Fantasy 02/02/13

[DiaLady]

Welcome Nicole,

Get ready for your best first vacation!! Keep reading around the DIS boards . . there is so much great info here. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Theresa

 

[kgionet]

We're new to Disney cruising! We've been on RC and Celebrity but this will be a first for Disney cruising. Incredibly excited. It will be my DH, DS 10 and DS 4. I'm just starting my research. So far I've upgraded us to a concierge cabin!

 

[DiaLady]

We're new to Disney cruising! We've been on RC and Celebrity but this will be a first for Disney cruising. Incredibly excited. It will be my DH, DS 10 and DS 4. I'm just starting my research. So far I've upgraded us to a concierge cabin!

Welcome!! We've only cruised DCL so we don't know about others. Will be interesting to hear your thoughts after the cruise Concierge sounds awesome! Feel free to share what you find with the rest of us. There is just so much discover.

Looking forward to a great cruise!!

Theresa

 

[cruising2013]

I've been enjoying doing some research on the board threads. I had a question or 2 and I figure this is the best place to ask. To those who have DCL experience:

- how many people, generally speaking, participate in the FE? This sounds fun for the kids. I've been thinking about what I could bring but then start to worry about how many I will need and how will I pack it all. I will be traveling with 2 little ones (5 and just shy of 2) and my sister have her 6 month old. I thought of just the kids participating. Fun for the oldest and a nice way to gain souviners for all of them. How exactly does it work? Would I the. Just give to other children who are participating on the ship?

-I wanted to ask about strollers. Again I will have a 2 year old. I have no interest in flying with an umbrella stroller. Should I look at quickly purchasing one upon arriving in Orlando or what are the chances of me actually getting my hands on one on the ship

-besides the off boat excursions, what do I need to be organized in Pre booking on the ship? I feel like this isn't as easy as paying for the trip and simply showing up - if we want things to go smoothly and enjoy all aspects.

- my last question (for at least now) is about the cabanas at castaway cay. I recall reading somewhere where you can rent a family cabana. Is this something I need to do before traveling? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[gstroop28]

Hi everyone! I've been trying to avoid getting on the boards until the cruise comes closer (so I don't completely freak out with excitement)

The change we are making is that we are SURPRISING our girls with the cruise. We originally planned (and paid in FULL) for our cruise for my DH and I to celebrate my 40th birthday (on February 3rd!) But after my girls visited their grandparents for 3 weeks and I realize how much I missed them, we decided to add them to the cruise. But we are SURPRISING them. We were going to wait until we were about to leave, but Christmas will be LEAN this year since they are coming with us - so instead, we are surprising them on Christmas morning.

This will be our 2nd Disney Cruise - and on the cruise, my girls will be 11 and 14 (almost 15).

We will definitely do the FE - I just had to tell someone about the surprise!!

We changed categories too - we are in 4D (or 4C) - and as soon as we have our cabin, I will let you know so you can update roll call. We are on early dinner now and the girls are on late (ha ha) hoping we all get moved to early.

Thanks

 

[gstroop28]

Anyone else on Facebook? It's fun to see other cruisers' pics, a different point of view and all. Find me www.facebook.com/shannon.redwing

Shannon - you can find me here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/angiemann73

I have about a million pictures from our 2009 cruise - but I have a million other pictures too! LOL

Here is our FB link to our 2009 ship pictures (we bought the entire CD!) http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.1263450230630.2040860.1360956945&type=3


Can't wait to start talking to you all!

 

[gstroop28]

Thanks for the welcome . . . I was thinking about the FE. I will have to consult DS16 as he would have to help out. He is creative and could probably come up with something very cool. Every cruise we consider it (the last two just didn't have any room in the luggage . . .LOL). Put us down for the FE for now. It does sound like fun!!

)

Hi Theresa!! As we get closer, I'll give you some ideas for the FE - its alot of fun.

I noticed you from SE Virginia - We live in the suburbs of Richmond! (Are you in Hampton Roads? If so - I actually graduated from Hampton High (ugh) )

 

[Disneytracy]

Hi everyone! I've been trying to avoid getting on the boards until the cruise comes closer (so I don't completely freak out with excitement)

The change we are making is that we are SURPRISING our girls with the cruise. We originally planned (and paid in FULL) for our cruise for my DH and I to celebrate my 40th birthday (on February 3rd!) But after my girls visited their grandparents for 3 weeks and I realize how much I missed them, we decided to add them to the cruise. But we are SURPRISING them. We were going to wait until we were about to leave, but Christmas will be LEAN this year since they are coming with us - so instead, we are surprising them on Christmas morning.

This will be our 2nd Disney Cruise - and on the cruise, my girls will be 11 and 14 (almost 15).

We will definitely do the FE - I just had to tell someone about the surprise!!

We changed categories too - we are in 4D (or 4C) - and as soon as we have our cabin, I will let you know so you can update roll call. We are on early dinner now and the girls are on late (ha ha) hoping we all get moved to early.

Thanks

So excited for you! We are doing the same thing, surprising our girls on Christmas morning. I'm so excited already!

 

[gstroop28]

So excited for you! We are doing the same thing, surprising our girls on Christmas morning. I'm so excited already!

I got the idea from you! I figured I needed to give the girls a little time to plan - and my oldest daughter is starting high school and I'll need to coordinate her assignments - so I can't wait until the day of!

 

[reimero]

Welcome aboard to the newcomers! I'll be getting your info updated on the roll call list on page... ummm... 5?

