*HOPEFULLY* Sailing in 2021 w/ 6 Year Old. Any Veteran Parent Tips?

[tlprice]

3 things that nobody said: (1) book a placeholder cruise (that way you can do more stuff on your next cruise that you didn't have time to do on this one), (2) let your child look at the navigator and make some plans of what they want to do and if what they want to do is watch Mickey cartoons on the TV for and hour or more, it's okay, it's vacation! (maybe order room service cookies or a Mickey Bar for them while they do this), (3) try to find a little time to sit outside on Deck 4 and relax.

 

[IndyToThere]

Couple of pointers:

- Your bed has enough room underneath to store your luggage

- Most guests decorate their exterior door.... magnets, signs, even Christmas lights during Christmas cruises. Good time to bring any Disney magnets that you might have.

- You can request a Mickey [ice cream] Bar for dessert at any dinner (even if it's not on the dessert menu). My wife was astonished to learn I had never had one before until our cruise, so we remedied that by ordering one at every pretty much every dessert along with our normal dessert.

 

[gpjacobs]

Couple of pointers:

- Your bed has enough room underneath to store your luggage

- Most guests decorate their exterior door.... magnets, signs, even Christmas lights during Christmas cruises. Good time to bring any Disney magnets that you might have.

- You can request a Mickey [ice cream] Bar for dessert at any dinner (even if it's not on the dessert menu). My wife was astonished to learn I had never had one before until our cruise, so we remedied that by ordering one at every pretty much every dessert along with our normal dessert.

I read in another thread about the ample storage space under the bed - that makes me happy! We're also considering ordering inexpensive magnetic hooks to get things off the floor, plus using a trusty shoe organizer for toiletries

One thing that continues to amaze me is how much more STUFF you need when you travel with kids. Naively thought that would end after diapers but, yup, wrong! But I'd rather travel heavy than stay home, so no complaints.

We have so many Disney magnets that it would be easy to decorate the door. Do most people pack decor in their carry-on bag so they can decorate before their luggage is delivered?

EDIT: And I'm sure my kiddo will LOVE the Mickey ice cream bars.

 

[ajo]

I would say some people do door magnets before luggage arrives and some don't. In the end the difference is just a couple of hours at the most. We pack ours in our carryon, and it's the first thing we do when we get to the room. Gets the vacation off to an "official" start.

Also wanted to note that the "over the door" style shoe organizers are not permitted. See this thread for how to hang them in staterooms: https://www.disboards.com/threads/over-door-shoe-organizer.3665349/

 

[Primeval Princess]

Hi all! First post on the DCL Forum. We hoped to sail on DCL for the first time this year and ... well, that's not happening. Decided to book the 4-Night Baja Cruise on the Wonder, departing San Diego on April 26. We fully realize we may need to cancel this trip or - at the very least - lower our expectations. But, honestly, we just need something to look forward to.

If all goes well, this will be our daughter's first time on a cruise ship. We (mom and dad) have been on several cruises, just never on DCL. She'll be 6 when we sail and we're booked in a Verandah room (midship, category 05A).

I'm just curious if veteran DCL parents have anything tips to share? Anything they wished they knew before their first sailing as parents ... how do we make this as stress-free as possible for all of us? Even the little things like, do we pack several of her costumes or skip it, since she'll be in swimsuits the whole time?

Depending on how things progress with COVID-19, we may add three days in Disneyland before the cruise. Not sure if that would influence anyone's advice. Thanks in advance!

She won't be in swimsuits the whole time. The kids pool is often kid soup, so swimming in the traditional sense is not usually possible. Children have to be 38" tall to use the Twist & Spout water slide, so check her height in advance, to know whether you can hype up that feature when talking about the cruise, or gently let her know that she won't be using it this cruise. But mentally prepare for the fact that there will have to be other activities besides swimming, as the kids' pool is small and crowded, and even if she's a go for the Twist & Spout, she'll only slide on it for so long before getting bored.

