Cruise Tips

[joanne]

A new 'sticky' thread for people to list tips and recommendations for Disney Cruise Line :boat:

If you've been on the cruise, please share any tips you have.

Recommendations on the best things to do, what's not to be missed, the best excursions, etc.

:thanks:

[Slowhand]

My suggestions are as follows:~
1. As soon as you get your "Key to the World" room key/charge card, check out the letters printed on it for your dining plan [something like PLAPLAP ...on the 7 day cruise]. The letters stand for the restaurants on your rotation dining plan...P=Parrot Cay, L=Lumiere`s [T=Triton`s on the "Wonder"], and A=Animator`s Palate.
This way you can decide which night [if any] you want to dine at Palo`s.
2. Make sure that you do not miss the "show" at Animator`s Palate which they only do on one of your nights on the 7 day cruise.
3. Get there early to make your Palo`s reservations...or book it in advance.
4. If you enjoy wine with your dinner, sign up for a wine package which gives you a 25% saving over the normal price.
5. You can also sign up for a photo package if you think you will buy many of the photos taken by the ships photographer during your cruise.
6. Make sure you are on an outside deck [9 or 10 preferably] when the ships horn sounds.
7. "Disney Dreams" is a "must see" show.
8. If you fancy a quiet area to read/snooze/watch the World go by, there are comfortable loungers on the Promenade Deck [deck 4]
9. For adults, go to Serenity Bay beach when on Castaway Cay.


If I think of any others I`ll post later.

[SorcererMickey]

If you can, get there early, we've always been able to board the ship around 11:00. That's an extra 6 hours of fun before the ship departs at 5:00pm.
There are two other choices for Palo's other than dinner on the 7-Day cruise. Consider doing High Tea and Champagne Brunch. Those are during the day and you can actually enjoy the ocean view since it's daylight.
At Key West, we enjoyed the Key West City Tour, lots of information.
If you can stay up a bit longer from having so much fun during the day, around 12:00am to 1:00am is the best time to take photos around the ship, it still looks great since all the lights are on there are no people getting in the way when taking your photos.
At Grand Cayman, I recommend the Georgetown City Tour. Ice cold air conditioned bus, around 2-1/2 hours, several stops including a turtle farm.
At Cozumel, there are many excursion choices, but consider that any excursion to mainland Mexico requires a 45 - 50 minute ferry ride and then transportation to your destination. Total excursion times for mainland Mexico excursion is 7 hours, but you will spend 2-1/2 to 3 of those hours traveling to and from. We did the Cozumel Ruins and Beach Tour and really enjoyed it. The total tour is about 4 hours and transport to the two destinations, ruins and beach, is about 25 minutes each.
On the 7-Day, there is usually a matinee presentation of "Disney Dreams" on day 6. We did this and it was great. Since it was early, around 4:30, we were able to relax the rest of the afternoon. This was our night to take a break from dinner, we ate at the "quick service" locations on Deck 9.
Get to Castaway Cay early in the morning and come back to the ship when it get really hot just after noon and do the bridge tour, it's really interesting.

[Steamboat Willy]

Get to Castaway Cay early in the morning and come back to the ship when it get really hot just after noon and do the bridge tour, it's really interesting.


Thanks. I was wondering if they did something like that

[SorcererMickey]

Thanks. I was wondering if they did something like that

I have photos of the bridge tour, just follow the link on my signature to the 7-Day Western Cruise Photos

[Steamboat Willy]

^ thanks. and I like your site. I am currently working on one also, have to wait for my trip to post pics. I love the "portals" you used as links. (no worries about them being "stolen" ;) )

[SorcererMickey]

no worries about them being "stolen"

The idea of using portholes the way I did is not new, there are probaly thousands of websites outthere using the same concept. Just don't use "my" portholes :D .

[Jessica626]

