Disny_luvr~ this is EXACTLY the information I needed!!! My kids have never traveled out of the country, and we have never been on a cruise, so your advice is PERFECT! Do not apologize for the long post, because EVERY BIT OF IT was very pertinent information. THANK YOU!!!!
If we can have the time for it, I am sure my family will want to have lunch somewhere on the island. We LOVE to try ethnic cuisine. 
How about tips? How many locals did you end up needing to tip while you were on your tour?
I am happy to know that I can mark the case of bottled water off my to buy list. I was dreading toting that thing around on embarkation day waiting for our room to be ready. 
We have an early PAT, so we may be on the ship for quite a while before our room is ready. Now I know we will only have to carry around a couple bottles of wine. We have a veranda room, so one of my cruise bucket list items is to order fruit and cheese plates from room service and have wine, fruit and cheese on the verandah for sunset. 
Can you suggest good times to do the Midship Detective Agency? Are certain times less crowded and hectic than others? How about the AquaDuck?
Are there shows you would suggest skipping in order to get to the AquaDuck and Midship Detective Agency while others are dining and seeing shows? We have first seating for dinner each night.
I am just SO EXCITED for our cruise!!!! 
I think the only person we tipped on our Bernard's tour was the tour guide himself. I think DH tipped him a few dollars, maybe $8 ($2 for each of us). He had a basket that said "tips" in the front of the motor coach but he never mentioned anything about tipping. We tipped him as well as others on our same tour but there were some that didn't.
You'll love your verandah. I'm not speaking from experience because we didn't have one
but who wouldn't love a verandah. We were in an 8C, the room with the large porthole window. It was a great room BUT we did book a verandah for our next cruise. We'll be in a 5E - the rooms with the huge verandah directly off the back of the ship. I.Can't.Wait.
I just went and got my Navigators from our cruise to remind myself what the shows were each night. Now I'm sad and depressed because I have to wait 493 days until our next cruise.
Anyway, here are the shows each night. I'm pretty sure your shows will be the same and in the same order because we both did/are doing an Eastern:
Night 1: A Fantasy Come True - This one was okay. It was kind of a big commercial for what is to come on the cruise. There was also a magician that did a small act during the show. I'd probably go because it is the first night. We'll do this one again next time.
Night 2: Aladdin - Again, this one was okay. We might skip this one on our next cruise.
Night 3: Wishes - This was our favorite show. We'll definitely see this one again!
Night 4: *This was Pirate Night (St. Maarten day). Frozen played in the theater. We saw the movie. I'm assuming they'll play a movie this night. It might still be Frozen.
Night 5: Buckets N' Boards Comedy Percussion Show - Awesome, awesome, awesome!!! Buckets N' Boards may or may not be on your cruise. Right now they aren't on any
Disney cruise ship (I follow them on FB) so there is a good chance they could be back in the fall. If it isn't them it will probably be a magician or ventriloquist.
Night 6: An Unforgettable Journey - OMG, I can't even remember this show. I can't remember if we saw it or not. I'm pretty sure we did. If I saw it it must not have impressed me too much.
Night 7: Disney's Believe - Again, this show was okay. We'd probably see it again because it is the last night.
I'll be honest, none of the shows blew me away. We liked them but didn't love any of them. We saw all of them (or at least I think we did) because it was our first time and we didn't want to miss them. Next time I know we won't see them all because there is just to much to do. That is one reason we are cruising the Fantasy again - we didn't get to do half of the stuff. Looking over my Navigator's I see so much I wanted to do that we just didn't have time for. Also, my boys didn't get to every show; they saw about half. They loved the kid's clubs and they were often at them while we were at the show.
As far as Midship Detective Agency, we never really found it busy. There were times we had to wait maybe for one person to get their game started but that was it. We played three times and rarely ever waited. People play all day. There are two different areas on the ship were you can start your game - Deck 2 and I think Deck 4.
Surprisingly, the AquaDuck line was never really that long. I was expecting the worst when it came to the pool deck in general. I never found it that bad though. We were always able to find a chair on the pool deck and I mean around 2:00 in the afternoon, peak pool time. We rode the AquaDuck a lot in the afternoon and never waited long (no more than 10 minutes tops). One night we went to the pool after the show and there was no one there and no wait for the AquaDuck.
So THANK YOU for sharing that particular article!!! 
I love looking at and reading about your family nights. Your family looks like so much fun! I would love to do stuff like this but my Boyfriend is so not a Disney person..
cheer2
, and they are quick ones... 10 Days!!! Yes, boyfriend DOES deserve 3 days at Universal as a big ole' thank you!!! 
So happy for you Casey! 
There are stores right there to shop in but I never ventured in any because I didn't want the tour to leave without me. 
, but that dog is adorable.
I am not surprised that you do not like it. 
Or, Kathy could be a really really good actress. 
My parents will most likely watch her for some of the trip. They are trying to come for a portion (5-6 days) so we will have to find out if they are coming and go from there. 
