First cruise ever...no idea where to start!

[DisneyDeb83]

Hi there! I need help desperately. I am planning a 30th anniversary trip for DH and me. We go to WDW a lot, and I told DH he could pick where we go for this vacation. He wants to do a cruise. Of course, I ended up renting points for 5 nights at OKW, checking out Friday, September 15th because I can't stay away! I looked at the Disney cruises and saw there was a 3 day cruise leaving that Friday.

So, I know I take the chance of a hurricane, and I'm guessing that's why prices seem so reasonable. But I just don't know where to start. A few questions off the top of my head, and they may sound stupid, but how do I decide on what room to request? After paying for the cruise itself, what other costs do I have to worry about? Should I book direct thru Disney's site, or go thru a travel agent?

But I guess most importantly, what is a good resource to figure out all I need to know? I love the disboards, but since I am such a newbie to this I feel like looking thru all the threads will have my head spinning! I was even getting overwhelmed reading the alphabetical listing of topics. I think I may be stressing myself out over this, but mainly because I'm not totally comfortable trying something brand new.

Any suggestions for getting started would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi there! I need help desperately. I am planning a 30th anniversary trip for DH and me. We go to WDW a lot, and I told DH he could pick where we go for this vacation. He wants to do a cruise. Of course, I ended up renting points for 5 nights at OKW, checking out Friday, September 15th because I can't stay away! I looked at the Disney cruises and saw there was a 3 day cruise leaving that Friday.

So, I know I take the chance of a hurricane, and I'm guessing that's why prices seem so reasonable. But I just don't know where to start. A few questions off the top of my head, and they may sound stupid, but how do I decide on what room to request? After paying for the cruise itself, what other costs do I have to worry about? Should I book direct thru Disney's site, or go thru a travel agent?

But I guess most importantly, what is a good resource to figure out all I need to know? I love the disboards, but since I am such a newbie to this I feel like looking thru all the threads will have my head spinning! I was even getting overwhelmed reading the alphabetical listing of topics. I think I may be stressing myself out over this, but mainly because I'm not totally comfortable trying something brand new.

Any suggestions for getting started would be greatly appreciated!

First - take a breath. It's not as scary as you think.

Look at the deck plans. See if there's an area of the ship that seems like it is convenient for the things you want to be close to (or far away from). Check the prices for those category rooms. Do any of them fit the budget? Then pick one. Basically, most rooms onboard a ship are quite similar. Size may be different, or how many beds are in the room, but they're basically the same.

You'll pay for excursions. Adult dining, if you're interested. Nursery hours, if you need them. Spa time. Gratuities will be added to your onboard account ($12.00 per person per night).

We've always booked directly with DCL. Others always use a TA. It's your call. What's your comfort zone? Do you need to be hand held? Or are you fairly confident in your travel decisions? Some TAs offer onboard credit if you book through them, others don't.

Personally, I find a 3 night cruise too short. But, many people start there.

 

[Aby]

Relax and enjoy the planning! I booked our first ever cruise in 2011 with DCL on my own with just the knowledge I found here on the DIS and on DCL's planning website. I found the booking process to be very easy online but you may enjoy using a TA more since you are so unsure.

As far as what kind of room to get - first thing to decide is do you want an inside room (no window), an ocean view room (has a window but no deck/verandah), or a verandah room? On DCL's booking site, you can click on the different tabs for the room types and see some pictures and the various options. At the same time I do this, I usually have another website open with the deck plans to the ship so that I can see what might be above and below the rooms I'm looking at. Personally I like to choose rooms on a deck where the only thing above and below are other staterooms (to avoid extra noise from clubs, restaurants, etc).

As far as other costs, you could theoretically not spend another dime once you board the ship with the exception of the standard gratuities (12$ per person per day) which are added to your account when you board. Of course if you want any souvenirs, spa treatments, drinks, adult speciality dining, etc, those are extra, but regular meals $ entertainment are all included. Excursions in any ports would also be extra.

My favourite resource is the disboards. I usually use google to search one topic at a time with disboards in the search. Usually I'll end up with a few different threads to answer my question, which then usually leads to more questions. You could start with which deck is the best on the ship you are looking at, you could search the benefits of booking yourself vs with a travel agent, and what the standard gratuities cover. I also find the DCL website have some pretty good basic FAQ that were quite handy when I booked my first cruise.

I hope this helps, and enjoy!

Aby

 

[apathetic]

The worst part of your plan is that after a 3 day cruise you will wish it was 7 days. Cruises are great for a lot of reasons. Mainly, you show up, relax and figure out what you want to do. The 3 day Dream adds the benefit of Castaway Cay which is the ultimate in relaxation and fun. I highly recommend you do this. The best part of cruises is you can show up and just figure things out as you go. Advance planning helps in some things, but you can have an awesome trip without planning anything. Also, the cruise in Sept isn't cheap because it is hurricane season. It is cheaper because kids are in school and the demand is lower. Don't worry about the hurricane threat because even if there is bad weather, you will have a great cruise. You miss Castaway Cay, but Disney makes sure you are having a great time no matter what.

