Useful tips for the first-time Disney cruiser: DURING the cruise

You’ve booked your first Disney cruise. You’ve checked out our post on tips before your cruise. You’re ready to bring your pixie dusting A game. You’ve checked in. You’ve packed your bags and are ready to board.

You’re going to have a great time. It is virtually impossible to mess up a Disney cruise if you haven’t done x, y, or z. My most important tip is not to stress too much. Although there will be a lot you *could* plan on board, your ultimate goal for a Disney cruise is to relax and soak in the Disney magic.

With that being said, we have a few more tips and recommendations to help you avoid some pitfalls and take advantage of the magic as you set sail on your first Disney cruise!

Use the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) Navigator App

Before you board, you need to download the DCL Navigator App, if you haven’t already. You can use this app without buying a wi-fi package on board.

The DCL Navigator app is how you will access your daily schedule on board. You will have a personalized schedule, with information on where and when you will be dining, and any on-board activities and excursions you’ve booked for the day. The entire ship schedule will also be available for viewing. You can “heart” any activities you are interested in, and they will be added to your personal schedule. The app will notify you when something is starting.

The app is where you will find the menus for all the restaurants, and for room service.

You can also message other people on board directly through the app. This is super handy, because in many cases you can get away without buying a wi-fi package. If you have kids at the kids club, the staff can also text you through the app if they need to reach you.

Dressing up for theme nights

You can think about Disney cruise theme nights as adding to the magic, or adding to the stress (or both :P). These are evenings where the dining and entertainment have a particular theme. Passengers are encouraged to dress up to participate in the magic. The kicker of all of this is if you don’t do some sleuthing beforehand, you don’t necessary know what all the theme nights are before you board the cruise.

Disney cruises almost always have a pirate themed night. Longer Disney cruises usually have 1 or 2 formal nights. Special holiday cruises (Christmas, Halloween) will have their own theme nights. Depending on the cruise and the ship, you might have other themes like Frozen, Pixar Day at sea, or even a Star Wars theme.

You can call the cruise line, where a cast member can let you know what your cruise’s themes are. We learned about our theme nights from our cruise’s Facebook page. Veteran cruises give good insight about their previous experiences. You also get information from those who just returned from the same cruise.

Because we prefer to pack light, having to pack special costumes for one night feels extra daunting. You don’t *have* to dress up, but it’s way more fun if you do. But don’t stress too much – you can wear anything from a full costume, to a custom or themed t-shirt, to even just accessories. The cruise will provide some accessories too, to get you into the spirit (eg. bandanas for pirate night).

Porter your luggage on embarkation day

You have two options when you arrive at port. You can give your luggage to the porters, and they will be taken directly up to your stateroom, or you can take your luggage with you.

Even if you are traveling light (we only had carry-on size suitcases with us), we recommend you drop off your luggage and let the porters take care of it. There may have several hours before you board to when your stateroom is ready. You can use these hours to enjoy a nice lunch, go for a swim or ride the waterslides (more on that below), or explore your new home away from home. You don’t want to be hampered by luggage.

Your Disney Cruise Line will send luggage tags in the mail ahead of the cruise, but don’t worry if you forget to use these or lose them before the cruise. You can get new ones at the port.

We do recommend you keep a daypack or bag with you on embarkation day. Definitely keep a set of swimwear, and if you have young kids, whatever they might need until your luggage arrives (diapers, formula, etc).

Gift shop inventory

This was something we learned the hard way. If there is something you want to buy from the gift shop, buy it early. Each sailing stocks limited inventory, and some of the merchandise is special-edition (to the sailing and the year, etc). You want to buy something before it sells out! We were eyeing some Christmas ornaments, but even when we returned 2 days later, many were already gone.

Keep in mind that the shops on board are only open on sea days. They will not be open for embarkation or disembarkation day, or for days in port.

Dining options: grab a quick bite on deck level at any time

Parents traveling with kids know the importance of having food on hand at any given time.

Disney cruises have set meal-times. This is especially true for dinner, where you are assigned to a restaurant and a seating time. There are 1 or 2 dining rooms open for sit-down breakfast and lunch as well (listed on the app’s daily schedule), in addition to a buffet that is open for breakfast and lunch.

Our kids can rarely be prevailed to sit through any meal with a menu and a wait, but we found the buffet hours to be fairly generous. The buffet does fill up, and there were a few times we had to wait for a table to free up.

A good alternative is to make use of the grill and pizza fast-food options on the pool deck. They serve kid-friendly options and there is usually no line. Big S and Lil S even had pizza and chicken fingers for snack a few times. This is also a good option if you don’t want to leave the pool deck or change for meal-times.

