August 2 2025, DVC member Cruise on the Dream!

[bobbiwoz]

Tom called DCL and was told Pirate night would be Day 2 and optional dress up is day 4. So, we booked Palo for Day 2. I don’t want to miss any rotational dining menus!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

New cruiser here. Hopefully there will something from my wish list left on May 19th. I’m mainly interested in shore excursions for Cozumel. (We don’t need any premium dining.)

I think you should have some options, I would be surprised if many people on the member cruise want to visit Cozumel vs staying on the ship. In my opinion, DCL is relatively weak on shore excursions and the Cozumel options often involved a lot of walking around the pier area.

Yes, I was disappointed to not know about Pirate night when deciding when to book Palo.

We actually like the pirate night menu (well, I do, not sure the rest of my family really cares for it) and I like to be together with the family for pirate night and not racing to finish dinner at Remy to regroup for fireworks.

I was thinking pirates maybe wouldn’t be the last night because of the big ending show they usually have, what do you thinK? I’ve not been on many MCs out of FL.

Is “big ending show” a 2-3x a night experience or is it like pirate night where everybody gets one opportunity to see it?

Tom called DCL and was told Pirate night would be Day 2 and optional dress up is day 4. So, we booked Palo for Day 2. I don’t want to miss any rotational dining menus!

Interesting that Pirate night is so early. I’d like to know what “repeat night” is that isn’t pirate night. Maybe Day 4? Thank you very much for calling!

 

[Mathmagicland]

Is “big ending show” a 2-3x a night experience or is it like pirate night where everybody gets one opportunity to see it?

It will be twice, opposite the dining times. The last several MCs it has been a show with the Disney on Broadway/West End special guests singing and sharing.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I love the Broadway Singers shows! One reason we like to go to Festival of the Arts at Epcot!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Not sure if any other people experienced this, but I was surprised that at Platinum opening it was hard to get a spa appointment on embarkation day before 4pm and also there were somewhat limited dining options for Remy (though switching from 2 people to 1 person seemed to open up a lot more availability). Everything else seemed similar to what I experienced in the past when gold booking windows opened.

 

[islandsnoopy]

Not sure if any other people experienced this, but I was surprised that at Platinum opening it was hard to get a spa appointment on embarkation day before 4pm and also there were somewhat limited dining options for Remy (though switching from 2 people to 1 person seemed to open up a lot more availability). Everything else seemed similar to what I experienced in the past when gold booking windows opened.

At Platinum opening, no Palo brunch was available. We did get Palo dinner though.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

At Platinum opening, no Palo brunch was available. We did get Palo dinner though.

I wonder if this means there’s a very high number of pearl (and platinum?) cruisers.

 

[DanCali]

Most drinking Onboard Fun events are sold out, and I don't what's left will last much longer. If you look at the availability, you'd think this was a Disney Day Drinker club cruise!

If anyone would like to arrange a swap...

We were able to get Champagne Tasting for 2 people on day 4 (Aug 5) at 12pm before those sold out. We've done that one before though (loved it) so if anyone would like to trade the Rum or Chocolate & Liquor (haven't done those yet), feel free to send a DM!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Most drinking Onboard Fun events are sold out, and I don't what's left will last much longer. If you look at the availability, you'd think this was a Disney Day Drinker club cruise!

If anyone would like to arrange a swap...

We were able to get Champagne Tasting for 2 people on day 4 (Aug 5) at 12pm before those sold out. We've done that one before though (loved it) so if anyone would like to trade the Rum or Chocolate & Liquor (haven't done those yet), feel free to send a DM!

It’s honestly surprising to me it would sell out faster simply because there are so many member-specific activities on this sailing that we plan to skip many of the things we can do on any other cruise.

I’ve always wanted to do the champagne tasting but cannot drink much mid day without feeling disgusting by dinner— I wish they occasionally offered it in the evening after dinner.

 

[DanCali]

It’s honestly surprising to me it would sell out faster simply because there are so many member-specific activities on this sailing that we plan to skip many of the things we can do on any other cruise.

I’ve always wanted to do the champagne tasting but cannot drink much mid day without feeling disgusting by dinner— I wish they occasionally offered it in the evening after dinner.

I suspect some people book first and then drop later once they figure out the schedule and finalize plans.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

It’s honestly surprising to me it would sell out faster simply because there are so many member-specific activities on this sailing that we plan to skip many of the things we can do on any other cruise.

I bet that once folks get onboard and see the little booklet with the MC special activities, they will cancel a lot of the normal DCL activities like the tastings since many may conflict with presentations/events. Unfortunately, there's no way to know what the special stuff is until they hand you the little booklet while boarding

 

[bobbiwoz]

July 3 is the day to book the Royal Gathering if that’s something that interests you and your family.

 

[erionm]

July 3 is the day to book the Royal Gathering if that’s something that interests you and your family.

It's also on-line check in day for first time cruisers. So those people need to decide which is more important, Royal Gathering or better Port Arrival Time (if not using Disney Transportation).

 

[DanCali]

It's also on-line check in day for first time cruisers. So those people need to decide which is more important, Royal Gathering or better Port Arrival Time (if not using Disney Transportation).

Given how all the booze "onboard fun" slots were booked when the Gold activity window opened up, this doesn't seem like a cruise with many first time cruisers

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Given how all the booze "onboard fun" slots were booked when the Gold activity window opened up, this doesn't seem like a cruise with many first time cruisers

I added a cruise last winter specifically because I wanted to make it up to Platinum by the time we did the member cruise, but there was less availability for activities at the beginning of the Platinum booking window that I’d often encountered at the opening of gold.

 

[erionm]

I added a cruise last winter specifically because I wanted to make it up to Platinum by the time we did the member cruise, but there was less availability for activities at the beginning of the Platinum booking window that I’d often encountered at the opening of gold.

We should be Platinum now, but Hurricane Milton had other ideas and caused our Oct 2024 cruise to be cancelled.

 

[CDKG]

Well, my booking window finally opened last night! Our first choice for port adventure in Cozumel was unavailable. Fortunately, I was able to reserve our second choice (it is now also unavailable). I will keep checking in case our first choice comes back.

I was able to grab a Rainforest length of cruise pass for one of us, now it says “check availability onboard”. Hopefully I can book one for myself then (if not before). If not, is this something we can take turns visiting, or do they check IDs? Are there cancellation fees if I cancel onboard?

I would love to do one of the tasting seminars, but knew those sold out weeks ago. One more thing to keep checking for! Although I know we will be busy with all the Member presentations.

I wasn’t interested in adult dining (we’re both picky, in different ways). But, I was able to book our photo package and CC Getaway Package. I’m starting to get excited now!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We were able to book the Moonlight Magic at TL on our last night in WDW after the cruise. Is anyone else going?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We were able to book the Moonlight Magic at TL on our last night in WDW after the cruise. Is anyone else going?

We also booked it— I was planning to fly home late that night but hadn’t booked flights yet. When will we find out what time the event starts?

 

[erionm]

We also booked it— I was planning to fly home late that night but hadn’t booked flights yet. When will we find out what time the event starts?

Final event details are not sent out until a few days prior. Typically, you can enter 2 hours prior to park closing and the actual event will start either 30 minutes or 1 hour after park closing.