Not gonna lie… I have the travel bug BAD! Since COVID-19 has pretty much locked down all travel for me and my family for the rest of 2020, I am itching to get away. My brain started drifting towards the memories of our Disney Cruise last year and how phenomenal it was. We can’t wait to go again! So far, the cruise line is shut down until October of 2020, but that doesn’t mean I can’t dream for the future. Here are some tips and recommendations so that you can get inspired, too!
Tip #1 – Door Decorations and the Fish Extender Gift Exchange
On the Disney cruise ships, the doors are magnetized so plenty of people decorated their doors with magnets they brought from home. It made it super fun to walk through the halls and see the creative things guests did with their doors. Tons of people brought customized magnets with their favorite characters and their names engraved on them. We brought some magnet letters from home to decorate our door and a couple of little cute magnets. I bought cheap letters so we did have a bit of an issue with them falling off a bunch, so I definitely advise buying strong, quality magnets so that you’re not spending precious time putting them back up over and over again.
The Fish Extender gift exchange is something you organize before your cruise. Once you get your room number, you can find groups on Facebook for your cruise date and the organizer of the group will send out information for other families that you can buy little gifts for. It’s sort of like a Secret Santa for cruises! Each person in your room will have their own little cubby hole for the families to put little items into. People buy (or make) these little cloth cubby holes that you can hang from a fishhook outside your door. If you’re not very handy with a sewing machine, there are tons of folks on Etsy that will make custom extenders for about $40. We did not participate in this, but it is certainly a fun option!
Tip #2 – Lanyard with ID Holder
Before you get on your cruise, make sure you have a lanyard with a clear ID holder. Repeat guests of Disney cruises will get these lanyards for free, but if you’re a first time cruiser with Disney you are out of luck. They sell them in the gift shop for about $15-$20 each, but you can easily get 50 of them for the same price if you plan ahead. Having one of these lanyards is important because you will need to show your room key pretty much anywhere you go on the ship and it was handy and convenient to have around our necks the whole time. I bought these waterproof phone pouches before we left and they were a fantastic purchase! We could put our phones, room keys, and money in the pouch and just go. No need for pockets, no need for purses or big bags to lug around. We followed the directions that came with the pouches and they kept our phones dry the whole time while we were in and out of pools and the ocean.
Tip #3 – Disney Cruise Line App
While onboard, Disney has an app for cruisers called the Disney Navigator App. Through the app, you can take a look at the ship dining and activity schedule, your account balance and payments, a map of the ship, and excursion information. I have extremely mixed feelings about their app. On the one hand, it is incredibly useful to find things to do onboard and to keep all of your scheduled activities in one place. It was also helpful if we had questions about where we were dining and what the food options were in that restaurant. The downside is that what you see in the schedule is dependent upon the time that shows in your phone – NOT ship time. This is problematic when you’re traveling through time zones and your phone time is not always reliable – which means you may have to search a little bit for the activity you’re looking for in the app. Additionally, the app does have a chat function designed for people to be able to use rather than paying for those pricey ship phones. Unfortunately, the chat function is horrible and super slow. If you’re looking for your kids, it may take them an hour to even receive your message. Trey and I tried to use the chat function a couple times and we eventually gave up because we would find each other before the other person even got the message. My advice would be to spend some time really getting to know the app and how to navigate it. If you’re bringing older kiddos, make sure to get them waterproof watches, set them all to ship time once you get there, and just be really clear on meeting places and timing if you let them roam by themselves. You can use the app to chat if you want to, but I wouldn’t depend on it.
Tip #4 – Reservations for Palo
Palo is an adult-exclusive specialty restaurant aboard the Disney Wonder. Trey and I ate here on our first night onboard the ship and it was lovely. The food was amazing and the service was excellent. Reservations are required for this restaurant and I recommend making your reservation as soon as possible BEFORE boarding. Reservations definitely fill up fast! By the time we were able to make reservations, there were only a few time slots available on the first night. Turns out the first night was a perfect night to do this. Our waitress told us that every other night typically gets really busy and packed, so we were glad that we got to go when it was a little quieter. There is a dress code for this restaurant so bring a nice outfit for a romantic evening with your significant other!
