First Cruise More Questions

[kelly radebaugh]

Hello, I have a few more questions now that our cruise is a bit closer and I just booked activities last night. I apologize in advance for the million questions but being new to cruising and to DCL theres just a lot I don't know yet. Also cruising with a child with autism means I need to plan as much as possible in advance. Not receiving navigators until a night before and dining schedule until embarkation day is stressing me out. I was excited to see some Palo brunch and dinner availability so I booked the best available time I saw but am worried because no clue if it will work due to port times and the dining rotation we end up with. I;m sure we will choose either the brunch or dinner and not both but need some guidance to figure out our best option.
The brunch is scheduled for our Nassau day but I could only get an 11:30 slot. We were planning on going to the british colonial hilton beach for that day.
-Do you think an hour or hour and a half is enough time for brunch there or is it not worth it if we don't stay the full 2 hours?
-If we go to the brunch from 11:30-1. and then try to go to the hilton for a few hours what time would we need to head back to the port for a 5:15 on board time?
-how long does it take to get off the ship when in port? Do you just walk off and you are on your merry way or are there checkpoints and lines?
-We have Palo dinner scheduled for our key west night ( 2nd night of the cruise) at 6:30. The only dinner on the dining rotation I'd want to miss would be lumieres since we can dine there for lunch. If that doesn't line up do you think theres a chance of getting it moved to a different night once on board?
-We got a time for the frozen meet and greet. Do you generally get in to see the characters at the time you are slated or is there a line to wait in after checking in for it?
-any reviews of the extreme getaway package at castaway? My son really wants to pet a stingray so we thought this would be our best bet and by far less expensive than nassau excursions for it.
Thanks in advance for any advice. These boards have been soooo helpful!

 

[bbn1122]

Welcome to DCL!

I can maybe answer a couple questions but I’m sure more experience cruisers will help you with the others. An hour and a half is plenty of time for the brunch. It just depends how much you want to eat how long you want to linger. If your Palo dinner doesn’t line up the way you wanted to, you usually can switch with another night. Just make sure that you change the soon as you see your dining room rotation.

And the last thing I can say is enjoy your cruise and try not to stress. The ship is so beautiful and there so many wonderful things to do and see without even making plans. Just to walk around the ship is filled with wonderment! Welcome aboard.

 

[Snowwhyt]

There’s typically a bigger line to get back on then there is to get off the ship.
I agree an hour and a half is plenty of time for brunch. An hour and 15 minutes is probably not enough.
Our family has pet the stingrays and it is very safe. I have no knowledge of the extreme package personally.

 

[kiford]

Not receiving navigators until a night before and dining schedule until embarkation day is stressing me out.

If you have an iPhone or Android, you can download the Disney Navigator app. You can't see anything on it (other than a countdown to your cruise date) until you're onboard but once on board, you connect to the wifi (no cost - it just uses the internal wifi) and you'll be able to see all of the dinner menus for all days as well as all of the activities and movies for the full cruise. You won't know your dining rotation until you board but I don't think there's any reason to stress about that in advance. You'll find out once you board and get your KTTW card.

You can then go down to the various restaurants and have a look at them so you know where to go and what to expect. There's also no need to get to the MDR well in advance of the dining time. You have a table reserved for you so you can get down right at or a minute or two before dining time and not have to wait in line.

how long does it take to get off the ship when in port? Do you just walk off and you are on your merry way or are there checkpoints and lines?

Kind of depends on how many people are getting off at the same time and/or if it's a tender port. People who have early port tours are usually down first so the lines can be a bit long as soon as they open the doors. If you're not doing a pre-booked tour, you can wait about 15-30 minutes for the crowds to clear and just walk off. During the day there is typically no line at all and you just go down and walk right off. There is a checkpoint before you disembark. You have to have your KTTW scanned and show that you have photo ID which you'll need to be let back on. Same for reboarding - you have to scan your card. Depending on the port, you may have to show photo ID and KTTW to get into the port building or port area. Those lines are usually relatively short unless a few busses from tours show up at the same time.

My son really wants to pet a stingray so we thought this would be our best bet and by far less expensive than nassau excursions for it.

We did this a few year ago and loved it. DH got to feed the stingrays (I'm allergic to seafood so couldn't hold the shrimp they were feeding them). They know that you might have food so they will also rub their undersides up against you in the hopes that you might feed them. Kind of like a cat winding around your legs. The water is very shallow so it's easy to walk around and they will let you pet them (stingers are trimmed so there's no danger).

 

[bumbershoot]

Not receiving navigators until a night before and dining schedule until embarkation day is stressing me out.

As kiford said, the app will give you all the navigators for the whole cruise once you’re onboard.

If we go to the brunch from 11:30-1. and then try to go to the hilton for a few hours what time would we need to head back to the port for a 5:15 on board time?

For me and my comfort level there is zero chance I would do that. 5:15 all aboard means I’m getting onboard by 4:30. I think the Hinton is close but I’d likely leave at 3:30 to make sure i had a cushion. Since I likely wouldn’t be there until 2 after brunch...

