worried I wont fit everything in

[shelldub]

Hi all,

Can someone give me some reassurance or tips!! I am due to go on my first cruise on October 30th on the dream for three nights. I am so so excited and spend hours watching vlogs on youtube.

I'm worried though that I won't have time to do everything I want and I dont mean excursions or classes or anything like that. I actually mean just time on the ship.

Day one when we get there we have to wait until we get into our room before I will feel settled to actually go and do stuff on the ship. Ideally i'd like to go on the adult pool but them i'm thinking i should be exploring the ship. then there's the sail away party and then get ready for the evenings activities.

day two is in Nassau. Ideally I want to split the day. Some time in Nassau on the beach but also sometime again to enjoy the ship - any suggestions.

Day three in castaway cay is whats at me the most to be honest. We have an excursion booked for one hour at 11am. So really this will mean that there is no point going to the beach first and setting up camp when we will then have to go to our excursion. We finish at 12 and then plan to go to serenity bay and relax for the afternoon, but if we do that it really doesn't leave us with alot of time to go to pelican plunge or to have a walk around. I can't see any time for us to enjoy the ship on this day.

Ok so someone relax me and tell me that time wont go by as quick as I think it will and I can do everything I want!!!

Thanks.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Have a " light" outline plan, but go with the flow.

On the plan have, A list events the most important to you, and the ones you do not wish to miss, plan for these. Then have the B list that are nice to do but if your in the adult pool, well, your in the adult pool and can be dropped.

So if the weather is bad you nay wish to do more of Plan B like a movie or bingo inside, no 1 is enjoy and relax, even on a seven night you can't do everything. It's a vacation first, have that lay in if required or time on the sunbed.

Read the a navigator in port on embarkation, go straight to where you want to book any of these, then each night read the next day's activities to see where your plan A and B activities are and give yourselves a rough plan for the day.

 

[shelldub]

Hi thank you for your reply,

I am the biggest planner and wanted so much to just relax on this cruise but looks like I will have to make a plan to relax!!!

Thanks for your tips, i'm sure it will all be fine!

 

[shelldub]

where can I find out what times roughly the ship arrives and leaves nassau and castaway cay.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hi thank you for your reply,

I am the biggest planner and wanted so much to just relax on this cruise but looks like I will have to make a plan to relax!!!

Thanks for your tips, i'm sure it will all be fine!

With the high expense of a cruise and so much to do, yes everyone wants to do as much as possible, but that actually is impossible.

So yes read up, yes plan, know the A list things that you want to do, endure you know how to do it, ie book Palo brunch at your booking window, or go to XYZ Desk on embarkation, for ticketed character meets if mixology. Have that plan then relax , if in the end you do not get to do it all, well there is always the next cruise.

Rule 1 it's a vacation, enjoy and relax.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

You won't be able to do everything. There's just too much. You just need to accept that.

 

[KristiMc]

where can I find out what times roughly the ship arrives and leaves nassau and castaway cay.

If you log into your reservation, you will be able to see what time your ship docks/departs from each port. My advice is to relax and go with the flow. On the first day, have lunch and then walk around and get a feel of the ship before you room opens.

 

[Dug720]

You won't be able to do everything. There's just too much. You just need to accept that.

This x 1000!!! Especially on a three-night cruise. You can't even fit everything in on a seven-night cruise!

If you insist on trying to do EVERYTHING the odds are strongly that a) you will be exhausted at the end of your vacation and b) you will not enjoy any of it.

My best advice is to pick a small handful of things you want to be sure to hit and then go with the flow and just let things happen as they will and soak it all in.

 

[shelldub]

Too be honest we actually don't want to do much at all. Just relax. I would just hate to think that I didn't take advantage of being on the ship as apposed to on shore.

Thanks all for your posts. I need to stop worrying and just enjoy!!

 

[basketlacey]

You will definitely not be able to do it all. Relaxing on the boat or beach are high priorities for my cruise vacations. So much so that often, even if I think I'm going to leave my lounge chair for an activity, it doesn't happen! I've yet to sit through a movie in the theater even though it was on my list for two cruises.

We stayed on the ship on Nassau day. Our original plan was to head out mid afternoon and walk around the port a bit but we were enjoying the ship so much, we never got off. The next day at CC, we stayed off the entire day. It was a good balance for a three day cruise. Just FYI - after than cruise, we booked a 7 day!

 

[noahsmom]

A three day cruise is not enough time to do everything, no matter how much planning you do. Make a list of a few "must do" items and try to get those in. If see the ship is your goal, I suggest treating Nassau as a day at sea and stay on board. Everything is open, except the stores while in port, so you can swim, ride the Aqua Duck, go to the spa, and many other activities. On Castaway Cay, if you want to go to Pelican plunge and Serenity Bay, I would get off the ship in the morning and go to the family beach. You don't mention what your excursion is, if it involves a boat you will most likely meet at Marge's Barges which is by the ship.

Have a great time, book another cruise while on board. And don't get caught up in the frenzy of people trying to do everything!

