Disney Cruise: Tips for First-Timers

The Disney Fantasy at Castaway Cay. Disney’s private island.

If you’re a Disney Cruise first-timer, it can be overwhelming to prepare for or even book a cruise. I put together a long list of things you need to know to speed up the learning curve for you. I have tips for booking your first Disney Cruise, preparing for it, and enjoying it once you’re there.

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Booking your First Disney Cruise

Preparing for Your Cruise

Embarkation Day

Onboard Your First Disney Cruise

Before your First Disney Cruise

The tips for first time Disney Cruisers start long before you get onboard. Here’s some things to check off before you walk the gangplank. First up is what stateroom to book if it’s your first time on a Disney Cruise.

Booking Your First Disney Cruise

1.       Book Your Cruise Early

Unlike many cruise lines, Disney Cruise Lines rarely have last minute deals. They have something called Restricted Guaranteed Staterooms that will offer you a cheaper rate (in exchange for full, nonrefundable payment), but even those are usually available (and taken) months in advance. The regular prices almost never go down, so plan way ahead, and get the exact room you want for your first Disney Cruise. When we’ve booked way in advance, we’ve been able to pick the exact room we wanted and the rooms other people in our party wanted. When we did a Restricted Guaranteed, we ended up with a balcony that was entirely steel. We couldn’t see the water when we sat down.

2.       Book a Verandah

Also unlike a lot of cruise lines, Disney Cruise ships have an abundance of verandahs (outside balconies for staterooms). Somewhere around 75% of the staterooms on any of the five Disney ships have verandahs. What this means is that the price difference between an inside cabin, oceanview, and a verandah is not that significant. Therefore, I highly recommend a verandah on a Disney Cruise. We use it constantly to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee in the morning, have a secluded place to read (especially when our baby is napping), view the ocean and ports, sit and view the stars before bed, and we’ve even seen a family of dolphins down below when we stopped at Castaway Cay. Verandahs vary in regards to view, size, and privacy, so I recommend doing your research (especially in light of the personal story I shared in point one).

Third Baby to the Right on his first Disney Cruise verandah

3.       Book Midship

If you’re sensitive to motion sickness, or you’re not sure, book a stateroom at Midship. While the side-to-side motion will be the same, the up and down motion will be far more severe at the front or back of the ship (think of it like a see-saw), particularly if the weather is bad. My wife was prone to nausea and motion sickness when she was pregnant a few years ago, and we managed to get a room adjacent to the midship elevators. It also had an extended balcony, which was amazing.

Once You’ve Booked Your First Disney Cruise

Next here are some tips for things to do after you’ve booked and before you set sail.

1. Download Disney Cruise Line Navigator App

The first thing you want to do if you’ve never done a Disney Cruise before is to download the app and get your reservation connected to it. Once you do that, you will have access to all the excursion and activity booking you want to do prior to sailing. It’s also important to use the app once you are onboard the ship. This is how you will know the boat layout and daily schedule, where you will book activities, and how DCL will contact you in emergencies. You will want your phone on airplane mode but connected to the ship’s wifi.

2. Pay Off Your Balance On Time! (120 Days before sailing)

Your balance for your Disney Cruise is due 120 days before sailing. Failure to pay in full could mean forfeiting your reservation. I’m not a very organized person when it comes to vacation planning, so this always makes me nervous.

3. Book Activities and Excursions (75 Days before sailing, because you’re new)

Dunn River Falls excursion in Jamaica

If you are doing a Disney Cruise for the first time, you will be able to book certain activities (like spa treatments, drink tastings, and character meals) as well as excursions 75 days out. Unfortunately, those who have cruised more than once with Disney will have an earlier window and will take many of the reservations before you get a chance. There will still be plenty for you to do, but just be aware that you might not be able to get all of your first choices.

I recommend doing research ahead of time to decide which excursions and activities you want on your first Disney Cruise so that you are ready to book the second your window opens at midnight. As people change and cancel their plans as the cruise date approaches, keep checking back for excursions. Some people swear by non-Disney excursions because they are often just as good at a much lower price. You can also research those, just be sure you make it back to the boat on time. We always book with Disney because they guarantee they won’t leave you at the port if something goes wrong with an excursion.