IMO, choose what you want to do that day. Beach day or onboard and brunch.

You won't know your dining rotation until you board but I don't think there's any reason to stress about that in advance. You'll find out once you board and get your KTTW card.

Agreed.

And once you know your rotation go to Palo (or wherever you go to change reservations) and see about switching things around.

To me there is no stress about these things, only planning.

 

[tigerchic89]

If your cruise is 4 nights, I'd only do Palo once if at all.... brunch or dinner. And if you've got the Hilton for the full day in Nassau, I'd skip brunch and really get all of your paid for time on your Nassau excursion.

 

[kelly radebaugh]

Welcome to DCL!

I can maybe answer a couple questions but I’m sure more experience cruisers will help you with the others. An hour and a half is plenty of time for the brunch. It just depends how much you want to eat how long you want to linger. If your Palo dinner doesn’t line up the way you wanted to, you usually can switch with another night. Just make sure that you change the soon as you see your dining room rotation.

And the last thing I can say is enjoy your cruise and try not to stress. The ship is so beautiful and there so many wonderful things to do and see without even making plans. Just to walk around the ship is filled with wonderment! Welcome aboard.

Thank you so much!

 

[kelly radebaugh]

If your cruise is 4 nights, I'd only do Palo once if at all.... brunch or dinner. And if you've got the Hilton for the full day in Nassau, I'd skip brunch and really get all of your paid for time on your Nassau excursion.

Thats what I was thinking too. At least either way we will get to do something fun. Decisions decisions. Thanks for the advice

 

[kelly radebaugh]

As kiford said, the app will give you all the navigators for the whole cruise once you’re onboard.



For me and my comfort level there is zero chance I would do that. 5:15 all aboard means I’m getting onboard by 4:30. I think the Hinton is close but I’d likely leave at 3:30 to make sure i had a cushion. Since I likely wouldn’t be there until 2 after brunch...

IMO, choose what you want to do that day. Beach day or onboard and brunch.




Agreed.

And once you know your rotation go to Palo (or wherever you go to change reservations) and see about switching things around.

To me there is no stress about these things, only planning.

Thank you! I am always at least 15 min early anywhere I go so I know I'll want to be back to the ship before the on board time and figured it would be too tight of a schedule. Thanks so much for the info. So hard to know having never been there. Appreciate the advice

 

[kelly radebaugh]

If you have an iPhone or Android, you can download the Disney Navigator app. You can't see anything on it (other than a countdown to your cruise date) until you're onboard but once on board, you connect to the wifi (no cost - it just uses the internal wifi) and you'll be able to see all of the dinner menus for all days as well as all of the activities and movies for the full cruise. You won't know your dining rotation until you board but I don't think there's any reason to stress about that in advance. You'll find out once you board and get your KTTW card.

You can then go down to the various restaurants and have a look at them so you know where to go and what to expect. There's also no need to get to the MDR well in advance of the dining time. You have a table reserved for you so you can get down right at or a minute or two before dining time and not have to wait in line.



Kind of depends on how many people are getting off at the same time and/or if it's a tender port. People who have early port tours are usually down first so the lines can be a bit long as soon as they open the doors. If you're not doing a pre-booked tour, you can wait about 15-30 minutes for the crowds to clear and just walk off. During the day there is typically no line at all and you just go down and walk right off. There is a checkpoint before you disembark. You have to have your KTTW scanned and show that you have photo ID which you'll need to be let back on. Same for reboarding - you have to scan your card. Depending on the port, you may have to show photo ID and KTTW to get into the port building or port area. Those lines are usually relatively short unless a few busses from tours show up at the same time.



We did this a few year ago and loved it. DH got to feed the stingrays (I'm allergic to seafood so couldn't hold the shrimp they were feeding them). They know that you might have food so they will also rub their undersides up against you in the hopes that you might feed them. Kind of like a cat winding around your legs. The water is very shallow so it's easy to walk around and they will let you pet them (stingers are trimmed so there's no danger).

I didn't realize you could see the navigators for the whole cruise once on board! Thanks for that tip. Eases my mind a bit. Really appreciate all the advice!

 

[kelly radebaugh]

Welcome to DCL!

I can maybe answer a couple questions but I’m sure more experience cruisers will help you with the others. An hour and a half is plenty of time for the brunch. It just depends how much you want to eat how long you want to linger. If your Palo dinner doesn’t line up the way you wanted to, you usually can switch with another night. Just make sure that you change the soon as you see your dining room rotation.

And the last thing I can say is enjoy your cruise and try not to stress. The ship is so beautiful and there so many wonderful things to do and see without even making plans. Just to walk around the ship is filled with wonderment! Welcome aboard.

Thank you!

 

[kelly radebaugh]

There’s typically a bigger line to get back on then there is to get off the ship.
I agree an hour and a half is plenty of time for brunch. An hour and 15 minutes is probably not enough.
Our family has pet the stingrays and it is very safe. I have no knowledge of the extreme package personally.

thank you!

