January 4th, 2013- 8 night Western out of Galveston

[riofriotex]

We called Disney and they told us the Pirates Night is night six, which is Wed. the 9th. They also said formal night is the second night and semi-formal is the seventh night. Hope that helps.

It does, thanks. I am assuming Palo requires formal dress on formal night?

Asking because we don't do formal, but hope to eat at Palo a few times, and I want to make sure we are dressed appropriately (first-time Disney cruisers). I do know the dress code for Palo is "dress pants and shirt or jacket for men and a dress or pantsuit for women. Please no jeans, shorts, capri pants, flip-flops or tennis shoes." That's not a problem, but formal wear is!

 

[NOKA06]

It does, thanks. I am assuming Palo requires formal dress on formal night?

Asking because we don't do formal, but hope to eat at Palo a few times, and I want to make sure we are dressed appropriately (first-time Disney cruisers). I do know the dress code for Palo is "dress pants and shirt or jacket for men and a dress or pantsuit for women. Please no jeans, shorts, capri pants, flip-flops or tennis shoes." That's not a problem, but formal wear is!

My husband doesn't do suits, so when we go to Palo's he wears a dress shirt and tie. He will wear that for Formal night also. I have seen other people wearing even more casual clothing for the more formal evenings, so probably whatever you are comfortable in. I know some are for keeping strictly to the suggested dress, but there will be plenty who do not feel comfortable in suits. My two sons, 25 and 21 will be in suits because they like to dress up. This sounds confusing even to me but I hope it helps.

 

[riofriotex]

My husband doesn't do suits, so when we go to Palo's he wears a dress shirt and tie.

LOL - I can get him to wear a sports jacket and dressy shirt (he actually prefers long-sleeve shirts all the time), but not a tie, and definitely not a suit, not after 30 years in city management and now nearly 20 years retired.

 

[NOKA06]

The key word is comfort. You are on vacation.HaHa

 

[klepton]

LOL - I can get him to wear a sports jacket and dressy shirt (he actually prefers long-sleeve shirts all the time), but not a tie, and definitely not a suit, not after 30 years in city management and now nearly 20 years retired.

I don't mind a suit, but I also ditch the tie and go open collar whenever I can. A tie is just so restricting.

That said, you'll see me in a tie on formal night because we're a family that likes to dress up. On other nights you'll probably see me in my suit without a tie.

 

[klepton]

Did everyone check-in and get their port arrival time today? First day to do it for first time cruisers. We got ours, 11:30-12:00. I was hoping for 11:00 but wasn't very optimistic.

 

[LuvToGoToDisney]

Hi, we're in Soldotna We're flying out of Anchorage on New Years, we found with the long travel it's nice to get a couple extra days in before.

It's great to see fellow Alaskans going! We are flying out of anchorage on the 29th. Two of my brothers live in New Braunfels, TX, so we will go early to meet up with everyone and celebrate New Years. I know we will be happy to get out of this cold!

 

[riofriotex]

Did everyone check-in and get their port arrival time today? First day to do it for first time cruisers. We got ours, 11:30-12:00. I was hoping for 11:00 but wasn't very optimistic.

Good grief - does Disney assign port arrival times? I prefer later - well after noon, as that is our hotel checkout - 11 AM would be way too early for me!

 

[DisneyFan907]

It's great to see fellow Alaskans going! We are flying out of anchorage on the 29th. Two of my brothers live in New Braunfels, TX, so we will go early to meet up with everyone and celebrate New Years. I know we will be happy to get out of this cold!

Another Alaskan here! We fly out jan 2nd. We also wanted some room beforehand in case of weather or delays. We though jan was the perfect time to escape the most likely negative temps!

 

[LuvToGoToDisney]

Another Alaskan here! We fly out jan 2nd. We also wanted some room beforehand in case of weather or delays. We though jan was the perfect time to escape the most likely negative temps!

It's so cool to see so many of us from Alaska! It will be so nice to leave those negative temps behind for a few days!

