matt&jakesmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2005
These are great tips for a 1st timer. Keep them coming.
What is the BEST cruise tip you ever learned from the Dis?
- Thread starter Jillpie
- Start date
- Status
ToonFamily
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2008
We're booked for adjoining rooms on the 6/29 cruise (Wonder). This is our first Disney cruise after a few RCCL cruises (without the kids) and we can't wait! After reading through all 26 pages and wondering why no one had put it all together, I decided to do so. I know I missed several things that didn't pertain directly to my needs, so keep that in mind. Overall, however, I think this pretty well sums up most (not all) of the valuable information you'll read in this thread (if you don't feel like going back through all of it like I did). I know that anything of real importance that I missed will be pointed out by others, so it should still serve as a decent "starting point" for other newbies like me 
Thanks again to all for the great ideas! Here's one tip I didn't see mentioned, however, Over the Door shoe holders
(kidding, that seems to be the number one suggestion 
).
The tips are in absolutely no particular order, just the way I found them and pasted them into my Word document. Well, here goes:
1. if you have to have an inside stateroom, book on deck 7 aft, so you'll have the "secret verandah" to go out and enjoy.
2. the "secret" cat 7 rooms on deck 7 (used to be cat 5)
3. Mickey bars, which aren't listed on the menu but ARE available from room service
4. order room service the night before a port visit, and pack it and take with you as a snack
5. order room service, sandwhichs or go up and and get burgers or chicken strips on Deck 9, put them in ziplocks and bring them with us on our excursions
6. wear your swimsuits under your clothes when boarding, or bring them in a day bag. There are bathrooms right outside Topsiders. Get the pool to yourselves for almost an hour
7. Mickey Mouse wake-up call
8. Purchase pirate gear ahead of time (Party City, etc.)
9. Carry-on beer and wine
10. Re-book on board! Save at least 10% on your next cruise
11. buy your own cruise insurance
12. take a roll of bubble wrap for anything you buy that's breakable
13. laundry pen for t-shirt autographs
14. at Cookies BBQ, the line right in front is sometimes long (facing beach) go around the right side, and you'll find another serving station that is usually empty
15. castawayclub dot com and dcltribute dot com also seem to have good information
16. Feather Pillow - ask your stateroom attendant if you want one
17. Bring extra hangers! there isn't much drawer space in the cabins. or Better yet, leave the hangers at home and ask your stateroom attendent for more
18. Room service cake of the day!
19. Order coffee, etc via room service the night before so it is delivered the next morning
20. Extension cord -- Used ours constantly, iPod, hair dryer, cameras, travel clock, etc., easy to plug things in overnight and take them for the next day
21. take a pillowcase or picture frame or whatever to guest services at the beginning of the cruise and leave it with Sharpies and request just princesses, Fab 6 or all the characters sign it
22. booking excursions on your own, most are very easy to get to on your own and are much cheaper than if you book them through DCL
23. The coffee table raises up to make it easier to sit on couch and eat from room service
24. Arrive 5-10 minutes after your scheduled seating time. There are no points for being the first 50 into the dining room. Avoid the lines and the cattle waiting to be seated
25. Pack half the clothes and twice the cash
26. asking the room steward to remove our coffee table and he did. We didn't use it and it gave us a lot of needed floor space!
27. candy for movies and shows
28. If the ship's stores are closed and you need a toiletry item of some kind for the ladies, like tampons, you can ask at guest services and they will get some out of the back room and give them to you discretely in an envelope. They also have asprin and seasick meds. No charge
29. Bring 2 bungee cords if you have connecting rooms to keep the doors open. They are heavy doors and will not stay open by themselves. If closed you cannot open them from the other stateroom. The cords worked great! You need one for each door.
30. get your bill from guest services midweek, just to see how much you've spent, and also incase they do make a mistake or two.
31. If you are a scrapbooker, the evening before disembarking, pick up extra luggage tags of all the characters - great for your scrapbook pages!
32. Pack ziplock baggies. Order a sandwich or 4 from room service before going on shore and then pack in the baggie - walking around lunch/snacks for on shore. Best of all - "free
33. If you scrapbook - take a plain scrapbook page and pen to dinner one night and have your servers sign them...because you *will* have pictures of them and it is nice to have a memento from them. Do the same for your, travel companions, table mates, room steward and other cast members you associated with often or enjoyed. Take pictures with the cast members, they like knowing you enjoyed their work and efforts.
