Disney Cruise Line - beginner info thread!

dabecs

WDW 2012, WDW 2014, DL 2017!
Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
895
Hi everyone!

Thinking of planning a DCL cruise for late 2014, and I am finding cruising a little overwhelming!

I know heaps of ANZACs have cruised (Disney and other) and I'm sure I am not the only one considering cruising so I wanted to start a general question and answer thread where experienced cruisers can share their wisdom::yes:: and newbies like me can ask questions:listen:

I'll start with question number 1:
I know dining is included in the price but how does it work? Can you go to any restaurant? What about snacks? Room service? And how does the restaurant rotation work?

Thanks!

edited: PS if you know of any helpful threads please post the link, I have tried searching but haven't found a general type thread but I may have missed it:)
 
Hi everyone!

Thinking of planning a DCL cruise for late 2014, and I am finding cruising a little overwhelming!

I know heaps of ANZACs have cruised (Disney and other) and I'm sure I am not the only one considering cruising so I wanted to start a general question and answer thread where experienced cruisers can share their wisdom::yes:: and newbies like me can ask questions:listen:

I'll start with question number 1:
I know dining is included in the price but how does it work? Can you go to any restaurant? What about snacks? Room service? And how does the restaurant rotation work?

Thanks!

edited: PS if you know of any helpful threads please post the link, I have tried searching but haven't found a general type thread but I may have missed it:)

Hi dabecs. I will be cruising DCL (Fantasy) for the first time in 4 months time, but I have done 3 other cruises before (NZ Coastline, Eastern Med, and Yangtse River).
Dining policies differ slightly between cruise lines, but it is pretty much guaranteed that should you choose, you can eat without handing over an extra cent.

However, most cruiselines try to get a bit of extra $$$ out of you if they can, and they do this through specialty restaurants. Specialty restaurants have a higher class of food and you need to pay to dine there. On Disney it's the adult's-only Palo and Remy. Remy is one of the most expensive restaurants at sea. Palo is a bit cheaper (and seemingly more popular), so reservations can be difficult to come by. Especially for first-time cruisers like you and I who get a smaller booking window than repeat cruisers.

I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I read somewhere that Remy tried to be the first restaurant at sea to get a Michelin Star. However, due to limited availabilty to very fresh ingredients (as you'd expect on a cruise ship) they weren't eligible.

Room service on DCL is free, but a tip is generally expected.

Soda (and tea and coffee) from the self-serve on deck is free. Soda from bars or room service isn't. This is quite unique to DCL. Most mainstream cruiselines make you pay extra for all drinks

On DCL you have an assigned dining rotation and time. For dinner, you must eat at the restaurant and time they assign unless you get room service, go to the buffet, get a burger type meal on deck, or go to Palo or Remy. Lunch and breakfast are a bit more flexible where you can eat in any of the restaurants that are open for that meal.

You will be assigned a dining rotation at boarding. It'll look something like this ERAEREA where E stands for Enchanted Garden, A - Animators Palate, and R - Royal Court.
each letter stands for the 7 nights of your cruise and tells you where to eat each night.
I've read quite a few threads where people who want a certain rotation have emailed Disney to try and request it. For example, Animator's Palate on the fantasy is apparently quite good when it falls on Pirate Night, or Royal Court is quite good on formal night.
However, an experienced DCL cruiser put me off emailing Disney to make a request. They said that Disney are quite good at dividing different age groups amongst the restaurants. For example they might put most of the cruisers with toddlers into one rotation and teenagers into another. They are also usually pretty good at assigning tablemates with similar aged children or similar-sized families. If you want to be assigned a table with people similar to yourself, I think it's best to let Disney pick your rotation for you.

Hope that helps.
Ask away. I'm no expert, but have done a lot of research.
 
What a great question to ask. For our first DCL the only thing I had to go on was a previous cruise with P&O. Some things were similar, others different.

