A complete Newbie...never cruised

[VacaPlanner2012]

Alright, I am coming to you DISers as you have never failed me in the past! Let me give some background. My home away from home is Orlando. I can plan WDW trips, setting my calendars to 180 days out to make sure I get a breakfast at the castle before park opens, I understand FP+. I have been to the darkside many times. I am doing a Sea World vacation in September. I have stayed off-site, on-site, just about every major attraction in Orlando.

I have spent time with my wife at a Sandals resort, where, as advertised, I arrived and put my wallet in the safe, ate and drank A LOT, and got my wallet back out when we checked out. I have spent many nights at Great Wolf Lodges and other indoor waterparks.

But...I have never cruised. Honestly, never even thought about it. My preconceived notion is that it was basically a Sandals like experience, but on a really big boat. So, I started looking at all of the major cruise lines and my head is spinning. I have to wait to see what time I can eat dinner, adult beverages may not be included, heck, I need a beverage plan for a diet coke. A good family cruise is when they can take my kids away from me so I have time for my wife? All you can eat buffets all the time of reserved high end dining that my kids can't eat with me?

It appears that all of the planning DVDs and ebrochures show what is great about that cruise, but can someone tell me the basics of cruising in general? Or a great resource to visit or read?

I think I might like this, and I think as my kids get a little older, they will like it as well. Although it is not that much different than any family vacation budget wise, it is still a lot to invest in an unknown.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

o, I started looking at all of the major cruise lines and my head is spinning. I have to wait to see what time I can eat dinner, adult beverages may not be included, heck, I need a beverage plan for a diet coke. A good family cruise is when they can take my kids away from me so I have time for my wife? All you can eat buffets all the time of reserved high end dining that my kids can't eat with me?

So drinks like fountain soda is included on self service on pool deck and with meals. Tea and coffee standard is included, speciality coffee has a cost, booze has a cost.

Food the standard buffets and main dinning rooms are included the Palo buffett is adult only has a charge and no kids, but is optional.


It appears that all of the planning DVDs and ebrochures show what is great about that cruise, but can someone tell me the basics of cruising in general? Or a great resource to visit or read?

Entertainment, the standard food, your stateroom are all included in the price, you have to tip thats more and shops, spa photos, adult dinning booze and drinks at bars cost, also shore trips cost. You pick a stateroom to the size of your family and your cruise budget.
There are nightly shows and entertainment, also most cruises out of Florida call at castaway cay the DCL island and the beach, shades and food there is included.


I think I might like this, and I think as my kids get a little older, they will like it as well. Although it is not that much different than any family vacation budget wise, it is still a lot to invest in an unknown.

There are characters there is kids clubs there are movies the kids will love it.

 

[Ariel484]

Check out some DCL trip reports!

 

[Weedy]

Here is a general over view of what's included:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/483574078714135072/?CMP=SOC-FBPAGE20141212181642

I also recommend the book Passporters Disney Cruise Line: http://www.amazon.com/PassPorters-Disney-Cruise-Line-Ports/dp/1587710978
You may have used one of these for WDW on one of your early Disney trips. Buy it used, it still works.

These are a great place to start and then come back and ask questions. As you know from being to Dsiney so many times it's hard to answer "tell me everything"
We hstarted crusing when our kids were 5 and 7 and have loved it everytime.

 

[Weedy]

You can bring your own booze onboard. As much as you like But Disney asks that you put it in a carry on suitecase and not in your packet luggage.

There is a buffet open for everyone everyday for breakfast and lunch.
There are sit down restaurants and fast food places by the pool for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

[turtle27]

I think a cruise (and it does depend on the line) is a mix between a tour and a sandals vacation. If you are going to see many places without having to pack/unpack all the time, great. If you are going to relax, great. If you are thinking that your wallet goes away until the end of the trip, you can do this, but most don't.

I am just going to talk about Disney since we are on the Disboards and it would get rather confusing trying to do a comparison of all the cruise lines.
You will have almost unlimited access to food. Room service is 24/7, buffet on Disney is not open 24/7, poolside food is normally only open until about 11pm (may depend on cruise, I think sometimes on the med cruise these were open later). You will rotate through 3 rooms for dinner and your serving team will follow you to each one. They will have kids menus at these restaurants. You can order off of either menu (adult or kids) and so can your child. Depending on the ship, there is either Palo or Palo and Remy. Remy is a 5 star dining experience, I would say Palo is between 3-4 star. Both of these are off limits to anyone under the age of 18. There is also a small up-charge for both of these. Well worth it, imho.

