New to Crusing

thornton0511

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Jan 23, 2011
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we are in the very beginning phases of planning our first Disney cruise. Looking to do a 3 night Bahamas on the Dream. Is there a place on here to get detailed info about everything and tips? Do's and Don't? Looking for more than just generic info.
 
we are in the very beginning phases of planning our first Disney cruise. Looking to do a 3 night Bahamas on the Dream. Is there a place on here to get detailed info about everything and tips? Do's and Don't? Looking for more than just generic info.
Well, you've come to about the most comprehensive compilation site there is. If you have specific questions, just ask here, someone will have the answer.
 
Read these boards. You can get the answers to most of your questions here. Some of the other social media sites also contain a lot of information for newcomers. I searched for Disney Cruise on the social media site that uses pins.
 
we are in the very beginning phases of planning our first Disney cruise. Looking to do a 3 night Bahamas on the Dream. Is there a place on here to get detailed info about everything and tips? Do's and Don't? Looking for more than just generic info.

Read these boards. You can get the answers to most of your questions here. Some of the other social media sites also contain a lot of information for newcomers. I searched for Disney Cruise on the social media site that uses pins.

Thank you. I've become quite savvy with Disney parks but Cruising is a whole other beast lol. I have pretty much read all of the general info regarding first time cruisers but as I am looking at TR's and specific questions here on these threads I am wondering how did you know that was even a thing lol? Even simple things like not going to Cabanas for lunch on when you first get on board because of the crowds go to one of the restaurants in the night rotation.....I didn't even think this was an option! How do people know to do this stuff lol?! I need the inside scoop on all things Disney cruising lol :)
 

Thank you. I've become quite savvy with Disney parks but Cruising is a whole other beast lol. I have pretty much read all of the general info regarding first time cruisers but as I am looking at TR's and specific questions here on these threads I am wondering how did you know that was even a thing lol? Even simple things like not going to Cabanas for lunch on when you first get on board because of the crowds go to one of the restaurants in the night rotation.....I didn't even think this was an option! How do people know to do this stuff lol?! I need the inside scoop on all things Disney cruising lol :)
Well, the "not going to Cabanas for lunch" is really a personal preference. We enjoy Cabanas. More food selection and you can sit outside and watch the goings on before the ship actually departs. The Main Dining Room that also serves embarkation lunch is still a buffet, but less selection and you are way down on deck 2 or 3, inside.

I'm not sure what "go to one of the restaurants in the night rotation" means. But, there are 3 Main Dining Rooms on each ship. You are assigned a rotation that will put you in all 3 over the duration of your cruise. You don't just select one of the MDRs to go to when you want.
 
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If you are savvy about Disney parks then cruising will be a snap. :)

Just take some time to think about what you need to know for your family vacation needs and wants and then go from there.
Everything from parking at the port (how much) , staying at hotels at the port or at Disney resorts before and after cruising and taxis, shuttle services can be found.
Coming in a day or so early before the cruise and want some ideas on what to do and see?? (other than Disney parks of course) , this is the place to come for advice and ideas.
Want to know about MDR's, onboard activities, kids clubs, adults areas and activities, excursions etc ? ...BOOM...it is all here.

Don't be afraid to ask...the folks on this board are super helpful and want to share their knowledge with those who want to learn and plan amazing trips. :)
 
PrincessShmoo is right...Cabanas has a larger selection of buffet options and is on Deck 11 (by the pool area) there is a MDR open on Deck 3 or 4 but the food selection is not as large but it is not as crowded either. We tried the MDR on embarkation once and have since gone back to Cabanas.

For evening dining, you would go to one of the three MDRs as assigned by rotation and dining time , either early at 5:45 PM or late dining at 8:15 PM. Or you could go to Cabanas again for dinner, but it is not a buffet for that serving time. It is a little more low key, but the food choices are pretty much the same as what you would get in the MDR. And in my opinion, the MDRs are more fun. :)
Your serving team will go with you for the length of the cruise so you and they will get to know each other quite well. This is pretty awesome too.
 