4. Choose Dinner Seating

Disney offers two different dinner options. You can eat dinner at 5:45 and then go watch the show at 8:15, or you can watch the show at 5:45, then eat at 8:15. I have young kids, so I prefer the early seating to make sure my kids eat. Then we can decide at the late show if they have the energy to enjoy it. I especially prefer the early seating with my infant.

5. Do You Want to Dine with Other Families?

One thing you should know about Disney Cruise dining is that you may be placed at a table with other families. This may not bother you if you’re the outgoing type, or if you’re like me, you have a father that enjoys making friends with everyone he’s ever met. However, if this doesn’t appeal to you, you can request to be seated separately by calling ahead prior to the cruise. Despite this warning, we’ve never requested to be alone, and we’ve never been placed with another family.

6. Online Check-In (30 Days)

You must check-in and upload all of your cruise documents, passports, or other forms of identification at the 30-day mark. You want to do this as soon as possible in order to get an early port arrival time. Having an early time gets you more time on the ship, and that extra time also means lower crowds for things like trying out the slide for the first time. It’s also great to get on the boat early to book extra nursery care hours. If you have a baby with you, I recommend doing that immediately. We do that every time, so that we can get the right nursery hours for our little guy.

7. Port Arrival Time

As mentioned above, having an early Port Arrival Time for your first Disney Cruise is a great way to get on the boat, have some relaxing extra hours, and get good reservations. Another thing you should know about port arrival times is that, if you show up too early, they will make you wait outside or in the car until it’s time. So I don’t recommend showing up early.

8. Packing

There are lots of items you need to pack for your first Disney Cruise. Make sure you bring clothes, swimsuits, sunscreen, and tons of toiletries and medicine. And of course make sure you don’t forget your ID and cruise documents. I have made an extensive packing list and instructions here to help you prepare. Check out the article, the PDF, and Amazon idea list below (As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn from purchases and go on more Disney Cruises).

Article about Packing for a Disney Cruise
Packing List PDF
Amazon Shopping List For Packing

9. Fly or Drive a Day Early

One time my wife and I went to Disney World, during our trip home our transmission blew. We had to buy a new car in Lake City, FL. Since then I’m really paranoid about the possibility of car trouble or airline delays making me miss my cruise. Therefore, I highly recommend driving or flying in a day early and spending the night in a hotel before you board your first Disney Cruise. That way, if there are any unforeseen circumstances that arise from travel, you have a much larger window to adjust. This is particularly useful on your first cruise because you can use the extra time to figure out where you need to be for your port arrival time.

10.   Carry-On

When you board your first Disney Cruise, you won’t have all of your luggage available the second you board the boat. Therefore, it’s important to pack essentials (like your phone, wallet, change of clothes, swimsuit, and reading material) in your carry-on. That way you can go ahead and start enjoying your cruise before you get your luggage. It’s also imperative that you pack your cruise documents and identification and have it easily accessible in your carry-on when you board the boat.

11.   Cruise Documents

I know I’ve said twice, but it’s worth saying again. Do NOT forget your cruise documents or identification. Then you can’t board the boat. It would be terrible to get all the way to your first Disney Cruise and not be able to get on. Here’s a list of what you need based on age and cruise location. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/passport-travel-documentation/

Miscellaneous Ideas Before Cruising

Here are some other things to think about before you sail, but aren’t as time sensitive as the above list.

1. Alcohol

Each adult, 21 and older, is allowed to bring two bottles of wine or a six-pack of beer on the boat. If you plan to drink during your Disney Cruise, make sure you bring your quota so that you can save some money. Remember, you can bring only wine and beer, unopened, and no hard liquor. You can also bring the same amount of alcohol on from every port of call.

2. Disney Phone Call

One unique thing you can do to prepare for your first Disney Cruise is to request a call from a Disney character to get you or children excited. I had Goofy call my grumpy 70 year old stepfather. It was hilarious to see the look of confusion and revulsion on his face. Here’s the link to set it up https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/preparing-for-cruise/character-calls

3. Door Decorations

If you’re a Disney Cruise first-timer, one thing you will immediately notice when you walk the stateroom halls is how intense many cruisers are about decorating their doors. The doors are metal, so you can put magnets on it. Many people purchase custom magnets celebrating their cruise, favorite characters, birthdays, or families and then cover their doors with them. If that sounds like fun, go for it. Here’s a magnet we had for one of our trips.