 

[Barbydoll8]

I will again say, you will NOT be able to do everything. Prioritize and then re-organize your plans. Bring a highlighter with you and scan the Navigators each night for your must do's each day but know that some of those things won't happen. Some things I've wanted to do over lap so it's a pick this or that.
But make time to do simple things like play shuffle board, mini golf, sit by the pool etc. Those low key activities make the difference in frenzied "doing" and relaxing while enjoying down time. I've been on 2 3 day (Dream) and 1 5 day (Wonder) cruise. 5 was great for ship activities but I could have used one more day. 3 is hard to see all the ship has to offer. Doing another 3 day on the Magic in March and really, it's just to experience the ship (and get one more cruise closer to gold status). Have fun and don't over plan. Have a plan to not plan something.

 

[squirk]

I know I'm just going to be repeating what others have already said, but I'll add to the dogpile for reinforcement:

You will not be able to do everything, especially on a three-day cruise where you'll spend half of day two in Nassau. The sooner you accept that and no longer worry about it, the smoother and more enjoyable your cruise will be.

Unless this cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, I, too, would consider skipping Nassau. If you want to enjoy the ship, you may find it noticeably less crowded (note that I didn't say "uncrowded") on the Nassau day, whereby you can enjoy more of the ship perhaps a bit more efficiently.

Also, Nassau is not unique to DCL. Any cruise line can take you there, and for a good bit cheaper. If you are more jazzed about the ship than the port, maybe save Nassau for a future cruise where the port is more interesting to you than the ship.

 

[Quellman]

Sounds like on CC day, you hop off the ship right away and head to pelican plunge and the shops (send your purchases back to the ship). Then hit up your excursion. Finally, hop the tram to Serenity Beach, grab a bite to eat, then sit in the sand.

@DISNEY FANTASY Has great tips. You know what is important to you based on your research, so plan for those. BUT ALLOW for deviations from the plan!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Sounds like on CC day, you hop off the ship right away and head to pelican plunge and the shops (send your purchases back to the ship). Then hit up your excursion. Finally, hop the tram to Serenity Beach, grab a bite to eat, then sit in the sand.

@DISNEY FANTASY Has great tips. You know what is important to you based on your research, so plan for those. BUT ALLOW for deviations from the plan!

Yes, any of us get side tracked, do plan pre cruise with the Plan A must dos for you, and a Plan B nice to do but not bothered if I do not, and then check the navigator each night for the next day.

 

[afyoung]

The inability to do everything you want in that 3N Dream cruise is why we booked a 7N on the Fantasy while onbaord the Dream and plan to book another while onboard the Fantasy. I agree with everyone- prioritize what you "can't" miss, and then just fill in the rest of time with what you think will be fun. If relaxation is your plan- then plan to do just that. If you are taking kids, make sure you get them set up for the kids clubs ahead of time. There is a blog- dixiedelightsonline.com- she has a great Disney section, and about 3 posts for this same itinerary you will be on. She has great advice for what works for her family at Disney. I found her tips very useful for our first cruise last year. I am a planner too and my family has quite a structured schedule in non-vcacation life so I understand the desire to map out each day. But honestly, I was able to be so relaxed on the last cruise that apart from planning a shore excursion and booking kids activities- we have no plans at all for this upcoming trip. At sea days I will be just doing whatever seems like a good idea at the time.

 

[com_op_2000]

1. Relax you are on vacation, you do not want to be so tired that you need a vacation from your vacation.
2. You are on the shortest of cruises, do not plan so much and even if you plan every moment, you will still not get everything done.
3. Book a future cruise while on-board so that you can do the missed items on your next cruise.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Take a deep breath... let it out... and relax... I am a big planner as well. But what I realized after a crazy 3 day cruise of doing everything, I needed a vacation from, was that you can't do it all. I take longer cruises now, which helps. Short of that, pick a couple of "must do's", anything else that you come across that interests you, if you are not asleep in a deck chair, you can do. Enjoy every minute of your cruise, because if you are so busy planning every minute instead of living in the present one, the whole thing will go by in a flash!

 

[thumpie's mom]

The ship IS the destination for my family. We rarely get off the ship because there is so much to do and enjoy on board. Our first cruise, like so many others, I tried to plan for everything. Now, we simply go with the flow and see what we want to do at any given time. We have a few must do's, but for the most part, we simply enjoy. Have a wonderful cruise!

 

[ImDMous]

We did the 15 night PCWB last year. Even after all that time, there were still things we didn't make it to. If you do everything on the first cruise, there's nothing left to go back for. We had one to two things planned every day; excursions, tasting classes, DIS meet, etc. Other than that, we just did whatever we felt like at that moment. I got sick for a few days, so while my plan was to go running in the morning then hit the rainforest room, then the Panama Canal pilot talks, what really happened was sleeping in and being lazy. I was disappointed to miss the talks, but we just go with the flow. No use worrying about it or regretting it later.

I know this is just saying what everyone else has, but it's true! This bandwagon is getting a little full, maybe we need a bus.