Movies...Beverly Hills Chihuahua, High School Musical 3, Wall-E, Bedtime Stories. Night 3 (which was CC day and Pirate Night), instead of a show they had Bolt showing in 3-D in the big theater. I was surprised to see that since usually they have the 3 shows (Golden Mickeys, Toy Story, and Disney Dreams) and then a comedian on 1 night, but they did Bolt in 3-D instead. The 3 live shows were AMAZING, so much fun...it was a rush going to see them and then getting ready for dinner, but so worth it. Also after the pirate party they show Pirates of the Caribbean on the big screen over the goofy pool. Lastly, yes there were Palo ressies available on board, it started at 12:00 in Wavebands on deck 3 forward, get there EARLY for the best availability and because the line was sooooo slow. Seriously, I got in line at 12:15 and there were about 7 people in front of me, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad, but it went so slow. They only had 2 people doing the reservations, but still, I have no idea why it took almost 10 minutes per person. I was in line for 45 minutes just to change my reservation to a different time. Quite frustrating for the first day since I really wanted to be sitting by the adult pool. But yes, there seemed to be plenty of availability.I am leaving to go on the four night Wonder a week from tomorrow.
1) What movies were playing?
2) The Palo reservations are all full for our trip for on-line bookings? Were there any Palo reservations once you boarded?
3) What night was Pirate night for your trip?
Yes I did Atlantis via Comfort Suites, cost was $180 not including the taxes and fees, that was the AAA rate (PS they didn't ask to see my card upon arrival). It came to about $224 with all the added fees, still way cheaper than the DCL Atlantis excursion! We got off the ship ASAP at 9:30 am, and walked inside the building and asked where we could get our passports stamped (we love collecting the stamps). We were directed to the building next door and got the stamps easily by the friendly people there. Then we walked a block down the street to the Hard Rock to get some souvenir glasses. We got a cab right there outside Hard Rock, but there are plenty of cabs right when you get off the ship too. Just make sure wherever you get one you agree on the price ahead of time, shouldn't be more than $4 or $5 a person plus the $1 for the bridge toll. The ride was about 10 minutes, the car was clean and the driver was nice. Once at CS, checkin took kind of long because only one person was at the desk, took around 20 minutes between waiting for the person in front of us and then our turn. Make sure you check in and check out at the same time so you don't have to come back to CS at the end of your day. They give you passes which you then take on your walk over to Atlantis, which is about a 15 minute stroll through the beautiful property. You then show the passes at one of the towel huts and they give you wristbands and towels, then off to the slides! they were great, especially the new ones in the Power Tower and the rapid "lazy" river. You'll love it, and the water was heated too!!
Not sure about who was the assistant cruise director, but the main CD was Peter, and he was really cool...lots of energy, upbeat attitude, and always pleasant and saying hello when I saw him around the ship!
Yes we took a taxi back to the port, but we got the taxi right from Atlantis. We didn't have to go back to CS since we'd checked in/checked out at the same time. Taxi on the way back was the same price. We headed back around 4:00, and were back on the ship by 4:30. I'd heard about bad traffic on the way back but we didn't have any, it took the same amount of time as getting there in the morning (10 mins).
The whole reason we decided against Atlantis was because we heard the water wasn't heated & it was too cold to enjoy. Did you feel Atlantis was still worth it even though some of the slides & the normal lazy river wasn't running?
Ours was not a Double Dip. If you look at your itinerary you can tell if it is going to be a Double Dip or not, ours was only scheduled for the "regular" 4 night cruise with 1 stop at CC. Pirate Night was the 3rd night. But make sure you call DCL right before you leave to re-confirm what night it is because I was first told ours was Night 2 and then I called back 2 weeks before we left and it had moved to Night 3. They did have a Castaway Club gathering at 11:00 AM on the sea day, but we didn't go because we were having brunch at Palo. There is no semi formal night on the 4 night cruise...there are 2 "cruise casual" nights (1st and last nights), "dress up night" (2nd night) and pirate night (3rd night). Hope this helps!