Our family’s door magnet for a recent cruise. My wife bought it on Etsy, and then we forgot it. This is on our refrigerator. But you get the point.

4. Sea Sickness

If you are prone to motion sickness, or you aren’t sure because you are new to cruising, I recommend bringing anti-nausea medication with you. No one wants to spend their entire cruise dealing with motion sickness. When my wife was pregnant on one of our sailings, she used Bonine, ginger beer, and Sea Bands to manage her nausea. Here’s a link if you need it.

5. Popcorn Bucket

You can purchase a souvenir popcorn bucket on the boat in order to get discounted popcorn refills. This way you will have a cheap snack for each of the shows. I list this item before you get on the boat because if you have souvenir bucket from Disney World or find one at a garage sale, you can bring it on the boat to avoid having to pay for the souvenir bucket. My kids love popcorn, so we always bring our bucket to make use of one of the few cheap things on the boat.

6. Phone Plan

Being in international waters means that cellphone coverage is spotty, and if you’re capable of voice/text/data, you might be racking up a lot of charges. Make sure to check with your phone carrier about international plans both for in the middle of the water and in foreign ports. We have ATT, which charges insane amounts of money for data in the middle of the ocean, but is only $10 a day in the port. Therefore, we keep our phones on airplane mode (but with wifi for Disney intranet) until we are in port. Don’t forget to do this or else you’ll end up with a $250 data bill like we did.

7. Casual/Formal Clothes

Some cruise lines are very serious about requiring formal or semi-formal dining attire every night. This is not the case with Disney. At dinner, you will see people dressed up, you will see people in costume, and you will see people in cruise casual attire. The only thing that Disney requests is that you don’t wear swimsuits or tank tops to dinner. Therefore, it’s up to you how fancy or themed you want your party to be.

The only exception to this rule is fancy, adult dining. If you are headed to Remy, Palo, Palo Steakhouse, or Enchante, you will need to wear pants and a collared shirt at minimum for guys and skirt/slacks and blouse or dress for women. No flip flops either.

Perfectly acceptable dining attire.

8. Facebook Group

Each Disney Cruise sailing has a Facebook group where people discuss, make new friends, and get excited together. Just look up your boat and date in Facebook search and find your people. It’s great for discussing excursions, logistics, and asking questions.

9. Tipping

If you’re new to cruising, you may not be aware that you are expected to tip a variety of cast members (employees). This is not included in the cost of your cruise unless you ask them ahead of time. Disney requests that you tip $14.50 per day, per person. This goes to cover the gratuity for your room steward, server, assistant server, and head server (a dining section manager). If you are staying in concierge, there are more people they will want you to include. You can refuse this tip, but unless something terrible happens that is directly a cast member’s fault, and they refuse to address it, they deserve it.

Additionally, there are several other places where tipping is expected that is not included in your stateroom folio. You will be asked to tip on receipts for dining alcohol and souvenir drink purchases, bartender and barista purchases, spa treatments, and other similar activities. It will be charged to your stateroom after you decide the amount. If you find a bar that you plan to frequent regularly, tip the bartender well, and they will treat you like a regular and have your drink ready for you. Finally, the porters and shuttle drivers are not part of this system. Please make sure you have cash for them. For reference, I typically tip $5 to every porter, port shuttle driver, and excursion employee. If a porter is stuck helping my family for an extended period, I will give them a lot more because they can’t help other guests during that time.

Day of Your First Disney Cruise Sailing

Here’s some Disney Cruise tips for first-timers to help navigate the day of embarkation.

1. DCL Transportation

Disney Cruise Line offers transportation from select airports and participating hotels. If it’s available for your cruise, I highly recommend using it. The cost is $30-40 per person, which is steep compared to an Uber, but similar to parking at the terminal for your trip. I recommend it for peace of mind. Unlike other forms of transportation, the boat is not likely to leave without you in the event of a delay because you are with a Disney employee who can communicate with the boat on your behalf.

