My cruise tips and tricks

[seanieboy]

Before our cruise on the Magic out of Galveston last week (AMAZING 6 night western carib), I did a ton of reading up on tips and tricks to make the cruise the best experience possible. I read a ton of fantastic tips: getting things signed at guest services, to the over the door shoe organizer to save space, to bringing our bathing suits in the carry-on so we can use the pool right away (every one of which we did, every one worth it!).

So here are my tips after having an opportunity to experience the best family vacation of my life...

1. Make sure to register everything online as early as possible so that you can get the earliest port arrival time (this is not the tip, yet). When we arrived at the port the longest line we saw was to get our kids their wristbands for the kids clubs...since we had such an early port arrival we were on the ship by 11:45 and went right up to the club and guess what, barely any line at all!!! It took all of 5 mins to get them their wristbands while the people at the port waited at least an hour!

2. EAT AT PALO BRUNCH!!! This is, without a doubt, the best $20 you will spend on your trip...may have been the best meal of my life

3. If you plan to purchase pictures at the end of your cruise (the CD of every photo costs $350), take as many character pictures as you can...make it worth it! ***If you are traveling with a large group that has multiple staterooms, make sure you give the photographer a room key to THE SAME ROOM EVERYTIME YOU TAKE A PHOTO. This way, every picture of your group will be on the same account and only one CD will need to be purchased.

Hope this is helpful you enjoy your trip as much as our family did!!!

 

[jdb in AZ]

DCL has recently requested no over-the-door shoe holders because they could scratch the door and/or affect the door closing tightly. Did anyone on your cruise (stateroom host, etc) say anything about it?

 

[seanieboy]

no but thats because we brought our oun plastic hanger and zipties and connected the shoe organizer to a hanger. we hung it on the knob normally used to hang clothes, on the wall next to the bathroom...no damage possible that way.

 

[Dandermom]

no but thats because we brought our oun plastic hanger and zipties and connected the shoe organizer to a hanger. we hung it on the knob normally used to hang clothes, on the wall next to the bathroom...no damage possible that way.

3. If you plan to purchase pictures at the end of your cruise (the CD of every photo costs $350), take as many character pictures as you can...make it worth it! ***If you are traveling with a large group that has multiple staterooms, make sure you give the photographer a room key to THE SAME ROOM EVERYTIME YOU TAKE A PHOTO. This way, every picture of your group will be on the same account and only one CD will need to be purchased.

Great tips. Thanks.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

3. If you plan to purchase pictures at the end of your cruise (the CD of every photo costs $350), take as many character pictures as you can...make it worth it! ***If you are traveling with a large group that has multiple staterooms, make sure you give the photographer a room key to THE SAME ROOM EVERYTIME YOU TAKE A PHOTO. This way, every picture of your group will be on the same account and only one CD will need to be purchased.
Hope this is helpful you enjoy your trip as much as our family did!!!

This is not correct. Each room must purchase it's own CD. Read this thread for better information:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3110398

 

[mandykaye]

Before our cruise on the Magic out of Galveston last week (AMAZING 6 night western carib), I did a ton of reading up on tips and tricks to make the cruise the best experience possible. I read a ton of fantastic tips: getting things signed at guest services, to the over the door shoe organizer to save space, to bringing our bathing suits in the carry-on so we can use the pool right away (every one of which we did, every one worth it!).

So here are my tips after having an opportunity to experience the best family vacation of my life...

1. Make sure to register everything online as early as possible so that you can get the earliest port arrival time (this is not the tip, yet). When we arrived at the port the longest line we saw was to get our kids their wristbands for the kids clubs...since we had such an early port arrival we were on the ship by 11:45 and went right up to the club and guess what, barely any line at all!!! It took all of 5 mins to get them their wristbands while the people at the port waited at least an hour!

2. EAT AT PALO BRUNCH!!! This is, without a doubt, the best $20 you will spend on your trip...may have been the best meal of my life

3. If you plan to purchase pictures at the end of your cruise (the CD of every photo costs $350), take as many character pictures as you can...make it worth it! ***If you are traveling with a large group that has multiple staterooms, make sure you give the photographer a room key to THE SAME ROOM EVERYTIME YOU TAKE A PHOTO. This way, every picture of your group will be on the same account and only one CD will need to be purchased.

Hope this is helpful you enjoy your trip as much as our family did!!!

If you don't mind me asking what was your gratuities at the end? We are going on the same trip next month

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you don't mind me asking what was your gratuities at the end? We are going on the same trip next month

Suggested gratuities are $12.00 per guest per night. That covers your room host; dining room server; assistant server; and head server.

You may tip more (or less) than that if you wish.

 

[jdb in AZ]

no but thats because we brought our oun plastic hanger and zipties and connected the shoe organizer to a hanger. we hung it on the knob normally used to hang clothes, on the wall next to the bathroom...no damage possible that way.

Sounds like a smart way to do it.

 

[seanieboy]

This is not correct. Each room must purchase it's own CD. Read this thread for better information:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3110398

We never went to shutters till the last night and were lucky because nearly all our photos were on my sister and her family's account. She had been providing her key to the world card for most photos (except for the first day or two) and all our individual family pics were connected to their room account. Don't know what to tell you other than it worked for us.

 

[seanieboy]

Suggested gratuities are $12.00 per guest per night. That covers your room host; dining room server; assistant server; and head server.

You may tip more (or less) than that if you wish.

We did standard gratuities plus a little extra cash in the envelopes you give you the cast members. Our stateroom host got an extra $10 for having to change our sons sheets 3 times due to late night accidents; our waiter and asst. waiter each got an extra $8 for being so amazing and acommidating to our kids each and every night.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We tipped cash in addition to our OB account. $20 for room attendance, $20 for Main server, $20 for asst server $10 extra for Head Waiter. That was from the 3 of us. I was very happy! I met them for breakfast the next morning with a completely clean conscience so to speak!

 

[princessmommyx3]

We never went to shutters till the last night and were lucky because nearly all our photos were on my sister and her family's account. She had been providing her key to the world card for most photos (except for the first day or two) and all our individual family pics were connected to their room account. Don't know what to tell you other than it worked for us.

Has your sister checked the CD since you've gotten home? This exact same thing happened to us & when we got home we found out that all of the photos from 1 room were not on the CD even though they showed up on the kiosk at Shutters on the last night of the cruise. All photos from both rooms showed up on one room key at the kiosk, so we ordered the CD straight from the kiosk, got home, and found out that all of my in-laws photos were not on it after all. We were DCL/Shutters novices at the time & didn't know the rules or think to ask/check before leaving the ship.