On P&O we were allocated to one dining room or we could use the buffet. On DCL (Wonder, Mexican Riviera Dec '11) we had a number of restaurants that we dined at on rotation. I don't know about the shorter cruises but on the 7 night cruise we dined at each restaurant at least twice. You are allocated a table number and you will be seated at that table each night at each restaurant. Your servers will follow you to each restaurant. You will be charged for all drinks with the exception of water and tea and coffee (if memory serves correct). You will have a themed menu each night based on the restaurant or if it's Pirate or Captain's night. Or the Golden Mickey's. You may bring your own alcohol on board (in your carry on, not checked luggage) but you will be charged corkage if taking it to the restaurant to drink. Last I read it was $20. You can get around this by pouring yourself a glass in your room before dinner and bringing it with you to the dining room. I've never done this as my favourite part of the dining room is trying the drink or cocktail of the night (I'm not a drinker so this is my one indulgence).

You are not necessarily restricted to one of each offering on the menu. If you want two entrees, no main and three desserts, then go for it. If you are wanting something that is not on the menu then ask and they will try and accommodate. One night DH just wanted a plain steak with pepper sauce and mashed potato, it wasn't on the menu but they brought it out for him anyway. But there are so many options each night you may as well give them a go. You can order a Mickey Bar at the restaurant for dessert, too :cool1: It's not on the menu so just ask.

If you would like to dine with other couples of families you can contact DCL and ask to be matched up with others. I'm doing this with another couple on our next cruise whom I've met through our cruise FB page. You provide DCL with your cruise reservation details and ask to be linked with others (if you know their reservation details then you can provide those as well).

Do your online check in as soon as possible. Last time I think I did check in at just past 5pm which made it soon after the US opening time. I got an early boarding time which worked out well as I managed to get an upgrade from an outside room to a verandah room at the port for less that $500. Your luggage won't be in your room until well after lunch so take the time to explore and get your bearings. You can go straight to the buffet or open restaurants for lunch. For the sail away party try and get a top deck spot. There are waiters around with cocktails for sale (it's all card swipe onboard, no cash, it's added to your stateroom account) but try and get them from the bar if you can, they're usually warm by the time the waiters get to you. I didn't like the one we had but bought it for the cup :thumbsup2

Room service. We didn't try it but, well, we did but it was going to be such a long wait it was easier for me to race up to the buffet for something for DS when he was feeling a bit unwell and didn't want to go for dinner. There is no charge for room service but you can tip. I've read it's usually about $1 or $2. The room service menu isn't extensive but I plan to order coffee and nibblies like fruit for an early breakfast before our real breakfast. There is a fridge in the cabin but it's not really cold enough to store milk etc. We used ours to keep our Gingerbread house in to nibble on over the days. You can order Mickey Bars from room service too :hug:

There are very few powerpoints in your cabin. We were forever having to swap over chargers for everything so that next time I'm taking a power board or two from home and using those with our adaptors. Do make sure you organise a wake up call each morning from Mickey and put it on speaker phone when you answer ::yes:: The instructions for it are in your cabin. The bath for the shower is rather small and there is little floor space so buy a pop up laundry hamper from the dollar store for your dirty washing and keep it in the bottom of the wardrobe if you have the space. The bed lifts up, too, at least it did on the Wonder, for extra storage space for suitcases etc. You can no longer use over the door hanging things for saving space so use the wardrobe instead. We used ours for holding things like cameras, lanyards when we went to bed, hair bands, brushes etc. Remember, space is at a real premium in the cabins.

On the Wonder it was $1 each for the washers, dryers and washing powder etc. You swipe your card and it's charged back to your room. I saved up the samples of washing powder from magazine sample bags over the year and used those on our trip. I don't use fabric softener but you can buy dryer sheets from the dollar store instead. Like most public laundry dryers, it takes forever to dry loads of washing. There are also irons and boards in the laundry rooms, but it's not a place for hanging out and relaxing. They are often very busy towards the end and middle of the cruise and definitely on formal night. I washed once on the cruise and got lucky with a quiet time for laundry. If you have a verandah room you aren't allowed to dry things on the rails or furniture outside. I did hang things like swimmers on coat hangers and hung them off the back of the outside chairs, though. There is a little clothes line in the shower but it's rather ineffective because there's no breeze to dry them.

