What I would do/not do next cruise

[ros]

I had a wonderful cruise but I would skip the Palo tea. They don't take the tea leaves out of the pot so the tea becomes bitter, the sandwiches are mediocre at best and the treats are the same as you would receive in other parts of the ship.

I would go to sit down breakfasts and I really enjoyed the last breakfast at Animator's Palate. It was a very relaxing way to ease into debarkation.

 

[Cruella 66]

Just back...now a 2 time veteran. Here's some of my list:

Do again:
-magnets on the door
-Palo
-ear plugs
-imbibe in all the family and adult entertainment (LOVED Don Friesen and Ron Pearson!)
-bring lots of 1's
-stay overnight in Port C.
-loved my over the door organizer


Will try:
-the spa!
-an adult beverage tasting opportunity
-the later dinner seating
-Ski-dos or kayaking at Castaway Cay!
-talking to people more (I tend to be quiet)

Will NOT:
-over pack! (too many shoes and 'nice' clothes!)
-get off at Nassau
-get off at Key West
-do the Castaway Boat Tour
-over pack
-buy Travelers Checks
-not pack PANTS in December! (DUH on my part)
-buy art or jewelry!

 

[Loriekins]

Love this thread!!! We will be on our second Magic Cruise in 3 weeks!!!

Here's a few things we plan to do again:

Relax as much as possible
Get room service in the morning & a late afternoon snack after returning from Ports.
Get off the ship as early as we can on port days, especially CC.
Second seating for dinning, even though we don't eat that late at home. It worked out perfect.
Relax as a family at the Promenade Lounge with a drink (smoothie for DS) before dinner.
Eat Lunch on Embarkment Day at Parrot Cay then scope out the ship.
Shuffle board on Deck 4 on Embarkment day (no crowd).
Don't push son to do clubs. He had a blast hanging out on the Basketball board court.
Go to the character breakfast. Even though the characters are at your table for a few seconds, had fun watching them go around to everyone.
Go to the Captain Pin Trading
Book another cruise on board
Hang out on Deck 10
Sneak into the Adult Hot tub again

Here's a few things I won't do again:
Bring so much other things. Didn't use the over the door organizer at all. Put everything in the top drawer by the closet & it worked out great.
Go to the shopping thing telling you were to go at the ports. Wasted a hour of my vacation.

Here's somethings we want to do for the first time on our next cruise:
Go to a show & a movie
Go to more things at the lounges/clubs
Go to Deck 7 private deck
Go to the late buffet & pirate buffet

 

[dizzi]

WILL DO:

• pay more attention to the Navigator. We were on our first cruise last March and were so overwhelmed with the myriad of things to do we probably missed out on a bunch of cool experiences
• relax more. I'm looking forward to to the EC cruise and the extra sea day

As a disclaimer, we have no kids. I saw mostly people with kids post prior, which is great since that is the largest client base, but for those out there cruising without, here are my lists:

Things I Would Do Again:
-Trade a lackluster port for a nearly empty ship
-Swim in Quiet Cove Pool/Spa more
-Skip lunch in the dining rooms and wait for 1:30 when our stateroom was ready to order room service! Great way to settle in.
-Book our next cruise onboard

QUOTE]

Will do: Order coffee from room service..
Every night we ordered coffee, in a pre-heated carafe, and every morning we had hot coffee to enjoy while still in bed.
Walk Deck 4 (on The Wonder) 3 times around the ship is 1 mile. Nice enjoyable exercise, no crowds, great scenery.
Get to know the CMs at Guest Services. The DO remember you and they make magic happen.

Will not do: See Toy Story The Musical..
Didn't enjoy it the first time, enjoyed it even less the second time.

Will probably not do: Character Breakfast...
It is a mad rush, between the food and the 5-second picture op with characters. Much better in the parks.

Won't do again:
*Breakfast in the dining room on last day. Next time, we will go to Topsiders on the last morning.

Been awhile but a great read again this morning on the treadmill.
One day (before my cruise) i will get to the end of this thread and combine all the great things i have learned and want to remember.

Thanks ALL!!!

Think i stopped on page 7 today!!

 

[Inspired26]

Completely enjoying this thread and making pointers for our upcoming March cruise on the Wonder. Anyone recently off the MR cruise that has some more suggestions??

