pershing
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2003
Hi, my name is Rachel and I just booked our very first Disney Cruise! I'll be sailing with my boyfriend and our 8 year old daughter. We visited Disney World last year for the first time and we've been itching to go back. I've been reading up on lots of tips from where to eat to what to pack.
Our daughter will be celebrating her 9th birthday on the 23rd so we're all really excited for that! We hope to meet new people and look forward to making wonderful memories!
Rachel!
I hope some of your tips were from the DCL Faq thread on the main disboard cruise page. It's a massive thread, relating to all the boats and ports of call, but worth digging through. Here's a link:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dis-dcl-faq-new-alphabetical-listing-of-dcl-information.2068966/
Ask any questions you want. My 5 biggest tips are:
1-Dress your kids in bathing suits for embarkation as you may not have access to your room or luggage right away and the pools are open and less full before the safety drill. The Aquadunk may be open too. That thing is kinda scary. I didn't do it at all on the Wonder last year.
2-The snack stand outside the Buena Vista Theater is not free. I don't know why. Everywhere else it is, except for alcohol, smoothies, and specialty coffee drinks. So, if you're headed to a movie, go to deck 9 first to grab drinks pizza, chicken nuggets, fries, sandwiches, etc.
3-Bring your kids to the Kids' Clubs the first day-preferably the open house if they are not swimming the whole time-definately when they open after the safety drill. They make friends easier and bond with the counselors easier. I guess it's like missing the first day of school.
4-If anyone feels seasick there is free medication right outside the health center, but it will knock you out. It does me. A better way is too pay for a can of ginger ale at the bar. (The free drink station doesn't have real ginger ale) If you know one of your kids suffer from car sickness, a little preventative ginger ale in the afternoon might save an uncomfortable first seating dinner. That's around the time we are approaching crossing waters at the end of Florida.
5-Try to get your unpacking done before the ship starts moving. I do it right away as I tend to get a little seasick the first night. I find it's harder to unpack after the ships starts moving. I tend to do it while waiting for the Safety Drill alarm.
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