I <3 Disney Cruise Line

[sweetpee_1993]

Just....**sigh**....need to say it because you don't really realize the value of the little things until they aren't there. Like Wave phones. DCL is so smart to provide Wave phones. They embrace the multi-family vacations by giving their passengers that one simple gift of communication.

Again, just needed to say it....

 

[TDF]

I remember the use of walkie talkies on ships. It honestly is one of the best things Disney has.

 

[Mkmommy]

It is always the little things that make such a difference. Last month I went on an NCL cruise, the ship was clean, the stateroom was well laid out in regards to storage, the food was good, ports were amazing, but there was something that was missing (besides the lack luster entertainment).

Staff did not look happy, no one was rude or unhelpful, they just did not look like they wanted to be there, and it made a huge difference, as you did not feel like you were welcomed. I don't think I have ever walked past a DCL employee on a ship that does not acknowledge you, but that was not the norm on NCL.

Thing I missed the most, were those wonderful moments you happen upon on DCL when you find a character just wandering around. Last cruise Snow White was always up on deck 5 aft, and one time she was sitting on the floor with a little boy about 3 and they were engaged in this animated conversation, not my child but the look on the little boy's face was priceless.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I agree. So much.

 

[patch553]

Silly question we go on our first Disney cruise in feb what is a wave phone???

 

[TDF]

Silly question we go on our first Disney cruise in feb what is a wave phone???

Only the best thing ever! Straight from Disney:
While aboard the ship and on Castaway Cay, reach out to your fellow travelers via Wave Phone—an option that allows you to text and call without using your personal cell phone. From your Wave Phone, you can call any shipboard phone, stateroom phone or other Wave Phone, making it easy to connect with your travel party or new friends.

In your stateroom, you'll find 2 Wave Phones. Additional phones are available at a fee. For more information about Wave Phones, view our frequently asked questions.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Silly question we go on our first Disney cruise in feb what is a wave phone???

What @TDF said. With teens they really make life easy because you can call or text them anytime. We often decide to do things on the fly. We'll shoot a quick text to the kids telling them what we're doing in case they want to come join us. It's not uncommon for them to show up where we are. Also, they're great for late night check-ins. We use our Wave phones a LOT. Tough to imagine using more primitive means to keep in touch. We'll likely supplement with a few times/places for them to come have mandatory check-ins, too. I'm sure they'll hate it because it's more interruptive to their days of adult-free fun but oh well. Gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

[patch553]

Only the best thing ever! Straight from Disney:
While aboard the ship and on Castaway Cay, reach out to your fellow travelers via Wave Phone—an option that allows you to text and call without using your personal cell phone. From your Wave Phone, you can call any shipboard phone, stateroom phone or other Wave Phone, making it easy to connect with your travel party or new friends.

In your stateroom, you'll find 2 Wave Phones. Additional phones are available at a fee. For more information about Wave Phones, view our frequently asked questions.

thankyou so would be a great way for me and hubby to keep in touch if we decide to do different things do you pay for calling each other???

 

[Kerby626]

The wave phones are free. Only charges if you loose or damage one

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yep! No charge to call or text each other. Now if you tried to place a call back home I'm sure there'd be some crazy charge for that...

 

[TDF]

Yep! No charge to call or text each other. Now if you tried to place a call back home I'm sure there'd be some crazy charge for that...

I’m not even sure if it would connect. LOL Aren’t the wave phone numbers like your stateroom number?

 

[flynnibus]

I’m not even sure if it would connect. LOL Aren’t the wave phone numbers like your stateroom number?

Yes, a derrivative. like room + 001, etc

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I’m not even sure if it would connect. LOL Aren’t the wave phone numbers like your stateroom number?

Oh I don't know. I make my hubby do all the texting and calling. LOL! Maybe you would need to use your in-room phone to call out. I do know you can call like Guest Services and other numbers on the ship with the Wave phones.

