Surprising First-Timers - Help!

[Keels]

It's been a LOOOOOOONG time since I've been on a Disney Cruise (like, since the 90's ... ), so I need help!

I lucked into an AMAZING rate for a cruise for my birthday weekend - and I booked and paid for it as a surprise for me and my BFFs! It's just a shorty - a 3-night cruise on the Dream - but we'll also be hitting up the parks on disembarkation day, having dinner at Cali Grill and then staying at the Poly before they fly back home on Tuesday.

So, now that the big chunk of money has been spent (the gals will be responsible for their flights from here to Orlando, but that's no biggie) - I'm trying to determine what is a value-add that I should pay for as a surprise or what we should plan for as far as extra expenses go.

I've only been on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean within the last five years, and Disney is SUCH a different animal ... so ...

Help me, experts, help!

1) I booked the biggest Deluxe Family Veranda stateroom - there are going to be five of us in one stateroom ... should I try to swap this out for connecting interior staterooms? Or is there enough to do that we won't be in the stateroom enough other than sleeping to worry about cramped quarters? We usually all stay together in a DVC Studio (at Beach Club), so we're used to the five of us in a room.

2) Since it's just three nights and (for all intents and purposes) none of us have been on a Disney cruise, should we bother with specialty dining?

3) Castaway Cay - just beach it? Is a cabana worth trying to get? Is there an excursion we MUST do?

4) Nassau - is it worth it for the day pass at Atlantis? I also thought it might be fun to go to Atlantis and do our own "slot tournament" or roulette challenge at the casino, unless there was something else that people recommend in Nassau. It's been a while since I've been there (I usually just go to Atlantis), so I'm open for suggestions!

5) Formal Night - is there one? How "formal" is formal? We're a group of gals in our late 30's and if we have a chance to get dressed up and wear some sequins, we're going to do it!

6) Characters - do they appear throughout the ship on a daily basis? Or is there a schedule? I'd love for us to DisneyBound together for, say, Captain Mickey or Polka Dot Minnie because I'm all-in for pictures and we love dressing for Disney character photos. Is this something I just have to track down recent Navigators or trip reports to find?

 

[asamklove]

Wow!!!!! That sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!!! I think you & your friends will have a blast!

Extra Splurge
If you want an extra splurge & you can swing it, go for the CC Cabana. They are pretty tough to get, and DEFINITELY not a necessity for a good time, but I sure would love hanging in a cabana with my girls on CC for a day!
Otherwise, what about a special excursion like jet skiing or a catamaran rental?

Room Size
I would totally go for 2 inside rooms just bc of doubling the bathroom space. Although - I think you can take advantage of the rainforest room for showering. <random thought: Rainforest Passes might be a great “splurge” idea for your friends!> Also - sleeping - are your friends petite? I think those bunks/pulldowns Are meant for smaller frames.

Specialty Dining
If you love great food, go for Palo Brmuch - great time, great food, again - certainly not a necessity

Formal Night
Official or not, if you & your girls want to fancy it up for a night - GO FOR IT!
It’s all about what is fun for YOU & I feel like it’s fine to go up in dress level (just don’t go down ). Plus...pictures!!!!!!!

Nassau
No advice except we stayed onboard for that stop...we wanted to play on the ship.

Characters
We aren’t a big character family, but there were always characters out for meets & the navigators listed them all.

Have SO much fun - sounds like a magical girls’ getaway!

 

[Mr. Drauer]

Here is a link to a recent 3-night cruise set of Navigators. http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...hamian-cruise-port-canaveral-january-12-2018/

you can get a feel for what is scheduled each day from these. Looking through some trip reports on the website is advisable as well.

They offer a bunch of tastings / mixology sessions which you can book online in advance of the cruise, so if you want to do a martini class, or a champagne tasting, or any number of other ones, that might be right up your alley.

The staterooms do have the split bathroom, but you might want to go for 2 connecting rooms to spread out. The bathroom/showers in the spa are also open for use as a PP mentioned.

The 3-nights don't have a dedicated formal night, but people still dress up for dinner regardless. Definitely go for it and do a dressy night. They have tons of photo set ups in the atrium to get nice pictures at as well as the character photos.

CC has both the family beach area and Serenity Bay for adults, and excursions, bike riding, the morning 5K, Pelican Plunge, snorkling, bike rentals, and on and on. You can also book massages in the Serenity Bay spa cabanas, so that might be a treat for you guys as well.

either way - have a great cruise!

 

[Geomom]

If the 5 of you are fine in a DVC studio, I think you'll be good on the ship as well! Our family of 4 only used our room for sleeping/showering, etc. Very little time spent in the room.

I'm not the type to spend extra on a cruise for things like Palo/Remy or a cabana...I'm paying enough already! With a 3 nt cruise, you'll be able to go to each dining room once with the rotational dining. If you really want to do one of the adult restaurants, maybe do Palo for brunch.

As far as dress, it's really anything goes...t-shirt/shorts to sundresses to cocktail dresses, etc. Feel free to wear cocktail dresses if you want.

**Use the Disney Cruise Line App on the ship--Download it in advance to have it on your phone...it's just a countdown clock until you're on the ship. Once on the ship, put the phone in airplane mode and use the app for free (no need to buy an internet package to use it)--it has a chat feature so your group can stay in touch, as well as the personal navigator. You can see when/where a character will be out for your whole cruise...when a movie will show again, etc. It also has the menus for each restaurant. We loved using it on our Alaskan cruise!

 

[dcassetta]

It's been a LOOOOOOONG time since I've been on a Disney Cruise (like, since the 90's ... ), so I need help!