 

[YawningDodo]

Others have covered it all well; the one question I don't see addressed is the timed/ticketed Frozen meet. My experience with the Marvel ticketed meets was that I did still have to wait in line. I think the Frozen meet is likely to be more similar to the Groot meet I did, which was in Animator's Palate, where people in my time slot started lining up ten or fifteen minutes in advance, and the assigned time was when they opened the door. The other meet and greet I did was a larger thing and had more of a continuous line that they'd allow people from certain time slots to join at certain times. Either way, I would expect to wait, either waiting for the doors to open or waiting in line because other people with the same time assignment got there ahead of you.

Echoing what someone else said about not lining up for the MDR, though. I made the mistake of getting there five or ten minutes early on the first night, saw the line, and just went and sat down for a couple minutes until they'd let people in and the line was gone. After that I showed up for dinner at the exact scheduled time or even five minutes afterward, and I would walk right in and straight to my assigned table, no waiting.

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the stingrays at CC last year. The stingrays swim up onto a table like a ramp and you will be given the food to give to them as they swim to you. You need to keep your hand down flat on the table as the stingrays swim by and suck the food from you, feels like a vacuum. My dd didn't want to feed them, but she had fun petting them as they swam up the ramp. You then will have time to snorkel with them. They have the end of their barbs removed, so that adds extra safety of not having them hurt anyone. I felt better doing it at CC then with wild ones because of this.
We had to wait in line for about 15-20mins when we did the Frozen meet and greet. We were near the end of the line probably about 20-30 people in front of us, if you show up 5-10mins before it starts you shouldn't have too long of a wait, unless everyone else happens to show up then also, but really they keep the line moving.

 

[gotomu212]

Thank you! I am always at least 15 min early anywhere I go so I know I'll want to be back to the ship before the on board time and figured it would be too tight of a schedule. Thanks so much for the info. So hard to know having never been there. Appreciate the advice

That onboard time is a drop dead time too. Sometimes the ship is held a little longer if there’s a DCL excursion caught somewhere, but being late for the ship means literally missing the boat. I’m pretty laid back but I always plan to be back at least 30 minutes before onboard to account for traffic, wrong turn, whatever.

On Palo/Nassau day- brunch is a really big meal. I wouldn’t want to eat that much and then run to the beach. You’d also need time to change from Palo clothes to beach stuff. I would do beach over brunch since your son could go to the beach and as good as Palo is I wouldn’t pick a meal over the beach (that’s totally personal though).

 

[lanejudy]

Not receiving navigators until a night before and dining schedule until embarkation day is stressing me out.

I didn't realize you could see the navigators for the whole cruise once on board!

While it may not be exactly the same, I recommend you check out the Personal Navigators posted on the DCLBlog. They are sorted by ship and itinerary. It will give you an idea of the types of programs offered on port days or sea days, and if you find a recent Navigator it may be very similar schedule to your cruise.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[kelly radebaugh]

That onboard time is a drop dead time too. Sometimes the ship is held a little longer if there’s a DCL excursion caught somewhere, but being late for the ship means literally missing the boat. I’m pretty laid back but I always plan to be back at least 30 minutes before onboard to account for traffic, wrong turn, whatever.

On Palo/Nassau day- brunch is a really big meal. I wouldn’t want to eat that much and then run to the beach. You’d also need time to change from Palo clothes to beach stuff. I would do beach over brunch since your son could go to the beach and as good as Palo is I wouldn’t pick a meal over the beach (that’s totally personal though).

good point, I didn't even think about having to dress up and then change. Sounds like we are better off canceling brunch. Thanks so much

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

-We got a time for the frozen meet and greet. Do you generally get in to see the characters at the time you are slated or is there a line to wait in after checking in for it?

There can be a little bit of a line even so, but the whole thing won't take longer than the 15-minute window you were given. In my experience, the lines are shortest if you have one of the earlier times, and a little longer later. Also, if time is really tight for you afterwards, we were told it is permissible to show up 5 minutes (but not more) before your scheduled time. But I would only do this if you are really pressed for time afterwards. After all, it doesn't shorten your wait time, it just moves the wait five minutes earlier.

 

[Weedy]

They hold some Palo reservations back for people to book onboard. The day you board there will be an area set up (usually one of the restaurants) check there and see if you can get an earlier brunch.
Typically they only do brunch on a sea day or if no sea days on the Nassau day. Sometimes if the ship is scheduled to arrive late at a Port they will do brunch then.

 

[kiford]

I didn't realize you could see the navigators for the whole cruise once on board! Thanks for that tip. Eases my mind a bit. Really appreciate all the advice!

You can also mark those items which you want to do and it is supposed to remind you (I found that to be a bit wonky - it didn't always remind me or at least I didn't think so). I found it useful to go through and just mark as "favourite" everything that interested me so it was easy to find later. I still liked going through the printed Navigator in bed at night but having it on the phone was really useful. I also liked checking out menus for future days; if I wasn't all that thrilled with the offerings I wasn't too worried about overeating at the places on the pool deck in the afternoon (they also post the menu for the evening outside of the restaurants but it's much easier to check it out on your phone while sitting by the pool pondering just another snack).