Our cruise and our favorite tips

[Tinkermom]

Hello Everyone! We just got back on Sunday from our first Disney cruise. We were on the 7night Western cruise. We had a MAGICal time on the Magic! I did a lot of research over the past year and I thought I would post some of the tips that worked well for us. First off there were 5 of us:

Me
DH
DS 13
DS 11
DD 6


We kept this cruise a secret from the kids for just about a year. We went to WDW for 4 nights (Tues-Sat.). On Friday night we took the kids out to dinner to the San Angel Inn in Mexico at Epcot. They thought this was our last night and that we were leaving on Saturday to go home. We had our server bring them a card from Mickey that said:

"Here at Disneyworld I hope you've had fun
But I'm here to tell you the fun's just begun.
Turn to your parents for the big news..."

Then I held up a sign in the shape of a ship that said "TOMORROW WE GO ON A DISNEY CRUISE!" Needless to say they were shocked and thrilled!

We are DVC (Disney Vacation Club) members and used part points and part cash for the cruise. We stayed in a Category 4 stateroom which is the family stateroom with a veranda.

Ok, now for some of the things we brought with us that were very helpful:

- Bring a power strip - There is only one outlet in the stateroom so this was great to be able to plug in our phones, camera charges, curling iron, etc.
- Ladies - Bring your own hairdryer. The ones in the stateroom look like they are from the 1960's or something and barely blow any air.
- Bring an over-the-door shoe organizer - This was AWESOME for keeping all of our stuff off of horizontal surfaces which helped us stay organized and tidy. We used it for sunscreen, brushes/combs, sunglasses, batteries, makeup pouches, jewelry, etc.
- Clothespins - I had originally read to bring these to help keep the curtains on the sliding door closed when the ship was rocking. We ended up using these to help better close the privacy curtain between the bed and "living area" in our stateroom. This allowed us a way to get changed with privacy.
- Pillowcases & Sharpies - I bought 3 new white pillowcases (one for each kid). I placed them in a large ziploc bag with various colors of Sharpie markers and gave them to Guest Services the second day of our cruise. They were returned to us on the last day of the cruise signed by all of the characters!
- Pop-up Laundry Hamper - This stored easily in the closet and was great to toss our dirty laundry in.
- Lanyards for room key - These lanyards have a clear zip-loc type of holder for your Key-to-the-World card. We did not realize how handy this would be! We saw lots of folks with these on the first day of the cruise. We were going to buy some but ended up getting them as a gift from Disney Vacation Club! These were great to grab and put around your neck as we headed out and about.
- Bring Address Labels - This made the last night so much easier! You receive luggage tags (one for each bag) on the last day of the cruise. You have to put your name, address and phone # on each of these as well as your stateroom and number each bag. We had pre-made return address labels with most of this info. All I had to do was place a label onto each tag, add our stateroom # and # each bag. We had 9 bags and this made the process much faster!
- Seasickness - Bring Bonine and Ginger tablets, I got both at Walmart. I was very worried as I do get seasick. I started taking Bonine 2 days before the cruise. I took one tablet twice a day (morning and bedtime) and it worked great!!! One day at sea we were rocking quite a bit and I started feeling a bit queasy so I took a Ginger tablet and I felt much better! I did not feel tired at all and had no effects when I went off of the Bonine after the cruise.
- Bring some Pirate gear - We brought some hats, eye patches, etc from home to dress up in for Pirate Night. Lots of folks were dressed in pirate attire for this event! Pirate Night was a blast!
- Digital clock - Ok, I did not bring one but wish that I had. There is a clock in the room but it is not a digital clock and cannot be seen at night.
- One Dollar Bills - DH went to the bank before we left and got LOTS of $1 bills to use for tipping. This was VERY handy for the porters, room service, transportation, etc.

