What was your worst DCL rookie mistake?

[JimCotton]

Not me but my husband. I love this story. you need to know my DH is not very assertive/aggressive. He is very passive and he takes each moment for what it is. I worked with women who have cruised before, so in preparation for our 1st cruise, they would tell me what cruising was like. All you can eat food. drinks are extra, entertainment, etc. I guess I never mentioned any of that to DH.

So, our first cruise ever, we took Disney transportation from the resort (and this was MY mistake, we booked a noon transport) We didn't leave at noon, we got on the ship at 3:30pm. They explained lunch was closed. We went to our stateroom to put our carry bags away and then went to explore the ship. We were up on Deck 9 people watching and poor Dh was drooling as he watched people walk by with plates of hot dogs/hamburgers, fries and the like. I watched him for a while, amused. Then it occurred to me he was probably hungry. I asked him if he was and he said he was all set. Knowing he was hungry I asked if he was sure, he said, yeah he was sure. But I saw the look in his eyes as he was watching those plates of food go by. He knew meals were free, it dawned on me that maybe he was thinking that any food in between meals we had to pay for. That is when is hit me. THAT WAS WHAT HE WAS THINKING. LOL. He is a penny pincher, so he is thinking it is only a couple hours till dinner, a free meal, he wasn't going to spend money on eating a meal now. I said, matter-of-factly "you know all food on the ship is free, even the counter service food." His eyes got huge and he said "it is?" I said yes....he was out of that chair in a shot. In 5 minutes he had his burger and fries.

OK so this wasn't just me (I'm the DH), but we actually ALL did this our first cruise! We were on the Dream and had no idea Flo's was included. We were thinking that the only food included was in the MDRs and Cabanas. We would have had the kids eat at Flo's almost every day, if we had known it was free! We didn't realize it until months after. We will be on the Fantasy in December, so we are going to make sure that we take advantage this time.

The other mistake we made was we WAY over packed. We brought all these clothes and pretty much lived in our swimsuits, except at dinner.

 

[alltwelve]

Getting to the Port early for our first Disney cruise- that was a doozy of a mistake! I erroneously thought that if we arrived early, they would somehow let us board early and explore the ship. Sitting in that beautifully decorated terminal for hours was not fun, and skipping breakfast to do so made for a group of unhappy campers. We now know better!!!

 

[Rabb it]

Getting to the Port early for our first Disney cruise- that was a doozy of a mistake! I erroneously thought that if we arrived early, they would somehow let us board early and explore the ship. Sitting in that beautifully decorated terminal for hours was not fun, and skipping breakfast to do so made for a group of unhappy campers. We now know better!!!

Ahh that's the worst!

 

[MUN]

OK so this wasn't just me (I'm the DH), but we actually ALL did this our first cruise! We were on the Dream and had no idea Flo's was included. We were thinking that the only food included was in the MDRs and Cabanas. We would have had the kids eat at Flo's almost every day, if we had known it was free! We didn't realize it until months after. We will be on the Fantasy in December, so we are going to make sure that we take advantage this time.

Why did you think it wasn't included? Did you see prices on the menu board?

MUN

 

[MUN]

Not me but my husband. I love this story. you need to know my DH is not very assertive/aggressive. He is very passive and he takes each moment for what it is. I worked with women who have cruised before, so in preparation for our 1st cruise, they would tell me what cruising was like. All you can eat food. drinks are extra, entertainment, etc. I guess I never mentioned any of that to DH.

So, our first cruise ever, we took Disney transportation from the resort (and this was MY mistake, we booked a noon transport) We didn't leave at noon, we got on the ship at 3:30pm. They explained lunch was closed. We went to our stateroom to put our carry bags away and then went to explore the ship. We were up on Deck 9 people watching and poor Dh was drooling as he watched people walk by with plates of hot dogs/hamburgers, fries and the like. I watched him for a while, amused. Then it occurred to me he was probably hungry. I asked him if he was and he said he was all set. Knowing he was hungry I asked if he was sure, he said, yeah he was sure. But I saw the look in his eyes as he was watching those plates of food go by. He knew meals were free, it dawned on me that maybe he was thinking that any food in between meals we had to pay for. That is when is hit me. THAT WAS WHAT HE WAS THINKING. LOL. He is a penny pincher, so he is thinking it is only a couple hours till dinner, a free meal, he wasn't going to spend money on eating a meal now. I said, matter-of-factly "you know all food on the ship is free, even the counter service food." His eyes got huge and he said "it is?" I said yes....he was out of that chair in a shot. In 5 minutes he had his burger and fries.

