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Thinking about booking your first Disney Cruise Line vacation but not sure where to start? In this episode, I’m breaking down everything I’ve learned so far about Disney cruising for beginners as someone who still considers herself a learning cruiser.
After sailing on the Disney Wish, preparing to sail on the Disney Dream, and already having the Disney Destiny booked for the future, I’ve realized that a Disney cruise is a completely different type of Disney vacation. It still has the characters, incredible entertainment, and storytelling Disney is known for, but the pace, planning, and overall experience feel very different from a theme park trip.
In this episode, I walk through what a Disney cruise actually feels like onboard, and how to approach planning your first sailing without feeling overwhelmed. We talk about the three different Disney Cruise Line ship classes and how to decide which ship may be the best fit for your family depending on itinerary, ship size, and onboard experiences.
I also explain how Disney rotational dining works, what to expect from the casual dining locations, and how the nightly Broadway-style shows and entertainment schedule work onboard. We’ll cover the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app, which becomes your command center during the cruise and helps you track activities, dining schedules, character meet and greets, and daily events happening across the ship.
If you’re wondering about Disney cruise pricing, deposits, and final payment deadlines, we break that down as well. I explain when cruises are typically cheapest, how Disney cruise pricing changes over time, and what additional costs to plan for like gratuities, Port Adventures, and Enchanted Extras.
We also dive into Disney cruise excursions, including when it makes sense to book a Disney Port Adventure versus exploring ports on your own, and how to avoid common first-time cruiser mistakes.
Finally, I share a few lessons we’ve learned so far about what makes cruising with Disney special and why this style of vacation is quickly becoming my husband’s favorite Disney trip. If it were up to him, we’d probably be sailing two or three times a year.
Whether you’re actively planning your first Disney cruise, comparing ships, or simply cruise curious, this episode will give you a clear overview of how Disney Cruise Line works and what first-time cruisers should know before they book.
If you’re looking for Disney cruise planning tips, ship comparisons, cruise costs, and beginner advice, this episode is a great place to start.
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Ready to Plan your Disney Vacation?
Today, we are talking about cruising, specifically our upcoming trip on the Disney dream.
Now, let me be honest with you, we are not a cruising family. We are trying to become a cruising
family, but until our experience on the Disney wish, we were like, we're not sure of cruises
for us because they were so expensive. But now we have this goal of getting on every cruise ship
in the next five years because they are amazing. So here we are less than two months away
and we are sailing on the dream and it is officially time to start planning. We also have the
Disney book for next year and we're hoping to maybe sneak a trip on the fantasy this year.
So in this episode, I'm going to be breaking down what you actually need to know as a first
timer. Now, we are not experts. This is a first timer type of thing, especially if you have never
cruised before and you're trying to figure out what you actually need and what you don't need
on these ships. We're also going to talk about what it's like to cruise with a big family because
with sailing with six people, we will have two adjoining rooms, which gives us a little more space.
So at the end of this episode, I'm hoping that you are either really excited to try a Disney cruise
or at least convince that maybe it's in your future. But either way, we are going to figure this
out together. Welcome to Well Hello Magic, the podcast for Disney lovers, busy parents,
and anyone who wants a little more magic in everyday life from the best tips for families to solo
travelers going to Disney to real life moments. You're in the right place. Now, here's your host, Jessica.
So the first question I get asked is why I don't go on cruises that often and let me just tell
you it's expensive. So just put it out there. Cruises are expensive. Yes, there are some cruises that
are super cheap and you can get a good deal on it. But I feel like when you are traveling to Florida
for a cruise, a lot of times those dates don't work. Whereas if you're local and you see a cruise
that's like $2,000 for three people, you're more likely to hop on that because that's a great deal.
