Boarding takes place in groups (set up at the time of your online check-in), and we arrived at the tail end of our port arrival time of 11:45am. The time between security, documents check/magic band set-up, and waiting in line to be called onto the ship was about 45 minutes.

 We had packed swimwear into our carry-on bags, so after orienting ourselves with the ship a bit we headed to the pool. Even with our relatively early boarding time, most deck chairs were taken. Our main goal was to ride the AquaMouse slide before it became too crowded, and we were able to with just a 10-minute wait. We grabbed quick service lunch at the kiosks of the Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods and relaxed at the pool until we received notification that our room was ready at 1:30pm.

After spending some time unpacking in our stateroom, we took a tour of the senses spa and attended the Spa raffle. We also visited each open house for kids’ clubs. 

(Tip: if you are registering kids for the Oceaneer Club, wait until after the open house period. The line was extremely long, and there’s no need to complete the process until you can drop them off after the open house periods have ended.)

On the first and second day of the cruise the Senses Spa (available to guests ages 18+) staff hosted a raffle giveaway for spa gift certificates. Even if you don’t win, they do give coupons for heavily discounted “manager’s specials” if you can book a treatment on embarkation day. On the first day Senses hosts offer tours of the spa, and you can see the Rainforest Room and decide if it’s worth adding to your trip. 

The first (and only, really) required event on the cruise was the safety orientation. We arrived at our designated check-in point, the Walt Disney Theater, to view the safety video.

That afternoon we continued exploring the ship, took advantage of the spa deal for a massage (______% off if booked on board for departure day), At 4 pm we returned to the 12^th deck for the Sail Away party. A classic show for all ages starring cruise-wear clad Disney characters, this event invites everyone on deck to dance along as the ship sails out of the port. We stayed on deck to see the buildings and ships along the Port Canaveral harbor. 

Disney Cruise line offers rotational dinner dining in its 3 themed restaurants. Depending on the length of the cruise, one of each of three nights will offer that restaurant custom show or experience. On our first night of our four nights, we were scheduled for Arendelle for the later 8:15pm dining. During the two hours at the restaurant, we were served Norway-themed dinner and dessert, met with all the main Frozen characters as they walked through the dining hall, and enjoyed a frozen-themed show, including a violinist and the characters performing creative variations of the songs from the Frozen films. 

After dinner our daughter checked out Vibe while we attended a performance of one of the cruise’s bands in the Luna Lounge.  The Disney Navigator App guided our cruise itinerary from the moment we boarded the ship. We could filter activities, so we would save adults only activities at the same times as our daughter saved activities she wanted to attend in Vibe. I covered a lot of the 18+ offerings in my Grown-ups’ Guide to the Disney Wish blog post.