A Must Do and a Skip..

[laugh_n_loudly]

Hi,

I wanted to know from your past DCL experience what is one thing that is a MUST DO on the ship "Magic" (specifically) and a skip. This will be our first Disney cruise as a family. The kids ages are 3, 6, 9 years old. Just thought it would be fun to see what you all come with.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi,

I wanted to know from your past DCL experience what is one thing that is a MUST DO on the ship "Magic" (specifically) and a skip. This will be our first Disney cruise as a family. The kids ages are 3, 6, 9 years old. Just thought it would be fun to see what you all come with.

In my opinion, as it's your first cruise, everything is a "must do". Just because someone else likes or dislikes something on the ship/cruise, doesn't mean you will.

That being said, I will say my #1 cruise tip is "don't try to do everything, you can't". What you need to do is to look over the Navigator you get each evening (for the next day) and pick out what activities you are interested in (that won't have your running around trying to do it all). Same some things for the next cruise.

We've taken 9 DCL cruises, and still haven't done "everything".

 

[Weedy]

Look at the Navaigator the day you board and book tickets for Princess Greetings, Anna and Elsa and maybe the character breakfast ( not all cruises have a character breakfast). These will all be listed on the front of the Navaigator the day you board and need to be booked the 1st day.

If you are going on a Christmas cruise sign up for the Ginger Bread House making.

Make sure you look at the Navaigator daily so you don't miss something you may want to do. BUT don't try and do everything.

Here is a link to past Navaigators so you can get an idea of things you may want to do:

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

 

[AcuraTL]

Must do is walk around the ship either early in the morning or late at night when nobody is around. That way, it's nice and quiet and you can take photos of the ship with no one around.

Skip is perhaps swimming/pool time.

 

[Lolo579]

I suggest watching at least one movie in the theatre while on board as a "must do". It's a great way to spend an afternoon while the pools are over flowing with people, or if the weather is bad. It's an added bonus that you can get up and walk out guilt free (having not forked over an arm and a leg to purchase movie tickets for your entire family) if your kids get antsy or you just don't like the film. As for a "skip", nothing specific really comes to mind. On our 7 night cruise next month, I do plan to skip the MDR one night and maybe just have a relaxed evening by the pool.

 

[MUN]

Skip watching movies in the theater. You can do that at home.
Must do: Aquadunk

 

[holula]

I agree with the first reply that says don't try and do everything. There is a lot to see and do over the cruise. Just enjoy and relax. Everyone will have a different "must do" but for me it's the fireworks. But then again I LOVE fireworks.

 

[MunFam]

My skip would be the MDR dinner that you think you will like the least and swim/eat dinner at the pool while everyone else is gone. We did this a few times and literally had the entire pool to ourselves and floated, watched a movie and had the grill food. It was awesome!!!

I would say to get up in time for a sunrise one morning and walk around on deck before the lights go out and enjoy this giant ship all to yourself.

 

[tinkerone]

explore the ship as a family. there are so many hidden mickeys that you could easily make a game of it for the children and it would keep them entertained for hours. its a very interesting decor.

 

[lizabu]

Must do: enjoy all the MDRs and shows
Skip: stressing out about getting it all in. Just chose the things you are most interested in. It simply is not possible to do and see everything.

 

[thumpie's mom]

Our must do is simply to have fun and relax as a family. As previously mentioned, the Navigator is a great tool and we go through it every night to see what we MOST want to do the next day. It is impossible to do it all, but we really enjoy what we do. We don't really have any skips, except for the Toy Story stage show on the Wonder as we find it boring. Have a wonderful time and enjoy!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We don't really have any skips, except for the Toy Story stage show on the Wonder

I hear you.

 

[tvguy]

Must do is walk around the ship either early in the morning or late at night when nobody is around. That way, it's nice and quiet and you can take photos of the ship with no one around.

Skip is perhaps swimming/pool time.

Man, this was us. My kids loved being in front of the "windshield" about midnight on our Eastern on the Magic. Black all around you, lights of islands in the distance, and super bright stars. Only disappointment was, there was no nightly late night buffet to go to every night afterwards on Disney like on HAL. DS loved the carving station at the HAL midnight buffet, loved having a small fresh carved turkey sandwich before bed.