(The pool deck is also where the frozen yogurt machines are. There are different flavours every day, which means, of course, you just have to come back.)

Dining options: Make use of room service

Don’t forget room service! Disney cruises is one of the few “all-inclusive” experiences we’ve had anywhere where room service is included. Room service on a Disney cruise is available 24 hours a day, and the menu is accessed from your DCL app. It’s a great option if you can’t make it to meal-time, or if you’re relaxing in your room and can’t be bothered to go anywhere for food.

Room service is also a good option if your kids want to go to the kids club in the evening. You can feed your kids in your room, send them to the kids club, and enjoy your own dinner or show in peace.

We particularly enjoyed the cheese board off the room service menu, and the infamous Mickey ice cream bars.

Don’t forget to tip! You can add the gratuity to your Disney account or pay in cash. A general rule of thumb we follow for room service is $1 per item ordered.

For kids: tour the kids clubs during open-house times

Parents are not allowed into the kids clubs, outside of certain “open house” hours. (The schedule for open houses is on the DCL app.) There will be an open house on embarkation day, which is a great way for parents to see what the kids club is all about, and for the kids to get excited when they see all the themed rooms. (Some kids practically live at the kids club during the cruise.) The kids clubs will run open house hours throughout the cruise (that section will be closed for kids using the club during that time), so don’t worry if you miss the first one.

Also. If you don’t have kids… tour the kids club anyway! Disney does such a fun job with the space it’s a treat to check out even without kids.

For kids (and kids at heart): the “Midship Detective Agency”

Of all their Disney cruise experiences, Big S and Lil S loved the “Midship Detective Agency” the most. And it was fun for us too! I didn’t see it advertised anywhere, but I first clued-in (ha, see what I did there) when I saw other passengers waving around badges at talking artwork around the ship.

The game is sort of like a cruise ship scavenger hunt, where you need to find clues to solve a mystery. You can pick up your case and your badge from a special table near the kids club or 2nd floor gallery area. The “clues” are interactive frames that come to life when you wave your “detective badge” at it. The clues string together into a story, and eventually you (obviously) catch the “villain” and win the game.

There are only a couple of mysteries but you get a new case every time you play. Big S and Lil S were doing these on their own by the last day. It’s such a fun activity, and a great way to burn some calories from all that eating as you make your way around the ship.

Lining up: ride the water slides on Embarkation day

One of my least favourite parts of the cruise is having to wait in line for stuff. However, it is sometimes unavoidable. The following tips are recommendation on how to minimize your time in line during the cruise (or at least know what you’re getting into!)

Each Disney cruise ship has at least 1 waterslide. Our cruise, the Disney Dream, had the Aqueduck, an exciting ride that goes all around the ship’s deck. This is one of the few things on the pool deck you need to line up for, and the lines can get long during sea days. A few suggestions if you want to ride your cruise’s waterslide without much of a wait is to 1) ride the slide on port days, or 2) ride the slide on embarkation day.

Since most passengers will be enjoying their destination and excursions on port days, there won’t be much of a line up for on board activities. However, you probably will *also* want to be exploring your destination, so we suggest hitting up the slide on embarkation day. We changed into our swimwear right after we boarded, and there was no line-up for the Aquaduck – we must have rode it half a dozen times!

Lining up: character meet and greets

There really is no way around these. If you want to meet the characters, you have to line up. You will almost never catch a character just wandering around the ship available for photo-ops. (But more on that below.)

1. Arrive in line 15 minutes early

A good rule of thumb is to get in line 15 minutes before your character is scheduled to make an appearance. You can have one member of your party line up, and text the others when the character arrives. There is a *tiny* chance the line will dwindle toward the end (that’s how Lil S met Tiana!) but there are no guarantees. Most characters only stay for 15-20 minutes, so a staff member will usually cut a line off if it becomes too long.

2. Special characters for theme nights

Characters for themed nights usually have an extra long line. Some characters only make an appearance on those nights (eg. Captain Jack Sparrow for Pirates night, or Jack and Sally for Halloween night). Other characters are in special costumes for those nights (eg. Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabel as the Sanderson sisters for Halloween night). We recommend getting in line at least 30 minutes early if meeting these characters are important to you. If you’re happy to meet “regular” Mickey as opposed to pirate Mickey or vampire Mickey, we recommend you *avoid* these themed night meet and greets.

3. Check your app for character meet and greet schedules

Check your app time for scheduled meet-and-greets. Sometimes, a character will be available at several different times. We found the late afternoon/early evening lines (4pm ish) to be the longest. We’ve heard sometimes the later ones (9pm, 10pm) have shorter lines, as many kids will be in bed.

