I have been on 6 Disney cruises and I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve made myself a packing list! I figured a Disney Cruise Line packing list would be beneficial for my future cruises and hopefully help you when preparing for your own cruise.
Click here to download and print your own copy. You can also find my recommended items list for Disney Cruises here on Amazon.
This packing list is for the Disney Cruise Line’s Bahamas and Caribbean destination with visits to Castaway Cay. While the list is pretty self-explanatory, there are some things I want to expand on.
The Essentials
- Seasickness is very common and I feel it most during hurricane season. Sea bands and Dramamine have worked well for me however people have told me that the motion sickness patches work the best for them. I recommend bringing all of them especially if you’re new to cruising.
- The Key to the World card is your key to everything! It opens your stateroom door, use for purchases, to get off and on the ship, to check out your kids from the kids club and tells you your dining rotation/table. Basically, you want to keep it on you at all times! And because we need to access it so often we always wear ours on a lanyard. If you are sailing on a repeat cruise, you will receive a colored lanyard depending on your Castaway Club status at check-in. But if you are going on your first Disney Cruise or you’re just not a fan of the provided lanyard, you can always bring your own. If you are a Disney Vacation Club member, you can visit the kiosk at the terminal for a special DVC lanyard.
To Carry On
- Staterooms are not avaliable until 1:30 pm therefore you should keep items that you need immediate access to with you.
- Alcohol is required to be in your carry on. This is the current policy for bringing alcohol on board “Disney Cruise Line Guests 21 years and older may bring a maximum of 2 bottles of unopened wine or champagne (no larger than 750 ml) or 6 beers (no larger than 12 ounces) on board at the beginning of the voyage and at each port of call”. Polices can change so always make sure to double check online before cruising.
Clothing
- Dining attire is cruise casual in all 3 main dining restaurants. However, there is usually one formal night and pirate night! Also if you are planning to visit the adult-only dining, there is a more formal dress code for Remy and Palo.
- Palo – dress pants or slacks and a collared shirt for men; for women, a dress, skirt or pants and a blouse is requested.
- Remy – For men, a jacket (sports, suit or tuxedo) is required, with a collared shirt, dress pants/slacks, and dress shoes; ties are optional. For women, a cocktail dress, evening dress, pantsuit or skirt, and blouse are required. Brunch is a little more casual, I have seen men without jackets at brunch.
- Pirate Night – we enjoy dressing up for Pirate Night and taking pictures with all the characters in their pirate costumes. I find everything for Pirate Night on Amazon.
For Little Ones
- Disney Cruise Line provides diaper genies and pack & plays for little ones in the staterooms. In the dining rooms, there are high chairs, boosters, and cute Mickey shaped plastic plates.
Extras
- Magnet hooks – the walls of the staterooms are magnetic so we like to bring hooks to maximize wall space for bags, lanyards, hats, etc.
- Collapsible hamper – Disney Cruise Line is one of the few cruises that have laundrymats for guest to do their own laundry. There are detergent and fabric softer available for purchase but we like to save money and bring our own detergent pods.
- Autograph books – You can find cruise themed autograph books onboard in the gift shops. For our most recent cruise, I decided to do something different and made a photo book using past cruise character pictures for the characters to sign. The boys and the characters loved the book!
- Fish Extenders – Fish Extender is a fun activity to spread pixie dust in the form of little gifts or crafts to other guests. You can join a Fish Extender group on FaceBook by searching for your cruise sail date. Once in the group, you will be placed in different Fish Extenders groups with about 5-6 different staterooms. Guest will have Fish Extenders on their doors where you can drop off their gifts. We have not participated in one yet but hope to do one soon.
- Generic popcorn bucket – Bring a recent generic popcorn bucket from a recent park visit to save money and get refills for $1.50.
- Clear cardholder – the lanyards come with a clear holder already but we prefer slimmer ones that fit the cards better. You can also put multiple holders on the lanyard for your license or DVC card.
I hope this packing list has been helpful in preparing for your own Disney Cruise vacation. Feel free to comment below with anything you feel I may have missed!
4 Comments
Sara and Jeff
September 2, 2019 at 5:21 pmThis is such an awesome post Tina! Thanks for sharing all the info – the list will be super helpful for when we finally book a cruise!
Sam
August 8, 2019 at 6:47 pmSuch an informative post Tina – one I’ll definitely be referring back to when we book a Disney Cruise 🚢
Esther
August 8, 2019 at 3:31 pmThis is such a great list!! I’ll be following this religiously when ever we book our cruise!
Tina
August 8, 2019 at 4:08 pmAww thank you so much Esther!! Can’t wait for that day!!