Do visiting theme parks and the fast paced life of an Orlando tourist stress you out? Even the most chilled visitors can get a bit of anxiety of which restaurant to visit each night. I love Disneyland and Disney World as much as the next Disney devotee, but there are some drawbacks to the parks (like hordes of people, inescapable heat, and long queues) that you just don't deal with while sailing blissfully on blue seas. However life on a Disney Cruise is so different and relaxed you'll be amazed that you haven't done it earlier. I went on the Disney Dream in January 2014 and I've been dreaming of my next one ever since. So here is a few tips and tricks for first timers or even seasoned Disney Cruise Line veterans.
All you can eat
One of the selling points of Disney Cruise Line is that it's all-you-can-drink and there are places to grab food throughout the day without a surcharge. Just to clarify since it's not technically “free,” it’s built into the cost of Disney Cruise Line, which costs more than other cruise ships in its class. However, many people don’t know that meals at rotational restaurants are all-you-can-eat. At these restaurants, you can order as many appetizers, entrees, and desserts as you want, make substitutions, etc. If you really like a particular appetizer or entree, order another! You can do this at every meal, and always found the servers happy to oblige. Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility. I don’t recommend ordering so much food that you only eat half of what’s on each plate. Your restaurant rotation schedule, and whether you have the early or late seating for dinner — are assigned before you embark on the cruise. You can determine your restaurant rotation by looking at your room key. Your rotation is indicated using letters, such as ERAA or TALTALT. For the Dream, there are Royal Palace/Royal Court (R), Enchanted Garden (E) and Animator’s Palate (A). If you go to your assigned restaurant for dinner each night, your servers will be the same for every night of your cruise. On longer cruises they’ll get to know you, and may even have your “usual” beverage waiting for you at your table. If you are served something you don’t like, tell the servers and they’ll bring you something else. In true Disney style, if you have a special event you are celebrating, make sure your servers know. You will get appropriate special treatment (usually a special dessert, and perhaps some singing).
Tip # 1
If you want to change your seating or your restaurant rotation, do that as soon as you embark. The location on the ship where changes can be made will be listed in the Navigator in your stateroom once it’s ready, or just go to Guest Services and they can point you in the right direction.
Tipping is different
Your onboard stateroom account is automatically charged a set amount towards the end of your cruise for housekeeping, your server, your assistant server, and the dining room manager, with envelopes also provided for the same so you can leave additional cash should you believe they deserve more. You can find out what the exact default amounts will be for your cruise with the Disney Cruise Line Blog Tip Calculator.
Tip #2
Should you want to tip less, you can go to Guest Services to change the amounts. In the cruise industry, these tips are customary, and these positions in the crew depend upon them.
There is somewhat of a nightlife
This one varies widely depending upon the Disney Cruise Line ship you’re sailing, and how full your cruise is, I think. Unlike other ships, Disney Cruise Line caters to families, precluding many parents from participating in the night life scene. I found that, although not a lot of people may attend because there is so many other things going on, it can be highly entertaining. Some of the guests who have the most fun in the clubs presumably haven’t been on the party scene in a while.
Tip #3
On the ship the show early releases of Disney movies! We got to see a screening of Saving Mr Banks and Frozen before they had even been released!
Don't miss the fireworks
If you’re comparing them to the fireworks at Walt Disney World, the fireworks on the Disney Cruise Line are going to disappoint you. They are relatively short by comparison, and not as large in scale. But take a step back for a second. Walt Disney World fireworks are launched from the land. On Disney Cruise Line, you’re floating in the middle of the ocean, with a private fireworks show over the water. That’s pretty impressive, and watching them explode over the water as other ships blast their horns in the distance is a pretty cool experience.
Tip #4
If you enjoy the AquaDuck during the day, find an evening to ride it as well! Riding it at night, with the lights strobing around the tube at each of the supports, is a completely different experience than the daytime, not to be missed!
Don't miss the nighttime shows
If you look at reviews of the nightly shows, they vary widely. The point is, it seems that no one can agree on which of these shows is awful, good, or great, and the only one who can determine whether you will like the shows is you. That requires you going to see the shows. Besides, if you’re going on a Disney cruise, you really ought to see the Disney entertainment on that cruise. The good news is that, regardless of what you think of the story of the show, production values and acting are top notch in all of the shows.