34. buy the matte, take the cellophane off of it, and bring it on board with you. You can either give it to guest services for the characters to sign (you'll get it back on Friday night of the cruise), or you can take it around by yourself and have it signed by whoever you want throughout the cruise. Very important tip here, have a photo direction (vertical or horizontal) in mind before asking for signatures, that way you'll know which way they should sign. As you get the professional pictures taken throughout your cruise, you can ask the photographer to take them any direction you want.
35. The Glade Flameless candle was a great addition to our stateroom. Not only did it give the room a constant "pleasant" aroma... but it served as a great night light! We also brought along a mini fan. It wasn't used for cooling purposes but worked great as an air cirulator in our inside stateroom.
36. DON'T WAIT IN THE KIDS CLUB REGISTRATION LINE AT THE PORT!!!! Seriously, the line seemed to be over a hundred people long at most times (we were there around 11:00 AM and boarded around 12:30 PM). When you get on the ship just go to the kids club, we went to the Oceaneer's club on Deck 5 and registered in about 5 minutes (and got our pager).
37. you can turn off charge privileges on your kids KTTW card but you can add a preset amount for them to use for smoothies, movie candy, arcade, etc.... this saves them running up big $$ on the room account but they still have some "pocket money".
38. DO YOUR CRUISE DOCS ONLINE AND PRINT THEM OUT!!!! So many people DO the online registration, but they forget to print them out and bring them with them. If you don't print them out, you have to do it all over again at the port
39. give the photographer or his assistant your camera too and ask them to take your picture with it...they will
40. keep piling up your pictures in Shutters, one behind the other, until the end of the cruise. Then you can pick out the best of the best to use with your package.
41. Downy wrinkle spray...works great
42. There is free dramamine in a box outside of the first aid station on deck 1
43. if you have a late seating for dinner on pirate night...don't eat...there is a beautiful buffet on deck
As you can see, I literally copy and pasted these tips from others posts. I take no credit for any of them, but I'll be glad to use them on my upcoming cruise.
I hope this helps!
Thanks again to all for the great ideas! Here's one tip I didn't see mentioned, however, Over the Door shoe holders
(kidding, that seems to be the number one suggestion ).The tips are in absolutely no particular order, just the way I found them and pasted them into my Word document. Well, here goes:
1. if you have to have an inside stateroom, book on deck 7 aft, so you'll have the "secret verandah" to go out and enjoy.
2. the "secret" cat 7 rooms on deck 7 (used to be cat 5)
3. Mickey bars, which aren't listed on the menu but ARE available from room service
4. order room service the night before a port visit, and pack it and take with you as a snack
5. order room service, sandwhichs or go up and and get burgers or chicken strips on Deck 9, put them in ziplocks and bring them with us on our excursions
6. wear your swimsuits under your clothes when boarding, or bring them in a day bag. There are bathrooms right outside Topsiders. Get the pool to yourselves for almost an hour
7. Mickey Mouse wake-up call
8. Purchase pirate gear ahead of time (Party City, etc.)
9. Carry-on beer and wine
10. Re-book on board! Save at least 10% on your next cruise
11. buy your own cruise insurance
12. take a roll of bubble wrap for anything you buy that's breakable
13. laundry pen for t-shirt autographs
14. at Cookies BBQ, the line right in front is sometimes long (facing beach) go around the right side, and you'll find another serving station that is usually empty
15. castawayclub dot com and dcltribute dot com also seem to have good information
16. Feather Pillow - ask your stateroom attendant if you want one
17. Bring extra hangers! there isn't much drawer space in the cabins. or Better yet, leave the hangers at home and ask your stateroom attendent for more
18. Room service cake of the day!
19. Order coffee, etc via room service the night before so it is delivered the next morning
20. Extension cord -- Used ours constantly, iPod, hair dryer, cameras, travel clock, etc., easy to plug things in overnight and take them for the next day
21. take a pillowcase or picture frame or whatever to guest services at the beginning of the cruise and leave it with Sharpies and request just princesses, Fab 6 or all the characters sign it
22. booking excursions on your own, most are very easy to get to on your own and are much cheaper than if you book them through DCL
23. The coffee table raises up to make it easier to sit on couch and eat from room service
24. Arrive 5-10 minutes after your scheduled seating time. There are no points for being the first 50 into the dining room. Avoid the lines and the cattle waiting to be seated
25. Pack half the clothes and twice the cash
26. asking the room steward to remove our coffee table and he did. We didn't use it and it gave us a lot of needed floor space!
