1st time cruiser questions

[RebeccaS]

Hi

I wish we would have found this board sooner. We're going on first disney cruise in a couple months.

We have small kids so we won't be doing many excursions but did want to check out sea lion discovery. anyone suggest this?

Travel agent mentioned Palo. What night do you suggest?

How much are picture packages?

Do they offer Character meals like at walt disney world?

I guess that's all for now.

Feel free to add suggestions.

Rebecca

 

[mickeyboat]

I don't have the answers to all of your questions, but we leave today and are traveling with 3 and 4 year olds. I'll let you know how it went.

The 7 day itinerary has a character breakfast. The 3 and 4 day cruises do not.

Palo (from what I hear) is not to be missed. It is an adults-only restaurant. How old are your kids? Flounders Reef Nursery cares for children under three on an hourly basis. There is a charge for this service. The Oceaneer's Club is for children ages 3-7 who are fully potty trained. The Oceaneer's Lab is for children 7-12 (I think). These clubs provide entertainment for the kids from early in the morning until the wee hours of the next morning.

I suggest you check out some valuable websites

www.castawayclub.com
www.dcltribute.com

and but a copy of Passporter's Guide to DCL.

This information will help you plan your cruise. And stay-tuned here. I have found this site most informative and enjoyable.

Happy planning!

Denae

 

[crisi]

There is a character meal on the seven night cruises. It will be scheduled for you.

Palo is up to you. We did a four day and elected NOT to go to Palo. We eat out plenty at home with less hassle. But we rebooked for a seven day and will definately try Palo on the seven day. One of the reasons we didn't do Palo was we weren't positive how our small kids would do in the kids club. We wanted the option of having them with us.

We had a picture package that was $85 for 10 pictures. It was hard to find 10 pictures we liked in a four day (we didn't do a lot of standing in line for character greets).

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Not sure what ages your kids are, but if you have any underage 3, I recommend booking some time in Flounders during dinnertime a couple nights during the cruise. Dinner can last a long time on a cruise, and toddlers aren't usually used to it and get bored fast. Give yourself a couple nights to actually be able to enjoy your dinner and the company of your table mates. Are you doing the 4-day or the 7-day?

The character breakfast is on the 7-day cruise. Your first night at dinner, your servers will give you a little card telling you the day and time of your assigned character meal. It is held in Parrot Cay and it is a pretty good time, in my opinoin.

As for Palo, I think the brunch is better than the dinner. Which night you do the dinner is up to you. Some people prefer to go on semi-formal or formal night, since you have to dress up anyway. I prefer to go during one of my assigned Lumiere's nights, since that is my least favorite restaurant. And definitely don't schedule it during tropical night, or when you are assigned to Animator's Palate!! You should maybe wait till you get to port and get your dining rotation before you decide when you'll be going to Palo. Or check out the menus on www.castawayclub.com and find a night that the food looks least appealing to you and schedule Palo for that night. There are a lot of different factors that people look at when scheduling their Palo dinner.

Hope that helps!