On Disney, you can bring on all the alcohol/any other beverage you would like. As was stated before, just in your carry-on, that you have with you until you can get into your stateroom, generally about 1:30pm or 2pm. Depending on when you get to port and your designated arrival time, this can be nice and easy, or a bit of a pain. If you choose not to bring anything on board, Disney has one of the better beverage policies. Sodas are free everywhere except the bars and room service. There is a drink station open all day long. Juice, milk, tea, coffee, non-bottled water are also all free. Please note, specialty coffees/teas will have a charge. Adult beverages are not free, but I don't think Disney charges unreasonable prices for them either. You can get a wine package, but from my experience, unless you are ordering one of the most expensive wines every night, it is not worth it. In fact, you would save buying separately, unless you purchased enough of the more expensive wines. You can also purchase a case of bottled water for the room, which is cheaper than purchasing it separately in port/ on way off the ship.

OK food and drink done. Now for the experience. There is a kids club for the kids to go play. There is a nursery if your child is young enough, I think there is a charge for this. Kids club is free (Please correct me if I am wrong here). Some kids love it, some don't. You know your kid best, so you may need to look into this. There are live shows every night, there are movies shown in the theaters throughout the day. If you are on the newer ships (fantasy and Dream) you get unlimited TV, any Disney or Disney produced movie/tv show that has ever been made seemed to be available. On the smaller ships (magic and wonder) this is not available as of my last sailing this past October. There are pools, bingo (costs), talks, and, for the adults, alcohol tastings, think wine, beer, tequila, vodka, martini, etc, and other various activities throughout the day. Oh, and I am forgetting the big thing, character meetings. Characters wandering around, you get photos galore if you wish.

Most Disney cruises have pirate night which means fireworks! I think seeing fireworks out in the middle of the ocean is awesome. You can dress up if you like or not.

Disney has some of the best service on the high seas, no real inventive itineraries, but for a newbie cruiser, you will probably still get to see new places.

 

[gumbypee]

Ship tour

Towel folding class

Animation / drawing class

Trivia

Different character events like "salsa with Donald"

Random running into characters not at set times

Set meet and greet times

Nightly shows-certain ones Disney or comedians or magicians etc

Movies in theater

These are all free activities too

 

[Sunshine2U]

DCL has adults only pool area - it's not very secluded but it serves its purpose. There are adults-only nightclub areas. We both work and our vacations were family time. We never really went to the bars at night and chose to hang with the kids every night going to shows, late swims, movies, etc. So I can't speak to the experience but I've heard the nightclubs are fun but tend to wrap up earlier than on other ships. DCL ships are beautiful; they do not have casinos (and their public area smoking); as such, the children's club areas are larger than their counterparts on other ships. If you think in business terms, the lack of the casino as a money maker and the expanded kids area could be one reason why DCL cruises cost more than counterparts on other cruise lines. That, and the Disney experience which to me is worth a premium.

Disney cabins have a unique feature of a split bath which is really convenient for families. Balconies are a nice treat too since it allows you to sit outside while children nap or sleep in. We love Disney and cruised DCL exclusively when the children were young.

Our children have flown the coop and our next cruise is on Norwegian. We will be saving lots of money and we're looking forward to a new experience. We chose them for price, expanded dining options (extra cost), free unlimited beverage special at time of booking. Seems like more of a ship (Escape) for grown-ups.

IMO - DCL is best for first time cruising families. If we had cruised when our teens were older, we probably would have tried Royal Caribbean because DCL was becoming been there, done that for them. Love, love DCL and looking forward to taking our grandson in a couple of years.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Alright, I am coming to you DISers as you have never failed me in the past! Let me give some background. My home away from home is Orlando. I can plan WDW trips, setting my calendars to 180 days out to make sure I get a breakfast at the castle before park opens, I understand FP+. I have been to the darkside many times. I am doing a Sea World vacation in September. I have stayed off-site, on-site, just about every major attraction in Orlando.

I have spent time with my wife at a Sandals resort, where, as advertised, I arrived and put my wallet in the safe, ate and drank A LOT, and got my wallet back out when we checked out. I have spent many nights at Great Wolf Lodges and other indoor waterparks.

But...I have never cruised. Honestly, never even thought about it. My preconceived notion is that it was basically a Sandals like experience, but on a really big boat. So, I started looking at all of the major cruise lines and my head is spinning. I have to wait to see what time I can eat dinner, adult beverages may not be included, heck, I need a beverage plan for a diet coke. A good family cruise is when they can take my kids away from me so I have time for my wife? All you can eat buffets all the time of reserved high end dining that my kids can't eat with me?

It appears that all of the planning DVDs and ebrochures show what is great about that cruise, but can someone tell me the basics of cruising in general? Or a great resource to visit or read?