SO just so you know I went on a 7 night western Caribbean on the Disney Magic. Well...I wil start with,
- In order to make getting on the cruise so much faster, fill out all the papers they give you in your conformation package sent in the mail.
-Also if you are from out of state and flew, to get to Florida. (We wern't able to get a flight on the exact days we wanted) I highly suggest the Hyatt in the Orlando Airport, we arrived the day before our cruise, stayed one night, woke up the next morning, got all our info from the Disney reps in the lobby and took a shuttle to the port. It was super easy.
- Don't put your Disney Luggage tags on unless it is the day of your vruise, we put them on by accident and they took our bags to the boat a day early!
- When you get on, at least this is what we did, we all went to eat, and my dad went and made Palo and high tea reservations. And then he joined us. I suggest Parrot Cay rather than the Buffet on the deck for your Welcome Aboard Brunch.
-As for your key cards, BUY A NECKLACE TO HOLD IT. I lost mine twice until I got one, and it solved our problem. You can also do pin trading, and it's really fun.
- As for excursions we just shopped in Key West, we did a seven mile beach one in Grand Caymen, nice and relaxing and the beach is beautiful.
And iin Cozumel we did a Jeep Island tour of Myan Ruins and Beach Stop. It was super fun! We got to get a jeep visit, Myan Ruins, A alligator laggon, a lighthouse museum, and stop at a beach for wonderful fajitas and a little fun! We even had time to stop and shop before the tour.
Highly suggest it!
-Ok, I also want to warn you of something... while on the cruise my brother got sick in our room after complaining he wasn't feeling well. WE are sure it was just a something he ate on one of the excursions and he only got sick once, so it was nothing too serious, but Disney does take it very serious, if you make it known to the employees, they may be forced to report you, we almost had to be quarentined in our small room for the rest of our cruise as they will think you have some virus thing, so as horibble as it sounds try your best to stay away from the clinic unless you are really sick, although if you are sea sick I promise they won't quarentine you:) We were warned by our wonderful room host. SO not to scare anyone, but if you are sure you are a family member, are not sick with that virus thing and just are a little sick , then try to keep it under wraps!
-To end on a more positive tip take advantage of ammentities like having breakfast brought to you in the morning, but also room service and such.
It was fabulous having breakfast brought to us in the morning before an excursion, it also worked for a fabulous wake up call!
Good Luck with all your planning, and I am sure everyone will have a fabulous time!!!
:wink:

[Slowhand]

so as horibble as it sounds try your best to stay away from the clinic unless you are really sick, although if you are sea sick I promise they won't quarentine you:) We were warned by our wonderful room host. SO not to scare anyone, but if you are sure you are a family member, are not sick with that virus thing and just are a little sick , then try to keep it under wraps!

Hrmm, I`m not too sure that I entirely agree with this approach.
Even though you may not feel as though you have the start of anything serious, personally I believe that you should get it checked out, not only for your own peace of mind but to protect the rest of the passengers on board. Heaven forbid that you are suffering from anything contageous, but it could spread like wildfire in the confines of the ship if you have something more serious than mere sea sickness IMHO.

[sophia37]

If you can, get there early, we've always been able to board the ship around 11:00. That's an extra 6 hours of fun before the ship departs at 5:00pm.
There are two other choices for Palo's other than dinner on the 7-Day cruise. Consider doing High Tea and Champagne Brunch. Those are during the day and you can actually enjoy the ocean view since it's daylight.
At Key West, we enjoyed the Key West City Tour, lots of information.
If you can stay up a bit longer from having so much fun during the day, around 12:00am to 1:00am is the best time to take photos around the ship, it still looks great since all the lights are on there are no people getting in the way when taking your photos.
At Grand Cayman, I recommend the Georgetown City Tour. Ice cold air conditioned bus, around 2-1/2 hours, several stops including a turtle farm.
At Cozumel, there are many excursion choices, but consider that any excursion to mainland Mexico requires a 45 - 50 minute ferry ride and then transportation to your destination. Total excursion times for mainland Mexico excursion is 7 hours, but you will spend 2-1/2 to 3 of those hours traveling to and from. We did the Cozumel Ruins and Beach Tour and really enjoyed it. The total tour is about 4 hours and transport to the two destinations, ruins and beach, is about 25 minutes each.
On the 7-Day, there is usually a matinee presentation of "Disney Dreams" on day 6. We did this and it was great. Since it was early, around 4:30, we were able to relax the rest of the afternoon. This was our night to take a break from dinner, we ate at the "quick service" locations on Deck 9.
Get to Castaway Cay early in the morning and come back to the ship when it get really hot just after noon and do the bridge tour, it's really interesting.


I read that you took a break from dinner. Do you have to let the staff know if you will not be dining?

[Slowhand]

I read that you took a break from dinner. Do you have to let the staff know if you will not be dining?
Out of courtesy we always let our servers know the night before that we will be at Palo`s so that they don`t wait for us before they attend to our table.

[uscwest]

Out of courtesy we always let our servers know the night before that we will be at Palo`s so that they don`t wait for us before they attend to our table.
We did the same thing on our cruise. :)