First time cruising -- advance planning??

[Dec38]

How much advance planning should I be doing? Our cruise is in 3 months. I've never cruised on DCL or any other cruise line before. I typically PLAN vacations (Disney or non-Disney) -- on our recent Disney World trip, I was up at 6 am at 180+10 days to book dining reservations and at 7 am at 60+ days to book fast passes, and I carefully thought through everything, from crowd levels to transportation options to researching thoroughly each park in advance. But this cruise has snuck up on me. We booked it as a multigenerational family trip, in a bit of a carpe diem reverie, and I have not had time to even think about it until now. Some specific questions:

--I found a Personal Navigator from the Disney Cruise Line Blog from the same type of cruise at around the same time last year. It's been helpful to review these daily schedules. Can we get a Navigator for our exact cruise in advance? With so many people in our group, I'd really like to be able to plan and discuss in advance what we'd all like to do, so we can know when we want to make a point to be together and when we can go our separate ways. If the Navigator for our trip is not available in advance, can we rely on the Navigator I found from last year? Can we expect the same basic things to happen at the same basic times this year?

--I understand we need tickets for the general princess meet and Anna and Elsa meet, and can make reservations for things like Pirates League, Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, Gingerbread house decorating, etc. I saw on the Personal Navigator I looked at for last year's cruise that there is a sign up for these things upon boarding the ship. Can we instead book these things in advance? Are we already too late? Do the princess meets happen at a single day/time, or do they happen throughout the cruise and you reserve a particular time?

--How do you plan for a multigenerational extended family cruise?

--Considering just staying on the ship on the Nassau day, because my youngest is not tall enough for the water slides at Atlantis or the deep water swim with dolphins. I've read that lots of people do this, but I don't want to regret missing something. We might consider doing the Atlantis dig/beach, but I'm wondering if we might just enjoy the ship just as much. Would appreciate any thoughts on this.

--What should I be reading to get educated?

--What else can we/should we plan in advance?

Thank you so much!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How much advance planning should I be doing? Our cruise is in 3 months. I've never cruised on DCL or any other cruise line before. I typically PLAN vacations (Disney or non-Disney) -- on our recent Disney World trip, I was up at 6 am at 180+10 days to book dining reservations and at 7 am at 60+ days to book fast passes, and I carefully thought through everything, from crowd levels to transportation options to researching thoroughly each park in advance. But this cruise has snuck up on me. We booked it as a multigenerational family trip, in a bit of a carpe diem reverie, and I have not had time to even think about it until now. Some specific questions:

--I found a Personal Navigator from the Disney Cruise Line Blog from the same type of cruise at around the same time last year. It's been helpful to review these daily schedules. Can we get a Navigator for our exact cruise in advance? With so many people in our group, I'd really like to be able to plan and discuss in advance what we'd all like to do, so we can know when we want to make a point to be together and when we can go our separate ways. If the Navigator for our trip is not available in advance, can we rely on the Navigator I found from last year? Can we expect the same basic things to happen at the same basic times this year?

--I understand we need tickets for the general princess meet and Anna and Elsa meet, and can make reservations for things like Pirates League, Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, Gingerbread house decorating, etc. I saw on the Personal Navigator I looked at for last year's cruise that there is a sign up for these things upon boarding the ship. Can we instead book these things in advance? Are we already too late? Do the princess meets happen at a single day/time, or do they happen throughout the cruise and you reserve a particular time?

--How do you plan for a multigenerational extended family cruise?

--Considering just staying on the ship on the Nassau day, because my youngest is not tall enough for the water slides at Atlantis or the deep water swim with dolphins. I've read that lots of people do this, but I don't want to regret missing something. We might consider doing the Atlantis dig/beach, but I'm wondering if we might just enjoy the ship just as much. Would appreciate any thoughts on this.

--What should I be reading to get educated?

--What else can we/should we plan in advance?

Thank you so much!

-No, Navigators are printed daily onboard, as things can change. For the most part from cruise to cruise they are pretty similar, but there can be variations. You'll get one in your room each evening for the next day. So you can all sit down and set up "who want to do what" that evening. While you're waiting for dinner service, or in the theater waiting for shows is a good time to do this.

-The most important thing is to set up the expectations that not everyone will want to (or have to) do the same things at the same time.

-I don't see the sense of paying for something like Atlantis, if I have a pool and water slide on the ship I can use that's already included in my cruise fare. Not to mention food.

-DISboards is pretty educational. Also the Passporter book is good, but some info might be a bit dated.

-When you online checkin/excursion booking window opens, you'll want to book any excursions that you're sure you want to do. Also, nursery hours (if you'll be using it), spa, adult dining reservations. For a first time cruiser that window opens at 75 days out from the cruise. You can go on the DCL website and check out the various excursions that may be available to you.

