What I would do/not do next cruise

[Sir William]

I'm pretty sure Sir William was referring to the restaurant on board...

Indeed I was, but I understand how it could be misunderstood. Fire away on the cabanas at Serenity Bay.

I can't speak to the cabanas on CC as I've never used one, and don't really feel the need to.

I don't care for Cabanas (restaurant) on the ship because I find it crowded, noisy, and the food is only so-so. I much prefer one of the MDRs for breakfast or lunch. Granted, they have a more limited menu, but I find the food of better quality, even if it does take longer to get it. I will eat at Cabanas when we have an early excursion, or we are returning from one and are having a quick lunch before heading back out again, but I really dislike going there on Embarkation.

DW likes Cabanas because she can get in, eat, and leave in less time than an MDR. She also tends to get salads for lunch so likes being able to make her own.

 

[js]

Why didn't you like the cabana?Loved mine.

I would love to know since I am torn on what to do? Did the cabana hosts get yourfood/drinks for you? Yes drinks, and on food you get they take away.


This would be a plus.

Thank you. I think I will request one. Now to decide and review which one I want to requestnin what order. I would like to be closer to the water but away from all but close to food/drink but be able to see the water from the loungers.

 

[js]

I'm pretty sure Sir William was referring to the restaurant on board...

LOL. Opps lol
I made myself laugh.

 

[js]

Indeed I was, but I understand how it could be misunderstood. Fire away on the cabanas at Serenity Bay.

I can't speak to the cabanas on CC as I've never used one, and don't really feel the need to.

I don't care for Cabanas (restaurant) on the ship because I find it crowded, noisy, and the food is only so-so. I much prefer one of the MDRs for breakfast or lunch. Granted, they have a more limited menu, but I find the food of better quality, even if it does take longer to get it. I will eat at Cabanas when we have an early excursion, or we are returning from one and are having a quick lunch before heading back out again, but I really dislike going there on Embarkation.

DW likes Cabanas because she can get in, eat, and leave in less time than an MDR. She also tends to get salads for lunch so likes being able to make her own.

Thank you. I laughed just now when I read you were referring to the buffet.

Im like your wife that I love to eat salads and let myself eat a "bad" salad when Im away adding the seafood, crutons and some junk but it's sooo good. lol

I think we will try to eat breakfast in the dining rooms. That may be a nice stressless way to begin the day.

Thank you for that tip!

 

[richkaryn]

Would Do again that I did already:
Book a room with a verandah (granted we booked VGT and ended up spoiled with a 4E.....DCL knows what they're doing---got that 4E for a mega deal and now I'm hooked....but settled for a 6A this next time bc of Alaskan price so high)
See a movie (or more than one on longer cruise)
Go on another December cruise ( we have a December baby and love that time of year anyway....I think all the decor just adds to the magic)
Participate in FE (we had so much fun with this, and DS lit up like it was Christmas each time we returned to the room to find something in the FE)
Enjoy every moment of being "disconnected".
Get a PAT in the 1:00-1:30 time frame (we drove to port--left home night before, drove halfway, then got up and drove the other half.) Loved that we were checked in, registered for kids club and walked on the ship within about 30 mins of arrival at port and our room was ready when we walked on. Dropped our carryons and ate at Cabanas and had a little time to explore before muster drill. It was also cool and windy that day so we wouldn't have gotten in the pool anyway.

