Cruise secrets that DCL doesn't tell you

[caro]

We are sailing on the Dream in July and have the 2nd dinner seating. DD is 6 and I am not sure if this is going to lead to nightly dinner meltdowns. So I have a few questions...
1. Has anybody done the late seating with children around this age who are used to eating much earlier? How did it go?
2.Is it more realistic to eat in Cabanas or a grab a quick service dinner and eat by the pools?
3. We did put in a request for the earlier dinner seating but are still on the wait list. Is there any chance we may get the earlier seating? Disney won't say yes or no so I was wondering if these requests ever actually happen. I assume most people with young children want the earlier seating.

 

[caro]

By the way.... Thanks to everybody who has been so helpful on this board. This is our first cruise and I would have been lost without all of this amazing info!

 

[redman822]

3. We did put in a request for the earlier dinner seating but are still on the wait list. Is there any chance we may get the earlier seating? Disney won't say yes or no so I was wondering if these requests ever actually happen. I assume most people with young children want the earlier seating.

We were on the March 27 cruise and up until the last week when I checked, we were still on the late seating, with a waitlist for early.

When we checked in at the terminal, before I could even ask, the cast member said, "OK, we have you set for the early seating for dinner - starting the first night in Enchanted Garden."

So do not lose hope - it can happen, also do not be afraid of asking at boarding (or at guest services after boarding)....I heard of people changing there after debarkation when openings happened during check-in.

 

[CDX4]

We are sailing on the Dream in July and have the 2nd dinner seating. DD is 6 and I am not sure if this is going to lead to nightly dinner meltdowns. So I have a few questions...
1. Has anybody done the late seating with children around this age who are used to eating much earlier? How did it go?
2.Is it more realistic to eat in Cabanas or a grab a quick service dinner and eat by the pools?
3. We did put in a request for the earlier dinner seating but are still on the wait list. Is there any chance we may get the earlier seating? Disney won't say yes or no so I was wondering if these requests ever actually happen. I assume most people with young children want the earlier seating.

We just returned from a 5 night DD on the Dream. We too have a 6 yr old DD and had the late seating. We came in from our day's activities around 4 each day and had room service snack and rest time until the 6:15 show. We only had 1 meltdown night which unfortunately turned out to be on pirate night (the one night I really wanted to stay out dancing!). I guess 1 night out of 5 isn't so bad. If only I could have gotten DD to take a nap! She's just not a napper! Good luck!

 

[tchrrx]

I guess I didn't pay attention to the fact that the restaurants served lunch. We just ate at Cabana's every day. I loved it, but wish I would've tried a sit-down lunch at least once. Oh well, there's always next time.

 

[poohj80]

We are sailing on the Dream in July and have the 2nd dinner seating. DD is 6 and I am not sure if this is going to lead to nightly dinner meltdowns. So I have a few questions...
1. Has anybody done the late seating with children around this age who are used to eating much earlier? How did it go?
2.Is it more realistic to eat in Cabanas or a grab a quick service dinner and eat by the pools?
3. We did put in a request for the earlier dinner seating but are still on the wait list. Is there any chance we may get the earlier seating? Disney won't say yes or no so I was wondering if these requests ever actually happen. I assume most people with young children want the earlier seating.

1. We cruised last month with 5 yr old and late seating. Even though she doesn't nap at home, she still needs naps on all Disney related trips as we wear her out pretty well. This also helps her stay awake for the late seating.

2. The restuarants themselves are part of the appeal so I would suggest taking them at least once to see them. I would recommend telling your server you are concerned your child may not sit still well so would like to have your meal brought out quickly. We didn't do this at first and every meal took 2 hours. When we asked, we were done in 45 minutes (and did not feel rushed).

 

[toy]

I love the towel animals probably more than the kids. I couldn't wait to see what was waiting for me. I asked our steward about how they learn to make them and he brought me copies of the instructions.

 

[IlliniAmy]

Re: early vs. late dining, definitely do not give up hope. I cruised a few years ago with three girlfriends and they assigned us to early dining! Having been on the ship before, we decided to just request reassignment when we boarded the ship, which we did and it was immediately granted. Short story long: people will switch even after they board the ship so even if you make the request and they tell you they can't, keep checking! You never know if someone will board later and want your late dining spot!

 

[tchrrx]

I love the towel animals probably more than the kids. I couldn't wait to see what was waiting for me. I asked our steward about how they learn to make them and he brought me copies of the instructions.

There was a towel animal class offered during our cruise. Check your navigators if you are interested in this.

 

[Carrol]

There was a towel animal class offered during our cruise. Check your navigators if you are interested in this.

There's also a book you can buy. It was on the Alaska cruise.

 

[Hollywood Glitter]

Thanks for all the great tips everyone

Quick Question: I am going on the Mexican Riviera in Nov and this will be my first cruise ... Do they still give you the menus to keep as souviners if you ask for them?

