tips from lst timers on 3/23 magic

[aalan]

thanks to this board, my wife and i enjoyed a great 7-day cruise. this is the best place to find out all kinds of information. here are a few tips i would like to pass along:

1. embarktation is loud, exciting, and sensory overload: there is a band playing, they are announcing names and applauding, photograghers are taking your picture, even the background music in the halls/stairs is very loud. oh, and micckey is waving at everyone too! go to topsider's buffet on the 9th floor aft, and have lunch, then check to see if your room is ready (ours was), drop your carry-ons, then make your palo and spa ressies. we had no problems doing it this way. we booked our excursions via fax several weeks before. if you get on the boat later in the afternoon, i would make spa/palo reservations first.

2. we had no trouble with seasickness, but had difficulty sleeping the first couple of nights.
there is a low rumble sound, and things creak in the room. you are moving left/right/up/down, but you do get used to it. after the lst two days, the seas were extremely flat. also, after laying in the sun all day, you wont have any trouble sleeping! especially if you have the drink of the day! (i took bonine the first day just in case, but didnt need it)

3. bring a nite lite for the bathroom, the lights are VERY bright.

4. its first come first serve for the lounge chairs. go early if you want one (before 8:00). its states in the navigator that saving lounges is not allowed, but it happens constantly: people leave their stuff on them, dissappear for hours, and come back expecting their chair to be waiting for them. disney needs to work on this.

5. only after using/seeing one do i now know that the in-room "beverage cooler" is indeed a small refrigerator, but it is turned up to the warmest level(non-adjustable), so it takes at least a day and a half to cool down sodas. this was also a concern for me, as i am a diabetic and need to refrigerate my insulin. the cooler was fine for this. sodas do cool down eventually.

6. there are no clocks in the room, the time is displayed every few minutes on channel 52. i would reccomend everyone who goes takes an inexpensive waterproof watch. i know its supposed to be a vacation, but with dinner times, show times, excursion times to meet, the time does become important. you do lose an hour, then gain it back during the cruise.

7. dinner at palo is the best deal on the boat, dont miss it (for adults).

8. the adult beach at castaway cay was wonderful, and practically deserted. try to spend some time there, its a totally different scene than the family beach.

9. watch out for the extra charges: we spent $180 on excursions, $200 at shutters, another $200 at the spa, drinks, tips, souvineers added another $250. we could have been more frugal, but what the heck, it was our lst cruise and you only celebrate your 20th anniversary once.

10. we thought the food was very good. and you have a choice of a simple chicken, fish, or steak dinner in each restaurant if the entrees do not appeal to you. your servers will go out of their way to make you happy.

11. they had dropped it for a while, but now everyone does need to go through immigration before disembarking at st. thomas. its not a big deal, but they want you at the theater at 6:30 a.m. the earlier you go the quicker it will be: you show them your i.d. and they stamp your hand. took like 5 minutes, we were there right at 6:30. a long line was building as we left.

12. the room seemed small at first, but it actually was very comfortable (6150). we had a veranda, and liked having it. nice to relax on, and great to be able to open up occassionally and get some fresh air. the room seemed more open with the veranda. we would get one again.

13. dont worry! disney does the cruise thing right: you can be as busy as you want, or just kick back and enjoy the atmosphere and the warm weather. there is something for every age group to do. the boat is great and well-maintained, and all the staff is friendly and willing to please.

time to start saving for the western caribbean cruise...

 

[MICHELLENDEAN]

for the wonderful post and the great tips.
Travel clock and night light - CHECK!

 

[Cheryl in PA]

I agree with everything aalan said in his brief summary, most of which I also said in my brief summary on another thread! The only thing I want to stress to people who are anxiety ridden about the time they arrive at the terminal, is to RELAX. After reading these boards for months prior to the cruise, one would get the impression that if you arrived at the port any later than 12:00, you would get no reservations and would be the last one on board. This is a total misconception!! We arrived about 1:30 due to our flight schedule and expecting to "hear a pin drop" as this board makes you believe you are last to arrive...there are literally hundreds of people still arriving!!! We made our reservations around 5:00 that day and had NO issues!! All the other information here was accurate and informative. That was the only misleading piece that had my anxious all the way up until we boarded. The trip was amazing. I have no complaints (except for the rudeness of guests who saved 10 chairs at a time at the pool). We would do the same trip again. It's awesome!

 

[JAN ENOS]

Thanks so much for all the wonderful tips you mentioned. This is
also our first Disney cruise. I panicked when I saw the time you
said you got in line for St Thomas. We willk have three little ones
with us and it would be a nightmare to try to get them dressed
and ready to go by 6:30. What happens if you wait to like 9:00?
We are going on one excursion and it is a sightseeing tour of
St Thomas. We already booked. Please tell me a little more about this early rise???
Thanks
Jan

 

[SC Minnie]

JAN ENOS- you do not have to get the little ones dressed for the ST Thomas immigration check. We took DD 7 in her PJ's. Most other kids were in theirs also.

They will not let ANYONE of the ship until EVERYONE clears immigration!

 

[wovenwonder]

Every man, woman, and child - no matter what the age must clear customs the morning in St.Thomas. You will receive a scheduled time between 6:30-7:00am. NO ONE will be able to leave the ship until everyone clears customs. If you do not show up at your early scheduled time -- you will be paged -- or have someone knocking on your door. You cannot wait until any later -- must go at your scheduled time..... (even the passengers that are not planning to leave the ship in St. Thomas must still report to immigrations that morning)

We have the Taliban to thank for this one -- as only non US citizens had to report early in the morning prior to the 9-11 attacks.

 

[Cheryl in PA]

Since we did not book an excursion on St. Thomas, our immigration time was 7:45, a much easier time to go through. People who booked morning excursions had to be there at 6:30. By about 8:15, they did make an announcement for last call to those who had not gone through the line yet, but on the announcement there were no names called, just a generalized announcement. We went down at 7:45, then had breakfast and got off the ship around 9:00 ish. Immigration took all of about 10 minutes. We were put in a line to enter the theater, then put in another line to to actually go up front and show our passports and birth ceritificates to the authorities. Very quick.