Go with her into the kids' club during an Open House session to help her get used to it and to gauge her comfort level with later being left there without you during secured kids' club time. You know your daughter's comfort level with this kind of thing- just go with it. If she's the clingy type, you can always just take her to the club during Open Houses, which occur repeatedly throughout each cruise. Know that the kids' club staff is responsible, but they go with the flow of how involved the child wants to be with the programming. When a special activity is being held at the kids' club, if your child declines to participate and wants to draw or play on the computer instead, the staff won't try to cajole her into joining in. They'll accept her choice. So be aware of that going in.

There are family game shows and other family activities during each cruise. These are really fun, and you can plan your day around them by studying your Navigator the day before. If you like to play Bingo (for real money), know that DCL does offer upcharge Bingo games that are fun to play. Kids are welcome and encouraged to be at Bingo games, and to participate in the game. They just can't be the ones to officially claim the prize- the adult has to be present to win.

I don't recommend packing "several" costumes for a 4-night cruise, but I do recommend packing at least one nice dress or costume dress for her to wear at formal night/semiformal night (whichever the 4-night offers), so she can get a great picture with Minnie or Mickey, or another of the Fab Five, who will be dressed in formal wear on dress-up night. To know which night this will be, you can check your Personal Navigator onboard. I also recommend having some kind of outfit for her that would go with the Pirate Night theme. This could be something as simple as red or black shirt, and red or black skirt or leggings. Pirate Night is a big event on DCL: in the evening, all of the characters and the waiters will be dressed up as pirates, a photographer will probably come to dinner to photograph you (and might on formal/semiformal night, too), and of course there's also the pirate deck party. DCL will give you a pirate night themed bandana that she can wear on her head, or you can buy a pirate hat for her in one of the shops.

Decorating your stateroom door with a character-themed magnet set (you can make your own or buy them on Etsy) is fun, and also makes your stateroom easier to identify. If you're interested in participating in a Fish Extender exchange, where people exchange small gifts (a special treat for kids), several social media sites sponsor them, including Disboards. The Disboards ones can be found via the Cruise Meets page.

 

[MomOTwins]

A specific follow-up based on the guidance above: is the Princess Tea worth it? I think she'd love dedicated princess time at a slower pace, and I love tea, so it's a win win.

I went into it prepared to think it was a colossal waste of money, but it was totally worth every penny. I've never seen my princess-obsessed son happier. And he still really treasures the toys he got there so much more than anything we got at a gift shop.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We've cruised twice with our kids, most recently in January when they were 3 and 6. If you want adult time, make sure to go with them to the kids club during an open house. Walk around, find the bathrooms, point out anything they might be particularly interested in. With my kids it was the slinky dog slide and the nintendo games. Then if you need to, bribe them to go. We sometimes promised ice cream when we picked them up. After you drop her off, go hang out in the adults area. We love the adult pool and cove cafe.

One thing my kids loved is some nights at dinner we ordered several desserts. We got them mickey bars every night (their choice) and then sometimes a bunch of other stuff to try. My daughter has a pretty grown up palette even though she's only three and a lot of the time I would also order stuff from the adult menu that I knew she'd like, in addition to her usual children's meal of mac n cheese and garden salad.

We also never managed to do this on our last cruise, but we had intended to skip the MDR one night and do quick service by the pool and swim while it's relatively quiet. I'm not a fan of Triton's so we intended to do that on the 2nd day there, but instead we had a quick service dinner and went to the early show. Next time we'll try to fit it in. I'd also suggest going to the pool at night even if you don't eat dinner there and enjoy the funnel vision.

My last suggestion - don't plan a princess or frozen M&G right before you plan to get off the ship. The only time we could get for our princess M&G was about a half hour before we were scheduled to get off at one of the ports, and it was crazy stressful getting breakfast, then having to get the kids changed into their costumes, then having to change again and find our snorkel excursion. I guess we could skip the costumes, but the kids love them and they make for great pictures.