2. Parking

If you’re driving to the port for your first Disney cruise, make sure you look up everything you can about how and where to park. For some terminals, it might be easier to park at a hotel and rideshare to the port. For instance, at the Port of New Orleans, when we drove, they made us park in an uncovered dirt lot a mile away from the boat. Then, they shuttled us to the boat. It cost $100, and our car was extremely hot and filthy when we got it back. I definitely recommend finding a more secure (from weather and crime) option at a hotel since you’ll have to shuttle anyway. However, at Port Canaveral, they have a parking deck that allows you walk directly across a bridge to the cruise terminal. This was an easy process, so we will always drive to Canaveral. We live in Atlanta, so that’s easier for us than most. In general, we’ve found driving and parking to be easier when travelling with little kids that can’t carry their own luggage.

3. Be on Time

Being late for your port arrival time will keep you from enjoying the boat for as long. It will also slow things down for everyone because they evenly space out the arrivals to allow for better crowd management. And most importantly, if you’re too late, they will leave without you.

4. Ask for Upgrade

Once you pass through security at the port, you will have to check in at a desk much like an airline ticket counter. This is where you can ask for an upgrade to a better room or even a concierge room. If your cruise is not full, there is a chance that they will upgrade you at a discounted price and a very small chance that they might upgrade you for free.

5. Luggage Takes Time

I mentioned this when I talked about packing your carry-on luggage, but your luggage will most likely not be in your room by the time you get to the room for the first time. They must sort all the pieces and bring them up to all the rooms. We’ve never had to wait more than 2 hours and always had our bags in time to get ready for dinner (early seating). To speed things along, make sure you use the luggage tags they mailed you to properly number your pieces and send them to the right stateroom before giving them to the porters.

6. Explore the Boat (or Get a Tour)

When you get on your Disney Cruise for the first time, or even if it’s just your first time on that ship, you can sign up for a Walking the Ship tour to learn the layout and history of the ship. They’ll probably even point out some secrets that you wouldn’t find out by yourself. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with the ship. The better you know the ship, the easier it will be for you to get to all the activities you want to do. Even if you don’t want to do the tour, it’s good to spend some time exploring the boat. That’s our first move (other than getting more nursery slots) every time we get on the boat. It gets us excited and prepares us for finding everything.

7. It’s a Small World! Nursery

For cruisers ages 0-3, Disney Cruise Line offers the It’s a Small World Nursery. Unlike the other Kids’ Clubs aboard the ship, this one does cost money. However, it’s only $9 an hour, pretty reasonable considering how much everything else costs. This is a great program to get some time to yourself while your infant or toddler has a safe environment to explore. Our little guy loves it, and we sent him for a few hours every day. If you are aboard the Fantasy, say hello to Gabby for us, she was amazing. Also, if you’re bringing a baby onboard, I recommend you see my article about taking a Disney Cruise with an infant.

If you plan to use the nursery, here are a few tips. You can book 10 hours of care prior to boarding, be strategic about it. Then, when you first get on the boat, head straight to the nursery to book any other hours you want. We really like having childcare during shows, right before dinner, and early afternoon for some alone time. It will book up fast, especially for days at sea. Head here if you want to read an exhaustive list of tips for the Disney Cruise nursery.

8. Paying

By the time you get on the boat, you’ll have already paid for the cruise (and the majority of the tips if you chose to pay ahead of time), but there are still lots of potential costs. Disney will charge your credit card on file periodically during your trip for these incidentals. However, if you have gift cards or cash you would like to use, you can apply that to your stateroom each day to keep your card from getting charged. I have also heard from other cruisers (but it’s not on Disney’s website) that if you put enough cash down, they won’t make you keep a credit card on file. You can ask about that and manage payment at Guest Services. I do not recommend visiting Guest Services the day of embarkation or disembarkation. In our experience, the line is insane.

If you have a Disney Chase Visa, you can go to guest services and get a sticker on your stateroom card that alerts all vendors of any discounts that you are entitled to. If you get your rewards card (a separate card from the credit card) prior to sailing, you can also use that to pay off your incidentals. On our last cruise, I realized I had $100 on my rewards card and was able to apply that. You have to get the rewards card by mail or at one of the Disney Parks guest services ahead of time.