27. candy for movies and shows
28. If the ship's stores are closed and you need a toiletry item of some kind for the ladies, like tampons, you can ask at guest services and they will get some out of the back room and give them to you discretely in an envelope. They also have asprin and seasick meds. No charge
29. Bring 2 bungee cords if you have connecting rooms to keep the doors open. They are heavy doors and will not stay open by themselves. If closed you cannot open them from the other stateroom. The cords worked great! You need one for each door.
30. get your bill from guest services midweek, just to see how much you've spent, and also incase they do make a mistake or two.
31. If you are a scrapbooker, the evening before disembarking, pick up extra luggage tags of all the characters - great for your scrapbook pages!
32. Pack ziplock baggies. Order a sandwich or 4 from room service before going on shore and then pack in the baggie - walking around lunch/snacks for on shore. Best of all - "free
33. If you scrapbook - take a plain scrapbook page and pen to dinner one night and have your servers sign them...because you *will* have pictures of them and it is nice to have a memento from them. Do the same for your, travel companions, table mates, room steward and other cast members you associated with often or enjoyed. Take pictures with the cast members, they like knowing you enjoyed their work and efforts.
34. buy the matte, take the cellophane off of it, and bring it on board with you. You can either give it to guest services for the characters to sign (you'll get it back on Friday night of the cruise), or you can take it around by yourself and have it signed by whoever you want throughout the cruise. Very important tip here, have a photo direction (vertical or horizontal) in mind before asking for signatures, that way you'll know which way they should sign. As you get the professional pictures taken throughout your cruise, you can ask the photographer to take them any direction you want.
35. The Glade Flameless candle was a great addition to our stateroom. Not only did it give the room a constant "pleasant" aroma... but it served as a great night light! We also brought along a mini fan. It wasn't used for cooling purposes but worked great as an air cirulator in our inside stateroom.
36. DON'T WAIT IN THE KIDS CLUB REGISTRATION LINE AT THE PORT!!!! Seriously, the line seemed to be over a hundred people long at most times (we were there around 11:00 AM and boarded around 12:30 PM). When you get on the ship just go to the kids club, we went to the Oceaneer's club on Deck 5 and registered in about 5 minutes (and got our pager).
37. you can turn off charge privileges on your kids KTTW card but you can add a preset amount for them to use for smoothies, movie candy, arcade, etc.... this saves them running up big $$ on the room account but they still have some "pocket money".
38. DO YOUR CRUISE DOCS ONLINE AND PRINT THEM OUT!!!! So many people DO the online registration, but they forget to print them out and bring them with them. If you don't print them out, you have to do it all over again at the port
39. give the photographer or his assistant your camera too and ask them to take your picture with it...they will
40. keep piling up your pictures in Shutters, one behind the other, until the end of the cruise. Then you can pick out the best of the best to use with your package.
41. Downy wrinkle spray...works great
42. There is free dramamine in a box outside of the first aid station on deck 1
43. if you have a late seating for dinner on pirate night...don't eat...there is a beautiful buffet on deck
As you can see, I literally copy and pasted these tips from others posts. I take no credit for any of them, but I'll be glad to use them on my upcoming cruise.
I hope this helps!
jollytammy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2003
WOW!! Thanks!
ranidayz
DIS Veteran is a....... Caribbean Amphibian
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Just got off my first cruise and thanks to the DIS boards and some DIS buddies -- we planned pretty much everything all right. Here's what I learned and did - maybe you can benefit from some of it:
- pack clothes with dry cleaners plastic between layers and ROLL to avoid wrinkles -- we had none when we unpacked
- shoe organizer was amazing! we have five people - so everyone got one row (oldest/tallest on top) to keep personal items and lanyards and such
- take all the memory cards you own. once you've finished one, put it in a seperate place from your camera so if you lose one, you don't lose both
- don't bring a white board or water bottles -- they give them away for free in the kids' clubs and Ocean Quest
- don't buy souvenir Tshirts for the kids -- they get them and Mickey ear graduation hats for free from the Kid's club the day before the cruise ends
- make contact with the entertainment staff running the programs -- when they see you, they tend to call your kids up on stage
- for our family of 5, we needed one full can of sunscreen for every port plus half a facial sunscreen stick. We also needed one can for every two days on the ship.
- take everything you can that is disposable and just leave it there.
