Hi! Heading for my first
Disney cruise in the autumn on Magic. I’ve been avidly cruising for many years now on various lines but mostly RCL
Are the Disney ships similar to other lines? Is there anything they do/don’t do in particular I should be thinking about?
I enjoy the shows at night, would they have a similar set up?
I've never sailed on another line, so I can't compare it besides from what I've heard. I know a lot of other lines have casinos, while
DCL does not. DCL does have Bingo in a pretty fun format, though I'm not sure if the final jackpot game has been restored since reopening. It wasn't included on the two post-Covid cruises I've taken. The final jackpot game was the only game where you had a realistic chance of winning thousands of dollars.
The shows are good and they are first-come, first-served in terms of seating. Arrive at least 15 minutes before the show to avoid seating issues.
DCL has nice adult-only areas both on the ship and on
Castaway Cay, which has an adult-only beach. Kids are effectively kept out of those areas.
I recommend you have dinner once at the upcharge restaurant, Palo. A lot of people prefer to go there for brunch (I suppose because that won't interfere with attending an MDR dinner), but imo dinner is better.
You have the same serving team each night in the MDR. They will rotate with you to the different restaurants each night. You have a set dining time. If you don't want to have dinner in the MDR, you can try to book a time at Palo, you can eat quick service food on the pool deck, or you can order food from room service (24 hours and complimentary for most items, plus tip). Cabanas offers a buffet for breakfast and lunch, but not dinner. They used to offer table service for dinner, but I don't know if they still do that or not. You can eat at an MDR for breakfast or dinner (not scheduled & not with your dinner serving team), but the hours for that are limited. Imo the food at MDR breakfast and lunch is a little better than the food at Cabanas.
Some people choose to decorate their stateroom doors with Disney character magnets that fit around the porthole-shaped room number on the door. If that appeals to you, you can buy those at Etsy. I always enjoy doing that, and it keeps me from ever forgetting which room is mine. Some people join social media groups for their particular cruise, and within those you can join a Fish Extender group, which is basically a small gift exchange group, where you drop little gifts off for one another into these hanging receptacles next to the stateroom door called fish extenders. You can buy fish extenders from Etsy, if you're interested. The door decorations & fish extenders are two things that I wish I had known more about before my first cruise, because I enjoy that kind of thing.
There used to also be an officer's pin trading session, in which several ship officers lined up, wearing lanyards covered with Disney pins, and you could trade your pins for theirs. I really enjoyed this, but it hasn't yet returned.
I recommend going for a bike ride on Castaway Cay. You can sign up for that as a Port Adventure, but it's totally independent- you're not part of a group and there is no scheduled time (even though the port adventure sign up mentions a time, you should ignore that). You just show up at the island bike place whenever you feel like it and sign in for your bike, and there are very nice paths on the island. There is a nice lookout that you can get to via the paths. You keep the bike for as long as you like and don't need to worry about signing it back in. Everything is laid back on Castaway Cay.
Have a great cruise! If you have any more specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
