I’ve already posted about our fun on the Disney Cruise ship and also about our days in port on our excursions, but I also wanted to spend some time talking about the little tips we learned along the way and some extra thoughts. Here’s a rambling post on some things I learned on our Disney Cruise.
Disney Cruise 1st day at sea from Betsy King on Vimeo.
Booking:
You can go through a travel agent and they give you some cash back based on how much you spend. However, I’m a do it yourself gal and just booked it on Disney’s Website. I actually spent two years looking up different cruises and dreaming before we booked ours on a whim last November.
When booking your flights, you’ll need to arrive the day before, so add on a day of travel when cruising. You can’t depend on your flights to be on time and get you to your port on time and not miss the boat.
If a 7 day cruise is out of your reach (time and money wise) go for a 5 day. You’ll be surprised how affordable they are. In my opinion, don’t even bother with a three day. Also, I have found that if school is out, the price is going to be much higher. So if you are on a budget, only look during times that school is in session.
Choosing your ship: Our ship was one of the oldest boats and even though it was missing things like a Bippity Boppety Boutique, a water roller coaster and Pirate’s League, we still felt like our ship was AMAZING. It actually felt smaller than boats I’ve been on in the past, which was actually nice. We were quick to figure out the layout and it didn’t feel super packed. Do be aware that not all Disney boats are created equal so if you book your cruise and then go online to research, make sure you are only researching about the boat YOU are going to be on. Other wise you’ll start seeing cool stuff on other Disney boats and get bummed out. Having been on one of the older boats, it is kind of a bummer to look at newer boats and see stuff yours doesn’t have. All of that to say, once we were on the boat, I didn’t miss a thing!
Rookie Mistakes:
–Our biggest rookie mistake was not bringing snacks with us as we boarded the boat. Here’s how our day went when we boarded the boat:
We had breakfast at our hotel at 8:30. (The hotel boasted a free shuttle to the port, so we chose there to stay.)
Our 10:30 shuttle didn’t show up until 11:30, so we were already hungry. We all had a granola bar from the hotel lobby. Once you get to the port there is a lot more waiting. (At least there was when we got there.) We were still in line at the port at 1 PM and the kids were melting down starving. So we searched high and low for a vending machine and finally found one. We gorged ourselves on junk then got on the boat ten minutes later. Of course, once we were onboard, you can go straight to lunch, but our bellies were filled with junk and not so hungry for all the great food before us.
So two words to the wise: Don’t rely on free shuttles to get you there early. Also, pack good hearty snacks. I still can’t believe my pockets were empty. Rookie mistake!
–Understand that your kids won’t be able to do it all. If your kids can’t stay awake for the shows after dinner, they show them on TV in the room. Also, one night Miles conked out early, so we had to split up and John went to the firework show with Joss and I stayed in with him. The older your kids are, the more you can pack in a day, the younger your kids are, the more you will miss. So just prepare to be ok with that. The thing about a cruise is you always leave wanting more. I got annoyed one night when Miles didn’t nap and therefore wasn’t able to stay up as late as Joss. I realized I just needed to chill out. Seven year olds don’t have the maturity to understand how napping puts energy in the bank for fun stuff later. So I just chilled out about that.
Some thoughts on packing:
Bring 2 bathing suits per person.
flip flops (water shoes would be nice if you are doing a beach excursion and want to get in the rocks to snorkel)
a cardigan or fleece jacket. It was always warm outside on the deck, even at night, but the dining rooms were cold.
A small wristlet purse to hold your room key and lipstick when roaming the boat.
Princess dresses for your daughter if that’s their thing. Kids wear them to dinner and around the boat as much as they want.
Bring pirate garb for pirate night.
5 day cruises don’t have formal nights, but they have one night that is a bit dressier. You can honestly be as dressy or as casual as you want. You can dress up jeans or khakis for dinner, just as long as you aren’t wearing beach clothes or flip flops. I wore a dress or skirt a few of the nights, but otherwise, I was most comfy in colored khakis, a top and a scarf or jewelry.
Don’t bother doing your hair. I didn’t even bring a hairdryer or flat iron. I say, unless you are hoping to get formal photos of your family, just do your hair wash n go. I was there to enjoy my family, so I didn’t mind at all popping my damp hair on the top of my head and heading to dinner. I never want to waste time in the bathroom primping when I could be out playing.
Your fancy camera and a small bag to carry it. (Nothing too big and bulky, this is a good option.)
a waterproof camera like a GoPro is awesome for the pool and excursions.
Cash while on excursions. You’ll need money to tip bus or ferry drivers, lunch, souvenirs, etc.
Our thoughts on the kid’s clubs:
We totally thought our kids would HATE the kids clubs and would never want to be without us. HA! They were instantly in LOVE with the clubs. John and I were in shock that we had time to ourselves to enjoy some alone time. There are three kid’s clubs on the boats. There is the one for babies under 3, but they charge an extra fee. There’s the Oceaneer’s Club, which is geared toward younger kids and kids who enjoy more physical or imaginative play. (Joss LOVED it there.) Than there’s the Oceaneer’s Lab, which is more for older kids, 7-12 or so. (Miles LOVED this place!) They do fun stuff like games, build exploding volcanoes and make flubber. They also have A LOT of computers. This bummed us out a bit, but we realize that with boys, that’s what pulls them in. We weren’t thrilled with him going and just playing on a computer, something he could do at home, so we didn’t give him carte blanche to go non-stop. The counselors were able to pull them away for activities, but they don’t force kids to participate. In the end, this is vacation and we all have different ways of having fun, so if we go on another cruise, we’ll just chill out about being worried about Miles zoning out at the computers. He seriously had a blast there and it was in moderation, so it’s all good.
Shows: Do NOT miss the shows. I had no idea how much I would enjoy them, they are amazing!
Excursions: We booked our excursions ahead of time on the Disney site. I wouldn’t recommend getting off the boat without a plan, at least with kids.
The only thing we missed out on: Castaway Cay. Disney has a private island called Castaway Cay and our cruise didn’t go to it. I hear it’s AMAZING, so next time we’ll definitely have to make sure we get to go.
I hope these random tips along with my two other blog posts have convinced you to go on a Disney Cruise! They are so much fun!
