As they say, all good things must come to an end and the
same goes for a Disney Cruise. The last
night of a Disney Cruise is an exiting and busy time. The trick is to balance taking advantage of
the rest of the magical experiences your cruise has to offer and get all the “business”
done so you’re ready to leave the ship.
Here’s how our family handles the last evening on a Disney
ship:
We get our tips ready for our Server, Assistant Server,
Stateroom Host/Hostess, and Head Server.
Information about tipping will be left in your stateroom the day before
the last day, including little envelopes to enclose the tip. The form allows you to calculate the
appropriate tips. Remember that tipping
is per person in your stateroom and children count. So, for us, whatever the standard rate is, it
is times three for our family. Tipping
is customary in the cruising industry.
Click here for a tipping calculator to help you estimate the tipping costs for your cruise.
Guests can pre-pay their tips through Disney Cruise Line
similar to adding funds to an on-board account, can use their credit card or
add the tips to their on-board account and receive slips of paper worth the
amount of the tip to include in the envelope, or put cash in the
envelopes. We had the amount of cash
needed for each tip set aside in a separate envelope before we got on the ship,
so we just transferred those amounts to the envelopes provided by the cruise
ship to give to the appropriate Cast Members.
Tipping is done the last evening. We took our wait staff envelopes with us and
handed them out after the promenade of chefs and wait staff that happens on the
last evening. We left our stateroom host’s
envelope in our stateroom when we left for dinner.
When the boy was done eating, he went to the club and the
husband and I went back to the stateroom to finish packing when we were done
with dinner. Directions for leaving your
luggage outside your stateroom door the night before are left in your room,
along with luggage tags. It is important
to remember the Disney Character and color of your luggage tags, as that is how
you will find them in the large luggage room the next morning after you leave
the ship. The room is zoned by color and
character. Ours were red Mickey. That’s how we found and retrieved our
luggage.
You can find more directions on your stateroom television
playing in a continuous loop on one of the channels. The big thing to remember is to have clothing
and whatever else you need for the next morning. This would include important stuff like
medications and travel documents, Passports, ID’s, etc.
If you want to carry your own luggage off the ship, you are
welcome to do so and you don’t have to have it out the night before. We don’t recommend this, as you will be
taking it to breakfast with you. Once
you leave your stateroom in the morning, there’s usually no going back. Already, you are most likely carrying some
sort of travel bag—such as a carry-on.
Trust me, in the morning, the restaurant will be filled with bags. People and bags!
Now, we have done this several times, but our last trip was
somehow easier. Since we were headed to
Walt Disney World, instead of a flight where our liquids would have to be in a
checked bag, we had access to all of our toiletries the next morning. What a pleasure! I just put them in the carry-on bag, along
with our clothing from the night before, and we were good to go! No worrying about TSA requirements, how to
get things in checked bags, weight limits, etc.
When the packing was done and the bags were in the hall, we
got the boy from the club (and turned in his bracelet with his electronic chip for checking in and out of the Kids' Clubs) and headed to the Lobby Atrium for the Until We Meet
Again festivities held on the last night of your Disney cruise. This show of sorts lets guests get access one
last time to Disney Characters. We hadn't seen Chip and Dale the whole cruise, so they were our target for the
celebration. After the characters come
down the grand staircase in the Lobby Atrium, they find a spot somewhere in the
vicinity to have queue form and greet guests.
Just be sure to follow the characters you are hoping to see. Until We Meet Again only lasts for about 25
minutes, so be sure to move quickly.
The activities last well into the late evening and night, so
be sure to take advantage of all that your last night has to offer.
When you return to your stateroom after dinner, you will
find directions for the morning and a customs form.
One customs form can be completed for your entire travel
party, which is what we did. Carry your completed customs form, ID’s, Key to the World Card, and Passports in a handy location
when getting off the ship, as you will need all of them at several points in
the disembarkation process.
Breakfast will be in the same restaurant you dined in the
night before, unless you dined at Palo or Remy.
Then your breakfast will be in the restaurant you would have dined in
had you not been at Palo or Remy. Main
seating diners eat early breakfast and late seating diners eat late
breakfast. This is a well oiled
efficient system, so it is best not to try to go against it. There will be a specific menu for breakfast, but if you want to order more than one "plate" you are welcome to. For example, if you want both eggs and pancakes, this would require more than one "plate" from the menu. It's OK to do just that.
Hopefully your Disney Cruise has been full of magic and
memories. And, possibly another Disney
Cruise is in your future!
Trust me, we all have the same feeling when leaving a Disney
Cruise--a bit of sadness, a bit of disappointment and lament, a nice helping of
satisfaction, and a great deal of happiness.
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