Making the most of your Disney Cruise is essential to having a great voyage. You have saved and planned, and not it’s time to board that fantastic Disney Cruise ship for a magical voyage! There is lots of buzz right now, as Disney Cruise Line will hopefully be announcing more itineraries for 2017 very soon! And once your cruise is booked, you’ll want to gather as much advice and tips as possible to make the most out of your time at sea. Do you want make the most of your Disney Cruise? Of course you do! This week, we are going to share some Tips for Making the Most of your Disney Cruise.
- Leave room in your budget for gratuities. Gratuities are “tips”, given to your stateroom host, head server, lead server and assistant server. You can pay these ahead of time, or when you disembark the ship. Either way, it is the same amount of money, and they are not worked into your cruise fare. A family of 4 can expect to pay $192 in gratuities for a 4-night cruise on Disney Cruise Line. That is the grand total, not per person. This gets split amongst four Crew Members who do everything they can to make sure your voyage is amazing. From past experience, I wanted to tip them more! If you do not pay them in advance, they will get added to your onboard account and you will pay them before you disembark.
- Learn to use the Personal Navigator. Your Navigator is given to you upon check in at the port. And every night, you return to your room and there is a new Navigator for the next day. This lists all the activities, the nightly shows, the drink of the day, as well as character meet and greets. There is SO much in the Navigator! Be sure to carry it with you so you can sort of plan your day and not miss any activities you really want to enjoy. It is also a great way to let everyone in your family enjoy something different. So while you are meeting characters with your little one, the older two can be in the D Lounge enjoying the animation class.
- Do not miss the live shows each evening. These are included in your cruise fare, so be sure to see them! Many families may not experience Broadway caliber shows, but on the Disney Cruise Line, there is no reason not to! If you have the main seating time for dinner, you will see your show afterward. If you have second seating, you see the show before dinner. Be sure to get there a few minutes early to get a seat. Should you miss the show, or want to watch it in your stateroom, you can do so. They stream them on the TV in your cruise cabin. This time is a great way to spend some family time together, if you have sort of gone your own ways during the day.
- Use some of your time to try new foods and new experiences. For example, I would never order lobster at home if we were out to dinner! But, it was an appetizer at one of our dinners, and I went for it. Why? Because I wanted to try something new, and I had already paid for it. So why not? My kids also tried new foods, and it was so fun to do so! It’s also fun to try new experiences on your ship. Drawing classes, towel origami classes, watching first run movies, mixology classes, and so much more! There is SO much to do onboard, you may never get to do all of it!
- Take advantage of the unique Disney experiences when you are at sea. There is the Pirate Party, which is unique to Disney Cruise Line. One night of your sailing, the menu will be pirate themed, everyone will be in pirate garb {including the characters}, and you’ll want to hang out on the pool deck for the pirate party and fireworks! Another fun experience is the character meet and greets. You do need to get a ticket for the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet and the princess gathering. In our experience, we were able to get a ticket for Anna and Elsa, but not the princesses. In the end, it was fine. We still saw all the princesses, some multiple times, at various occasions on board. I do not feel like my daughter missed out on anything. Castaway Cay is also unique to Disney Cruise Line. Be sure to get off when you port at Castaway Cay and enjoy the island as long as possible!
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