 

[TestingH2O]

Everything she said. Plus, when your window opens at 75 days, you'll be able to book princess gatherings and Anna & Elsa. That is new from last year. You'll find them under On Board Fun.

 

[TestingH2O]

Oh, and make sure your rooms are linked so you have a dining table together.

In terms of multi generational, we find this incredibly easy due to the multitude of activities available at all time. We do find its best to remind ourselves that we don't need to spend every hour of every day together.

 

[squirk]

How much advance planning should I be doing? Our cruise is in 3 months. I've never cruised on DCL or any other cruise line before. I typically PLAN vacations (Disney or non-Disney) -- on our recent Disney World trip, I was up at 6 am at 180+10 days to book dining reservations and at 7 am at 60+ days to book fast passes, and I carefully thought through everything, from crowd levels to transportation options to researching thoroughly each park in advance. But this cruise has snuck up on me. We booked it as a multigenerational family trip, in a bit of a carpe diem reverie, and I have not had time to even think about it until now. Some specific questions:

--I found a Personal Navigator from the Disney Cruise Line Blog from the same type of cruise at around the same time last year. It's been helpful to review these daily schedules. Can we get a Navigator for our exact cruise in advance? With so many people in our group, I'd really like to be able to plan and discuss in advance what we'd all like to do, so we can know when we want to make a point to be together and when we can go our separate ways. If the Navigator for our trip is not available in advance, can we rely on the Navigator I found from last year? Can we expect the same basic things to happen at the same basic times this year?

--I understand we need tickets for the general princess meet and Anna and Elsa meet, and can make reservations for things like Pirates League, Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, Gingerbread house decorating, etc. I saw on the Personal Navigator I looked at for last year's cruise that there is a sign up for these things upon boarding the ship. Can we instead book these things in advance? Are we already too late? Do the princess meets happen at a single day/time, or do they happen throughout the cruise and you reserve a particular time?

--How do you plan for a multigenerational extended family cruise?

--Considering just staying on the ship on the Nassau day, because my youngest is not tall enough for the water slides at Atlantis or the deep water swim with dolphins. I've read that lots of people do this, but I don't want to regret missing something. We might consider doing the Atlantis dig/beach, but I'm wondering if we might just enjoy the ship just as much. Would appreciate any thoughts on this.

--What should I be reading to get educated?

--What else can we/should we plan in advance?

Thank you so much!

I went through the very same thing on my first DCL cruise, which was also my first cruise ever. Looking back on five cruises now, all I can say, and I mean this in the most supportive way, is "calm down".

Tickets for the meet-n-greets aside, this is not the same thing as planning a WDW vacation. It does not require anywhere near the same amount of prep and strategizing as rope drops, Extra Magic Hours and booking "Frozen Ever After" the minute your FP+ window opens.

I agree with Shmoo - you are paying a pretty penny for this cruise. Why not enjoy everything the ship has to offer vs. spending more money (and hassle) to hit Atlantis, especially if your child can't take advantage of the two primary draws of that resort?

Like WDW, trying to over-plan for a large number of people is usually a waste of time. Just agree to meet for dinner and let everyone do their own thing during the day. The ship is only so big, and you will likely bump into each other at some point anyway.

I'd say book your meet-n-greets ASAP, but the rest of it can be a bit more leisurely. For example, I've had no issue booking BBB/Pirates League or Senses spa treatments once I got onboard. By all means, book ahead if you want, but again, it's generally not the same pressure as nabbing a high-demand FastPass at WDW.

Pick up the most recent Passporter book, and maybe the most recent Unofficial Guide as well, and browse around here to gather info.

You will have a great time.

 

[Flossbolna]

You already got some good advice from the previous posters. I wanted to add that I found the Unofficial Guide to be an excellent tool for someone who is used to plan like crazy for WDW as it gives you the security that you are not missing out on things.

While Princess and Frozen Meet & Greet are now pre-bookable, the gingerbread making is not. For that you would still go to guest services to sign up.

Make sure that your reservations in your group are linked. And otherwise, a cruise is a perfect vacation to split up at times and then meet up again because everyone is close by. You can communicate with each other via the wave phones or through the DCL app.

 

[Dec38]

Thank you all! This is great advice. One more question -- We 'd like to be able to board the ship as early as possible. Any tips for this? I think I'm already behind the curve, since I'm only now thinking about passports, etc. and I'm pretty sure my passport is expired. My online check in window opens in two weeks, so I don't know if I'll have my renewed passport by then, even if I get my application in tomorrow's with expedited processing. Do I need my passport in order to pick a port arrival time? If I can't do online check in at the instant the window opens, should I expect to be stuck with a late arrival time and a late boarding time? Can I check in and schedule arrival times for the rest of my family even if my passport is not ready?

