New Disney Cruiser, Need Advice!

[missmulan]

We will be on the 7 day Eastern cruise early December. I have a couple of quick questions...

1. Do I need to bring my kids' costumes with us?
2. Would the cruise line upgrade free if ship isn't full?
3. When I register my kids to Oceaneers, do I register once for all 7 days?
4. I heard that sometimes the kids club get so full that parents end up with no childcare...true or false?
5. When should I reserve for Palos? As soon as I get on ship?

Any assistance would be great. I so excited that I fear something will go wrong as we get closer to our date. You know...the "too good to be true". I just hope nothing will go wrong!

 

[DVC Mary]

1. Costumes are optional. We didn't have any.
2. I've heard rumors of this, but there are no guarantees.
3. Yes. You get a pager. You tell them who from your group can check kids in & out. You give them a password to check them out.
4. Our ship was full in June & had no problems. I am not sure if this is DCL legend based on some rare occurance.
5. Reserve for Palo & the spa asap. You can also request to do a 2nd night at Palo after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Call & leave a message at Palo to get on a list for a 2nd ressie if you like.

Have a blast!

 

[mickeyboat]

1. We bought princess dresses for our girls on board - only because our luggage did not arrive on time and they needed something to wear for formal night. Your kids will be fine either way.

2. It is very rare that the ship would not be full so don't expect an upgrade. If DCL overbooks a particular category, an upgrade is possible. We booked GTY11 and were upgraded to a 9.

3. You register only once for the Club, but have to sign them in when you drop them off.

4. DCL will only book as many children as they have spots in the clubs - taking into account the historic percentage of people who do not use the clubs. You shouldn't have a problem with the clubs being full.

5. Reserva Palo as soon as you board. We were not able to board until 5PM and lost out on Palo reservations. We asked to be placed on the wait list for both brunch and dinner. We got a call later in the week for brunch, and then our brunch server managed to get us reservations for dinner that same night.

Have a great time.

Denae

 

[missmulan]

Both replies are vey helpful! I think I will bring my kids costume. Someone said there will be a costume parade/contest. Can anyone vouch for that? Also, how does the laundry service work? Is it like a neighborhood laundromat? Is there a dentist on board in case I lose my teeth eating all those yummy food??

 

[smchan]

That must be the 12/11/04 Eastern, right? I'm on that cruise as will. I'll be down in deck 2. Be sure to join us in the cruise meets board!

Sam

 

[scrapperjill]

I have never heard of any costume parade or contest...but we were on the Western. Oh...then again..maybe I did read somewhere about one...but only on the October/halloween week (this weeks) cruise. We took princess dresses for our girls...but ended up only wearing them to the Charater breakfast....just didn't have time to worry about changing into a costume.

I have also never heard of the kids clubs being so full....they weren't able to take the kids....DCL only books familys with children until the club is full...then they don't take any more "children" reservations.

Do go for the Palo reservations as soon as you can the first day...if not before.

And you only have to register your kids once...then it's just the check in/out each time they go. Depending on their age...they may have the ablity to check themself out any time they wish with out you there.