 

[dizzi]

We get to try out our *Will Do's* vs *Won't Do's* on our Nov 2012 Fantasy Cruise

*Will Do*
-The Midship Detective...was a lot of fun for our DDs and we had a nice time looking at the art.
-The FE...the right way. I was a bit "out of the loop" the last time and didn't understand the whole process.
-WDW (Hopefully if DH goes along with my wishes! ) along with cruise...this time will be AFTER the cruise to avoid Veterans Day at the parks.
-See one of the shows! We missed them on our last cruise!
-Pirate Night! We got there at the tail end of the celebration last cruise, but plan to "Party like a Pirate" all night on our next one!

*Won't Do*
-Stingray Excursion on Nassau...once is plenty, thank you
-NOT get off the boat when blessed with an extra day at Castaway Cay! My DDs and DH did NOT want to go back to island for our second day at CC that the captain surprised us with...WHAT??!! We did have fun exploring the ship on what was supposed to be our sea day, but c'mon guys...It's like a free Double Dip!
-Travel with friends...that's all I gotta say about that!

I enjoyed reading everyone else's tips, too! Thanks!

Oh great! We are traveling for the first time with friends and it is already causing me stress. How do you politely tell them that we don't need to spend 24/7 together? LOL (she actually told me that she hopes my husband "doesn't feel like a third wheel" as her husband won't do anything with her. )

And not to hijack thread, I want to add my to do and not to dos:

To do:
Spend more time on deck 4 relaxing in those comfy chairs!
Spend as much time as possible on Castaway Cay.
Dress up for formal night and Pirate night.

Not to do:
I will not stress about every little detail (yeah, right)
Not overpack.

Lisa

I had a wonderful cruise but I would skip the Palo tea. They don't take the tea leaves out of the pot so the tea becomes bitter, the sandwiches are mediocre at best and the treats are the same as you would receive in other parts of the ship.

I would go to sit down breakfasts and I really enjoyed the last breakfast at Animator's Palate. It was a very relaxing way to ease into debarkation.

Love this thread!!! We will be on our second Magic Cruise in 3 weeks!!!

Here's a few things we plan to do again:

Relax as much as possible
Get room service in the morning & a late afternoon snack after returning from Ports.
Get off the ship as early as we can on port days, especially CC.
Second seating for dinning, even though we don't eat that late at home. It worked out perfect.
Relax as a family at the Promenade Lounge with a drink (smoothie for DS) before dinner.
Eat Lunch on Embarkment Day at Parrot Cay then scope out the ship.
Shuffle board on Deck 4 on Embarkment day (no crowd).
Don't push son to do clubs. He had a blast hanging out on the Basketball board court.
Go to the character breakfast. Even though the characters are at your table for a few seconds, had fun watching them go around to everyone.
Go to the Captain Pin Trading
Book another cruise on board
Hang out on Deck 10
Sneak into the Adult Hot tub again

Here's a few things I won't do again:
Bring so much other things. Didn't use the over the door organizer at all. Put everything in the top drawer by the closet & it worked out great.
Go to the shopping thing telling you were to go at the ports. Wasted a hour of my vacation.

Here's somethings we want to do for the first time on our next cruise:
Go to a show & a movie
Go to more things at the lounges/clubs
Go to Deck 7 private deck
Go to the late buffet & pirate buffet

Completely enjoying this thread and making pointers for our upcoming March cruise on the Wonder. Anyone recently off the MR cruise that has some more suggestions??

Great read again... will fix when off tread mill

 

[dizzi]

Thankyou for all THE great thoughts and tips.
We are getting ready to do our 5th DCL cruise with NO KIDS YEAH
And even though it is the same Ship our cruise has never been the same or boring.

