First Timer Cruiser tips?

[BeachMouse1]

So for several reasons we ended up booking a 4 night cruise on the Wish. It’s our first Disney cruise (well we did one over 20 years ago and we don’t remember it)
We are Disney World people and know how to do all that but clueless when it comes to the cruise ships.
Give me all the tips, what to see, do, eat, plan, anything you think would be helpful please?

 

[Dug720]

Biggest advice - Know going in that there is NO WAY to do it all. Prioritize the things that are most important and consider other things icing on the cake if you get to do them.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

First off; you can't do everything. Just not possible on a 4 night. Do the research on Wish here and at the DCL website to see what's available. What are your family's priorities? Do you have littles or teens? Do you and your partner like upscale dining? Is fun in the sun your priority or 'inside activities' (e.g. trivia games, magician acts, live music...)?

That's what we've done successfully for many many cruises.

Tips: bring more than enough sunscreen. They charge a king's ransom for sunscreen. Same for a First Aid kit. We always decorate our door in a unique way using crafts with magnets glued on. It's fun and helps us find our door. They all look the same! Go to the shows; they're amazing. If you're introverts and would rather not share a dinner table with another family (or 2), you can request solo dining. It's only a request, but in our 27 cruises, we've only had it not honored once. I load funds into the onboard account to cover our spends. Internet connection, alcohol, port adventures and all that. Circling back to 'what's your priorities', I figure out what the cost will be and pre-purchase onboard credit (you can do that through the DCL site/app. That reminds me: download the app. It's where the ship's schedule, your onboard account and everything else can be found. On that note, if you're enjoying the cruise, purchase a placeholder for your next cruise. When you get home, y'all can figure out what your next vacay will be, call DCL with the placeholder number and you get 10% of the cruise and a reduced minimum deposit. If you don't use the placeholder, the money is refunded to you (I think it's 2 years, but I forget. I've never had one refunded!).

There's so much more. Most importantly: have fun. DCL cruises are like those potato chips, you can't have just one

 

[BeachMouse1]

First off; you can't do everything. Just not possible on a 4 night. Do the research on Wish here and at the DCL website to see what's available. What are your family's priorities? Do you have littles or teens? Do you and your partner like upscale dining? Is fun in the sun your priority or 'inside activities' (e.g. trivia games, magician acts, live music...)?

That's what we've done successfully for many many cruises.

Tips: bring more than enough sunscreen. They charge a king's ransom for sunscreen. Same for a First Aid kit. We always decorate our door in a unique way using crafts with magnets glued on. It's fun and helps us find our door. They all look the same! Go to the shows; they're amazing. If you're introverts and would rather not share a dinner table with another family (or 2), you can request solo dining. It's only a request, but in our 27 cruises, we've only had it not honored once. I load funds into the onboard account to cover our spends. Internet connection, alcohol, port adventures and all that. Circling back to 'what's your priorities', I figure out what the cost will be and pre-purchase onboard credit (you can do that through the DCL site/app. That reminds me: download the app. It's where the ship's schedule, your onboard account and everything else can be found. On that note, if you're enjoying the cruise, purchase a placeholder for your next cruise. When you get home, y'all can figure out what your next vacay will be, call DCL with the placeholder number and you get 10% of the cruise and a reduced minimum deposit. If you don't use the placeholder, the money is refunded to you (I think it's 2 years, but I forget. I've never had one refunded!).

There's so much more. Most importantly: have fun. DCL cruises are like those potato chips, you can't have just one

Thank you. We are 2 adults no kids. Big Disney fans. Question if you don’t mind, do you have to add funds before you go or can you just add a credit card and have it all billed to that card?
We enjoy nice dining as well

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Thank you. We are 2 adults no kids. Big Disney fans. Question if you don’t mind, do you have to add funds before you go or can you just add a credit card and have it all billed to that card?
We enjoy nice dining as well

For onboard purchases, you can go either way; preload or just have your Cc on file. I'm just OCD about the fees.

Our kids waved off cruising a few years back, so it's just DW and I now. On the Magic cruise we just got back from 2 days ago, we did 3 Palo meals (2 dinners x 1 brunch). Just so good. Yum. When available, we also go to Remy/Enchante (Remy on Dream & Fantasy, Enchante is pretty much the same thing on Wish & Treasure).

Also, the Disney Cruiseline Blog https://disneycruiselineblog.com/is a great resource. Scott has all the menus, staterooms, itineraries...you name it, he's got it.

ETA: not sure if you qualify, but there are discounts on the purchase of your cruise for Military (active duty, retired, DoD civilian), Florida residents, and also non-guaranteed staterooms where you pick a category (veranda, inside, oceanview) and DCL will assign the specific room. You get a discount for that too.

 

[Liastaob]

Thank you. We are 2 adults no kids. Big Disney fans. Question if you don’t mind, do you have to add funds before you go or can you just add a credit card and have it all billed to that card?
We enjoy nice dining as well

They'll bill everything to whatever card you have on file. You can either give them your key or use your Magic Band +.

