1st time 3-day cruisers - please help

[peterpan321]

This is our first Disney Cruise. We are going on the 3-day cruise from Dec. 21-24. We have two daughters - ages 9 and 5. Any suggestions on things we have to do? Are there any formal or semi-formal nights? Which shows and/or restaurants should we go to? What are some things that we should not miss? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[fhagan]

You'll have a blast! I liked all the shows when we went in 2000 on a 3-day cruise. We felt very comfortable in all the dining situations; you probably know that you rotate through the resturants, and Lumiere's or Tritons (depending on if you're on the Magic or the Wonder) are the "dressy" nights. I wore a sportcoat with a turtleneck, which isn't really dressy, but was fine. You could do a nice sweater over a shirt as well for a guy, with dress slacks. Most of the women were in dresses, but there were a few in nice slacks. It wasn't a problem in any case.

You can skip the "orientation" with the ship's purser or activities director the first day ... it was re-broadcast on the TVs in the room when we went. You do have to attend the mandatory life jacket drill, so don't try to skip out on that one ... they'll come looking for you!

I was very uncomfortable in Nassau; on one of the arranged tours it might have been better, but the shopping/walking tour was OK only if you stayed in the area they designate. Walk a block the wrong direction and you're into territory I wasn't comfortable in with my family. The comments about my teen aged daughter from the "locals" was especially troubling. So if you decide not to spend the money on an excursion and do the shopping instead, stay within the area on the map they give you.
(on our cruise, nearly all of the excursions were cancelled due to high winds, so the shopping ... or getting into one of those cabs to go to the Atlantis resort ... were the only options).

The ship continues to have activities while in port. While in Nassau, we made our way back to the ship and watched a new Disney film, and attended a show. We never felt cheated. And the rest of the trip ... especially Castaway Cay ... was truly great.

 

[WDWLVR]

Originally posted by peterpan321
This is our first Disney Cruise. We are going on the 3-day cruise from Dec. 21-24. We have two daughters - ages 9 and 5. Any suggestions on things we have to do? Are there any formal or semi-formal nights? Which shows and/or restaurants should we go to? What are some things that we should not miss? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

As for things you have to do - simple answer - relax and enjoy!

Seriously reading these boards for the next month will really help. Check out these two sites as well:

www.castawayclub.com
www.dcltribute.com

They are both packed with great information including Navigators and menus from previous cruises.

There are no true formal or semi-formal nights on the 3-day cruises but most people use the night they dine in Tritons as their dressiest night. They have backdrops set up for pictures every night so don't feel you'll miss out by night being dressed every night.

The wonderful thing about the Disney cruises is you will rotate to all three main resturants. Since this is your first cruise I would stick with these 3 and skip the adults only Palo. The 3 day is such a short cruise I think you'll want to spend it as a family. I would definately recommend all of the shows as well, especially for first timers. Great entertainment!

Sign the kids up for the clubs when you get on board (you'll get a paper when you check in that gives that info). Make time to read over the navigators each night to see what to do the next day. I recommend brining some colored highlighters so that you can highlight them.

If you don't do an excursion at Nassau maybe just do a quick walk through some of the shops to get the feel of the place - then go back and enjoy the ship. My DH and I go over to Atlantis on our own to enjoy the Dig and look around that great resort.

Castaway Cay is fantastic. Be sure and bring a disposable underwater camera - you'll get some great shots in the water!

Most of all enjoy your cruise! Word of warning - DCL cruises are like potato chips - you can't have just one. We are booked on #6 next year!

PS - a great big welcome to the DIS to both of you!

 

[Cruisin]

We are going on our 4th 3 day cruise in January.
I would say that you want to spend the time to explore the ship, make sure you see all of the main shows in the Walt Disney Theatre each night.
Have the kids check out their clubs and join in the fun.
Don't miss the sail away party, the kids will love it cause there is dancing on the deck and some of the characters come out and dance too. Make sure you are on the side of the ship close to the terminal when the ship pulls away from the dock. Look out at the terminal as you pull away from it, for a surprise.
Most of all relax and have fun and be prepared to have to go back again!!!!!!!!

 

[alexandrew]

Try to get to the port as early as possible....this is especially important on the 3-day, because embarkation day is the 1st day of only 3 .... This will give you more time to explore the ship...

 

[peterpan321]

Thanks for all the great tips. I think we will stay on the ship when it docks in Nassau - might get off for a few minutes. Any other suggestions?

 

[peterpan321]

Thank you for all your help. This board is terrific. We leave tomorrow for Florida - cruise is on Sunday. We can't wait. Thanks.

 

[Robert and Kelley]

Get your kids registered in the club as soon as you can and get them to the initial activites. We took our kids to the club early and they had such a wonderful time. We didn't make them go on our last cruise and our DS became our third wheel (12 YOA). He said he had fun but I think he would have made more friends if he went to club early and met some of the kids there.

 

[wildabouttheworld]

Just returned with a 10 year old daughter. It was our first cruise. Sign your kids up for camp as soon as possible so they can make friends. Get the hair braiding done ASAP and get it over with because you will have to sooner or later. Dont miss any shows they are all fantastic. Get a free drink and snack outside the show so you will not have to buy the kids drinks at the show. We had the late dinner so this worked for us. Take your kids bathing suits in a day bag that you keep with you on the first day. The kids can change into their suits and swim as soon as you board or after you have lunch. If it is chilly there are always the hot tubs. Have fun.

 

[peterpan321]

Alot of great tips for us. Hopefully we will get all of the must-do's done in the three days. I know it will be too short, but a lot of fun. Any romantic ideas for the two of us while the kids are in the club? Where is the quickest place to get the hair braiding? About how much will this cost? Thanks for all the help.

 

[kcashner]

The only bad thing about a 3 day cruise is that it isn't 7 days long! Relax and enjoy every minute.

 

[wildabouttheworld]

The hair braiding on the ship was $1.50 per braid. When we did it on Castaway Cay it was $2.00 a braid. My daughter has really thick hair and she took 30 braids. So do the math, it looked good and she loved it so it was all good. We had it done at Thanksgiving and her braids still look ok.

 

[disneyholic family]

as everyone said, just relax and enjoy...
we did the 3 day cruise in july 2002.....it was wonderful (we're doing the 4 day in july 2004)....
there are no formal or semi-formal nights....just go to dinner each night...it's in a different restaurant every night and each one has it's own little bit of fun....we liked all 3 of them....

in the adult nightclub area, my daughter and i really like dueling pianos that was appearing in one of the clubs....i don't know if they'll be on board, but if they are you might enjoy them..
on the first night there's a fun thing in the rock and roll nightclub...i think it's called 70's night....it was really fun (they had guests dressed up as the village people...stuff like that)....

every day they give you a schedule of events....go to what looks interesting to you....