9.       Safety Assembly

There is one tedious (but important) thing you need to do on your first day on your first Disney Cruise before you can really start enjoying your vacation. You need to report to your safety assembly at the correct time and location in order to learn about emergency situations, life vests, and life rafts. If you don’t show up, everyone else in your group will sit there until they track you down. Get there quickly, so you can leave quickly.

On the Boat

If you’re a Disney Cruise first-timer, here are some the best tips for once you cruise departs.

1. Free Room Service

You probably knew that most of the food on the boat was free, but the room service is also free. Order breakfast to your room. Order cookies and milk at bedtime. It’s all included. You will be asked to pay a tip on the delivery, and for some reason you will have to pay for cans of soda (and, of course, alcohol). As parents of little kids, we like to order some room service just before naptime to feel less trapped in the room.

2. Shows

The shows on Disney Cruises are Broadway caliber. You may think that they are based on movies you’ve already seen or targeted exclusively at children, and you might be right. Yet, they are so well done that people of all ages, with or without kids, love them. If you’re going to go to a show, make sure to get there early so that you can get a good seat. Forget about that special booth on the sides of the balconies. Someone from concierge is probably already sitting in it. Also, they have booster seats available for shorter guests. Finally, you can bring snacks and drinks in there. There are usually at least two of these main Disney shows per sailing. On the other nights, there will be other entertainment such as magicians or musicians. These are also high caliber and very entertaining.

Second Daughter to the Right Likes the Walt Disney Theater

3. Kids’ Clubs

Where Disney Cruise really shines is in the activities that they have available for children and families. Most prominent of which are the kids’ clubs. They have the Oceaneer Club and Lab for elementary age kids, Edge for tweens, and Vibe for teenagers. Each club has age-appropriate activities and supervision that kids love and parents can trust. My kids love the Oceaneer Club so much that it’s hard for us to pull them away to do activities together. They usually make new friends and bond with the cast members. We’ve never had any issues with how they handle safety either. Here’s the list if you want to take a look at the Youth Activities https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/onboard-activities/list/youth-clubs/.

Disney tries to provide something for all ages, so those just over the age of kid also have things to do. Each cruise has the 1820 Society for college-aged guests. They provide activities onboard throughout the voyage as well as special events on Castaway Cay. On the Disney Wish, Disney has stepped up its college-age game by providing them their own the lounge, The Hideaway.

4. Characters

No Disney experience would make any sense without Disney characters. However, if you’re going on your first Disney Cruise, you might not be aware of how many chances there are to see and meet characters. First, many of the shows feature characters throughout the voyage. Second, there will be designated meet-and-greet opportunities with characters every day throughout the ship. The majority of these will take place in or around the lobby, lobby balcony, or near the Walt Disney Theater. There will also be specific events you can book, especially involving the princesses.

Mulan came wandering by during Pixar trivia

Frequent characters include the classic “Fab 5” characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto—they should probably call it Fab 6 because Daisy is usually there, too), most of the Disney princesses both classic and modern, and characters connected to the dining experiences and shows (e.g., Louie the alligator at Tiana’s Restaurant on the Wonder). You can meet pirate-themed characters like Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Hook, and Smee during Pirate Night. You can meet other event specific characters related to things like Pixar Day and Marvel Day as well an nautical-themed characters like Stitch. Finally, you will see the classic characters dressed for specific events as well. So if you’re into Disney Character interactions, have your autograph book and camera ready, because there will be plenty of opportunity to have some magical experiences with them.

We encountered Stitch wandering the hallways.

5. Soda

If this is your first time on a Disney Cruise, you may not know that soda is free. In my experience on other cruises, the only free drinks were water, tea, and coffee. However, Disney steps up by providing unlimited free fountain drinks outside on the pool deck as well as in the buffet restaurant Cabanas. Don’t forget that they WILL charge you for soda when you order room service. They only serve Coke products, as God intended (I’m from Atlanta), including Vitamin Water and Powerade.