- if you use a loofah and body wash at home -- buy the Huggies brand disposable wash clothes with body wash in them, cut them in half and use and dispose
- take your own pics at EVERY opportunity that the photogs do or ask them to take the pics -- we didn't buy one single photo from shutters because ours were identical!
- before you leave, if you have extra supplies, ask your servers or host if they would like them. My servers practically jumped up and down at the prospect of getting my shoe organizer! I wound up giving her the organizer, humidifier, full size conditioner, lysol and room fresheners. The crew doesn't get off the ship much, so they're very appreciative!
- take advantage of the $15 day pass to the Rainforest Turkish bath in the spa. It was absolutely amazing and my pores are still looking amazing! Next time, I'm getting the week pass.
- lysol everything. You can even ask for one of the tubs of hand wipes in your room!
- this one was by accident thanks to my DIS buds on board: take glow sticks for when you're meeting each other in the theater and it's pitch black -- they are the only way you'll find each other!
that's all I've got for now. This was seriously the best trip I've ever had -- I don't know how I'm ever going to adjust to real life again!
Ranidayz
- pack clothes with dry cleaners plastic between layers and ROLL to avoid wrinkles -- we had none when we unpacked
- shoe organizer was amazing! we have five people - so everyone got one row (oldest/tallest on top) to keep personal items and lanyards and such
- take all the memory cards you own. once you've finished one, put it in a seperate place from your camera so if you lose one, you don't lose both
- don't bring a white board or water bottles -- they give them away for free in the kids' clubs and Ocean Quest
- don't buy souvenir Tshirts for the kids -- they get them and Mickey ear graduation hats for free from the Kid's club the day before the cruise ends
- make contact with the entertainment staff running the programs -- when they see you, they tend to call your kids up on stage
- for our family of 5, we needed one full can of sunscreen for every port plus half a facial sunscreen stick. We also needed one can for every two days on the ship.
- take everything you can that is disposable and just leave it there.
- if you use a loofah and body wash at home -- buy the Huggies brand disposable wash clothes with body wash in them, cut them in half and use and dispose
- take your own pics at EVERY opportunity that the photogs do or ask them to take the pics -- we didn't buy one single photo from shutters because ours were identical!
- before you leave, if you have extra supplies, ask your servers or host if they would like them. My servers practically jumped up and down at the prospect of getting my shoe organizer! I wound up giving her the organizer, humidifier, full size conditioner, lysol and room fresheners. The crew doesn't get off the ship much, so they're very appreciative!
- take advantage of the $15 day pass to the Rainforest Turkish bath in the spa. It was absolutely amazing and my pores are still looking amazing! Next time, I'm getting the week pass.
- lysol everything. You can even ask for one of the tubs of hand wipes in your room!
- this one was by accident thanks to my DIS buds on board: take glow sticks for when you're meeting each other in the theater and it's pitch black -- they are the only way you'll find each other!
that's all I've got for now. This was seriously the best trip I've ever had -- I don't know how I'm ever going to adjust to real life again!
Ranidayz
ToonFamily
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2008
- don't buy souvenir Tshirts for the kids -- they get them and Mickey ear graduation hats for free from the Kid's club the day before the cruise ends
Ranidayz
Is this true on all cruises? I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else yet. If so, that's great to know.
KSDisneyDad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2002
I'm not sure about the 3/4 day cruises, but we've received them on the 7 day cruises, but only if your child attends the club/lab and also attends the "graduation" ceremony for Disney Sea University. (On the last cruise, my middle child didn't attend the ceremony and went to the club afterwards and they ended up giving him a shirt anyway.) We had friends go and their kids didn't attend the ceremony and didn't end up with the hat or t-shirts.
Jrsy Boy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2005
We've been on two 4-day cruises and have 2 t-shirts and 2 mickey-boards to show for it.
ranidayz
DIS Veteran is a....... Caribbean Amphibian
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
We weren't even aware of thegraduation until about an hour before and it was too late for my three kids to participate. The counselors said to just go to guest services after and they would give them hats and shirts. So we did that and they all got them.....later that evening, another set was sent up from the counselors.
Also, my daughter didn't want to go to the make-up session in the 3-4 group to make the pillow cases so two different counselors sent up a pillowcase for each of my kids -- including pens!
They were truly fabulous!
Ranidayz
Also, my daughter didn't want to go to the make-up session in the 3-4 group to make the pillow cases so two different counselors sent up a pillowcase for each of my kids -- including pens!
They were truly fabulous!
