If you had one piece of advice.....

[Lorij]

After visiting WDW several times, we are going to do a land/sea visit in June 05. This is the first time any of us has been on a cruise. If you could pass on one piece of advice / wisdom / "wish I had known that" ...... what would it be?

Thanks!

 

[delo4]

Prepare as much as you can by reading these boards, reading the navigators in your room, talking with other people who have been, etc.

Then be flexible! Lots of things could change and being able to roll with the punches really helps. Just choose to have a good attitude no matter what.

We were on a cruise that didn't go anywhere it was supposed to on the day it was supposed to. We had rough seas and all our destinations changed. For a compulsive planner like me, it stressed me out. My husband gently reminded me that we weren't at home working, so even a change in schedule was ok. He was right. We had a wonderful time and had a lot of stories to tell when we returned.

 

[talicskai]

Buy your children souvenirs from the Disney Store before you leave home and pack them in the suitcase. I hit our local store every time I can and buy things on sale and put them away. When we arrive in Florida I pull out all kinds of things and I have saved a ton of money! Especially because I am in Canada and buy them in Canadian funds instead of US. It gets me excited in advance, too!

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by Lorij
After visiting WDW several times, we are going to do a land/sea visit in June 05. This is the first time any of us has been on a cruise. If you could pass on one piece of advice / wisdom / "wish I had known that" ...... what would it be?

Thanks!

Read the current threads about how Disney and Travel Agents have handled the Hurricane Frances situation and make flexible travel plans. WITH INSURANCE!

Rae

 

[Dreamer04]

UNDERPACK!!!!

Bring more money than you think you need.
Bring more film than you think you need.

Bring less shoes!

Bring singles for room service tips.

Relax!


Ursula

 

[markey]

Wish I had not known. Be informed of the important things, how soon the ship boards, excursions at ports, what appointments you want to make when you board. I am a planner, but only as far as to where we will be on vacation on what days and things that we can do, will book excursions because they fill up. On our first cruise, just completed #5, I was obsessed with these boards. I read everything I could, what was on the menus, navigators, what happend in the shows, restaurants, you name it I knew what I wanted to order for dinner before I saw the menu. Knew the shows on stage and in the restaurants. It did take away some of the excitment and surprise, for me. Guess that's why on our last trip I enjoyed the Pirates night in the restaurant and the deck party at night, only the 2nd show and we left on Monday before the Saturday cruisers had time to post. So if you are like me, save some of the small details for a surprise and a new experience. Sure others will disagree so listen to their side also, this is just my 2 cents.

 

[TheWog]

Go at your own pace and relax. You will no be able to do everything.

 

[jrabbit]

1) There is a lunch onboard on embarkation day - it is open from the time you board until 3pm or so.

2) The terminal is a nice place to wait to board the ship. You get to look at the model of the ship inside and look at the real deal outside. There are characters for pictures/autographs and cartoons on the tv's.

3) Try and arrive around 11am - 'tis better to wait in line "outside" (in the terminal) than to wait in lines inside (on the ship) - if you want spa or palo ressies or have children to sign into the kids clubs.

4) You can't do it all - so don't stress out over it and don't try to do it all. Therefore be prepared to make some difficult choices

5) You can't eat it all either. For me personally, I like the breakfast buffett and the dinners (especially the desserts). I generally skip lunch - just grab some fruit and chocolate chip cookes from Scoops for an afternoon snack to hold you over to dinner time.

6) the Navigator you receive in the terminal is a "highlights" navigator. The one in your room (or at guest services) that you get upon boarding is complete. Check them both over carefully. (bring a highlighter to mark the items in your navigator that you are interested in doing)

7) Take the stairs!! Usually much quicker than waiting for an elevator AND you get to eat more dessert at dinner because you worked off some of the food from prior meals.

8) Don't worry about eating in Palo. Yes the food is better there (the food is very good in the main restaurants!!). But its not worth stressing over if you don't get the ressie. We enjoy making new friends - our tablemates for the duration of the cruise and the wait staff (I've always enjoyed our room stewards too!). So we have chosen NOT to eat dinner at Palo. We do eat brunch in Palo - Awesome!

9) Forget about sleep - that's for after the cruise !!! We usually got to bed around midnight (sometimes a little earlier sometimes later) and tried to get up by 7am. 7 is usually to late to catch a sunrise - and you should try and catch at least one of those while onboard - along with the sunsets!! One of the other things we do at least once per trip is to watch the captain dock the ship. I have a hard time parallel parking my car, let along a 975 foot long ship!

10) Relax and have a great trip. Don't stress the little things and remember most of the stuff you may have to deal with ARE little things. Enjoy your family. Enjoy the crew (treat them with kindness and respect and they WILL go out of their way for you!) If changes happen to your ittenerary - oh well - go with the flow. The only exception to this that comes to my mind is if your flight schedule gets changed and you have the possibility of missing the ship - then panic and get snarly with the airlines. This leads to my last point...

11) Fly in at least the day before your cruise is scheduled to leave. Remember the "boat" waits for no one. This applies to embarkation day and any stops in port. Also, Remember to change your watches any time DCL tells you that they will be changing their time. DCL ship time IS local time in port. NEVER miss the ship!!!

Have fun!

 

[jhemond]

Originally posted by rae519
Read the current threads about how Disney and Travel Agents have handled the Hurricane Frances situation and make flexible travel plans. WITH INSURANCE!

Rae

When are you going to give it a rest already and just drop it? If you're so mad at DCL stay away from the boards and don't cruise them again. I'm fine with a little bit of complaining, but if you can't be helpful to someone without whining, then keep your mouth shut. Enough already.

