7 Things You Should Know Before Your First Disney Cruise

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I am often asked about things that you should know before taking your Disney cruise.  So I thought that I would share 7 things that people should know before taking a their first Disney cruise.  I hope this list helps you decide if a Disney cruise is the right choice for you and your family.  If you are looking for some tips for first time Disney Cruisers check out this post.

 

 

Soda, coffee and tea are available for free 24 hours a day on the ninth deck of the Wonder and Magic and the eleventh deck of the Dream and Fantasy.  You can also get free soda, coffee and tea at the sit down restaurants and the buffets.

 

Disney will automatically add $12 a day per person (including children), per night of your cruise for tips.  The tips breakdown to being $3 a night for both your server and stewardess, $2 a night for your assistant server and $1 a night for your head server.  So for example if 2 adult and 2 children were taking a 7 night cruise your cost in tips would be $12 x 7 nights = $84 x 4 people = $336.  However, you can always add or subtract the amount that you would like to tip your Disney staff.  We usually always end up tipping more to our server, assistant server and stewardess.  To adjust your tips you can do that at guest services or you can add cash to their envelopes.

 

 

When you purchase drinks (alcohol, coffee at the coffee shop or soda in the lounges/bars) on a Disney cruise, an 18% gratuity is automatically added to your check.

 

 

Disney offers rotational dining (which is included in the price of your cruise), where you rotate between the three restaurants on the ship for dinner, however your servers remain the same (they rotate with you).  Your servers will get to know you and may even have your usual drink waiting for you when you arrive to dinner. 

Remember that all the restaurants and buffets are all you can eat.  You can order whatever you want from the menus, I have ordered two appetizers or two desserts and even off the kids menu.  In addition, we ordered an extra entree to split to try something that we were not sure of and a side from one of the other entrées.  If you do not like your food, let your server know they will bring you something else to eat.  

Yes, you can get Mickey Ice Cream Bars for free on the cruise ship.  Usually, you will find them listed on the kids’ dessert menu during dinner.  However, anyone can order them even if they are not listed.  My daughter has one every night for dessert.  They are her favorite!

 

 

If you are unsure if you may experience sea sickness, I highly recommend bringing aboard MotionEaze and ginger root capsules.  As someone who does get slightly car sick, I have found that taking one ginger root capsule a day starting the day before we board the ship, allows me not to feel sea sick during our cruises.  I have learned though that I have to continue to take the capsule even if I am not feeling sick at all to help prevent the feeling before it starts.  MotionEaze is an oil that gets placed behind your ears, it smells like peppermint and is also safe for children.  MotionEaze has helped me out when I have forgotten to take the ginger root capsules and the oil works within minutes.  I have also used MotionEaze on my daughter a couple times when the waves were really rough and she started not feeling well.  Between those two items I can enjoy my vacation.

 

 

 

I have more posts about Disney cruising, including Caribbean excursions and Alaskan excursions.