Disney Cruise - must know before you go

Disney fantasy. [Applause] Disney is Star Wars, Marvel, and a whole lot more on board this ship. Turn right out of the station. The walk is easy. I love my [Music] [Applause] family. You might wonder what's different about a Disney ship. Well, everything's different and you're going to need to know stuff. You're going to need to know what you didn't even know there was to need to know. Like, what is pixie dusting? Okay, there's so much. Let's start with the essentials. Cabin first, shows second, then we'll bump on. Where's the bunk bed? Well, it drops down from the ceiling quite magically. Your steward has the magic wand, and the letter is in the wardrobe. You need to know about the sockets. Well, they're European or American. And if you have a big charger for say a MacBook Pro, you'll need an adapter that flips upside down. Yes, there are two USB sockets. There's a hair dryer in the room, which I'm told is very good, and there is a heating safety mat for your curling tongs. There is a bath for a small person. Ask Snow White. She'll tell you. A shower. And there is a sink in the toilet in case you get lost when you're looking for the bathroom. It has a balcony. There is an adjoining door. So, families, grandparents, you can get two rooms together. And you can get the balconies to unfold. So, the two rooms join together. Life jackets in the wardrobe. And on the back of the door, there is the diagram for your muster station, which is where you must go if the alarm goes. If you need to iron your pirate shirt or you have a small emergency and need to wash something, then there are washing machines. There are dryers as well as the ironing boards and irons for pressing. Before you even think of packing, you need to collect pixie dust. We're pixie dusting. Yeah. And pixie dusting is where you get a bag of treats or some treats or toys and things and you put them in other people's things like this. Hi, it's a cool one. And then they look inside. Look at this. And they and then they get treats. We're doing that. We've made bags. Oh, let's look. I'm ready. Every time they came home, the most exciting thing was to look in the bag. It's down here. Daddy, we need to put something in there like a pen cuz two of them. Oh, great. Look at this. Wo! There's Rex. Rex. Rex. Rex. Yeah, there are Rex. I need to explain. I have helpers. Every good Disney character has at least two helpers. Mine are Heidi and Dexter. Meet Heidi and Dexter. Oh, and Dexter's in a pirate costume. You'll need a pirate costume. And we're going pixie dusting. And all the doors down the corridor are decorated to degrees you will not believe. And there are surveys and questionnaires on the doors which you fill in and you drop things into everybody else's bags. It's great fun because every time you go out, you find new things in your bag and you go and post things back into other people's bags. Bit like trick or treating, but it's called pixie dusting. And you need to take the pixie dust with you. Now you need to know about queuing. This is the queue to go into the theater. There are two settings for dinner. The early one and the 8:15. And the 8:15 one means you're going to be going to the 6:00 theater show, which gets absolutely packed. So, you'll find people queuing an hour before. Get in the queue. It will be this fall within 10 minutes. Get your booster seats and enjoy the show. And the shows are excellent. [Music] [Applause] I'll smash it with the hammer. Oh, it's really genius. [Applause] Your show characters don't just wander around the ship. They actually have specific times in specific places. Check your app. You'll need to cue and they will sign the autograph, sign the picture frame and you can take pictures with your own camera free or buy the pictures taken by the professional photographers. So Q planning works around your dinner times. If you eat in the buffer, you can eat when you want, but if you eat in the restaurants, you are given a time which dictates when you can see the shows. Frozen sometimes has three shows, one during the day and two in the evening. The others may only have evening shows. There are two rides, two small pools, an adult pool, and splash pools, two live pool deck shows. The first night, which is the sail away, and then the second is on the sail away from your stop, and that's the pirate party. The long ride is open till 7:00 unless there are high winds. Best time to do it first thing in the morning. Last thing during the day it's normally open until 7. The queue can be horrendously long and can be very cold. Very, very cold. So, here's a Doris visits tip. As you can't take a towel to put over your shoulders in the queue, wear a dry t-shirt if it's cold and then change to a second dry t-shirt when you queue again. You must be a certain age and size to ride. If you're small, you must ride