6 night cruise

[EvilQueen4Real]

Hi all,

DH, DGS5 and I are cruisng out of Galveston Dec. 15th on the Magic. Ports r Cozumel and Grand Cayman. No Castaway Cay and I'm a bit upset about that but I live in TX and Galveston is just a few hours away so no airfare this trip. I would appreciate any suggests on cruising in general (this is our 1st) and any shore excursions that may interest my DGS. Is there a formal night? Is there a refridgerator in the cabin? Should I have DGS5 wear ID like his Daddy's military tags with my contact info on it for while he's in the kiddie camp? As we get closer to the date I'm getting a little anxious. Especially after I watched the documentary of that huge ship (Contessa or Concordia) that sunk recently.

Here are a few tips I've heard already. Correct me if needed

I heard you can place magnets on your door. I have some Disney magnets for this purpose
Bring bigger mug for drinks and bottle water because you have to purchase bottled water
Call room service and order a sandwich and and chips to go to take on excursions
There's a pirate party

Have a magical day!!

[DiZ NeE 08]

I would say take plastic or aluminum bottles that are big enough to fill up with water or whatever else you would like to drink. I have done that every cruise. better than buying bottled water from them as they filter the water again anyways so its refiltered tap water, nothing better than tap water. the magnets on the doors you can take some and put them but you risk someone taking them. I am not saying that someone WILL take them but I have heard of stories of some guests that put stuff on their doors and by the next morning it's gone!

[Ranger275]

You don't need ID for the kids while they are in the play areas. When you check them in they get all your details and then you carry the "Wave/Cell" phone from your room. If the kids or the kid's CM need you they text or call you. They will have you set up a password with them so they know it is you picking them up and a list of who can actually pick them up. Very secure.

Bringing a water bottle is a very good idea. Actually any larger cups or drink holders as the paper cups you get for soda or water are pretty small. That way if you are at the other end of the ship you aren't running back to the drink station to fill up every 10 minutes.

I would think a 6 night cruise will have a formal night. But just like WDW you will see people in formal wear to some in regular clothes. We try to dress up for every dinner to a point as it is kind of fun to do that, no t-shirts or shorts but you will see people wearing that.

Lots of people put magnets on the doors, some people really decorate the door. They bring magnetic eraseable boards and leave notes to each other on them. Some will have magnets telling the kid's names and lots of other things. I know there are websites with idea and where you can actually buy magnets.

Yes to the refrigerator, one in each room.

The Going Away party and Pirate party are fun. Actually everything is fun and I am jealous. You will have a great time.

All of our kids would prefer to go on a cruise than WDW, ages 16,15,12,11 and 6, so that says lot. While WDW is fun the cruise is far more relaxing and having food and most of your fun already paid for is a great way to go..

Just don't forget about planning for tips for the staff at dinner and the person who clean your room. I think usually a normal tip is around $12 a day per person on the cruise which for the service you get is a great deal. So a 6 night cruise would be 6 nights*$12 = $72 * the number of people in your room. I forgot to budget for it one time and at the end of the cruise for 7 nights * 7 people it was a lot of money = $588.

Have fun, it will be great!

[Mkeef]

I think most cruises have formal nights on trips that are longer than four nights and they are usually on your first full day at sea (not including day after embarkation). if you want to go all out there is a rental place that you can rent fancy clothes for the duration of the cruis. you just fill out the form with your measurements before hand and they deliver the clothes to your room and pick up after. It was pretty cool. I rented a tux and an extra vest/tie and I think it only cost $120 for the seven nights. Wore it on formal night and palo. It was fun and even included shoes. Saved on packing nice clothes. They have things for males and females.

They change the way you collect tips now and you can charge it to your onboard account so you don't need to worry about having enough cash

We just used refillable mugs from past WDW trips and worked great.

We are not big drinkers but DCL is (I think) is the only cruise line that allows you to bring outside alcohol on the ship. We brought a bottle of rum on and used the drink stations and had a drink when watching shows and stuff. You can't bring the bottle out and around but you can make a drink in your room and take it with you. They have duty free onboard but we didn't buy from there so I don't know if they hold your booze until the end of your trip. Ive heard other cruise lines did that. But you can buy booze on port days and bring it back where I've heard other cruise lines take and hold booze until you disembark.

I found the food to be awesome. One thing I didn't learn until later was that since its all included they don't care how much you order at the table restaurants. I was having a hard time deciding one night so my server brought me out a sample of like three or four things on the menu. It was awesome. If you want to try multiple things just ask and they will bring it out.

Palo was really nice but I don't think we would do it again. Not for the food anyway. We were all excited because we got lobster at our palo dinner only to find the next day from our table mates tht they had pretty much the same menu at their regular dinner to. Palo is nice and peaceful and a beautiful restaurant but the food is pretty much the same.

Shore excursions are a lot of fun but I found them to get pretty expensive and they are sometimes far from the ship and you spend a good chunk of the time getting organized and traveling to the excursion. And the excursions are shared with other cruise lines so if one ship is late they have to wait.

Each restaurant has open seating for breakfast. We didn't know this until halfway through and had just eaten breaky at the buffet. But the restaurants have better and freshly cooked food like eggs Benedict!

Be prepared that you will be sharing a table with other families. We went on our honeymoon and were expecting to have quiet dinners with the two of us but were paired up with two other couples. This is a mandatory thing with all cruises. We were a little upset at first but we ended up becoming good friends with one of the couples and still talk to them over a year later. Plus they were DVC members and helped us make our decision to buy in .

Have a great cruise. Disney cruises are amazing.

[EvilQueen4Real]

Thanks for all the info. I'm very much an introvet and DH is very much an extrovet. He will love other guest at the table. I will hate it. That's one reason I've never been on a cruise before.

[Ranger275]

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They change the way you collect tips now and you can charge it to your onboard account so you don't need to worry about having enough cash

Exactly but you still have to plan for it, I forgot to put the tips in my budget and I had already been on DCL 3 times before. So I just forgot them. I don't think you really need cash for anything, everything can go on your room except for spending money on excursions.

Don't forget tips on drinks are included. You don't want to double tip especially when the tip is already 15%.

I am not a extrovert but it didn't bother me to sit with couples I didn't know on the cruise. It was fun to hear about what they were doing and what they had done that day. Also if you are a big enough group you will be by yourself. Last year we went with another couple and it was just the 4 of us at a table. When we have gone as a family we were also by ourselves. They do have 4 people tables.

[Mkeef]

Don't forget tips on drinks are included. You don't want to double tip especially when the tip is already 15%.

I did not know that. That is good to know. I think we only bought a round of drinks once but we left an extra tip so it was abt $8 or $9 a drink with an added tip. I could see that getting pretty pricey for some if they are doubling up and leaving 30% a drink.

[EvilQueen4Real]

It's just us 3, DH, DGS and me.
Thanks all.

[bbarnett]

I don't know if your curious about the Daily Navigator that you have probably read about on Disney's site but AE (AllEars) has copies of what they look like on their site. I have looked everywhere trying to find out this info and finally found it there. They are from a cruise on the Dream but I'm sure they are similar on all their ships. Here is a link to get you started and then just click on a page number under 3 or 4 night cruise..

http://allears.net/cruise/ships/drea...ators/navs.htm

Tip: Just in case you don't already know this right click on the link and tell it to open in a new tab so you don't have to navigate back to this page.

[EvilQueen4Real]

Thanks! That was cool!