What was your worst DCL rookie mistake?

[DannyDisneyFreak]

I wish we arrived earlier on embarkation day. I would schedule arrival as early as possible and maximize as much time on the ship as possible!

 

[LSUfan4444]

Our worst mistake was committing to going to the MDR each night. I've since learned it always works best for us to reserve one day/night for just sitting on deck, eating poolside and staying in our flip flops all day long.

 

[mernin]

Not seeing the fireworks & parties because of tired kids & parents. Taking a break for a nap and not laying down in the evening is the key! Also, I packed too much! I don't know how it happened as I was conscious about what I packed but ended up with a few outfits too many for each of us. We only had 1 beach day (cc) but if I was doing a longer cruise with a few beach & snorkelling days, I would bring our own gear (at least mask/snorkel).

 

[RedSox68]

Our worst mistake was committing to going to the MDR each night. I've since learned it always works best for us to reserve one day/night for just sitting on deck, eating poolside and staying in our flip flops all day long.

Every cruise we take one night to order room service and watch in-room movies. It's relaxing and one of our favorite relaxing things to do. It confuses the heck out of the room steward though LOL

 

[Cruisin Pupcake]

We took our family of 15 for our 50th anniversary on the Disney Dream and stayed at a WDW hotel and took the DCL bus. While logistics for that size group and toddler car seat would have been daunting had we rented vehicles to get to the port, I was still very disappointed that the DCL bus didn't pick us up until after 12, and by the time we got on the ship we barely made the late lunch, then time for the drill, it was rush, rush, rush, and not the way I really wanted to start that part of our "vacation." It felt more like the amazing race until we got to Castaway Cay at the end of the trip-- and since the day started out with rain, most people stayed on the ship, so after maybe 40 minutes of rain, we had a very uncrowded lovely day on the beach to relax.

I am ALL ABOUT Bonine. I grew up with every motion sickness possible with seasickness the WORST--and I was always knocked out on Dramamine as we drove cross country. Once I discovered Bonine that doesn't have the resulting sleepiness, I have tolerated all forms of travel and I highly recommend it if you are cruising. I have a friend who suffered from seasickness and got a job on a tourist submarine in Hawaii. She said after taking Bonine for a month not only did she never have seasickness any longer, but it also made her tinnitus (ringing in the ears) go away.

I agree with another post about skipping Nassau. We had enjoyed Nassau 10 years ago at Club Med, but since the hurricanes and resulting poverty, we were literally accosted at the end of the dock entering the city and it was so dirty and hot that day, we went to the Straw Market for about 10 minutes and turned around and went back to the ship. Between our days at WDW and on the Disney Dream, it really was a dream trip of a lifetime that everyone enjoyed from age one to 70.

 

[pearljammer]

Overpacking and not booking a longer cruise (our first was a 3 nighter). Best thing we did was rebook on board, did a lot of meet and greets as now we can't get him to do them. Son went from can't keep him in the kids club on first cruise to now can't keep him out! The first cruise can be overwhelming when your trying to find your way around.

 

[PixyDst]

I haven't even started to read this and I already know I need to save it!
DH and I are looking at taking our first-ever cruise (I went when I was 6, but can't remember a thing) and I am a nut for planning down to the last detail, good and bad. I need to know EVERYTHING. So please, bring on the stories!

 

[dragynally]

This is my favorite thread ever. My person rookie mistake was cruising with a group instead of close friends and family. I loved meeting new people but I was so trying to do group activities I didn't just relax as much as I should. My second cruise was DH and me. My mistake then was was scaring the bejeebus out of DH. I was reading him horror stories on here, telling him my horror stories, we watched cruise shows with horror stories... you get the idea. We get on the DCL bus and my poor puddin is clutching our backpack with out documents for dear life because he's afraid they won't let him on the ship. I've learned to chill a bit and assure him that we will be fine.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

. I was reading him horror stories on here, telling him my horror stories, we watched cruise shows with horror stories... you get the idea. We get on the DCL bus and my poor puddin is clutching our backpack with out documents for dear life because he's afraid they won't let him on the ship

So funny! Thanks for the chuckle!

 

[Beth06015]

More a first cruise mistake: waiting to see if I'd get sea sick before taking something to prevent sea sickness. That first night (between PC and Nassau) I was miserable and thought cruising wasn't for me.

OMG I did this!!! Sitting at dinner on the Magic and boy the ship was really moving on its way to Nassau and I had to miss dinner because i was too sick to even just sit there. Lesson learned on that one!
.

what did you use for preventative sea sickness meds? It's our first cruise and I'm worried about my husband -- he even got sick last year at WDW's garden grill rotating restaurant!

 

[Beth06015]

Now that I'm back from my first DCL trip, I feel like I can honestly say this board has prevented most rookie mistakes I might have made! I only have 2 contributions. 1) Once I joined an activity, I felt like I had to follow it through. Silly waste of time! I worried it would be rude to walk out, but I seriously doubt anyone cares or notices, in retrospect. 2) Plan almost nothing before like 1pm. Boy can my family sleep in, and with the time difference - my 11yo looked half-asleep during our noon Frozen meet n greet photos! They thought I was trying to kill them with the single 9:30am excursion I booked in 7 days. Most of my kids' "breakfasts" were on the pool deck at lunch time... at least I was smart enough to book late dining! Most days, meal #1 at lunch time, meal #2 around 4:00, and then dinner. We only made Cabanas breakfast a couple of times, and that by the skin of our teeth.

