First timer- Must do's ?

[lovepooh]

We are leaving in 5 short days for our cruise! woohoo so excited this is our first curise ever. We always do WDW so this the first time we are cruising it.

My question is what are the must do's for a first timer. I am traveling with my DH and DD who is 15.

Any thoughts would be awesome! Thanks!:wave:

 

[216bruce]

If you are on the Dream- Aquaduck, Animators Palette, Detective Agency game (on-board), Anything at Castaway Cay is wonderful. If you can afford it- The Dolphin or Sea Lion Encounter at Blue Lagoon (Nassau Shore Excursion) . This last one was the highlight of our cruise a couple of weeks ago. You get in the water with these amazing animals and get some "up close" time with them. The whole island was beautiful and quite a welcomed change from Nassau and hair-braiding, t-shirt shops and tanzanite dealers.

 

[Phonedave]

We are leaving in 5 short days for our cruise! woohoo so excited this is our first curise ever. We always do WDW so this the first time we are cruising it.

My question is what are the must do's for a first timer. I am traveling with my DH and DD who is 15.

Any thoughts would be awesome! Thanks!:wave:

The easy answer is you must do everything.

Really, though, if I had to give one thing you must do, (aside from my usual spiel about getting to the cruise port early on departure day) it would be to read your Personal Navigator. Thats the newsletter of events that you get in your stateroom each night.

In fact, you could go really crazy and bring three highlighters with you, one for each of you. The Navigator is laid out like a TV guide screen, with things blocked out during the day. That way you can see at a glance what will conflict with what.

Take 10 minutes each night and go over the next days Navigator. Look at EVERYTHING that is offered and then each person can highlight what they want to do. There are a lot of things going on, and you don't want to miss something that really appeals to you because you did not know about it.

-dave

 

[Phonedave]

If you are on the Dream- Aquaduck, Animators Palette, Detective Agency game (on-board), Anything at Castaway Cay is wonderful. If you can afford it- The Dolphin or Sea Lion Encounter at Blue Lagoon (Nassau Shore Excursion) . This last one was the highlight of our cruise a couple of weeks ago. You get in the water with these amazing animals and get some "up close" time with them. The whole island was beautiful and quite a welcomed change from Nassau and hair-braiding, t-shirt shops and tanzanite dealers.

I will second the Blue Lagoon excursions. I have done both Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter and the Blackbeards Stingray. Stingray's - not so hot.
Dolphins - excellent. Expensive, but excellent. The facility there is really quite nice. And they have multiple boats going back to the port.

I don't know if I would call it a "must do" but it is a very nice (if not pricey) excursion.


-dave

 

[Atomicmickey]

Here's one thing that's a "must do". RELAX. :lol:

Seriously, with my Dream cruise being my first cruise, I was so overwhelmed with getting on board and getting oriented, the first day was a blur of trying to figure everything out. Now that I've done it, I would be much more relaxed on the first day.

Of course, it didn't help that I was the coordinator for a family trip of 13 people, everyone's well being sorta fell under my auspices.

The point is--it all worked out, Disney has it under control, don't worry, be happy, relax and enjoy.

There will be enough time to do all of the 'must-do's', and, paradoxically, a few 'must-do's' that you didn't do, and can look forward to doing next time.

It'll be great! Enjoy!

 

[ChuckElias]

Must do on the Dream: "The Golden Mickeys" show, especially because it's no longer on the other ships, I believe. It's been re-imagined and now includes a scene from "Tangled". Sadly, Roy Disney no longer speaks to the audience. But it has always been my favorite show. In fact, here's a picture of me with Ensign Benson:

I'm not sure there's a "must do" on Castaway Cay, especially since your 15-year-old may want to do the teen activities. But my family really enjoys renting bikes and riding the bike trail. If you're water people, then you should try to find the Mickey statue in the snorkeling area. My daughter had a blast looking for it.