So many questions!

[toni nicole]

So we are going on our first cruise on March 2nd, for three nights on the Disney Wonder. I've never been on a cruise before so I have a lot of things I'm confused on. When it comes to dining is everything included? Such as room service? I saw that you can eat at the restaurants for more than just dinner if you don't want to eat the buffet, is this included or do you pay extra for choosing to dine here rather than the buffet? When it comes to tipping I read that it's 12 dollars a person per day and I can pay this in advance. Does this cover all tipping or do I need to bring cash, and who do I need to tip that isn't receiving part of this 12. We are only going to the bahamas and castaway cay, so my understanding is that we do not need a passport, what do we need? Also, any tips on how to spend our days since we only have 3 days! We are disney obsessed and I want to experience what the ship has to offer most days, but is there anything we shouldn't miss at the bahamas? Also any favorites on the ship you suggest or tips you have! Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Tigg77]

We will be doing our first cruise in Nov, I have found allot of info from https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ plus reading this board. The people here are great, allot of info and people willing to help. Hope this will give you a place to start.

 

[Geomom]

I can't answer all your questions, but I can do some of them. Our first cruise was on the Wonder to Alaska this August.

Dining:
--Everything to eat is included except for Palo (the $30 upcharge restaurant), popcorn, theater candy, soda in cans, any drinks at bars, smoothies, alcoholic drinks.
--Room service is included (except for stated items that say they have a fee, like theater candy, etc)--BUT you should tip the person who brings it, usually in cash.
--You can eat at any place that is open--the buffets, the sit down restaurant, the 'quick service' type places up on deck. Even the snacks in Cove Café are free...but the coffee drinks, etc, there have a charge. There were free late night snacks (10:30-11:30PM) in Promenade lounge and in the sports bar.
--There is a free beverage station on deck 9 to get soda, lemonade, iced tea, tea, cocoa, coffee, etc.
--There is also a free soft serve station on deck 9.

Tipping:
--The $12/person/day covers your stateroom host, head server, server, and assistant server--you will be given envelopes with their names on them to give them at the end of the cruise and so you can add any 'extra' tip to the envelope if you want. Any 'charge' drink you get will have a 15% tip added to the bill. Cash is needed to tip the room service deliverer, and any porters that take your luggage in port.

Ship:
You'll have a newly refurbished ship to go on, so I have no idea what might be a new favorite on there! We enjoyed all the shows, main dining rooms for dinner, meeting characters, etc.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Aby]

Almost all dining is included in your cruise fare. This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner at any of the Main Dining Rooms (MDR's) or the buffet. Also, there are quick service venues on the pool deck for meals and snacks throughout the day, which are also free. At least one of the restaurants will be open for breakfast and lunch in addition to the buffet. Room service is mostly free - there are a few items like packaged snacks, canned soda, etc that have an extra charge, but these will be clearly marked on the menu. The adult only dining venues are at an additional charge (Remy/Palo).

If you pay your tips in advance, this will cover your MDR servers and your room host/hostess - since the same servers work around the ship for lunch and dinner, their tips are already covered, so you don't need to tip at any of your meals. Room service tips are up to you - we usually do 1$ per item ordered.

I know you only have a 3 days cruise, and you'll want to do everything, but you really can't. When you get the navigator each day you can review and see what your must do items are - but try and leave some free time for just enjoying the ship and the atmosphere.

Hope this helps,

Aby

 

[Dug720]

You do not NEED a passport since it is a closed-loop cruise. You DO need an official birth certificate and a state-issued photo ID at minimum.

The big advantage of a passport is IF you were to miss the ship in Nassau OR if a medical emergency forced you to stay there, you wouldn't have the added hassle of having to get an emergency passport.

But it is definitely possible on that cruise to travel with only the official birth certificate and driver's license/state-issued ID.

And I second Aby that it is IMPOSSIBLE to do it all - even on a 7-night I missed some things.

 

[toni nicole]

You do not NEED a passport since it is a closed-loop cruise. You DO need an official birth certificate and a state-issued photo ID at minimum.

The big advantage of a passport is IF you were to miss the ship in Nassau OR if a medical emergency forced you to stay there, you wouldn't have the added hassle of having to get an emergency passport.

But it is definitely possible on that cruise to travel with only the official birth certificate and driver's license/state-issued ID.