Have fun! For two adults I'd probably suggest doing the Rainforest pass thing and making extensive use of the Rainforest room. Depends on how much you're budget allows for.

Enchante is an amazing experience, so I'd swing for that if you're able and are interested in "fancy" dining. If you're Frozen fans, Arendelle is a lot of fun.

 

[NAB]

Thank you. We are 2 adults no kids. Big Disney fans. Question if you don’t mind, do you have to add funds before you go or can you just add a credit card and have it all billed to that card?
We enjoy nice dining as well

You can pay everything with your credit card. Your number will be filed to your cabin . Everything bought on the ship including bar purchases . You can go put cash on it if you don’t want it all on your credit card at the end. Just go to guest services, just know they will automatically put it through when it hits $300 maybe I can’t remember you can ask. Gratitudites are also automatically put on there at the end too.

You only use your Key to the World card ( door key, card you need to swipe to go off ship and back on , and all purchases on the ship). It will be waiting outside your door in an envelope when your cabin opens up about 1:30 -2:00

 

[CarolynFH]

One of the most helpful threads I found here was the one about doing online checkin. If you’re taking Disney transportation to the port, it’s not so important because your Port Arrival Time (PAT, the time you’ll be allowed to enter the terminal on embarkation day) will be assigned by Disney, but if you’re arriving via other means you might want to complete the online check in process as quickly as possible so to get the earliest possible PAT.

The thread is among the stickies above - https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-do-i-need-to-have-prepared-for-online-check-in.3885775/.

 

[CamColt]

Another form of payment that I don't think has been mentioned here is Disney gift cards. You can preload those for on board purchases or put them on your account while on board. You can also pay for the cruise with them. The advantage to this for us is if you have the Target Red Card you can purchase the gift cards at Target (or Target on line) and get 5% off. While it not a huge amount, it does add up.

 

[Beachbummer]

Another form of payment that I don't think has been mentioned here is Disney gift cards. You can preload those for on board purchases or put them on your account while on board. You can also pay for the cruise with them. The advantage to this for us is if you have the Target Red Card you can purchase the gift cards at Target (or Target on line) and get 5% off. While it not a huge amount, it does add up.

When preloading gift cards for on board purchases, does it matter who the credit is assigned to in a stateroom? I am gifting my kids Disney gift cards for Christmas to use on our January cruise. I assume they cannot use the actual gift cards at the shops on board. But I don’t want to necessarily give them spending privileges on their key cards. If I assign it to them, does the credit go into one account for our stateroom? Or do I need to assign it to me or my spouse?

 

[mjkacmom]

My suggestion is to get travel insurance, many heath insurance plans don’t work out of the US (or the ship’s infirmary). It’s been a long time since I sailed DCL, but the closer you get to sailing, the refund policy (or lack of) kicks in. If you are flying to the port get insurance that covers that as well. It’s really not that expensive.

 

[RedHead0186]

My suggestion is to get travel insurance, many heath insurance plans don’t work out of the US (or the ship’s infirmary). It’s been a long time since I sailed DCL, but the closer you get to sailing, the refund policy (or lack of) kicks in. If you are flying to the port get insurance that covers that as well. It’s really not that expensive.

Piggybacking on this: check your credit cards. Some of the travel credit cards do include some health insurance.

 

[BeachMouse1]

For onboard purchases, you can go either way; preload or just have your Cc on file. I'm just OCD about the fees.

Our kids waved off cruising a few years back, so it's just DW and I now. On the Magic cruise we just got back from 2 days ago, we did 3 Palo meals (2 dinners x 1 brunch). Just so good. Yum. When available, we also go to Remy/Enchante (Remy on Dream & Fantasy, Enchante is pretty much the same thing on Wish & Treasure).

Also, the Disney Cruiseline Blog https://disneycruiselineblog.com/is a great resource. Scott has all the menus, staterooms, itineraries...you name it, he's got it.

ETA: not sure if you qualify, but there are discounts on the purchase of your cruise for Military (active duty, retired, DoD civilian), Florida residents, and also non-guaranteed staterooms where you pick a category (veranda, inside, oceanview) and DCL will assign the specific room. You get a discount for that too.

So we would be interested in the Palo or Enchante. Having not been on a Disney cruise and having such low status we have heard that getting a reservation can be difficult is this true?
Also being the last to be able to register for boarding can we expect to be boarding last? I see things about people staying up till midnight and registering then? Should I do this?

 

[NAB]

When preloading gift cards for on board purchases, does it matter who the credit is assigned to in a stateroom? I am gifting my kids Disney gift cards for Christmas to use on our January cruise. I assume they cannot use the actual gift cards at the shops on board. But I don’t want to necessarily give them spending privileges on their key cards. If I assign it to them, does the credit go into one account for our stateroom? Or do I need to assign it to me or my spouse?

