What I would do/not do next cruise

[jendeli]

We will not order a photo book ahead of time. We didn't have enough pics to fill the book so we had to fill the pages with stock photos. This option would have been great if we had children who were interested in meeting the characters and getting pictures done.

 

[FergusBC]

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 ...

Well, we must be real time-savers! I never even knew you were supposed to put your name & address on those tags I thought it was just to identify your disembarkation 'character'!!!

 

[Ofinn]

Well, we must be real time-savers! I never even knew you were supposed to put your name & address on those tags I thought it was just to identify your disembarkation 'character'!!!

Your right! It's so you know where to pick up your bags. If you already have luggage tags on your bags your kind of wasting your time filling out your name and address. Really not necessary.

 

[sillykobe]

Great tips and good thread to keep.

 

[bumbershoot]

Until there's a change in menu I'm not going to Enchanted Garden again.

I won't go for Pirate night menu, at least for Royal Palace (and if it's the same menu for each venue, I'm not doing the pirate night menu at any sitdown place). And even Royal Palace's normal menu is wearing on me, except for the souffle.

I'm going to play minigolf! And someday maybe sit in a hot tub onboard. And maybe sit in the Quiet Cove area.

Well, we must be real time-savers! I never even knew you were supposed to put your name & address on those tags I thought it was just to identify your disembarkation 'character'!!!

If someone else manages to take your bag, it would be nice for them to know how to identify the actual owner.

Your right! It's so you know where to pick up your bags. If you already have luggage tags on your bags your kind of wasting your time filling out your name and address. Really not necessary.

Not everyone has permanent tags! We don't for a few of the bags, or we forget to move them from bag to bag.

 

[bringmethathorizon]

will do
skip some dinning rooms.(cabanas or room service)
skip some of the shows (seen them on the 3night cruises)
skip Nassau (been there done that)
enjoy being on a ship with no worries no cell phone just sitting on my veranda relaxing.

 

[eemaxx]

I will not overbook myself with excursions at every port! We had something booked for practically every port on our Med cruise last July. I'm very glad we got to see and do all that we did, but it was exhausting! Would have liked to spend more time relaxing on the ship or just exploring a little bit right in the port.

 

[MM2Hero]

thanks for all the great advice! It will come in handy for our 1st cruise!

 

[tanjo]

For future use...

 

[Jerae]

Yay for this thread. We are first time cruisers and trying to get a group together (friends/family) and this has been an incredibly helpful thread!!

We have no idea quite yet when we are going, but it's looking like off-season Carribean, 5-night.

Anyone have suggestions on best off-season week to choose? I'm so overwhelmed with everything right now! lol I'm assuming that the tips and info are pretty general no matter which ship you're on (like Deck 4)?

Headscratchers:

• Gift Cards - to pay for the cruise and to use on board. I get the "why" (Kroger points...all over that!)...but the "how" is stumping me. You can use the GC's to make payments on your cruise? How are they used onship? Put them towards OBC?
  
• Bringing foaming soap...why?
  
• Gifts for servers/cabin attendants....still a good idea or does tipping cover it?
  
• Waterproof lanyards....best places to get those and what do you keep in them?
  
• Arriving early to board/get free upgrade. Are the free upgrades only available to early arrivers? If you ask for it, will you be charged or will they always give them free on embarkation day? If you get a later time to arrive, but you arrive early, can you get onboard early? We'll have lots of kids with us, so trying to avoid lots of down time where possible.
  
• Is there a first-timer primer? lol
  

Thank you ALL for your tips/tricks!!

 

[Jerae]

And...duh....do you book with a travel agent or do it yourself?

I have started talking with a friend that works with Cupcake Castles Travel and they are supposed to be Disney experts. Am I wasting my time?

I read on mousesavers.com about the OBC and the travel co they recommend can get a bunch of extras (it seems) for you. Does anyone have any experience with that?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yay for this thread. We are first time cruisers and trying to get a group together (friends/family) and this has been an incredibly helpful thread!!

We have no idea quite yet when we are going, but it's looking like off-season Carribean, 5-night.

Anyone have suggestions on best off-season week to choose? I'm so overwhelmed with everything right now! lol I'm assuming that the tips and info are pretty general no matter which ship you're on (like Deck 4)?