But it's going to be in a month of September, which has also made hurricane season. So for you,
it doesn't matter if it gets canceled because you will be at home where I'm traveling from the
northeast to go on this cruise. So I'm going to try to pick ideal times. So cruises are expensive,
especially Disney cruises compared to other cruise lines. The thing about the Disney cruise line
that has ruined all other cruises is the white glove service is impeccable and I didn't quite
understand until I went on a Disney cruise what that difference was and I'm telling you it's
going to be really hard for me to go back on other cruise lines, especially after experiencing
Disney. So let me tell you why I like Disney cruises over the other cruises and this might be
something that actually deters you from Disney cruises. So on the Disney cruise, there's no drink
package and I am not a huge drinker. I like to have a cocktail. I'm a cocktail girl like my friends
always joke that when they see like a fruit-free drink with like fruit on the side like that's the
kind of drink that I'm having. I'm a mosquito girl like I like dessert first and so I'm not like
a huge drinker and my husband isn't either but my husband is a bourbon man like that man loves
his different types of bourbon. So getting a drink package is not a big deal to us and we don't
enjoy being around like people who are wasted like not like tipsy have fun a good time like
a couple drinks like wasted and sometimes on the cruises when you have a drink package you get a
lot of those like super wasted people. Also we love Disney and we don't just like Disney in terms
of like theme park and adventure because there are some people I know who are theme park
Disney people and don't necessarily care about like Disney lore Disney trivia they don't care
about all the Disney movies they just love going to Walt Disney Road and going to the parks and
experiencing that adventure where the Disney ships wine we are one of those families we love
adventure we love relaxation so like a beach vacation is always on the docket for us you guys
saw us in Hilton head I mean there's nothing out there except for like beach and relaxation
and we can't wait to go back. So a cruise gives you that but the other thing it gives you is Disney
like Disney in raw form like Disney trivia which is like so much fun and so hard honestly and so
then there's bingo then there's all these little activities all over the ship and so for someone
who like loves Disney movies loves Disney stage shows like this is amazing for us because we get to
be immersed in all that and then the rotational dining is all Disney themed and so our family
really enjoys that if you're someone who's like I'm not really a fan of like all the Marvel stuff
or frozen or lying in king and you're going on this rotational dining and maybe you don't love that
you know and so that's another deterrent of why Disney may not be for you another comment I got
from a girl who was like heavy royal Caribbean she was like I just was shocked by how many kids were
on the ship and I was like but it's a Disney ship so of course it's going to be like hacked with
kids and it is because Disney cruises I still feel like you don't see a lot of adult only sailing
even though like my husband and I did that it's usually families that are sailing unlike carnival
royal Caribbean that has a lot of families but it's a lot of families with older kids there aren't
like as many little kids roaming around like the Disney ship so if that is a deterrent for you
maybe that is a reason not to go on a Disney ship but again I also love that but I am a mama
with kids ages 5 to 12 and then I have my niece and nephew who are you know just turn one and also
four which are like my other two children so I'm still very much in the thick of like the little
little kidness and I think even as we get older with the kids clubs and everything Disney has to
offer I don't see us turning away from cruises the only deterrent for us honestly is price so as a
newer cruiser I am going to try to break down Disney cruise line into categories to help you
conceptualize what I'm talking about and to kind of break it down like you're planning your
park days but my first question to you is are you even going to like a cruise do you like to rest
on vacation do you enjoy magic outside of the parks how do you do with downtime because you will
have downtime like I took naps on this cruise do you like the beach do you like the ocean because
sometimes if you don't like those things you're not going to enjoy a cruise because it actually
gives you the Disney magic with the chance to relax and not everyone enjoys that the first thing
you need to know if your first time Disney cruiser is what ship are you sailing on not all Disney ships
each one has its own theme its own personality and even its own layout Disney cruise line also
has started grouping their ships into different classes which means the ships are built around the
same time frame and also they have a similar design and similar features right now there are
three main classes in Disney cruise line with a fourth one emerging now that the adventure has
but let's talk about the first three since the adventure actually doesn't take sale for I think
a couple more weeks so the first class is the magic class which includes the Disney magic and the
Disney wonder these are the original ships in the fleet and they have that more classic cruise what
people say Mary time feel they're a little smaller and then the new ships but let me tell you
something about Disney maintenance you're not going to realize how old these ships are because
