Up next in 10
I learnt a lot going on my first Disney Cruise Line cruise. And that many of the cruising tips that apply to other cruise lines do not apply, or work, going on a Disney cruising vacation. These are the 13 things that I found cruisers on a Disney Cruise Line need to know as it will make their cruise better – and ensure they do not miss out on
JOIN MY CHANNEL TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE PERKS:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join
BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTS
————————————————
* Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS
—————————————————————
* Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join
* Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers
* Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ
* Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn
UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
———————————————*
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:03
cruising on Disney is like no other
0:06
cruise that I've been on and so the
0:07
cruising tips that normally work for me
0:09
on most lines didn't work on Disney so
0:12
here are 13 things that I stumbled
0:14
across mistakes I made that if I had
0:16
known I would have had a much better
0:17
Cruise experience on Disney X I'm Gary
0:19
bembridge and I really want you to know
0:21
about them so you can have a great
0:22
Disney Cruise Disney is a themed Cruise
0:25
be ready for it because there's no
0:27
Escape once you're on board and immersed
0:29
in that Disney kingdom whilst most other
0:32
cruise ships are floating hotels this is
0:35
very much a unique Disney packed Kingdom
0:39
at City Disney Magic is weaved into
0:41
everything the decor the entertainment
0:43
the food the cabins pretty much
0:44
everything is Disney fired one thing I
0:47
would recommend you do though is go on
0:50
the art of the theme tours they run
0:52
multiple times across the cruise and I
0:54
recommend if you can actually even going
0:56
multiple times because each different
0:58
cast member that runs them as they call
1:01
them they tell you about the different
1:04
things that interest them but they tell
1:06
you about the design where hidden things
1:07
are it really is quite fascinating and
1:10
long time Disney Cruisers still go back
1:12
time and time again because each tour
1:15
has a little different spin on it and
1:17
they keep going because they keep
1:18
discovering new things now as Disney is
1:21
a fully themed Cruise in my view it's
1:24
absolutely best for people that love and
1:27
know Disney or are going with someone
1:29
who does and increasingly by the way you
1:31
also need to brush up on your Marvel and
1:34
Star Wars universes because they're
1:35
being weaved in I missed out so much
1:38
because I didn't know enough about
1:40
Disney for example at Rapunzel's Royal
1:42
table night where I had one of my
1:44
dinners I didn't understand the show I
1:46
didn't know why I was a birthday party
1:47
things like that I just didn't
1:50
appreciate when I went to the Frozen
1:52
deck show I didn't really understand who
1:54
the characters were and what was going
1:57
on so bear in mind you do need to break
1:59
up on your Disney before you go to get
2:02
the most out of it there's something
2:04
even more important to know before you
2:06
go Disney Cruise Line Travelers are
2:08
incredibly dedicated fast moving and
2:12
efficient I moved out by not
2:14
understanding that people zoom in they
2:17
lock down anything that can possibly be
2:20
booked as soon as they can especially
2:22
dining activities events excursions so
2:26
when these things go on sale at one
2:28
minute after midnight Eastern Standard
2:30
Time for a cruise people are online
2:32
booking right there and then so
2:35
importantly access is based on your past
2:38
Cruiser status so for example I was a
2:41
first time guest I could only start
2:42
booking 70 days prior to the date of my
2:46
sailing I actually left a little bit
2:47
later than that and by the time I went
2:49
in many things that I really wanted to
2:51
do like excursions or some of the
2:53
tastings were booked out now concierge
2:55
guests it's kind of the sweet guess
2:57
Platinum Castaway club members they get
3:00
double that amount of time that I got
3:01
before sailing to go in and book so if
3:04
you are desperate to do something
3:06
specific you need to move quickly as
3:09
soon as that window opens for you the
3:12
next thing I discovered is that you
3:14
absolutely need to be tech savvy and
3:16
