My wife and I were on the Disney Wonder from Oct 6-11, 2007 and had a MARVELOUS time. However, after reading both the official and un-official guidebooks, there were a few KEY details I wish we'd known before we went. Here are mine, and I'd love to hear all of your suggestions for newbies.

(No particular order)

1. Buy a picture package on day one, and DON'T LOSE YOUR CARD!!!

One of the ONLY things on the ship NOT linked to your "Key to the World" Card are the photo packages. Why buy one? The photos are great, sure, but the graphics they add to them are amazing and gorgeous and help capture the moment much better than the photos alone.

When you buy a 5 8x10 package as we did (for around $80), they give you a little, and I mean little, card with the numbers 1-5 on it. As you pick out your pictures as the cruise progresses (you will be stopping by "Shutters" daily...) they cross off a number for each one you take. Lose your card, lose your pictures. I'm not kidding. Kind of a low-tech way to do things, but there you are.

2. Bring decorations for your stateroom door.

I know this sounds corny, but when you sail-away, you REALLY get into it. You'll wish you were as cool as your neighbors who decorated their doors, even if it's something small.

3. Book a shore excursion on Nassau.

Right off the ship in Nassau, you will be bombarded with dozens of people offering to take you to Atlantis, rent you a scooter, or most popular, braid your hair. It's really annoying, and a "non Disney" shock to the system. The shopping area of Nassau is kind of, well, underwhelming. Unless you want jewelry, liquor, cigars, or T-shirts, there's not much there for you. There is a channel on the ship TV that walks you through the stores with "ethical business practices", so if you plan to shop, watch it.
I was SHOCKED at how few people had booked the snorkeling excursion that we took (Caribbean Queen), and our day would not have been the same without it. It was a blast. If you just want to relax, book an excursion to Atlantis on Nassau.

4. Get on the ship EARLY.... especially if you want pictures of it.

We were allowed on the Disney Wonder at 11:40 AM, and had the run of the ship. All the theaters, clubs, etc. were open and empty, which gave us the opportunity to get pictures of the ship that we NEVER would have gotten at any other time. Staterooms are ready at 1:30.

5. There are only two outlets in your stateroom.

One behind the TV, and one next to it. If you plan on charging more than one cell phone, ipod, dvd player, etc. during the night, bring a small splitter.

6. The Pizza is incredible.

Order room service. It's free, and if you have the late dinner seating, order the imported cheese plate and maybe a personal pizza around 5... being used to "free" pizza being crappy, I was amazed at how good it was.

7. Don't buy the drinks in the "souvenir glasses".

You probably won't notice that they add almost ten bucks to the cost, and you don't really want them, do you? There's better stuff to take home.

8. Cuban Cigars

Despite what they tell you on Nassau, you can't bring ANY back to the US. And as they told me on the boat, DO NOT take the bands off and put the bands in a book, and then pack the cigars in your luggage. If you DO, customs will have NO IDEA that those cigars are Cubans, and won't know to confiscate them... so don't.

9. Fireworks are shot off of Deck 10, Midship, Starboard during the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party.

Position yourself accordingly.

10. Don't miss Palo... and make reservations early.

If you don't make the reservations before you sail, most likely, they'll be full. The experience is exquisite, and imagine the Disney 5 star service that you ALREADY get brought up to 7 stars at Palo.

11. Don't eat at the Buffet on Deck 9 when you board... go to Parrot Cay.

The buffet is no indication of the food quality on the rest of the ship, and it's a lousy first experience on board. Parrot Cay serves lunch on deck 4 Aft. Go there.

12. Make friends with your servers (main server and assistant server) and plan ahead to show your gratitude.

If you've never cruised with Disney, you have no idea what level of service you're in for, especially from your dinner servers. They go to extremes to make sure that you have a fantastic experience, and learn your name and your preferences from the moment you sit down with them. They do much more than just serve your food... they will be special to you by the time you leave them.

These people work a 7 day work week, 10 hours a day, 6-9 months at a time. I'm not kidding. Along with a nice tip, bring them a little something from home as a thank you. You'll be glad you did, and you'll free up more room in your luggage for souvenirs to take home.

13. The pools and hot-tubs are fresh water.

I had no idea that every other cruise line uses salt (sea) water in their pools. Gross.

14. It takes 22 days for the postcards from Castaway Cay to get home to the US.

Yeeeeesh. Remind yourself to pay next month's gas bill.

15. There is no iron in your room, but they will press your clothes for you.

Shirts for a couple of bucks, dresses and suits for 4 or 5. Double that if you want them back in 3 hours, otherwise it's overnight.