Other tips:

- Don't overpack - I WAY overpacked. During the days at sea we were pretty much in our swimsuits/cover-ups.
- Get to port early if you need to book Palo or spa services on board. We tried to get there early by using Happy Limo but Happy Limo had to change our time so we did not get to the port until around 12:00 noon. We ended up on the wait-list for Palo but we were able to get in to Palo.
- Speaking of Palo- DO IT! It was such a wonderful meal!
- Kids Clubs - They clubs were great! Be sure to leave time though when dropping off your kids. Many times we had to wait in line to drop off and ended up cutting our time close on a couple of things.
- Shutters - Get to Shutters EARLY in your cruise!! We chose our package and most of our photos about mid-cruise. We wanted to wait to get our last couple of photos after our Castaway Cay day. Shutters was MOBBED on the last night! Many people were there for the first time and choosing their package and such. I was so glad that all I needed were 2-3 photos!
- Christmas Cards - Yes, I said Christmas Cards! We had ours made at Shutters so I am all ready for Christmas! (well, at least my cards are ready). We used a family photo from Pirate Night and it says "Yo-Ho-Ho-Ho! Merry Christmas from the _____ Family!"
- Family Portraits - There is a wonderful background that is all white and it is called a "Lifetime Portrait". The photographer takes several different poses and they look amazing with the white background!
- Veranda - Get one! It was so awesome to sit out there in the mornings with our coffee. The kids loved to go out each morning and see what the ocean looked like and to watch as we entered the various ports.
- Princess Gathering - If you have a little princess there is a "Princess Gathering" in the main lobby where all of the princesses come out at the same time for photos and autographs. Get there EARLY as the line was VERY long! This is a very popular event!
- Topsiders Buffet - We ate breakfast here each morning. Sometimes we brought it back to our stateroom and ate on our veranda and other times we stayed at Topsiders. Try to get to Topsiders before 8:30am to avoid the crowds. It was very peaceful early in the morning!
- Start packing up early - All of your luggage must be out in the hall between 9p-11p on the last night. There are lots of fun things going on the last night so start packing the day before. I did this and finished up after our day at Castaway Cay and was able to then relax and enjoy our last night on the ship.


Fun Stuff:

- DH and I did the martini tasting. This was lots of fun!
- Order Mickey bars, cookies, coffee from Room Service. We ordered a pot of coffee just about every morning. The kids ordered mickey bars and cookies a couple of times and thought this was the coolest thing!
- If you are a DVC member go to the member gathering. This lasts one hour. They give you an update on DVC and we got free DVC hats for all of us as well as DVC pins. They also gave away some cool prizes although we did not win any. They also offered some great incentives for purchasing more points.
- Head up to Topsiders as you are pulling into Castaway Cay for some great photo ops!! You can see the entire island as you pull in.
- Take some time to enjoy the ship. It is just beautiful!
- My kids want me to add to eat LOTS of ice cream! There is a soft-serve machine on Deck 9 that was frequented by our kids (ok, us too! ). You can get some big chocolate chip cookies from Topsiders and then make your own ice cream sandwiches! You can also make your own ice cream sodas!
- My 11 year old DS said to tell you all that the 10-12 year old activities were fun! He really enjoyed the private pool party at the Mickey Pool at 10'oclock at night!
- My 6 year old DD said to tell you that the Mickey Pool is aweome!
- We did not see our 13 year old DS much during the day as he really enjoyed the teen area, "The Stack". They had scavenger hunts, video game tournaments, basketball, dodgeball, oh and of course he loved all of the FOOD!
- Order as much as you want at dinners. On the night of the "Captain's Gala" they serve lobster. DH ordered a second helping. On two nights we got an extra dessert to try. Our servers, Ollie and May, were fabulous! Ollie did several magic tricks for my kids. The kids looked forward each night to see Ollie and May. DD always had a Sprite waiting for her at the table each night and May would ask me each night after dinner if I would like my hot tea. They really made us feel special.

CONTINUED BELOW...

[Tinkermom]

Ports of Call:

In Key West we did not do a planned excursion. We just walked around on our own, got a frozen, chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick and took the Conch train around the town. Key west was very "colorful". There were lots of tacky shops many of which had t-shirts with inappropriate sayings. I was not thrilled that my kids (mainly my boys) got to see this. The Conch train tour was very nice and we got to see a good bit of Key West. Once you get out of the area with all of the bars and tacky shops it is really quite lovely. On the way back to the ship we got another frozen, chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick. (yes, they are THAT good!)

