Help! for a cruise beginner

[California Mom]

I've got a pretty could knowledge of the ins/outs of WDW...but Disney Cruise (heck, any cruise!), I'm in the dark about!..help! Please give me some of the basics that I should know about when considering booking a Disney family cruise...

- time of the year to cruise considering price and weather (Sept/Jan)?
- category?
- room size?
- kids/teens activities, must do? on cruise & in port
- parents activities, must do? on cruise & in port

Thanks, from an inexperienced cruiser...but Disney lover!

 

[ivanova]

- time of the year to cruise considering price and weather (Sept/Jan)?
- category?
- room size?
- kids/teens activities, must do? on cruise & in port
- parents activities, must do? on cruise & in port

After labor day in Sept would still be warm enough, and prices lower, but you still have to contend with possible hurricanes. January (after New Year's Day) is also cheaper, but can get downright cold in Castaway Cay (points further south in the Caribbean are nice though on the 7 night cruises).

Category - depends on your preferences. If you are claustrophobic, I would not recommend an inside cabin. If you're not, then an inside cabin works fine for a 3 or 4 night cruise, but 7 nights or longer a balcony is nice (cat 7 navigator verandahs are great if you can get one).

Room Size - bigger than most in the industry, especially for the lower end cabins.

My DD raves about the teen activities - we barely saw her on the 4 night cruises

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

We love going in December and March. To see the ship decorated for tjhe holidays is great. The weather is beautiful in the winter months, or at least it was when we went. Yes CC can have the water be a bit chilly sometimes, but the weather is usually 75 and up. Lots of wind just about anytime you go.
Too many things to choose from, so I'll just mention a couple.
Family activity: Mickey 200
Younger kids: Mr. Toads wild race
Family: Towel folding ( learn to make the animal towels you find in your room each night)
We loved the culinary demonstrations with samples!!!!
Nassau: Pirates museum Atlantis aquarium
Walk the plank, Who wants to be a Mousketeer (family)
Ice carving demonstration
Best legs contest or belly flop contest by pools
Bridge or galley tour ( free choc chip cookie)
All the stage shows are fantastic!! for all ages.
Teens have teen only excursions that are great and exciting.
St. John's eco hike
St.Maartins butterfly farm (younger kids)
Any snorkeling excursions

Tips for the Eastern especially, bathrooms are far a few between. Excursions will usually have ONE bathroom. They are packed and your limited to time, they will not wait for you! If you use one not on a tour, be prepared to pay a dollar or more. St. Johns echo hike the only bathroom was on the ferry that took you to St.Johns island, none on the tour!!!
No water fountains anywhere. Water is like GOLD on these islands so always take your own with you. Some excursions will provide you with a water bottle, but most dont. Buy a bottle as you leave the ship, it's much cheaper.
The only free restrooms in the shopping areas we found were in the casinos, and remember their standards of sanitation are not the same as in the U.S.

On CC dont forget to check out the Grouper game room if you have kids. There is a nice sand box for the younger kids, and there are pool tables, basketball hoops, shuffleboard, chip it golf, chess, checkers etc... This is open air, but in the shade which is really nice.
If you snorkel at CC be sure and go way out as there is a Mickey statue to find, most dont see him.
Ask at guest relations for a paper telling you about all th ehidden Mickeys on the ship to find. Most people dont know about this.
If you want an extra souvenir you can take a couple of pillow cases, a set of washable markers and put them in a zip lock baggie and take to guest relations. Be sure to include your name and room number too. Ask them to have all the characters autograph them. You must do this on the first day, and it will be returned to you the last night in your room. You will have all their autographs and a usable souvenir. This is free and very few people know about it.
Just a few ideas, have fun,
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[CM_Mom]

for the pillowcases I think you want PERMANENT markers. You wouldn't want those valuable signatures to wash out.

About water. They sell a DCL "lanyard" that has a "noose" to snug around the top of a water bottle. We found it was a great way to keep our water handy and have a souvenir at the same time. They usually have them for sale at as you gather for excursions and sell them with water bottles. We had our own water and they sold us one by itself. About $3.00 if I remember correctly from a year ago.

 

[kcashner]

First hint--read the boards here and get a book about DCL. The Passporter is a good one.

When to cruise....September and January are the cheapest. We like September because it is warm. Remember that it is hurricane season. We've cruised 5 times in Sept. and only had one messed up by a hurricane, but you will probably want to consider trip insurance.

The land/sea package thru DCL is usually NOT the cheapest way to go if you want to do some WDW time too. There are lots of threads on this--just do a search.

What category--whatever suits you. We've been on the Magic 12 times in everything from a 6 to an 11. The cabins are all basically the same. 11 and 12 have a single bathroom, everything else has a split bath. 10 is inside--I see no point in this, save the $ and buy a 12 gty if inside is your choice. 8 and 9 have portholes. The only difference is location on the ship. 7 has a "navigator's verandah or partially obstructed view verandah" Good way to get a balcony a little cheaper. 5 and 6 have regular verandahs--again, difference is location on the ship.

