First time Disney Cruiser Questions?

[MamaKate]

Hello! I'm in the process of planning our first Disney Cruise and have a few questions ! We are planning a 3 day land, 4 day sea trip.

1) Which time of the year is best? Late October or Early May?? I really want to go in October, because we want to do the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, but is it still warm? Which time of year has the best wheather and activities??

2) Should we do a stop at Freeport of a day at Sea on the cruise?

3) The shows at the live theatre, are they seating on a first come-first serve basis or are you seated by your catagory #?

4) I wanted a verandah room, because I thought the fresh air would be great in case we needed it. Is it worth the extra money or are the regular staterooms fine?

5) Tipping? Do you tip at the time of service or is it like some cruises when you tip at the end of the cruise ?

I hope this isn't too many questions, but I want to make sure our first Disney cruise is magical !

Thanks for any help and suggestions!
,
Katherine

 

[tarzanman]

Just to help out a bit

1. October will be fine. May and October will both be warm on your cruise. October will be better because you should definitely go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party if you can.

2. I wouldn't worry about having a Freeport day. It is a long taxi ride off of the boat. Stay on the ship and have a fun day. Unless you are dying to shop.

3. Seating is on a first come first serve basis. There is no category preference.

4. You won't need the Verandah room if you are not people that just hang in their room. If you are, you might want it. It will keep your room cooler at night. My DW and I always get inside rooms because they are cheaper and we are only in our room to sleep and change clothes. We don't go on the cruise to just hang out in the room.

5. You tip on the last day except for room service. RS is the only cash tips that you give on the boat. As per your own discretion. The tips on beverages are built in to every purchase. 15% on every drink. You can tip extra if you want.

I hope that this helps.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I cruised Oct. 2000. First we went to the MK and did MNSSHP, it was great, the parade was my favorite.

Then we were onboard for Halloween, they had trick or treating on the ship and a big party up on deck. It was great.

As for the verandah, we totally enjoyed ours. It was nice to sit out there after the kids were in bed and in the morning with coffee. If you have kids, I would recommend it.

 

[buzz&woody'smom]

I planned our Wonder cruise last year so we arrived back in Florida on the 31st then we went to WDW for a few days so we could attend the MNSHP. I thought (ha, ha) when they said "Limited tickets available" it would be a smaller event...................while the decorations were great and it was neat to see the Magic Kingdom all decorated it was SO crowded. I was not prepared for the crowds. You could not even move. You had to stand in line forever to get candy. I swear I must have said 100 times I should have just run over to Target and bought a bag of candy, for the $75 worth of tickets is cost we could have purchased a lot of candy.

Just be prepared if you go on actual Halloween like I was silly enough to do it is crowded.

This year we will be on the Magic over Halloween....yeah!

Have fun!

 

[dianedisney]

If you cruise in October just know that you will be hitting the last part of the hurricane season and the seas could be rough. Also be prepared for an alternate port if weather not cooperating. Tipping is done at the end of the cruise, but...for room service, ordering drinks from a waiter/waitress you need to tip on the charge slip at time of signing. Since you are going on a short cruise and not a 7nt unless you want to spend the extra money I would do without a balcony unless you smoke. On the longer Disney Magic cruise I always get a balcony, it is wonderful late at night when all is quiet and the moon is shining on the ocean. Plus I open my verandah door you get the sound of the ocean.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Definitely purchase insurance in case you cancel due to an upcoming hurricane. A few years ago we cruised the first week of November and hit a really bad hurricane. We got wet from waves standing on our verandah. When we finally hit port in the Bahamas, half the ship checked out and flew back home.

 

[MamaKate]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really wanted to go during Halloween, but now I'm sort of worried about the weather .

Either month I go, I'm sure we'll still have fun. My kids are more excited about playing in the club & seeing the live stage shows than actually going to the ports. But they do want to swim in the ships pool. Are the pools on the ship heated just in case the weather is cool??

Also, do you guys feel the vacation insurance is worth it?

Thanks again for all the advice. If anyone else has any tips, I'm glad to hear them !

,
Katherine

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

The weather around Halloween should be fine. Still very warm. Only potential problem is hurricanes, but the peak of Hurricane Season tends to have passed by mid-October.