Cruise Virgin here...

[mrsjoannh13]

How old are your kids? There are some excursions that won't work for little ones. But, you will love it! You can do as much or as little as you would like. Going on our 6th cruise and still haven't done everything!

one girl - she will be 5 when we cruise

 

[sdjen]

one girl - she will be 5 when we cruise

That's how old my daughter was on our first cruise. She will love it!! If you book the 2/10/18 cruise you will be on the same one as us. We've done 2 eastern cruises. For your daughters I would recommend Coral World in St Thomas. I've never been to Tortola but there's a good dolphin excursion there that would be fun. And at Castaway check out the stingray excursion.

Prepare to be hooked! We're scheduled for our 6th cruise.

 

[lbus42]

As other posters have said, book the cruise now. The price will keep going up as the cruise date approaches. You only need to put up a 10 or 20 percent deposit and will get it back if you decide to cancel your cruise before the paid in full (PIF) date.

Once you've booked, you will be given a reservation number. You can register on the DCL web site and you will be able to see your cruise. You will also be able to look at the activities offered. You can use the time between your booking date and your online check-in date to decide what activities you want to do.

Don't stress out about planning. You will get to do just about everything you want, aside from getting a cabana at Castaway Cay. The food is good and there is a lot to do. Above all, remember that this is a vacation and have fun.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

That's how old my daughter was on our first cruise. She will love it!! If you book the 2/10/18 cruise you will be on the same one as us. We've done 2 eastern cruises. For your daughters I would recommend Coral World in St Thomas. I've never been to Tortola but there's a good dolphin excursion there that would be fun. And at Castaway check out the stingray excursion.

Prepare to be hooked! We're scheduled for our 6th cruise.

Yay - we booked it! So excited! How in the world can we wait 13 months? Well, we've got 2 WDW trips planned in between so I guess that will have to tide us over, LOL! It's our 20th anniversary on Valentine's Day so this is our anniversary trip. I really can't wait! I'm sure it will be the first of many!

 

[Billinaz]

Some people choose to book through a travel agent for the onboard credit. I used Dreams Unlimited which worked well for us.

Something I wish I knew on my first cruise was that each person in your party needs to have a lanyard to hold your Key to the World card. DCL gives lanyards out only to previous cruisers. You need that card for EVERYTHING so it needs to be handy.

Look for old Navigators and read up on daily activities.

I use costco for the best perk out there. You get a cash card worth 8-9 % of your cruise cost. I just booked for 2018 and Im getting a cash card for $1045.

 

[Billinaz]

Yay - we booked it! So excited! How in the world can we wait 13 months? Well, we've got 2 WDW trips planned in between so I guess that will have to tide us over, LOL! It's our 20th anniversary on Valentine's Day so this is our anniversary trip. I really can't wait! I'm sure it will be the first of many!

If you booked with DCL directly you have 30 days to transfer that to a travel agent that gives you the best perk, usually an on board credit or something.