coolers or no coolers??

[lisa34]

Hello again. Yes me again with another question! Are you allowed to take coolers on the ship with you or not? i have read that many people do take them then reading in my packet it says no coolers? Also what is the rules with bringing your own soda or beer on with ya? thanks again Lisa

 

[Gina and Brian]

Lisa, just back from the May 4th Magic cruise. I read this board for a couple of months and got some great tips. I bought a collapsable cooler but never brought it and did not miss it. I don't think you will really need one but I bet you could bring one if you like. We bought a case of beer and some wine and brought that on with us. You can bring soda too. Most of it fit in my backpack. The rest I put in my carry on bag. So yes I would highly recommend bringing your own alcohol on board with you because if you buy it on the ship you will spend money fast. Don't forget they add a 15% gratuity to every drink you buy. Ouch!
Unless you drink tons of soda I would not recommend the refillable soda mug that costs $35.00. I did buy 1 soda mug for the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 children) but I can honestly say that I only used it about 5 times. Most of the use came from after I bought a bottle of rum in St. Martin for $4.75. my son loved going off by himself so I would send him up to the promenade lounge or to deck 9 by the pool bar and he would fill the mug for me and then I would mix my own rum and coke. Anyways the coffee station on deck 9 has water and we drank it all week and it was fine. The coffee was good too. At lunch at Topsiders they have ice tea and fruit punch etc...
If we cruised again I would not buy the soda mug but at least we have a souvenier (sp?)
One more tip for you. Definitely bring an over the door organizer. It works great. Also an extension cord. we brought a night light but never used it or needed it.

 

[lisa34]

Thanks so much for your help! So did you just pack your beer and wine in a carry on? And they don't mind? IT seems like th emor ei read the boards the more questions and the more excited i get LOL! thanks for the tips if you think of anything else i am all ears... Thanks Lisa

 

[SC Minnie]

We took a collapsible cooler and used it but will probably not pack as many drinks as last time. We didn't buy the soda mug and took our canned soda's and beer on deck with us- the CM's didn't mind at all. We also enjoyed sitting on the verandah having a drink or two without having to go to the bar first.

The refrigerators in the room do get drinks cold after about a day and it may be all you need. It held about a 12 pack maybe a few more maybe a few less.

We rolled out cooler on with us as one of our carry on pieces - no problems.

 

[HelenC]

We just got back from the may 4th cruise and we did bring a collapsible cooler, and used it. I brought Tang crystals with me so that I could also make a drink for the kids when needed. I also brought to spill-proof cups which I filled with icy tang to bring on the islands. That way the kids always had a drink on hand.

Actually, dh also used the cooler to bring bag 6 beers from the bar on Dawn Beach (they were only 75 cents a piece!).

We also ordered peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (wrapped) from room service to take to St. Maarten and St. Thomas for the kids. That worked out well because it was a quickie lunch that they both liked and could eat whenever they wanted to. We actually gave half a sandwich to a boy next to us at Dawn Beach (he was also from the ship).

One tip that I got from this board was to bring ziploc baggies. I did and found that they came in handy for a lot of things. the sandwiches would come with potatoe chips on the side so I'd just pack them into the baggies for beach snacks!

Helen.

 

[Newmexikid]

We brought a cooler on the 4/28 Magic cruising and used it a lot. Did the PBJ sanwiches (per the board) and brought the zip lock baggies (per the board) for meals on the beach in St. Martin and St. Thomas. Also, we brought on some alcohol, soda, and 48 little plastic containers of water and about drank it all. It was well worth the effort and I'm sure we saved the money. The over the door hanger was one of the best suggestions I got off the board too. Also, don't forget some highlighters to help you with your Navigators, so you can mark them and not waste time reading through everything a dozen times a day.

 

[RellingTwin]

I brought a rolling luggage carrier, loaded it with soda and beer, and rolled it right onto the ship! Several people asked me "Are you ALLOWED to do that!" YUP!!!!

Just remember if you bring a bottle of booze, you can not take it off the ship if it has been opened. So drink up!

We also used a collapsable cooler for our day at Dawn Beach. I brought sandwiches from room service, some cokes and beer from our stash. We also bought a few beers from the beach side bar/resturant. And at Castaway Cay we used it again for beverages. Both times we put the cooler on the rolling luggage cart and rolled it along!!!!

The over the door shoe holder was GREAT!Wouldn't cruise without it now!

 

[tchrmom]

On this link, several people have mentioned that they WOULD NOT cruise again without an over the door organizer. Explain this to me, please! What would I use it for? Help, I feel stupid!

 

[disvaclub92]

For those who brought the case of beer with you, were you able to purchase it near where you board the boat? Is there any stores near where you board the boat?

thanks

 

[RellingTwin]

This is an idea I got from these boards. The shoe holder is a shoe organizer available at Wal-Mart type stores. It has 12 -16 pockets and hangs on the door with small hooks.
It is a VERY simple way to keep LOTS of stuff organized and
easy to get to. You hang the holder on the bathroom door in the cabin. We usded it to hold: Camera, film, sun glasses, KTTW cards, sun screen, highlighters, swim goggles, medication, ect.
The kids each had a couple of pockets on the bottom where they could put some of there stuff. The top pockets were great for things I wanted out of the kids reach, but handy (bonnie, make up ect.) It is lightweight, folds up very small, very inexpensive (some people even leave them on board when the disembark)and holds all the little items that tend to clutter up the counter space in the cabin and bathroom.

Beer nearby? There are some stores but I do not think there are any within walking distance. Depending on how much you would spend on drinks on board it might be worth it to get a cab. Even if it cost 20.00 to get to a store and back, you would save that much on 4-5 beers! Here is an idea...hook up with a fellow DIS crusier who is driving to the port and get them to pick you up some beverages. I did this last year (picked up some wine for a few cruisers) and they paid me when I delivered it to them

 

[mmouse37]

The over-the-door shoe holder (OTDSH) is indespensible. We have brought them on two of our DCL cruises and they really take care of that clutter that builds up on dresser tops and bathroom counters.

The only negative I found with some of them are the hooks that hook over the door are thicker, depending on the brand. The thick ones made the bathroom door difficult to close all the way. When I went to purchase another one I looked at the hooks to make sure they were thin enough to allow clearance for the door to close. Unfortunately I do not remember what the brand name was because I threw out the packaging. Sorry!

MJ

 

[sandee]

I found the ones sold at the local dollar stores were best - hooks not too thick. Plus, for $1. we just left it at end of cruise. We put everything from camera, sun glasses, sun screen to bonine in ours. Kept the "where did I put my..." down to a minimum. LOL.

 

[prymsu]

for the first time on our last cruise. I can tell you that i will always take it with us from here out. It really helped keep things organized, and the bathroom counter wasn't always messy looking. Cheap storage, that is for sure.

 

[tchrmom]

I will put that on my "things to get for the cruise" list!