the maintenance is impeccable and I'll talk about that later but it actually makes this cruise feel
more intimate with the smaller ship it's easier to navigate especially for first time cruisers
right now these two ships you're going to find going mostly to Alaska then you have the dream class
which is the Disney dream and the Disney fantasy they are sister ships they are little larger they
also introduce features that are the like the aqueduct the water coaster and expanded kids spaces
so these ships feel a little bit more modern where they're dining and entertainment options and
the original ships I have heard these interior rooms are the only interior rooms that do the live
streaming of the water so I was asking people who craze a lot what ship can I do an interior room
and they told me that it was only going to be the dream and the fantasy because their port hole
is actual water and it makes it feel less cost of phobic so just keep that in mind as well and then
then we have the newest class of ships I keep researching this I call it the wish class but it's
also called the Triton class so I'm not sure what the official language is for Disney because I cannot
find it but this includes the Disney wish the Disney treasure and the Disney destiny and these ships
are very story driven so this is like the next level so you're no longer just cruising on a ship
you're going to be immersed in some kind of story telling Disney leaned very heavily into a
mercedes oil are you telling throughout these ships I want to say that the success in terms of
emotional pool of this galactic star cruiser is probably what had them lean heavily into this
I've heard from people who've been on the destiny that so many things from the galactic star cruiser
are now on the Disney destiny in terms of storytelling and for those who don't know the galactic
star cruiser was an immersive star wars experience that was a land cruise it wasn't marketed that way
it was marketed as a star wars hotel so it was a huge flop in terms of marketing but it's someone
who got to experience it it is one of the best Disney experiences no it is the best Disney experience
I have ever had and will ever have in my life because we'll never be able to recreate something
at that level but I have heard elements are on the Disney destiny so I'm really excited about that
these ships have a lot of different characters that you're not going to find out of the other
ship they're inspired by the movies the different worlds throughout the dining experiences the
lounges and even the state room hallways you see all the storytelling continue throughout these ships
because of this the ship you choose can really shape your cruise experience so some ships are
going to feel more classic Disney some are going to feel more modern and high energy and then like
I said the new ships you're going to be stepping into storytelling so when you're planning your first
cruise you just have to do the research on each ship and each location now the dream in the
wish class are mostly going to be your European and Caribbean cruises so you have a lot of opportunities
and they rotate like the wish is usually out of core canal but it's going over to Europe next
summer so you really get a chance to do all of these ships just depending on what time of year
and you know I'm really sad because Disney used to port out of New York so I'm hoping
they have a goal of having I think 13 ships by 2031 so hopefully we'll get that New York port back
going to Bermuda because then I would cruise a lot more so the first thing we're going to talk
about is state rooms on the ship so we've talked about what ship you're going on and then the
now we need to talk about the state rooms so your state room is your home base on your ship
and there are a variety of ship or room that you can choose so you're going to have your
interior rooms which means that you're the interior pieces of the ship a lot of times they have
like a fake port window in them and like I said the fantasy and the dream are the only two that have
the live stream port windows that make you feel like you are outside so I'm thinking maybe I
can do that now I've heard that they are very dark you get the best sleep ever but it also can
feel very claustrophobic the one benefit of having a family of six is you're never going to see us
in one room Disney does not have that option available unless you're doing a suite which they're like
$20,000 so you're just not going to see it people but so we will always have two rooms so we have two
interior rooms it might make it a little bit better because we have a little bit more space and
they would be connecting and maybe on the dream and fantasy where it's a live stream of the
port hole it wouldn't feel claustrophobic but I'm a little nervous to try those maybe once I've
conquered all the ships I can try that then you have your ocean view room this is a room that my
sister will be using when we go because she is two little kids and she is very nervous about having
the balcony the ocean view room also gives you a little bit more space because you don't have the
veranda so you have that like bump out space and you have a giant port hole window where you can
see the ocean so that is really nice to still be able to visibly see the ocean have the extra space
from not having the veranda and you're not worried about any doors opening especially when your kids
are super little and hers are very little and one has an affinity for water just loves water so much
so she's like I need to trap that child in my room then you have the veranda rooms the veranda