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

1st comment. You are going to be FINE. Plenty of time left, and not TOO much needs to be planned. Personally, I like planning, it is part of the fun for me, so I made this big document with all sorts of information for the 9 people going me (my family, my sister's family, our mother). They appreciated it, but they really didn't start thinking about it until a week or two before, by then I could answer almost all of there questions with, "It's in the document!"

It is good for people to know what sorts of activities are available, even if the exact ones and times aren't know. You may be able to find a Personal Navigator from more recently than 1 year ago. Do they want to do alcohol tastings, etc? Those are booked on the ship, some fill up, others don't. BBB can be reserved ahead of time. Likewise Palo and Remy. Most things don't require any sign up at all (Bingo, towel folding, ship tours, etc.) just show up at the time and place it says in the Navigator.

For us, we found the Navigator App to be very helpful. Once you get on board you can see all the activities for the cruise, instead of just that day. So at dinner or back at the rooms, you can talk about who wants to do what. It also helps in handling conflicts since some things happen more than once. Plus the ability to send free texts to each other are great for telling other people in your group what you are doing in case they want to join you. (Or just where in Cabanas you found a table!) Even tweens with Wi-Fi enabled iPods can use the app, doesn't have to be a smart phone.

As for arrival time and passports not here yet, this happened to us. When you do the online registration, just choose "photo id" instead of "passport." This will allow you to complete the process and choose a PAT. Then, later, when you get the passports, you can go back in and change it to "passport" and enter your number. Check occasionally for earlier PAT's to open. You could get lucky. We got 11:00 right at the 75 day mark. So it wasn't bad. Don't wait on that though.

 

[Geomom]

For us, we found the Navigator App to be very helpful. Once you get on board you can see all the activities for the cruise, instead of just that day. So at dinner or back at the rooms, you can talk about who wants to do what. It also helps in handling conflicts since some things happen more than once. Plus the ability to send free texts to each other are great for telling other people in your group what you are doing in case they want to join you. (Or just where in Cabanas you found a table!) Even tweens with Wi-Fi enabled iPods can use the app, doesn't have to be a smart phone.

We LOVED the app as well! Our first cruise was the 8/8/16 Alaska on the Wonder. The app was great to stay in touch with our kids (age 12 and 16), to figure out when 'we' would be able to see certain characters, when we could see a particular movie during the week, what other activities were offered at a certain time so that we adults were on the art of the theme show tour and the kids went to a family magic show. We would get a seat for the evening show just after 8PM, and then have 20-25 minutes to go through the app and plan out the next day...or later in the week!

 

[DisneySunPrincess]

As for arrival time and passports not here yet, this happened to us. When you do the online registration, just choose "photo id" instead of "passport." This will allow you to complete the process and choose a PAT. Then, later, when you get the passports, you can go back in and change it to "passport" and enter your number. Check occasionally for earlier PAT's to open. You could get lucky. We got 11:00 right at the 75 day mark. So it wasn't bad. Don't wait on that though.

I second the above regarding the passports. Just choose "birth certificate and photo id" and go back to change it later. I also got a PAT around 11 am on my first cruise, but I did book it at midnight on the first possible day I could set it up. Good luck!

 

[squirk]

Thank you all! This is great advice. One more question -- We 'd like to be able to board the ship as early as possible. Any tips for this? I think I'm already behind the curve, since I'm only now thinking about passports, etc. and I'm pretty sure my passport is expired. My online check in window opens in two weeks, so I don't know if I'll have my renewed passport by then, even if I get my application in tomorrow's with expedited processing. Do I need my passport in order to pick a port arrival time? If I can't do online check in at the instant the window opens, should I expect to be stuck with a late arrival time and a late boarding time? Can I check in and schedule arrival times for the rest of my family even if my passport is not ready?

Have you listened to the DIS Unplugged "Disney Cruise Primer" podcast from several years ago? It was released 11/17/10, so it's a little dated, but most of the info still holds up. You might find it worth a listen.

 

[sharonabe]

Since you want an early Port Arrival Time (PAT), your online checking day is the only time you'll want to stay up til midnight, so you can get all of you checked in and get the PAT you want. Make sure all of you are linked on your MDE, so all of you come up together. AND something we learned, only one of you should be online doing this. If two (or more) of you have your "My Disney Cruise" open and your linked, it messes with their system and may not open the check-in process. We didn't know that, and my DSil and I were checking it together. Even after she logged off and went to bed, it was another hour before the process finally showed "open" on my MDE.