 

[girl_barrie]

GREAT thread! I JUST read it all!!
We made friends with several of the CM's (still in touch on FB!!!) and they LOVED the yummy treats that we brought as additions to the monetary tips! We filled up one entire suitcase with goodies to give out. Individually wrapped bags of m&m's, kit kats, twizzlers and Reese's were really appreciated, but even more so were the salty snacks!! The huge hits of the goodies were the cheez-its, potato chips and the pretzels!!!! Apparently, the CM's have to pay the same outrageous amounts for snacks that the cruisers do.
Be sure to fill out comment cards with the names and positions of your CM's that made a difference - it counts for them - seriously! We also brought a small selection of truly international calling cards in $5 and $10 denominations for those who really went above & beyond.
We're actually taking requests from our CM friends on things to bring onboard when we go on our next cruise! And bonus is that the suitcase ends up empty for souvin"ears"!

 

[poohj80]

GREAT thread! I JUST read it all!!
We made friends with several of the CM's (still in touch on FB!!!) and they LOVED the yummy treats that we brought as additions to the monetary tips! We filled up one entire suitcase with goodies to give out. Individually wrapped bags of m&m's, kit kats, twizzlers and Reese's were really appreciated, but even more so were the salty snacks!! The huge hits of the goodies were the cheez-its, potato chips and the pretzels!!!! Apparently, the CM's have to pay the same outrageous amounts for snacks that the cruisers do.
Be sure to fill out comment cards with the names and positions of your CM's that made a difference - it counts for them - seriously! We also brought a small selection of truly international calling cards in $5 and $10 denominations for those who really went above & beyond.
We're actually taking requests from our CM friends on things to bring onboard when we go on our next cruise! And bonus is that the suitcase ends up empty for souvin"ears"!

Thanks for the tips on the salty snacks! Please share what other requests yoru CM friends have as we are always looking for better surprises!

 

[caro]

We were on the March 27 cruise and up until the last week when I checked, we were still on the late seating, with a waitlist for early.

When we checked in at the terminal, before I could even ask, the cast member said, "OK, we have you set for the early seating for dinner - starting the first night in Enchanted Garden."

So do not lose hope - it can happen, also do not be afraid of asking at boarding (or at guest services after boarding)....I heard of people changing there after debarkation when openings happened during check-in.

Thanks for the hope! We just got the confirmation that we were changed to the main seating!

 

[redman822]

Caro -- Great news....Have a wonderful time!

 

[Mainstreetqueen]

Thanks for all the great tips!

 

[disneycruisegal]

I seem to recall that you used to be able to get a voyage map that had all the ports marked for your cruise; people would have the Captain sign it. This was a few years ago so I don't know if you can still get it, but we will be on the 7/20 Med sailing on the Magic for our honeymoon so I definitely plan to try it - would make a great souvenir.

And this isn't so much a secret tip, but when my girlfriends and I cruise we always make ourselves take the stairs wherever we go - no elevators! Saves you waiting for them, for starters, which can take forever at busy times (dinner, disembarking in the ports). Plus, you burn off a few extra calories!

Thanks to those who contributed to the passport discussions. I would *love* to have stamps for each country we stop at, but I am really nervous about separating from the only thing that will let me back into the US! Does anyone who's been to the Med know if there is anywhere you can get it stamped when you get off the ship?

We did the Med cruise two years ago, you're in for a real treat! We flew from Boston to Munich, Germany then to Barcelona Spain. The only place where our pass ports were stamped was Munich, coming and going. Have a great trip.

 

[seajay8783]

Just read every post, I'm definitely subscribing!!

 

[dustermom02]

We did the Med cruise two years ago, you're in for a real treat! We flew from Boston to Munich, Germany then to Barcelona Spain. The only place where our pass ports were stamped was Munich, coming and going. Have a great trip.

We did the Med last year - you have to carry your passport into every terminal and ask for the stamp yourself- we had a few lines in places- but it is so worth it! I would always have all the passports open to the right place and place them out so they could just stamp away - they always seemed VERY rushed- so be patient. Sometimes they told us we didn't need the stamp but we were insistent and told them we WANTED the stamp. Also - if you're going to do this I recommend that you always check the passports to make sure there was enough ink before you walk away - on one passport we only got a corner from Tunisia - it doesn't even have country unfortunately.

 

[buddywesley]

We just got back from 7 day Alaska and even though it was my 5th cruise I learned a few new things.
1) If your child loses a tooth, they have a button that says "I lost a tooth" with the chesire cat missing a tooth on it (yes they have a button for EVERYTHING apparently! ) so make sure to tell your room steward as they will put it on their pillow and put chocolate coins under it! voila...just like the tooth fairy came!

2) they have printed "newspapers" with the latest daily news that you can pick up a copy of daily- I saw them at Diversions and the Cove but maybe they are at more locations

3) You can actually order the chocolate souffles from your head server (if you are really nice to them ) in the main dinning rooms- actually we were sitting next to people who had been on 15 disney cruises and they ordered other than what was offered on our menu several times.