Great unknown tips or secrets!

[michaels_mom]

Great tips! Here's a couple more:

1. I read elsewhere on here to bring an over-the-door shoe organizer ($1 at the Dollar Store) to put in the bathroom - we put all of our toiletries in there and then the counters were kept clear ;

2. We brought a Disney nitelite (again, $1 at Dollar Store) for DS

3. Don't forget to latch your closet doors closed! We figured that out on the first night when it slid open, banged and woke us up-whodathunk? ;

4. We did the highlighters and post-it notes tips already mentioned - great idea!

5. DS wanted a plain ham sandwich from room service (not panini/grilled - he has pretty bland tastebuds) - They sent up a double-decker sandwich that he loved!

That's it for now...

 

[cruisecrzy]

We used an over-the-door shoe holder on the bathrrom door. It was great for dd2 shoes, junk from our pockets, little stuff that would have cluttered a counter.

Also, dd has a small spring hamper that fold into a ring. Well we pack it and open it in the room as a place for dirty clothes or kid junk.

Thanks for all the tips. Never knew the powder thing, but my husband will be thrilled.

 

[tawasdave]

Very limited electrical plugs in the room...pack a couple of those cheap extension chords with mutiple plug ins...

 

[cyberfilly]

General tip for all of you considering a DCL Cruise: Just do it, because as they say, "you can't take it with you!!".

 

[pgfour]

More great tips!

I'll need to remember a night light and possibly pop-up hamper!

I also picked up a travel-size bottle of detergent for $.99. Good for 4 loads of laundry. Probably a little cheaper than what they sell on board.

 

[vassello]

We brought along a few extension cords to help with the limited supply of outlets. Also, we brought a soft sided cooler with us and kept it in our room. The room steward filled it with ice TWICE a day so we always had a cold drink (alcohol or otherwise) back in our room!

Along the same lines we took a limo from the airport to the boat. On the way we stocked up on 2 cases of beer, 1 case of Mike's hard lemonade, 2 bottles of champagne and a few bottles of wine. Also, a case of bottled water. We carried it all onto the boat and took it directly to our room - no problems. Sure cut down on the bar bill at the end of the trip!

Make sure you decorate your door. Not only is it tons of fun, it helps you get excited for the trip! Once on board, you meet tons of people who love the door design - new DIS friends! (It also helps you find your room if you are somewhat visually impaired.....!)

Don't forget the glow necklaces/bracelets for pirate night. Tons of fun and actually easy to find at Walmart or online.

At Target I purchased swim fins and goggles at the end of the season for $5/set. We packed them into large plastic bags and brought them to Castaway Cay instead of renting. They worked fine and I was prepared to leave them if necessary. This also works great with blow up floats or sand toys. Also, it is OK to bring your cooler to Castaway Cay with you filled with your own beverages of choice. (Don't forget the buy one, get one free drinks on Castaway Cay towards the end of the day!!!!)

That's all I can think of for now. Wishing I was on the Magic right now....

 

[MrJimmyDale]

Thanks for the info!!!

 

[mickey minder]

Take a lighted clock, so you can tell time in the dark.

 

[musicgirl]

Bring an empty squirt bottle, before you leave for any excursion involving water, fill it with clean water so that you have an easy way to rinse the salt water out of your eyes and hands.

Bring an empty bottle to fill with the room amenities. I always feel guilty when I just load up the bottles unused. So, I fill my bottle and leave the empty "used" packages behind so that it looks like we used it all up.

If you want a Palo Brunch, get up at 3am the day the ressies open.

Want to enjoy the fresh air instead of messing with drying your hair in the room?
Go stand on aft deck 7 or any deck. This was so awesome. I hate drying my hair because it is very thick and long. If it is sunny, your hair will be dry in just a few minutes!!! If it is in the evening, the wind will help that!

 

[Tarabra]

We saw a woman in a thong swimsuit at the Mickey pool! Now that was someone in need of a cover up!

When we cruised in '04, there were 2 little girls ages 5 and 7 or so in thongs. VERY disturbing. They were from Brazil...go figure.

 

[Tarabra]

A great time to enjoy the ship and have it mostly to yourselves is between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. The early diners are eating and the late diners are at the show. DH and I would just walk decks 9 and 10 or hang out in the hot tub. We have SOOO many pics of the ship where there is not a soul in sight. It's kind of fun to try to get these pics. We have some too where deck 4 is completely empty. Pretty cool.

Click on the pics below and you'll see a few where we "own" the ship!!

 

[taeja71]

Any one catch the power outage thread? she mentioned packing a flashlight next time.

 

[captaincrash]

Had to "mark" this thread... I'll come back to read it later and contribute once I know I'm not repeating anything!

Great topic!

 

[krzy4disney02]

I'm addicted to "cruise tips"! I never thought it would happen to me!

 

[MrsScooby]

For Ladies/girls doing the dolphin swin, better to wear a one piece bathing suit. The foot push part of the dolphin swim puts alot of water drag on the bottom of a bikini or tankini. Really takes away from the thrill if you are worried about losing the bottom half of the suit
I imagine the same would be true for men and speedos

 

[tvguy]

Most important tip, with every item you think about packing, ask yourself "Do I really need this?" If the answer is yes, put it in the "to be packed pile". Then come back and ask that question again a couple of days or hours later, "Do I REALLY need this?".

The over the door shoeholders seem popular with folks on these boards, yet I can not understand taking soo many shoes that this item would be necessary.

As others have said, "pack light, then go back and take half of what you packed out, and you find you still brought too much"

 

[sue]

Try to do a few loads of laundry while on the ship. The laundry rooms are on most levels of the ship. Best time to use them is right before bed. There is little to no wait then and you can keep on your laundry, so when you return home.... just unpack your clothes and put them away. Saves me a TON of extra time when I get home, because as we all know.... there is a million things calling your name when you walk into the door. To name a few.... grocery shopiing, laundry, unpacking, going through the mail, returning phone calls from when you were gone, and oh getting on the DIS boards to write a trip report too

 

[APinCA]

TVGuy,
The over-the-door shoe holder is not for shoes! It is for all of the small things that you leave on dressers, counters, etc. We keep hair brushes, tooth brushes/paste, sunscreen, etc in the pockets since we don't know which bathroom will be available and don't want anything stuck behind locked doors.

As a heavy packer, we always have everything available in the pockets. First aid kits, pens, paper, scissors, tape,........

 

[kecall]

As others have said, "pack light, then go back and take half of what you packed out, and you find you still brought too much"

That is true, unless you are a "heavy packer" like I am!!! I pack EVERYTHING I could possible want or need...and am glad to have it all at my disposal...just in case!!

Thank heavens I married a man who tolerates my need to "overpack"!

karen

 

[tvguy]

TVGuy,
The over-the-door shoe holder is not for shoes! It is for all of the small things that you leave on dressers, counters, etc. We keep hair brushes, tooth brushes/paste, sunscreen, etc in the pockets since we don't know which bathroom will be available and don't want anything stuck behind locked doors.

As a heavy packer, we always have everything available in the pockets. First aid kits, pens, paper, scissors, tape,........

Ok. You must be a heavy packer alright, all our stuff fit in the drawers in the cabin so never had an issue of anything being behind locked doors.