 

[Dec38]

Thank you all so much! This is so helpful. It is so reassuring to know I can do the online check in without a passport.

I've never linked reservations before. So if I understand correctly, once the reservations (3 separate families, 3 separate reservations) are linked, if I log in with my email and password, I will be able to do online check in and book activities, etc. for everyone? Even if there are three separate reservation numbers, and I'm not actually on two of the reservations?

 

[TestingH2O]

Thank you all so much! This is so helpful. It is so reassuring to know I can do the online check in without a passport.

I've never linked reservations before. So if I understand correctly, once the reservations (3 separate families, 3 separate reservations) are linked, if I log in with my email and password, I will be able to do online check in and book activities, etc. for everyone? Even if there are three separate reservation numbers, and I'm not actually on two of the reservations?

That's how it should work. Now, our most recent booking, I had to go in and manually do it. If it doesn't show up, you can add them with the reservation number and a birthdate. I've also seen people suggest waiting to link them until closer just so there's no chance of anyone accidentally changing anyone's activity bookings.

 

[undertheradar]

My best advice? Relax, you will be on vacation. Plan a few priority activities, then let the rest happen. There is art work throughout the ship. People rush around, missing some of the finer details on the ship. Remember that you cannot possibly do everything offered and you will have a much more relaxed cruise.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

A note about linked reservations. You definitely want to link them so you get a table together, etc. It will also allow you to reserve excusions and meet and greets, etc., for your whole group (or any subset of your group that you choose). This is super helpful so that you all select the same time for things that you want to do together.

But as a previous person said, there can be issues with linked reservations when you actually go to reserve things. I had this experience when my sister and I (luckily we were on the phone with each other) both logged in at midnight to do our reservations and check-in.

First of all, let me explain that there are two different parts of the online process, both of which may matter to you and can be time sensitive.

1 is reserving events, the other online check in.

Reserving events, like port excursions, BBB, Princess Meet and Greet, are best done by one person for all three of your groups. With the reservations linked, you can go into the system and select the events you want for all the people (or any subset) in all three of your groups. As a PP said, for this part, it is important that no one else from one of your groups be logged in and looking at these events, as they will accidentally block you from doing so. You want to do this ASAP so that events don't get filled up. But if they do fill up and you can't get as many slots as you'd like, I recommend booking as many people as you can and then checking back periodically as people tend to over book initially to reserve things and then drop some of them. (We had one excursion where we could only get 5 of 9 needed slots. We took the 5, and then found 4 more available a couple at a time later in the week.) At first, we thought, well if can't all go we don't want to do it, or well we don't want to leave one person out, but that is wrong thinking. Reserve all the slots you can in the hopes that you can add more soon. In a week or two, if you still can't get enough you can decide to switch to something less filled up for your whole group.

Online check in, might be easier to do by three separate heads of your three groups, because they ask lot of personal details, birthdays, credit card numbers, charging privileges for the kids, etc. so it might be easier for one person from each family to do this. (Unless you have gathered all this info from everyone in advance.) Remember, since your goal is to complete check-in to get an early PAT time, I recommend putting in SOMETHING for every person on every question asked. You can always go back (up to 3 days before sailing) and change any information you put it, but it won't let you get a PAT unless all the information is in there. So for instance, I didn't know where were staying the night before at that point, or what ground transportation we were using, so I just put in a guess, and corrected it once I knew for sure.

One last thing about multiple people looking at the excursions. The first night, we experienced the same thing as the PP where my being in the system blocked my sister for hours (but since she was on the phone with me I knew she couldn't get in and I just selected all the excursions that she wanted for her.) Later I realized the only reason she was blocked for so long was because I didn't log out properly. Later, I was careful to log out each time and then she found that she could get in right after I logged out. That was true for reserving events. I think we were able to do the online check in simultaneously.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you all so much! This is so helpful. It is so reassuring to know I can do the online check in without a passport.

I've never linked reservations before. So if I understand correctly, once the reservations (3 separate families, 3 separate reservations) are linked, if I log in with my email and password, I will be able to do online check in and book activities, etc. for everyone? Even if there are three separate reservation numbers, and I'm not actually on two of the reservations?

As long as all the rooms are the same Castaway Club level, then you will be able to include anyone in any of the rooms for excursion bookings.

As for the actual check in, each room/reservation must do that separately. But, you can do it for them as long as you have the information to get into their reservation (you need one person's name and birthdate that's on each separate reservation).

 

[kiford]

When you do the online registration, just choose "photo id" instead of "passport." This will allow you to complete the process and choose a PAT.

Unless they've changed it recently, you can just put nonsense into the passport number and then replace later. It doesn't do any checking or validation. I've done that while waiting for my updated passport.