In Grand Cayman we did an excursion on our own instead of through Disney. We used Captain Marvins and did a snorkle tour which took us to 2 snorkle spots and also to Stingray City. This was a GREAT excursion and was a highlight of our cruise. Captain Marvins was wonderful and their shop is a short walk from where the tender drops you off. From their shop you ride in a small bus to the other end of the island where they have their boats. On the way to the boat our driver gave us a tour and history of the island.

In Cozumel we did our excursion through Disney. We went to the mainland to the Eco-Park, Xcaret. Xcaret has a natural underground river that you can float on as well as beautiful white sand beaches and lots of wildlife to see. While this was a wonderfully executed excursion there was a lot of travel time involved. We had to take a ferry to the mainland, walk a bit through town, then board a bus. We wished we had more time at Xcaret as it is a BEAUTIFUL place. If we were to do the Western cruise again we would opt to remain on Cozumel and choose an excursion there. This was also Pirate Night and we were all so tired by that night. Our poor DD slept through the pirate party!

At Castaway Cay I would recommend getting off the ship as early as possible. We were allowed to disembark at 9:30am and I think we were off the ship by 9:40am. This allowed us to get a great spot on the family beach. It got very crowded by about 10:30am.
We brought our own snorkle gear that we used in Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Castaway Cay. All of us love to snorkle, even our 6 year old DD! The cost for snorkle rental at Castaway Cay was $10 so by bringing our own we saved $50.

For my last tip:

RE-BOOK! We re-booked on board and got a 10% discount and a $200 on board credit for our next cruise. We are going again in October 2009 this time on the 7 night Eastern Cruise!! We requested our same stateroom and our same servers. Only 20 more months!

DH is going through all of our photos and I hope to have a link to them soon!

[DisneyDudet]

You have offered great tips! We use a lot of those tips when we cruise, and it makes it much easier to travel.

We like to use the clothes pins for the shower curtain. We have had problems where it doesn't stay down, and sticks to our leg. So we put clothes pins at the bottom to weigh it down. The over the door shoe holder comes in very handy, and we found putting it on the outside of the door is best. The power strip is a MUST now with all the electronics that are needed. We have found more plugs, but it still isn't enough!

There are so many tips to say, it would take a book! Thanks for sharing yours!

You will have such a WONDERFUL time on the Eastern. You get THREE GLORIOUS sea days. I'm sure you were told about the special Eastern Itineraries. Are you going to St. Maarten, St. Croix or Tortola?

[Tinkermom]

You have offered great tips! We use a lot of those tips when we cruise, and it makes it much easier to travel.

We like to use the clothes pins for the shower curtain. We have had problems where it doesn't stay down, and sticks to our leg. So we put clothes pins at the bottom to weigh it down. The over the door shoe holder comes in very handy, and we found putting it on the outside of the door is best. The power strip is a MUST now with all the electronics that are needed. We have found more plugs, but it still isn't enough!

There are so many tips to say, it would take a book! Thanks for sharing yours!

You will have such a WONDERFUL time on the Eastern. You get THREE GLORIOUS sea days. I'm sure you were told about the special Eastern Itineraries. Are you going to St. Maarten, St. Croix or Tortola?

Oooo, I like the idea about the clothespins on the shower curtain. I had found it sticking to my legs too!

We put our shoe organizer on the outside of the door as well. I think this was one of the best tips that I used!

We are going to St. Croix. I am looking forward to 3 sea days!

[TammiMcMan]

Thanks for taking the time to write them all up. We found that highlighters and post it notes were a must have for our family. We used the highlighters on the Navigators and the post its in the cabin helped us keep track of everyone.

[DisneyDudet]

St. Croix looks very nice! We're looking into Tortola for next summer!! Hopefully we can go during one of the weeks they are sailing there!

