First time going on the Disney Dream... Tips/Secrets are welcome!

[CabreraFamily1318]

Hello everyone!

My family and I (husband will be 39, I will be getting ready to turn 33, my son will be 6 and my daughter will be 2), my mother (over 70), and my BFF (husband 34, she will be 32, daughters will be 16 and 5) and her family are going on our first Disney cruise next August (4 day Bahamas cruise on August 21, 2017).

I'm looking for any tips and/or secrets any of you veteran Disney cruisers may have.


TIA!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello everyone!

My family and I (husband will be 39, I will be getting ready to turn 33, my son will be 6 and my daughter will be 2), my mother (over 70), and my BFF (husband 34, she will be 32, daughters will be 16 and 5) and her family are going on our first Disney cruise next August (4 day Bahamas cruise on August 21, 2017).

I'm looking for any tips and/or secrets any of you veteran Disney cruisers may have.


TIA!

I'd suggest some intensive time reading the various threads here. That'll get you started. If you have specific questions, ask, we're a friendly bunch.

 

[CabreraFamily1318]

thank you PrincessShmoo!

Do you happen to know - off the top of your head - the best thread? If not, I'll definitely see what I can find.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

thank you PrincessShmoo!

Do you happen to know - off the top of your head - the best thread? If not, I'll definitely see what I can find.

Well, for starters, at the top of the main page here is a FAQ sticky. You might read through that. Some of the info there is a little dated, but it may spark a few specific questions for you. And then just read through the thread titles and see if anyone is asking anything that looks interesting to you. Open up the thread and see what's being said.

 

[gumbypee]

http://www.disboards.com/threads/cruise-secrets-that-dcl-doesnt-tell-you.1380936/

here is an oldie for a little reading LOL

also use the search feature and put in "tips" (although you may get some about money), or "first time" or "advice" etc

like shmoo said, ask specific questions too but that should get you started

 

[gumbypee]

see my previous post - I just quoted you on this one LOL

 

[gumbypee]

Hello everyone!

My family and I (husband will be 39, I will be getting ready to turn 33, my son will be 6 and my daughter will be 2), my mother (over 70), and my BFF (husband 34, she will be 32, daughters will be 16 and 5) and her family are going on our first Disney cruise next August (4 day Bahamas cruise on August 21, 2017).

I'm looking for any tips and/or secrets any of you veteran Disney cruisers may have.


TIA!

 

[CabreraFamily1318]

thank you gumbypee!

 

[TestingH2O]

I'd also suggest going to the trip report section of this forum and searching for Dream reports. I got lots of good information there for my first cruise.

 

[CabreraFamily1318]

will definitely look into that section. Thanks TestingH2O!

 

[JimGA]

I have some secrets but I cannot tell you because it wont be a secret anymore...lol..

I suggest, relaxing taking and enjoying the ship and your friends and family, avoiding any FB group gatherings, or Dismeets and Fish extender stuff, enjoy YOUR cruise and YOUR family. Our first cruise was on the Dream for a 4 nighter like yours.

-I was so glad I did not do the Fish Extender thing, I do not recommend that at all, just adds unnecessary stress prior to the cruise.

-Our first cruise we did excursions in the Bahamas, Dolphin swim for the wife and snorkeling for the kids and I, if I had to do it over again, I would not do anything in the Bahamas. maybe get off the ship to just walk around the port, but that would be it. Snorkeling was terrible and the Dolphins was good, but pricey.

-Pack light, and get a toiletry hanging organizer.

-I prefer the second dinner seating, we found the first seating to be too early as we were never hungry and also it felt like we had to cut our day short to get ready for dinner.

-Change to a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy, if possible, #1 tip

Flip flops for the pool and sun decks, the pool deck gets very hot.

these are just my suggestions.

Enjoy !

 

[CaliR]

I just got back from a 4 day cruise on the Disney Dream. I really enjoyed making magnets for our door and walking around to see other doors. One person on this forum suggested post it with positive comments on that persons door. We loved doing that!

We generally go early to the musical shows to get good seats.

We also found a lack of vegetables on the ship. Even one of my children noticed it. We found the smoothie bar upstairs next to the gym and had healthy spinach, and kale smoothies (some fruit) on a daily basis. Although it cost $4.95 it really helped me and my boys get a healthy serving of veggies. Don't forget to check out the Spa Senses, they have great prices for Spa Treatments. Other services like mani/pedi or hair blow out were very costly.

