First Time Questions

[CurtS]

With such a wonderful group of veterans, I feel a bit timid as a novice. This is our first DCL adventure (Nov. 26th)--a 15th anniversary and bringing along our six children (ages 3-12), so we're pretty excited. Unfortunately, we booked in April which apparently is pretty late. I have some questions I'm sure have been answered in these forums, but thought I would ask anyway.
1. Is there any advice as to how soon to begin asking our TA about first seating? We've got second seating now and, as you can imagine, six children may be a bit difficult at 8:30!
2. Can you recommend a good hotel in the Port area that will have dependable shuttle service and a good shuttle from Orlando Int'l Airport to the hotels?
3. We considered getting two-way radios for our 12 year-old but heard that the metal structure of the ship will limit them. Anybody have any experience with this?
4. We have rooms 2502 and 2504 but have heard that there is a lot of noise and vibration in these. Does anyone have any experience on how bad it is and whether or not moving to a different room is even possible?

It's great to have so much experience on this forum. I'm looking forward to looking at the chats as November approaches!

 

[ann-e-mator]

Glad to hear you are one of us now!!!

Anyway, I had a 5 and 14 year old on last year's cruise, and let me say that as for the late seating, don't stress if you can't get the early dining. There is lots to do to keep you busy until dinner time. There is also plenty of places you can go to grab a bite to eat to tide you over. There really is no concept of time on the ship. It is not like waiting around at home to eat dinner at 8:30. Plus, the kids will be more awake for the shows which start at 6pm for all those with the second dining. Some kids fall asleep after dinner during the second shows and end up missing them.

Also, if your children enjoy the Oceaneer's Club (mine did) and prefer to stay there, they will be served dinner much earlier (I think 5:30 or so).

Our kids didn't really want to eat with us, and after I got used to that idea, I decided I liked that better anyway! My DH and I got a lot more time together than we had expected!!! I think that's why so many love DCL so much!!!

As for 2 way radios to keep in touch...if they are in the OC, you will get a pager anyway so that your children can get in touch with you when they want/need you...but don't be surprised if you don't hear from them!!!!!!


Good luck...hope this helps...!

 

[mmouse37]

Hi CurtS....Welcome to the cruise board!!! Don't worry...soon will learn all the ins and outs of a DCL cruise!!!

Great place to get started is these boards.

1) Ask your TA right away if you can be waitlisted for early seating...it is never too early to ask.

2) The Radisson at the Port has great shuttle service to the ship and is a nice place to stay the night before...beware...there really is no shuttle service from the airport to the port area hotels. There is the DCL transfers bus from the airport to the port. You would have to call DCL and pay for transfers but that option is only good the day of the cruise...not the day before.

3) We had brought 2 way radios on one of our 10 DCL cruises and never brought them again...some like them we found leaving notes in the stateroom worked better.

4) Everyone's experiences noise differently...what one may call noisy another may find fine. Deck 2 is great...we have stayed there a few times..I can't specifically comment on your rooms but I am sure someone will comments if they have stayed in them before. If you feel you cannot be in those rooms now, contact your TA ASAP and see if she can get you moved...depending on how full the ship is at this point.

Good luck

MJ

 

[TheWog]

You can go to the dining area when you board to see if you can change your dining time if it has not come through at the 60 day mark. I believe you go to Rockin' Bar D on Magic. THey will try and accomodate your request.

I have heard good things about Ron Jon's and the Radisson, I have not tried either, but there will be people who can post. I don't think either offers a shuttle for you from MCO. You may have to get a limo or rent a van.

You won't need the radios, just make sure he checks in often, use sticky pads if necessary to tell you where he is.

Don't know about deck 2 sorry.

 

[Cruise04]

I am one that liked having our two-way radios on board. We didn't use them only on board but we also used them when we went to Castaway Cay because we all wanted to do something different and weren't together the whole day. Ours have subcodes and we have the 2 mile range. Usually my dd (who was 13 at the time) knew where to find us if she couldn't get me on the radio. The one night it worked great was a night she had done the Teen Fury Catamaran excursion at Cozumel and we had dinner seating before she would get back. We gave her the option of coming and eating with us or going with the other kids. She chose to stay and order room service but came and found us anyway. But we were able to keep in contact with her. Also when she left Common Grounds she would radio us in the room to let us know she was on her way (and usually was walking alone). Gave me a better sense of security.

You can get them now that are 5 mile range and I think the signal is stronger so they might work better. There were very few places that ours didn't reach each other.

 

[kcashner]

For 8 people, you will save a small fortune using a private limo service rather than DCL transfers. As an added bonus, the private limo will run on YOUR schedule, not DCL's. None of the port area hotels runs free shuttles from the airport. The Radisson has a complimentary shuttle to the port. Another option for you might be to stay in an airport area hotel (these do have complimentary shuttles from the airport) and take the private limo to the port in the morning. We usually book a 3* room thru Priceline...but with 8 people, you'd need 2 rooms if you went that route.

A private limo service will pick you up at the airport OR your airport area hotel at the time you specify and transport you to the Port. They will include a 15 minute grocery or Wal-mart stop if you desire, and they will have a DVD player with a Disney movie in the vehicle to entertain the little people. There used to be a discount coupon for one of the services at ***************** (not sure if it's still there.) There are several services available--FL Limo, Happy Limo, etc....

We found the radios to be more bother than they're worth. We got a pack of post-it's and asked that if DD left the Lab, she either have us paged or leave a note in the cabin telling us where she'd be. Your son can just ask the Lab counsellor to page you...you'll get a message like "Bob is leaving the lab going to the pool."

If you want early seating, get wait listed ASAP. If you still have late when you board, go to "Dining Changes" and ask for the change. We like late seating.

You have to go thru your TA to change rooms. Since you probably have adjoining rooms, this is a harder request to meet than a single room would be. The only way to know if it is possible is to ask! Depends on how full the cruise is.

 

[clh2]

We loved having the family radios. They aren't perfect - but overall thought they worked great.

 

[ksjayhawks]

We took radios and never used them. You can be paged when kids leave the club or use the note method.

Late seating will allow you to get everyone ready for dinner without a mad rush after excursions or the day's activities, you can enjoy the shows and other pre-dinner entertainment, see a few characters.

Order room service--cheese trays and mickey bars and cookies are a must--or get food from Plutos and Scoops and bring it down to your rooms. This will help tide everyone over till dinner. Take snacks to the shows. There may be times when your kids really want to do something with the club and they can eat there.

We were done with dinner most times by 10 p.m.

There really is no concept of time on the boat and it is easy to get into the cruise routine.

Don't forget to do the Palo brunch or dinner. With six kids, the brunch might be the easiest as the kids could all participate in kids club activities while you are there! If you do dinner, you could pick the latest seating--go with the kids to get their meals (unless they are in the kids clubs that night) and request that they get the meals early, then take them to clubs, go enjoy your meal.

Have fun! Wish we were going again!