What to do the month before you leave for a Disney Cruise + giveaway!

This post has been sponsored by Creative Countdown.  All opinions are entirely my own.

When I was a little over a month away from my last Disney cruise I couldn’t wait – but I knew there was a lot to do. This one was on the Disney Wonder to Alaska. It was our first 7 night Disney Cruise so there’s a lot to keep track of and plan the month before you leave for a Disney cruise. And the more you can do ahead of time, the better.  There are certainly some things that are good to check off your list a month in advance.

I’m also hoping to sail on the Disney Wish next year, so I’ll be planning ahead for that as well!

In order to help me keep track and get some excitement from counting down the days, I got a 30 day countdown calendar from Creative Countdown! It’s customizable which is a big help, because I can add notes to the calendar to remember to do certain things. Plus seeing the pages turn each day just gets me even more excited for our trip! They have a fun cruise design that’s perfect for this vacation!

Since I’m making my own checklist I figured I would share it with you, too! Here’s my list of what to do the month before you leave for a Disney cruise:

Finalize your shore excursions and plans

If you’ve been planning ahead you may have all of your shore excursions planned out, but if you haven’t there are usually plenty of options still available. So if you wanted to do anything at the ports you stop at make sure to take a look at what you can book. Payment doesn’t need to be made until you’re on board, but make sure you have enough in the budget for everything you want to do.

Make sure you have a passport

While it’s not always required for cruising, having a passport is highly recommended. Even if you can get on and off the ship without one, if anything were to happen and you missed the boat or got stuck in another country and didn’t have a passport it could be a huge mess. Make sure you have one and that it won’t expire anytime soon.

Make an itinerary

One of the nice things about a cruise is the fact that you get a Daily Navigator every day with the events happening, and if you don’t want to you don’t have to plan a ton in advance. You do want to keep track of anything you might have booked ahead of time though, so I always create an itinerary. You might want to include your shore excursions, drink tastings, character meet and greets, and anything else you’ve booked. If you’re traveling before or after your trip don’t forget flight information, hotel check in, rental car confirmation, etc.

Complete fish extender gifts

Something that is unique to Disney Cruise Line is fish extender gifts! This is a gift exchange that is organized ahead of time, usually though a facebook group. You’re assigned a group of cabins and drop off little gifts for each person in your group – and of course in return you receive gifts from them. People are very creative – some people hand make everything and other people purchase small items. So if you’re participating in an exchange make sure you finish making/purchasing your gifts and then pack them!

Make items to decorate your stateroom door

Another fun Disney Cruise tradition is to decorate your stateroom door. No tape or anything is allowed, but the doors are metal so you can put magnets on them! Some people just do a few magnets, others go all out. You can buy magnets or make them. If you’re planning to take part in this now is a great time to put a few things together!

Create a packing list

I don’t want to forget anything, so it’s really important to me to have a packing list planned ahead of time! I have my go-to cruise packing list, but I think I may have to create a separate packing list for an Alaska cruise. They weather there is very different from your tropical vacations.

Pack things you might not normally bring on vacation

There are a number of things that you might not normally bring on vacation, but you probably want on a cruise. For example, if you are prone to sea sickness you might want to bring medication, or items for the fish extenders and door decorating mentioned above. Creative Countdown actually has a lot of really fun suggestions that you can add to your countdown calendar – chose a few that they provide to make it easier on yourself!

Gather important documents

Don’t forget all of your important documents. This may include passports, cruise documents that were mailed to you, and luggage tags.

Leave the last week open for last minute prep

There are plenty of other things that need to be done within the last week before you go to Disney, so make sure you get these items done so you don’t have to worry about them last minute!  Then you can move on to what you should be doing the week before you leave.

Are you counting down to a Disney trip?  Help keep yourself organized with a countdown calendar from Creative Countdown!  I’ve also got two 30 day countdowns to give away to two lucky readers – all you have to do to enter is fill out the rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you find this helpful?  Also check out the Disney Cruise Packing List and What to do the week before you leave for a Disney cruise!

Anything that I missed?  What do you do the month before you leave for a Disney cruise?