Definite Do's:
*Get passports
*Arrive at least the night before the cruise (anything can go wrong). Better safe than sorry.
*Get trip insurance (anything can go wrong). Better safe than sorry.

Just about everything else will be personal preferences.
 
In addition to this forum, check out the DCL blog. You'll be able to read reviews, past Navigators, etc. There are also tools there to help know when to do online check in.
 
Well, the "not going to Cabanas for lunch" is really a personal preference. We enjoy Cabanas. More food selection and you can sit outside and watch the goings on before the ship actually departs. The Main Dining Room that also serves embarkation lunch is still a buffet, but less selection and you are way down on deck 2 or 3, inside.

I'm not sure what "go to one of the restaurants in the night rotation" means. But, there are 3 Main Dining Rooms on each ship. You are assigned a rotation that will put you in all 3 over the duration of your cruise. You don't just select one of the MDRs to go to when you want.
Sorry about my wording...I wan't sure. I meant the option to not only eat at Cabanas for lunch but also having the choice of one of the Main Dining Restaurants. I was under the impression, at first, that the 3 main dining restaurants were open only for dinner and you rotated to a different one each night, and that the "quick service locations" and Cabanas were the only option for breakfast and lunch (other than room service). That is good to know about the vast selections at Cabanas though! So if you decided on a MDR for breakfast or lunch do you just go in a grab a seat anywhere or would you need to let your server know ahead of time and sit at your assigned table for that meal as well?
 
Well, the "not going to Cabanas for lunch" is really a personal preference. We enjoy Cabanas. More food selection and you can sit outside and watch the goings on before the ship actually departs. The Main Dining Room that also serves embarkation lunch is still a buffet, but less selection and you are way down on deck 2 or 3, inside.
I agree with you!! It is a personal preference. We enjoy Cabanas on embarkation day. I feel like you would miss a lot of what goes on if you went to the main dining room. We also love Cabana's everyday for breakfast, so we can see what is going on at the different ports before you get off.
 
The embarkation crowd at Cabanas kind of depend on what you board as well. The ship opens for boarding around 11:30. Between 11:30 and 12:00 a LOT of people board the ship and go straight to Cabanas and the pool. We arrived at the terminal around 12:30. Since there were no lines in the terminal so we walked pretty much straight onto the ship. We had a few things to take care of and I went to Cabanas around 1:30. It was not very crowded at that time.
 
Sorry about my wording...I wan't sure. I meant the option to not only eat at Cabanas for lunch but also having the choice of one of the Main Dining Restaurants. I was under the impression, at first, that the 3 main dining restaurants were open only for dinner and you rotated to a different one each night, and that the "quick service locations" and Cabanas were the only option for breakfast and lunch (other than room service). That is good to know about the vast selections at Cabanas though! So if you decided on a MDR for breakfast or lunch do you just go in a grab a seat anywhere or would you need to let your server know ahead of time and sit at your assigned table for that meal as well?
Not all of the MDR's are open for breakfast/lunch. The options/times will be listed in your Navigator. You just go and they will seat you. No need to let your server know. You may see your servers or they may be in one of the other restaurants at that time.
 
Sorry about my wording...I wan't sure. I meant the option to not only eat at Cabanas for lunch but also having the choice of one of the Main Dining Restaurants. I was under the impression, at first, that the 3 main dining restaurants were open only for dinner and you rotated to a different one each night, and that the "quick service locations" and Cabanas were the only option for breakfast and lunch (other than room service). That is good to know about the vast selections at Cabanas though! So if you decided on a MDR for breakfast or lunch do you just go in a grab a seat anywhere or would you need to let your server know ahead of time and sit at your assigned table for that meal as well?
Congrats on your first cruise, our first was on the Dream as well. There are a lot of food options available everyday, just look through the Navigator or download the Disney Cruise app. The great thing with the app is before the cruise you can open it and see this everyday:
image.png
We greatly prefer Cabanas on embarkation day as it puts us into cruise mode immediately.

