I went on a Disney cruise for my very first cruise. Let me tell you 10 things you should know for your first Disney cruise.

1. If you get motion sickness, I suggest getting something medicinal to help you. I get motion sickness and I had one of those patches you wear behind the ear. I was also one of the few people that got sick from the patch and had to take it off the first night. Thankfully I was fine for the rest of the cruise besides having vertigo. The next time I go on a cruise I will invest in some vertigo medicine since that’s what seemed to hit me the most.
2. Your room card is basically your lifeline. Don’t lose it. You tie a credit card to your account so whenever you buy something on the ship you just swipe your room card. It’s then charged to your room. I went on a 3 day Bahamas cruise and we stopped at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. They consider this island as part of the ship, so therefore you do NOT need cash. Just your room card.
3. Utilize the adults only sections. Y’all there are a LOT of children on a Disney cruise. I mean duh, Disney. The main pool with the cool slide, and giant screen showing movies is the kid zone. On my ship, The Dream, there was a deck that had a pool and Jacuzzi for adults only. Kids could pass through though, which wasn’t that bad. Also on the Dream there was one more pool that was strictly adults only. Kids weren’t even allowed to set foot on this part of the ship. It was very peaceful when you needed a moment of quiet.
4. I had a freaking fantastic time on my 3 day cruise, but if you plan on going on one try to save up for a longer one. At least 5-7 days is my recommendation. There is SO much to do on the ship itself and then even more if you get off at the stops. We chose not to get off at the first stop, and we still were busy all day doing activities.
5. Do your best to not spend extra money on water. BRING A WATERBOTTLE. Bring your own water bottle to refill over the course of the cruise. They had a soft drink fountain station where you could get free drinks all the time, but they were small cups. We ended up buying bottled water 2-3 times. Adds up. Same with coffee! They had a speciality coffee shop, where you could get cappuccinos or espressos but they had regular coffee for free all the time. Trust me you can do without that $5-6 coffee drink. Their free coffee was just as delicious. Now I know I’m saying “free” when in reality it’s part of the cost of your cruise, but why pay more for things when you can get the stuff included?
6. Do your best to not spend extra money on food. For the most part your meals are all included in your cruise price. On the Dream, there was the Cabanas buffet, Enchanted Gardens, The Royal Palace, Animator’s Palate, Flo’s Cafe, and room service. You did have to tip for room service, but the food was considered part of the cruise price. The food that did cost money were at the popcorn stations, the specialty coffee shop, any alcoholic beverage, food at the bars, and their two fine dining restaurants; Palo and Remy. I will admit, going to Palo or Remy will be worth it. We went to Palo’s and it was delicious food. I don’t like dressing up in fancy clothes, but my girlfriend loves it and she enjoyed the entire experience.
7. Splurge a little, specifically on a photo. Your camera/phone is great taking snapshots in the moment, but a professional photo cannot be beat. They have professional photographers all over the ship at the dinner events, and character greetings etc. We got our photo taken by them quite a bit, and you could check them out at a kiosk before you made your decision. We loved one of us taken at Palo’s so we both ended up getting a copy of the photo. To me this was worth the cost because it’s a professional photo of the amazing memory. I’ll look at that photo in the years to come and remember what a great night that was with my girlfriend.
8. Talk to strangers. This one was a little harder for me, which the people that know me thought was amusing. That’s how I made some of my current friends, just chatting them up at whatever location we were at. My girlfriend was good at this, she chatted up anyone and everyone. It’s how we managed to win at trivia because we teamed up with another couple. So talk to people! You can learn some interesting things about others, and maybe make long term friends! With social media in this day in age, you can connect with them even after you’re off the ship.
9. Get the Disney Cruise app for your phone. This handy tool helped me keep in contact with my girlfriend if we went to do separate things. To be fair that was rare for us but we used it a couple of times. I chose to put my phone in the safe the after the first day because I was on vacation. I wanted to get away from my electronic device. You’d be surprised at how amazing it is to be detached from it for three days.
10. RELAX. You’re on vacation! I was raised in a family where you had to GO GO GO on vacation, you know do everything possible. We were on the ship relaxing by the pool and I was feeling guilty. I thought to myself, why am I feeling guilty right now? It was because I was sunbathing instead of doing something. I had that vacation guilt ingrained in me, but I ignored it. I was on MY vacation, and I wanted to relax. I told myself you can do whatever you want, because it is your vacation. So I embraced the relaxation, and let me tell you it was the best I’ve ever slept in months.

I hope reading this has helped you in some way. I had read a few blogs about tips and tricks for Disney cruises, but nothing ever really prepares you for your first cruise. You will be overwhelmed, but you’ll have a fun time too! I can’t wait to go on another with my girlfriend, and yes it will most likely be another Disney cruise.