Tip your room attendant well if you are happy with them. Ours was lovely and bent over backwards to help us and was lovely with the kids. You get an envelope on the last night for tips and you can either charge the tips back to your account or pay with cash. You are not obligated to tip more than the amount, or at all if the service was shocking. You can also tip the servers in the restaurants at each meal. You will get a receipt for your drinks when you order them to sign for. If you order drinks in the bars or whatever you will sign for them to be charged back and I think tips were automatically included of 15%.

You can buy a beer mug at the bar and get cheap refills over the cruise. To save you from lugging it around everywhere you can exchange it for a token when you've done drinking and then redeem it for a new mug the next night. Make sure you keep the mug on your last night though. We bought the mugs and the pirate night flashing cups and our room attendant kindly took them and washed them for us on our last night so we could pack them away.

On the last night you will be asked to have your bags packed and outside your room door by 10pm. Make sure you have a change of clothes for the next day for the shamozzle that is disembarkation morning! I later read you can elect to keep your bags and luggage and take them off the ship yourself but the holding areas for disembarkation and really crowded and the least amount of stuff you have to lug around the better. You will be allocated a restaurant for breakfast the final morning based on your dining time. It's ridiculously early (for me anyway) if you have early dining, something like 6.30. You cannot order room service for the last morning.

You can watch the shows in the theatre in your room live. If you buy drinks and food from the concession stand outside the theatre or from the roaming waiters, you will pay for them. Go up to the pool deck and get your food and drinks from there. Soft drinks and food from the pool deck are free. There is help yourself soft serves from there with kiddy cones, but most kids took the paper cups from the drinks machine side and filled them up with ice cream, mine did :hyper:

I was not overly impressed with the photo packages on offer at Shutters. If you want them, then leave buying a package until the second last day so you can make up your mind what you want. Photos are on display each night on the boards but you can also view them on the booths too. Do not leave picking up your photos until the last minute though, it's crazy! Try and organise that by at least lunch time on the last afternoon.

I think that is about it for now. I hope this helps. There are pics on my blog on my link of the cruise if you want to have a sticky beak.

Enjoy your cruise, we did and we are really looking forward to our next one in December :cloud9:

179902_10151365275047854_1577146488_n.jpg
 
Oh forgot to add...

You cannot go to the dining rooms to eat if you are in your swimmers.

You can choose which open restaurant to eat at for breakfast or you can go to the buffet, same as for lunch. We found that quite often the buffet was crowded with hardly any place to eat at. You can take things back to your room to eat in though. We did have breakfast at the buffet one morning and ate it on the deck as we were docking in Puerto Vallarta, so got to watch the comings and goings of the port.
 

Thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of info I have been looking for:) It is so generous of you to take the time to write it all down, I'm sure I am not the only one who will benefit:)

I am looking at doing the 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy, if anyone has any info particular to that cruise I would be grateful:)

So for breakfast and lunch there are buffets or some restaurants to choose from? What about port days? If you stay on the ship is lunch available?

I love the idea of sending my girls to the kids club and hubby and I indulging in an adults only meal:) I assume in situations like that the kids can get fed at the club? Or would I take them to a buffet beforehand?

This cruisin' business seems like a lifestyle I could get used to!
 
Thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of info I have been looking for:) It is so generous of you to take the time to write it all down, I'm sure I am not the only one who will benefit:)

I am looking at doing the 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy, if anyone has any info particular to that cruise I would be grateful:)

So for breakfast and lunch there are buffets or some restaurants to choose from? What about port days? If you stay on the ship is lunch available?

I love the idea of sending my girls to the kids club and hubby and I indulging in an adults only meal:) I assume in situations like that the kids can get fed at the club? Or would I take them to a buffet beforehand?

This cruisin' business seems like a lifestyle I could get used to!