 

[reimero]

I've been enjoying doing some research on the board threads. I had a question or 2 and I figure this is the best place to ask. To those who have DCL experience:

- how many people, generally speaking, participate in the FE? This sounds fun for the kids. I've been thinking about what I could bring but then start to worry about how many I will need and how will I pack it all. I will be traveling with 2 little ones (5 and just shy of 2) and my sister have her 6 month old. I thought of just the kids participating. Fun for the oldest and a nice way to gain souviners for all of them. How exactly does it work? Would I the. Just give to other children who are participating on the ship?

It varies. Sometimes there are only 10-15. On our May cruise, there were so many, we had to split the FE list in half because there were 30+ staterooms
The way this group is shaping up, if I had to guess, I'd say there will be between 15 and 20 participants.

-besides the off boat excursions, what do I need to be organized in Pre booking on the ship? I feel like this isn't as easy as paying for the trip and simply showing up - if we want things to go smoothly and enjoy all aspects.

If you want to do Palo or Remy, those should be pre-booked, although they'll open up some more reservations the day of. Also, a hot tip: they offer a Remy Champagne Brunch now, which is NOT ADVERTISED. DCL is basically advertising via word of mouth, so those in the know can find out. It's also not pre-bookable, you have to reserve once you're on the ship. It's $50/person, adults only, champagne included.
Bippity Boppity Boutique also needs pre-booking. If you want to do any tastings/mixology classes or participate in Goofy's Sports Deck, those need to be booked on board. Other than that, just show up!

- my last question (for at least now) is about the cabanas at castaway cay. I recall reading somewhere where you can rent a family cabana. Is this something I need to do before traveling? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks everyone!!!

It is very strongly recommended that you book those as far out as possible, since they sell out very, very quickly. In fact, on many cruises, they're gone within hours of the Concierge/Platinum booking window opening That said, on other cruises, they never even sold out. But if it's something you want to do, I would do it immediately.

 

[cruising2013]

If you want your info updated or added, you can either PM me or just post it in the thread and I'll update it here. Eventually I'd like to replace all the categories with stateroom #s (as they come available) to make it easier to plan for FEs. I'll also need to go back and break down kids by age and gender (also for FE purposes.) But for now, having an approximate count is a good start.

Hi there!! Thanks so much for taking this task on. I see my info there but the kid info is a little off - no doubt my first post was unclear. We have three kids in our group: 6 month old, 5 year old, and 2 year old. Thanks!!!

 

[reimero]

Oops, my mistake. I accidentally edited the wrong entry. It should be fixed now.

 

[cruising2013]

Oops, my mistake. I accidentally edited the wrong entry. It should be fixed now.

Thanks again!!

 

[mimmi]

Hi, we already know our cabin numbers, 5534 and 5536.

I quit my job quite unexpectantly last month and now I'm going back to university. As it turns out the last day of the semester is 02/02 , if there are exams on this day I have to fly out one day later, go directly (or as directly as possible) to the Caymans and board the ship there, yikes, I really din't like the idea...
I just hope that my husband wil do all the important things, like putting the FE out, decorating our door, getting tickets for all the tastings and so on.

I've already asked him what he has to do right after boarding (go to guest services and as soon as he can go to the room, decorate our door) and he said:" Buffet and Aquaduck." Different priorities...

 

[kgionet]

Finally have a few minutes to get back on the DIS. I can help with the stroller question. We have a light weight Joovy (11lbs) that we simply gate check. It makes getting through the airport so much easier and usually no charge for gate checking.

I need to start thinking about excursions and possibly a cabana on Castaway Cay. Does anyone who has done the western route have any recommendations?

 

[reimero]

Hi, we already know our cabin numbers, 5534 and 5536.

I quit my job quite unexpectantly last month and now I'm going back to university. As it turns out the last day of the semester is 02/02 , if there are exams on this day I have to fly out one day later, go directly (or as directly as possible) to the Caymans and board the ship there, yikes, I really din't like the idea...
I just hope that my husband wil do all the important things, like putting the FE out, decorating our door, getting tickets for all the tastings and so on.

I've already asked him what he has to do right after boarding (go to guest services and as soon as he can go to the room, decorate our door) and he said:" Buffet and Aquaduck." Different priorities...

Oh dear! I hope you don't have exams on the 2nd! It would be a shame to miss out on some of the cruise.

 

[cruising2013]

Just wondering about dining in the ship, as far as early and late seating. We booked a few weeks ago for this cruise and the early seating was already completely booked. We will be traveling with a 6 month old, 2 year old, and 5 year old. Will the late time be a nightmare? Is there any possibility to have it change and how would we do that? Thanks!!

 

[mimmi]

Just wondering about dining in the ship, as far as early and late seating. We booked a few weeks ago for this cruise and the early seating was already completely booked. We will be traveling with a 6 month old, 2 year old, and 5 year old. Will the late time be a nightmare? Is there any possibility to have it change and how would we do that? Thanks!!

Reading other threads about thos topic,it seems that many people are able to change their dining time, I'm not sure but I think they go to guest services after boarding?? Maybe, try searching the boards as a lot has been written about it.

For us, early dining is a must because of the time difference (6pm feels like midnight) but I've read that some people enjoy late dining even with small children, because they are less tired for the shows.

 

[reimero]

Just wondering about dining in the ship, as far as early and late seating. We booked a few weeks ago for this cruise and the early seating was already completely booked. We will be traveling with a 6 month old, 2 year old, and 5 year old. Will the late time be a nightmare? Is there any possibility to have it change and how would we do that? Thanks!!

You can definitely ask to be waitlisted for the early seating, but there are no guarantees. Late dining is manageable with clever naptime manipulation, and I think DCL has an option with at least some kids where they basically feed the kids quickly and pick them up to go play in the Oceaneer's Club/Lab, but I think that will only be an option for your 5 year old.

Nevertheless, I'd check with Guest Services immediately upon embarkation.