rooms come in three four or five sleepers we are family of six so more than likely you will see
us in a three or four sleeper because we'll have connecting rooms the rooms that sleep five people
are more expensive so just keep that in mind but it's perfect if you have a family of five because
then you don't have to get two rooms which rooms up the cost which we'll talk about cost at the end
and so then there's the concierge level rooms which are the veranda state rooms that are concierge
level and then you also have a suite on every ship that's like $20,000 and it's always themed around
something I just saw the new adventure one it isn't else a suite which is amazing but those
are going to be your level of rooms most people are going to stay in the interior ocean or veranda
type of room we've only done veranda we're doing veranda on the dream we're doing veranda on the
destiny that is the room we're choosing right now to get on all of the ships and then maybe once
we've been on all the ships we can start trying other rooms my sister will be doing ocean view on
the destiny so I'll be able to give you some insight on that. Once you have your ship figured out
then you have your state room figured out the next thing you're going to be choosing is your dining
so there's a thing called rotational dining on Disney cruise line and most cruise lines have
a rotational dining this is where you are going to eat dinner every night with your family on
Disney cruise line most of these rotational dinings are themed in some capacity once you get to
the wish class ships they start turning into dinner shows on some of the nights there are two
dining times there is 545 and 815 and there is no universally best time to dine you really need to
base it on your internal clock so for instance my good friend is coming with us on the Disney
destiny but they are coming from California so they are going to do the 815 dining time which is
what my husband and I would do if it was just the two of us but we are on the east coast so 815
is super late for dinner for my kids so we are doing the 545 dining time because we'll eat and
then we'll go see our Broadway show where she will see her Broadway show first and then go eat
because that 815 time is closer to 515 for her family and sometimes that's just how it works
especially if you're traveling with friends and they're coming from the opposite coast so we'll
make sure we connect during the day but when it comes to the evenings we're going to go in different
directions the great thing about rotational dining is your server follows you to all your dining so
it is wild because by the end of the trip or even by the second day like your drinks your request
everything is on the table by the time that you get there they help with the kids they are just so
exceptional and so we love rotational dining when we are cruising with our family we will really
try not to miss any rotational dining sometimes we opt it out when we cruise as adults just to two of us
to go to some of the specialty dining that you can reserve and pay for but rotational dining
is included in that total cruise cost then of course you have all of your casual dining options
on the wish it's called Marsley Market same thing on the treasure on the Disney wonder it's
also called that on the magic fantasy and dream it's called Cabana's I think it's called Marsley
Market on the destiny as well and I don't know the name yet on the adventure but that's your quick
service you will be able to go there for breakfast lunch it's open a lot and that's where you also
can get some soft serve ice cream one of the places then on the islands there's also quick service
that's available there as well and there is room service available to your room so there's food all
the time you can always have a stash of Mickey bars Mickey ice cream and soft serve and the buffet is
really good I enjoyed it there's always so many things to eat there and then they also
chewed waffles I think it's like the last morning that that's there so there is a quick service
option there everyone loves the chicken fingers it's like a big joke that you always have to get
the chicken fingers on the cruise so that would be your quick service outside of your rotational dining
then when it comes to Disney cruise entertainment and shows there is so much so these
Broadway style shows are truly spectacular so you definitely at least want to catch one of them
we did not get both of them but we did get one and it was amazing I'm just going to run through
the list real quick on the Disney magic it's tangled in musical twice charmed in original twists
on the Cinderella story and Disney dreams and enchanted classic on the winter it's a frozen
a musical spectacular Disney dreams and enchanted classic and the golden Mickey's on the dream
it's beauty in the beast Disney's believe and the golden Mickey's on the fantasy it's Aladdin
musical spectacular Disney's believe in a frozen frozen a musical spectacular obviously frozen
is very popular on the wish there's the little mermaid which we saw which was amazing Disney sees
adventure and Aladdin and musical spectacular which you saw that too and that was amazing then on
the treasure there is Disney sees the adventure beauty in the beast and Moana then on the destiny
there is a frozen and musical spectacular Disney sees adventure and Hercules which I have heard
is just phenomenal so those shows are happening on various nights pick the one that you want to see
and then just make sure that you make time to see it because what ended up conflicting with us is