 

[flynnibus]

We honestly never used the wave phones this last trip... I hate having to drag something else around to 'watch after'. Tho I did have to go on a hunt two times to find children... it was better than worrying about them losing the phones

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We honestly never used the wave phones this last trip... I hate having to drag something else around to 'watch after'. Tho I did have to go on a hunt two times to find children... it was better than worrying about them losing the phones

I always remind the boys when they are first handed their Wave phones that I control their bank accounts and know they have the money to cover the cost of the phone. Only once did one of them return to the room without their phone. It was the middle of the night when he came in from the club. I woke up enough to say "Well...that'll be $250, kid." He ran from the room and returned within 15 minutes with his phone.

 

[flynnibus]

I always remind the boys when they are first handed their Wave phones that I control their bank accounts and know they have the money to cover the cost of the phone. Only once did one of them return to the room without their phone. It was the middle of the night when he came in from the club. I woke up enough to say "Well...that'll be $250, kid." He ran from the room and returned within 15 minutes with his phone.

If they added texting to the onboard navigator app.. I would be in heaven I loved just carrying my laynard and phone for the whole trip.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

If they added texting to the onboard navigator app.. I would be in heaven I loved just carrying my laynard and phone for the whole trip.

Oh me TOO. That would be ideal! I wonder if it could be done. I guess, yeah, they'd have to expand the free wifi connection to accommodate the iMessages. If they can do the app access without acruing data charges with individual providers, I don't see why they couldn't. That would eliminate the need for the Wave phones.

 

[flynnibus]

Oh me TOO. That would be ideal! I wonder if it could be done. I guess, yeah, they'd have to expand the free wifi connection to accommodate the iMessages. If they can do the app access without acruing data charges with individual providers, I don't see why they couldn't. That would eliminate the need for the Wave phones.

If they added logins to the app.. they could do a disney-only messaging system. Or do a system like 'bump' and allow you to associate that way. Lots of technical ways they could do it.

We also found out during our cruise that the wifi is a bit more than it would seem. If you had push notifications on your phone... you would still get push notifications WITHOUT buying internet. So they filter outbound connections... but the iphone tech for push notifications came through the wifi either way. Fun dork fact

The app had a few bugs... (it couldn't count the days right for us!) - but loved it still. Used it 100x more than I used the paper navigator.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

If they added logins to the app.. they could do a disney-only messaging system. Or do a system like 'bump' and allow you to associate that way. Lots of technical ways they could do it.

We also found out during our cruise that the wifi is a bit more than it would seem. If you had push notifications on your phone... you would still get push notifications WITHOUT buying internet. So they filter outbound connections... but the iphone tech for push notifications came through the wifi either way. Fun dork fact

The app had a few bugs... (it couldn't count the days right for us!) - but loved it still. Used it 100x more than I used the paper navigator.

Absolutely. Having our iPhones on us was the natural thing since it's part of daily life. We're used to having them. We're used to interfacing with them. It felt more natural to us. I thought the amount of info presented far exceeded that of the paper Navigator...and we used it during the 2nd test sailing. It's my understanding it's been tweeked and expanded since our sailing. I was sure to really take my time with the comment card inclusion that detailed the app experience. I also offered a lot of suggestions and praise. We really did find it to be a huuuuuge bump-up to our overall daily cruise life. Silly, I know, but that's how it felt.

 

[Ralphlaw]

They're great, but it usually takes me 2 or 3 days just to again figure out how to use them. For some reason, the button sequence to make calls is not intuitive. Certain buttons have to be pressed in a certain order, and sometimes it just doesn't seem to make sense. It's not just me; my wife and other passengers have said the same thing. Why can't they have a one button "Call" or "Text"? Instead, there's other button(s) to push with funny little symbols that seem not to make sense.

With that being said, once you get the hang of them, they're great, especially with kids. For example, drop off your younger child at one of the kids clubs, and the staff will text you if they need to reach you. Very handy.