Disney Cruise Tips

 

Here are some tips when taking a Disney cruise...

1. Disney Cruise Lines has Florida resident rates for November - April with the best deals in January and February.  Call for Florida resident rates or search online using special offer code FLR. Our family of four save $800 with the FL resident discount.
2. Bring wide-mouthed water bottles (like a Nalgene) to take advantage of the ship's free beverages.  Outside the main restaurants, free beverages are only available from the beverage stations on one specific deck.  The 8oz cups provided won't hold much.  If you have your own bottle, you can fill it up and carry it with you on the ship.
    
   
   
3. Pack bottled water and Gatorade in your suitcases to have in the room. I packed an 18 pack of bottled water and Mike packed an 8 pack of Gatorade in our rolling suitcases. You have a mini fridge in the room to keep them cold. With kids, it's nice to have drinks on hand in the room. They sell bottled water on the ship but it's expensive...like $40 for a case of bottled water!
4. Alcohol! You can bring your own alcohol on a Disney Cruise but they ask that it's in a carry-on bag. Here's what they say "Beverages must be packed in your carry-on bag—which must not exceed 22 inches wide, 14 inches high and 9 inches deep in dimension".   Even though their website says no coolers, we found that a soft-side cooler that you carry, within the dimensions, is fine. All three families we went with, carried a soft-side cooler on the ship. I saw one family with 2 cases of water and a case of beer strapped to a foldable dolly. A case of beer on the ship was $110. 
   
5. Bring boxed wine so you don't need a corkscrew.  Mike and I brought Black Box wine. Personal alcohol is supposed to stay in the room but if you're discrete, you can take it other places on the ship.
6. Small bills.  Room service is free but tips are paid in cash when the food is delivered.
7. Make sure to pack typical beach gear for the pool and Castaway Cay...beach bag, sunscreen, etc. They provide beach towels on the ship and on Castaway Cay.  The gift shops are not open when the ship is in port.
8. A lanyard to hold your room key. The room key also acts as a credit card for purchase made on the ship.  I didn't carry a purse on board and didn't always have pockets so the lanyard came in very handy. 
   
9. If you have kids, don't plan to spend much time in Nassau unless you book an excursion.  We did get off the ship in Nassau so the boys could see a different country and get a non-Disney souvenir. We probably only spent 2 hours off the ship in Nassau.
10. Plan for Castaway Cay to just be a beach day unless you book an excursion.  They rent snorkel equipment, rafts and floats and provide chairs on the beach on a first come basis. They have a special snorkel area with an underwater ship, submarine and mickey.  My water-proof camera was perfect for snorkeling!
    

We went on a 4 night Disney Cruise out of Port Canaveral, Florida in Feb 2014.

Do you have any other helpful tips while on a Disney Cruise?