 

[WDWLVR]

Originally posted by rae519
Read the current threads about how Disney and Travel Agents have handled the Hurricane Frances situation and make flexible travel plans. WITH INSURANCE!

Rae

Rae - enough! You've made it very clear how you feel. Must you bring it into every single thread. Sit down and write a letter to Disney. They do listen.

Right now I think you are acting very much like IGTD.

 

[WDWLVR]

Originally posted by Lorij
After visiting WDW several times, we are going to do a land/sea visit in June 05. This is the first time any of us has been on a cruise. If you could pass on one piece of advice / wisdom / "wish I had known that" ...... what would it be?

Thanks!

Welcome to the DIS. This place is full of great advice so read and enjoy!

My best piece of advice - go into the cruise with an open mind. This is your families chance to try new things. See something on the menu that you've always wanted to try - order it. If you don't like it they'll bring you something else.

Second best piece of advise - don't try to do everything! Sit down each night with the next day's Navigators and highlight what your family wants to do most. But allow time for just exploring the ship or relaxing on those comfy chairs on deck 4.

Most of all - enjoy your cruise!

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

The absolutely best piece of advice I've found on these boards -- and which we did not do on our last cruise -- is to get to the port early. If you board as soon as they let you, you basically get an extra day of cruising.

I second what someone said aout NOT studying the Navigators. The best part for us about the cruise was all the cool stuff that popped up every day and the yummy menus that we were not expectimg. I'm a type A personality, mega planner and a corporate litigator who doesn't like surprises in my every day life, but I loved being surprised on the cruise. Too much planning would take away the magic for me.

Marcy

 

[smahoney6]

1. take more pictures - I bought too many from shutters when I could have taken myself

2. take kids to clubs in short interval so they won't get burned out

3. Go to shows at night- even dh loved them

4. enjoy and bring deposit for next time- we never thought we would be one to re-book and we did- the kids are still talking about how awesome it was (hubby too and I had to beg him to go!)

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Cancel and the land/sea, and do a 7-day cruise.

(Okay, before I get clobbered, I'm saying that only because our neighbors who've been to WDW several times did the land/sea, and said they'd wish'd they'd booked the 7-day cruise only, because the 4-day was so wonderful they'd wished they could've stayed longer. )

That was my neighbor's advice, mine is to book the Palo brunch if you're doing the 4-day. It's wonderful!

 

[ohMom]

we did land/sea last Dec -- 4 day cruise -- wish we had longer but it was a great 'taste' of a cruise vacation - -enough to get us back

I wish i would've realized just how quickly our day on CC would go -- I booked a mid-morning cabana massage - we got up casually and headed to the beach -- well the day just went too fast and before I knew it we had to reboard! this time I plan on rising early and having more time to explore the island, and booking my massage onboard

if you are into pin trading - or think you're kids might be - for both the parks and ship -- but any pins, only official Disney trading pins though - on ebay, pin website, etc to trade. they are expensive on disney property

remember you can watch the disembarktion talk in your stateroom on the tv -- better then sitting in the theatre for sure

 

[Lorij]

Thank you all for your good advice and comments. Before we went to WDW for the 1st time in 1998, I spent a bunch of time on these boards and I was really glad I did. We knew what we wanted to do and were able to really enjoy our time without being stressed.

I would love to do a full 7 day cruise, but the land/sea is a compromise with DH who doesn't think he will like a cruise. *hopefully he will change is mind when he experiences it*. If not, then DD and I will just have to go without him next time.

DH has started with the Disneypins and is already accumulating a stash from ebay and dizpins sites. So, I figure he'll be busy with that kind of stuff while DD (age 14) and I do the spa's and other yummy stuff.

You know, in some ways, being on the boards and doing all the research is just as fun as going... I love the anticipation and imagining myself there.

 

[RJake1]

Some things I wish I knew first:

1. The tropical drinks the staff is offering from trays as you first board are NOT FREE !!

2. Snorkeling at Castaway Cay isn't so great. Get your snorkeling fix elsewhere.

3. The ship does NOT have a gas pedal.

4. Diversions has some outstanding beer. In fact, its the only place onboard where you can get a Boddigton's Ale.

5. The pools are small and can be horribly crowded.

6. The major shows (Golden Mickeys, Disney Dreams, Hercules the Museical) are outstanding. Don't miss 'em!

7. Internet connection is expensive. Very expensive.

 

[fodc8]

Take small lighted alarm clock, there is only a small nautical clock in the stateroom.. I read this on one of the boards before we left and it saved us every morning. Don't believe the people that tell you that "Sleeping in is ok" There's a lot to do you can sleep in at home.

The staterooms are very dark at night. We brought a small plugin night light and it saved me from running into the wall during a late night potty trip.

Oh yeah if you don't study the Navigator the only surprise you will get is when you found out you missed something. We missed two things we wanted to do because we didn't look.

 

[drclaws]

Originally posted by RJake1
Some things I wish I knew first:

1. The tropical drinks the staff is offering from trays as you first board are NOT FREE !!

Very true!

....and that you don't HAVE to buy the drinks in the specialty (plastic) glasses. Save a few bucks and get 'em in the regular cups. If you REALLY want the souvenier (plastic) glasses, a LOT of folks leave them around after the deck parties.

 

[O'BWV]

Just got off the 8/28 Magic and I would suggest you bring a power strip. There is barely anywhere to plug things in. The two bathroom outlets said shaver only and I only saw two other outlets over by the desk and where they were situated I couldn't plug in my blow dryer, my hot rollers, or my cell phone chargers. Have a great trip!



-Mary Rose