6. Extra Cost Drinks

Unfortunately, there are a few consumables that do cost money on a Disney Cruise. As mentioned before, alcohol (except what you bring) and adult dining venues come with a separate charge. Also, smoothies, fancy espresso coffee (lattes and such), and workout drinks cost extra. You can find these at Cove Café, in the rotational dining, at the smoothie bar, and at the Senses Spa. This is sad for me because I usually try to get in a few workouts on the cruise (mostly so I’m nicer and can eat more). I like the FairLife protein drinks they sell at Cove Café and the Smoothie Bar.

Here's a few more tips on extra-expense drinks. There is also an option to buy drinks that come in fun souvenir cups that may also be worth spending extra money. In my experience, we never use them again because we can’t put electronic cups in the dishwasher, and things are too chaotic at our house to wash anything by hand. Finally, if you’re going to spring for a specialty coffee from Cove Café, check out the foam art. They use a special machine that puts characters into the foam. It’s pretty cool.

Awesome Disney foam art

7. Wine at Dinner

If you like having wine with dinner, Disney Cruise offers you a few options. First you can order a glass of wine, pretty standard. Second, you can order a bottle of wine. If you don’t finish it, the servers will keep up with it for you and serve it at your next meal. Third, Disney offers a variety of packages that limit your choices but significantly reduce your cost. Basically, you’ll pay for several bottles at once (chosen from a standard or premium list), and you can choose any of them (or a glass from all of them, if you wish) at each meal, and they’ll keep up with them for you over the course of your voyage. They will cork and package whatever you have left over at the end of the cruise to take with you.

Conversely, if you don’t want to pay for wine at dinner and you brought some with you, you have two options. You can bring the wine you brought with you, and they will serve it to you. I don’t recommend this because they will charge a $25.00 corking fee for each bottle you have them serve you. This is crazy. To avoid this, get a wine glass from any bar and pour it yourself before you head to dinner. They won’t charge you if you show up with your own drink.

Bonus Tip: When we dined at Palo recently (one of the adult dining experiences), they added a wine the sommelier recommended to our package that wasn’t on the list. It was the best bottle we had. I don’t know if they do this for everybody, but it’s something to consider asking about if you find yourself at one of these venues.

The bottle of wine they added to their package. In my experience, the fewer words you can pronounce, the better the wine.

8. Ice Cream

There’s tons of free ice cream to be had. Eat all the ice cream. Forget the consequences. There’s a soft-serve, self-serve ice cream place on the pool deck. They always have vanilla and chocolate, and they rotate out other flavors. And speaking of desserts, whenever you dine, you can ask for as many entrees and desserts and appetizers as you like. It’s a great way to try new foods (or test them on your children).

9. Fireworks

Almost every Disney Cruise sailing has a fireworks night. This usually coincides with Pirate Night. It’s an awesome and beautiful experience. Our kids love it. However, if you or your child is sensitive to noise, the crowd volume and fireworks might be the most overstimulating part of the trip.

Fireworks over the Aquaduck

10. Free Movies

If this is your first time on a Disney Cruise, one unique feature is that they have a movie theater. The theater shows Disney movies that are currently in theaters or have been in theaters recently. If you’re lucky enough to sail when a new movie is released, you can even watch that the day it is released. And the best part is that it’s completely free. Stadium seating, big screen, popcorn (not free), and snacks (not free) make for an awesome experience. We’ve watched a new Star Wars, Frozen 2, Pinocchio, and Thor: Love and Thunder among other movies in the theater.

Each Disney Cruise ship also has what’s called Funnel Vision. There’s a giant screen on the smoke stack that plays movies over the main pool several times a day. These are typically more classic movies. We love wandering by and catching scenes from some of our family’s favorite movies. Sometimes, it’ll make us go get our suits or some lunch and watch.

I’ll always stop for Wreck-It Ralph

11. Activities

As you might expect for a cruise ship, there are tons of activities on board. There are outside things, inside things, family things, kid things, adult things, trivia, karaoke (wish there was more), bingo, scavenger hunts, more trivia, silent DJ parties, and that’s just the free stuff. They even have a baby race (that my son won, by the way). Check your Disney Cruise Line Navigator App every day to see what new things they’ve come up with to entertain you. One thing that’s different about a Disney Cruise (that I like), is that, even though there’s adult only events, it’s not crass comedy or casinos. Even the adult stuff is family-friendly (even if the family isn’t invited), which I think sets a tone of not-being-stupid across the whole boat.

