First time on DCL

[thehowells]

we just put our deposit on a 4 day bahamian cruise on the dream
sept 22

this is not only my first cruise on disney, but my first cruise ever
we have two kids who will be prime age at 5 and 7, and so stooked, we are ready to go now

we were at p.o.r last year and booked the cabins with free dining as a bounce back, and were never super happy with it, it was quite pricy for what we were doing. we had talked about moving to a pirate room at caribbean beach, then last sunday i thought about going to california (we are from southern ontario, about halfway between toronto and detroit) so it was a 5 hour flight, and quite spendy to stay on site (i don't like offsite) it would have been almost 10 grand including flights and spending money

so we nixed that idead, and started thinking cruise, we had talked about it before. we called guest services for disney world, got a 800 number to call back as it was really busy!! we will be keeping that and changed to 4 nights at caribbean beach and then the cruise, woohoo


any tips are more than welcome, we are already working to door decorations, lol

[kdeans1010]

Decorate your door! Join your Fish Extender group! Schedule some adult time!


What we did with our door, and this is probably really really nerdy (and maybe a bit naughty) is if I've been drinking I don't remember numbers (and this is especially true if it's hot, had a couple margaritas...). So for one of our magnets I made a "Shaun the Sheep" magnet. I have a "Shaun the Sheep" tattoo on my ankle so if I was drunk or too tired I was able to instantly ID my room. Match the tattoo to the room. You could do this if you have kids. Make a magnet without your name that's instantly identifiable.

[thehowells]

what exactly is the fish entender thing i keep seeing?

[kdeans1010]

Originally Posted by thehowells

what exactly is the fish entender thing i keep seeing?

It is AWESOME! My sister explained it to her boyfriend the best to those newbies:
"You know when you're a kid, on Valentine's day in school you make a little mailbox and people would put Valentines in it? This is what the Disney nerds do. They make a mailbox and exchange little gifts and bits of candy."

[Keever]

Originally Posted by thehowells

what exactly is the fish entender thing i keep seeing?

Here's some info about fish extenders that was posted for our last cruise.
http://magic1708.weebly.com/fe-101.html

[Pluto6]

Take Disney transportation from the resort to the cruise terminal. Yes you do arrive a little later but not so late you miss anything. We did that this past April and were on the ship by 1:30 with a pick-up time of noon. Be sure to register on-line for both your resort and cruise. If I were you I would rethink the Pirates room at CBR. We stayed there back in 2010 and they are a long way from anything at the resort, plus they cost a little more. They weren't anything to brag about but not terrible either. CBR is a very nice resort though and I would stay there again but just in a regular roon in a preferred building ( especially if you purchase the drink mugs). If you can preregister your kids for the kids clubs. If they are going to be in the edge you do not even have to register them ( found this out after standing in line for 30min, not abig deal as we had to register our daughter in the Oceeneers club anyway) Keep your kids with you until after the sailway party if you want them to experiance this with you ( we lost ours as they were exploring the kids clubs, even had a meeting place for the sailaway but the crowds were huge). Topside gets super crowded during sailaway. DO the fishextenders. Dis meets and anything else they all were a fun way to meet people. We still are comunicating with people we met in April and they are all from the Dis boards. Above all dont sweat any of it, relax and enjoy yourself. I was so worried about our kids the first couple of days, anything from falling overboard to not making friends, it was all for nothing. HAVE FUN!!

[mikewdw]

we are planning first ever cruise next summer and I am sooooo nervous about everything. what do adults do while kids are at clubs? we dont plan on shore excursions so what to do while in port (only 3 night cruise so this only happens one time) anything else that i dont even know to ask?

[Cond1108]

Originally Posted by mikewdw

we are planning first ever cruise next summer and I am sooooo nervous about everything. what do adults do while kids are at clubs? we dont plan on shore excursions so what to do while in port (only 3 night cruise so this only happens one time) anything else that i dont even know to ask?

Well if its on the Dream I'm assuming, when kids are at clubs stay at dinner for adults only time if you have second seating. Or go to the district. Roam the ship. See a movie or play. Adults only pool area. Basically whatever!
Still go see the islands if you have no port adventure planned, especially the beach at Atlantis( caution: don't bring anything you wouldn't want to lose or get stolen and bring medium cash cause everything is expensive to rent ex: chairs water, towels, ect.) and the water is super salty so bring freshwater and towel from the ship to use.
We had to skip Castaway Cay but go see it cause everyone says its fun and there's plenty to do for FREE there. Also do family stuff like swimming, bingo, movies, plays, eating, anything! And highlight what you want to do on your personal navigator to be planned out. Also go to character parties which were super fun! And try the midship detective agency! Hoped this helped!

[jahber]

Originally Posted by mikewdw

we are planning first ever cruise next summer and I am sooooo nervous about everything. what do adults do while kids are at clubs? we dont plan on shore excursions so what to do while in port (only 3 night cruise so this only happens one time) anything else that i dont even know to ask?

When the kids were in the clubs, my DH and I found *something* to do...

But seriously, read a book, relax in the adult-only areas, take a nap (I did this last time while we were in Nassau, left the verandah door open and slept like a baby). Swim, watch a movie, did I mention napping? The beds are beyond amazing. Watch sports in the sports-themed club, watch a movie, take a pic with a character, eat--uninterrupted, go to a bar. I could go on.

I will also add that my kids (8 and 5) loved the clubs so much that they would literally have spent 9am - 12am in there. They even love to eat meals there. That said, we homeschool and my DH works from home, so a cruise is 50% about mommy and daddy alone time for us and 50% about the kids having the time of their lives. Your situation is probably different. Your kids may not even like the clubs! Or you may want to maximize family time together. But don't worry--you won't be bored!

[BrettW]

Originally Posted by mikewdw

what do adults do while kids are at clubs?

Drink.

Just kidding. Sort of.

There's tons to do, depending on what you enjoy. Ship tours. Lectures. Aqua Duck. Satellite Falls. Eating. Going back to the room with your spouse for...um...a nap. Or actually taking a nap. Or reading on your veranda, or on Deck 4, or topside. Or a massage. Or a dip in the pool. Sunbathing.

Or drinking.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[geffric]

On the Dream - there is the midship dective agency..check out all the art that is animated, relax, actually talk to you spouse, ice cream, aqua duck, art of enteraining series, movies, tour of the ship, tour of the art of the ship, rainforest, work out, etc...