Ranidayz
gardengirlco
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2006
gardengirlco
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2006
Yep, DS got one on the 3 day cruise. He didn't make it to the ceremony either but DH talked to someone and he got the shirt and graduation cap.
A couple tips I have not seen are:
3M command hooks are great for hanging hats & jackets/sweaters
also, those close pin type magnets work wonders on the metal doors. I wish we had thtne to hang lanyards and the navigator
if you can't decide what to what to order for dinner, choose both. One night DH & I got an EXTRA dinner to spilt and another night my Dad actually orders 2 of the appitizer he wanted. That was the same night DH & I ordered our appitizer from the kids menu
Enjoy
3M command hooks are great for hanging hats & jackets/sweaters
also, those close pin type magnets work wonders on the metal doors. I wish we had thtne to hang lanyards and the navigator
if you can't decide what to what to order for dinner, choose both. One night DH & I got an EXTRA dinner to spilt and another night my Dad actually orders 2 of the appitizer he wanted. That was the same night DH & I ordered our appitizer from the kids menu
Enjoy
ranidayz
DIS Veteran is a....... Caribbean Amphibian
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
You know - I totally forgot to mention that about half way through the trip we realized we had not nearly enough hooks to hang things that were wet! We used the clothes line in the shower - but with no really good flow of air -- the bathing suits did not dry very quickly and we needed to use the shower. So next time, we are going to bring the hooks that you can put up and then take down without adding a mark -- I would say you probably need about two per person -- besides what is provided in the room.
Good point!
Good point!
- lysol everything. You can even ask for one of the tubs of hand wipes in your room!
Ranidayz
can you really get a tub of hand wipes for your room? who did you ask?
ranidayz
DIS Veteran is a....... Caribbean Amphibian
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
When we were walking into Animator's Palate, I was talking with one of the crew distributing them and talking about how serious they were on the ship about cleanliness. I told her that I could use one of the tubs -- she said, "Would you like me to have one sent to your stateroom?" I said, "Are you serious?" She said, "What number is your stateroom?" and took out a pen....I declined. However, I think the whole industry is really concerned about preventing shipwide illness.
Just a note on the free tshirts for the kids - they are cute, but they are just grey tshirts with blue writing/picture of Disney Sea University. We love to get them, but they are no replacement to buying the "real" tshirts they sell in the stores and at Castaway Cay. I can't help but to buy the whole family new shirts when we cruise!
tea for girls
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
We are a fair skinned family and burn in a matter of minutes. My dermatologist recommended Neutrogena sunscreen with SPF 70 (with helioplex)- it was fabulous. We made sure to reapply every few hours, but none of us had any problems with sunburn issues- and we spent a good 6 hours in the water at CC.
I also need good old chapstick after a day in the sand and wind.
I also need good old chapstick after a day in the sand and wind.
Futurist
REAL magic is when you can make people WANT to bel
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
First time cruiser with a ??
I know you're supposed to pack and leave your luggage outside your room the night before debarkation (disembarkation?), but what do we do about our toiletries / shaving / make-up kits? I expect to shave and brush my teeth the next morning, and plan to use the Disney transfer to MCO, but I also know you can't carry-on this kind of stuff on a plane because of security. How do you use it, and then lose it? Do you check it at the airport?
Thanks,
Richard
I know you're supposed to pack and leave your luggage outside your room the night before debarkation (disembarkation?), but what do we do about our toiletries / shaving / make-up kits? I expect to shave and brush my teeth the next morning, and plan to use the Disney transfer to MCO, but I also know you can't carry-on this kind of stuff on a plane because of security. How do you use it, and then lose it? Do you check it at the airport?
Thanks,
Richard
ibouncetoo
<font color=009999>I get excited by the little thi
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2003
First time cruiser with a ??
I know you're supposed to pack and leave your luggage outside your room the night before debarkation (disembarkation?), but what do we do about our toiletries / shaving / make-up kits? I expect to shave and brush my teeth the next morning, and plan to use the Disney transfer to MCO, but I also know you can't carry-on this kind of stuff on a plane because of security. How do you use it, and then lose it? Do you check it at the airport?
Thanks,
Richard
Richard, you will be picking your luggage back up in the morning in the terminal and going throug customs. You can add your toiletries bag into your luggage at that time.
.
disneyfinatics
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2008
Better yet, leave the hangers at home and ask your stateroom attendent for more
Thanks! I did't realize you could do that. Thanks to all the pictures I realized I would need more hangers and was going to pack my own. This is our first cruise so I know I'd rather have the space for souveners!!
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