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13 Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Going On My Disney Cruise
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Jan 28, 2025
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 ———————————————*
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
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here are 13 things that I stumbled
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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
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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
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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
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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
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even more important to know before you
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go Disney Cruise Line Travelers are
2:08
incredibly dedicated fast moving and
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efficient I moved out by not
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understanding that people zoom in they
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lock down anything that can possibly be
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booked as soon as they can especially
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dining activities events excursions so
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when these things go on sale at one
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minute after midnight Eastern Standard
2:30
Time for a cruise people are online
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booking right there and then so
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importantly access is based on your past
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Cruiser status so for example I was a
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first time guest I could only start
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booking 70 days prior to the date of my
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sailing I actually left a little bit
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later than that and by the time I went
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in many things that I really wanted to
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do like excursions or some of the
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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
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you are desperate to do something
3:06
specific you need to move quickly as
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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
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I needed to scan a QR code to look at
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the menu everything pretty much happens
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on the app all your bookings your bill
3:31
times to meet for excursions the daily
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program everything so you need to have a
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really good smartphone know how to use
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it and it is actually pretty hard to
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find out what's going on without the app
3:43
when it comes to packing there's
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something that I had under appreciated
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even though I knew about it basically
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there's no real dress code you're able
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to go to dinner even on formal nights in
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shorts and t-shirts if you want most of
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the locations in the evening for dining
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are what they call Cruise casual
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themed Deck Party nights are a different
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story and Disney guests totally embrace
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them now you don't have to dress up for
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those themed Deck Party nights but
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having a nod to the theme is a really
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good idea whether it's Pirates or
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whatever now we had a frozen night and
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many people dressed up in outfits linked
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to the various characters from the film
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there is by the way the one former
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Knight one semi-formal night where you
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can bring out your kind of your Blazers
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and your gowns a lot of people did that
4:31
because they wanted the photographs but
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again it's not enforced if you want to
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wear t-shirts and shorts you can if
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you're going into the adult specialty
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restaurants like Palo I had on Disney
4:41
magic or Remy on some of the other ships
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it's really important though you do have
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to wear something smarter many people by
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the way on the cruise wear Disney
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merchandise they're where Mickey Mouse
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is day and night so to feel part of the
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atmosphere you may actually want to
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bring those along too the other thing
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that I'd unappreciated but soon
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discovered is that Disney cruise ships
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do miss some of the things that I
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normally expect on a cruise so be ready
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for that so for example there's no
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casino because gambling is supposedly
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not within their family friendly policy
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however
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they did do Bingo which is gambling and
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they actually let kids play it if they
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were an adult so you know they do
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actually have gambling on board there
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isn't no drinks package again which you
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used to on many cruises again I guess
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linked to the adults family thing so you
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buy drink by drink and many people find
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that really ramped up from a cost
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perspective the other thing which they
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didn't have were enrichment programs
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with talks which I have on many cruises
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I go and I was traveling to the fjords I
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kind of expected that but there were no
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talks about the area so be ready for
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some of those usual things to be missing
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the next key thing that I think is
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important is around cabins now I
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personally I'm kind of obsessed with
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cabins anyway so I'm quite picky about
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the one I choose anyway but on Disney I
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found this to be even more so now many
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people argue that the cabins on Disney
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are slightly larger than on comparable
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premium kind of ships to be honest I
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didn't feel it was bigger even though I
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booked a family Deluxe cabin you know it
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might actually be bigger but didn't feel
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necessarily bigger but the more
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important thing on Disney ships is there
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are a lot of cabins with interconnecting
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doors and I would strongly encourage if
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you're traveling without kids to choose
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one without an interconnecting door
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because if you've got four or five
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people in the next cabin it could be
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really noisy I mean I could even hear
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the family in the cabin next door to me
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a bit and I didn't even have an
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interconnected door
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many of the cabins have by the way
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what's known as a split bathroom so you
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have one bathroom which has a toilet and
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a basin and another right next to it
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which has a bath with shower in and a
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basin and this of course is great for
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families however it does mean that some
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people find the bathrooms are a little
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bit more cramped I'm six foot two and
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probably was a little bit on the tight
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side but that's something to bear in
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mind also when you choose a cabin make
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sure you choose one that's not on the
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deck with the kids clubs because there's
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a lot of to and fro and movements pretty
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much all hours of the day and into the
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night if you're traveling with a friend
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rather than a partner and not looking to
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share a bed now that in many of the
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cabins it's a fixed queen bed unlike
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other Cruise Lines which the bed can be
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split into twins also bear in mind that
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many many cabins on board are designed
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for multiple occupancy so the one I was
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in could sleep at least three other
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people so five people in a cabin and
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because of this you'll feel feel that
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the ship is much Fuller than the
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capacity number suggests as they can
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sell at between 150 and 160 capacity
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because they basically have loads of
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people sharing cabins so it can feel
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pretty cramped and once you're on the
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ship you'll find a simple and what I
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think is a really well thought out
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layout in terms of finding your way
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around find it really easy to get around
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but there's a couple of things that I
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found that people use to improve their
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way of navigating the decks now first of
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all many people decorate their stateroom
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doors to make them easy to find and many
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of them are really really intricate also
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what Disney does to make it even easier
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with the cabins on the port side that's
