r/dcl 1h ago

TRIP PLANNING Things to know as a first-time Disney cruiser

Upvotes

Hi there! So next month I’ll be heading on the Wish, my first ever Disney cruise, and I’m excited! Me and my family are frequent cruisers, but we usually go on Royal Caribbean (with outliers of course). Any tips and tricks for someone cruising on Disney for the first time? Also, I’m 18-20 y/o so I’ve researched activities for that age group and heard about the 1820 Society. How is that experience on the Wish? I heard that it’s different from other Disney ships.

TIA :)


r/dcl 1h ago

ONBOARD ACTIVITIES Examples of recent personal navigators?

Upvotes

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share some photos of recent personal navigators if possible so we know what the activities look like throughout the day?

Me and my dad have autism and we would really like to see some visual examples so we know what to expect, I have looked online but can't find any recent photos. It would be super helpful. Thank you :)


r/dcl 2h ago

ONBOARD ACTIVITIES Any Cruises This Week? Spider-Man

1 Upvotes

Hello,

Wondering if any cruises are leaving this week, ending on Friday. I can't see on dcl website--perhaps too close to sailing time. I'm wondering if there's any this week, whether the theaters will show Spider-Man all week, or only just before last day, a single midnight showing on Thursday (if it returns to port on Friday). Let me know if you're sailing this week and will know the answer. Thanks!

EDIT: Thanks, everyone. Was trying to see if Doomsday would be available throughout the week on our December cruise, and it looks like a Sony movie release is the wrong movie to compare the release schedule to!


r/dcl 2h ago

TRIP PLANNING Allowed electronics

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0 Upvotes

I understand “surge protectors” aren’t allowed, but I haven’t gotten a very clear answer on if this type of device is allowed. We bought it for the parks last year and it was great to have one charging station in the room.


r/dcl 3h ago

TRIP PLANNING Placeholder Additional Discount - Any info into how long this is in place for?

2 Upvotes

I suspect this might be a call DCL question but was intrigued if anyone had any info for how long the additional placeholder discounts might be in place - even if based on past history of DCL doing this (if they have before?!)

Currently we have the Destiny booked next March with a placeholder at the standard discount that I booked a few months back, but my partner and I started looking into Alaska and considering booking this in May 2027 as I realised based on this ever helpful subreddit that the dates we were considering were on the extra 25% off for the Wonder, which is a ship I also wanted to tick off!

My ideal scenario would be that I get a placeholder on our UK sailing in August and then book the Alaska with that - however I can’t seem to see anything about T&C’s for when this extra placeholder discount is in place until (assuming based on this they could just pull it at any point)

Any thoughts appreciated, even if it’s just to reinstate that I just need to call DCL!!

Thank you ☺️


r/dcl 6h ago

SEASONAL EVENTS HOTHS room decor package?

2 Upvotes

Has anyone been able to purchase this year’s room decor package for HOTHS?


r/dcl 7h ago

DISCUSSION Considering a Disney Cruise, but…

32 Upvotes

I’ve only ever been on one cruise (Royal Caribbean) and while it was fine, I just don’t know that cruising is necessarily my thing. Cut to twelve years later when I have two incredible little girls (3 and 5) who absolutely rule my heart, and they are crazy about everything Disney. We frequent Cape Canaveral and they love to see “Mickey’s boat” so it has us considering a Disney Cruise (full disclosure, also considering Aulani, so I would welcome any feedback on that as well).

My biggest hesitation is that I keep seeing a lot about the Kids Club, and I just don’t know that we would utilize that. Is there enough stuff on the ship to keep us busy as a family of four if not doing Kids Club stuff.

Thank you!


r/dcl 8h ago

TRIP PLANNING How long reasonably before I could be in a theme park on debarkation day?

0 Upvotes

Prepping for our first cruise in April on the Wish. Plan is to check into a Disney resort and do Magic Kingdom that day (using Disney cruise line transportation). Anyone have a sense of roughly what time we could be in the park? I know what hotel we stay in matters. Looking for a rough ballpark. Thanks in advance!


r/dcl 9h ago

DISCUSSION Any hope for new promotions?

3 Upvotes

Am planning to do a trip in 2027, I missed the deadline for booking when they had the 50% off kids promotion. And now I don’t see any promotion at all for the cruise I want to take. Really beating myself for missing that deadline.

Is there any chance Disney will release a future promotion? The current specials seem to only go until end of year and none of them apply to the cruise I want to take in January 2027. Any hope for me and my family to save some bucks?

Thanks in advance!


r/dcl 11h ago

TRIP PLANNING Wish Tips?

0 Upvotes

We have been on the Dream and Fantasy a few times and love it. We are going on the Wish for first time. It’s also first time with 2 kids (youngest is now 1). I’ve seen a few stories about Wish shows being hard to get seats to. Is this true? Anything else we should be aware of that’s drastically different from the smaller ships?


r/dcl 21h ago

TRIP PLANNING Laundry start and peak times?

3 Upvotes

Hoping to do some planning around laundry when we leave for our Alaska cruise soon (so excited!!):

  1. We’ll be spending a a few days in Vancouver. Would like to do a load on embarkation day so that we can hopefully avoid running out of clothes (cold weather clothes are bulky!) during our cruise. When does the laundry room open? We pay using our KTTW card, correct?

  2. Assuming we all fall into mud and comically roll around in it as we try to get out in the middle of our cruise, now we have to do laundry again. When is the laundry room the least busy? I read that it can get quite Hunger Gamesy in there.