Sounds like how my family eats! Fruit/coffee for breakfast, then late lunch and late dinner! It's our first cruise but I'm hoping late dinner will work best for us!

 

[Beth06015]

Not taking advantage of the free room service!!! Not that we EVER went hungry, geez, they fed us like kings, but still... I wouldn't have minded the milk and cookies before bed or the PB&J's you can get for your day offship.

How do you get sandwiches for port days? And is there anything else you can get besides PB&J?

 

[mevelandry]

what did you use for preventative sea sickness meds? It's our first cruise and I'm worried about my husband -- he even got sick last year at WDW's garden grill rotating restaurant!

In Canada we have a transportation sickness medication called "Gravol" (but bonine or dramamine could do the job) and there is a non-drowsy kind made out of ginger. We start with the ginger pills before embarkation, then we take a Gravol right before the fire drill to make sure that we are "protected" from sea sickness when the ship starts moving. It works like a charm and in the following days, we only take ginger pills unless we get rough seas.

Oh and I always drink ginger ale with dinner on the first night.

 

[FigmentSpark]

In Canada we have a transportation sickness medication called "Gravol" (but bonine or dramamine could do the job) and there is a non-drowsy kind made out of ginger. We start with the ginger pills before embarkation, then we take a Gravol right before the fire drill to make sure that we are "protected" from sea sickness when the ship starts moving. It works like a charm and in the following days, we only take ginger pills unless we get rough seas.

Oh and I always drink ginger ale with dinner on the first night.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just picked up some ginger Gravol. The pharmacist said that regular Gravol can make you drowsy, but the ginger one was okay and also okay for kids 6 and up, so that's a win. I hope I don't need it, though. We're usually good, but never been on water for a long period of time before.

 

[NS8VN]

In Canada we have a transportation sickness medication called "Gravol" (but bonine or dramamine could do the job)

Just for anybody curious, the active ingredient in Gravol is dimenhydrinate, which is the same as Dramamine. The ginger version is, well just that, ginger. In the US you should be able to find ginger root at any store that sells vitamin/herbal supplements. Then Bonine and non-drowsy Dramamine both contain meclazine.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

there is a non-drowsy kind made out of ginger.

Would you mind telling me what the nondrowsy ginger kind is called? Maybe I can Google the ingredients. Ginger helped me immensely when I had morning sickness with our twins!

 

[cmph]

I'm not going to tag everyone asking the meds question, but I wanted to chime in that my kiddos' pediatrician only ok'd Dramamine for my younger child (8) but was fine with the 11yo having meclizine. I already knew that Dramamine knocked him out, so that left ginger, any form of it, and sea bands. Ordered the kids' sized sea bands on amazon, assumed I could easily find ginger stuff locally. Well, that was big fun. Nothing at Wal-greens or CVS, nothing at the regular grocery store, nothing at the vitamin store ("sorry, looks like we're out, we usually have that), finally found things at a far-away health food market. We got these chewable tablet things that taste primarily of molasses, and some gummy kinds. The gummy kinds were insane to chew, just impossible. He's going to get braces soon, so we'll never use those again. The tablets are sort of Tums-shaped and much easier to chew, for anyone with kids.

OK, so then fast-forward to post-cruise, and I was in World Market... and their international candy aisle is FULL of ginger candies. Just a ton of options. One of them being the same darned gummies I trekked all over to find in the health food store's natural pharmaceutical section. And World Market is 9min from my house. argh!! So for those of you hunting down ginger things who aren't near a health food store - head to World Market!

OH, and btw, the kiddo in question, who seems to have outgrown getting sick on parks' rides but still gets motion sick in the car? Totally fine on the cruise. Stopped wearing the sea bands about 36 hours into the trip b/c he found them irritating, and only ate a ginger tablet the first night b/c I made him. Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose!

 

[cmph]

Sounds like how my family eats! Fruit/coffee for breakfast, then late lunch and late dinner! It's our first cruise but I'm hoping late dinner will work best for us!

i think you'll be far happier with late dining! I'm very glad my TA strongly hinted that we'd be happier with late. If you miss the "breakfast" hours, just fyi - they have coffee in the drinks section on deck that's always open, and on the Wonder, Daisy's De-lites has fresh fruit, if you don't want to wait for the lunch buffet to open or don't want to deal with the crowd there.

 

[hardis5]

what did you use for preventative sea sickness meds? It's our first cruise and I'm worried about my husband -- he even got sick last year at WDW's garden grill rotating restaurant!

Being from Canada, we always ensure a stop to pick-up Bonine (does not make one drowsy like Gravol can) when down south with the DW always starting to take at least 24 hours before boarding and she takes at least a full day after getting off the ship. She found that sea legs followed her off the ship so continuing to take a day or two after eliminated this for her.

 

[mevelandry]

Thanks for the recommendation. I just picked up some ginger Gravol. The pharmacist said that regular Gravol can make you drowsy, but the ginger one was okay and also okay for kids 6 and up, so that's a win. I hope I don't need it, though. We're usually good, but never been on water for a long period of time before.

My recommendation: Just take it. It's ginger, it's natural. Don't wait until you find out that you need it because if it starts, you'll be miserable and then it might take you many hours to get better.