What I would do/not do next cruise

[klepton]

I saw earlier someone say their husband drank beer with a beer token or something... Does anyone have more info on what this is?

Also on CC you can rent bikes... Do they have tandem bikes or bikes that can tote along younger kids that can't ride?

What does the wine packages cost and you get a bottle of wine with every dinner? Are they paired with what you are eating?

The 'token' is actually a card about the size of a credit card that you can use as a voucher for the DCL beer mug you purchase. Basically you purchase a beer mug for $17, and you are able to refill that 22oz mug at any bar for the price of their normal 16oz beer. If you don't want to carry the mug around with you, you can trade it in at the bar for a token card, and the next time you want a beer give the bartender your card and they'll give you a new mug. Only works with the beer they have on tap (no bottles). From a pure cost-per-fluid-ounce perspective, you'll break even with the mug after about 154 oz, or 7 beers with the mug. Your actual savings will depend on your own drinking habits/style.

 

[weniepooh]

Do they have a price sheet for before you go on your cruise so you know prices of alcoholic drinks? Just so you know how much you can afford to drink lol

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Do they have a price sheet for before you go on your cruise so you know prices of alcoholic drinks? Just so you know how much you can afford to drink lol

We just bring on board what we want. We splurged on one or two unusual things, otherwise we enjoyed our own stash.

 

[DisneYE]

We just bring on board what we want. We splurged on one or two unusual things, otherwise we enjoyed our own stash.

IIRC, beer price range is $6-$9/ea (depending on brand/size) plus gratuity.... cocktails are $7-$10/ea plus tip... wine, I've never ordered by glass so I dunno...as the above poster, I either bring 'my stash' and/or get the wine package on board and/or order a bottle at our MDR...
You can say booze policies at the DCL are pretty lenient... so take advantage of them but stay within their rules..

 

[SnBDiva]

We had late seating on all our cruises and we always dress before Golden Mickey's. After the show we had our pictures taken. The lines can get long on formal night and while I'm not sure... I don't think the picture opportunities were still open after we ate. I like to take my time getting ready and I wouldn't want to be rushed. Plus, I've always felt that the stage shows and the elegance of the theater deserved the effort to dress up for.

I certainly plan to be dressed in my formal wear before the show as I quite enjoy being "dressy". I was concerned about photo ops on that night. Thanks bunches!

 

[aylnine]

Will do 1st time:

Relax! & Rainforest Room
CC5K
Swim/snorkel
Palo brunch and Remy dinner
Clubbing/more after dark activities
Get the drink of the day every day (yep, saving up for it)
Mixology class
Pirate party (but not the buffet)

Will do again:

Rewatch the shows, maaaaybe including Toy Story; I remember it was RIDIC
Work out; last cruise was a 7 day so it's probable this won't happen
Catch any movies that we didn't see on shore, although by the time of our sailing we should probably have seen everything Disney has out (Maleficent, Muppets 2, Captain America 2)

Won't do:

Try to do everything and/or stress out about it
Stress about overeating and gaining weight (cuz let's face it, I'm on vacation and it's gonna happen)

 

[shanhop]

Forgot to add this one...

Will do: Mix-it up with pictures. All of our pictures are the adults, the girls, or the four of us. Next time we will do pictures of Mom and the girls, Dad and the girls, Mom and Kate, Mom and Emma, etc. etc. etc. If you are going to get the CD, go for a mixture of poses.

 

[criddla]

Will do again:
- bring wine & order an "All hands on deck" platter each night to enjoy on the balcony while we get ready for dinner
- order Mickey bars from room service
- order coffee as our "wake up call" each morning from room service
- Palo brunch
- bring dollar store sand toys that we left on CC
- adult hot tubs
- buy souvenirs early in the trip
- leave the kids at the club if they don't want to shop at the port, they were much happier and we got some alone time- everyone was happy
- clearly communicate to our parents ( yes-we brought both sets) that we'll meet up at dinner each night, but before dinner and after dinner they should do exactly what they want (or as little) and not feel like they have to do everything we want to do - this worked great and we enjoyed hearing about each other's day at dinner
- martini tasting
- leave something to get signed at guest services
- book another cruise early in the trip when there are no lines

Want to do:
- CC5K
- see a movie in the theatre
- galley tour
- mixology
- rainforest room - those heated loungers sound amazing
- konk cooler at CC