If you haven't already booked the cruise and can swing the 4 night on the Dream, I would suggest that. That cruise will give you 1 sea day which, in my opinion, is the best part of cruising.

If you are flying into MCO and won't have a car, I highly recommend doing Disney transports to and from MCO or WDW. Depending on how many are in your family, this may be more expensive but they make it sooooo easy to relax and enjoy yourself.

DCL is very different than the parks as it really gives you a chance to relax and not be constantly running around. If you enjoy running from place to place there will be stuff going on all the time so you can, but don't feel like you have to.

There will be stuff that you won't be able to experience on your first cruise and that's ok, you'll be able to on other cruises, or not. I've been on 4 cruises and still have done Remy or Palo.

What I have always been able to do is; spend several days with my family, unplugged from email, texts and social media and just relax and enjoy them, that to me is priceless and one of the reasons we continue to cruise.

I sincerely hope you absolutely love your cruise!
 
Congrats on your first cruise, our first was on the Dream as well. There are a lot of food options available everyday, just look through the Navigator or download the Disney Cruise app. The great thing with the app is before the cruise you can open it and see this everyday:
View attachment 179989
We greatly prefer Cabanas on embarkation day as it puts us into cruise mode immediately.

If you haven't already booked the cruise and can swing the 4 night on the Dream, I would suggest that. That cruise will give you 1 sea day which, in my opinion, is the best part of cruising.

If you are flying into MCO and won't have a car, I highly recommend doing Disney transports to and from MCO or WDW. Depending on how many are in your family, this may be more expensive but they make it sooooo easy to relax and enjoy yourself.

DCL is very different than the parks as it really gives you a chance to relax and not be constantly running around. If you enjoy running from place to place there will be stuff going on all the time so you can, but don't feel like you have to.

There will be stuff that you won't be able to experience on your first cruise and that's ok, you'll be able to on other cruises, or not. I've been on 4 cruises and still have done Remy or Palo.

What I have always been able to do is; spend several days with my family, unplugged from email, texts and social media and just relax and enjoy them, that to me is priceless and one of the reasons we continue to cruise.

I sincerely hope you absolutely love your cruise!
Thank you for the warm greetings :goodvibes

I have actually put 2 staterooms in queue for 3 days at this point and have until Monday to commit. If I am understanding the cancellation fee if I go ahead with the deposit I can still cancel and get the full deposit back as long as it is before my 74 day window. We have AP's for WDW and are planning, as of now, to do a spring break trip in March....I have not sold DH yet on making it a "land/sea" trip yet but trying to lay those seeds now lol! If I am right about the cancellation time frame I figured maybe I can go ahead and put the deposit down on the one stateroom I decide on and then I have until late December to talk DH into it and either go ahead with full payment or cancel and get the deposit back. The 2 rooms I have holding now are 6676 (Deluxe Family Oceanview, CAT 08D on deck 6) for $2709.56 and 7682 (Deluxe Oceanview with Verandah, CAT 06B on deck 7) for $2775.56. We are a family of 2A 2C so I guess those are good prices for a 3N? I do want to stick to a 3N to start off with and then do 4-5 nights at WDW afterward. Not sure which room to do.....large porthole deluxe or pay a little more for a balcony with an obstructed view?

If we go this route with the cruise first I would plan on flying in the night before and staying at the Hyatt (free room for having the CC) and then hiring a private car service to take us to port the next morning (we used the same service a few years ago to take us from disney to universal and they were fantastic and highly recommended on the Universal threads here). Then after the cruise have the same service take us to WDW and then magical express take us to the airport at the end of the trip. Other tips I have picked up on so far is definitely go ahead with passports for the whole family, stay on ship for Nassau day (perfectly fine with me) and since our kids are older go with second seating for dining (we prefer later dinners). I do like the idea of lunch at Cabanas for arrival and thinking of hitting the aquaduck during the sail away party (we are kind of over the character interaction thing). Sound good so far? Anyone have any more tips? I really do appreciate everyone's input here!! :thanks:
 