have a smartphone download the app
3:18
because Disney has pretty much no paper
3:21
on board even in most of the restaurants
3:23
I needed to scan a QR code to look at
3:26
the menu everything pretty much happens
3:29
on the app all your bookings your bill
3:31
times to meet for excursions the daily
3:33
program everything so you need to have a
3:36
really good smartphone know how to use
3:38
it and it is actually pretty hard to
3:41
find out what's going on without the app
3:43
when it comes to packing there's
3:45
something that I had under appreciated
3:47
even though I knew about it basically
3:49
there's no real dress code you're able
3:52
to go to dinner even on formal nights in
3:55
shorts and t-shirts if you want most of
3:57
the locations in the evening for dining
3:59
are what they call Cruise casual
4:02
themed Deck Party nights are a different
4:05
story and Disney guests totally embrace
4:07
them now you don't have to dress up for
4:10
those themed Deck Party nights but
4:13
having a nod to the theme is a really
4:14
good idea whether it's Pirates or
4:16
whatever now we had a frozen night and
4:19
many people dressed up in outfits linked
4:22
to the various characters from the film
4:24
there is by the way the one former
4:26
Knight one semi-formal night where you
4:27
can bring out your kind of your Blazers
4:29
and your gowns a lot of people did that
4:31
because they wanted the photographs but
4:33
again it's not enforced if you want to
4:34
wear t-shirts and shorts you can if
4:37
you're going into the adult specialty
4:39
restaurants like Palo I had on Disney
4:41
magic or Remy on some of the other ships
4:43
it's really important though you do have
4:45
to wear something smarter many people by
4:48
the way on the cruise wear Disney
4:49
merchandise they're where Mickey Mouse
4:51
is day and night so to feel part of the
4:53
atmosphere you may actually want to
4:55
bring those along too the other thing
4:57
that I'd unappreciated but soon
4:59
discovered is that Disney cruise ships
5:01
do miss some of the things that I
5:03
normally expect on a cruise so be ready
5:05
for that so for example there's no
5:07
casino because gambling is supposedly
5:09
not within their family friendly policy
5:11
however
5:12
they did do Bingo which is gambling and
5:15
they actually let kids play it if they
5:17
were an adult so you know they do
5:19
actually have gambling on board there
5:21
isn't no drinks package again which you
5:23
used to on many cruises again I guess
5:25
linked to the adults family thing so you
5:27
buy drink by drink and many people find
5:30
that really ramped up from a cost
5:32
perspective the other thing which they
5:34
didn't have were enrichment programs
5:36
with talks which I have on many cruises
5:38
I go and I was traveling to the fjords I
5:40
kind of expected that but there were no
5:41
talks about the area so be ready for
5:44
some of those usual things to be missing
5:45
the next key thing that I think is
5:48
important is around cabins now I
5:50
personally I'm kind of obsessed with
5:52
cabins anyway so I'm quite picky about
5:54
the one I choose anyway but on Disney I
5:57
found this to be even more so now many
6:00
people argue that the cabins on Disney
6:01
are slightly larger than on comparable
6:04
premium kind of ships to be honest I
6:06
didn't feel it was bigger even though I
6:08
booked a family Deluxe cabin you know it
6:11
might actually be bigger but didn't feel
6:13
necessarily bigger but the more
6:15
important thing on Disney ships is there
6:17
are a lot of cabins with interconnecting
6:20
doors and I would strongly encourage if
6:22
you're traveling without kids to choose
6:24
one without an interconnecting door
6:27
because if you've got four or five
6:30
people in the next cabin it could be
6:32
really noisy I mean I could even hear
6:34
the family in the cabin next door to me
6:37
a bit and I didn't even have an
6:38
interconnected door
6:40
many of the cabins have by the way
6:42
what's known as a split bathroom so you
6:45
have one bathroom which has a toilet and
6:47
a basin and another right next to it
6:50
which has a bath with shower in and a
6:53
basin and this of course is great for
6:54
families however it does mean that some
6:56
people find the bathrooms are a little
6:58
bit more cramped I'm six foot two and
7:01
probably was a little bit on the tight
7:03
side but that's something to bear in
7:04
mind also when you choose a cabin make
7:07
sure you choose one that's not on the
7:09
deck with the kids clubs because there's
7:11