How much time will you spend in your cabin? If you have a little one who will be napping or if you want some romantic time with husband, you might want to hang out on the verandah. Of course, if the family next door is chain smoking, your verandah may not be a very pleasant place. Ditto if it is too hot! If you won't be in the cabin much, maybe you want to save some $ and book an inside cabin.....really only you can decide this.

Best suggestion--do your homework here, but then don't sweat the details. You can't do it all on one trip. This is Disney--there are suggestions, but very few rules. The service component of the trip is at least as good as anything you've had at WDW. Remember to ENJOY.

 

[California Mom]

Thanks everyone....some items to start thinking about and considering...

Regarding category and room type...
if we are going with kids 5 or 6, I'm assuming that we would need 2 separate rooms, that are connected or next door...unless they have some sort of family suite. We just got back from WDW and were staying in a 2-bed villa at BWV...we defintely need space for suitcases, etc. Personally, I am a little clostrephobic(sp?), so I dont want something to crapped.

Location....
since we're cruise beginners, I'm not sure about the inside, outside or floor level. I understand that some floors are more likely to 'feel the ocean' than others....is this true? which is which?

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

OOOPPPSSS!!!!
I did mean permanent markers for the pillowcases.
Dont know what I was thinking!
Thanks for catching that, I owuld feel terrible if I goofed someone up on that.
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[Jsme]

I've got a pretty could knowledge of the ins/outs of WDW...but Disney Cruise (heck, any cruise!), I'm in the dark about!..help! Please give me some of the basics that I should know about when considering booking a Disney family cruise...

- time of the year to cruise considering price and weather (Sept/Jan)?
- category?
- room size?
- kids/teens activities, must do? on cruise & in port
- parents activities, must do? on cruise & in port

Thanks, from an inexperienced cruiser...but Disney lover!

It is much cheaper in the months you have poseted. It is warmer in September then in January.

Caterory is going to depend on what you need. We normally go with a Cat 6 for us. But we are considering going with two staterooms next time.

Cat 9 and higher have the split bathrooms. Which is very nice. You could also look into a SPR. It is an outside Cat 9 obstructed view for the price of a Cat 10.

The kids programs are very nice and I have heard he teens area is just as cool. You can let the kids look at a navigator and see what they would like to do and plan around those activities. Port excursion are also per what your family likes or wants to do. There are several excursions we have done and loved. But you need to figure out what length of cruise you are going on and go from there. Once you have that done you can post another thread about specific excursion. If you are doing a 7 day cruise you will need to decide if you want to go with the Eastern or Western itinerary. The Eastern is not a property ridden as the Western.

As adults (parents) we like to do the wine tasting, the rasul, the massages, Palo's and we like Quiet Cove.

We have yet to be able to go to Serenity Bay. If all goes well in 5 weeks we will do this.

DCL has loads of things to do. They have wine, tequilla, martini and beer tastings. You can go to dance lessons. They have father son putting matches. Dancing under the stairs, bridge tours, all kinds of spa treatments and this is just naming a few.

You could also for another $339 add the REAS package. It is not much of a savings, but the big this to it is if paid in full at 105 days out you can make Palo's ressies. If you are going on a 4 day cruise you can also make ressies for Palo's Brunch or the 7 day you can make the ressies for Dinner, Brunch and High Tea at 105 days out. You can also make your spa treatments at this time. That window is the same window of making ressies on-line as they give the conceirge guests. If you are a first time cruiser you have to wait to 75 days out. This makes it worth it to us. As castaway cay memebers we have to wait to 90 days out. Of course, in the package you get a romantic gift basket, romantic breakfast in bed (you get a special menu in the basket). You can order enough food for everyone in your party. You also get a well being couples massage, Palo's ressies and a romantic turn down service.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Decks one and two have much less motion to them. The higher you are the more movement you'll feel. Also midship has less movement than aft or forward rooms. We have had rooms on deck 2, 5, 6, 7 and 2 was definately calmer.
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[barkley]

need to also consider how different september is on the east coast (and the cruising areas) vs. california heat wise. our first disney cruise (and first wdw trip) was taken at the end of september-the humidity nearly killed us (give me that dry heat over it anytime!). our next wdw trip (albiet without a cruise) was in the month of january. although many people were complaining about how cold it was, we found the weather to be similar to northern california in late may (just nice-short sleeve and shorts weather, with a cooling in the evenings). we will be going on our next disney cruise this november and anticipate that while it will still be much warmer than we are used to, it will be a nice time to travel.

 

[westjones]

Just read these boards, and go to Dave's website and look through it:

http://www.dcltribute.com/

He hasn't had time to update it lately, but it is full of great information (especially if you have never looked it over before). Go down to the External Links on the left of his page and try out those sites as well.

DJ