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the left hand side they have metal fish
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outside the door and the fish points
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towards the rear of the ship helping you
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and you come out of the cabin and
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knowing where Trader head and I use that
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quite a lot
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on the other side the starboard side you
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you'll then be looking for seahorses if
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you're on that side the carpets they
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feature a compass which has lots and
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lots of stars in it and the pointy part
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of the star is pointing towards the
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front of the ship so there's lots of
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little things there to help you find
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your way around so use them invocation
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Day offers you an open house for the
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kids clubs and I would strongly
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recommend if you're traveling with our
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kids to go and see these areas because
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first of all they're huge and it's the
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only time that adults are really allowed
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in and they are worth seeing even if you
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don't have kids they are incredible they
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have the Oceania club for ages 3 to 11
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which is amazing and huge they have a
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play side and they have a lab site which
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is more interactive then they have Edge
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for the 11 to 14 year olds and Vibe for
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teens 15 to 17 they also have It's a
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Small World nursery absolutely go and
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see those
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when it comes to dining it's very
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different to most Cruise Lines although
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a couple of cruise lines are introducing
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a similar concept of giving you
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different main dining rooms to rotate
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around but basically what you have is
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you have rotating dining the way it
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works for example in my Disney magic
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trip there were three main dining rooms
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and I was allocated a different one each
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night and the same serving stuff though
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moved with you and you had the same
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table number every night so there was
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Rapunzel's World table which is all
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themed around Tangled there was
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animators palette which is all linked to
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animation then there was lumiers which
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is linked to Beauty and the Beast there
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are slightly different ones on different
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Disney ships around different themes if
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you don't like the the order of the
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rotation and the number of times you go
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into the same restaurant twice you could
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go and get that changed just make sure
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you do it on the first day now I was
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traveling solo so they gave me the
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option of having a table bar myself
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normally they group people together but
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you can ask for the table size you want
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and even seating with different types of
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people based on what your preference is
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what they don't have is they don't have
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open seated dining so you either must
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choose early or late dining late dining
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is a really good idea if your children
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with adults less kids tend to be in
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there
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you're also though limited on
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alternative dining which I did actually
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find an issue on other Cruise Lines the
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buffet which is called Cabanas on Disney
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was closed at night it was you know it
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didn't open at all on other cruises when
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it's open it's not a buffet though it's
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a sit-down menu there is other informal
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dining like Pinocchio pizza and Duck and
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burgers though only the burger place was
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open in the evening and it's not a
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particularly great place to eat in the
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evening room service though is 24 hours
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and has no extra charge but pretty much
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you're locked into those three sort of
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show type restaurants
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there are characters everywhere you go
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so be ready for them they're at the sell
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away end of cruise party deck parties
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they literally pop up all over the place
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now people queue for them day and night
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when they do their meet and greets as it
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were but what's great is you can take
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photos with your own camera or phone
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and the crew will actually do that for
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you if you want a more professional
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option you can they offer extensive
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photograph packages I thought they were
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pretty costly but everyone I spoke to
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said they were great value because you
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can get you know hundreds and hundreds
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of photos for one set price individual
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photos cost me about twenty dollars each
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in terms of Wi-Fi the Wi-Fi is expensive
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it cost me 210 dollars for seven days
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but on the plus side it was way way
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better than many people had said I was
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able to stream for example I was
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traveling as a solo adult and one of the
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things that was pushed to me was the
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importance and the amazingness of the
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adult only areas by fans of the lineup
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personally I didn't find them quiet as
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that I expected it wasn't so much a ship
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within a ship for adults as I thought it
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was though a place where you could dip
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into you could Retreat from the full on
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Disney Experience and that was a plus
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now the adult only area facilities and
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activities were interesting because
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although they probably do have have more
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dedicated adult only areas than many
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other cruise lines in fact I think
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probably any other Cruise Line there
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were some limitations to them now
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without shadow of a doubt one of the
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best areas is on the pool deck with
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signals bar and Curve Cafe they really
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enforce that in terms of being only the
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gym the spa especially the restaurant
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are also adult only after dark area
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after 9 pm it's available for adults
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there are three key things in there
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there's fathoms which is like a cabaret
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Lounge Keys which is a cocktail piano
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bar and a gills which is an Irish themed
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pub now you also get some adult early
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activities like Martini Mixology
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chocolate and champagne tastings some
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adult cabarets some adult game show some
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adult trivia but again that's pretty
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much after 9pm at night the one thing I
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probably disliked the most about Disney
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revolved around gratuities and I think
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you absolutely need to know about this
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people warned me about this they want me
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that the crew would keep pushing for
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good ratings and tips so what actually
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happens with the gratuities and what do
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they do that's very different now
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towards the end of the cruise you get
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this piece of paper which tells you how
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much Auto gratuities have been taken on
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my case it was 14.50 per day there were
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then little tear off slips which named
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each of the key crew members that I've
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encountered or worked with so you know
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the the server the cabin Steward and
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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
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envelope which they provide and you hand
14:08
them to the crew member of course they
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already know how much gratitude they're
14:11
getting because it's a formula so I
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really felt that there was a lot of
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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
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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
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