Going on our 1st Disney Cruise and have heard that the Pirate Party is a must. Are there other "dress up" parties or events that we need to know about so that we will have the right costumes......Not talking about formal nights...
which cruise are you taking?
That is sooooo exciting its your first DCL cruise.
You'll have a magical time!!
Please let me know if you have any questions I can help with.
we will soon be doing our 17th DCL cruise, I have done the 3, 4 and both 7 days a few times. So I can usually answer questions or find the answer for you.
Kathleen
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
It is the 7 Day Eastern on the Magic. Thank you for helping with this. I have no idea about what to expect and our 7 yr old daughter is so excited. Any information will be welcome
The eastern is my favorite itenary. Here are a few tips to help you learn about your cruise. i will try to add tips about the islands and excursions later if you like.
1.early arrival gets an early boarding pass number.
2.terminal opens 10 a.m.
3.boarding starts around 11:30 to noon.
4.keep camera with you at ALL times, even in the terminal. characters will appear there for photos. ourdoor viewing area of the ship for photos.
5 check in at kids club table while waiting to board ship. saves you time on the ship.
6. take a few ones. some for room service tips some to tip porters who take your bags at the termnal. $1 per bag is customary.
7. take small bills for the islands. many small shops dont have change.
8. if your going to use your credit card on the islands, call your CC company first and tell them or you will have to wait on a phone call to ok all your purchases. This is a big hassle and can take 30 minutes or more.
9. most shops who take credit cards, require a $20 minimum purchase.
10 take camera to dinner each night, surprizes happen all the time. You wont be alone. you will even see cam corders at dinner.
11. arrive at all shows 20 minutes early for good seats.
12. arrive at character meets 10 minutes early
13 Princess meets arrive 15 minutes early
14. on Castaway cay if you want your photo taken with Captain Jack Sparrow, do NOT ride the tram to the beach area. It does NOT stop near him. You must walk in to the beach signs say 20 minute walk in it takes us 10 minutes. he will be along the way in the sand and photo has the flying Dutchman behind you, great photo! Check navigator for times he will be there.
15 There are characters along the way to the beach, ok to ride the tram for this. Lines are short and move quickly so it is a great opportunity to see characters without lines. check navigator for times and places.
16 also characters appear at the gazebo near cookies BBQ on the island during the day.
17 adult only beach has it's own area for lunch they often have steaks or lobster there as a special treat for the grown ups. But Cookies BBQ by family beach has more variety of other foods.
18 dont ,miss the good bye late the last night in the atrium. ALL the characters will line up on the stairs and will pose for photos for you. This farwell party is really nice and fun.
19 check for photos everyday at shutters. buy a package deal and save $$ if you dont buy enough photos for the package deal they will refund you the difference at the end of your cruise .
or if you buy a photo and then decide the next day you see one you want more, just bring back the one you bought and the receipt and tell them you want to exchange it and they will be happy to do this for you.
20. you can order warm chocolate chip cookies or Mickey ice cream bars from room service even though it is not on the menu. The warm cookies are available in the evenings only
21. bring 2 white pillowcases or a matte style picture frame in a zip lock baggie with water proof markers and leave at guest services desk ask to be autographed and it will be returned to you the last night all signed by the characters. I also add a card with my name and room number on it just in case their card gets lost. I like to use dark colored markers, the light colors dont show up as well.
22. If you need to change dining times or make a Palos reservation go to Wave Bands club directly upon boarding to take care of this. The sooner you do it the better your chances of getting what you want.
23. I fyou have kids leave a wake up call and then let them answer the phone. It will surprize the because Mickey will be on the phone telling them it is time to get up.
24 Afternoon matinees of the shows are great to see. They are the exact same show, they leave out nothing but it is less crowded and kids arnt as tired, plus it makes for a more leisurely evening. No need to rush to or from the shows due to your dinner time.
25. Pop is free in all restaurants and at the drink station on deck 9. But if you order it from waiter or buy at a lounge or bar you will be charge for it plus a gratuity.
26. stop by the drink station and grab a drink to take with you to the shows or movies instead of buying a can a pop there. If you want a snack stop and grab pizza or hot dogs or fruit on deck 9 to take with you. again save money over buying a bunch of snacks for the kids.
27.At dinner kids can order from both the kids or adult menu.
28. The BBQ at the adult beach often has a fewer choices than Cookies BBQ on the family side but they often will have steak or lobster for the adults only BBQ. That is a nice perk.
29. No need to book floats and bikes ahead of time for Castaway Cay. They have tons of them. wait until you get there to make sure your really going to need the floats or have time to ride the bikes before renting them. we always just walk up and do it at the beach.
30. If you want to do the banana boat ride or the ski do(eco tour) I would book ahead of time. They do often have last minute openings so dont be afraid to ask when you arrive if you didnt book it and decided you'd like to do it.
31. if you rent bikes there are 2 nice trails just off the runway. The first one will have an observation tour. It has a great view of the island and ship. Bring your camera for this!! while up in the tower be sure and look around the base area of the tower. There are some whimsical things to see there too.
32. all the trails have ice cold water in big yellow barrels in wooden framed stands, so no need to carry your own unless you want to.
hope this gives you some new information to help with your cruise
Kathleen
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
Wow! What a great list! Do you know if there are other "costume" parties during the week other than the Pirate Party? I'd like to make sure my daughter has everything she will need.
Your welcome
no costume parties but many girls dress like princesses
Especially on formal night.
Of course you will see princesses all over the ship all the time
They have an all princess meet and greet and many girls dress like their favoriteprincess to meet them and have their pictures taken together in their dresses. it is a really cute photo that way.