 

[gpjacobs]

I would say some people do door magnets before luggage arrives and some don't. In the end the difference is just a couple of hours at the most. We pack ours in our carryon, and it's the first thing we do when we get to the room. Gets the vacation off to an "official" start.

Also wanted to note that the "over the door" style shoe organizers are not permitted. See this thread for how to hang them in staterooms: https://www.disboards.com/threads/over-door-shoe-organizer.3665349/

Thank you! I'll check out the thread!

 

[gpjacobs]

My last suggestion - don't plan a princess or frozen M&G right before you plan to get off the ship. The only time we could get for our princess M&G was about a half hour before we were scheduled to get off at one of the ports, and it was crazy stressful getting breakfast, then having to get the kids changed into their costumes, then having to change again and find our snorkel excursion. I guess we could skip the costumes, but the kids love them and they make for great pictures.

Makes complete sense. TBH, we may not even get off the ship in Cabo but, if we do, we'll make sure we avoid scheduling this in advance. Good tip!

I went into it prepared to think it was a colossal waste of money, but it was totally worth every penny. I've never seen my princess-obsessed son happier. And he still really treasures the toys he got there so much more than anything we got at a gift shop.

I can easily see my daughter loving it just as much! Thanks for the info!

I don't recommend packing "several" costumes for a 4-night cruise, but I do recommend packing at least one nice dress or costume dress for her to wear at formal night/semiformal night (whichever the 4-night offers), so she can get a great picture with Minnie or Mickey, or another of the Fab Five, who will be dressed in formal wear on dress-up night.

I was under the impression four-night sailings only had pirate night, no formal night. Anyone know if that's true?

 

[Blues Image]

You've had tons of great advice in this thread. I would only add:
• We always try to balance "going with the flow" and "planning." We did a Mexico cruise on the Wonder last April, and we planned certain things we knew we wanted to do (the Frozen show is amazing, and there was a great magician act in the D Lounge one day), and otherwise left our time open for whatever we felt like at the moment. (Tip: Download the Disney Navigator app to your phone before you leave for your cruise. While you're on the cruise you can use the app to see all the activities happening on the ship and pick the ones you want.)
• My daughter was also 6 on our first cruise (on the Dream). She didn't really like the kids club that much. A lot of it depends on your kid's personality. My daughter is slightly introverted and just didn't get into the club. Kids who are there with siblings might enjoy it more, too.
• Definitely get door magnets or other decorations. We didn't know about them before our first cruise and wished we had planned ahead. (You can google for Disney cruise door decoration ideas.)
• Definitely stay on the ship at Cabo if you want to take advantage of time when a lot of people are onshore -- line for the slide is shorter, pools aren't as crowded. The main reason to go in to Cabo is if you really want to go to the beach or you really want to shop or do an excursion. Cabo also requires tendering, so it takes a little extra time just to get on shore.

 

[gpjacobs]

You've had tons of great advice in this thread. I would only add:
• We always try to balance "going with the flow" and "planning." We did a Mexico cruise on the Wonder last April, and we planned certain things we knew we wanted to do (the Frozen show is amazing, and there was a great magician act in the D Lounge one day), and otherwise left our time open for whatever we felt like at the moment. (Tip: Download the Disney Navigator app to your phone before you leave for your cruise. While you're on the cruise you can use the app to see all the activities happening on the ship and pick the ones you want.)
• My daughter was also 6 on our first cruise (on the Dream). She didn't really like the kids club that much. A lot of it depends on your kid's personality. My daughter is slightly introverted and just didn't get into the club. Kids who are there with siblings might enjoy it more, too.
• Definitely get door magnets or other decorations. We didn't know about them before our first cruise and wished we had planned ahead. (You can google for Disney cruise door decoration ideas.)
• Definitely stay on the ship at Cabo if you want to take advantage of time when a lot of people are onshore -- line for the slide is shorter, pools aren't as crowded. The main reason to go in to Cabo is if you really want to go to the beach or you really want to shop or do an excursion. Cabo also requires tendering, so it takes a little extra time just to get on shore.

Thank you so much!