Tip #5 – Ports of Call Excursions
We opted to do an excursion offered by Disney for each Port of Call just to keep things safe and simple. The pricing was actually pretty comparable with other companies and it basically ensured that we would be back to the ship on time and we wouldn’t be left in Mexico J. These are the excursions we did in each port of call:
Cabo San Lucas – Salsa Y Salsa!
This was by far my favorite excursion of the 3 we did. The location was gorgeous with a beautiful view of the beach and the ladies that led the group were a hoot. They teach you how to make margaritas from scratch (no store bought sweet and sour mix!!) and after you’ve made your first margarita they continue bringing them to you until you cut yourself off. We were definitely a little buzzed on our way back to the ship!! They also teach you how to make 6 different salsas from scratch using fresh ingredients all with varying degrees of “heat.” After the margaritas and the salsa, they clear the room of all the tables and chairs and make the room into a dance floor. They teach everyone how to do basic Salsa steps with their partners and make it into a little dance party. They pick a few judges out of the audience who may not really want to dance and they give out titles like “Best Couple” and “Best Dancers.” We had a blast! The cruise line offers this excursion in Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. Apparently, Cabo is the best place to do this excursion. Our dining mates did this same excursion in the other ports of call and they were less impressed with the location and the staff. If you’re looking for something to do in Cabo, I highly suggest Salsa Y Salsa!
Mazatlan – Mexican Folkloric Show and Sightseeing
Honestly, this was probably my least favorite excursion of the 3. This excursion is a bus tour that takes you through the city to a few sightseeing locations and then a theatre where they do the Folkloric Show. The bus then takes you back through the city and lets you get off near one of the big shopping districts. After you go shopping or eat lunch (we chose to eat lunch and take our time at a restaurant since the shopping in the area was basically one big tourist trap), you get back on the bus and head back to the ship. The pros of the tour was that you get to see some cool parts of Mazatlan like the Cathedral and the fish market. The Cathedral was probably my favorite stop of the tour just because it is so gorgeous and the architecture is amazing. The show at the theatre had wonderful music, costumes, and had a lot of great cultural information. Cons of the tour include the sound quality in both the bus and the theatre. Our bus operator was extremely muffled in the sound system they used, so I could barely make out what he was saying about the locations we were driving by. Likewise, the “narrator” of the show was describing the costumes and culture behind the music and dancing, but I could barely make out what he was saying. Another con is that the tour did not include any food or beverage, so food was an added cost on top of the excursion. While the Cathedral was definitely my favorite stop, I felt a little awkward traipsing through it as a tourist since there were people actually in there praying and worshipping. It made me feel like I was intruding on something sacred. Overall, I would look for something else to do in Mazatlan.
Puerto Vallarta – Day Pass to the Hyatt Ziva
Since we had been to Puerto Vallarta before on another trip, I figured this would be a good time to just find a resort and relax on land. The cruise line offered an option for a day pass to the Hyatt Ziva complete with transportation to and from the ship and it was perfect. The resort offers a beach, food, poolside bar, and some water sports so that you can make a whole day just relaxing by the water or being active. I took a little kayaking tour along the beach and ended in a great view of the city. It was a nice resort and the perfect way to spend the day.
SIDENOTE- If you have never been before, I highly suggest going on the Las Caletas Hideaway excursion. The island is amazing and includes hiking, tons of cooking classes, tequila tasting, animal experiences, snorkeling and more. It really has something for everybody! It was definitely a highlight in one of our previous trips!
Tip #6 – Luggage and Debarkation
On debarkation day, they ask that you put your luggage outside your room and the porters will pick them up and remove your luggage from the ship. You’re then assigned a debarkation group and you can only get off the ship with that group. If you’re not in a hurry and don’t mind waiting around the ship, then you can certainly follow this process. However, you can choose to keep your luggage in your room and debark whenever the hell you want to! You just have to carry your luggage with you when you leave your room and keep it with you until you leave.
Our cruise was so much fun and we didn’t even have any kids with us! Disney is so great at all of the little details and making the experience truly magical. The price tag on a Disney cruise is definitely a little higher than many other cruise lines, but I feel like it was worth every penny. The shows were Broadway caliber and not corny or cheesy at all and the food was amazing – even in the main dining rooms. We really can’t wait until we get to take Reggie for the first time!
Freedom Reader 