First cruise, what do you wish you knew that you want to share?

[Sea-Donkey]

Our first DCL cruise was a 14-nighter.


I wish I had known about:

-the chocolate buffet (made it, but was late and everything was picked over)

Where/when is the chocolate buffet?

 

[Chrisey]

I am a planner so I don't know if these will apply to everyone...
-review the deck plan so that you don't miss an area of the ship
-every night we like to review the navigator for the next day and highlight the activities we were interested and read all of the pages in the navigator so that we don't miss anything

 

[alimbrogno]

We also had our first cruise in late February. I was not prepared for how windy and cool port Canaveral was. We should have eaten embarkment lunch inside at enchanted garden. Didn't know that was an option until we got home.
Tip 2- book a placeholder while on board. We saved hundreds this way. My dad didn't listen and now he's paying for it, literally.
You're not going to believe how good it is.

What is a placeholder?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Where/when is the chocolate buffet?

The chocolate buffet is usually available on long cruises (like Hawaii and Panama Canal). It used to be on 7 night cruises, also, but that was discontinued about 3 years ago.

What is a placeholder?

You can book a future cruise by putting down $250 per room (2 room maximum) to be applied to a future cruise within 24 months. That's a "placeholder" booking.

 

[bwvBound]

Question: If tips were prepaid -- do I need to take any further action? (Do I need to pick up envelopes/slips to 'hand deliver' to the room steward, table staff, etc.)? Thanks in advance!

 

[ZerasPride]

We received a sheet in our room with the tip amounts for each position with envelopes. All I did was tear apart each section and hubby put them in their respective envelopes with the extra cash. We passed them out our last morning at breakfast in the MDR and to our room stewart before we left the room for the last time.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

There are so many things to do, so just mentally prepare yourself for this to be your "1st" Disney Cruise and assume you will repeat.

One thing I missed on my first sailing with DCL that became a fun find on my second sailing was that free afternoon treats at Cove Cafe. My husband and I enjoyed stopping by in the afternoon to prepare a small plate of snacks and then find an open lounger on the same deck to watch the ocean roll by and discuss the best parts of the day up to that point. We also used that leisure time to talk about what we wanted to do in the evening. It was a relaxing and very simple pleasure.

I was going to say this. We had no idea these were free until our last day!

 

[scootch]

Our first DCL cruise was a 14-nighter.

My do's that I was thankful I researched and had prepared for:
-bring lots of fun magnets for our stateroom door.
-have a fish extender or door spotter for the hook
-have a shirt or dress for DD on embarkation day that had her name on it. All the characters and staff greeted her by name. She felt like a little VIP. haha
-have lanyards
-pack organizational systems for the stateroom (magnet clips, hanging rack for closet, laundry baskets)
-our DIY drink carrier was a LIFE SAVER as were our giant personalized tumblers
-make sure you know when and where to get tickets for special events and meet and greets the second you get on board (info in navigator)
-weather...a lot of people are saying "don't overpack" but man, I sure was glad to have a fleece and windbreaker on when everyone else was freezing or going inside during the world premiere of Frozen Show. I was also thankful for multiple sandals and multiple pairs of sunglasses.

Things I figured out:
-2 foam cups and a lid will keep soft serve cold/frozen in 90% humidity and 90 degree weather for 45 minutes!
-breakfast buffet on port days was awesome, especially dining outside
-sit down breakfast in the MDR was also a real treat. We had a window seat as we were in the Panama Canal locks!
-sometimes, its better to go to guest services if you have an issue rather than stewing about it.
-skipping MDR dinner and show to have the pool all to ourselves was AMAZING
-stop in at Shutters a few times throughout the cruise to make sure all photos and prints are in the folio (physically and electronically). A lot of our pictures were in the "lost" files and we were able to find probably 50 random shots that would have not otherwise made it home with us. By checking daily, we did not have that much work the night before we left the ship at Shutters, (when everyone was there with "problems", we were good to go)

I wish I had known about:
-the buffet after the fireworks on Pirate Night
-the chocolate buffet (made it, but was late and everything was picked over)
-even if DCL says the non-excursion tenders will not start until 10am, be ready at 8, if that is when you want off. They will likely let people off earlier (just not priority).

I learned just how much I HATE spray sunscreen. People would spray that junk upwind from us and coat us, our stuff and our food with it. I did give people a holler when they were getting us...just a friendly, "thanks for the sun screen" usually did the trick

Chocolate buffet?

 

[onesam319]

Thank you everyone with all the great info. We have already downloaded the App for our phones and my husband plans on using room service as much as possible.
I will have to remind myself about the clothes packing issue...I always pack too many clothes every time we go to Disney.
So what is funnel vision and how do you get to read the Navigator before the day you sail?

Learn how to turn off your background data usage on your devices. If you can't do this yourself, see the connect@sea guy on board before using the App. On Fantasy, he was on deck 4 across from Shutters beside the railing overlooking the atrium. Don't use the app while waiting to board. Use your own cellular network. We used up all our data by the second morning having sent one text only fb update, and checking email twice.
Funnelvision is the big screen above the pools on the top deck. They will use it for deck parties and shows and also run some movies on it.
They handed me a navigator when we got our key to the world cards. Hold onto this one for the whole cruise, because it has the movie schedule for every day.