As Tammi said, we actually used a magnetic note pad on our door. We were separated a lot, so when one went back to the cabin to look for the other, we just had our location on our door! It worked out really really well.

We also enjoyed taking dominoes to play on deck. A lot of people asked where we got ours, and we had to tell them we brought them. We got a couple of games of chicken foot in!

There's so many tips, I can't think of any right now. You had a lot of the obviously needed tips, and I'm sure first timers really appreciate it!

[Tinkermom]

We are bringing either post-its or a magnetic dry erase board for next time. I had read about it but thought we would not need it. Now that I know how much my kids liked the kids/teen clubs this will better help us keep track of each other.

I thought of one more thing. If you have soft-sided luggage try storing them under the bed. We were able to put our smaller suitcases and backpacks under the bed. The rest we nested in each other and stored in the closet.

With 5 of us in the room it was important to keep it as uncluttered as possible.

I really wanted to cruise next summer so we did not have to take the kids out of school but we just could not beat the deal we were getting on the October 7 night. It was $4,000 - $6,000 less than any other 7 night between May and August! Our kids actually will have off from school several days during our October cruise so they will only miss 3 days.

[ElenitaB]

Lisa, thanks for the great tips! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the cruise and that the kids had such a great time as well!

[camsmom]

Lisa - as a family taking our first cruise this summer - your list was great! I have printed it and put it in my vacation folder! Thank you for putting that together!

[scootch713]

Thanks.. our cruise isn't till Nov 2009, but i copied and pasted your suggestions and I know they will come in handy.

[sorarail]

DH and I are booked for the 11/7/09 EC trip to St. Croix. Is that the cruise you booked? It would be fun to have an Intercot meet up on that trip with any and all Intercotees on board!

[Tinkermom]

DH and I are booked for the 11/7/09 EC trip to St. Croix. Is that the cruise you booked? It would be fun to have an Intercot meet up on that trip with any and all Intercotees on board!

No, we are on the 10/10/09 St. Croix cruise. Have a great time! Maybe there will some other Intercotees on our cruises.

[bpsigler]

Thank you for posting your tips. I also have printed them out and will use them for our first Disney Cruise, which is April 20, 2008.

[ladytremaine]

Are there any pics of twice charmed.

[adoptionislove]

OMG!!!

These tips are AWESOME!!! We leave in 16 days and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

(and I am glad you had fun as well)!!!

Michelle

[Tinkermom]

OMG!!!

These tips are AWESOME!!! We leave in 16 days and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

(and I am glad you had fun as well)!!!

Michelle

You are welcome! Have a wonderful cruise! You are going to LOVE it!

[AbeeNormal]

What an amazing time you had and what cool tips you gave, thanks so much.

Was that veranda cool or what!!!!

We took our first of many cruises in January, I love DCL and I was never much into the idea of cruising.

We are considering a back to back cruise next year - 1 week Eastern & 1 week western since they aren't offering the repositioning cruises next yeay so it was really great to hear about your experiences.

Thanks again so much for sharing

[DisnIse]

Thank you so much for the tips! I put a deposit down on a 4 night cruise for the summer of 2009, with the thought that DH was going to need some convincing.

Thanks to your post, I was able to tell him that he could get Mickey bars 24/7 by picking up the telephone.

As God as my witness, he stopped me and said, "You had me at Mickey bar..."

It was the best moment in our 14 years of marriage!!!!! Well, other than having those kids and stuff!

Thanks again - your post pushed us over the edge!

[thejens]

THank you so much for all your wonderful tips and memories. We are SO looking forward to our first Disney cruise in April. I have sons, an almost 10 yr old and a 4 year old. So glad you enjoyed your trip!

[DisneyWhirled]

Thank you so much for your tips! We are doing the 7 night Western Carribbean on 10/31/09. Having never cruised, your tips will come in so helpful. I copied them to a word doc and will keep them in my cruise file.

Question for you: do the kiddos have a kids menu that they have to eat off, or can they have any meal that they want at the sit down dinners?

Also, do you know do they rent Tuxes on the ship?

One more-how did you find out about the non-Disney excursion?

Thanks again!!