16. Breakfast. EXCUSE ME!! BREAKFAST!!!

Nobody told us what happens at Breakfast. You have two options... a full, BIG breakfast is served in the restaurants, but if you look in the desk drawer of your stateroom, you'll find a LOVELY menu for a continental breakfast that you fill out and hang outside your door the night before. If you ask them to have it delivered between 8-830, brother, it will be there right at 8.

One of the best memories I have are our breakfasts on the veranda of our stateroom. cereal, muffins, juice, great coffee, doughnuts... mmmmm.

Okay guys... feel free to comment, feel obligated to correct, and feel happy to add your own "Wish I'd Known's" to help the new people.

Cheers!!!!

Hey, this is great!! I have never been on a Cruise but am toying with the idea for our 20th wedding anniversery.
Glad you had a good time and these sound like good things to know about.

We are taking our first Disney cruise in June. DH and I did several cruises pre-kids, but this is our first time with our children. We are booked for the late seating for dinner, and feeding the kids early is a very good idea. They will be able to eat again several hours later, and we should all have a good evening that way. Ordering breakfast is also a good idea, particularly on a morning when we will be going on an excursion, and may not want a lengthy breakfast. Another perk to doing an excursion, is that, if you are running late for any reason, the ship won't leave without the excursion group, but they don't keep track of individual passengers. If you are on the own, and don't make it back to the ship on time, you have a real problem. Years ago, we had a morning excursion, and a couple of people left the group on the way back to the ship, because they were determined to get a drink at a particular bar. I watched them running full tilt to get to the ship, as it was preparing to pull out without them, and they barely got back on board.

FYI: You can also book excursions and spa appointments in advance. :)

Great thread, thanks for the tips! Subscribing to see more...

10. Don't miss Palo... and make reservations early.

If you don't make the reservations before you sail, most likely, they'll be full. The experience is exquisite, and imagine the Disney 5 star service that you ALREADY get brought up to 7 stars at Palo.



You can make additional reservations for Palo when you first board. If you board in the first few groups, you'll very likely be able to make 2-3 additional reservations (They offered us two reservations, we only made one. Dumb move. :rolleyes: ;)) You can also put your name on a waiting list when Palo is booked solid. We did this and were called a day or so after we put our names down.

Additions:

1. Bring a pillow and blanket to the movie at the Buena Vista Theatre.

It's cold in there... I mean, it's COLD. Plus, it makes it extra cozy with a pillow and blanket. Extras can be found in your stateroom closet. The movies have a sort of "Pajama Party" feel anyway.

(Don't bring them to the Walt Disney Theatre... it will be packed and the shows there are much more formal. However, dress warm there too. It's COLD.)

2. Duty Free Stuff

If you buy liquor at "Radar Trap" (and I forget what it's called on the Magic), you don't get to take possession of them until the night before you disembark, just in time to pack them in your suitcase. If you want to enjoy some duty free refreshments while on board, buy them in your first port of call and bring them to your stateroom.

3. Bad weather? What happens? Why can't we go to Castaway Cay?

The channel that they dug to get the ships into Castaway Cay is so narrow that the ship risks damage if it enters or exits the island in high or even moderate winds. Ask your crew members about when they broke the propeller on the Wonder. If the weather is not conducive, they will do their best to re-arrange. Usually, they spend the bad-weather day at sea, and move your Castaway Cay day to the next day. Otherwise, they might find another port for you to go to where weather is better!

Thanks for the very informative list Marcus. After viewing this, I changed my mind about not doing an excursion on Nassau and signed us up for the harbor cruise.

as per the passporter, i actually did a walking tour of nassau. wasn't bad. i ended up walking to paradise island however and once you get out of the downtown area, you're prone to meeting some interesting folks. also did the pirates of nassau museum. (i did the dolphin swim at dolphin encounters which i had booked myself and had the time to kill). also the perfect opportunity to bring some pepsi back to my room. large grocery store right by the port.

pictures from my day in nassau start here: http://bradk.smugmug.com/gallery/3860670#223571189

one thing i really wish i had known, it's mentioned when you purchase the internet, but it doesn't turn off when your pre-purchased time has expired.. instead, 'for your convenience,' it just kicks into per minute mode ($.75 per minute that is)

I'm not much of a Coke fan and wanted to know if they allow you to bring a couple of bottles of Pepsi on with you when you board this ship.

I'm not much of a Coke fan and wanted to know if they allow you to bring a couple of bottles of Pepsi on with you when you board this ship.
It was not a problem during our last trip in Feb of 06. (Mrs. is addicted to Diet Pepsi.)

You can bring bottles of wine and liquor aboard as well. The restaurants will charge you a $15 corkage fee if you would like to enjoy your own wine at dinner.

