next day, after setting two alarms, I was at the computer at midnight as the app counted down to Day 29. Then I was able to start the Online check-in process.

Staring off is the Guest Info section. First snag was Disney Cruise Line still wanted to use my old address from five years ago, although I’ve entered and edited my new address many times, and had three DCL cruises from the new address. Go figure. Then you had to post a picture of yourself. I had already taken a headshot picture of myself and one of the DW. Of course the Check-In didn’t like either of them for some reason, so I retook a selfie of myself and cropped it and it worked. The DW was sound asleep, so I cropped her picture and the app STILL didn’t like it, but has accepted it “upon review”. Then you had to enter the passport info. I had scanned both passports in anticipation, but guess what – the app won’t take a scan, it has to be a picture. So I took pictures of both and entered them and that worked. I entered phone number, emergency contact info etc. etc., and hit Save. Well it bounced as the app didn’t like the country code. I had entered “01”, but no - it insisted on just “1”. So I hit save again, and it bounced again. The app would let me manually enter the expiration date of my passport, which I had done. You had to use there little calendar to do so. So I went back and did that. Finally that worked. So that whole Guest Information process took at least 30 minutes.

Next was Onboard account. This should be easy right? No – as when I opened this section up the area for credit card info was not working and the buffering circle just went round and round for literally a minute. So I hit the back arrow, praying I won’t have to start the whole process from scratch. But luckily it went back to Onboard Account and when I opened it up finally the credit card info showed up. After that 2 minutes and done.

Third section was Travel Plans – 30 seconds max

Fourth section was Port Arrival time. We are the kind of cruisers that like to arrive at dawn, but everything I had seen so far showed the earliest port arrival time as around 1pm-ish, with many folks getting 3pm port arrival times. So when I clicked on the button I was super happy to see there was an 11:15 to 11:30 arrival time open. This had to be because I was doing this at midnight as the clock turned to 30 days. So lucky me – I hit save!

Last section was Cruise Contract – and to be perfectly honest I don’t read all 30 pages of it. I go right to the bottom and hit accept, then Save.

Yeah it’s done – the Port Arrival form is ready to print (I did three copies)

So my advice is take multiple selfies so you can find one the app likes, take pictures, not scans of your passports, and set the alarms and start at midnight if you want an early arrival time!!

So no covid test needed before or at the port if vaccinated?

 

Thanks for taking the time putting this together and helping people ....including me!

Edited August 24, 2021 by Nymich

[jrbeccles]

6 hours ago, Nymich said:

 

So no covid test needed before or at the port if vaccinated?

 

Thanks for taking the time putting this together and helping people ....including me!

Correct as of this minute. However it could change - who knows! DCL will have to strike some deal with the Bahamas and what the entails who knows. (I wish I did as my Dream sailing is 9/13 to Nassau and Castaway Cay, both currently banned by the Bahama government. )

[estrawn]

10 hours ago, jrbeccles said:

Correct as of this minute. However it could change - who knows! DCL will have to strike some deal with the Bahamas and what the entails who knows. (I wish I did as my Dream sailing is 9/13 to Nassau and Castaway Cay, both currently banned by the Bahama government. )

Apparently the deal they struck with the Bahamas is that EVERYONE onboard will be vaccinated.  They are giving refunds to anyone who isn't or doesn't want to be

[Shmoo here]

3 hours ago, estrawn said:

Apparently the deal they struck with the Bahamas is that EVERYONE onboard will be vaccinated.  They are giving refunds to anyone who isn't or doesn't want to be

Not EVERYONE.  Only those 12 and older must be fully vaccinated.

[jrbeccles]

I’m happy with the decision for a fully vaccinated cruise. The only thing I’ve had to do is download a picture of the vaccine card to the SafePassage portal. Took just a minute. 
Now just counting down the days! ( I wonder what fuss there will be for the Wish cruise I’ve booked for next year- hopefully way smoother than this one!)

[ArthurUSCG]

16 hours ago, estrawn said:

Apparently the deal they struck with the Bahamas is that EVERYONE onboard will be vaccinated.  They are giving refunds to anyone who isn't or doesn't want to be

 

Just to clarify, the vaccine requirement for 12+ with some medical exceptions, is a Bahamas  requirement for all cruise lines. 

[breenw]

We aren't sailing until November 8th and the requirements have changed.  I'm on hold right now wanting clarification with Disney on the 3 day to 24 hours prior to sailing date Covid testing on top of the one at the terminal.  They had a lengthy recording that outlined requirements for sailing after November 1st that totally differ from their requirements listed on their website.   GGGrrrrrr!!!!!   

 

The recording says everyone over 12 has to be vaccinated and carry trip insurance.  It also states you have to pay for the covid test that Disney insists on at the terminal upon embarkation.  The website says everyone over 12 has to be vaccinated, no mention of trip insurance, and says guests have to pay $65 each for the testing at the terminal upon embarkation.  

 

The 3 day to 24 hour prior to sailing date for a pre-trip covid test is quite confusing.  If it means 24 hours prior to the sailing date which is on a Monday, does that mean it has to be in by midnight of Saturday or can it be anytime on Sunday?  And if you have to take it no earlier than 3 days prior to sailing date, then most test sites require 2-3 days for the results to come back for a PCR test.  So add that wait time to the 24 hour deadline to upload your test results to Disney's 'safe passage' website, that makes it next to impossible to meet that deadline requirement.  Is anyone else understanding this differently????

