Favorite Cruise Ship Activities?

[Princess_Iliana_of_Avalor]

I'd love to know what activities you all love and what you REALLY recommend! We're really excited to experience as much as we can on the ship but of course we want to have some "must-dos" in mind I don't know if there's specific activities on specific ships, but if there is we will be going on the Disney Magic so if there's specific recommendations for that ship I'd love to know!

 

[daedelus]

Greetings Your Highness!

There are a lot of activities onboard and it will depend a lot on your family, kids ages, etc. But generally speaking...
- Formal Night - a lot of folks on Disney cruises don't like to dress up and I roll my eyes a bit at it too, but then you see the folks who go all out and you think to yourself, "gee, I wish I'd taken this more seriously..." It's awesome to see a couple in formal attire when one of them is in their dress uniform from an armed service. Or even just spiffed out in a tux or ball gown, etc.
- The shows - seems obvious, but there are folks who just don't go to the shows. We make it a point to attend all of the shows as a family and we generally enjoy all of them. Especially the variety acts!
- Trivia - granted this caters to a certain type of person, but it's a ton of fun and you can win some cool prizes too.
- Anyone Can Cook - the chefs will show you how to prepare a dish that's served onboard and then give the audience samples of it and a recipe for how to make it.
- Ship Tours - Disney doesn't do a "behind the scenes" tour like other lines, but that doesn't mean there isn't some neat stuff to see! If you're lucky and can catch the back stage tour of the Walt Disney Theatre, that's super cool!
- Ice Carving - this is usually on deck 9 at the FunnelVision stage. The kitchen staff will carve a huge block of ice into something cool (pardon the pun)...
- Midnight Buffet - after Pirates In the Caribbean night, there's usually a midnight buffet in Cabanas on deck 9 aft. Check it out to get crepes, turkey legs, and some other awesome food you don't get on the rest of the cruise. Note that this isn't on all cruises.
- Officer Pin Trading - if you're into pin trading, there are a couple of times you can meet the ship's officers and trade pins with them. This is usually in the lounge outside of the two stores on deck 4 midships.

Have a blast and I hope this helps!

 

[Princess_Iliana_of_Avalor]

Greetings Your Highness!

There are a lot of activities onboard and it will depend a lot on your family, kids ages, etc. But generally speaking...
- Formal Night - a lot of folks on Disney cruises don't like to dress up and I roll my eyes a bit at it too, but then you see the folks who go all out and you think to yourself, "gee, I wish I'd taken this more seriously..." It's awesome to see a couple in formal attire when one of them is in their dress uniform from an armed service. Or even just spiffed out in a tux or ball gown, etc.
- The shows - seems obvious, but there are folks who just don't go to the shows. We make it a point to attend all of the shows as a family and we generally enjoy all of them. Especially the variety acts!
- Trivia - granted this caters to a certain type of person, but it's a ton of fun and you can win some cool prizes too.
- Anyone Can Cook - the chefs will show you how to prepare a dish that's served onboard and then give the audience samples of it and a recipe for how to make it.
- Ship Tours - Disney doesn't do a "behind the scenes" tour like other lines, but that doesn't mean there isn't some neat stuff to see! If you're lucky and can catch the back stage tour of the Walt Disney Theatre, that's super cool!
- Ice Carving - this is usually on deck 9 at the FunnelVision stage. The kitchen staff will carve a huge block of ice into something cool (pardon the pun)...
- Midnight Buffet - after Pirates In the Caribbean night, there's usually a midnight buffet in Cabanas on deck 9 aft. Check it out to get crepes, turkey legs, and some other awesome food you don't get on the rest of the cruise. Note that this isn't on all cruises.
- Officer Pin Trading - if you're into pin trading, there are a couple of times you can meet the ship's officers and trade pins with them. This is usually in the lounge outside of the two stores on deck 4 midships.

Have a blast and I hope this helps!

Luckily I am definitely the type of person for trivia lol! I like to consider myself well-rounded in my Disney knowledge lol...A quick question, are the pins in the pin trading night any different or unique from the parks? I collect pins and am just wondering if its worth it to take some of my own pins to trade

 

[daedelus]

That's a great question. Yes, there are pins (both on board and from the officers) that you can only get on the ships. There is 1 Captain's Pin per cruise. That's the Holy Grail.

The thing you have to watch out for are the vultures who are professional pin traders who will literally shove in front of 5 year old kid to try to get a premium pin. Utterly ridiculous. Most of the officers have seen it before and will rebuke them and give the pin to the kid, but you have to fend for yourself... I wish that wasn't the case.

We've gotten some neat movie premier at sea pins, some cruise specific pins (Panama Canal, TransAtlantic, etc.) and a couple of rare ones just being in the right place at the right time.

You can also visit Guest Services, each of the deck 4 stores and the store on deck 3 at the end of After Hours and ask to see their pin books too. Those usually aren't that great, but we've found some in there that finish out a set we were missing one from.

 

[CamColt]

We enjoy all the adult nightclub activities with the exception of the 80 music challenge game. We also enjoy music trivia (70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s).

 

[Princess_Iliana_of_Avalor]

That's a great question. Yes, there are pins (both on board and from the officers) that you can only get on the ships. There is 1 Captain's Pin per cruise. That's the Holy Grail.

The thing you have to watch out for are the vultures who are professional pin traders who will literally shove in front of 5 year old kid to try to get a premium pin. Utterly ridiculous. Most of the officers have seen it before and will rebuke them and give the pin to the kid, but you have to fend for yourself... I wish that wasn't the case.

We've gotten some neat movie premier at sea pins, some cruise specific pins (Panama Canal, TransAtlantic, etc.) and a couple of rare ones just being in the right place at the right time.

You can also visit Guest Services, each of the deck 4 stores and the store on deck 3 at the end of After Hours and ask to see their pin books too. Those usually aren't that great, but we've found some in there that finish out a set we were missing one from.

Ugh I definitely know those types of collectors, they're terrible But it is good to know that there are some opportunities that may arrive for really great pin finds! And I definitely intend to buy cruise specific pins lol. Thank you!

 

[Shanti]

I'd love to know what activities you all love and what you REALLY recommend! We're really excited to experience as much as we can on the ship but of course we want to have some "must-dos" in mind I don't know if there's specific activities on specific ships, but if there is we will be going on the Disney Magic so if there's specific recommendations for that ship I'd love to know!

Must dos for us:

• Lounge in the stateroom
• Ride the Aqua Duck (Dream Class)
• Soak in a hot tub
• Participate in some game shows
• Play Bingo
• Have dinner in the MDRs most nights
• See a few shows
• Meet a few characters
• Do the Mid-Ship Detective Agency (Dream class)
• Ride bikes on Castaway Cay
• Slide on Pelican Plunge on Castaway Cay