All About Your Advance Booking Window on a Disney Cruise
One of the benefits of going on a Disney Cruise is access to world class entertainment, character meet and greets, and dining options for no additional charge. However, for those guests interested in adding even more fun to their itinerary, Disney Cruise Line offers a wide array of port adventures, onboard activities, unique dining experiences, and more for an additional fee. Reservations for the more popular options, such as renting a Cabana on Castaway Cay, or having dinner in Palo, will fill up quickly. For that reason, it’s important to understand how the advance booking windows work on a Disney Cruise.
Castaway Club Membership
Booking windows are determined by your Castaway Club membership level. The Castaway Club is a loyalty program that you will automatically become a member of after just one sailing! It’s a completely free program with exclusive benefits ranging from early booking windows, early online check in dates, and welcome back aboard gifts. The different Castaway Club membership levels are listed below:
Silver Member: After completing 1 sailing
Gold Member: After completing 5 sailings
Platinum Member: After completing 10 sailings
Pearl Member: After completing 25 sailings
Advanced Booking Windows
Now that you’re more familiar with the Castaway Club, the next step is understanding how your membership impacts your booking window. Based on the number of Disney Cruises you’ve taken, determine your Castaway Club Membership level (if applicable) and the associated booking window below. It is also important to note that you must pay for your cruise in full before you are able to make any reservations.
First-Time Guests: 75 days prior to sail date
Silver Castaway Club Member: 90 days prior to sail date
Gold Castaway Club Member: 105 days prior to sail date
Platinum Castaway Club Member: 120 days prior to sail date
Pearl Castaway Club Member: 123 days prior to sail date
Concierge Guests: 130 days prior to sail date by contacting the Shoreside Concierge Associate team. Concierge Guests are able to make online reservations 123 days prior to sail date
Your booking window will open as of 12AM on the applicable day, and if you are very interested in booking a particular reservation, I highly recommend trying to do so as soon as possible. My family and I just recently returned from our first Disney Cruise, so we fell into the 75 days prior to sail date booking window. I wasn’t too interested in booking anything additional since this was our first cruise and our little ones are quite young. However, out of curiosity, I did login right when the window opened and many of the options were already sold out; including the Cabanas at Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique/Pirates League and the Virtual Sports Simulator at Goofy’s Sports Deck. There still appeared to be a number of reservations available for the different Beverage Tasting Seminars, the Royal Court Tea Party and the Spa to name a few.
I also just want to briefly mention here, as we’ll do a separate post on the youth clubs and activities, but if you have a tiny cruiser that you are interested in bringing to the It’s a Small World Nursery during your trip, that is the only youth Club that currently requires a reservation because space is so limited. The other clubs allow you to pre-register your children prior to embarkation, but reservations aren’t required.
Final Thoughts
Disney Cruise Line offers guests the option of booking some truly wonderful experiences at an additional cost. I can see the appeal in many of the different options and am excited to try some of them myself on future trips. However, don’t worry if you’re unable to make any reservations prior to sailing. One of the many selling features of choosing a Disney Cruise, is all of the food, shows, and other entertainment that is already included in the cost of your trip. Your family will still have a magical time, of that I am certain! If you are interested in reservations, be sure to pay close attention to key dates for your booking window.