A cruise virgin with questions!

[auburnmama2three]

So this is my first cruise and it will be a Disney Cruise!! So excited!

1. Help me choose: late April or early May should we do 5 nts with more ports (Key West, Nassau, castaway) or 5 nts to Grand Cayman & Castaway? I want lots of ship time, but also afraid of long days on potentially rough sea? And I’ve never done Grand Cayman. Is it worth it?

2. Are there any travel agencies that do special touches like a stuffed Mickey in the room or any agency I should be looking at? We are talking to Dreams Unlimited so far.

3. What are the must dos on the Magic? Give me your insider tips so we don’t miss a thing! My daughter will be nearly 10. I want her to have a fully immersed experience (clubs, shows, etc)

TIA!

 

[dclpluto]

So this is my first cruise and it will be a Disney Cruise!! So excited!

1. Help me choose: late April or early May should we do 5 nts with more ports (Key West, Nassau, castaway) or 5 nts to Grand Cayman & Castaway? I want lots of ship time, but also afraid of long days on potentially rough sea? And I’ve never done Grand Cayman. Is it worth it?

2. Are there any travel agencies that do special touches like a stuffed Mickey in the room or any agency I should be looking at? We are talking to Dreams Unlimited so far.

3. What are the must dos on the Magic? Give me your insider tips so we don’t miss a thing! My daughter will be nearly 10. I want her to have a fully immersed experience (clubs, shows, etc)

TIA!

I would choose the Key West, Nassau and castaway. Grand cayman you have to tender. Grand cayman is nice thou. You can swim with sting rays. You can even go to hell. Yes hell im not kidding.

I’m not into travel agencies. I like to have control. A lot of people like it better than doing it themselves thou. Most have a on board credit.

Go to all the shows. All the shows are great. Sign up for the meet and greets. If you can’t get signed up before you go try to get signed up when you board.

Don’t be shy. I see you been a member here for 7 and a half years and this was your first post. We don’t bite, at least most of us here is nice. Don’t be shy on the ship either. Enjoy

 

[Geomom]

2. We used Dreams Unlimited. They give you OBC (on board credit) and if you're in the US/Canada, they will mail you a gift basket of useful cruise items before your cruise.

3. Definitely be sure to see all the shows! We've only been on the Wonder so far, we'll be on the Magic next summer. We went to all the shows on our cruise, did a bunch of character meet and greets, went to a couple of movies. My kids went to the clubs for specific activities. DH and I relaxed in the Piano bar one night, which was a great treat for us.

You can check out the Personal Navigators for cruises similar to yours on disney cruise line blog to see the types of activities offered:
Bahamian: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...night-bahamian-cruise-miami-february-17-2017/
Western Caribbean: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...western-caribbean-cruise-miami-march-12-2017/

 

[PurplePencil]

3. What are the must dos on the Magic? Give me your insider tips so we don’t miss a thing! My daughter will be nearly 10. I want her to have a fully immersed experience (clubs, shows, etc)

These are more of tips, but here goes
If you daughter is in to thrill, there is the AquaDunk (A water-coaster where the floor drops)
If she likes to be pretty, there is the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, or on Pirate Night it transforms into the Pirate League
Even if she is unsure the Oceaneer Club/Lab is worth a shot
There is a movie theatre onboard that runs recently released (or in the case a movie comes out during the cruise, PremEARS)
There is unlimited ice cream on the pool deck
She can eat whatever she wants in the Dining Rooms (If she wants 2 adult appetizers, if she wants 2 kids meals, even kids appetizer and adult meal or appetizer)
I don't know how much you are willing to spend, but there is Bingo for a cost that kids are allowed to participate in with a parent that is fun

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I prefer GC to Nassau. Based on your daughter's age, I think the GC excursion choices are more interesting than at Key West and Nassau as well.

 

[puzzledprincess]

How exciting! You are going to love it! If the 5 night stops in Castaway Cay twice, I would definitely do that one. I did that itinerary once and it was awesome!! Castaway Cay is by far the best port, so I am all about that.
Fun things to do: see the main show every night (not kidding, they are Broadway quality), Aquaduck, kid’s club (their activities are so fun I wish I could go sometimes) and eating in the main dining room (you can get as many things as you want!), Pirate night!! If you want some adult time, dinner at Palo while your kid enjoys the kid’s club actitivites

 

[YawningDodo]

I'm also a cruise newbie; booked but am still waiting to go -- I just wanted to touch on the travel agent aspect since I did book through Dreams Unlimited. I'd had bad experiences with travel agents in the past because, like dclpluto, I like to have pretty firm control over my own bookings. I went with DU anyhow because they gave me $100 OBC for the same price booking I was already planning to do myself, and I've had no regrets. As soon as the reservation went through they sent me the confirmation number and I was able to log in to the DCL website, add the cruise to my Disney account, and book all of my excursions and activities myself. I let my agent pick my stateroom within the category I'd selected because it's my first time and I genuinely don't know what I'd prefer anyhow, but if you do have a room preference you can tell the travel agent which part of the ship to book, or even which specific stateroom. No loss of control at all. The only downside I can see is that I'll get my cruise booklet a little later than I would otherwise since DCL is going to send it to DU and they'll have to reroute it on to me, but I can live with that for the OBC. I hadn't known about the gift basket when I booked with them, so I'm curious what that'll look like (please don't anyone tell me; I like surprises).

 

[hanscarlet]

My TA does but not sure we're allowed to advertise TAs on this site so feel free to PM me

 

[apple9117]

We've used Dreams Unlimited many times to book our cruises. They give you onboard credit, and some goodies for the trip. Great response time as well. Highly recommend!

 

[Numtini]

This is our first. I'm a do it yourself, but we went with DU for the credit. It doesn't feel like it's through a travel agent, it's like it's just a middleman for payments to get the credit.

 

[dclpluto]

My TA does but not sure we're allowed to advertise TAs on this site so feel free to PM me

Op only has one post. Is unable to pm

 

[elaine amj]

I'm not too interested in Key west or Nassau so I would vote Grand Cayman.

Have fun!

 

[lklgoodman]

My dd is the same age as your dd. My dd really likes going to the Oceaneer's club. We usually have to drag her out at closing time. She really likes the Pluto's pajama party that they do in the club. You can check the newsletter that you will get in your stateroom to see when it is offered on your cruise. She hasn't gone on the Magic, but loved the Aquaduck on the Fantasy. She's outgrown the princesses, but still wanted me to book the character breakfast for our next cruise, don't know if that's offered on cruises that are less than 7 nights. We haven't been to Nassau or Key West, but have been to Grand Cayman and would go there again. Castway Cay is wonderful.