*THINGS I LEARNED FROM THIS THREAD THAT I WANT TO DO*Lunch at a SITDOWN Restaurant (i always forget)
*GO to Deck 4 for PIRATE PARTY Fireworks
*Get Room Service for Breakfast
*Possibly Life Stye Portraits
*Sunrise on Deck or Verandah
*Til we Meet Again PArty (always forget this too)
*order coffee at night for next morning
*Mickey Scavenger Hunt
*BLTs from Room Service (who knew)
*Deck 7 Secret Deck/Verandah
*Windex Wipes for Door
*Use Navigator More
*Relax More
*BOOK NEXT CRUISE ON BOARD!!!
*See A Show(any i have not seen)



*THINGS I WONT DO AGAIN
*Probablly FE,
*OVER PACK
*OVER EAT
*Snorkle at CC (maybe only once more since DH has not done it)
*rent a cabana at CC

*THINGS WE WILL DO DIFFERENT THIS TIME
*Dress in a Ball Gown for Formal Night
*Not book so many excursions
*Get on waiting list for a 2nd Palo Tea

And now my .02
on Sailing/Vacationing with friends....We are sailing with an acquaintance someone we met on the last cruise and i think we can come up with a good balance of things to do together and know we have to do things apart.
We also vacation ALOT with a single friend of mine, and at first we felt obligated to do everything she wanted to do and then we had a powwow and we dont do everything together, she goes and does her own thing often as well as we do. And things work out great!!

ON Tea at PALO
MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE of all Palo's
Here is why, it doesnt take forever, I am not tired before i get there, i am not tired when i leave, i am not stuffed when i leave, i have not felt any pressure to eat or try things that i dont want, for the most part i have worn casula clothes, it isnt crowded, i have to eat lunch anyway, why not be served in a NON CHILDREN SCREAMING PLACE with a GREAT VIEW!!
Also, you can ask for a new Cup for your tea anytime you would like, I think if you use the difusser properly, you should not have tea leaves in your tea.
Although i am bad at using them and always end up with tea leaves in my tea..But i just get a new Cup.

 

[malacajo]

Sorry, I have no answers, just a question since we are going on our first cruise (Fantasy) in Sept...I was wondering why so many of you said that you would change your dining ressies to the late seating instead of first seating??? Our TA advised us to sign up for early seating when I booked-she said it's always easy to change to late...Why late? Just wondering! I am reading all of these posts and feel like I need to take notes!

 

[Lanie]

Will do:
- Dry-cleaning/pressing on the ship, definately money well spent!
- Palo dinner (those lobster raviolis were TDF!! )
- Bring a lot of summer dresses, that's all I wore!
- Bring more shoes
- Get the treats at Cove Cafe, soooooo yummy!
- Take it easy! Whether it is on a sun chain on deck 10 or a lounger on deck 4


Will not do:
- Palo brunch - I'm a breakfast girl, this was more lunch. We also did Palo the night before so I think it was too much rich food in too little time!
- Spend so much money! Well, we'll try anyway!


Will try for the first time:
- Cruising with a toddler! We were 2 adults on our only other cruise in 2009.
- Palo tea

 

[dizzi]

Sorry, I have no answers, just a question since we are going on our first cruise (Fantasy) in Sept...I was wondering why so many of you said that you would change your dining ressies to the late seating instead of first seating??? Our TA advised us to sign up for early seating when I booked-she said it's always easy to change to late...Why late? Just wondering! I am reading all of these posts and feel like I need to take notes!

it gives u more uninterupted time before dinner.

especially if in a port or doing an excursion

 

[kreedham]

it gives u more uninterupted time before dinner.

especially if in a port or doing an excursion

I used to prefer late seating but my wife can't eat too late so we do early. I've become used to it and now it doesn't matter! Try one and the next cruise try the other...then just pick for the future!

 

[Susiesark]

I used to prefer late seating but my wife can't eat too late so we do early. I've become used to it and now it doesn't matter! Try one and the next cruise try the other...then just pick for the future!

Our first cruise we had late seating (8:15 on the Wonder). We liked it because we usually eat later than earlier, and we didn't have to rush to get ready for dinner, and I could relax after eating instead of running off to a show with a full stomach. Second cruise we also had late seating, but we found that our dinner was arriving between 9:30-10:00 pm (one night it came at 10:15) which was SO late for us. We still had to eat and get our DD from the club. Next cruise we are scheduled to eat earlier (6PM with 5PM show) .