Didn't Do but will attempt to next time:
Order room service
Visit the adults only area (we were on a 3-night and I was so afraid we'd get over there and then get a msg/call on wave phone saying DS wanted to be picked up from kids club......yeah right! Had to drag him out!)
Make a point to get more pictures made (we didn't have any we liked out of the few we had made....but on the upside saved me a ton of $)
Get a spa treatment
Go for an early morning stroll on deck
Eat breakfast and/or lunch in a MDR at least once

Won't Do again:
Plan park days after the cruise (It was kind of a buzzkill going from total relaxation and disconnect to rushing, waiting in line, and worrying with the MDE app constantly---but we did enjoy experiencing the Osborne Lights at HS)
Skip out on breakfast in MDR on disembark day because rushing to leave (this was a great plan while trying to get to the park, but we had incredible table mates and regretted that we didn't get to eat breakfast with them and say goodbye one last time)
Think 40 pins is enough to get the 3 of us through a 3 night cruise
Skip a show I haven't seen because I'm afraid I won't make it to something else I want to do that starts immediately after.
Take DS to Bingo with me (or even tell him I'm going to play bingo for that matter...)
Wake up with Disney Jr (It was under characters on the navigator and we thought we'd be going to a character greet featuring Disney Jr characters....nope, it was a dance party...a very early morning dance party )

 

[marivigi]

A head's up so it doesn't disappoint you while onboard. On my last cruise in September on the Dream I had planned on going to the gym every morning to kick off my day as I had just recently started working out. I was very disappointed to find out that some days the gym didn't open until noon. The gym's hours are the same as the spa's. Needless to say at noon I was busy doing other things and working out wasn't in the plans for me.

Really? I was hoping to do super early workouts!

 

[js]

↑
A head's up so it doesn't disappoint you while onboard. On my last cruise in September on the Dream I had planned on going to the gym every morning to kick off my day as I had just recently started working out. I was very disappointed to find out that some days the gym didn't open until noon. The gym's hours are the same as the spa's. Needless to say at noon I was busy doing other things and working out wasn't in the plans for me.

Wow! A gym opening at noon?!

I hope, too, to be able to get in early morning workout. Noon is not an option Ill be too busy relaxing!

 

[Buttered Bun in the Oven]

So helpful. This will be my first cruise. Thanks for all the tips!

 

[Dug720]

What I would not do again
Cabanas (as much as possible); DW likes it, I don't

Hey, there you go! She can go to Cabanas while you go to Palo Brunch!

 

[Eeyorebabies]

Will do again:
-Get a cabana on CC
-Concierge (room 12516)
-Fireworks
-Eat lots and lots of soft serve ice cream
-Do the parks before the cruise
-Give the kids as much time in the kids club or spend time with us as at they want to
-Walk the decks at sunset with DH while kids play in the clubs
-Get the turkey cranberry sandwiches from quick service (DS and I can't rave enough about these!)
-Snorkeling at CC
-bring dollar store glo sticks for night time deck parties (much cheaper than buying Disney brand)
-bring drowsy and non-drowsy Dramamine

Did, but won't do again:
Sail away party- we will watch out the veranda this time
Pirate night (the show itself)- DH and DS might, but I didn't really care for it
Select Shows- I love Disney, but even these were a bit over the top, and kind of a once you have seen them once, not that big of a deal to see them again kind of thing.
Pedicure- it was amazing, don't get me wrong, but the cost and the extra stuff they convince you to buy, was too much for me
MDR food- we will still go, but I don't do fancy food. Some of the stuff was too fancy lol. Bring me a burger! Haha! So I will likely just order from the kids menu.
Book back to back excursions/spa/shows/etc.- the point of the cruise was to relax. We did everything BUT that. This time we won't try to fit everything in and will try to enjoy the moment more.
Take Disney Transport from the resorts- we didn't get there until after 2, didn't get on the boat until about 2:30, then rushed up to concierge for briefing. By the time we made it for lunch, they were starting to clear it away and there wasn't much to choose from.
Parks after the cruise- by the time we did the parks before the cruise, rushed to do as much as possible on the cruise, and then tried to do the parks again after the cruise, I felt like we had just run a marathon and the thought of sitting on the plane for 6 hours with 3 small children was actually inviting!