4. Try your luck on embarkation day

The only time we found characters available for photos without a “scheduled” appearance is on embarkation day. We ran into Cinderella just chilling above the atrium right after we boarded. We also ran into both Goofy and Pluto on their ways to/from somewhere. Because the ship is quieter, I think the characters’ handlers are more willing to let them stop for photos.

5. Royal Gathering for princess meets

Our last tip if you want to meet princesses, is try to sign up for the Royal Gathering. These occur on sea days, where several princesses are gathered in the atrium for meet-and-greets. The Royal Gathering activity opens for registration 30 days before the cruise, at 12am. If you get a spot, you can just show up at your assigned time.

Lining up: should you get there early for the shows?

Every evening, the cruise will have a show. They’ll run this twice, to accommodate for the 2 dinner seatings. We highly recommend the shows – they are elaborate, Broadway-worthy productions, and were definitely a highlight of the cruise. Some of the shows will be based on movies. Others will be original stories, but they incorporate plenty of familiar songs and characters. They shows are all about 1 hour long, and very family friendly.

You can definitely get a seat if you arrive right before the show starts. I preferred the balcony seats – the views were great and you don’t have to arrive early to snag one. However, if you want a good seat on the orchestra level, you will need to arrive 15-30 minutes early. If you are in the center section, there will be some special effects you can enjoy (eg. bubbles or confetti) that just don’t reach the other spots.

A final word on shows. You can stop at the concession stand to buy snacks and popcorn. These comes with cute souvenir cups. However, if you don’t care for a souvenir but you still want a snack, you can still bring it in with you (discreetly). A hack our kids used is bringing soft-serve in a cup.

Lining up: dinner seating

Because there are several different restaurants and assigned dinner times, the lines to get in for dinner are not typically that long. However, if half the ship shows up at 5:45, people will still be milling about before your server can seat you. If you show up even 5 minutes past your assigned time, the line will have died right down and you can be seated immediately. (But do not show up halfway during mealtime because then your servers will have to go out of their way to accommodate you.)

The second dinner seating is usually quieter. If you are not traveling with kids or your kids are okay with staying up later, we would recommend the second seating.

The end of the cruise: disembarkation day

There are varied opinions out there about the best way to disembark. You will have two options. In the standard option, you put your luggage outside your stateroom the night before. The porters will bring it off the ship for you, and you collect them at the terminal. You will be assigned a group, and you wait on the ship until your group is called. The second option is “Express Walk Off”, where you can disembark with your own luggage. This gives you a little more flexibility for when you actually want to leave the ship, but can still mean waiting around in line.

In either option, you will typically have to vacate your stateroom by 8am. You are assigned a breakfast seating (usually either 6:45am or 8:00am), but you can also opt to have breakfast at the buffet (usually opens by 6:30am). Room service is not available to guests on disembarkation day (unless you are concierge).

The earliest you can disembark is usually 7:00 or 7:30am, for express walk off passengers. By the time we had finished breakfast – around 9am – it felt like the entire ship was waiting to disembark. There were lines of people waiting for Express Walk Off, and groups of people milling about waiting for their groups to be called. It was a bit chaotic, so be prepared to be patient!

** For parents with kids using the kids club – don’t forget to return the wristband the *night before* disembarkation. Otherwise, you will be charged a $12.95 fee. (Which is fine if you want to keep it as a souvenir!)

The end of the cruise: tipping your staff

You will be given a folder in your staterooms with envelops for gratuity for 4 key staff members: your stateroom host, your head server, your main server, and your assistant server. This includes a basic level of gratuity that Disney cruises charge automatically, which you can pay in advance of the cruise or at the end. You can also add additional gratuity for any or all of the staff. You can add additional gratuity directly to your on-board account, or give cash or even gift cards.

Big S and Lil S even made their servers cards they drew at the kids’ club. Our servers really went out of their way to keep the kids happy, and were thrilled the kids drew them pictures. It adds a nice personal touch to all the mathematics of tipping.

The end of the cruise: placeholders

And, the perfect end to our first-time cruiser list of tips!

If you had such a great time on your first Disney cruise, and you can’t wait to cruise again, don’t forget to book your Placeholder before you leave the ship.

What is a Placeholder? It is a $250 deposit you pay upfront while you are still on your cruise, which gives you 10% off your next Disney cruise sailing within 2 years of your Placeholder date. This is a great deal, if you want to cruise again. If you end up not booking a future cruise, you get that deposit back. (If you know exactly which sailing you want to book, you can do so with Guest Services, for further discounts/perks.)

You need to book your Placeholder through the DCL Navigator app. Remember to do so before you disembark, or you might very well regret it! (We did not do this, because we already have travel destinations on the horizon, but Lil S is trying very hard to make sure I regret it every day.)