1st time cruiser &w/20 month old DD

[oreilly76]

Any hints or tips that can be given to me would be appreciated. We (DH, ME and DD) are taking our first cruise on May 2. 4 night on the Wonder. We just decided to do it and booked it Friday. They only had late seatings avaible, will we have a good chance of getting the early one, we are waitlisted.
We are thinking of doing very little in Nassau and only the glass bottom boat tour in CC. Other than that just hanging out at the beach/pool!
I am looking forward to the shows alot though.
Is there anything I should be aware of or beware of? I am reading these forums avidly, there is so much to learn in such a short time!
I have my passporter for Disney and am anxiously awaiting for my cruise passporter!!
Thanks!

Oh yeah, and what is the best hotel to stay in before and after the cruise near Port Canaveral that is reasonably priced? We would like something very clean and nice near/on a beach...

 

[mikeymars]

 

[CheapMom]

TIP #1- IGNORE RUDE POSTS
I don't know if you will have luck with the early dinner and I don't know what kind of schedule your little one is on but the late may work for you-
1. Late dinner means earlier show- that may be better for the baby.
2. Around 5:30 order PB&J, chicken tenders, etc. from room service to tide baby over until dinner (it's free less tip)
Get on the waiting list for early seating and keep checking on board- lots of people report that they changed on board
3. Everybody says great things about RonJon's for night before hotel but I think it is usually a minimum of $100- don't know your budget- There are lots of cheaper places that have good reviews
click for good hotel info
http://www.dcltribute.com/lodging/
Also- I have seen some mediocre reviews of the glass bottom excursion- you may want to check into that
We will have a 23 month old on our 4 day this December and we are not planning any excursions- just a little shopping/exploring on our own in Nassau and snorkeling on our own in CC

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

I agree, ignore him Sandy. Obviously mikeymars has a misconception about whose job it is to administrate these boards.

Sorry I can't help much with anything else. Haven't done Nassau before. But it sounds like you've already got things in hand.
Have a good trip!

 

[oreilly76]

I was formulating a reply to that guy who obviously just likes to 'waste' bandwidth with his big picture and useless reply but you 'nice' people replied and made me feel a lot better, so I will take your advice and ignore him!!
Besides I am too excited for my cruise to let anyone get me down!! LOL!

I guess I should have been more specific though. I have seen the DCL Tribute site and I like the look and price of the Best Western because it is on the beach. I guess our price range is in the $100.00 range. I wanted to hear from people who have stayed in that area for a night or two. We plan on arriving late Friday night and staying through until Sunday's cruise then again in that area for a couple of days after the cruise.
I guess what else I was looking for was people who have done the cruise with Toddlers and any hurddles they encountered and any tips to Disney cruising with young ones.
I am thinking that maybe the late seating will work because I would rather eat room service every night and see the shows!!
I have read some negative comments on Nassau things like serious overloading of water taxi's and stuff! My DH really would like to do the glass bottom boat. He is not a good swimmer and would love to see the reef. I did a scuba tour on a trip on time and told him how fantastic it is to be there with the fish. The guide I was with also took a sea urchin and broke it open and hundreds of fish swam to us eating it! It was cool...
Thank you for all your help!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

If you are thinking about taking DD on ANY boat excursion, please think about boat safety.

Should the worst case senario go wrong on the high seas, Disney provides a special floatation device for infants. But I do not know what they would think of you removing it from the ship for excursions.

Now think about worst case taking any form of water taxi or boat tour. What would you do to insure the protection of your infant if something went wrong. Even in a minor mishap can result in a catastophy for your infant. Unlike most adults, your infant is most likely to be totally defensless for even a moment in the water. Even a bump on the dock could result in a baby going over-board in some manner (not to mention worst cases where the entire boat sinks).

Off hand, this is a subject that I have not seen discused here and would love to hear some input from others.

I might be an extream example, but if we were at a port-of-call where you had to tender to shore, I would rather remain stuck onboard than to risk travelling in a tender with an infant and no form of floatation for the infant.


As for the late seating for dinner, there will be a time period once you are on board where you can make a request to change dinner assignments. We too were wait-listed the last time we took a Disney cruise at the last minute. By the time we boarded, we had not been changed to first seating. But we had NO problem making the change once on board (I think it's in Rock-n Bar D that they take the requests for both change of dinner assignments and requests for Polo reservations). While your results may not be the same, don't let the fact that at the time of check-in your still assigned to late seating let you think you are stuck with late seating.

 

[CheapMom]

I think I have seen posts from people who had their baby in Flounders while they did an excursion on shore- you would probably enjoy yourself more anyway.
I intend to use Flounders for a few hours on Castaway Cay day so I can snorkel with DH and my 2 big kids. Do they let you do that?

 

[CM_Mom]

Don't know anything about Flounder's while at CC. I'll ask DD the CM if I can remember this Saturday when she calls.

Be sure to make Flounder's ressies as soon as you get on board to have a better chance of getting the times you want. If you're doing Palos be sure to put that info on your ressie request at Flounder's.

 

[mrsltg]

Hi oreilly! We cruised with our then 25-month-old DD (just a little older than yours), and had a blast. It wasn't a DCL cruise, but I think that everything else is comparable.

Dierdre loved being on the ship. She loved the cabin, especially the way the doors to the bathroom, closet, and outside latched closed (for this, I paid how much???). We were on a ship that didn't have balcony cabins, so we spent a lot of our time in public areas - she did great. She was happy to play in the hot tub (more lukewarm than hot!), and really enjoyed standing by the plexi-glass walls on the top deck watching the ocean go by. You really just have to gear the cruise to the baby. Enjoy her enjoyment. DH and I would get pina coladas and sit on deck with her while she happily played on the ground. We went on a Nassau excursion, and I'd skip it if I were to do it all over again - she would have much preferred more time by the pool. We had a fantastic time on the private island. She wanted nothing to do with playing in the ocean, so DH sat on the beach with her under an umbrella for hours while I snorkeled. He had no problems because there were waiters coming around with all kinds of drinks, so he didn't need to go anywhere. She fell asleep on the blanket for about two hours, so I sat with her while DH went off and got lunch for us. It was truly one of the best family days we have ever had.

Like I said, just gear it to her - you will have a wondferul time!

Erin

 

[oreilly76]

I am glad to hear you had such a good time! I hope we do!

 

[the4nitz's]

We cruised in January with DD 23 months, took her on the glass bottom boat ride at CC, she enjoyed watching the fish floating by.
She played in the mickey ear pool. When we got on the ship we went & changed our dinner seating to early. We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Cocoa Beach - very nice. clean.

 

[CheapMom]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Cocoa Beach - very nice. clean.

You have no idea how pleased I am to hear this- wegot HolInn Oceanfront at Cocoa Beach on Priceline ($40 +fees) and I am scared about some things I have read about this hotel. Is this the same Holiday Inn you stayed at or was it the Holiday Inn Express?