In the kids clbs they have a dress up area for the kids to dress as different people and princesses during their play time too.
Of course those clothes stay in the clubs.
I will send you a PM with some other information too.
Kathleen
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
Kathleen, Thank you for all of the information! One question you may or may not know.... Do you have to sign your children up to participate in any of the activities or parties or do you just show up at the time that they are offered?
I assume your talking about the things in the kids clubs?
Ok, you must sign them up for the clubs either on line or in person the first day of the cruise. They are given a ID bracelet and you get a beeper in case they need to reach you or your child wants you.
Then most of the stuff you just show up for.
There are a few things they do that you must sign up for ahead of time because they only do 5 or 6 kids at a time due to having to help them through the project.
The kids have their own section in the Navigator that will tell you what is going on that is special.
The counselors when you check in the first day to see the clubs can answer when you can sign up for things with them. They have an open house the first afternoon.
I think my grandkids were reminded about special things to sign up for and the older ones did it themselves while in the clubs.
Each age group will have a few special things apropriate for their ages that is special to do.
at the end of the cruise they have a special program in the theater the kids put on for the parents, be sure and do this. Only takes a few minutes and the kids are given a couple of cool gifts, which I wont say what they are, but the kids love it.
During the program pictures will flash on the screens too, and they try to have every kid there sometime, so watch for your child. Plus on stage.
Kathleen
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
Your welcome,
feel free to ask any questions you may have.
I love helping others .
Have you sent off for the free dvd about the cruise?If not just go to disney cruise lines official web site and look for the prompt to order it.
It is free.
I think you have to explore the site a bit to find the spot but it is there and you and your daughter will love to watch it.
Kathy
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
I just got back from the Disney Cruise yesterday. THis will be my 4th time on the Disney Cruise. The pirate party is very fun. I recommend that if you have children that you get them a pirate outfit for them to wear. It's not recommended but the kids love it! I usually go to the dollar store and get a few pirate items for my boys to wear. At dinner that night they will also have pirate bandanas for everyone to wear.
Yes, Pirate night is a blst. I do not recall any other dress events and there is no formal night. You dress as youy wish. Dinner is slacks for men and dress casual. No T's, no bare feet. But nnot fancy. BUT....... I repeat....BUT. Disney has some awesome photographers so do take an outfirt to have pictures taken. We got the BEST EVER Pics of our family.[/b]
We walked back to ship on Castaway and sure enough... there was Capt Jack Sparrow! No lines, no waiting. You couldn't get near him during his photo op on the ship but we ended up w/ a private audience until others wised up. He was hilarious, too btw. Never broke character.
I believe the Banana Boat rides are no more ---- I think there was an insurance issue or a disagreement w/ the vendor. Anyway, they weren't available when I went 8/09 and I am not aware that they have returned.
Hint for Ice Cream Lovers:
The cups at the ice cream station are tiny. Perfect for a little person but for my DS (16), well, they just didn't cut it. So he got a beverage cup from the soda station and filled that w/ ice cream.
__________________
Disney Wonder
RCCL Serenade of the Seas
I am so happy you had a great cruise and found The Captain all for yourselves.
I do beleve I read recently about the Banana boats andit was a problem with the vendor who ran the ride. That happened with the parasiling a couple years ago and they had to hire a new vendor which took about 6 months to get them up and running again.
I hope that is all it is this time too. They are a blast to ride and other places have them.
Did you rebook while on board and get the discounts?
Kathleen
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
I didn't rebook while onboard for one simple reason --- my DS.
Until he is 18 and able to use the adult pool, I won't book on DCL.
He loved the cruise but could only use the Goofy pool (tiny!) which was full of 8-10 y/os. He is 6 ft tall and could barely manuever in the pool b/c it was so full (those hot August days).
I understand the reason for the 18 +age limit but for a kid his size, it was almost uncomfortable. He was afraid he'd hurt a little one in the Goofy pool. Plus it just looked odd to have this man-sized kid swimming w/ ten year olds.
(One little boy about 6 y/o actually looked at my son in amazement and exclaimed "Hey, You're a boy!!!!" hahahaha Man/Boy is more like it!!! DS turned five shades of red.)
The only solution to this that I know of is too book elsewhere til he's 18 (in Oct.). Then we can try one of their new ships!!!!
__________________
Disney Wonder
RCCL Serenade of the Seas
My son who was 17 his first DCL cruise didnt go in the pool for that reason but he did get into the hot tubs anf enjoyed that. So I understand.
Unfortunatley we tried Carnival and their pools were smaller than DCL's. So none of us went in. Kids were in all the pools even the one suppose to be for adults.
I finally went to the spa area to just relax in their jacuzzi and 15 minutes after I got there i had to leave. It was reserved for the teen club on board!
Now my youngest is 25, so no problems on DCL. He was also 6 2 on his cruise. Poor teens who are tall, they can be embarassed so easily.
Good luck on what ever ship you go on.
I too am anxious for 2011 for the first new ship to arrive.
Until then we will do a TA cruise in 2010 with DCL.
Kathleen
__________________
20 DCL cruises and counting!
1 Carnival Glory cruise
Waiitng for the new ships to arrive for more magical cruises!!
Well, it’s amazing, going on cruise is just having fun there and people spend their memorable time on cruise
Marion Barrett
Yes that is a nice idea but have you ever thought of going up to the biggest guy on the subway and telling him your thoughts on this. I wonder what he might do, or would you even do it. wow gold
Connect with Facebook
Pirate Party ?
Linear Mode
