Disney Cruise Tips from a Travel Snob

I am a proud travel snob so even though I was excited to try the Disney cruise experience, I was definitely cynical.  Before we booked, I did my research and read lots on how to make the most of of our trip from other travelers.  Those lists and tips that were really valueable but they tended to be from the viewpoint of someone who REALLLY loved Disney or REALLY loved cruising.  So some of what they suggested wasn't particularily relevant to us.  That said, there were a few things I had never seen mentioned elsewhere (or they were and I didn't register it) that I think is worth mentioning.





1. Go with the late seating.  Like most cruises, Disney has two dinner seatings.  One in the early evening and one in the later evening.  My daughter tends to go to bed early so I figured earlier seating would be best.  But now that I've done it, I realize we made the wrong call for a few reasons.  First, the early dinner cuts the day activities a bit short uncessarily. Second, the second dinner seating has a service where they will entertain the kids while the adults eat.  That would have been very helpful for us since there is only so long this kid will sit quietly at a table.  And third, the early dinner meant a late after dinner show which resulted in us missing some of the shows. So for our next cruise, we will definitely take the late seating.

2. Take your Camera Gear.  As I was packing I figured this trip would be in a situation where good light was plentiful so there was no need to pack much camera gear. The problem is that every single character meeting (and there were many!) happens to take place in the most terribly lit interior spaces.  Bad light + moving toddler = terrible photos. I'm not too devasted since I was much more concerned with  Aggie enjoying the meets than getting the perfect photo but there were a lot of missed capture opportunities.  Lesson learned there. Sidenote: the ship photographers have lots of gear but their photos were equally terrible.  I think Disney needs to move the character meets to a sunnier spot or get better photographers.

3. Bring wine.  This isn't that big of a deal but I only found out later that I could have brought some refreshments with me in my luggage and enjoyed them at dinner for a nominal corkage fee.  The drinks on board were not outrageously priced nor am I a big drinker but if I had known, I would have grabbed a bottle from the wine rack and packed it just for the fun of sharing it with my travel mates.




4. Don't discount the night activities. We were traveling with another family so I had the pleasure of having a girls night after I had put our littles to bed.  When we took a stroll to the "nightlife" section of the boat, it seemed pretty dead.  Not shocking for a Disney cruise full of families.  But when we spotted an 80s trivia game in the Navigator, we made our way there.  Well that night turned out to be a ton of fun between trivia and scavenger hunt and dancing.  While it wasn't packed by any means there were plenty of other people to have fun with and we had a blast anyway.  Are they cheesy?  Of course.  Were they fun?  Absolutely. Now I know - don't discount those nightime activities.


5.  Don't overpack. This is a general rule of happy travel but if you read the suggestions about Disney cruising, you would think you need to pack an entire bag of  knick nacks and extra items to make the most of the trip.  Definitely not true.  Bring just a few outfits (there are washing machines and dryers on the boat), plenty of sunscreen and a smile. You'll have more room in your cabin and an easier time getting to and from without an armada of luggage.  Dress is casual pretty much everywhere so you don't need much.

So there you go!  Now how many days til the next one?