Will do but haven't done before:
-room service
-movie in the theaters
-adult only areas
-pirate buffet
-sting ray excursion on CC
-take a nap while kids are in the clubs
-enjoy the sunset on the veranda
-drive to port as early as allowed (no PAT due to concierge booking)
-take less luggage!
-give our children charging privileges
-bring my in-laws (thankfully I have really great one's)

 

[kylaura]

Things I will do again
- Hands on Deck from room service while getting ready for 2nd seating dinner
- Bring beer on board - to go with above
- Princess meet and greet - tickets avoid long lines
- Go to all the shows
- See a movie
- Go to front of ship for Sail Away Party - can hear the music but not as crowded
- Took my dad with adjoining room - especially enjoyed adjoining balcony
- Drink tastings
- Afternoon/evening snacks from coffee place - had cheese, salami, fruit, etc.
- Sit down restaurant on first day lunch - still had buffet but not near the crowd as Cabanas
- Spend lots of time lounging by pool

Things I won't do again
- Pedicure - was overpriced
- Avis car rental - had long lines when dropping car off, but will probably do again do to lack of options
- Pack so many clothes

Things I didn't do but will - Fantasy Sept 2015
- Get my daughter to the Edge for meet and greet the first day
- Pirate night party - 2 cruises and someone didn't feel good on both, will make it eventually
- Book excursions in every port - only had 1 excursion for 3 ports last cruise, didn't enjoy just walking around tourist traps
- Play shuffleboard
- Walk around the track every day - good goal, but probably won't happen
- AquaDuct - too sick first cruise, chickened out on AquaDunk on Magic
- Spend more time at adult pool
- Get a tube and float the afternoon away at Castaway Cay

 

[Christina Blanco]

Will Do:
1. Book a spa treatment on a day at port -- you get much better deals on port days...but careful in getting sucked in to buying the products.

Thank you for he fish extender tips...first time for us trying it out

 

[Earning my ears]

Things I would do:
1)If I fly in the night before, would stay at the Hyatt again!
2) Book a lower class room. We got an upgrade for free... a veranda, but probably only spent 20 min on it. Location of ship was more important to us than the veranda.
3) Let my dd enjoy the club a bit more. I hated her in there, it was a family vacation and I really felt we should be together every single minute.... the few times I let her go, she loved it and has talked about it ever since. My oldest dd didnt' go at all, and although she and I had a blast hanging out, she regrets it a bit. So next time, will strive for a balance.... let them enjoy the kids club some and teach myself how to enjoy some quiet mommy time...
4) Next time I will pack differently. We did a split trip and next time I will have separate bags for our cruise... and then our days off the cruise(with the exception of toiletries obviously) I was too unorganized.
5) Participate in my cruise meet thread. Great having someone to do Atlantis via Comfort Suites with... a group of 8 of us rode over together in a taxi.
6) Definitely GO TO ATLANTIS AGAIN! Wow!!!! loved it!

Things I won't do:
1)FE. I took small item(made CD of disney music for adults and small gifts for kids)... but the girls got a ton of candy(we went mid november, they still had tons of halloween candy at home) and the stuff took up a whole small suitcase coming home.
2) Order room service for dinner. Thought it would be cool for the girls. Took 45 min and wasn't very good. Would have been better off just getting quick service by the pool and bringing back to the room.

could you please help me: My daughter's family is interested in doing Atlantis via Comfort Suites - how much was the taxi there? You paid for 1 night at Comfort Suites. Did you have any problems? How far ahead did you book? I would appreciate any advice/help!!!!!

 

[mevelandry]

What I would do/will do

-Go back to Remy.
-Eat at Cabanas more.
-Book a brunch (probably Remy).
-Go see a show.
-Watch a movie while onboard.
-Book another "class" (we did Mixology and loved it, next time we'll try a tasting).
-Ask to be seated alone. We did it during our cruise and loved it.
-Book another Day-Pass for the spa. Did not care for the showers and saunas but LOVED the warm chairs and private hot tubs (which is impossible to have even in the Quiet Cove).
-Pre-pay more onboard credit. You never have enough.
-Order food and snacks by room service.
-Book a room with a bigger balcony (Was upgraded from 8C or 8D (???) to 7A the last time: turns out we LOVE having a balcony and spend a lot of time there. I booked a 4E for next time LOL)


What I would not do:

-Book Palo. We thought it was nothing special, it's 50$ we could have saved + we missed a show or a movie because of all the time we spent there.