Won't do again:
- think that because I'm a boater I won't get sea sick - wow did the sea ever get me. I was so drugged up on gravol I don't remember day 2 of the cruise. I'll wear the patch next time!
- Palo dinner when it's dark (a sunset view would have been incredible)
- rent floaters on CC - wait until 2:30 when most people are heading back to the ship - so many people asked our kids if they wanted to use them and our kids were bored of their sand toys at that point, so it worked out great

 

[DenyingReality]

Will:
-order a wider variety of food. I really regret not trying some of the things I might have liked just because I'd never tried them before.
-rainforest room. Didn't get a chance to.
-the detective agency (Fantasy). Again, didn't get a chance to try.
-Bingo. Yet again, was too busy doing other things to try.
-talk to more cast members. Such awesome stories to tell!
-try palo supper as well as do brunch again.
-try to actually use the gym this time to work off all the yummy food
-book excursions on Castaway Cay. It was beautiful but too hot to just lay in the sun all day! I wished we had done some sort of water excursion.

Won't:
-worry about getting sea sick. Although I saw lots of people wearing patches, the sea didn't bother me at all. I didn't take Gravol the whole trip.
-buy as much onboard. I already took care of most of the souvenirs I wanted on my first trip. More money to do things that make memories!
-go to the first and last shows. Yawn.

 

[TweedleDee/Dum]

Will... Have brunch at Remy.
Relax in the rainforest room

Will not... Stress over making it to a sit down dinner ever night!!

 

[bliscum]

Palo dinner, more bingo

 

[Cousin Orville]

Will not... Stress over making it to a sit down dinner ever night!!

Agreed!

 

[becca1976]

When I adopted my dd from China I would fight to stay awake each night to capture as many details as possible. I wish I'd thought at the time to do the above. Now it's my tip to other families who are adopting to keep daily video journals of themself just tracking the events of each day. Invaluable afterwards!

This is such a great idea! I'm totally going to do this! Thanks for sharing!

 

[andreap82]

This is a great thread! Helps me decide what to do for our upcoming cruise in May. Soooo excited

 

[jendeli]

3 more days until our cruise! Taking notes from this thread.

 

[Chrisey]

We just did a Halloween on the high seas cruise and bought a Halloween themed fish extender... I wish I had ordered a more neutral one, because now we are going again in March and I have to order a new one.

 

[4 The Love Of Disney]

When you put your luggage out the night before, you are given a character tag where you fill out your name, address, etc for each bag. With four people, we had lots of bags. It's not much, but on the last day of the cruise, in a packing frenzy, it was a whole lot easier to slap a return address label on it, than sit down and fill it out.

I love this tip. Your right, filling out that luggage tag is both time consuming and hard on the wrist lol - especially for a family of five. I just preprinted the info on stick on labels about 10 minutes ago.

Thank you for this tip - it will save me a lot of time on the last night of the cruise!!

 

[ocspartan]

I love this tip. Your right, filling out that luggage tag is both time consuming and hard on the wrist lol - especially for a family of five. I just preprinted the info on stick on labels about 10 minutes ago.

Thank you for this tip - it will save me a lot of time on the last night of the cruise!!

Honestly not sure if it's all that time consuming to write your name and address... but if it works for you great, for me I'd be more likely to forget pre-printed labels at home ...

That being said if you are printing at home remember to include the number of bags you have they recommend putting the total on like "(2 of 5)" so that when they are stacking them in the port they are more likely to be closer to each other making your process to get out of the port quicker, or if nothing else it makes it easier for the porter to see how many bags total you have...

 

[4 The Love Of Disney]

Honestly not sure if it's all that time consuming to write your name and address... but if it works for you great, for me I'd be more likely to forget pre-printed labels at home ... That being said if you are printing at home remember to include the number of bags you have they recommend putting the total on like "(2 of 5)" so that when they are stacking them in the port they are more likely to be closer to each other making your process to get out of the port quicker, or if nothing else it makes it easier for the porter to see how many bags total you have...

Lol - it's already packed with my cruise docs. And yes, I added the total number of bags line ( # of # ) - thank you.

 

[jendeli]

Next time we will wear our swim suits under our clothes instead of carrying them on. The lines for the bathrooms were long because everyone else was changing too.