we wanted to go do things like bingo and trivia and so you got to pick so just make sure you don't
pick to do those things on the show night you want to see so we've covered the basics you basically
know how to choose your ship you know how to decide what state room you're going to pick we've
gone over rotational dining and we've talked about casual dining on the ships then we've talked
about the entertainment those are the big things that are on the ship that are like okay you got
to eat you got to sleep and you want to catch one of these Broadway productions now everything else
I'm going to talk about is like optional fun things but the one tool that I need to talk about
before you move on to the fun stuff is something that is your home base when it comes to Disney cruise
and that is Disney cruise line navigator it is an app on your phone just like my Disney experience
or the Disneyland app if you're new to cruising with Disney this app is going to be one of the most
important things you download before you sail so when I before I purchased my first cruise I went
ahead and downloaded it the navigator app is essentially your daily guide to everything happening
on the ship once you connect to the ship's Wi-Fi on board it unlocks all of the show schedule the
characters your dining rotation times trivia kids clubs and so much more it basically will show you
what is going on on the ship all the time think of it as a cruise version of my Disney experience in
the park but I think it's a little bit better because it's like showing you what's going on right now
so instead of carrying around a like a paper schedule you have your phone so again you need a you
know sometimes you need an external charger for it but each day your cruise has a full schedule
and the app lets you know what activities are going on by time by location or category you can choose
if you're seeing something you want to do you can tap on it and it puts a little heart icon
and it saves it to your favorites that way the app can build you like a personalized schedule
keep track of everything for you so that you don't feel overwhelmed the navigator also holds
alive your important cruise information it includes your dining rotation schedule the restaurant
you're assigned to each night showtime support arrival and departures and reminds you of special
events that are happening on the ship and another thing that's really helpful on it for at least
for me is the ship map because I don't know these ships yet so it's not like navigating the parks
for me ships can be confusing even though they have little tricks like in the carpet but I still
don't know what like app in or whatever starburg side is so I still need that map to show me how
to get around and it also gives you lets you see important announcements and updates from the
cruise director if weather changes or in activity changes you're going to see that in your navigator
app so I definitely recommend that you download this before you even start cruising you can play with
at home and it is just your command center for the cruise okay so let me kind of go through
these things that are on the ship that are like the fun stuff so there's a ton of adult areas the
older ships have neighborhoods where they're like adult neighborhoods I think it's the magic the
wonder and dream and fantasy have actual neighborhoods the wish class ships or the trident class
they don't have neighborhoods they have little pockets in different places so that's why it's
said like some of the original Disney cruisers didn't like the new ship because it was all spaced out
it wasn't in a neighborhood but there's a lot of like adult only spaces and there's adult only
exciting experiences which are parallel and I think it said on shantei those are adult only so you
can plan to do those things and even if you have kids your kids could be in the kids club while you
at one of those adults only dining experiences you just need a reservation for those two but the
other ones are lounges and bars so there is a lot for adults to do they even have like an adult only
trivia one of the days and so you just have to look for those in the navigator my husband and I
went on the cruise by herself and we had like a blast then of course there's enchanted extras
on the cruise ship so you have like your bippity bobbity boutique there is a spall that is on
this ship then there are like onboard experiences my husband is already scheduled for the bourbon
tasting at hooks barbery so like I said he's a bourbon man and so that is like a really
thin experience for him and you know Disney's gonna pull out all the best bourbon so there's a lot
of like port port activities that you can do there's lots of stuff to do on the ship we are actually
not planning on getting off the ship at Nassau and we're just gonna do all the fun stuff which I
will talk about this podcast is getting a little long so I might do a separate podcast just on the
Disney dream planning but we are planning on staying on the ship so we can do activities on the ship
and it doesn't interfere with our daily stuff that we like to do and then we're just gonna get
off at lookout key so then of course there's the Disney cruise port excursions I am too nervous to
use a company outside of Disney right now yes Disney is more expensive but it gives me a piece of
mind using Disney for any excursion because you know like if they are running late that they will
wait for you but if you are choosing to do an excursion that is not Disney one make sure your return
time is well before your departure time I would say at least two hours before your departure time