What is the best way to take on the extra soda? Checked bags or carry-on.

My 2 cents is not to bother with extra soda. There's a free soda station on Deck 9, I think it is.

Now extra bottled water is a different matter as soda on Deck 9 is free but no bottled water is free anywehere on the ship. We take that on in an extra suitcase that then gets emptied and used for taking home souvenirs.

If you feel you *must* take on extra soda, this is how I'd recommend doing it, in your checked luggage. That way you're not lugging it around the ship waiting for your cabin to be ready.

i'm a pepsi drinker. i can take coke from a fountain if it's mixed well enough. i wasn't that impressed with the deck 9 stuff, but I lived with it until we hit port in Nassau. there's a big grocery store right by the port so I bought some pepsi and was done with it for the rest of the trip.

honestly, i'm not sure i'd do it with checked bags.. with the way checked luggage can get tossed around and beat up, not even on the airplane but especially when being loaded for the ship, if whatever doesn't explode, it'll probably be flat or too shaken up to drink for a while.

I find it curious that you think salt water pools are gross. I love swimming in salt water, I find it less drying and less irritating to my eyes than clorinated fresh water.

You can bring bottles of wine and liquor aboard as well. The restaurants will charge you a $15 corkage fee if you would like to enjoy your own wine at dinner.Technically, they will charge the fee if you bring the bottle to the table. Nothing says you can't bring open wine to the table - and yes, I've seen wine carried into the dining room in paper cups and then poured into water glasses at the table.

AVP

Technically, they will charge the fee if you bring the bottle to the table. Nothing says you can't bring open wine to the table - and yes, I've seen wine carried into the dining room in paper cups and then poured into water glasses at the table.

AVP

I guess you are right, we have carried glasses of wine from our stateroom all over the ship with no problems. Here is something else that is interesting; we brought a bottle of champagne from the room to the adult pool deck to have Mimosas. The server brought us an ice bucket and of course the OJ(she did charge us for the juice though).

This is a great list! Thanks for posting!

Great tips. I just put a deposit down on a June 2009 cruise( first Disney Criuse with husband and kids). Seems like a long time to wait but I guess I'll have plenty of time to read more ideas like the ones found here! Any more advice about Palo? I really don't want to miss out and since its my first Disney cruise I guess I get last dibs. How far in advance can I book Palo?

Great tips. I just put a deposit down on a June 2009 cruise( first Disney Criuse with husband and kids). Seems like a long time to wait but I guess I'll have plenty of time to read more ideas like the ones found here! Any more advice about Palo? I really don't want to miss out and since its my first Disney cruise I guess I get last dibs. How far in advance can I book Palo?

If it is your first time on a Disney Cruise then you can book Palo 90 days out as long as you are paid in full. They do hold some reservations that can only be booked while on the ship.

actually i'm pretty sure it's 75 days for a first timer, 90 for a castaway club member (already sailed once) and 105 for concierge

and yes, it's possible for a bit of palo to be sold out by the 75 day mark. but the navigator will tell you when and where you can go after boarding to try to make a reservation.

One of these days, I NEED to go on a Disney cruise. I've only been on Princess thus far. Princess has freshwater pools rather than salt water, by the way. ;)

If you're taking your own soda onboard, DEFINITELY carry it rather than putting it into your checked luggage. All your luggage would need is one good hard knock & you'd have lots of soda-soaked clothes. Yuck.

Always have a lightweight jacket or sweater with you, even if you're on a warm-weather cruise. Many public rooms on ships are kept at meat-locker temperatures. I suppose it's better to have them too cold than too warm. :rolleyes:

I don't know how DCL is about passengers bringing hard liquor onboard. I know Princess doesn't allow you to (if they're paying attention). Of course, if you have colorless alcohol in a water bottle, you could probably get it onboard quite easily. ;)

The "tap" water on ships is purified desalinated ocean water. Again, I'm not sure how it works out on DCL, but on Princess, the "tap" water is really good. I usually bring a bottle of water with me, then just refill it from the tap throughout the cruise (bottled water onboard ain't cheap).

The "tap" water on ships is purified desalinated ocean water. Again, I'm not sure how it works out on DCL, but on Princess, the "tap" water is really good. I usually bring a bottle of water with me, then just refill it from the tap throughout the cruise (bottled water onboard ain't cheap).
For what its worth, the water on the Wonder is pretty good. (Actually better than some hotels that I stay at while traveling on business.) I do drink it, and quite a bit of it, I might add.

Princess has freshwater pools rather than salt water, by the way.

Actually, it depends on the ship. We were on the Royal Princess in September, and the pool was salt water.