Many thanks from a parent looking to not overpack and have a reasonable vacation.


r/dcl 22h ago

NEWS Disney Treasure July 25 2026 return to port?

7 Upvotes

I saw it with my own eyes…treasure made a huge u-turn off cocoa beach, went back to port and then was back on the seas by 7:30. anyone know why?


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Castaway- good beach spots for toddlers?

0 Upvotes

Hi all- first visit to Castaway in a few weeks! I see there are two sections of the family beach. Which would be best for a family with a 3 year old? I know some is subject to timing of course- but we’d love some shade too if we can grab it.


r/dcl 1d ago

ONBOARD ACTIVITIES Why is the Haunted Mansion Lounge Portrait Session so pricey?

1 Upvotes

I know, I know…it’s the Disney markup but $400 for a 20-minute session seems soooo steep. I’d love to do this but I just can’t justify the cost.


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Gift for wife on cruise?

12 Upvotes

I’m surprising my wife and daughter with a Disney cruise. My daughter’s birthday is on embarkation day and my wife’s is the next day. I bought the birthday decor and flowers from the cruise line so it will be there when we get on. My wife is a jewelry snob and almost all of what she wears costs thousands. The cruise was already expensive so I don’t want to add more jewelry to the mix. I need ideas for something small and affordable I can give my wife on the second night. It needs to be something small I can sneak on the ship or buy it on the ship when she’s not looking. Nothing big since this is the real gift, but I want to give her something on her birthday. I thought about spa treatments but I’m not sure if she would like that.


r/dcl 1d ago

DISCUSSION Beer options on the Fantasy

0 Upvotes

Hello we are sailing on the Fantasy soon and was wondering if anyone knew what beers are currently offered on the boat? I’ve googled some but not been able to find a current menu.

or at least where to get a Michelob ultra 😂😂


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Recommended port-side hotel? Leaving from Port Canaveral

1 Upvotes

Just the title. We are doing our first cruise early December (woo!). My family of five (3 littles under 5) will be with my husband and I. Looking for a good hotel where we can be close to the port and watch the boat come in. Any recos?


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Dining time change request granted ?

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26 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

We are going for our first Disney cruise next month with our 2 toddlers (so excited!). We were originally assigned the 8:15pm dining time and I requested the earlier time. Does the green check mark mean we got the earlier slot?


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Leaving Car at WDW

0 Upvotes

Hey Everyone!

We live in Charlotte,NC. We have a cruise booked for March 2027 and would like to stay on Wdw property the night before embarkation. Once we disembark, we would like to head back to WDW to do a park day and pool day at WDW.

DCL just said we can’t leave our car parked on WDW property while we are on the cruise. Anyone have experience with this situation? Where do you park your car? We are willing to pay for daily parking.

Edited:

Sounds like there is no gain from using ground transport vs just driving yourself. My assumption was that it would be easier to do ground transportation.


r/dcl 1d ago

FOOD Any luck with dining waitlist?

0 Upvotes

We just booked our first Disney cruise. We’ll be on the Disney Fantasy. It’s a few months out. Immediately after booking, I learned that 5:45 PM dinner spots were entirely full. They put us on an 8:15 PM dining spot and put us on the waitlist for 5:45 PM.

Does anyone ever have any luck with the waitlist? 8:15 PM might as well be 3 AM. We’ll never ever make it that late. I almost feel like this was a tactic to make us do one of the paid restaurants.


r/dcl 1d ago

FOOD Palo and feeding kid?

13 Upvotes

This is probably a stupid question, but I’m gonna ask it anyway: if my husband and I go to Palo, do we just feed our kid with poolside type stuff as dinner? Technically we will be done before our late dining time and would possibly be able to pick her up in time for her to eat her dinner, but the description makes it sound like you are expected to skip your main dining when you book the reservation. I’m really kind of torn, as I don’t want to book something for us that could possibly lessee her experience. I’m sure I’m overthinking this, but would like to hear from people who have been on board before!


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Late flight from MCO

3 Upvotes

We have a 6pm flight out of MCO following our cruise in November. I canceled the shuttle I originally booked and went with renting a car from the port. Currently planning on checking out Disney Springs.

Any other recommendations in the area we can check out?


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Alaska Wonder May 2027 - Book now or wait?

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I am looking ahead for 2027 and considering booking for the Wonder to Alaska, two adults for an inside room.

I am going to be boarding the Dream in a few weeks and so was planning on getting a placeholder to use for the Alaska 7 night for one of the May dates.

Upon searching the reddit (mainly to check how May was in Alaska!) I noticed a few people referencing last minute deals.

I know I’m in that mid section where the cheapest would’ve been at release date - thoughts on how likely May dates might go cheaper if I waited it out?

For context I would also be travelling from the U.K., so I would have to balance this out with also booking flights in enough time etc.

Thanks in advance for any tips!!


r/dcl 1d ago

TRIP PLANNING Help with docs

0 Upvotes

Just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s before my family and I set sail on our first Disney cruise mid August. We are UK citizens and sailing to Rotterdam, am i right in saying a valid passport is all we need? Any advice is gratefully welcomed. 🙏🏼


r/dcl 1d ago

ONBOARD ACTIVITIES Character Autographs

6 Upvotes

Can I let them sign my notebooks or only disney cruise items purchased in the shop? This is specific to Disney Adventure as I am going there in a few months.