First Cruise ….Final Payment Made…. Now What?

[hayesdvc]

We made our final payment for our May Cruise on the Wish with our Dreams Unlimited agent. We are DVC members and understand the need for planning going to WDW.

I know the final payment has to me made before you can make various reservations/ excursions. What decisions do I need to be making now and let the agent know or the cruise will be less than it could have been?

TIA

 

[happycamper47]

You do everything from now on either in the app or DCL web-site once your booking window opens. Your booking window is based on your CC level.

Here's a link to the calculator that you can use. https://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/booking-window-date-calculator/

 

[auntlynne]

 

[auntlynne]

 

[DSLRuser]

I am of the belief that first time cruisers do not need to add anything to their cruise vacation over what comes standard.

You have an assigned time and table for dinner. Don’t show up early.

Breakfast and lunch are available in Marceline Market (buffet) or a designated MDR. No reservations needed nor taken.

Food on the pool deck is available mainly between 10:45-6. Some late night pizza. Fountain sodas available 24/7 on pool deck. Free Room Service food also 24/7.

Reservations for Hyperspace Lounge (bar) are not needed as they were during early sailings.

The Spa - If interested, go on boarding day and look for a discount. There are a few massages that book up (possibly pre-cruise).

Nighttime production shows in Walt Disney Theater. Two shows to handle early and late dining schedules. No reservations. No seat saving. No long lines like Beauty and the Beast at Hollywood Studios.

I would agree 100%

 

[kiford]

We just came back from our 4-day Wish cruise. We've been to the Bahamas before, so didn't really see the need to do anything there, but you might want to look at the excursions if you've never been. We got off at Nassau just to go to the closest Starbucks because our friend wanted to see if there was a Nassau Starbucks mug (there wasn't) and to use the free wifi to check e-mail. We were off the ship for about 30 minutes. We didn't even bother to get off at Castaway Cay. We've been many times and aren't big beach fans, plus we wanted to get on the Aqua Mouse with low attendance and to spend some time in the adult pool without a lot of people. We did the Aqua Mouse multiple times in a row, sometimes we didn't even get off the raft, we just went around again. We ate lunch in Marcelline Market - also not busy at all. We decided not to do Palo. Not only were we not thrilled with the menu, but we wanted to do all of the rotational restaurants, and I'm very glad we did. I wasn't keen on the menu at Enchante. We might have been interested in the Palo brunch, but it was sold out by the time we booked but no big deal, we found plenty to do those days. Even without disembarking at CC and only being off the ship for a short period of time at Nassau and booking no specialty dining, we seemed to be constantly busy.

 

[sethschroeder]

Personally for Nassau I would just stay on the ship and explore the ship more since your cruise is short.

I would 100% watch ship tours on youtube as well as people who do a trip showing you what they did (easy way to search this on Youtube would be Disney Wish Day 1 as this would get you the first day of a few videos as many do 1 video per day)

 

[Sir William]

I am of the belief that first time cruisers do not need to add anything to their cruise vacation over what comes standard.

You have an assigned time and table for dinner. Don’t show up early.

I also agree with this. It's a short cruise so just enjoy the standard main dining room (MDR) rotation. Each MDR has a unique menu that they serve on the first night you dine there. Pirate Night will have the same menu across all three MDRs. Save any specialty restaurants for a later cruise. For the MDRs, show up about 5 minutes after they open. We usually leave our room at opening time and rarely have to wait to be seated.

Secondly, there are a lot of activities to do onboard and ashore. It's impossible to do everything you want without leaving yourself exhausted. Pick a few things to do each day and fill in the gaps however you want when the time comes.

 

[Tenkawa]

I can tell you that this is not my first disney cruise, but I have one coming up and the only things I booked was the Stingray feeding at Castaway Cay, and a shave at Hook's Barbary.

We aren't huge drinkers, so didn't need to book any tastings.

We like experiencing the MDR menus, so I wasn't trying to Palo or Enchante (note: If you can get the Brunch offerings, they are a hot commodity, but likely you won't on your first cruise).