 

[Niebz]

Things I will do again:
-Pirate Party buffet and fireworks
-enjoy the breakfast and lunch buffets every day
-order lots of room service - yum
-watch the amazing broadway shows - maybe even twice on the days with an afternoon show - we did that before and were able to secure near front row seats shortly before it started due to the reduced crowd

Things I will not do:
-Cry if I get severe motion sickness again on the first nigh I totally thought our first cruise was a huge mistake, vowed never to cruise again and debated chartering a helicopter to come get me I felt so awful lol Turns out first night seas tend to be rough and the rest of the cruise was smooth sailing. As for cruising again, after things evened out I was hooked.
-wait till the last minute to book nursery time - we tried but were unable to get any adult time due to the nursery being at capacity

Things I will try for the first time:
-Have some adult alone time (see above post) - hope to try the adult pool, Rainforest Room, and maybe even a spa appointment or 2 if DS cooperates
-Aquaduck and everything else new the Dream has to offer as this will be our first time on the big ship
-would love to go biking on Castaway Cay; planned to last time but ended up spending the whole day floating in the water
-staying on the ship in Nassau - we had a great time at Blue Lagoon Island but this time we'll save our money and relax

 

[RileyMom08]

Will do again:
1. Order room service with coffee every morning
2. Stay on the ship while in Nassau
3. Iron our clothes in the afternoon to avoid the crowd

Will not do:
1. Bring so much water...theirs was great
2. Bring a lot of snacks for our pre-schooler...not needed
3. Arrive for shows when they start and expect to have a view. Early is best!
4. Eat at Cabanas when we board. It was crowded and people were confused. We'll take the sit down one next time.

 

[cnj]

We have been on 3 disney cruises. We have another one booked in March. We have cruised once in an oceanview, twice in a verandah room.

Will Do Again:

order room service cookies and milk at least 3 nights
Book a room with a verandah
Be up early on Castaway Cay
Palo dinner
Palo brunch
Tequila tasting
Wine tasting
Martini tasting
Piña coladas with chambord
The shows
Dry cleaning
Over the door shoe holder
Trip insurance
Porter at the port (they are worth every penny)
Family portraits


Will Not do again:

Spa
Drinks at dinner (take way too long to get)
Breakfast on the last day in the dining room (topsiders is so much more relaxed and easy)
Watch Walle while on a cruise (I think it is one of the reasons we took so long to book another one)


Will try for the first time next cruise:

Bringing wine onboard
Concierge
Not going to the dining room every night (we found it stressful and did not like it)
Not dressing up for formal night (again too much to do on vacation, we will eat in our room)
The comedy acts
Adult clubs
The first night show (have never seen it)
Going out on our own for an excursion
Our kids in separate clubs
Pirate buffet

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Will do again:
Get my hair braided early on; it kept it out of my face the whole trip.
Order a midnight snack from room service.
Dress up for Pirate Night.
Spend as much time as possible at Castaway Cay.

Won't do again:
Be involved in a FE with over 50 state rooms.
Plan to do anything the first night. I will wait to get over my sea sickness.
Forget to count and try on life jackets.

Will do for the first time:
Eat a meal at Palo (not sure which one).
Character breakfast.
Parasail at Castaway Cay.
Order room service for breakfast.
See a movie.
Family game shows and karaoke.
Shop on board.
Get a family portrait done before the last night.
Ring in the New Year on the Fantasy.

 

[Alexander]

Things I would do:

1. Talk to the crew more. They have such interesting lives and stories to share.
2. Stay up to see the fireworks on pirate night. Five cruises and I've only seen them once.
3. Take time to enjoy the decor of the ship. They are beautiful vessels and we miss so much running place to place.
4. Play bingo more, it was a blast.
5. Make my 5 y/o spend time in the clubs. He didn't want to but he would have LOVED it.

Things I wouldn't do:

1. FE Exchange...too expensive and time consuming to deliver gifts. So much stuff to bring home.
2. Sail on the Dream or Fantasy....I didn't say never....but they are too big for me.
3. Spend time doing laundry...it's vacation for goodness sake!
4. Sail the Bahamian itinerary, just don't love Nassau.
5. Buy any more Dooney bags (this is from DH)

 

[nessamomof3]

Wow! What great info! We are going on our 1st cruise in Oct and this was so interesting to read! Thanks!

 

[Susiesark]

In light of current events,
I WILL
-carry a small flashlight in my bag
-try on the life jacket in my room

God bless the passengers of Costa Concordia.

 

[disneymumma]

You all are so awesome! What great tips! Our first cruise is on the Dream in 44 days and I will definitely be applying what you've had to share!