Like the city of Atlantis or Amelia Earhart’s plane, some things are lost forever.
Yet, some things presumed lost, such as the Titanic, ARE found.
So it was when I uncovered these 10 Tips for Your First Disney Cruise in the abyss that is my work desk. Loyal readers may recall that my family and I enjoyed a 3-day cruise on the Disney Magic *last* year. (Ahem!) However, I’ve dusted off these tips and confirmed they are still highly entertaining and relevant. Here are 10 tips for your first Disney cruise:
- Bring nicer casual clothes for evening. I had jeans, but felt under dressed for meals and evening events like the Disney musicals.
- Be prepared that you may never see your tween or teen, except to eat. They will hangout with their new BFFs in the tween/teen clubs and have to be dragged home!
- Adults will go WAY overboard (not in the literal sense) for the Pirate Party. We’re talking full-on Jack Sparrow. Don’t worry if you didn’t pack your finest pirate wear, though. Everyone gets a themed bandanna to keep and/or wear at your dinner seating the night of the Pirate Party.
- Alcoholic drinks are NOT included in your all-inclusive price. However, Disney Cruise cast members will appear at any given moment proffering the booze ($$$). We saw frosty, frothy, colorful alcoholic beverages being offered about every 2 feet on the pool deck.
- You may get a chatty cruise director. If so, be patient during the incessant lengthy announcements. You’ve got kids, right? So you should be good at tuning out annoying stuff!
- Not all cruise food is good food. In other words, just because it’s there and you already paid for it in your all-inclusive price, doesn’t mean you have to eat that yucky looking pizza that’s been breathed on by 83 people.
- None of the port excursions will be worth what you paid for them. Just get that out of your head right now and dream big since you are on vacation. I will never regret paying way too much for my daughter’s dream of meeting dolphins to come true.
- You may feel like you’re still on the boat for days after you landed. Maybe even weeks, as was my experience. This is common and will eventually fade.
- Try not to kill your family. You may get overwhelmed by crowds, times, activities, etc. Remember, you’re on vacation!
- Just like a trip to Disneyland or Disney World, you can’t do it all, especially on the 3- or 4-day cruises. That’s okay, because you need something to look forward to when you go on your next cruise, right?
Which tip speaks to you? Have you been on a Disney cruise? What other tips would you add? If you haven’t been on a Disney cruise, then who is your favorite Disney character?
Although we’ve been to Disney World a trillion times, we never did the Disney Cruise. I hear that they now have a Mediterranean cruise? Wonder if wine is included on that one!
Mo recently posted…Know Your Wine Preferences
Hmm. I bet it’s extra! But I bet it’s excellent. I have a Mickey Mouse wine stopper, just so you know. 🙂
Katy @ Experienced Bad Mom recently posted…10 Tips for Your First Disney Cruise
Our first Disney cruise was a Med cruise. Awesome but tiring because we wanted to Do All The Things.
Valerie @ momma in progress recently posted…10 Ways To Encourage Literacy in Your Homeschool Kindergarten
We are huge Disney fans. We’ve been on three Disney cruises (including the Magic twice). Was your chatty cruise director an Aussie named Brent? #3 kind of surprised me the first time. These people take pirate night VERY seriously. #7 . . . we did that for the first one but mostly decided to wing it for the next two. Tips I would add: When they walk around with trays of drinks on fancy night, those ARE free. It gets chilly, even in the middle of summer. Pack a sweater. I’m pretty sure I have a Disney cruise tips posts floating around somewhere as well; I’ll have to find it and dust it off.
Valerie @ momma in progress recently posted…10 Ways To Encourage Literacy in Your Homeschool Kindergarten
Would I have had a fancy night on my 3-day cruise? Because if so, I want to go back and get some free drinks! They always looked so good but I never wanted to pay $$$ for a drink. 🙂
Katy @ Experienced Bad Mom recently posted…10 Tips for Your First Disney Cruise
I guess they only do them on the 4 night and longer ones? But, yeah, this guy walked up to me and offered wine at no charge while I was in line for something (character no doubt) and I was like yes, please. I look *really* happy in our family photo.
Valerie @ momma in progress recently posted…10 Ways To Encourage Literacy in Your Homeschool Kindergarten
sounds like you had a fabulous time, we spend a lot of money but like our ranch resort. We pay a lot up front, but everything is included…it’s worth the money.
sounds like you had a fabulous time, we spend a lot of money but like our ranch resort. We pay a lot up front, but everything is included…it’s worth the money. stopping by from #mommymondaybloghop
Great Tips!! We made out first family trip to Disney dream come true last year and a cruise is next on our list so i will definitely be keeping this for future reference. I can’t wait 🙂
Tiffany recently posted…Good Friends Are Hard To Find
We went to Disney for years before doing the cruise. I somehow thought the cruise couldn’t compare, but I was wrong. It was terrific! I hope you have a great time when you go.
I’ve never been on any type of cruise, but I’ll keep this in mind in case the stars ever align!
Rabia @TheLiebers recently posted…Making Pretzels with Kauffman’s Fruit Farm