You didn't tell him earlier that most food was included? And you let him starve? Are you still married?

 

[stacaka4321]

Mine would be going to bed too early!

 

[CheriePenguin]

I definitely need to remember the preemptive sea sickness meds!

What do you use for preemptive meds?

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just remember, ladies, those penny-pinching husbands are saving more money for more cruises.

 

[richmo]

Nothing major...
I guess, as mentioned earlier, not pre-booking the next cruise. Didn't do that the second time either, but we haven't sailed since (no reason, just haven't gotten around to it)

Only other thing I can think of is possibly overpacking. I remember there were a bunch of clothes I brought along on that first cruise that I didn't use.

 

[dcassetta]

Why did you think it wasn't included? Did you see prices on the menu board?

Perhaps they did not get close enough to see that the menu boards had no prices.

 

[Kuzcotopia1]

Mine would be going to bed too early!

This will never be a mistake for me. I love going to bed early!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

You didn't tell him earlier that most food was included? And you let him starve? Are you still married?

This was 16 years ago, so I am not sure if I told him "food" was included or if "meals" were included. But either way, I did tell him the cruise included food/meals. He understood that to mean meals, as in the MDR meals. I really don't think he was "starving", but I did notice he was hungry, and made sure he knew he could get something to eat cause it was free. I was an observant wife. Letting him "starve" would have been if I sat there and let him drool for the next 2 hours until dinner time.

 

[Jess_S]

The only thing I would have changed was that we would have eaten a light lunch before our noon PAT. Our cruise was Alaska and there was some sort of issue with customs that caused a 2 hour wait before boarding. The only thing any of us had to eat that day was Tim Hortons donuts (at breakfast time) and I was majorly hangry by the time we got any food. So much so that I snapped at a server in Parrot Cay when we finally go seated and the vegetarian options seemed limited. It turned out that the server was one of our serving team and I felt a little uncomfortable the whole trip thinking that I snapped at him for an issue that wasn't his fault.

I never considered the possibility that there could be any type of significant boarding delay until I was there experiencing it.

 

[MeeskaMooskaMickey]

I spent months planning excursions for each day and spent $$$$ on them (Med cruise). When we got there it was boiling hot and the kids were desperate to get back to the ship (as were us adults!). We were hot, tired and miserable! Also we spent a lot of extra money on lunch, ice creams, drinks etc which we could have had for free on board!
With hindsight we should have spent just a few hours off the ship in each port and gone back to the ship for lunch and afternoon by the pool. Save the serious sightseeing for when the kids are older!

 

[Donna M]

My rookie mistake was to read too many advise columns for what to bring 'just in case'. We had three regular sized suitcases for the two of us for a three day cruise. Now we travel only with a carry on each and haven't wished we had anything that was in that extra bag.

 

[tee11]

Great thread....
on our 1st first.....[thinking we would never do it again, ]
we did everything....to include, Palo's/
to the worst was doing 2 excursions at every stop

by the time we got off the ship, we needed a vacation from our vacation

but that was 20 cruises ago/ but boy did we learn our lesson....

Robin & Angel "D"

TWO excursions in every port! For me this takes the cake! LOL!

I still have to remind myself not to try to see / do it all, but this!

 

[Geomom]

Mine happened at our first port of our Alaskan cruise. Our excursion in Skagway, Alaska took us into the Yukon Territory in Canada. DD12 picked out some jewelry in a shop in Carcross, I went to get my wallet to pay in Canadian money...and realized...I left my wallet on the ship! 2 1/2 days on the ship of only having to sign for drinks and show my keycard and I'd already forgotten that I need to carry a wallet on land! Luckily DH had his wallet, so he paid. We DID all have our passports on us, so I did have a form of ID...I just couldn't pay for anything!

 

[Geomom]

I also learned that you shouldn't book an early character meet and greet (or anything for that matter!) for the morning after you've moved the clocks forward. We overslept and I woke up right when our Princess Meet and Greet time started...so we missed that. (The 'good' thing is that we'd already taken pics with Ariel and Belle earlier in the week, so the girls were fine with missing it.)

 

[Rabb it]

What do you use for preemptive meds?

Whatever you would normally take for seasickness, but you take it right when you get on board, so if seasickness should rear it's ugly head the medicine is already in your system!

 

[mevelandry]

Whatever you would normally take for seasickness, but you take it right when you get on board, so if seasickness should rear it's ugly head the medicine is already in your system!

Yep. Our cue to take it is the fire drill. As soon as we sit for the fire drill we take the meds. By the time we leave PC and the cruiseship is going faster, the meds are effective.