March 24th,2013 / 4 nights Bahamas

[Ndfor22349]

Thought I would get the group started. This will be our first cruise. Myself, my wife and our son who will be 2 at the time. We are really looking forward to it.

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

[cdnsluvdisney]

Hi We will be joining you on the Mar. 24th cruise!! Me, my dh and our sons, who will be 5 and 7 at the time. Sooo excited!!! I love DCL. This will be our 4th cruise

[luvdmouse]

So glad someone started this date. We are a family of 5. My DH did not travel with us last year on the Dream, so we are going on this cruise together this time. We are from the Chicago area and will be traveling with our twin 13 year old sons and 16 year old daughter. We had so much fun last year. We can't wait to get back on board!

[Ndfor22349]

Hello and welcome,

This will be our first cruise ever. We go to Disneyland four or five times a year and have been to Disney World once in 2008 for our honeymoon. My wife loves everything Disney. We have a concierge family stateroom to get the earliest availability for child care. Look forward to getting to know people that are going to be on the cruise.

Luvdmouse- visited Chicago the past two summers, great city.

[ktmo]

Hi, we are booked on this cruise. It is me, DH, DD7 and DD5. It will be our third cruise, but first with DCL. So, excited. I can't wait.

[Ndfor22349]

Originally Posted by ktmo

Hi, we are booked on this cruise. It is me, DH, DD7 and DD5. It will be our third cruise, but first with DCL. So, excited. I can't wait.

Look forward to getting to talk about plans in the coming months.

[scrapbookjulie]

Hello, everyone! This will be my family's second Dream cruise. Our first was in 2011. It'll be DH, myself, and DD who turns 11 one week before the cruise.

[Ndfor22349]

Originally Posted by scrapbookjulie

Hello, everyone! This will be my family's second Dream cruise. Our first was in 2011. It'll be DH, myself, and DD who turns 11 one week before the cruise.

welcome, how was your first Dream cruise. Any advice for a first timer.

[scrapbookjulie]

Nd, Our first cruise was fantastic! My DH hates to be completely cut off from work, so it says a lot that we're booking the same cruise. Granted, I did try to talk him into the Fantasy, but 7 days away were just too much! LOL 4 nights is the most I can get him to commit to. It was our family's favorite vacation.
We also booked concierge on our first cruise because I wanted to be sure we could book the things we wanted to do like the dolphin swim. We liked it so much that we booked concierge again. This time we're in one of the "bump out" rooms. I think DH will like the extra big veranda!
My "musts" are booking a cabana again (but shhhhhh...Don't tell the others on our cruise...I want to make sure I get one! LOL) and the midship detective game (so much fun).
My other tip for a family of 3 is the divide and conquer method in character lines in the lobby. Some nights there are several characters out at once. DH would take DD to the character she most wanted to see. I'd get in line for her 2nd favorite. By the time, they got photos with one, I'd be almost up to the front for the other. Repeat that strategy for characters 3 and 4, 5 and 6, etc. The characters are all in the same area so I didn't miss seeing her with any, but she got to see twice as many as she otherwise would have.

[Ndfor22349]

Originally Posted by scrapbookjulie

Nd, Our first cruise was fantastic! My DH hates to be completely cut off from work, so it says a lot that we're booking the same cruise. Granted, I did try to talk him into the Fantasy, but 7 days away were just too much! LOL 4 nights is the most I can get him to commit to. It was our family's favorite vacation.
We also booked concierge on our first cruise because I wanted to be sure we could book the things we wanted to do like the dolphin swim. We liked it so much that we booked concierge again. This time we're in one of the "bump out" rooms. I think DH will like the extra big veranda!
My "musts" are booking a cabana again (but shhhhhh...Don't tell the others on our cruise...I want to make sure I get one! LOL) and the midship detective game (so much fun).
My other tip for a family of 3 is the divide and conquer method in character lines in the lobby. Some nights there are several characters out at once. DH would take DD to the character she most wanted to see. I'd get in line for her 2nd favorite. By the time, they got photos with one, I'd be almost up to the front for the other. Repeat that strategy for characters 3 and 4, 5 and 6, etc. The characters are all in the same area so I didn't miss seeing her with any, but she got to see twice as many as she otherwise would have.

That sounds like a great plan for the characters. Is getting a cabana worth it. I have thought about it not sure we would use it being that its just the three of us. Did you do magnets for your door or the fish extender?

[scrapbookjulie]

I did make awesome magnets for our door (actually someone on the cruise board who does magnet designs for people made them for me...I just printed them out and made them into huge magnets). Unfortunately, concierge doors aren't magnetic! LOL Oh well. I didn't do the fish extender because I didn't want the extra work/packing before the cruise, but it did sound like fun. I'm sure DD would have loved it.

The cabana was the best $500 I ever spent. I wish CC was a longer day. I could've stayed there forever! Unfortunately, the private concierge reception (ours was with Goofy) is that same afternoon, so we had to leave the island about an hour before the ship's horn blew signaling the return to the ship. We felt like the cabana was a good deal for our family of 3. It includes bike rental, so we rode those right away. It was a nice, easy ride, even for DD who was 9 at the time. The cabanas include floats and sand toys, both of which we used a lot. We brought our own masks for snorkeling, but we did use the CC fins (also included in price). DD hated that, so next year DH will head off to Serenity Bay to snorkel alone! There's a ton of private beach with enough umbrellas and loungers for each cabana. It's close enough to food and bathrooms (at least we were close being in cabana 5). Each cabana has a hammock, outdoor shower, cold washcloths, snacks, drinks, a safe, etc. The safe is what sold my DH on it. He wanted to be able to snorkel and hang out in the water without worrying about his phone, watch, etc. With a little one, I think you'd probably like having the couch in the cabana to rest in the shade if you needed it! We're pretty low maintenance, so we didn't use the little button to call concierge for any extra services, so I'm not sure how that works! I would say the only thing (as a scrapbooker) that I feel like I missed out on was the photographers on CC taking pics of people on the beach or with characters. I was however able to get many many of my own photos, so I can still sleep at night. I say if you can afford $500, it will make the day extra enjoyable. If you'd rather spend the $500 elsewhere, however, I'm sure CC is still a super fun place.

[scrapbookjulie]

Here's a link to my trip report from March 2011. I might have a couple cabana photos on there. I just noticed I never went back and wrote about our last day! Oh well. Maybe this time I'll write a report and finish it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2691745

[cdnsluvdisney]

Thank you for posting the link to your blog. It was great reading! When can the the CC Cabanas be booked by non-concierge passengers? Are there very many?

[scrapbookjulie]

I might be wrong, but I think the cabanas can be booked at the same time you can book any other excursions now. I believe there are 17 on the family beach. There are fewer (not sure how many) on the adult beach.