Headscratchers:

• Gift Cards - to pay for the cruise and to use on board. I get the "why" (Kroger points...all over that!)...but the "how" is stumping me. You can use the GC's to make payments on your cruise? How are they used onship? Put them towards OBC? When applying payments online, one of the options is Disney Gift Card. You can also apply Disney Gift Cards to your onboard account (either pre-cruise or once onboard at Guest Services)
  
• Bringing foaming soap...why? Some people like it.
  
• Gifts for servers/cabin attendants....still a good idea or does tipping cover it? Typically, the gratuities are fine just as they are. Some people bring gifts hoping that it will make their servers/room hosts will feel more special. Just be aware that many of them share extremely small quarters onboard, and extra "stuff" really may not actually make it there.
  
• Waterproof lanyards....best places to get those and what do you keep in them? Lanyards are used to hold the KTTW card. Some people prefer waterproof carriers for carrying cards/cash on excursions, but both of those items can get wet. And, actually, wearing a lanyard while onshore is really screaming "tourist".
  
• Arriving early to board/get free upgrade. Are the free upgrades only available to early arrivers? If you ask for it, will you be charged or will they always give them free on embarkation day? If you get a later time to arrive, but you arrive early, can you get onboard early? We'll have lots of kids with us, so trying to avoid lots of down time where possible. Upgrades are available as long as they last. So early arrivers have a better chance. Upgrades at the port do have a cost, they are not "free". The cost, however is less than if you had upgraded the day prior to the cruise. Your boarding number (which your receive at port check in) is tied to the Port Arrival Time you select during your online checkin process. Regardless of when you arrive you will receive the same boarding number.
  
• Is there a first-timer primer? lol One starting place would be the FAQ sticky at the top of the page. Some of the info is a little dated, but mostly it's a starting point. Then you can post specific questions here.
  

Thank you ALL for your tips/tricks!!

And...duh....do you book with a travel agent or do it yourself? Some people (first time cruisers) can benefit by using a DCL trained TA. Others book themselves directly with DCL. It depends on your comfort zone.

I have started talking with a friend that works with Cupcake Castles Travel and they are supposed to be Disney experts. Am I wasting my time? Have they actually gone through the Disney training program? Or have they just "read up" on Disney cruising?

I read on mousesavers.com about the OBC and the travel co they recommend can get a bunch of extras (it seems) for you. Does anyone have any experience with that? Yes, some TAs may offer Onboard Credit for using them to book the cruise. Check around. The sponsor of this board also does the same. As do some private TAs.

My responses in red.

 

[Jerae]

My responses in red.

You totally rock!!!

 

[noahdove]

Just bumping to get helpful hints for our next cruise.

 

[mcgowanclear]

Thanks for starting this thread! This is a great place for info before we take our first DCL in March2015. So excited!

 

[glxmas0629]

 

[glxmas0629]

I found so many helpful things on this thread. Thank you for sharing!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

And...duh....do you book with a travel agent or do it yourself?

I have started talking with a friend that works with Cupcake Castles Travel and they are supposed to be Disney experts. Am I wasting my time?

I read on mousesavers.com about the OBC and the travel co they recommend can get a bunch of extras (it seems) for you. Does anyone have any experience with that?

FWIW, the Dis likes us to put the whole URL of a company we're talking about. (some companies are blocked on the Dis, so if the URL comes up as "xxxxxx" we know we aren't supposed to mention them.

You can put the URL into the reply box, then click Preview Post to see if it shows up correctly or not. If not, just don't bring them up.

I just did that, and yep, x's.


I personally use costcotravel.com; with Disney cruises they send you a Costco giftcard afterwards for a decent percentage, and I like that.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

http://www.mousesavers.com/

 

[100AcreWood]

FWIW, the Dis likes us to put the whole URL of a company we're talking about. (some companies are blocked on the Dis, so if the URL comes up as "xxxxxx" we know we aren't supposed to mention them.

You can put the URL into the reply box, then click Preview Post to see if it shows up correctly or not. If not, just don't bring them up.

I just did that, and yep, x's.


I personally use costcotravel.com; with Disney cruises they send you a Costco giftcard afterwards for a decent percentage, and I like that.

I also use Costco as well.