-Buy a wine package. I don't like to drink that much + they made a mistake and sent it to the room instead of the restaurant, then wanted us to pay a corking fee (No!). Had I known, I would have spent that 80$ on the onboard credit to buy drinks and glasses of wine instead. Turns out I enjoyed the wine and cocktails at the restaurants and bars more.

-Pre-buy a pack of water bottles... There is free water, coffee, tea and sodas on Deck 11. Next time, I'll buy a cup and just fill it before going to our room.

-Go to Animator's Palate. The food was absolutely terrible.

 

[Lisajaye]

What I would not do again-
***I would NOT book excursions outside of the Disney offered ones. In Jamaica, we tried to save $ by going with a bus company to take us to Dunn's River Falls. All of the other people on the bus were with another cruise ship that had 2 more hours in port. We were so nervous we would not get back in time. If we had booked through Disney they would not have left without us.

things I would do again- Eat dinners in the dining room and order Mickey bars from room service

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

What I would not do again-
***I would NOT book excursions outside of the Disney offered ones. In Jamaica, we tried to save $ by going with a bus company to take us to Dunn's River Falls. All of the other people on the bus were with another cruise ship that had 2 more hours in port. We were so nervous we would not get back in time. If we had booked through Disney they would not have left without us.

things I would do again- Eat dinners in the dining room and order Mickey bars from room service

It's best to book private tours that are your group only and not combined with other people from other cruises for this reason.

 

[runnerchick]

Would ABSOLUTELY NOT use Scopolamine (seasick patch)....could not see close up (couldn't read menus, see through the view finder of my camera, etc) - and now over a week off the patch, I am still dizzy and have fatigue. My marathon training has completely stopped - too dizzy to run. Wish I knew how STRONG this medicine was....please heed my warning, I have never had a reaction to any medicine like this...and from what I have heard/read, I am not alone. My daughter has motion sickness issues and she was fine taking just one children's dramamine - wish I had done the same!

On a fun note - I would: play Bingo again and take the animation class (we drew Mickey Mouse) - my daughter (9) answered the trivia question during the class and won the artist's drawing! (Just paid $200 to have it framed - yikes! - but it was be displayed proudly in our home - the perfect souvenir!)

 

[JMHDisney]

What I would do:
- Fly in the night before. I like to minimize my stress.
- Book Palo brunch. I usually travel with my son and feel more comfortable doing the brunch solo than dinner (although I do love that chocolate soufflé!).
- Book a veranda room - love reading my book with a glass of wine out there!
- Arrive at port around 12:30 - loved going right on and no lines. I'm definitely not an early arrival type.
- Book the stingray excursion at Castaway Cay - my son loved it and it was amazing to see my new swimmer taking off after stingrays!
- Make sure my son goes to the kids club on the first night/try to match him up with some buddies from the cruise meet page in advance.
- Send out my laundry to be washed rather than wasting vacation time doing laundry.
- Bring clothespins to clip swimsuits to the chairs on the balcony to dry quickly.
- Get something made on Etsy and then signed for my son at guest services.
- Whenever possible, eat breakfast and lunch at Lumiere's or other sit-down restaurant. Cabana's is fine in a pinch but I hate how crowded it is.
- Head out on my balcony at departure time in port to watch the dock runners (of course, I'd feel terrible if anyone didn't make it, but it's fun to see the last few come blazing down the dock - in Key West it sounded like half the boat was out on the verandas cheering for them!!).
- Not worry about getting to the shows. We did almost all of them on our first cruise and none on our last (although we still haven't seen them all). The cruise just seemed more relaxing doing our own thing after dinner.
- If traveling with friends/family, get adjoining balconies that can be opened - loved the larger balcony and it was way better than adjoining rooms as we could tell the kids in the mornings not to knock if the curtains were still closed (if we had adjoining rooms, they would have been pounding on the doors at 6am!).
- Ride the Aquadunk once - terrifying but glad I did it!
- Make sure my son waits in line to meet some characters (and make sure to get pictures of both of us too!).
- Head up to the pool for a movie and soft serve ice cream on the last night after packing.
- Book a placeholder future cruise even if I don't think I'll cruise again.
- Use onboard airline check-in and Disney transport back to the airport. Love not dealing with those bags!
- Book a day room at the Hyatt after the cruise for a relaxing end to the vacation before the late flight home.

