First Time on a Disney Cruise? Helpful Hints to Make Your First Trip Extra Magical.

When we first went on a Disney Cruise, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As soon as I booked the cruise I realized that there is a whole Disney Language out there. Below are some helpful tips that I found. What are your tips? Comment below and please check out other posts I have done…

Luxuryfamilyadventures

June 3, 2024

3–4 minutes

cruise, Cruises, cruising, travel, vacation

Consider using a travel agent. You can absolutely book a Disney Cruise on your own, but actually having a travel agent remind you of key dates and if you change your mind about your cabin location etc its super helpful for someone to wait on hold for you.
Join Your Cruise Group on Facebook. Lots of sailings have a unique Facebook group set up. It’s a nice way to connect with people on your sailings and converse about your specific sailing.
Participate in Fish Extenders or Pixie Dust. I have done an entire post on Fish Extenders and Pixie Dust, so feel free to read up on it. It absolutely adds extra magic to your trip.
Early Dining vs Late Dining So many people stress about the Early Dining vs Late Dining and may who thought they wanted Early Dining ended up loving Late Dining because the got emptier pools, were able to see the early show etc. Either way, don’t stress as most people will eventually end up with their first choice.
Decorate Your Door- many people choose to decorate their door with magnets. It makes it easy to recognize and its just so fun! You can make your own, buy on etsy or even on amazon – for inspiration, check out Time Honored Tradition-Decorating Your Door
Port Excursions. Port Excursions can add up! If you are in a very known port like Cozumel, consider doing a port excursion on your own as long as you feel comfortable. For example in Cozumel, we booked a beach club by ourselves that was 20 minutes from the port and its saved up a TON of money.
Castaway Cay. Everyone Vacations differently but I will tell you that there is so much to do on Castaway Cay that there is really no reason to book extra excursions. Some like to do it, but if you are worried you will be bored without it, I assure you will not. I did an entire post on our day at Castaway Cay to give you an idea.
Room Service. One of the highlights of our trip… I loved calling room service in the morning and they would bring us coffee/pastries etc and we would sit on our verandah looking at the view. The room service is FAST and they are so friendly.
Palo/Remy. If you are able to get away for an evening or a brunch, booking one adult dining restaurant is an excellent experience. It gives you a change of atmosphere and you are spoiled end to end. Helpful tip, both Palo and Remy have an adult only bar so if you can’t do dinner, at least go up for a beautiful cocktail.
Waking Up at Midnight To Book– Some people set alarms to wake up at midnight to get their Port Arrival Time and Book all the excursions you want. If it makes you feel better to do this, you should. I did not, and I got a 12 pm Port Arrival Time (which we were fine with) and got all the activities I really wanted. Some of the activities do sell out so if you used a travel agent and you tell them in advance, they may be able to snag them at midnight for you.
Keep Calm and Cruise On. There is a lot to do on a Disney Cruise. My suggestion is to try not to do everything. Pick 1-2 things a day you really want to do and then do those and the rest of the time, go with the flow. If you end up overplaying you will be running from 1 activity to the other.