Does your Eastern include San Juan or St Maarten? Mine includes the latter and I have just booked my shore excursion using Bernard's Tours.
They get rave reviews here on the Disboards and the Disney Cruise Blog did a great write up on them. Normally I would book a cruiseline organised tour as they ensure the boat doesn't leave without you. But from the reviews I've read of Bernards I feel confident I'll get back to the ship in plenty of time. Plus they go to Maho beach - a place high on my wishlist (check out the images on google), and no DCL tours do.
http://www.bernardstours.com/

A good place to start your research is to check out some fairly recent Navigators (the daily newspaper/schedule). Check out the Disney cruise Blog. It has some fairly recent ones.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/category/trip-report/personal-navigators/
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...stic-non-disney-port-adventure-in-st-maarten/
 
This cruisin' business seems like a lifestyle I could get used to!

Oh it's very easy to get used to. It's so wonderful traveling to different locations but unpacking and repacking only once.

I practically had to beg my DH to do our first cruise. He thought it was only for old people. Now we're both hooked.
 
Thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of info I have been looking for:) It is so generous of you to take the time to write it all down, I'm sure I am not the only one who will benefit:)

I am looking at doing the 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy, if anyone has any info particular to that cruise I would be grateful:)

So for breakfast and lunch there are buffets or some restaurants to choose from? What about port days? If you stay on the ship is lunch available?

I love the idea of sending my girls to the kids club and hubby and I indulging in an adults only meal:) I assume in situations like that the kids can get fed at the club? Or would I take them to a buffet beforehand?

This cruisin' business seems like a lifestyle I could get used to!

this is the cruise we were looking at, but i switched it to the 7 night western as we really want to see chacchoben at costa maya.

for breakfast, you have the option of:
- cabanas - the help-yourself-as-much-as-you-want-to-eat style (this is usually open for lunch on embarkation day as well)
- room service, or
- one of the sit down restaurants (this will be listed in your personal navigator as to times they are open, whether it's sit down breakfast or buffet etc)
- one of the quick service places (like one of the coffee places)

for lunch, you have the option of:
- cabanas
- a sit down restaurant (listed in the navigator as to what times, style etc)
- room service
- one of the quick service locations (like flo's, mater's grill etc)

for dinner, you have the option of:
- your assigned dinner restaurant (you always sit at the same numbered table, and your waiters will move with you from restaurant to restaurant)
- room service
- cabanas (informal table service)
- one of the quick service locations

if you choose not to eat at your allocated restaurant, you do not need to notify anyone, just go with whatever you choose, but you cannot just randomly switch from say Animator's Palate to Royal Court. If you want to eat in one of the three main dining rooms, it has to be the one on your allocated rotation.

On port days, it remains exactly the same as above. the ship still stays 'open for business' as usual, so no changes to your options. some people say that things like pools, aquaduck etc are less crowded on port days (less people on board) but be aware that shops on the ship are closed while the ship is docked/in port.

re: the kids clubs - they do feed the kids, or you can take your kids to dinner first, then drop them at the club, just let them know when you check in if they have/haven't already eaten, it's pretty easy and laid back :)

i know palo and remy look great, and they are great value for money, but since the main dining rooms offer a completely different menu every night, there is already heaps of choice, food wise, for the 7 night rotation without having to pay a cent.

re: the tips - i have asked that our tips just be prepaid at the standard amount via our onboard account (which our OBC from our TA will cover). i think the fantasy automatically charges the preset amount for tips to your account now, and then you can adjust up/down if need be, or just give additional cash if you think they warrant it.

re: additional powerboards etc - i have also heard these are a good idea if you have a lot of electrical items that will need simultaneous charging. just make sure that you don't bring a travel iron, as they are prohibited. also, the hairdryers i have heard are really decent on the dream/fantasy (not so much on the magic/wonder though).

re: castaway cay -- all food and drink on castaway cay is included in your cruise price, as is all food on board that you consume, and all regular drinks. only food not included in your cruise price are: refreshments from the candy stand outside the theatre (preludes), remy & palo. the drinks that aren't included are: specialty coffees, alcoholic drinks (18%tip auto included at bars), drinks of the day, smoothies, soda from room service.

via the disney cruiseline website only additional charges you will have are: port adventures, spa or salon visits (including BBB), phone calls, photos, video games, Internet usage and all alcoholic beverages.

so basically, if you prepay your port adventures and tips, don't make phone calls or use the internet, and don't go to remy/palo, the only additional charges you should have are drinks and spa visits :)
 
we did breaky room service every morning...was great when DH had early morning dives....all free and they are right on time....just hang order out the night before and you can order as much or as little as you want...for the 2 of us our record was 3 trays.....I'm so proud!
 
Thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of info I have been looking for:) It is so generous of you to take the time to write it all down, I'm sure I am not the only one who will benefit:)

I am looking at doing the 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy, if anyone has any info particular to that cruise I would be grateful:)

So for breakfast and lunch there are buffets or some restaurants to choose from? What about port days? If you stay on the ship is lunch available?

I love the idea of sending my girls to the kids club and hubby and I indulging in an adults only meal:) I assume in situations like that the kids can get fed at the club? Or would I take them to a buffet beforehand?

This cruisin' business seems like a lifestyle I could get used to!

You will find that the meals offered in the kids' clubs will be basic mac and cheese, nuggets and chips, sandwiches. If your kids are happy with that, and you, too, then that's fine. I refused to allow our kids to eat at the clubs when there was so much nicer stuff on offer at the dining room. That is our thing on holiday, they can spend as much time in the kids' areas during the day but meal times, at least breakfast and dinner, are family time. We allowed them to choose off the kids menu some nights but most nights it had to be 'real' food from the adult menu. After all, it's a great time to try different foods (DD would eat nothing but nuggets or battered fish if she could get away with it, DS loved the mac and cheese).

Oh and the kids got their own character visits too in the clubs. DD said they were more fun than at the character breakfast because the groups were smaller and they got more 'quality' time. Both of them will be in Edge this time so I don't know how different it will be for them.
 
we did breaky room service every morning...was great when DH had early morning dives....all free and they are right on time....just hang order out the night before and you can order as much or as little as you want...for the 2 of us our record was 3 trays.....I'm so proud!

What did you order that took three trays? We are not big breakfast eaters but I'm sure we could manage it if pushed :goodvibes
 
this is the cruise we were looking at, but i switched it to the 7 night western as we really want to see chacchoben at costa maya.

That's what I want to do :thumbsup2

for breakfast, you have the option of:
- cabanas - the help-yourself-as-much-as-you-want-to-eat style (this is usually open for lunch on embarkation day as well)
- room service, or
- one of the sit down restaurants (this will be listed in your personal navigator as to times they are open, whether it's sit down breakfast or buffet etc)
- one of the quick service places (like one of the coffee places)

for lunch, you have the option of:
- cabanas
- a sit down restaurant (listed in the navigator as to what times, style etc)
- room service
- one of the quick service locations (like flo's, mater's grill etc)

Was this good food? We didn't really order food from the QS places on the Wonder as we were usually full from b/l/d but I grabbed a piece of pizza once at midnight and took it back to the room and thought it was horrible.

for dinner, you have the option of:
- your assigned dinner restaurant (you always sit at the same numbered table, and your waiters will move with you from restaurant to restaurant)
- room service
- cabanas (informal table service)
- one of the quick service locations

if you choose not to eat at your allocated restaurant, you do not need to notify anyone, just go with whatever you choose, but you cannot just randomly switch from say Animator's Palate to Royal Court. If you want to eat in one of the three main dining rooms, it has to be the one on your allocated rotation.

But do let your waiters know so they won't worry about you. Michael didn't go to dinner one night after our tequila and margarita tasting tour and they were concerned that he wasn't there. They wanted to know if they could send something up to him instead. The waiters do tend to care about you.