in case something happens you also want to make sure it is a very reputable full company that is
well-reviewed we don't need you disappearing on your cruise so you want to make sure that the company
is licensed and insured do all the research on it just don't go for the cheapest wine it's never worth
the cheapest one just for the experience so just keep that in mind when you're picking port adventures
if that's something that you're interested in we also you can also rent cabanas and those kind of
things we think we're gonna rent a cabana when we do the Disney destiny but we're not doing one
for the dream or if we get on the fantasy this year we wouldn't do that either the destiny we're
gonna do it because we're gonna have such a big group then of course there's a lot of onboard
spaces and activities I've already talked a lot about trivia and bingo because those are things
we like to do but there are walking and jogging tracks the kids clubs which I haven't even
dived into but there's a lot to do onboard you are never gonna be bored on a Disney cruise ship
they even have a movie theater which will always play the newest movies that are out in theater
I'm an example I give we were on the wish when Deadpool Wolverine came out we would never see that movie
because we have kids and so if we're going to the movies we're usually going as a family
and so my husband was able to go and watch it in the theaters while it was out in theater and I was
able to take a nap so things like that are available on the ship which are just awesome for
Disney people so how do you decide which cruise ship is best for your family honestly I don't
think that there is a bad cruise ship out of all of them so for me it's always going to be budget
in time of year first and where the itinerary is going and if there are places I want to go
and then from there I can build a trip on any of these ships obviously the newer ships you always
are trying to get on because they are promoting them and they're new and they're shiny but I am
excited to get on all of them so these are the four questions that I would ask you with someone
who was going where do you want to go are you looking for a tropical adventure or a last
contour you want to go to Europe and now do you want to do an Etsy cruise in Asia how long do you
want to sell Disney has 3 4 5 7 9 then I think it's like 13 and 15 night itineraries when it gets
over to Europe what port is the easiest for you I do believe that there is about like 12 or 13
different ports I don't know off the top of my head but they have a ton of ports but of course
their own Disney port is Port Canaveral which is about two hours from Walt Disney World and then of
course budget and budget is the biggest factor for us because we have six people and so let me wrap
this up with talking about the cost and payment so the way that cruises work in general this is not
just Disney the first two people in the cabin or even if there's one person sailing alone you will
pay the base price for the cabin so if Disney has decided the base price of the cabin is $2,000 or
$2,200 that is the cost for two people then as you add subsequent people it's only like
three to $600 to add those people on because you've already paid for the base cabin a base price
of the cabin now if this is a seven day sailing on like the treasure the base of that cabin may
be $6,000 and then as we add on more children it may end up being maybe $8,000 at the end of it
so adding people to the room is not where the cost is it's the initial cost of just booking the
cabin because you're being charged for two people no matter what so single cruisers you can still go
on it but you're still going to pay that base price for two people Disney has been running a lot of
deals lately where you get to put a 10 percent deposit instead of a 20 percent deposit and then
depending on the sailing your payment is due 90 to 128 days before departure and then when you
do get on the ship for the most part you don't need money but you still need to budget it for
enchanted extras that you're doing or also gratuities so there's a spot where you add gratuities
but we also take on cash and they will give you these white envelopes to give personal gratuities
to your servers and your housekeeping and you will want to do that so don't forget that you're going to
need that extra cash and you determine how much cash you want to give them most of the time the
service is so excellent we give them about $50 more in the white envelopes and on top of the
gratuities we already have given them so the gratuities that you can add on to your bill are typically
around $14.50 to $16 per day and then the white envelopes they're nice because we write a little note
on them and we hand it directly to them and you know like that's the cash that they are getting
directly from you so it's just a nice little touch and honestly the service is so amazing that
you'll want to do that so just remember you still need a little bit of cash I always call it
Disney cash right so anytime you're going to want Disney real I have Disney cash to tip the
bellman and everyone who helps take care of you or runs things to your room same thing you're
going to do on a Disney cruise line have a little Disney cash so they can tip everyone at the end
it's such a special day leaving and they're just so sweet and you know that they do this for
everyone like you are not special like they're about to do this again do a whole another crew
that's getting on the ship but they really go out of their way to make you feel so special okay so