A card is pre stateroom . The other people in the stateroom you have to put on the cards either you say yes or no. Can’t put limit on how much on the cards we wanted to that with our kids. I’m not sure if you can use gift cards in the stores.

In the statement with charges it will be itemized by the person who signed for the charges.

 

[Mommb]

When preloading gift cards for on board purchases, does it matter who the credit is assigned to in a stateroom? I am gifting my kids Disney gift cards for Christmas to use on our January cruise. I assume they cannot use the actual gift cards at the shops on board. But I don’t want to necessarily give them spending privileges on their key cards. If I assign it to them, does the credit go into one account for our stateroom? Or do I need to assign it to me or my spouse?

If you pre-load money into your onboard account, it will be assigned to lead guest. As NAB described above, each Key to the World card is assigned to a specific guest. When you do online check-in, you will need to indicate whether you want children to have charging privileges. and, if so, which passenger will take responsibility for their charges. You will also provide a method of payment for the charges for which you are responsible. If you provide a credit card, that will be used after any other funds on the account (such as credits from a travel agency, pre-loaded funds, and gift cards you apply while onboard) have been used.

When you look at the onboard charges for your account (either in the Cruise app or by getting a printout at Guest Services) you will see the charges made by each passenger. It may be possible to use Disney Gift Cards in the shops, but elsewhere on the ship (for example, buying popcorn by the theater or smoothies on the pool deck) charges are made to the room. If you want to limit your kids' spending, you can either make all purchases for them yourself (that is, not give them charging privileges) or you can tell the amount they are allowed to spend and monitor that spending. They can try using gift cards in the shop and, if that doesn't work, you can apply the cards to your account by going to Guest Services.

 

[Liastaob]

So we would be interested in the Palo or Enchante. Having not been on a Disney cruise and having such low status we have heard that getting a reservation can be difficult is this true?
Also being the last to be able to register for boarding can we expect to be boarding last? I see things about people staying up till midnight and registering then? Should I do this?

As brand new cruisers, my wife and I were able to do Enchante brunch on the day at sea on the Wish. We did the same thing for our 2nd cruise and again had no issues.

Definitely do your plans at midnight eastern time; not the morning like WDW does for ADR's.

Oh, another thing: try to fit in the live shows, they're all quite good. The Wish has Little Mermaid and Aladdin, and a sail-away show that's a lot of fun if you're into Disney music.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

So we would be interested in the Palo or Enchante. Having not been on a Disney cruise and having such low status we have heard that getting a reservation can be difficult is this true?
Also being the last to be able to register for boarding can we expect to be boarding last? I see things about people staying up till midnight and registering then? Should I do this?

As far as Palo and Enchante go, if you can't get a reservation via the website then go to I think it's the bayou lounge upon embarkation. the Palo and Enchante managers will be there and they will probably have preservations available.

As far as boarding goes you will probably have a later boarding group but in the end you'll be on the ship before it leaves so... If you want to stay up till midnight, which is what I do, you do you

 

[NAB]

As far as Palo and Enchante go, if you can't get a reservation via the website then go to I think it's the bayou lounge upon embarkation. the Palo and Enchante managers will be there and they will probably have preservations available.

As far as boarding goes you will probably have a later boarding group but in the end you'll be on the ship before it leaves so... If you want to stay up till midnight, which is what I do, you do you

I believe the dinning changes etc are in Luna on embarkation day. Maybe I’m wrong just check the app. under dining.

 

[Liastaob]

I believe the dinning changes etc are in Luna on embarkation day. Maybe I’m wrong just check the app. under dining.

They were in Luna the one time I needed them, but that was a few years ago. Tiana's would be a lot more pleasant...

 

[Beachbummer]

If you pre-load money into your onboard account, it will be assigned to lead guest. As NAB described above, each Key to the World card is assigned to a specific guest. When you do online check-in, you will need to indicate whether you want children to have charging privileges. and, if so, which passenger will take responsibility for their charges. You will also provide a method of payment for the charges for which you are responsible. If you provide a credit card, that will be used after any other funds on the account (such as credits from a travel agency, pre-loaded funds, and gift cards you apply while onboard) have been used.

When you look at the onboard charges for your account (either in the Cruise app or by getting a printout at Guest Services) you will see the charges made by each passenger. It may be possible to use Disney Gift Cards in the shops, but elsewhere on the ship (for example, buying popcorn by the theater or smoothies on the pool deck) charges are made to the room. If you want to limit your kids' spending, you can either make all purchases for them yourself (that is, not give them charging privileges) or you can tell the amount they are allowed to spend and monitor that spending. They can try using gift cards in the shop and, if that doesn't work, you can apply the cards to your account by going to Guest Services.

When I attempt to add the gift card to purchase on board credit, the app/website asks me to choose a person that the credit will be linked to. Based on what you are saying above, it does not matter who I choose (in my stateroom). Correct?