Would not do:
- Stop at WDW before the cruise. I love Disneyland, but WDW just seemed hard as a single parent. Won't try that again until my son is older.
- Book a non-Disney excursion in Key West that starts 30 minutes after our docking time. Even though we docked at the same pier as the excursion left from, we didn't make it due to a medical emergency delaying debarkation. In retrospect, I shouldn't have cut it so close.
- Attempt to watch the fireworks from my balcony (we got a notice telling us not to do this but my son fell asleep and I couldn't leave him - some of the fireworks fell awfully close to the ship and sent me running back inside!).
- FE - who has the time?
- Expect a nightlife - last cruise was the first time I had a friend who was an adult cruising with us and I thought it was my chance to get out and check out the nightlife…but, um, there isn't any! It was a little disappointing. Now that I know that, I'm happy knowing I'm not missing much when I'm alone with my son!

 

[Frickles]

To the poster that asked about using a Travel Agent, yes we train online through Disney, we are are offered opportunities to sail, attend Agent Education programs on board and day ship tours are available to us as well. I'm an agent/agency owner and we just had the most amazing trip for 7 nights on the Magic for agent training. The staff went the extra mile to teach us more about what our clients would like so we can offer wonderful tips and advice, and you are dealing with one person to answer all your questions as you plan your trip and we are a text, email or phone call away.

I'm contributing to this thread because I loved reading it before my trip!

I would
fly in the night before and stay at the airport Hyatt
Use private car service with a complimentary grocery/liquor store stop *Pegasus Professional transportation is wonderful
Not take a big carryon when boarding the ship
See all shows, they are amazing and they made my eyes leak because they are full of Disney Magic
Watch the sunsets
Not fret over second seating, it worked wonderfully- if you have young kids, their meal will come quickly and the dining buddies can whisk them away for fun
Not fret over a room without a balcony. If it isn't in your budget, the Oceanview is still great!
Not pack a water bottle
Get the drinks in special glasses at the parties and at CC, great souvenir for a few dollars more. Leave room in your luggage for souvenirs
Go to the Cove every day for a latte or cappuccino with a Mickey head on top in cocoa powder, and get a Cove Card! Buy 5 and #6 is free!
Take the mixology class and attend the tastings- so fun!
Try new drinks, my favorite is the Konk Kooler at CC as well as the coconut mojito and the pineapple mojito.
Eat breakfast or lunch at Lumiere's! Such a delight to be waited on instead of battling the others at the buffets. The breakfast foods were delicious and I had the best bacon cheeseburger ever at lunch. I enjoyed being waited on since I felt like a princess on this trip!
I get motion sick going through a car wash! I took 2 Bonine every morning and started the day before the trip, I was fine! I have tried the patch and hate it because it dilates my eyes and I can't see - Bonine was perfect because it didn't make me sleepy.
I would book another trip onboard early in the week to get the onboard special of 10% off your next cruise with an onboard credit by grabbing a "place holder" for $200. You have 24 months to pick your cruise!

 

[3fish]

Thinking about brining wine and beer onboard...do you just tote a bottle down with you to dinner if you want to have it with dinner? How does that work?

There is a $20.00 corkage fee. You can also take a glass with you into the dining room. I've done this when I've purchased a glass of wine from one of the bars and/or from my private stash in my stateroom.