Is there a General Cruise Thread?

[shoegirl1020]

I'm thinking of looking into a January, 2008 cruise as a Christmas gift to the family, but I have NO IDEA where to begin. Is there a thread that will spoon feed me everything (the costs, what to expect, exactly how or why I should book a hotel and go to Atlantis), etc.

Thanks soo much in advance.

 

[pppiglet]

This is the right place. Just read all the stickies posted at the top, ask any questions you have here or do a search on what you want to know, and the next thing would be to buy the Passporter guide to DCL.

 

[CM_Mom]

You can buy the Passporter's Guide to the Disney Cruise Line at most large bookstores or online a www.passporter.com. Fantastic reference. but then I do like BOOKS that I can highlight and mark up.

Read it, learn a lot and then take it with you on your cruise. Great reference to refresh your memory about the ports or to help if weather requires an itinerary change.

For answers to questions that aren't covered in the FAQ at the top of the page, just post them. We're a pretty friendly group and we were all newbies once.

 

[bettydau]

I read the disboards, of course, but for our first cruise we went right to AAA, lucked out on a good agent. She helped us book everything for our Jan. trip. We rebooked onboard then and are going (with more family) next Jan. transferring the res. to AAA again.
I do my own ADRs (just want to), but I like working with an agent.

 

[Ears]

I also suggest a travel agent. AAA is good, and I'm sure there's others in your area that are good as well. It may not be the absolute cheapest compared to finding and booking on your own, but I feel that my time is better spent doing other things. Often they have great resources available to them, along with promo videos to watch and catalogs. Once you get the hang of things, you can try planning your next one.

Remember, there is such thing as too much information. Don't get caught up in the details like what specific room number you want, or if they serve a particular food, or what to wear. Thousands of new people cruise every year, and even more start planning another.

Other boards: www.cruisecritic.com and www.cruiseclues.com
They have lots of cruise info in the boards laid out by different cruise lines, as well as divided out "specialty" sections.

And of course, feel free to ask away. There's lots of us veteran cruisers more than willing to help.