Pre-Trip Report for Our 1st Disney Cruise

[jcoyne4781]

We are so excited to be going on our 1st Disney Cruise in late February 2014 aboard the Disney Wonder, stopping at Nassau, Castaway Cay & Keywest. We are porting out of Miami, Florida.

Family of 4:
Husband, Wife & 2 Boys (ages 4 & 19 months- at time of cruise)

So here are my plans so far: (Oh, i have to mention I am very OCD when it comes to planning a vacation)

We are flying out of New Orleans, LA going to Miami, FL early morning (6:00 am).... hoping the kids are still sleepy, on the day that the ship leaves out of Miami, FL.. I am hoping there are no major delays or bad weather, as I don't want to miss the ship leaving. We did not book our flights thru DCL as the prices were outrageous. Plus, we aren't having to pay for our youngest, as he is going to be sitting on my lap on the plane. It is a non-stop flight, so no worrying about having to get off the plane, then back on again.

We booked Ground Transportation from Airport to Port of Miami thru DCL. Worth the price and to not have to worry about finding a shuttle/taxi service.

We have registered on-line to minimize the time of having to check in when we get to the ship. The kids are registered at Flounder Reef Nursery & Oceaneer's Lab/Club. I'm assuming we will get their arm bands at time of check in on the ship. We plan on touring the clubs when we get on the ship that 1st day.

We plan on eating lunch at Parrot Cay when we get on the ship. Our ship terminal arrival time is set for 11:30 am, so not sure what time we will actually board the ship.

The 1st day on the ship, we plan on touring it and getting familiar with where the restaurants are, other eating places, clubs, pools, theatres, etc are so we aren't wasting time doing that later. I know we have to do the Muster Drill at some point on the 1st day too.

1st Stop- Castaway Cay. We tried booking a Cabana at the Family Beach, but being that this is our 1st cruise, by the time our booking window opened, all of them were sold out. I keep checking every day to see if one comes available. I'm sure it would come in handy with our little ones. We haven't booked any excursions for this day. I'm guessing we will just go enjoy the family beach and let the kids play at the Splash Park and whatever slides or other water activities they can do. Hoping for relaxation on this day.

2nd Stop- Nassau. We have booked the Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day , as it was one of the only excursions that both of our kids would be able to enjoy. My 4 year old loves the water, my 19 month old (not so much, sometimes takes a while to get used to it). So I figured we would just relax on the private beach and enjoy the sand crazy2.. I'm not a big fan of sand- too messy.) and water. Hopefully the hubby and I will get to relax though while kids are playing at the beach. We are planning to have kids go to Nursey/Club for a few hours this night for some adult alone time.

I believe this is the Pirate Theme Night for dinner. I ordered the whole family Pirate Outfits/Costumes to dress for the occasion this night. Hoping to get a good picture of all of us in our attire.


3rd Stop - Key West, FL. We are planning to stay on the boat during this stop, as we don't have any actual Days at Sea on this Itinerary. This should give us more time to enjoy the pools, character sightings and other activities on the ship. The Hubby & I are planning on having kids go to Nursey and Lab for a few hours this night, so we can have some alone adult time. I'm sure we will need it.

DINNER: We have main seating at 5:45, so we are planning on eating dinner at the MDR every night and then possibly going to a show afterwords. My only concern is that my kids are normally in bed by 8:30/9:00 every night, so hopefully they can hang to enjoy the shows or other later activities.

So here is my Packing List, I started it about 6 months ago and have just kept adding to it as I read all of the forums and other websites..

CARRY ON BAG-
• Portable DVD Players (2) & Headphones
• Movies
• Cell Phone Chargers
• Camera (CHARGE BATTERY)
• All Paperwork (hotel/cruise/flight/passports/birthcertif/etc)
• My wallet
• Juice Cup for each child
• Swimsuit for each child
• Snacks/snack cup
• Motion Sickness medicine
• Sunglasses
• Cash ****
• Diapers/Wipes for 19 month old
• Autograph Mat/Pillowcase & Fabric Markers (for Character Autographs to leave at Guest Services Desk)
• Highlighter/Notebook/Pens (for Personal Navigator)
• Watch

UMBRELLA STROLLER IN BAG!!!!

(3) SUITCASES
• No beach towels needed
• Beach hats
• Swim Suits (2 each per person)
• Swim Diapers/Diapers/Wipes??? (I may chose to have Disney provide these items in our room, so we don't have to pack them. Diapers & Wipes take up a lot of room in Suitcases)
• Swimsuit cover-ups & shirts
• Sunscreen/Mosquito Spray
• Floatie things for both kids
• Bibs for 19 month old
• Clothes/Shoes (each person 5 outfits each plus one extra)
-Shirts (casual & one dress shirt)
-Shorts
- Pants (jean & one dress pair)
-Pullover
-flip flops
-tennis shoes
-water dogs
-socks
-dress shoes
-underwear & bras
**dress attire for one night, each person**
**Pirate Costumes/Outfits**
• Milk cup for 19 month old
• Makeup
• Hairbrush
• Travel Bath Stuff (shampoo/shaving
cream/razor/conditioner/soap/deodorant/toothbrush/toothpaste/q-tips
• Glow Sticks
• Drinking cups for drink stations ****
• Night light
• Candy for Shows ****
• Beach bag
• Trash bags/Ziploc bags for dirty clothes
• Beach Blanket ???

So after we come back to Miami, FL we have a hotel room booked close to the Miami Airport as we will be staying one night in Miami, FL before taking our plane trip back to New Orleans, LA. I booked the hotel, as I wasn't sure what time the ship would get back to the Port and I didn't want to have to worry about a delay or anything and not being able to catch our flight back home.


So i know this post is long, but if there is anything I may have left out that's really important or any suggestions/advice/tips that anyone would like to give us for our vacation, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pnutt]

thanks for all the useful tips! we will be tacking our first DCL cruise and surprising our two boys with it when they see us pull up to the port. Can't wait to see their faces!

Thanks again

 

[tej917]

Thanks for the pre-trip report - and sharing the packing list! Definitely a huge help for our first cruise ever - coming up end of Jan!

 

[jcoyne4781]

Thanks for the pre-trip report - and sharing the packing list! Definitely a huge help for our first cruise ever - coming up end of Jan!

You're welcome.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[wandep]

Where did you order the pirate costumes from? Thanks!

 

[jcoyne4781]

Where did you order the pirate costumes from? Thanks!

I got the 2 adult ones and older son's at party city.com on clearance. Then I got the younger son's one at etsy.com. You can google places cause I'm sure slot are on clearance since Halloween passed a few months ago

 

[wandep]

I got the 2 adult ones and older son's at party city.com on clearance. Then I got the younger son's one at etsy.com. You can google places cause I'm sure slot are on clearance since Halloween passed a few months ago

Thanks! I'll check it out. We are unsure if we want to do costumes or have someone make us all shirts. We did get boarding shirts made. When in February do you leave? I'll be looking out for your report when you get back. We leave on March 16.

 

[jcoyne4781]

Thanks! I'll check it out. We are unsure if we want to do costumes or have someone make us all shirts. We did get boarding shirts made. When in February do you leave? I'll be looking out for your report when you get back. We leave on March 16.

We leave on feb 26th. We got shirts made to wear our 1st day, and I got special shirts for my boys to wear each day. (Yeah, overdoing it for sure).

I'm bringing a notebook and pen so at the end of each day, I can jot down what we did that day. I'm sure it will be overwhelming with my 4 yr old and 19 month old though. Lol.