Finally, don't hesitate to ask for a particular dish on the menu you may have had the night before that you loved. In our case, I loved the children's chicken soup was more like a light consomme. A much better way to start a meal as the French Onion soup and a few of the cream soups were much to filling. Also, I loved the breaded salmon and ordered it at another restaurant on the ship even when not on the menu.

Have a great time! We loved our 1st cruise (altho to short) and are going again in December. Just keep cruising, just keep cruising!

 

[J Sanders]

Has anyone dined at Remy? I have reservations on the Pirate Night (to avoid the Caribbean food), and reserved an early time so that we will not miss the party and fireworks. Thoughts on Remy?

 

[DnA2010]

-I was so glad I did not do the Fish Extender thing, I do not recommend that at all, just adds unnecessary stress prior to the cruise.

We loved participating in the Fish Extending- for us, this was one of the distinct differences between our DCL cruise and our cruises on RCL that we really enjoyed

 

[JillSchorr]

Has anyone dined at Remy? I have reservations on the Pirate Night (to avoid the Caribbean food), and reserved an early time so that we will not miss the party and fireworks. Thoughts on Remy?

We ate at Remy on Pirate Night a few weeks ago. Our reservation was at 6:00 pm and it was a long, enjoyable dinner. We made it to the fireworks about 15 minutes before they started. We did make a quick pit stop to our stateroom to change clothing. We did miss everything prior to the fireworks but its a fun dance party after that. They do a buffet in Cabanas after the fireworks with mostly mexican based foods and a crepe station..but if you eat at Remy that night you won't want any part of that!

 

[DCLDVC1]

Don't take everything you read here and on other DCL pages as gospel.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Don't take everything you read here and on other DCL pages as gospel.

Quite true. We can only report our experiences. And such things can vary.

 

[CabreraFamily1318]

I have some secrets but I cannot tell you because it wont be a secret anymore...lol..

I suggest, relaxing taking and enjoying the ship and your friends and family, avoiding any FB group gatherings, or Dismeets and Fish extender stuff, enjoy YOUR cruise and YOUR family. Our first cruise was on the Dream for a 4 nighter like yours.

-I was so glad I did not do the Fish Extender thing, I do not recommend that at all, just adds unnecessary stress prior to the cruise.

-Our first cruise we did excursions in the Bahamas, Dolphin swim for the wife and snorkeling for the kids and I, if I had to do it over again, I would not do anything in the Bahamas. maybe get off the ship to just walk around the port, but that would be it. Snorkeling was terrible and the Dolphins was good, but pricey.

-Pack light, and get a toiletry hanging organizer.

-I prefer the second dinner seating, we found the first seating to be too early as we were never hungry and also it felt like we had to cut our day short to get ready for dinner.

-Change to a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy, if possible, #1 tip

Flip flops for the pool and sun decks, the pool deck gets very hot.

these are just my suggestions.

Enjoy !

Thank you for these! I read up on the Fish Extender thing, and personally think it's not worth the time and effort as well.

 

[CabreraFamily1318]

I just got back from a 4 day cruise on the Disney Dream. I really enjoyed making magnets for our door and walking around to see other doors. One person on this forum suggested post it with positive comments on that persons door. We loved doing that!

We generally go early to the musical shows to get good seats.

We also found a lack of vegetables on the ship. Even one of my children noticed it. We found the smoothie bar upstairs next to the gym and had healthy spinach, and kale smoothies (some fruit) on a daily basis. Although it cost $4.95 it really helped me and my boys get a healthy serving of veggies. Don't forget to check out the Spa Senses, they have great prices for Spa Treatments. Other services like mani/pedi or hair blow out were very costly.

Finally, don't hesitate to ask for a particular dish on the menu you may have had the night before that you loved. In our case, I loved the children's chicken soup was more like a light consomme. A much better way to start a meal as the French Onion soup and a few of the cream soups were much to filling. Also, I loved the breaded salmon and ordered it at another restaurant on the ship even when not on the menu.

Have a great time! We loved our 1st cruise (altho to short) and are going again in December. Just keep cruising, just keep cruising!

I can't wait to order our door magnets

How early did you arrive for the shows?

 

[JimGA]

I can't wait to order our door magnets

You can also make your own door magnets, there are plenty of DCL pictures and Mickey pictures on the internet.

What I did on our past cruises was I downloaded pictures I liked, did a text insert for names onto the picture and had the pictures printed at the photo shop at Costco for what ever size you want and then got some magnetic tape from a craft store, a peel off sticker on one side to attach your picture to and magnetic on the other side, walla done !