with an adult. As you get bigger, two children can ride together. There must be two riders. And children seem to want to go over and over again five times in a row. And that still wasn't enough. To reinstate the queue can be cold and it can be long and you may go on it more than once. So have a few t-shirts ready if it is cold. What else do you need to know about the pool? Like, where's the adult area? Ice cream. Are the drinks free? And of course, the pirate party. Free ice cream. It's poolside, as is the burger bar. There's a slightly nicer ice cream right next door, which you can add rum to, but of course, you have to pay for that one. Adult ice cream. You have to pay for a few things. So, you can just get soft drinks. They're available by the pool all day. Or around the other side is coffee. Like the ice cream. They're free. Guys, you can get a free cooler bag with certain deals like six beers, which is handy for taking into the theater. There's a champagne bar that does go on your cruise card, or as it's Disney, you can use Apple Pay. The younger and slightly smaller children do have their own areas. the splash areas, the fun areas, and the smallest slide. So, as long as you're four years old and hit the height restriction, you can go on this slide, Mickey's slide. We'll show you the adult area in a moment, but there's no one there. This slide's actually quicker. The turnound's much faster, and it does stay open if the other one happens to have to close because of high winds. So this slide is the favorite with a lot of children and the parents can be a lot closer to it and keep an eye on them. There is an adult area on the pool deck, an area for the over 18s as well as the spa which we'll get to later. So up there's the over 18s area and this is the quiet pool by the Cove Cafe. Still to come, we'll tell you about the nightclubs, the lounge bars, and all the extra expenses. So, please share with your friends. This is the over 18s area. Unfortunately, it's not that sunny yet, but on a sunny day, this is a great place to come and just chill. But there's no one here because it doesn't have the detective game or bingo or the kids area, the youth club or any of the fun things we'll show you in a moment. The adult pool bar, which is a very nice bar, has a smoking area on the far side, which may affect your choice as to whether you wish to use it. There is also a swim up bar in the lower area opposite the cafe. The concier sund deck, which is the posh area, looks like this. I must learn how to do some of this towel art. Our grandchildren were very impressed. The first time you come to the Cove Cafe, it'll catch you out. There's a little button to open the door. I said open sesame, but that didn't work. You have to press the button. I'm going to go home two stone heavier, I think. In the Cove Cafe, all the cakes are included in your price, so they're free and lots of coffee and nice place to sit. Enough of the boring adult stuff. What about the pirate party? Well, actually, that's for adults, too. The stage over the pool is erected super fast. And when it's ready, people start to gather almost immediately. The best places around the edge are taken very quickly and most people are wearing some form of pirate regalia. Another pirate tip for the pirate party, picnic blanket, and a picnic [Music] shimmer jimmer. It's pirate goofy. Certainly while we were on the ship, it was very traditional old Disney. No Descendants, no Marvel. Frozen was as new as it got. And there are as many adult fans as there are children. [Music] Thank God. [Music] [Applause] Pirate show starts at 7:30 and it lasts half an hour exactly. Then there is the pirate dance party which also lasts half an hour. Dinner starts at 8:15 so you might want to check out after the party to get there. And at the end of the dancing, wow, super quick, the stage turns into a cinema and the party continues downstairs in the atrium. Oh, the atrium. What is there to bibbidity bobby do? Well, there's a few things and a few things you should bibbid bobby know. The atrium of the ship is where you will probably have your photo taken with the character of the day. They normally stand here or downstairs. And also there's a trio playing in the evening when you go into dinner. The atrium is the central meeting point of any cruise ship, but this one on the Disney, three floors high, has a few little things you should know about. One is the most spectacular event of the week, the incredible diaper dash. This race is for babies only. Oh, strange but true and very funny. The Vista Cafe is also in the atrium. Just along from it is the balcony where the characters stand. They're also downstairs in front of the ornate staircases in front of the restaurant where you will be going for your evening meal. Now, a Bibbid bobbidity tip because the Bibbid Bobby Boutique is in the atrium on deck