Thank you for the warm greetings :goodvibes

I have actually put 2 staterooms in queue for 3 days at this point and have until Monday to commit. If I am understanding the cancellation fee if I go ahead with the deposit I can still cancel and get the full deposit back as long as it is before my 74 day window. We have AP's for WDW and are planning, as of now, to do a spring break trip in March....I have not sold DH yet on making it a "land/sea" trip yet but trying to lay those seeds now lol! If I am right about the cancellation time frame I figured maybe I can go ahead and put the deposit down on the one stateroom I decide on and then I have until late December to talk DH into it and either go ahead with full payment or cancel and get the deposit back. The 2 rooms I have holding now are 6676 (Deluxe Family Oceanview, CAT 08D on deck 6) for $2709.56 and 7682 (Deluxe Oceanview with Verandah, CAT 06B on deck 7) for $2775.56. We are a family of 2A 2C so I guess those are good prices for a 3N? I do want to stick to a 3N to start off with and then do 4-5 nights at WDW afterward. Not sure which room to do.....large porthole deluxe or pay a little more for a balcony with an obstructed view?

If we go this route with the cruise first I would plan on flying in the night before and staying at the Hyatt (free room for having the CC) and then hiring a private car service to take us to port the next morning (we used the same service a few years ago to take us from disney to universal and they were fantastic and highly recommended on the Universal threads here). Then after the cruise have the same service take us to WDW and then magical express take us to the airport at the end of the trip. Other tips I have picked up on so far is definitely go ahead with passports for the whole family, stay on ship for Nassau day (perfectly fine with me) and since our kids are older go with second seating for dining (we prefer later dinners). I do like the idea of lunch at Cabanas for arrival and thinking of hitting the aquaduck during the sail away party (we are kind of over the character interaction thing). Sound good so far? Anyone have any more tips? I really do appreciate everyone's input here!! :thanks:
The cat 6b is listed as having a whitewall verandah, but it only comes up to about shin height and does not restrict your view at all. I would go with the 6b.
 
I wouldn't stay on the ship in Nassau necessarily, but with only a 3 day cruise it might give you a chance to explore the ship more. Your preference but while it so far has been my least favorite stop it was still a nice enough place to at least spend an hour or two looking around.

If you make it a land/sea I heartily recommend WDW first and cruise second. The parks are an adventure and there is planning and rushing and crowds and a whole bunch of stuff to accomplish. Don't get me wrong though, I love it! A cruise, however, is a relaxing slower pace. Going from the parks to the cruise just increases that relaxation factor and helps you unwind. Going from the ship to the parks is not quite as fun. Like going from a lovely drive down a country road to a 4 lane highway with 2 lanes closed ahead.

EDIT: Oh, another opinion is that on such a short cruise it might not be worthwhile to get the verandah. They are great, but with only 3 nights you have to decide whether you will actually make much use of it. As with this entire most though, entirely my opinion.
 
I wouldn't stay on the ship in Nassau necessarily, but with only a 3 day cruise it might give you a chance to explore the ship more. Your preference but while it so far has been my least favorite stop it was still a nice enough place to at least spend an hour or two looking around.

If you make it a land/sea I heartily recommend WDW first and cruise second. The parks are an adventure and there is planning and rushing and crowds and a whole bunch of stuff to accomplish. Don't get me wrong though, I love it! A cruise, however, is a relaxing slower pace. Going from the parks to the cruise just increases that relaxation factor and helps you unwind. Going from the ship to the parks is not quite as fun. Like going from a lovely drive down a country road to a 4 lane highway with 2 lanes closed ahead.
I love you analogy :lmao:
 
We are traveling with another family. Can we request to be at same dinning table when we get to the port?
 
We are traveling with another family. Can we request to be at same dinning table when we get to the port?
You should call DCL and link your reservations for dining. The seating assignments are typically done about a week out from the cruise. While it may be possible to change your assignments onboard, it's just easier to set it up that way from the start.
 

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