 

[Blovesdisney]

Good grief - does Disney assign port arrival times? I prefer later - well after noon, as that is our hotel checkout - 11 AM would be way too early for me!

Yes Disney does assign port arrival times, but you can choose which time fits for your group. I did the online check in today and the only time not available was the earliest which was 11:00 - 11:30... from there out all times were available with 30 min intervals. I think they try to control the crowed that might all try to arrive at 11:00. We missed our arrival check in time last year when sailing on the Dream and it was no problem.

 

[alaskanabbott]

It's so cool to see so many of us from Alaska! It will be so nice to leave those negative temps behind for a few days!

WOW, ya I guess we are all thinking alike! Though these past few sunny days have been lovely
We always leave in January, I hate that the kids miss school, but this trip is nice b/c we're leaving during the end part of Xmas break, so only missing 5 school days for a 12 day trip

 

[riofriotex]

Yes Disney does assign port arrival times, but you can choose which time fits for your group. I did the online check in today and the only time not available was the earliest which was 11:00 - 11:30... from there out all times were available with 30 min intervals. I think they try to control the crowd that might all try to arrive at 11:00. We missed our arrival check in time last year when sailing on the Dream and it was no problem.

Good to know there isn't a problem with a late arrival (assuming of course it is before the final cutoff). I'm going to do online check-in when I get home from work tonight and I will probably pick the latest time available.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this procedure once the inevitable winter fog causes a delay. On our January cruise last year, the ships' (NCCL and CCL) arrivals were delayed due to heavy fog, and we received a call (just after we'd checked out of our hotel at noon) to not arrive at the port until 6 PM. We spent a lovely afternoon with a leisurely brunch at the Hotel Galvez, walking along the beach and seawall, and doing the carved tree stump tour on our own. We got to the port right about 6 PM; lines were long and we did not get inside the terminal until 7 PM. However, we were on board by 7:30 and the ship cast off at 8:30 PM.

 

[klepton]

Good to know there isn't a problem with a late arrival (assuming of course it is before the final cutoff). I'm going to do online check-in when I get home from work tonight and I will probably pick the latest time available.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this procedure once the inevitable winter fog causes a delay. On our January cruise last year, the ships' (NCCL and CCL) arrivals were delayed due to heavy fog, and we received a call (just after we'd checked out of our hotel at noon) to not arrive at the port until 6 PM. We spent a lovely afternoon with a leisurely brunch at the Hotel Galvez, walking along the beach and seawall, and doing the carved tree stump tour on our own. We got to the port right about 6 PM; lines were long and we did not get inside the terminal until 7 PM. However, we were on board by 7:30 and the ship cast off at 8:30 PM.

I didn't know fog was so bad down there... hopefully that doesn't happen to us!

 

[riofriotex]

I didn't know fog was so bad down there... hopefully that doesn't happen to us!

Fog is most common in Galveston December through February, although there have been instances mentioned (on the Cruise Critic boards) of it happening as late as late April. No one can control the weather.

 

[LOVEDCL]

My family is going on this Cruise too.
Coming from AZ. I have a 9yr old and a 6 yr old.
Can't wait!!!!!

 

[Cnolte]

Just booked and made final payment for this cruise! Can't wait....this is our first disney cruise! We are huge disney fans and o to Orlando every year! Santa is bringing this to the family this year! It's killin me not to tell the kids! Hope they are still young enough my sons are 10&12 and my daughter is 8!!

Amy info from fellow passengers would be great!

 

[Blovesdisney]

Welcome all the newcomers recently! If this will be your first Disney Cruise, it may not be your last. We do have a facebook page set up, so if you'd like to join, you'll find the link a few pages back. It looks like we will have a number of kids on this cruise. My kids will have a blast!

 

[Cnolte]

Just tried to join the fb page and it said it was closed??

 

[Blovesdisney]

Just tried to join the fb page and it said it was closed??

Try this link
http://www.facebook.com/groups/317662414999324