Never cruised Disney before

[dyanna72]

Taking our 1st Disney cruise on the Magic in Sept 2014 on one of the 7 night So Caribbean itineraries out of PR. It will also be the 1st time dd sails & the 1st time her parents have ever had a cabin with a verandah. When we sail it will be myself, DH & DD (then 7). What are the best not miss things to do on board. What should we bring/not bring. Any info for the kids club would be great also. What is not included that we can be prepared to have money for or at least what we can expect to pay for at the end of our trip. Of course we know of the usual gratuities, drinks etc. Basically in general whatever tips you have for us would help in our pre-cruise planning :-) TIA!

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Taking our 1st Disney cruise on the Magic in Sept 2014 on one of the 7 night So Caribbean itineraries out of PR. It will also be the 1st time dd sails & the 1st time her parents have ever had a cabin with a verandah. When we sail it will be myself, DH & DD (then 7). What are the best not miss things to do on board. What should we bring/not bring. Any info for the kids club would be great also. What is not included that we can be prepared to have money for or at least what we can expect to pay for at the end of our trip. Of course we know of the usual gratuities, drinks etc. Basically in general whatever tips you have for us would help in our pre-cruise planning :-) TIA!

 

The best things are the evening shows and eating in the main dinning rooms, there is a show in animators palate, What to bring or not bring is personal choice, but a selection of clothes, swimwear, and also casual and formal clothes. You have to pay for tips, and shore trips, and booze on board, and any meal at Palo, what you spend its up to you, things like the shops and spa. Try to book your shore trips at your booking window. There are target age groups for each kids club there very good and run from cica 9am to midnight, times vary for age range and if ship is in port.

[evelyn51]

We were on the 4night Wonder with our 6 yr old Grandson, Feb21st sail. We had a "Wonder"full time!

 

The Pools are small, and crowded for the most part. Our Grandson felt intimidated but so wanted to go in the pools and down the slide.

 

SO on CC day we got off early to see the island then, planned to get back to the ship, have lunch aboard, & have the pool to ourselves. There were only 5 children in the Pool! Our Grandson was able to go down the slide as many times as he wanted. Had the pool almost to himself.

 

For Sail away & Pirate parties get there early to get a viewing spot!

 

Flubber lab session is awesome, if she likes experiments, and Parents can join in the fun. Don't forget to bring your camera.

 

Have your camera with you as often as you can, there are so many times you will want to use it, Enjoy!

[dinkydee718]

If you're planning on going to the pirate party & fireworks show, you may want to bring some pirate stuff to wear for both your dd and the grown-ups! Some people get really into it.

 

As for extra expenses, besides some drinks, fitness classes and spa, excursions, shopping and tips, there are some on-board activities that cost extra, like, for example, Bingo. Also the crew takes a lot of pictures of you and the family and if you want to buy them they are extra (around $15-20 a picture!).

 

My 6, 8 and 10 year olds loved the children's club! I agree with a PP that you shouldn't miss the evening shows. Kids love them.

 

Have fun!

[Gumbey]

This time around on the Fantasy, we decided fairly early on that we would be purchasing the "full photo pkg". Our last experience on the Dream was a disaster as it took forever to sort through all the photos that were taken of our family and basically was wasting precious cruise time (especially on the 5 dayer). So that is the reason we chose the full meal deal with the photos.

 

That being said, we basically spammed every photog site both with characters and the professional backdrops before dinner, after dinner at Castaway cay wherever so we could amass as many photos as we could possibly get. Thus lowering our price per print.

 

I think once it was all said and done, we walked out of there with almost 400 pictures. Yes, some were not that good, but others were fantastic. Plus we get the DVD too. But you need to download the photos EARLY from the website once you are back on land as there is a defined time frame to get them. After that they are gone.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Be sure and go to the roll call thread here and look for your cruise date. Post there to meet others on your cruise. Often you can find kids the ages of the kids coming with you so they can make friends before going into the clubs.

Plus you will meet other adults. For us it really adds a lot of fun to the cruise.

 

 

Kathy

[Isaboo]

I just booked our first Disney cruise too! A full year away but already excited:D