a lot of to and fro and movements pretty
7:14
much all hours of the day and into the
7:16
night if you're traveling with a friend
7:18
rather than a partner and not looking to
7:21
share a bed now that in many of the
7:22
cabins it's a fixed queen bed unlike
7:24
other Cruise Lines which the bed can be
7:27
split into twins also bear in mind that
7:30
many many cabins on board are designed
7:33
for multiple occupancy so the one I was
7:35
in could sleep at least three other
7:37
people so five people in a cabin and
7:39
because of this you'll feel feel that
7:41
the ship is much Fuller than the
7:43
capacity number suggests as they can
7:45
sell at between 150 and 160 capacity
7:50
because they basically have loads of
7:52
people sharing cabins so it can feel
7:54
pretty cramped and once you're on the
7:56
ship you'll find a simple and what I
7:58
think is a really well thought out
8:00
layout in terms of finding your way
8:02
around find it really easy to get around
8:03
but there's a couple of things that I
8:05
found that people use to improve their
8:09
way of navigating the decks now first of
8:11
all many people decorate their stateroom
8:13
doors to make them easy to find and many
8:15
of them are really really intricate also
8:18
what Disney does to make it even easier
8:20
with the cabins on the port side that's
8:23
the left hand side they have metal fish
8:25
outside the door and the fish points
8:28
towards the rear of the ship helping you
8:29
and you come out of the cabin and
8:31
knowing where Trader head and I use that
8:32
quite a lot
8:33
on the other side the starboard side you
8:36
you'll then be looking for seahorses if
8:37
you're on that side the carpets they
8:39
feature a compass which has lots and
8:41
lots of stars in it and the pointy part
8:44
of the star is pointing towards the
8:46
front of the ship so there's lots of
8:47
little things there to help you find
8:48
your way around so use them invocation
8:51
Day offers you an open house for the
8:54
kids clubs and I would strongly
8:55
recommend if you're traveling with our
8:57
kids to go and see these areas because
8:58
first of all they're huge and it's the
9:00
only time that adults are really allowed
9:02
in and they are worth seeing even if you
9:05
don't have kids they are incredible they
9:07
have the Oceania club for ages 3 to 11
9:10
which is amazing and huge they have a
9:12
play side and they have a lab site which
9:14
is more interactive then they have Edge
9:17
for the 11 to 14 year olds and Vibe for
9:20
teens 15 to 17 they also have It's a
9:23
Small World nursery absolutely go and
9:25
see those
9:26
when it comes to dining it's very
9:29
different to most Cruise Lines although
9:31
a couple of cruise lines are introducing
9:33
a similar concept of giving you
9:35
different main dining rooms to rotate
9:37
around but basically what you have is
9:39
you have rotating dining the way it
9:41
works for example in my Disney magic
9:42
trip there were three main dining rooms
9:44
and I was allocated a different one each
9:46
night and the same serving stuff though
9:49
moved with you and you had the same
9:51
table number every night so there was
9:53
Rapunzel's World table which is all
9:55
themed around Tangled there was
9:57
animators palette which is all linked to
9:59
animation then there was lumiers which
10:01
is linked to Beauty and the Beast there
10:04
are slightly different ones on different
10:05
Disney ships around different themes if
10:08
you don't like the the order of the
10:10
rotation and the number of times you go
10:11
into the same restaurant twice you could
10:13
go and get that changed just make sure
10:15
you do it on the first day now I was
10:17
traveling solo so they gave me the
10:19
option of having a table bar myself
10:20
normally they group people together but
10:23
you can ask for the table size you want
10:25
and even seating with different types of
10:28
people based on what your preference is
10:29
what they don't have is they don't have
10:32
open seated dining so you either must
10:34
choose early or late dining late dining
10:37
is a really good idea if your children
10:39
with adults less kids tend to be in
10:40
there
10:41
you're also though limited on
10:43
alternative dining which I did actually
10:44
find an issue on other Cruise Lines the
10:47
buffet which is called Cabanas on Disney
10:48
was closed at night it was you know it
10:51
didn't open at all on other cruises when
10:54
it's open it's not a buffet though it's
10:56
a sit-down menu there is other informal
10:58
dining like Pinocchio pizza and Duck and