Silent DJ party

12. Rotational Dining

If you’re used to other cruises but a Disney Cruise first-timer, you may not be familiar with rotational dining. While most cruise ships have a central dining room where everyone eats, Disney Cruises have three different dining rooms that you rotate through during your voyage. Your phenomenal waitstaff rotates with you. Each restaurant has a different theme, characters, possible shows, and menu. My family loves this because it creates new and interesting environments every night.

Second Daughter to the Right hanging out with Rapunzel at her restaurant

13. Dinner 5 minutes late (but not too late)

Speaking of dining, here’s another tip. At the exact time of your dining (5:45 for early, 8:00 for late dining), there will be a long line of people waiting to be seated. If you show up about 5 minutes late, you can usually walk right in. This is especially important on the first night at each restaurant since no one will know where their table is. However, don’t show up too late or your servers will have to scramble to get you fed and out so that they can prepare for the next seating.

14. Adult Restaurants

I’ve already mentioned these before, but if this is your first time on a Disney Cruise, you may not be aware that there are fine dining experiences only for adults on each Disney ship. Disney Wonder and Magic have Palo, Disney Fantasy and Dream have Palo and Remy, and the Disney Wish has Palo Steakhouse and Enchante. All are exquisite dining experiences. Palo on each boat is slightly more affordable. If you are looking for a kid-free, classy experience, book one of these reservations. It’s best to do reserve it as early as possible, but my wife and I were able to grab one in the middle of our cruise recently. Don’t forget that this is the only place that has a dress code on the ships.

Lobster Ravioli at Palo

15. Spa Specials on Port Days

Here’s a quick tip for Disney Cruise first-timers to get the most out of their cruise. Each cruise ship has a spa that provides massages and other typical services. I won’t lie to you—they are very expensive. However, if you really want one of these experiences and want to save a little bit of money, stay on the boat when you are in port. They will usually have discounts since most everyone else is off the ship. Don’t forget to tip them well!

16. Detective Game (Fantasy and Dream), Uncharted Adventure (Wish)

If you’re looking for a fun activity to do with your children or childlike adult friends, check out the detective game on the larger ships or the Uncharted Adventure on the Wish. It’s an interactive scavenger hunt that will have you engaging with paintings and signs and other parts of the ship you may not have paid much attention to. My kids and I loved it on the Fantasy. The technology is a little glitchy, so be prepared to be a little patient.

17. Pools

Each Disney ship will have a variety of pools, splash pads, hot tubs, and waterslides. There will be at least one general pool. Get there early if you want a good chair. Remember that children that aren’t potty-trained can’t use the pools even with a swim diaper. Luckily, there is also a splash pad for younger kids. Next, there will be at least one large water slide on each ship as well. My favorite is the Aquadunk where the floor drops out, but the rest of my family hates it. Finally, there is a least one adult pool and hot tub on each ship.

18. Placeholder

Finally, if you enjoyed your first time Disney Cruise experience, Disney Cruise Line offers guests the option to place a reservation on their next cruise called a placeholder. It’s $250 per room and totally refundable. The best part is the placeholder gets you 10% off the entire price of the next cruise (except for concierge staterooms). You have two years to use it, and if you don’t it will be automatically refunded. We booked two placeholders on our last cruise and are trying to cajole grandparents into coming.

Conclusion and Further Reading

If you’re heading out on (or considering) your first Disney Cruise, I hope this article helped prepare you to have the most magical experience possible. I hope these Disney Cruise tips for first-timers took some of the anxiety away, gave you some fun new ideas, and got you ready become obsessed with DCL like we are.

If you haven’t yet booked your first Disney cruise, and you want to do without an agent, consider booking through Cruise Direct using the image link below. As an affiliate, I’ll earn a commission, and it won’t cost you anything extra.

Finally, if you’re still deciding, here’s a link to my article about whether Disney World or Disney Cruise is better.