five. And if you're going to spend $250 on makeup, glitter, and a wonderful dress so you look fantastic, you might not then want to take it off to go swimming. So, plan your day or take your own dress and glitter. There's the detective mystery that's here. There's also a bar. And just off the atrium is this. This is massive. This is a cinema. The incredible Buuna Vista Cinema. Are you hungry yet? We have to talk about food. This is the Royal Palace. You will have the same table number in each of the three restaurants which you are rotated around and you will keep the same serving staff. So your tips when charged to you at the end of the week will go to your servers that have been with you all week. Tipping and extra charges. I'll explain all those in just a moment. But enjoy the restaurant. Now it's not a program about food, so I'll show you just one dish. It's exceptional and the portions are rather large so you won't starve and there's enough food for vegetarians, vegans, and meat eaters. Here is the Enchanted Garden. This was our second restaurant. Beautiful restaurant. Again, beautiful food and we had a great time with our same staff. Your service will take the children's choice first and bring that food straight away. Or they can order from the adult menu. Children's menu, adult menu, choice of both. They can try foods they've never tried before. I don't know. [Music] The tipping you tip your head waiter, your assistant waiter, and the area supervisor. All these are added to your bill with sums they suggest. So, tonight is our last night and we're in the Animators Pallet restaurant, which is the first restaurant we ate when we came on the ship. So they move you around so you sample every restaurant, but you have the same table number and the same staff. You also tip your room steward. And there's a tip deducted daily per person. So two adults, two children, that's four people from your bill for everybody else on the ship. This is the cabana, which is the buffet restaurant where we had our breakfast. And it's going to start getting busy soon cuz it's nearly lunchtime already. There's a choice to eat inside or out, but today unfortunately outside's not really an option for me. This sort of selection is a daily site at lunchtime. Sweet on you is an ice cream parlor and sweet shop. Looks like they're mainly $5. There are more than enough free cakes and free ice cream, but good luck with getting away without spending something in this shop. However, there are restrictions on some food stuffs being taken into the UK. The cakes are one of them. Now, the detective story. You could spend a whole day just walking around looking at the art. This is not art. It's a clue. And there are three fun stories. Welcome to the Midship Detective Agency. Which case would you like to solve? To use it, you will need to face the black and white pattern towards the center. Good job. Well done. This badge number is now registered to your team up when there must be. The evil queen doesn't have an A in her name, does it? Two. Three on deck four. That's lots. ID. Run. Your turn. I got it. Is there one in de that's a musical one? It's a puzzle. Well, there's three puzzles. And like Rapuzzle's hair, it's long. It will have you walking all over the ship. It's a puppy. You found lucky and clever. That's two more puppies. Can I do some of it? Is this the last one? Two puppies. I think you thought we cried. We were really surprised when we found who it was because we thought it was going to be Maleficent, but it wasn't because we've read what because we heard one of the clues, right? Bye. It was Yeah, it was. Well, young man for telling everybody the answer. You're off to the youth club. It's not a prison, although you do get an armband and you are locked inside and they can track wherever you are all the time. Wash your hands. [Music] They don't talk about youth club. What they do inside youth club stays inside kids club. In fact, trying to find out what they do is quite hard, but they seem to want to go back. And it is open till midnight, so you can put the children in there, go off to one of the adult bars or lounges for a little drink. There is a deposit for the wristbands, but you do get it back. This little area is on deck five of the atrium. The edge, which is the youth area, is in midship up the top, but they appear to be having more fun in the basketball area or in the sports simulators, which are on the top deck at the back, along with the mini golf, which everybody seems to play. Now, here's a mini golf tip. clubs are in the buckets, but if there aren't enough or the right size, go to the end of the mini golf where people put their golf clubs when they're finished and see if your size is in the end bucket if it isn't in the beginning bucket. D lounge is where they have the game shows and the bingo. Lounges, clubs, bars, deck four, karaoke