 

[Weedy]

I'll repeat what a pp said. When picking your cabin pay attention to what is above you. You don't want to be below the pool deck or a restaurant because you can hear people dragging chairs.
Also above or below the theater you can hear noise.
I like to be in the way front or back of the ship because you have less foot traffic in the halls. Unfortunately people let their kids run in the hallways.
Also the aft and forward elevators tend to be not as busy as the mid ship ones.

 

[eva]

There are some good books out there on Disney cruises. I like the Passporter one the best. Be sure to get the most recent version of the book. Things can change quite a bit from year to year. This will give you the basics and then you can pick and choose threads here at the DIS to learn more and have your questions answered. We've used Dreams Unlimited to book most of our cruises. That is the DIS travel agency. You can work with an agent to help you pick a cabin that suits your needs. Also, they have onboard credits and a nice sail away gift that they send you right before sailing.

 

[dprincessmom]

In the same boat, but learning and asking questions here on the boards.

I picked Deck 8 and while I am a little uneasy about "did I pick the right deck" I am going with it. Good Luck

 

[DisneyDeb83]

I would never have thought to consider what was above or below the room we choose! That makes so much sense! I was thinking more along the lines of whether I should pick the front, middle or back, and what type of view I might want. I think I would feel very claustrophobic if we were in an interior room, so that will be off the list. But I am really going to need to start reading up. I am definitely going to pick up a passporter, and take my time on the boards and the Disney site.

I'm going to try to not stress, I'm just so used to going to WDW with little or no planning. We've gone so many times, and now, as we get older, we have really slowed down and just gone with the flow. That's why I love our trips to the parks. There is so much to do, we can wake up and pick from so many things. Or we can do nothing and hang at the resort. If we miss an attraction it's not a big deal anymore. So I love the comfort of it all. But maybe at my "old" age, I need to try something new!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, you guys are the best!

 

[cgolf]

One thing to think about when picking a room is battling potential seasickness. I have never experienced it, but some have said that being able to see the horizon helps, so maybe an oceanview or veranda room would be a good place to start.

I would start with a 5 day cruise, gives you time to figure things out, but not too long in case you hate it. We also have used Dreams once we knew they were available to get the extra obc, and they have been very helpful.

Also don't try to do everything on your first cruise, you will go crazy and be burnt out. You can check out what you missed on the next cruise. Also don't forget to book onboard or get a refundable placeholder to get the discount, we failed on this our first time. Best advice is to have a blast and don't sweat the small stuff

 

[IndianaRRT]

Thanks for posting this! DH and I are going on our first cruise in Jan 2018. Thanks for all the tips, and please, keep 'em coming!

 

[CamColt]

Welcome to the world of Cruising. You have come to the right place as you can see from the information you have received so far.

Since this is your first cruise, I would highly recommend booking through a Disney Specialist TA, such as Dreams Unlimited Travel (who sponsors these boards). They are the experts and will walk you through the ins and outs of everything you need to know. Plus they offer an On Board Credit which is like free money to spend on your cruise.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Congrats on your upcoming cruise! I agree go through DUI TA. They are so helpful. The good news is with DCL you can kind of go with the flow. Everyday you get a paper navigator delivered to your stateroom telling you what activities are happening that day. You just need to decide

Do you want to dine main ( early 5:45 pm usually )
Or later ( I think it is 7:45 or 8 pm )

There are 2 show timings depending on what time you like to eat. One after main and one later.

You can have your tips adding to your stateroom.

You can check out Palo or Remy adult restaurants instead of the main restaurants but they have a surcharge. I have nit tried Remy but Palo is lovely.

You will have a great time! We like an Ocean View when not cruising conceriege. But everybody is different.

 

[kiford]

When we did our first DCL cruise (first cruise ever) in 2000, we knew about rotational dining, Palo's, that there were adult-only areas, that there was a movie and live theatre on board, that there were gratuities to be paid somehow to someone at some time, what ports it went to, that Disney had their own island, that there was a gym on board, that there were two ships at the time, that you couldn't shop on board in ports, there was no casino, and that alcohol and port excursions were not included. That was pretty much it. Didn't know about the Disboards or too many other resources.

At the time, there were land and sea packages and if you wanted a deluxe hotel you had to pick a room in category 5 or better (and vice versa). We knew we wanted to stay at the BWI and definitely wanted a verandah on the ship so our TA just recommended cat 5 midship as it was convenient to most things including the midship stairs and booked DCL transfers from the hotel. We knew nothing else. From that point, we simply let Disney take us by the hand and walk us through the whole thing which they did brilliantly. That was the first of our, to date, 10 cruises with one placeholder pending.

I know much more now that I did then both from cruising and from the Disboards but every cruise has been great. Even though we knew nothing that first time, there is something - dare I say "magical" - about that first time. The entire experience and wonder (no pun intended) of discovering everything for the first time can't be duplicated. Of course, the other cruises were wonderful as they now seem like home and you get to know and learn about new things and experience things you enjoyed before. Don't stress. You simply can't do everything in a short cruise (or even a long cruise) so just go with the flow.

As others have suggested find a location on the ship that seems convenient to you for what you might do, budget modestly (you don't need to do absolutely everything on board and can spend as little as just the standard gratuities if you want), decide what you might want to do at the ports, if anything, and then just let it happen. Don't overplan.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

Happy Anniversary! For sure, Go with a travel agent that specializes in Disney. They can help you be comfortable in your selection.