a few questions

[aa4mom]

I just booked my first cruise, Aug 23, a 7 day Eastern Caribbean. I now have 7 mths to obsess. I have a few questions- (probably a little silly, but I have never done this before.) The brochures show families on the beach with buckets and pails, are we supposed to bring our own or does DCL have some on board? We have a late seating and are wait listed early, what are our chances of being moved. My kids age 6 & 9 won't make it that late without a meltdown. We are a Cat 6 guarentee- What exactly does that mean? Also, for the kids club, Can you sign them up day by day or is it all done at the beginning of the cruise. Any answers are greatly appreciated.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I'll give these a shot:

-I think buckets pails and shovels are available for purchase, probably on Castaway Cay. It is probably much cheaper to bring your own. I don't know that they have any to lend. But, I've never cruised with kids, so I'm probably not the best one to answer this question.

-I've had the same problem with waitlisting. The method I've had success with is to call every few days and check to see if there have been any openings (or have your TA do it, if you've booked through one). While people do get changes from the wait list, I am told by DCL reservations staff that the wait list is only checked once a day. So, if there is a cancellation, the opening exists on the system until the next time the list is checked. If someone calls and there is an opening, they'll get it. Your best chance is during the week just prior to the 60-day period. Most cancellations happen during this week, as it is the last chance for people to cancel without having to pay a penalty. I've used this method to get what I wanted from the wait list. It only takes a few minutes if you have your reservation # handy.

-A category guarantee means that you are guaranteed to have at least that category. This usually happens when they fill the bookings for a certain cabin category. They book a few more than capacity to allow for cancellations. They will assign you a cabin # closer to your sail date. You may even get an upgrade, but don't count on it. You won't do worse than a category 6, though.

-Again, never sailed with kids, but I believe you register for the kids clubs on the first day, and then they kids can go to as many or as few events as they like.

 

[buzz&woody'smom]

Take your own beach toys. Since you are not going until August take advantage of end of the season sales. I sailed this past October and took beach toys from the $1.00 store, K-Mart and Big lots. After our last beach day I just threw them away. I also took beach balls and those sponge balls.

I noted that one beach pail and shovel was $15.50. The pail was large but I would have hated to take that thing back on ship clean it out and then pack it??? Things on Castaway Cay were pricey.

 

[SC Minnie]

Yes, you register your kids the first day of the cruise and they can go in and out. You will get a list of activities for the week when you sign them up and they can decide what activites they want to do. You will get a pager the first day for you to use for the duration of your cruise. They will page you if your kids want to come out of the club or if there is a problem.

Post a separate thread about the sand toys. I thought you could rent them for the day at CC. I may be mistaken though.

 

[aa4mom]

$15.50 for a sand bucket!!! having been to WDW many times, I know things are over priced, but OUCH!! Are there any other things that I should bring myself, rather than renting/buying on the boat or at CC?

 

[jel0511]

Actually I thought that sand bucket and shovel were more like $18, at least that what they were in November. We had baskets made up by Perfect Gift, and they came with buckets and stuff, and they were GREAT!! The kids loved the baskets and they had great sand toys to play with. They were the envy of the beach!!!! You just sign your kids up on the first day and then you can sign them in and out as you please, it's really easy.

 

[wovenwonder]

Originally posted by aa4mom
$15.50 for a sand bucket!!! having been to WDW many times, I know things are over priced, but OUCH!! Are there any other things that I should bring myself, rather than renting/buying on the boat or at CC?

Welcome to the boards! Enjoy planning your vacation because half of the fun is in the planning! Another thing you may want to consider bringing along would be snorkel gear. I have a page of 'thoughts at random' as well as 'packing suggestions' for newbies on my webpage if you are interested in some hints.

 

[trav&emsmom]

sand toys: We purchased sand toys on Castaway Cay, I didn't find them too pricey. There was no way to bring them back home, way too many other souviners, so my son gave them to kids on the beach that he was playing with. My husband and son bought a football to toss around on the beach and I thought that was expensive ($18).

late seating: I would reconsider changing to early seating. I too was very concerned about late seating with my ds 5 and dd 8 months, but it was really nice. I don't think we would have enjoyed our trip as much if we had early seating. We probably would have went to our cabin after dinner each night. My husband and I would usually grab a snack around 6 and then see the show while my daughter napped in my arms. My son would go to dinner with the Club and then on to an activity with the club. We would get him from the club at 8:15, and go to dinner as a family. He usually just picked at his food and ate dessert , but it was one of our requirements that he have dinner with us each night (otherwise, we would have never seen him. also, after the first night he would not have missed it...he loved our waiters and all their magic tricks) After dinner, it was usually back to the club for him. I would never schedule early seating after this experience.

enjoy planning and cruising....we did.

 

[Hygiene99]

with the early seating also comes, early departure yup on the last morning of the cruise u must be at breakfast bye 6:45
and off the ship after that we like the later seating just gives u a little more time in the Am peter

 

[trav&emsmom]

like Peter said, that's another plus with late seating...you don't have to be at breakfast until 8:00 the last morning. No way would we have made it to the dining room by 6:45!

Tish

 

[My~Rumbly~Tumbly]

I thought the buckets were outrageously priced, but my daughter was NOT going to let me not buy her one. I got a bucket with some sand toys in it for $18.00. They had some sand toys that were less expensive, but they were smaller in size. They also had a bigger set that I liked a lot, but it was 30.00! If I'd known, I surely would have brought my own. I thought about leaving them in my stateroom for the next guest, but I managed to get them packed without taking up too much space. I stuffed things inside of the bucket. I'll bring my own toys next time.

 

[aa4mom]

thanks for the website, it was a great help. here's another "dumb" question- I NEED coffee in the morning. Are there coffee makers in the room, or can you arrange to have coffee sent to the room in the morning.

 

[My~Rumbly~Tumbly]

I don't recall seeing a coffee maker in the room, but I'm certain you should be able to get it by way of room service. It's also readily available in all the restaurants.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

You can get coffee via room service in the morning, or up at the beverage station on deck 9. You can actually order your coffee the night before, by hanging a room service menu on your door. You can specify what you want for breakfast (no hot breakfast, though) and leave it on your door at night. They will deliver it at the time you specify in the morning, so it can also serve as a wake-up call.

Regarding early dinner seating and breakfast on the last day, you do not have to go to breakfast in the dining room. You can also eat at Topsider's/Beach Blanket Buffet. That way you can move at your own pace on the final morning. I would not take this into account when choosing a dinner seating. You eat dinner every night, but only debark the ship once, so schedule dinner when it is best for you. You must be off the ship by around 9:00am on the last day, anyway, so it's not as if you can sleep in all morning.