And I second Aby that it is IMPOSSIBLE to do it all - even on a 7-night I missed some things.

An official birth certificate, as in the one issued by the hospital? Maybe that is a stupid question but I got an answer to this before and it confused me because they said not the one from the hospital and wasn't sure what I needed to bring besides my ID.

 

[jdb in AZ]

An official birth certificate, as in the one issued by the hospital? Maybe that is a stupid question but I got an answer to this before and it confused me because they said not the one from the hospital and wasn't sure what I needed to bring besides my ID.

The easiest way to determine if you have an "official" birth certificate would be to take it to your local passport office and they'll tell you. Some states issue certs with a raised seal; others don't. I tried to apply for a passport with a xerox copy of my birth cert and was told it wouldn't work so I got an official copy from my state of birth and went from there.

 

[Geomom]

An official birth certificate, as in the one issued by the hospital? Maybe that is a stupid question but I got an answer to this before and it confused me because they said not the one from the hospital and wasn't sure what I needed to bring besides my ID.

I would try to get a new birth certificate from your state of birth, and that should be official. The kids' ones are likely fine as they're newer and in compliance with all the regulations. Our family applied for passports, post office thought everything looked fine, but DH and I both got notified that our birth certificates were missing the date it was registered, so we ended up getting new official ones from our state of birth. The kids' certificates were fine.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

And I second Aby that it is IMPOSSIBLE to do it all - even on a 7-night I missed some things.

Heck, I've been on 11 cruises (all 4 ships), and I've still not done everything.

An official birth certificate, as in the one issued by the hospital? Maybe that is a stupid question but I got an answer to this before and it confused me because they said not the one from the hospital and wasn't sure what I needed to bring besides my ID.

No - an official, state issued birth certificate. Not the hospital issued one. The hospital one is not official, only a souvenir item.

If you don't have a passport, the minimum legal requirement to re-enter the US for US citizens is a certified birth certificate, plus (for those 16 and over) a government-issued photo ID.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

The good news is, you can get a state issued Birth Certificate (from your state of birth, not the state you live in) no problem. Most of them have websites to request them now. We got one for my son (age 14) from the State of New Jersey's website, when I realized that I couldn't find his original one.

The bad news is that the process took 4 weeks for the State to send it to us. So don't wait. Especially if you do want to get Passports, since that will take an additional 4-6 weeks.

 

[Foxygrl]

do you need a letter from kids dad saying it is ok to bring the kids?? i know he has to sign the passport.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

do you need a letter from kids dad saying it is ok to bring the kids?? i know he has to sign the passport.

It's not a bad idea to have such a letter. I mean it's only one piece of paper. Most of the time you won't be asked for it, but you could be.

 

[toni nicole]

Almost all dining is included in your cruise fare. This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner at any of the Main Dining Rooms (MDR's) or the buffet. Also, there are quick service venues on the pool deck for meals and snacks throughout the day, which are also free. At least one of the restaurants will be open for breakfast and lunch in addition to the buffet. Room service is mostly free - there are a few items like packaged snacks, canned soda, etc that have an extra charge, but these will be clearly marked on the menu. The adult only dining venues are at an additional charge (Remy/Palo).

If you pay your tips in advance, this will cover your MDR servers and your room host/hostess - since the same servers work around the ship for lunch and dinner, their tips are already covered, so you don't need to tip at any of your meals. Room service tips are up to you - we usually do 1$ per item ordered.

I know you only have a 3 days cruise, and you'll want to do everything, but you really can't. When you get the navigator each day you can review and see what your must do items are - but try and leave some free time for just enjoying the ship and the atmosphere.

Hope this helps,

Aby

I didn't realize there was so much to do! What is everyone's favs or some things I should expect to want to do?

 

[roobug]

do you need a letter from kids dad saying it is ok to bring the kids?? i know he has to sign the passport.

Yes you do. They may not ask for it but if they do it can prevent you from going on the ship. Our last cruise we were standing next to a family that was being denied boarding. They were trying to coordinate a letter to be faxed but at the time we boarded the cruise terminal staff were saying there was no way they could get on the ship without a noterized letter. I felt so bad for the family the kids were in tears and mom was freaking out. I don't know if they even worked anything out.