[Motterman]

On 9/6/2021 at 11:31 AM, breenw said:

We aren't sailing until November 8th and the requirements have changed.  I'm on hold right now wanting clarification with Disney on the 3 day to 24 hours prior to sailing date Covid testing on top of the one at the terminal.  They had a lengthy recording that outlined requirements for sailing after November 1st that totally differ from their requirements listed on their website.   GGGrrrrrr!!!!!   

 

The recording says everyone over 12 has to be vaccinated and carry trip insurance.  It also states you have to pay for the covid test that Disney insists on at the terminal upon embarkation.  The website says everyone over 12 has to be vaccinated, no mention of trip insurance, and says guests have to pay $65 each for the testing at the terminal upon embarkation.  

 

The 3 day to 24 hour prior to sailing date for a pre-trip covid test is quite confusing.  If it means 24 hours prior to the sailing date which is on a Monday, does that mean it has to be in by midnight of Saturday or can it be anytime on Sunday?  And if you have to take it no earlier than 3 days prior to sailing date, then most test sites require 2-3 days for the results to come back for a PCR test.  So add that wait time to the 24 hour deadline to upload your test results to Disney's 'safe passage' website, that makes it next to impossible to meet that deadline requirement.  Is anyone else understanding this differently????

Same cruise here. Dream leaving on Nov 8th. We are local in Orlando and are planning on getting a PCR test for our 7 year old at a local CVS on Friday. Assuming it gets sent in and test results are within 1-2 days, that gives us Monday morning to get the results and upload to the site. We may also get some home test kits to take on Sunday. That said, I didn't realize that everybody had to pay for the test at the embarkation point. Please share the latest live info from a real person when you get it. We may contact our travel person to verify on our end as well and can share what we find out. (of course, things are always changing, etc.)

[Nymich]

After the latest with the testing timing for the Bahamas Visa my guess is this is why they are cutting fares.  This is a royal PITA jmo.

Everyone has to judge for themselves how many hoops they are willing to jump through. This is one we aren't jumping through.

 

[jrbeccles]

OK its Monday 6am and we are heading out at 9ish to drive to Port Canaveral to board the Dream. Just completed the Health Questionnaire which came via email. We took a rapid Covid test Saturday at Walgreens just to make sure we were in the clear and test was negative. I'm dreading the test at the port, as its the first time there are going to swab and get results for about 1600 passengers.  Its more than likely to be somewhat chaotic, but I will drive there in hope that its not. Knowing my luck DCL will have changed the rules again and want a brain scan and cavity search. 

Oh well I'm moaning now, but once this whole test thing is over and we are on board, I know all will be well!! Low capacity and two days at Castaway - how can you beat it? 

I'll write a report when I get back

[Nymich]

4 hours ago, jrbeccles said:

OK its Monday 6am and we are heading out at 9ish to drive to Port Canaveral to board the Dream. Just completed the Health Questionnaire which came via email. We took a rapid Covid test Saturday at Walgreens just to make sure we were in the clear and test was negative. I'm dreading the test at the port, as its the first time there are going to swab and get results for about 1600 passengers.  Its more than likely to be somewhat chaotic, but I will drive there in hope that its not. Knowing my luck DCL will have changed the rules again and want a brain scan and cavity search. 

Oh well I'm moaning now, but once this whole test thing is over and we are on board, I know all will be well!! Low capacity and two days at Castaway - how can you beat it? 

I'll write a report when I get back

Thanks for the report!  Did you need a bahamas health visa for this cruise?

[jrbeccles]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:06 AM, Nymich said:

Thanks for the report!  Did you need a bahamas health visa for this cruise?

No nothing was required at Castaway Cay

[jrbeccles]

I just got back from a fantastic 4 day on the Dream. My cruise was the first to require all passengers get the rapid Covid test (it’s free). So an update on boarding the Dream, and then I’ll pipe down until next year when getting ready for the Wish in September!

We arrived at the dock at 11.15, which was our exact port arrival time. Maybe three cars in front of us. Luggage drop off was easy and then paid to get in the garage ($85 for 4 night). Then it slowed down. There was about 20 cars in front of us queuing to get into the parking garage, and we guessed correctly that it was because they were giving the rapid test before you could park. So it took about 15 minutes to get to the testing site. They first give you a vial and a label to fill out to put on the vial (don’t open the vial as it’s full of liquid) Then they direct you to park in a slot and someone comes by and scans your labels and walks you thru the self-test (not so bad actually) and they take the vials to be tested. Then you can find a place to park for the cruise, and wait for the results ether by logging onto the Safe Passage app, or they send you an email. Now the snag is it took and 65 minutes to get the results, and it’s the LONGEST 65 minutes of your life. However once you get the ok, then lock up the car and it’s the normal walk from the parking garage over to the terminal, clear security, check in and then into the very deserted terminal and onto the ship.

The four day cruise was just wonderful – crew the best, Beauty and the Beast so good I saw it twice, as we also did with the fireworks. Ship in perfect condition and spotless. There were no crowds for anything due to low capacity. If I had the spare cash I’d take advantage and book a Florida resident cruise in October, but coffers are bare.

The cruise is definitely worth the hassle the all the Covid stuff, and no one abused the mask policy that I saw. Enjoy!!!