On port days, it remains exactly the same as above. the ship still stays 'open for business' as usual, so no changes to your options. some people say that things like pools, aquaduck etc are less crowded on port days (less people on board) but be aware that shops on the ship are closed while the ship is docked/in port.

re: the kids clubs - they do feed the kids, or you can take your kids to dinner first, then drop them at the club, just let them know when you check in if they have/haven't already eaten, it's pretty easy and laid back :)

i know palo and remy look great, and they are great value for money, but since the main dining rooms offer a completely different menu every night, there is already heaps of choice, food wise, for the 7 night rotation without having to pay a cent.
I'm thinking of doing a brunch but I don't know. We've already paid for our meals in our cruise and I can't really see the point of paying again. But, so many people said it's an experience you should do once. DH doesn't want to do it so I might join up with some others on our FB cruise group who are talking about it. I'm just thinking about the amount of weight I tend to put on when on a cruise :crazy2:


re: the tips - i have asked that our tips just be prepaid at the standard amount via our onboard account (which our OBC from our TA will cover). i think the fantasy automatically charges the preset amount for tips to your account now, and then you can adjust up/down if need be, or just give additional cash if you think they warrant it.

re: additional powerboards etc - i have also heard these are a good idea if you have a lot of electrical items that will need simultaneous charging. just make sure that you don't bring a travel iron, as they are prohibited. also, the hairdryers i have heard are really decent on the dream/fantasy (not so much on the magic/wonder though).
I've heard lots of complaints about the hair dryers on all of the ships but I never had a problem on the Wonder. I rarely use one at home and if I do it's just to take the damp out of my hair and then let it dry naturally. I think if you dry your hair daily and have a great one at home then you might have something to compare them to. For me, life's too short to be standing in a bathroom drying my hair, especially when I'm on a holiday and can be doing better things with my time :beach:


re: castaway cay -- all food and drink on castaway cay is included in your cruise price, as is all food on board that you consume, and all regular drinks. only food not included in your cruise price are: refreshments from the candy stand outside the theatre (preludes), remy & palo. the drinks that aren't included are: specialty coffees, alcoholic drinks (18%tip auto included at bars), drinks of the day, smoothies, soda from room service.

But you must have a drink of the day :love:

via the disney cruiseline website only additional charges you will have are: port adventures, spa or salon visits (including BBB), phone calls, photos, video games, Internet usage and all alcoholic beverages.

so basically, if you prepay your port adventures and tips, don't make phone calls or use the internet, and don't go to remy/palo, the only additional charges you should have are drinks and spa visits :)

And the photos. But you can have the photographers use your own camera for you as well. :thumbsup2
 
What did you order that took three trays? We are not big breakfast eaters but I'm sure we could manage it if pushed :goodvibes

if i remember correctly:

2 x hot breakfasts
2 x extra hash brown things
3 plates donuts/danishes/ bagels etc (2 per plate)
2 fruit salad plates
1 pot coffee
1 pot hot chocolate
1 orange juice glass
1 apple juice glass
1 youghurt
2 milks (skim /soy)
butters/jams/ creamed cheese/ sauce
plates/cutlery/cups & saucers

yep..thats about it I think..we were also in concierge so had the hot breaky option that i didn't want to waste that opportunity :sad2:
 
if i remember correctly:

2 x hot breakfasts
2 x extra hash brown things
3 plates donuts/danishes/ bagels etc (2 per plate)
2 fruit salad plates
1 pot coffee
1 pot hot chocolate
1 orange juice glass
1 apple juice glass
1 youghurt
2 milks (skim /soy)
butters/jams/ creamed cheese/ sauce
plates/cutlery/cups & saucers

yep..thats about it I think..we were also in concierge so had the hot breaky option that i didn't want to waste that opportunity :sad2:

I'd like to try and beat that but I don't think I could :coffee:
 
Alicia, Marlea and Karen you are gems:) Karen I can't believe the size of the breakfast you ordered - hats off to you!

I'm on my iPhone so can't reply properly but thank you, the info you have given me is a fantastic start and I already feel more comfortable with the whole cruisin' thing! I'm sure I will have more questions though - I always do!
 
Alicia, Marlea and Karen you are gems:) Karen I can't believe the size of the breakfast you ordered - hats off to you!

I'm on my iPhone so can't reply properly but thank you, the info you have given me is a fantastic start and I already feel more comfortable with the whole cruisin' thing! I'm sure I will have more questions though - I always do!

mate.....we try our best...and re the breaky we just poped the fruit/danishes /yogurt and juice in the fridge for later.....i do enjoy a snack now and then :thumbsup2
 





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