What was your worst DCL rookie mistake?

[mevelandry]

Are you sure it's real ginger ale? Not a ginger-flavored carbonated drink?

I don't know. I just order the ginger ale in the MDR... I receive it in a glass so I don't know the brand.

 

[Geomom]

No because I have never heard of ginger candy/gummies before (I don't think we have it here)... But I have tried to drink ginger ale and it did not help.

Hard Candy--I like the Ginger hard candy drops at Christmas Tree Shops (in Massachusetts), it's by Mill Farm which is a Christmas Tree shop brand. This hard candy has Ginger oleoresin--so make sure any hard candy you find contains real ginger.

Gummies--Haribo makes a Lemon Ginger gummy

Crystallized Candied Ginger--you should be able to find it somewhere. (I do see this on Amazon.) I get mine at Trader Joe's, but I've seen it in my grocery store at Christmas time near the candied fruits for fruitcake. I prefer the crystallized over uncrystallized as I find it easier to chew. I also get chocolate covered candied ginger at Trader Joes.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don't know. I just order the ginger ale in the MDR... I receive it in a glass so I don't know the brand.

Ah... well, the ginger ale in the dining rooms is Fanta (at least on the Magic).

I don't believe there's actual ginger in it.

 

[mevelandry]

Ah... well, the ginger ale in the dining rooms is Fanta (at least on the Magic).
View attachment 224086
I don't believe there's actual ginger in it.

That might explain why it doesn't do miracles. LOL

I'll stick to my Gravol and Gravol Ginger.

 

[KdKyA]

So mine is embarrassing and I felt so bad when I realized my mistake. First, the non embarrassing. We booked a 3 night concierge on the Dream. didn't know anything about sending a letter in at 125 days out. Didn't even know about any of the perks like a Cabana on CC. So around the 75 day mark I checked in because I had read first time cruisers was 75 days. Thankfully they were holding a few cabanas still, or someone had cancelled. Either way, we got one. I didn't realize until later that those were extremely hard to get!

Now the embarrassing part. We got off the DCL bus to get to the ship. The CM said we could jump in front of the lines and go right to the concierge desk. So we went in and pushed through everyone and got to the front and realized that wasn't the line the CM was referring too. That was just the security line and the perks for concierge didn't work in that line. We had a lot of angry looks and it was so crowded we couldn't go backwards so we went through. I felt so bad for doing that. I wish the CM would have said AFTER you go through security go to the front. Ugh, that was a bad rookie mistake!

The other mistake was not applying sunscreen to my back and snorkeling at CC for over an hour. OMGOSH! Never had I been so sunburned in my life. I was a lobster, but only on my back. I had blisters all over it was so bad. I couldn't sleep all night and we had to get off the ship the next day. In addition, we had one more day at WDW in the heat of late June. I was so miserable.

 

[RedSox68]

Sorry -- I may have mentioned this earlier in this thread, and I know others have had the same embarrassing situation. But I made the rookie mistake of not leaving out clothes for the next morning when putting our suitcases out the night before. If was our first cruise and I was panicked ot get all the luggage and packed everything of mine. Luckily, when I realized it, my husband was able to flag down our room steward and they were able to bring back one of the suitcases so I could get a set of clothes out. We did, however, the next morning see a LOT of people in the terminal in their pajamas and slippers LOL

I never did that again. Now I change into the clothes I will be wearing the next morning and then pack everything else

 

[monkeybird]

What a helpful and hilarious thread!

 

[ImprovGal]

Is there a candy brand that you prefer?