I think I might like this, and I think as my kids get a little older, they will like it as well. Although it is not that much different than any family vacation budget wise, it is still a lot to invest in an unknown.

Don't feel like you have to drop the kids off at the kids clubs. We've got 17 days logged on the ships and I bet my 2 kids have spent less than 10 hours combined in the clubs. We spend almost all of our time hanging with each other playing trivia, learning how to fold towels into animals, making coasters and other stuff that I know they will eventually not want to do with us.

We pretty much leave our wallets in the safe on the ship but neither of us drink so there is no alcohol bill. We know what excursions were doing before so we budget for those. Always take at least 40, $1 bills to tip room service servers, so the cruise really is paid off before we set foot on the ship.

After countless DL trips, several WDW trips and 3 cruises, we all agree that Our favorite Disney vacations are 1) DCL, 2) DL and 3) WDW. We have our 4th DCL cruise in 91 days and are venturing into uncharted waters and will by trying Carnival's new ship, Vista, next summer in the Mediterranean.

We just returned from a week in Hawaii and all of us agreed a cruise vacation is the best way to spend our time together.

As far as dining goes we always do the early seating and have a great time. Wife and I have never been to Palo or Remy and have no plan to, maybe we will once kids are 18. Meals in the MDR are great because they let adults order off kids menu and vise versa, you can order 2 apps or deserts of you want, they're very flexible. We do a lot of snacking during the day from the snack places located near the pools and room service, and love having Mickey pretzels up on deck at night watching movies on Funnel Vision.

If you are hesitant about a cruise I would start with a 4 night to see if you like it. We started with a 3 night and it wasn't long enough. We now prefer at least 7 nights but I would take any length if it gets me on a ship.

Also, we've always cruised in connecting inside rooms so we can have more space and have 2 bathrooms. It's generally cheaper than 1 verandah cabin and we spend very little time in the cabin.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or you can email me at barzjack@gmail dot com

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

Thank you so much for your responses. So very helpful, as the DIS always is. I told my family the other night that I wanted to try a cruise and they are all in. Now, we have to decide which line to go with. I have to say, DCL has some sticker shock, but I get it. I know I am paying a premium for the name, but I also know the level of service that comes with it!

Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy my share of adult beverages, but I can count on one hand the number of drinks I have had in front of my kids, so I surely don't need that. I am also not a gambler, so the lack of casino is an actual plus. It really boils down to food and activities. I always joked that at one time I could airdrop my 8 year old son blindfolded into 10 - 12 major parks and within 2 minutes he could tell you where he was at and how to get to his favorite rides. We have never really had a "chill" vacation as a family, so the thought of being on a ship for a week seems a bit scary!

I actually enjoy tipping for great service, so having some cash on hand is not an issue, I am just not a fan of being nickel and dimed after putting out a good bit of dough for "all inclusive." It sounds like that is not a huge issue on DCL.

So, let the saving begin and hope for a late summer/early fall 2016 DCL cruise!

 

[bumbershoot]

I actually enjoy tipping for great service, so having some cash on hand is not an issue, I am just not a fan of being nickel and dimed after putting out a good bit of dough for "all inclusive." It sounds like that is not a huge issue on DCL.

Well, a normal cruise is not ALL inclusive, so once you drop that idea, any extra charges (like a latte or a glass of wine) won't feel bad to you.

I'm sure there are cruise lines that are all inclusive. Bu they are going to be higher than even Disney....

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Thank you so much for your responses. So very helpful, as the DIS always is. I told my family the other night that I wanted to try a cruise and they are all in. Now, we have to decide which line to go with. I have to say, DCL has some sticker shock, but I get it. I know I am paying a premium for the name, but I also know the level of service that comes with it!

Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy my share of adult beverages, but I can count on one hand the number of drinks I have had in front of my kids, so I surely don't need that. I am also not a gambler, so the lack of casino is an actual plus. It really boils down to food and activities. I always joked that at one time I could airdrop my 8 year old son blindfolded into 10 - 12 major parks and within 2 minutes he could tell you where he was at and how to get to his favorite rides. We have never really had a "chill" vacation as a family, so the thought of being on a ship for a week seems a bit scary!

I actually enjoy tipping for great service, so having some cash on hand is not an issue, I am just not a fan of being nickel and dimed after putting out a good bit of dough for "all inclusive." It sounds like that is not a huge issue on DCL.

So, let the saving begin and hope for a late summer/early fall 2016 DCL cruise!

If you are thinking that time frame I would book now to get the least expensive rate. As long as you don't book concierge you'll get your deposit back If you cancel before the PIF date.