First Disney Cruise: Feb 12 on the Disney Wonder.

[Maureen309]

Traveling with my husband and five year old grand daughter. Any advice welcomed. We have late dining plan. Plan on using children's program.

 

[Geotrain]

1) Take advantage of going to the nightly Disney show. The best show we saw was Frozen.
2) Purchase a Disney autograph book and Disney pen from Amazon before board your ship, it will save you some $ rather than buying it on board.
3) If you purchase the on board internet connection make sure you sign out in your browser when you are done or you will use all your data while your device is in idle mode (you can get free 50MB the first day by putting your device on Airplane mode and connecting to Disney WiFi, then open any web page to sign up for the free 50MB)
4) Wait to register your grand daughter for the children's program (Oceaneer Club / Oceaneer Lab) till you get on board. You can register them for youth activities when you are checking in on the dock, much less of a wait time. You will need to come up with a password to give the person when you pick up your granddaughter.
5) If you have a Smartphone iPhone or Android phone install the Disney Cruise App, you can use it to text your husband when you are apart. The Disney Children's Oceaneer club can also text you when your granddaughter is ready to be picked up
6) If you drive Coffee and frequent the Cafe Cove (Adult Only Coffee Shop Deck 9 Forward) ask for a frequent user punch card, after 6 coffees the 7th is free.
7) Plan to dress up like a pirate for pirate night. They provide a red scarf but you can buy a eye patch or toy sword at Party City and bring it on board. I saw lots of people make their own costume by cutting up a black pair of pants and white t-shirt to look like a pirate. Go to youtube to see how to make a simple pirate outfit with a white shirt, black pants, and a red or black scarf tied around their waist to look the part.
8) If you catch a movie in the Movie Theater you can get you can catch a popcorn and can of coke for about $8. Before you go to the theater go to deck 9 where you can get a free slice of pizza, large pretzel, ice cream, sand which, and a free coke near the Aft starboard side near Aqua Duck Water Works and then take it to the movie to save some money and have a snack to watch a movie. They have a lot of Disney movies that are still playing in theaters.
9) Plan to attend the Final Farewell in the midship level 3 near the elevators where they bring out all the characters at once (Mikey, Minney, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Stich, 3 Princesses, and some more I am forgetting) to dance around with the kids, take pictures, get autographs, etc.
10) Take a highlighter or marker to mark what things you are interested on the daily navigator (itenirary for each day) that is left in your cabin each night (also available at Guest Services on Deck 3 mid ship)

Well I could type all day, enjoy your cruise.

 

[Maureen309]

1) Take advantage of going to the nightly Disney show. The best show we saw was Frozen.
2) Purchase a Disney autograph book and Disney pen from Amazon before board your ship, it will save you some $ rather than buying it on board.
3) If you purchase the on board internet connection make sure you sign out in your browser when you are done or you will use all your data while your device is in idle mode (you can get free 50MB the first day by putting your device on Airplane mode and connecting to Disney WiFi, then open any web page to sign up for the free 50MB)
4) Wait to register your grand daughter for the children's program (Oceaneer Club / Oceaneer Lab) till you get on board. You can register them for youth activities when you are checking in on the dock, much less of a wait time. You will need to come up with a password to give the person when you pick up your granddaughter.
5) If you have a Smartphone iPhone or Android phone install the Disney Cruise App, you can use it to text your husband when you are apart. The Disney Children's Oceaneer club can also text you when your granddaughter is ready to be picked up
6) If you drive Coffee and frequent the Cafe Cove (Adult Only Coffee Shop Deck 9 Forward) ask for a frequent user punch card, after 6 coffees the 7th is free.
7) Plan to dress up like a pirate for pirate night. They provide a red scarf but you can buy a eye patch or toy sword at Party City and bring it on board. I saw lots of people make their own costume by cutting up a black pair of pants and white t-shirt to look like a pirate. Go to youtube to see how to make a simple pirate outfit with a white shirt, black pants, and a red or black scarf tied around their waist to look the part.
8) If you catch a movie in the Movie Theater you can get you can catch a popcorn and can of coke for about $8. Before you go to the theater go to deck 9 where you can get a free slice of pizza, large pretzel, ice cream, sand which, and a free coke near the Aft starboard side near Aqua Duck Water Works and then take it to the movie to save some money and have a snack to watch a movie. They have a lot of Disney movies that are still playing in theaters.
9) Plan to attend the Final Farewell in the midship level 3 near the elevators where they bring out all the characters at once (Mikey, Minney, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Stich, 3 Princesses, and some more I am forgetting) to dance around with the kids, take pictures, get autographs, etc.
10) Take a highlighter or marker to mark what things you are interested on the daily navigator (itenirary for each day) that is left in your cabin each night (also available at Guest Services on Deck 3 mid ship)

Well I could type all day, enjoy your cruise.

Thank you so much!!! I need all the advice I can get!

 

[Capt. Jack's crew]

1. Take a white pillowcase, hat, or anything else that can be signed, give it to Guest Services and they will get all the characters to sign it.
2. You may have already seen this, but you can make decorations to put on the door. There are many websites that give instructions on this. (It must be magnetic, there cannot be any adhesives on the door.)
3. Bring a watch, there aren't very many clocks on board.
4. Put your swimsuits in the carry on so you can go swimming as soon as you get on the boat.
5. I'm not sure if this is true, but I've heard that if you bring a Disney stuffed animal with you the steward will use it in interesting ways.

 

[TestingH2O]

Take a white pillowcase, hat, or anything else that can be signed, give it to Guest Services and they will get all the characters to sign it.

The OP has probably already completed the cruise at this point, but you should be aware that this unofficial service was officially discontinued in 2015. You'll still see it mentioned in blogs and old trip reports, but you should prepare for the fact that you can no longer leave items. You can however take a pillowcase with you to character meets just make sure you put something sturdy inside so it can be signed easily.

 

[Capt. Jack's crew]

The OP has probably already completed the cruise at this point, but you should be aware that this unofficial service was officially discontinued in 2015. You'll still see it mentioned in blogs and old trip reports, but you should prepare for the fact that you can no longer leave items. You can however take a pillowcase with you to character meets just make sure you put something sturdy inside so it can be signed easily.

Thank you for telling us this. We did not realize it was discontinued.