28 days until first cruise- some planning thoughts from a 1st cruiser who is not new to Disney.

[MrMagoo]

How do you know your request was granted if you don't sail until April?

When I was on the Treasure earlier this month, we went from Coco to 1923, then to Worlds of Marvel. I would guess it would be the same order for you.

I am sorry I misspoke.
I do not know through Disney.
Forgive me.

It will be granted through the head server we have had.
He was nice enough to give me his e-mail and he makes things happen for us.
He was one of the main head servers on the Treasure and was one of the people you talk to when first boarding
if you needed to change something in your dining.
So he knows how to arrange things for us and is a position where he does make it happen.
We just got off the Treasure the 15th of this month and he assured us he will make it happen.
Our sail date with our friends in March 29.

I am sure you are correct on the rotation. I cannot remember ours.
I just look at the app to see where we were going to be for the night and check out the menu!!!
I really don't pay attention to our rotation as I don't care.
However our friends want Coco 3 times because it is a new venue and this will be their first (and maybe only) time
they will get to try it out. He is handicapped and it is hard for them to get around.
They are Pearl cruisers (like us) so they want the newest dining venue as much as possible.

 

[Moonspinner]

We just roll with it. We are not concerned with dining rotation or activities. Anytime we have wanted to do something we have just signed up once on the ship and have never had a problem. Sometimes they take your information and put you on an informal waitlist, but they have always eventually called our cabin with a spot.

It would be nice to see your account in advance to see onboard credit etc.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

We are preparing for our first Disney cruise in August and this is the most frustrating process I've ever seen. We are in DVC, made many trips to WDW and have cruise with Royal, Norwegian, Carnival, and MSC, soo we are familiar with Disney and cruising. I don't understand how they get repeat cruisers based off of the process so far. I can't even begin to plan excursions that I WANT to go on or have a backup plan in case they are sold out because they don't even allow you to see what excursions are available. You can go to their website and look but not all of those may be offered on your sailing. I would really like to do some of the tastings but from everything I've read, since we are 1st time Disney cruisers, we'll be out of luck. I've never seen this level of "caste system" on any other cruise line. Yes, loyalty gets people perks but not to the point of availability of activities. I'm at a point where there is literally nothing to plan because it is all hidden until our "time".

Fellow DVC member, and avid WDW-er here - thank you for posting this - I feel the same. We are going on our first (DCL) cruise to Alaska in June and this planner feels entirely unprepared

TBH, I’ve stopped reading up on recs/reviews bc I fear I’ll get my heart set on a certain excursion/brunch and none of it will be available.

To make it all even more fun, we’ll be at WDW the night that our bookings open…so I’m just imagining the chaos that will inevitably ensue as I try to navigate this on my phone with spotty resort wifi

 

[cburnett11]

To make it all even more fun, we’ll be at WDW the night that our bookings open…so I’m just imagining the chaos that will inevitably ensue as I try to navigate this on my phone with spotty resort wifi

I understand your worry. I had to register for rD Marathon Weekend one-time when we were on property. I was worried, but managed to get into the races.

There are lots of excursions. The people we dined with in September did different excursions than us, and we all loved everything. You’re gonna have a great time. I booked the Glacier Explorer (was surprised I could), but it ended up being canceled. It wasn’t my preference, but we still had a fantastic cruise. We are even going back next year!

 

[kiford]

I would really like to know our dinner rotation ahead of time.

Dining rotations are not known very far ahead of time because they constantly work the schedule around. People book and cancel all the time, want to make changes, change from early to late or vice versa, link other staterooms, put in rotational requests, want a private table, etc. It's like a giant puzzle with pieces that keep changing size, shape, and number. They are likely not finalized until a couple of days prior, and even that could be subject to change. You can request a particular rotation, although they don't guarantee it. Still, they will try. I've only made a request once so that we could skip Worlds of Marvel for Palo on a 3-day cruise and was fortunate enough to have it granted.

 

[ShaneDJ]

We are DVC and we are big planners at WDW. But the reason why we love DCL is because we do NOT have to plan...and we can still have a great vacation. No stress (totally unlike our WDW trips).

In fact, this is one of the main reasons why we now prefer DCL cruises rather than WDW trips.

We've cruised DCL concierge with everything planned (including the hard-to-get cabana) and we've cruised DCL non-concierge with NOTHING planned (just show-up on the ship and roll with whatever is available).

Guess which trip we've enjoyed the most? The NON-planned trip! By far!

We love the extravagance of the Concierge Lounge and staff, of course.

But to show-up on one of the beautiful DCL ships to just relax and enjoy the ship, to know that we will get to dine in each of the three MDR's (with no reservations), that we will enjoy awesome live shows, and we can still join available excursions...makes the "non-planned" trips special.

Interestingly, the excursions we've been able to book on-board (not pre-planned) we've actually liked better than the ones we planned months in advance on other cruises.

The DCL crew on-board will really take care of you better than the CM's in the packed WDW parks.

And if you look at the DCL Navigator app each day, there are usually over 100 activities each day that you could sign-up for. We've never been able to do more than 10 activities per day.

Most days, we love relaxing at Satellite Falls or reading a book on deck 4 or visiting the serene Cove Cafe. And be sure to visit Senses Spa! We've always been able to get any spa treatment we've wanted onboard after we board (not pre-booked).

For us, the non-planned DCL cruises have been much more enjoyable and relaxing than the pre-planned ones.