We are only a couple weeks away from taking our cruise.  All of the paperwork is done and now we’re just waiting to leave.

Cruise Booklet

You will get a booklet similar to the one below.  Take the time to read it carefully.  Everything in the book is relevant to your trip.   

 DCL luggage tags

These little things are truly magical, but be careful when playing with magic.  You want to put them on your bags only before you want them to disappear.  The luggage handlers at Orlando International Airport (MCO) are going to collect any bags with these tags and send them to the cruise ship.  If you aren’t going directly to the cruise ship from the airport, don’t put them on.  If you are staying at a Disney resort, make sure you put them on right before you don’t want to see them until you arrive on board.

 
 Passports 

Do you need passports for the cruise?  The answer depends on where you are going.  Most of the Caribbean doesn’t require them, but on your journey if we did the side trip to Tortuga, Passports are required.  If you want to be safe, get and take your passports.

Travel.State.Gov

The Government has put together a great central resource for traveling abroad.  You might want to do some research on the places you’re visiting and get a general understanding of the countries  you are visiting.  Under the Safety and Security title they discuss crimes to be wary of.  Common sense and a general awareness of your surroundings is typically all you need for Disney destinations, but if you aren’t an experienced traveler…take some time to check out this page.
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program

STEP is a free service from the Department of Stat that registers you with the local embassy in the case of an emergency.  Consider registering especially if you choose to do your own adventures instead of Disney’s Port of Call adventures.

TSA Pre

If you don’t fly much, you might not be interested in this, but we decided to go for it for this trip.  While Dulles International Airport (IAD) tends to be quick to get through security but we are going to return through MCO on the way back gets bogged down a lot.