for all ages, game shows, family game shows. All the clubs and the lounges are at the back of the ship behind D lounge on deck 4. This is La Piaza and at night it's a piano bar. It also hosts quizzes and trivia mainly based around Disney. We're now in Ogills, which is a pub and a sports bar. All these are tucked away at the back after deck 4. You can get a lift down to off deck 4 and go into any of this complex. [Music] This is the tube used for silent discos and party nights. Whilst used for family events during the day, it swiftly turns to adults only in the evening. This is the Ou laa bar. In the evening, it's open as a bar and in the daytime they can use it for wine tastings or rum tastings. So, it might be closed. It's also a piano bar. Alcohol is served. So, you see this Disney ship is not just for kids, but then again, big kids are allowed in. And adults, if you do get a chance, please read one of my books. Start with Cruise Ship Heist and please review it. The Skyline Lounge is also used during the day for wine tastings, etc. And at the night, it's a quieter bar to come to. You will probably have had your photo taken with one or two Disney characters while you're here. And this is where you come to check out your pictures. You can even get married on the Disney ship. So, if you want to view the photos on your own phone, you scan the QR code, the Disney app will come up, you put your profile in, and then you can then view your photos and purchase or not. And finally, the spa and the gym. And don't forget, here on Doris Visits, we do show you other ships. You might like to look at the Iona. Great for kids. Lots of pools, lots of clubs. The Azora, a slightly more adult version of a family ship. And also look at the ports. Discover what's there by looking at Doris visits. And please share with your friends. We try and make cruising easier. Very good. This is the bit of the ship that you may never need to find. But if you do like walking, this is the prominard deck. It's deck four. And I'm around the back of the ship. UK Disney leaves from Southampton. stops at La Corona or Zuga and we'll show you both of those ports before you leave here. And if you're thinking of the Caribbean or somewhere else, we have those ports and those ships as well. The free walk-in tour leaves from the square twice a day and once in the evening. They stand with red and white umbrellas. The canal tour is great, about half an hour. The horse and carriage tour is also very good. But if you want to climb to the very top of the tower after all those steps, you will find an incredible piece of machinery called a carolon. Whatever you do in Bruge, from canal to chocolate or in fact sampling the local beer, you're bound to have a great time. It's easy to get into by train. And there is an absolutely spectacular picture in one of the churches, but it's not that one. It's another one. And we'll show you where it is and lots of other Bruge secrets in the longer Doris Visits film of Bruge. Oh, the Fritz Museum. Shoes, walking. You are going to find loads to do in this small town that will keep you busy. And it's so easy to get in there by train. You just take the ship's free shuttle bus to Blankenburgg. You can walk to the beach and it is a fabulous beach. Corona is coming up in just a second. The unexpected is dark, intense, and sophisticated. It blends pulse pounding action with emotionally riched character drama, balancing suspense, sharp humor, and cultural insight. It's layered with complexity and always emotionally resonant. Where freedom dances on the edge of betrayal. The Cruz crime novel with espionage out now on Kindle, paperback, and audio book. I'm sure the lighthouse hasn't changed one bit. And so we're going to walk you through town. Lacaruna is a great place to make new friends. Shakespeare, there's Bernard Shaw, there's Molier. The statue is Maria Petar. When the British invaded in the 1500s, they got this far and they killed her husband. So she gathered a group of soldiers and she pushed the British back. If you turn left from the port, you'll find this little park. It's nice to stroll through. There's lots of statues and waterfalls. If you turn right, you'll walk all the way to the lighthouse with a compelling ensemble of damaged characters like slow horses operating on a global scale reminiscent of Jack Ryan, but driven by intellect, not firepower. It's the wire meets founder in its demand for sharp detective work and geopolitical awareness elevated to a global threat level with a ticking clock urgency of zero day. Like the Americans, sleeper agents and long buried secrets simmer beneath the surface. Today we're in Russia. Cruise ships, covert ops, and a soul band undercover. When tourism mosques a deadly game, freedom is the ultimate prize. #the unexpected. In a world where peace comes at a price, the unexpected is out now.