11:00
burgers though only the burger place was
11:03
open in the evening and it's not a
11:04
particularly great place to eat in the
11:05
evening room service though is 24 hours
11:07
and has no extra charge but pretty much
11:09
you're locked into those three sort of
11:11
show type restaurants
11:14
there are characters everywhere you go
11:17
so be ready for them they're at the sell
11:19
away end of cruise party deck parties
11:21
they literally pop up all over the place
11:24
now people queue for them day and night
11:26
when they do their meet and greets as it
11:28
were but what's great is you can take
11:30
photos with your own camera or phone
11:33
and the crew will actually do that for
11:35
you if you want a more professional
11:36
option you can they offer extensive
11:38
photograph packages I thought they were
11:40
pretty costly but everyone I spoke to
11:42
said they were great value because you
11:43
can get you know hundreds and hundreds
11:45
of photos for one set price individual
11:47
photos cost me about twenty dollars each
11:49
in terms of Wi-Fi the Wi-Fi is expensive
11:52
it cost me 210 dollars for seven days
11:56
but on the plus side it was way way
11:58
better than many people had said I was
12:00
able to stream for example I was
12:02
traveling as a solo adult and one of the
12:05
things that was pushed to me was the
12:08
importance and the amazingness of the
12:11
adult only areas by fans of the lineup
12:13
personally I didn't find them quiet as
12:15
that I expected it wasn't so much a ship
12:17
within a ship for adults as I thought it
12:19
was though a place where you could dip
12:21
into you could Retreat from the full on
12:24
Disney Experience and that was a plus
12:25
now the adult only area facilities and
12:28
activities were interesting because
12:30
although they probably do have have more
12:34
dedicated adult only areas than many
12:37
other cruise lines in fact I think
12:38
probably any other Cruise Line there
12:40
were some limitations to them now
12:41
without shadow of a doubt one of the
12:42
best areas is on the pool deck with
12:44
signals bar and Curve Cafe they really
12:47
enforce that in terms of being only the
12:50
gym the spa especially the restaurant
12:52
are also adult only after dark area
12:55
after 9 pm it's available for adults
12:57
there are three key things in there
12:59
there's fathoms which is like a cabaret
13:01
Lounge Keys which is a cocktail piano
13:03
bar and a gills which is an Irish themed
13:06
pub now you also get some adult early
13:09
activities like Martini Mixology
13:11
chocolate and champagne tastings some
13:14
adult cabarets some adult game show some
13:16
adult trivia but again that's pretty
13:19
much after 9pm at night the one thing I
13:22
probably disliked the most about Disney
13:25
revolved around gratuities and I think
13:27
you absolutely need to know about this
13:29
people warned me about this they want me
13:32
that the crew would keep pushing for
13:34
good ratings and tips so what actually
13:37
happens with the gratuities and what do
13:39
they do that's very different now
13:40
towards the end of the cruise you get
13:42
this piece of paper which tells you how
13:45
much Auto gratuities have been taken on
13:47
my case it was 14.50 per day there were
13:50
then little tear off slips which named
13:52
each of the key crew members that I've
13:55
encountered or worked with so you know
13:58
the the server the cabin Steward and
14:00
then printed on it what their share of
14:02
the gratuities would be now that is your
14:04
tear the slips off you put them in an
14:06
envelope which they provide and you hand
14:08
them to the crew member of course they
14:10
already know how much gratitude they're
14:11
getting because it's a formula so I
14:13
really felt that there was a lot of
14:15
pressure on me and other guests to give
14:17
extra tips and I found that
14:19
uncomfortable and I felt that the crew
14:21
were kind of news and they kind of
14:22
lobbied for it but be ready for this
14:25
if you've found all of these tips really
14:27
interesting and you want to know more
14:29
about Disney Cruisers watch this video
14:31
where I talk about some key fears that I
14:34
had including one thing that people
14:35
accuse me of before I went on the cruise
14:37
and what I discovered once I was on that
14:40
they were right it did actually happen
14:42
see you over there
#Arts & Entertainment
#Dress-Up & Fashion Games
#Travel & Transportation
#Cruises & Charters
#Theme Parks
#Adventure Travel
#Transportation