I lucked into an AMAZING rate for a cruise for my birthday weekend - and I booked and paid for it as a surprise for me and my BFFs! It's just a shorty - a 3-night cruise on the Dream - but we'll also be hitting up the parks on disembarkation day, having dinner at Cali Grill and then staying at the Poly before they fly back home on Tuesday.

So, now that the big chunk of money has been spent (the gals will be responsible for their flights from here to Orlando, but that's no biggie) - I'm trying to determine what is a value-add that I should pay for as a surprise or what we should plan for as far as extra expenses go.

I've only been on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean within the last five years, and Disney is SUCH a different animal ... so ...

Help me, experts, help!

1) I booked the biggest Deluxe Family Veranda stateroom - there are going to be five of us in one stateroom ... should I try to swap this out for connecting interior staterooms? Or is there enough to do that we won't be in the stateroom enough other than sleeping to worry about cramped quarters? We usually all stay together in a DVC Studio (at Beach Club), so we're used to the five of us in a room.

2) Since it's just three nights and (for all intents and purposes) none of us have been on a Disney cruise, should we bother with specialty dining?

3) Castaway Cay - just beach it? Is a cabana worth trying to get? Is there an excursion we MUST do?

4) Nassau - is it worth it for the day pass at Atlantis? I also thought it might be fun to go to Atlantis and do our own "slot tournament" or roulette challenge at the casino, unless there was something else that people recommend in Nassau. It's been a while since I've been there (I usually just go to Atlantis), so I'm open for suggestions!

5) Formal Night - is there one? How "formal" is formal? We're a group of gals in our late 30's and if we have a chance to get dressed up and wear some sequins, we're going to do it!

6) Characters - do they appear throughout the ship on a daily basis? Or is there a schedule? I'd love for us to DisneyBound together for, say, Captain Mickey or Polka Dot Minnie because I'm all-in for pictures and we love dressing for Disney character photos. Is this something I just have to track down recent Navigators or trip reports to find?

1. Since you have all stayed in a studio together, the room will probably and you can enjoy the verandah. If you need extra shower space the showers in the gym area are great.

2. Brunch is usually available on Nassau day and is excellent. That would allow you to still experience the 3 MDRs.

3. Unless you want to snorkel, jet ski, or do the slides, I would head right to Serenity Bay. There are plenty of loungers and chairs and servers go up and down the beach if you need any adult beverages. If a Cabana is available for your cruise, it will be about $100 per person. Amenities included are in the photo.

4. if you just want to visit the casino, a day pass for Atlantis is not needed. Just grab a cab and head over.

5. You may dress up as much as you like on any night!

6. Check the navigators on Scott's site for character schedules - www.dclblog.com The characters do some walkarounds, but this is pretty random. If you would like to see the princesses, make sure and get tickets.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We like our space and we're a family of 4. Remember that verandah only has two chairs and a table. There's not much room after that. You might hang out there, but you might feel crowded.

For splurging, how about Rainforest passes or something at the spa? You could also arrange for photos, either just have a Shutters photo plan (especially if you're all in one room) or even splurge for the extra private photo sitting. You'll also probably want to book everyone with at least one princess meet and greet, I expect. Some people also do t-shirts, but if you're not into that, there's always Minnie/Mickey ears.

 

[Keels]

Thanks, everybody!! Brunch is like my FAVORITE thing, so it looks like brunch is a MUST! And I love the idea of some spa time with my gals, so the Rainforest passes will be great surprise!!

I think I will probably pass on the cabana, unless one comes available when we get on the ship ... the cruise we're going on is pretty "empty", so I think we'll just plan on getting loungers at the adult beach ASAP.

We all just finished running at Marathon Weekend, so the Castaway Cay 5K is definitely in our plans for the CC day!

Now, I just have to determine how MUCH I want to tell them about the trip! They know the dates they need to book flights to MCO ... and I can ask spouses to get me their passport info so I don't have to let the cat out of the bag too early.

I even thought about surprising them with dresses from Rent the Runway for our dress-up night (probably going to do this on Castaway Cay night!).

I've read some blogs about the Pirate Night - I feel like we *should* dress up ... do people really get all pirate-y for this party?

Thanks again for y'all's help! I'm so excited!!

 

[dcassetta]

Yes, some people go all on pirate night. Here a few examples https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-do-you-wear-on-pirate-night.2943909/

 

[asamklove]

Sounds awesome. P.S.if you are accepting applications for friends, let me know HAVE FUN!!

 

[Keels]

So - we're just a little over two weeks out from sailing and I need advice! I made these for my girlfriends (and a similar combination for the females in our FE group) ... but I feel like it needs *something* else. It's a monogrammed beach tote with a removable bandana/head scarf and a doozie.



Thoughts?

 

[FigmentSpark]

So - we're just a little over two weeks out from sailing and I need advice! I made these for my girlfriends (and a similar combination for the females in our FE group) ... but I feel like it needs *something* else. It's a monogrammed beach tote with a removable bandana/head scarf and a doozie.

View attachment 311873

Thoughts?

Lovely. I don't think it needs anything, but if you want ideas....

How about buying pins on the ship and decorating your bag with them?

Also, you could make magnets that will go on your door, and display them in the pocket. And/or make special Disney luggage tags - not the ones that go to your room, but the ones where you put your name and address, etc.

 

[oakleycat]

I love it, I don't think it needs anything else! The luggage tag idea would be cute too, or fill it with essentials like sunscreen, after sun lotion, etc.