 

[jrabbit]

Now is the time to try some new foods - like escargot - if you don't like it - no big deal, it didn't cost you anything extra - and your servers will bring you out a replacement dish.

Don't Skip the "inbetween" shows - the shows that are between the dinner seatings (like at 7:30 or 7:45pm). Mickey Mania, Walk the Plank, (D Lounge) performers in Fathoms. Theses shows are a lot of fun.

Skip - Sleep - early bed times are for wimps, Sleep is for AFTER vacation!!! OK this is tough with a 3yo - so I'll give you some slack here.

DO have - Lunch up on deck - while the kids are eating burgers and dogs and pizza, stop by the Schwarma place next to where you get the hot dogs and hamburgers. They have beef and chicken with lots of toppings and sauces.

Skip OVER eating at breakfast - there's at least two more meals happening today. Save some room for lunch and dinner.

DO have at least one sit down breakfast (Lumier's and maybe Carioca's) - it's more civilized than the buffet and they have some tasty breakfast foods (pineapple and french toast) and it's cooked to order.

Do NOT skip the main stage shows (times opposite of dinner seatings). Most are very well done.

DO let the kids stay up much later than normal - at the kids clubs. Most kids love it. Then you can go to the adults only shows (remember at worst its only "Disney Dirty" - you should not hear anything that's too offensive (I haven't in my 15 cruise with them)

 

[Orukal]

Do see a movie on the boat. Whether it be an older Disney movie, more recent or even a current release. It's not something you can do at home.

It's been mentioned many times already, but I fully agree, skip a night in the MDR but only after you've dined in all three. There are other options but my favorite is just kicking back by or in the pool and eating from around there. If you think the show of the night doesn't sound as thrilling as you might want, make it that night.

 

[cgolf]

The pirate party/show on the classics is really cool especially the first time you see it. 7 times in we now just watch the fireworks, but the first couple of times it was awesome.

 

[SamIAm8]

On the Magic my family's favorite activity was going to the evening shows. Twice Charmed was our favorite. If you show up to the show 30-45 minutes early you can usually get front row seats which are better for kids. Also stop by the food places by the pool for snacks and drinks before the show because the snacks and drinks at the show cost extra. Another thing I like doing is giving the kids a disposable camera/cheap camera to take their own photos even more so when they are at the kids' clubs. It helps you see your vacation thru your children's eyes. Put a sticker on the back of them with your name and stateroom number in case your child loses the camera. My skip is the pools unless you have nothing else you would like to do then.

 

[DISGRL13]

DO get a family picture with the characters. There are many opportunities and especially right before dinner. Also DO dress up for Pirate Night as many people do and it is very fun to get in the spirit of the night! Very Fun!

Skip Bingo.....I guess I say that because I never win. Lol Once is fun to see the craziness of it all, but there are so many other things to do.

Have a wonderful cruise!!

 

[engle]

I love this thread. It really shows the diversity of likes and dislikes. I was drawn to this thread because I will be on the Magic for the first time (6th DCL cruise though) over Christmas. For us, child free couple traveling alone, must dos are movies (we never get to do this at home...we live over an hour from a theatre and work ALOT), Palo, massage. Skips for us are Animators and Pirate Night.

But I'm definitely doing the Aqua Dunk! Can't wait!

 

[jrabbit]

I love this thread. It really shows the diversity of likes and dislikes. I was drawn to this thread because I will be on the Magic for the first time (6th DCL cruise though) over Christmas. For us, child free couple traveling alone, must dos are movies (we never get to do this at home...we live over an hour from a theatre and work ALOT), Palo, massage. Skips for us are Animators and Pirate Night.

But I'm definitely doing the Aqua Dunk! Can't wait!

Skip Animator's Why? Have you been on the Dream/Fantasy - or just the Wonder. The upgrades to Animator's from a few years ago are really good. Make's this location MUCH better than on the Wonder.