I like the ginger candies (chews or hard candies) made by The Ginger People. I've bought them in Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

 

[Mirthful]

My rookie mistakes were:
1. Booking too close to the time of cruise for March break & paying way more.
2. Going too cheap on board - not buying any drinks (a drink with dinner would be nice) & not spending anything extra. The cruise did not feel as fun being so chintzy.
3. Not doing any pictures - I didn't understand the process & thought I would have to pay for all of them. Now we do a photo book with every cruise, especially the Europe itineraries with the unique backgrounds & characters in different outfits.
4. Not getting the drink of the day. I didn't know until my third cruise that they are cheaper (& yummy too!)
5. Spending the first afternoon wandering the ship. I wish we had went to the pool or an activity.
6. Not doing enough. I wanted to relax, but then didn't enjoy everything the ship had to offer. I can always relax at home
7. Staying in the room when I felt sea sick. I wish I had have went up on deck, breathed the fresh air and looked towards the horizon.
8. Not putting our luggage out the night before disembarking. We had to use the elevators lugging all of our luggage, go to breakfast with it and then get back down on the busy elevators to leave the ship.

 

[Beth06015]

My rookie mistakes were:
1. Booking too close to the time of cruise for March break & paying way more.
2. Going too cheap on board - not buying any drinks (a drink with dinner would be nice) & not spending anything extra. The cruise did not feel as fun being so chintzy.
3. Not doing any pictures - I didn't understand the process & thought I would have to pay for all of them. Now we do a photo book with every cruise, especially the Europe itineraries with the unique backgrounds & characters in different outfits.
4. Not getting the drink of the day. I didn't know until my third cruise that they are cheaper (& yummy too!)
5. Spending the first afternoon wandering the ship. I wish we had went to the pool or an activity.
6. Not doing enough. I wanted to relax, but then didn't enjoy everything the ship had to offer. I can always relax at home
7. Staying in the room when I felt sea sick. I wish I had have went up on deck, breathed the fresh air and looked towards the horizon.
8. Not putting our luggage out the night before disembarking. We had to use the elevators lugging all of our luggage, go to breakfast with it and then get back down on the busy elevators to leave the ship.

Great tips, thank you!! What do you do for photo books? Do you get the prepaid package?

 

[Mirthful]

The prepaid packages are for all prints or all digital images. We order the book on the ship which costs $149.95 plus shipping. Each book is specific to the area cruised, so the stock photos are nice keepsakes too.

 

[RedSox68]

My rookie mistakes were:
1. Booking too close to the time of cruise for March break & paying way more.
2. Going too cheap on board - not buying any drinks (a drink with dinner would be nice) & not spending anything extra. The cruise did not feel as fun being so chintzy.
3. Not doing any pictures - I didn't understand the process & thought I would have to pay for all of them. Now we do a photo book with every cruise, especially the Europe itineraries with the unique backgrounds & characters in different outfits.
4. Not getting the drink of the day. I didn't know until my third cruise that they are cheaper (& yummy too!)
5. Spending the first afternoon wandering the ship. I wish we had went to the pool or an activity.
6. Not doing enough. I wanted to relax, but then didn't enjoy everything the ship had to offer. I can always relax at home
7. Staying in the room when I felt sea sick. I wish I had have went up on deck, breathed the fresh air and looked towards the horizon.
8. Not putting our luggage out the night before disembarking. We had to use the elevators lugging all of our luggage, go to breakfast with it and then get back down on the busy elevators to leave the ship.

Just a tip we discovered after our fourth cruise -- if you aren't committed to doing the dining room breakfast, you can leave your luggage in the stateroom and go to Cabanas. As long as you collect your luggage and are out of the stateroom by the suggested time (I think it's 8 or 8:30 a.m.), we've never had a problem.

 

[texasgingerbread]

Hard Candy--I like the Ginger hard candy drops at Christmas Tree Shops (in Massachusetts), it's by Mill Farm which is a Christmas Tree shop brand. This hard candy has Ginger oleoresin--so make sure any hard candy you find contains real ginger.

Gummies--Haribo makes a Lemon Ginger gummy

Crystallized Candied Ginger--you should be able to find it somewhere. (I do see this on Amazon.) I get mine at Trader Joe's, but I've seen it in my grocery store at Christmas time near the candied fruits for fruitcake. I prefer the crystallized over uncrystallized as I find it easier to chew. I also get chocolate covered candied ginger at Trader Joes.