Tip #5
The theaters where the movies and shows are presented have concession stands selling expensive goodies such as canned sodas, bagged popcorn and candy, which can be charged to your room key. If you want to keep costs down, go up on the pool deck to the self-serve beverage station and get FREE sodas to bring into the show with you. You can also usually get FREE cookies from one of the counter-service locations on the pool deck and bring those along.
The ship is beautiful!
The Disney Cruise Line ships are seriously beautiful. Each of the ships has its own distinct features and design, but they’re all basically modern luxury ocean liners in the style of Art Deco or Art Nouveau. The details are stunning, from gorgeous chandeliers to handrails, the design of these ships is very thoughtful and meticulous. A big draw of Disney is in the parks’ highly immersive environments, and while Disney Cruise Line doesn’t isn’t necessarily thematically transportive, the ship itself does make you feel a bit like you’re aboard a ship during the golden age of cruise ships.
Tip #6
If you’re a fan of these styles of architecture or themed design, take some time to explore the ship. Go in the movie theater when it’s not in use, wander around the main lobby, stare at that handmade chandelier.
What to wear
During the day and most evenings on the Disney Cruise Line, you can wear casual clothing. At dinner, you are asked to stick to “cruise casual.” Most men wear a collared shirt (aloha shirts and golf/polo shirts are fine) and long pants (chinos or dress slacks). Most women wear a skirt, dress, nice pants or dressy capris. Disney requests no swimwear, tank tops or shorts at dinner, but in practice, chino-type shorts are generally fine, and dressier tank tops will usually be acceptable. People who show up to the main dining rooms in swimsuits are almost always asked to change.
Tip #7
Bring something along that is a tad fancier, whilst on our cruise we didn't realise just how nice people dressed up and felt rather out of place wearing our denim shorts so don't do what we did!
Don't bank on wifi
Your cell phone should still be able to reach a tower on land as long as the ship is in port, so you may want to bring your phone just to use it during embarkation/debarkation from the home port, especially if you want to rendezvous or keep tabs on others in your party. Once you are at sea, we strongly advise you to either turn off your phone, or turn off international roaming and data roaming. If you absolutely must use your cell phone on the cruise, service is available on the Disney ships through most major providers through the “Cellular@Sea” service. It is a very expensive form of international roaming and the ship must be 8 to 10 miles out to sea before you can access it. Most phones will just connect to Cellular@Sea without needing any special setup, but be aware that the service includes phone, text messaging, and data. If your phone is set to auto-update, you could end up on the hook for a large data charge because it decided to download a 100MB game update or something. Wireless internet service is available on the ship, in most staterooms and in various public “hot spots.” Unlike most cruise lines, Disney charges by the megabyte (MB), not by the minute. Various packages are available for different amounts of money; it’s $19 for 100 MB, $39 for 300 MB, and $89 for 1000 MB of transfer.
Tip #8
Definitely turn off your cellular data, or set it to not use cellular data when roaming.
Life outside the ship
So on the Disney Dream we had two stops, Nassau and Castaway Cay. However whilst we were docked we felt a bit of anxiety about sightseeing so while in Nassau all we did was go into gift shops and found a Starbucks, not exactly how you should spend your first time in the Caribbean. While we were docked at Castaway Cay we just sat on the beach and went on the water slide, we didn't even know there were tours, and bike rides etc.
Tip #9
Go and explore! Visit the Atlantis hotel, go on a bike ride around Castaway Cay this is a once in a lifetime experience make the most of it!
Keep an eye on kids!
There is so much to do on the ship for kids, there is a kids club which proved very popular to the under 16s and there is constantly activities going on for them. However whilst we were docked at Castaway Cay my younger brother wanted to go ashore with his youth group so he went off and we went ashore and had a blast. 6 hours later a member of staff is calling our name over the speaker system because for under 16s they have to have paperwork in order to come on land without their parents, which he didn't have so he had to spend the entire time sitting on the ship by himself.
Tip #10
Keep in contact with your kids when it comes to docking, having meals, shows etc.. you don't want a megaphone going off around the ship like we had..
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