By: Alyssa DiSalvo
Since embarking on the high seas twice last year, my husband now boldly tells all our friends, “Cruise life (and particularly the Disney Cruise life) is my kinda living!”
There is nothing better than boarding a cruise ship, switching your brain to vacation mode, and allowing practically everything to be taken care of for you, from activities, to dining, to entertainment, to even tidying your room and making your bed. You certainly feel like you are sitting in the lap of luxury on a Disney cruise ship.
But, this does not mean there should not be some planning work and prep done ahead of the trip. And there are absolutely a few things that guests should potentially be aware of before sailing (and even booking!).
Now that I feel seasoned at Disney cruising, read on for 5 of the top things I wish I had known prior to setting sail!
1. Not All Ports Are Created Equal in Price
First, in booking your cruise and determining which will be the best ship and sail date, I had no idea that certain ports were far less expensive than others! Take for example Galveston and New Orleans. Though there are more limited sailings out of these ports, they tend to be substantially cheaper in overall fare as compared to their counterparts in Florida. In some cases, the same family can save over $1,500 for the same length of sail!
With the many ports that are available, and itineraries which change seasonally (and at times monthly), the process of choosing the best option based on price or destination or even specific ship can feel overwhelming. It does not need to be so. Please remember that you can always enlist my help as a travel advisor – or that of one of our many Vacation Specialists – from our sister company, Smart Moms Travel, to hone in on the best sailing option for your family. And this planning guidance is totally free! Request information on using our free planning support here!
2. Disney Cruise Line – Priority Boarding
The online check in process for Disney cruises can be a little brutal. I say this because if you want an early embarkation time assigned to your family for the day you leave, you must be signed into your Disney web account at midnight precisely to complete the necessary steps. Who wants to stay up this late if you are not a night owl??
The great news is that there is an option DCL provides their guests which allows them priority boarding. If guests use the cruise lines’s bus service to and from either a partner hotel or the airport to the cruise port, guests are able to start the in-person check in and embarkation as soon as they arrive and deboard the bus. So it does not matter if your assigned online check in time is 1:30 PM; if you arrive at 11:00 AM using the cruise line’s transfer service, away you go immediately – Bon Voyage!
3. When You First Board
Most of our cruise vacations have come together somewhat last minute… it is just how we periodically tend to roll with trips when we do not have anything planned for kids’ breaks (lol)! Planning in advance is optimal to secure some important pieces to your cruise like securing your first choice in dining time and the “extras” that can be reserved in advance for port excursions and activities aboard the ship. However, if you find yourself in a situation like we have, there may be some pieces to your perfect trip you may still be trying to tweak. As an example, my family very much wanted to secure the earlier seating for dinner as opposed to the later seating we were auto-assigned due to when we booked.
Here is the pro tip: Go speak to the dining room manager as soon as you board. They always have these points of contact set up in a lounge for the first few hours of guests’ boarding, and they are there to answer questions, take requests, and do everything in their power to accommodate needs you may have. In our scenario, on both of our cruises, these cast members were so helpful and were in fact able to adjust our dining time, much to our surprise! They also were able to take notations on allergies in our party, special celebrations, preferences on where we wanted to be seated, and more.
The same goes for the guest services desk too! Missing a port excursion you were hoping for? They actually have internal wait lists you can be added to as soon as you are on the ship!
4. Fish Extenders and Cruise Culture
Once aboard a Disney ship, you will realize there are things guests do aboard that differ from any other cruise line. As we walked to our stateroom on our first day, we saw, as an example, dozens and dozens of guests’ doors covered in magnets! Some truly had what looked like over 50 magnets indicating their hometown, how many cruises they had been, each family member’s favorite Disney character, and other fun nods to Disney tradition. We were wowed, and I wish we had been prepared with a few for our own door to join in on the fun!
In addition, Disney sailors sometimes also participate in what is called a “Fish Extender”gift exchange. The exterior of every stateroom has a decorative piece to the right of the door (some that resemble fish, hence the name), and these accents have a hook that extends from them. As you walk around the ship, you will notice a variety of guests’ doors have delivery bags or baskets hanging from their hooks. The reason? Some eager guests set up exchange groups in advance of the sailing where participants will prepare small presents for others on board and throughout the course of the trip, the gifts are delivered to their assigned partners. On top of this, for something less formal, others will simply “pixie dust” these fish extenders regardless of a gift exchange, dropping stickers, candy, pencils, and other small trinkets in hopes to provide a little joy and surprise!
So how do people get hooked up with a fish extender group? Read on!
5. There’s a Facebook Group for That!
This blew my mind when I discovered it! Although there are hundreds of Disney Cruises that embark every year, believe it or not a Facebook group is eventually created for every single sailing! And these groups are full of useful information that you will not find anywhere else. In addition to finding people to exchange gifts with if you wish, you can plan onboard meet ups in advance, get opinions on the ports you are visiting, acclimate kids with others their age via scheduled zooms, and loads more. It is super easy to find your cruise’s group too – simply go to the search field in Facebook, type in the name of your ship and its date, and ask to join the group by completing the pre-qualifying questions!
A Disney Cruise is so much fun, regardless of these smaller “insider” details, but wouldn’t it be nice to know these things in advance so you have the opportunity to really optimize the vacation you saved for? Part 2 of this series on lesser known Disney Cruise tips can be found here!
And finally, always remember that when you work with a Disney Vacation Planner, we do so much more than the Disney Parks! I specialize in Disney Cruises and would be thrilled to help your family from start to finish, making sure you maximize your trip and feel totally confident when you board. My planning services are free, and I will walk you through every step of embarking on the most magical voyage of your life.Reach out today by completing this brief qustionnaire here!
