Just booked an anniversary cruise on the Disney Dream, pin trading tips wanted!

[shellymo]

Hello, my husband and I are celebrating our 20 year anniversary on the Dream 9/8/13 for a 4 day cruise. Our first cruise so am excited about cruising. Doubly excited since we are on a Disney cruise and I can pin trade. Any advice on how many pins to take to trade. Also any experiences you want to share? I have about 75 booster pins that were meant for trading at our next WDW trip. Should I take nicer pins to trade with other guests? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[markheardjr]

Take about 30-40 traders I'd say. If all you want are newer hidden mickey's you're fine. There is a 6-pin DCL set you can probably complete too. You can trade from a huge book at the store on the 4th deck. 2 per person per day, so if your hubby will trade for you you guys can do 4 there each day, that's 16. Then 6 for the DCL set that's 22, then however many 2012-2013 HM's you want. On the Dream this June on the Med, I traded near 40-50 pins in a week.

Do not miss the trading with the crew. Lots of lanyards stocked with new stuff. There are only maybe 4 or 5 LE pins for sale, most are older generic DCL pins. They still have the priates mystery boxes but I didn't buy any. Cast members do wear lanyards so always keep a few in your pockets. The CM's handing out hand wipes at the 9th deck buffet always had lanyards. And always ask the store if they have more, they usually have a small merchandise bag filled with more HM pins.

BTW, happy anniversary! We were on our cruise during our 4th. We had dinner at Palo on our 4th anniversary. It was so worth it. Only $20 a person extra, I'd pay that much just to have the chocolate souffle again! Next time, I'm ordering 2 for myself!

 

[shellymo]

Thank you for the well wishes and also all the great advice! I wrote it all down and will follow it. Looking forward to seeing what they have to trade for. I will bring a little extra in case they have great stuff. We booked a dinner at Palo for the second night out to celebrate. Can't wait to try the soufflé, everyone raves about it. Will post when we get back how the trading was.

 

[GoofyinMadison]

Hey Shelly! We were on the Dream in January, our 1st Disney cruise, too! We don't recall many cast members wearing lanyards, but there was a pin trading gathering one of the nights & they had books in the gift shops--BUT REMEMBER, shops are closed while the ship is in port & when in US waters, so the shops are closed more than they're open, from what i remember anyway:shock: We found there was so much to do on the ship, we almost forgot about trading--really!! Are you going to WDW before/after the cruise? Hope you Have a wonderful time & a very Happy Anniversary!!!

Debbie

 

[camlov2]

We just got off the Wonder in Alaska a couple weeks ago. There were pin books behind the counter in each store and at the main lobby desk. At every meal there are workers handing out hand wipes before you eat, nearly every one had a lanyard but they didn't change much throughout the week. After dinner there was a time set for trading near one of the shops, a single worker was there with another book. The last day of the trip we were told that the officers would be out and would have special pins. They were out and the majority of the special pins were previous years cruise pins. I think we got one alaska, one Mediterranean, and a love to cruise pin. My son loved them since they were so much larger and different then the basic pins. I didn't see any older people trading LE pins it was mostly kids looking for their favorites, I would bring a large number of basic pins and have fun trading with the kids.
I brought about 100 pins but we had three boys trading over a 7 day cruise and I gave some away in a fish extender exchange.
If you don't know what a fish extender is you should research it on the disboards.com website.

 

[JeffZTT]

The advice here is great advice. I've never, or rarely, traded guest to guest on a cruise, and never high-end pins. The cast members in the stores have always been great with us and the officer trading event usually has some interesting pins on lanyards.

I agree to not miss Palo. If you can get brunch at Palo during a day at sea, it is worth it (but not the day you have dinner at Palo, it will be too much in one day).

 

[Booger1964]

It's been a few years since we went, but there was trading in one of the lounges almost every night and we traded with the cast members in the store daily. My kids even got some pin trading award buttons at the end of the cruise. Some of the entertainers on the ship came loaded with all kinds of pins (numbering in the thousands), but we were new into it, so I didn't have many comparable pins to trade with them. In addition to trading fodder, I would bring at least a few good pins because you just don't know who will be there and what they may have

 

[Booger1964]

Oh and happy anniversary! I hope you have a great trip!

 

[shellymo]

Oh and happy anniversary! I hope you have a great trip!

Thank you! and to all that posted above, will note all your advice and try to follow. I will bring a few good traders in case I find someone interested, but mostly the booster sets to trade (thanks Jade!). We are going to do to DTD when we return to Orlando after the cruise before we fly out. Can't wait to see what we can find. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[CoryTheRaven]

Congratulations! I would be very interested to read your report, not just of the trading but of the whole experience. My fiancee and I are considering that exact same cruise next year as part of a WDW/DCL honeymoon.