Careful - Trader Joes, Target, and Whole Foods ginger candy has been sued for lead toxicity. Only California banned it from resale...but Target did remove from shelves. I beleive TJ and WF are still selling it. Just do a quick search of "ginger candy lead" and you can see the list of bad ones. They had more than 7 times the amount of lead you should be getting. Crazy.

 

[RedSox68]

Careful - Trader Joes, Target, and Whole Foods ginger candy has been sued for lead toxicity. Only California banned it from resale...but Target did remove from shelves. I beleive TJ and WF are still selling it. Just do a quick search of "ginger candy lead" and you can see the list of bad ones. They had more than 7 times the amount of lead you should be getting. Crazy.

How is it even legal that they are keeping this item on the shelf? UGH!

 

[texasgingerbread]

How is it even legal that they are keeping this item on the shelf? UGH!

I know it is crazy. I was just looking for ginger candy for my cruise and looked at the Q&A of a product and it said "we were not listed as one the companies in the lead lawsuit" and then of course I went and googled it. This is even old news from 2015 and The Ginger People (main ginger candy supplier) as well as many others are still getting away with it outside of the state of California. In fact, when I followed a link from my search of "ginger candy made in the USA" it went to the Vermont Country Store. Should be safe right? Nope. They must get their ginger from China because it says "not available for sale in California". Crazy!!

PS - what's crazy is how many pregnant women are eating this candy to help with nausea. So scary!

 

[RedSox68]

I know it is crazy. I was just looking for ginger candy for my cruise and looked at the Q&A of a product and it said "we were not listed as one the companies in the lead lawsuit" and then of course I went and googled it. This is even old news from 2015 and The Ginger People (main ginger candy supplier) as well as many others are still getting away with it outside of the state of California. In fact, when I followed a link from my search of "ginger candy made in the USA" it went to the Vermont Country Store. Should be safe right? Nope. They must get their ginger from China because it says "not available for sale in California". Crazy!!

PS - what's crazy is how many pregnant women are eating this candy to help with nausea. So scary!

It just seems our food safety standards in this country are so lax compared to Europe. I read the other day there are food products with chemicals that have been banned in other countries, but they are still selling it here!

 

[ywhaithcock]

So what kind of medication do you take? I really dont know what to inquire about and if its OTC or I need a Dr visit. Im a first time cruiser on the Fantasy in a couple weeks and am concerned about the motion as I get blechy on Star Tours and Mission Space - motion sickness like feeling. It has gotten worse since my mid 30's

The least invasive is the sea sickness bracelets that work via pressure points. The next level would be over the counter such as dramamine, bonine and in a pinch benadryl, these may cause drowsiness. What I have to use is the scopolamine patch (you wear behind the ear) which requires a prescription from a doctor (if you have an established relationship with your doctor a visit may not be required. I usually put my patch on that morning before I get on the boat to insure meds are in my system before boat takes off. I don't get drowsy with the patch. I don't know what others may experience.

 

[Beth06015]

The prepaid packages are for all prints or all digital images. We order the book on the ship which costs $149.95 plus shipping. Each book is specific to the area cruised, so the stock photos are nice keepsakes too.

thanks for the response! the book sounds nice!!

 

[Dug720]

It just seems our food safety standards in this country are so lax compared to Europe. I read the other day there are food products with chemicals that have been banned in other countries, but they are still selling it here!

Food safely yes.

But medicine - we are "allowed" doses at like half of what they are in Europe for some OTC meds especially. Our OTC strength for Claritin and others (at least the last time my friend checked because it was NOT working for him here while it was in England) is HALF the strength they are allowed. Which is why if one does not work for me I have zero issues taking two.

 

[RedSox68]

Food safely yes.

But medicine - we are "allowed" doses at like half of what they are in Europe for some OTC meds especially. Our OTC strength for Claritin and others (at least the last time my friend checked because it was NOT working for him here while it was in England) is HALF the strength they are allowed. Which is why if one does not work for me I have zero issues taking two.

I did not know that fun fact either. Now I know why I quickly grow a zero effect from my allergy pill. Thanks.