let me wrap up with some first time Disney mistakes and then I will have a separate podcast and I
will drop at the same day over where I am in planning on the dream because I don't like to have
hour long podcasts unless it's a guest so here are some first time mistakes so why not assuming
that cruising feels like the parks I've already talked about this ask yourself those questions
in the beginning to see if you're actually going to enjoy Disney cruise because you might not
and it's a lot of money to go on a trip like this and not enjoy it it doesn't feel like the
parks it feels totally different than the parks but it's so amazing waiting to book your cruise hoping
for a discount that's not how Disney works with the cruise ships your cheapest price is always
going to be when it first releases so if you can when the itineraries get announced you have about
30 to 45 days before they start incrementally raising the price that release date or when it
releases it is going to be the cheapest it's ever going to be so go ahead and book it you can always
move it if you need to but go ahead and book it then when it hits the eight weeks before the 120
days there is another there's usually military rates available for military families of the
unsold cabins every once in a while Disney will do a 20% discount on the rates if they are having
a hard time selling out a ship or have a lot of empty state rooms they will do that but that is
very rare they're doing that this year for some limited wish cruisings but don't wait because you
think you're going to get a discount because you're not the best time to book it is when it comes out
that's why you know we booked the Disney destiny for May of 27 and you might be thinking like whoa
like that is so far in advance but in reality that's the cheapest price it's going to be and it
gives us enough time to pay it over time because for two rooms on the destiny for a four-night
sailing it's like nine grand which is so expensive so we need the 18 months basically to pay down
that bill then don't wait too long to do online check in i'm just about to hit that window it's
usually 30 to 40 days depending on your castaway status obviously if you're first time cruiser you
don't have status so just make sure you check in on time because that affects your port arrival time
when you can get on the ship so keep that in mind overbooking enchanted extras is very easy to do
because there's so much fun stuff but you have to remember the cruise is so busy already
you don't want to overload yourself with enchanted extras but you want to do a couple of those fun
things your itinerary length is more important than the size of the ship and I know that sounds crazy
but you will not be bored on a Disney cruise you're not going to get everything done on a Disney
cruise it is just like the parks you have so many things going on so you build a vacation that you
want to enjoy and you don't build one based on like trying to get everything done on that cruise ship
because you won't people wouldn't continuously cruise on the same ships I mean Disney only has six
ships and people are still cruising on them over and over again so you have to look at the itinerary
see the things that you want to do and if that's something you're interested in that's why you cruise
on that ship do not go on thinking like we're going to conquer everything because a Disney cruise
is so relaxing I mean I think it's being on the water and just seeing it outside of your room and
you know the stops and all that stuff you're just kind of like oh I just kicking back and I slept
sound the Miranda had coffee red books more than I thought I was going to I thought I was going to
be an active participant and get all this content for you guys because I didn't have my kids
yeah no I didn't even put makeup on like I was so relaxed I didn't put makeup on this time I will
put makeup on because I was like well I should have dressed up for some of the dinners but I was so
relaxed I was like a noodle I couldn't do anything it was so great but look at the itinerary
versus the length and just know there is no length on any of the ships unless you're doing like a
15 day sailing that you're going to get everything done because Disney does that intentionally because
either you'll have really cool stops that you'll want to get off at off the ship or they'll just
it's just a bigger ship like the wish class ships that has something going on all the time and then
the final mistake I like to bring up is not using your navigator app enough your navigator app
is a tool to help you really lean into it and use it it is there to make your trip a lot easier
so play with it at home get familiar with it and then use it on the ship you'll be so happy
that you did I hope this helps anyone that is on the fence about cruising and then you can listen
to the next podcast which tells you where I am in planning on the Disney dream for my family and
things that I'm buying to hopefully make my crews run a little bit smoother I know you have so
many podcasts that you can listen to when it comes to Disney so I'm always grateful for the time
that you are spending with me and I hope you have a magical rest of your day everyone
thank you so much for listening today if you haven't already please subscribe to the podcast so you
don't miss the next episode and if you have a moment I would love a review find me on social media
at well hello magic until next time have a magical day

Well Hello Magic: A Disney Planning & Experience Podcast

Well Hello Magic: A Disney Planning & Experience Podcast

Well Hello Magic: A Disney Planning & Experience Podcast