Reserve time at the family pool???

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people have to get " the way we worked in the past" out of their heads as its just setting up for disappointment. When cruising returns , its will be a very different experience and everything will be new for everyone. Those who are open new experiences, not resistant to change and are adaptable will be the ones who will have a positive cruising experience.
Which is why we most likely will cancel. I want to go on a cruise ship--not a Hospital Ship
 
are people that naïve to think that major tech changes to the DCL AP for the UK sailings will not apply to USA sailings?? DCL are not going to invest money in AP upgrades, new procedures etc just for a few weeks of sailings on one ship. These changes are fleet wide and will be what USA sailings will be like.
DCL knows what families do and don't want to deal with on their cruises. Reserving pool times & trivia times are anathema to most guests, who just want to relax and do what they want when they want to without being overscheduled, which is one of the things that makes a cruise much more relaxing than the Disney theme parks, for example. What DCL has to do to get through the initial phase of cruising this year isn't the same as how they want to run things going forward next year and onward. Changing an app isn't that hard for Disney. There is no reason to assume or preach that "this is going to be the new normal and everyone had better get used to it". There is no indication of that at all. It's clear that the UK sailings are going to be unique, and everyone knows that cruising will be different during the initial reopening period until the CDC stops micromanaging cruise lines. But beyond that, DCL is going to focus on getting back to normal and making their customers happy.

I'll also add that America and Britain are in very different places in regards to reopening & people's access to vaccination, and therefore in regard to how much freedom they're accustomed to having. So a restriction that might seem like no big deal to someone living in Britain right now & is accustomed to Britain's level of restrictions, would seem much more restrictive to someone from Florida. And Disney understands that. They don't have to deal with Americans on their UK cruises this summer, but their later cruises in the U.S. will have mostly American passengers who aren't going to want to pay to be micromanaged on vacation. A large percentage of them will have been sending their kids to in-person school almost all year, have been able to travel domestically with very few restrictions, every adult here has the chance to get vaccinated, and it's gradually becoming available for their kids, too. They can go to Disney World and walk around maskless outdoors at the parks, and go from ride to ride at will, eat at restaurants, then hang out at the resort pool when and how they wish. They aren't going to want to then board a Disney cruise & feel like they have to schedule their every move.
 
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Changing an app isn't that hard for Disney.
Changing the app SHOULDN’T be that hard for Disney, but have you noticed their tech issues? :sad2: Sheesh, they can’t even get chat to work right in the app.

I also hope that eventually we can go back to freeform cruising. I love being able to just see where the day takes us. I’d be totally game to try it this new way though and see how it goes.
 
Changing the app SHOULDN’T be that hard for Disney, but have you noticed their tech issues? :sad2: Sheesh, they can’t even get chat to work right in the app.
Okay, so put it specifically, it's easy for Disney to change tech, regardless of whether or not they have glitches. Yes, Disney tech is going to glitch. Old tech or new tech, it will glitch.
 
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Disney will be learning with this and there will be some fails.
The ship isn’t sailing at capacity (correct?) so that should help.
Hopefully they will have more activities around the ship than on a typical cruise.
Maybe gaga ball on the basketball courts.
Cookie decorating in one of the bars/restaurants
It won’t be the same but it can still be fun.
 
You mean this is currently in place at the WDW resorts? So is there a designated spot for you when you arrive when it's your turn?

Unrelated, I was wondering, if anyone has any insight about the U.S. maritime law that prevents cruises to nowhere or from one American port to another... is there any talk about changing these laws... I can't recall the reasoning of their origin at the moment. Thanks!
We were just Wilderness and Boardwalk in may. No restrictions on number of people. The chairs have somewhat been spaced apart but everyone seems to ignore the signs about not moving chairs around. And masks are no longer required outside. But we are all vaccinated and felt very comfortable both at the resorts and at the parks.

the maritime law about the need to dock in a foreign country at least once has been temporarily changed for Alaska to allow cruise ships to leave from seattle snd go straight to Alaska without stopping in Canada. I don’t know about the Caribbean.
 
We were just Wilderness and Boardwalk in may. No restrictions on number of people. The chairs have somewhat been spaced apart but everyone seems to ignore the signs about not moving chairs around.

I wonder if the opening of the Lodge and Inn will affect this. In May neither resort was fully open. My brother and his family were at SSR last week and did experience waits at the Paddock pool.
 
We were just in Disneyland and the way it worked at the Grand Cal was first come first served. They’d assign you loungers and you couldn’t switch (a few late comers weren’t happy with theirs because they were in full sun). Once it was full, it went to waitlist and you got texted when there was a spot for you, people were generally told it would be about 2 hours. So maybe having an assigned time is better than that. If you know at 3PM you’ll be let in vs waiting some undetermined amount of time. But I’m curious if at 3 and no one has left… are you still let in or are you at the top of the wait list, like an ADR.
 
DCL knows what families do and don't want to deal with on their cruises. Reserving pool times & trivia times are anathema to most guests, who just want to relax and do what they want when they want to without being overscheduled, which is one of the things that makes a cruise much more relaxing than the Disney theme parks, for example. What DCL has to do to get through the initial phase of cruising this year isn't the same as how they want to run things going forward next year and onward. Changing an app isn't that hard for Disney. There is no reason to assume or preach that "this is going to be the new normal and everyone had better get used to it". There is no indication of that at all. It's clear that the UK sailings are going to be unique, and everyone knows that cruising will be different during the initial reopening period until the CDC stops micromanaging cruise lines. But beyond that, DCL is going to focus on getting back to normal and making their customers happy.

I'll also add that America and Britain are in very different places in regards to reopening & people's access to vaccination, and therefore in regard to how much freedom they're accustomed to having. So a restriction that might seem like no big deal to someone living in Britain right now & is accustomed to Britain's level of restrictions, would seem much more restrictive to someone from Florida. And Disney understands that. They don't have to deal with Americans on their UK cruises this summer, but their later cruises in the U.S. will have mostly American passengers who aren't going to want to pay to be micromanaged on vacation. A large percentage of them will have been sending their kids to in-person school almost all year, have been able to travel domestically with very few restrictions, every adult here has the chance to get vaccinated, and it's gradually becoming available for their kids, too. They can go to Disney World and walk around maskless outdoors at the parks, and go from ride to ride at will, eat at restaurants, then hang out at the resort pool when and how they wish. They aren't going to want to then board a Disney cruise & feel like they have to schedule their every move.

I agree with this 100%. I actually am in the - apparently very small - minority that actually believes we'll be "back to normal" much earlier than others imagine. Where I live, mask mandates have been dropped at the state level and are only in place at the local level - with certain towns/cities and/or businesses choosing to still enforce - but with the vast majority moving away from them entirely. In the last few months, I have been out to multiple restaurants, stores, to the mall, and other than a few signs reminding people to maintain their distance...it's felt pretty much like the "pre-pandemic" world. And, based on how things are currently trending, that normalcy is only going to increase...so what someone is "willing to accept" to cruise in July, might not be what they're "willing to accept" to cruise in December of this year, in 2022, and beyond.
 
Pool time virtual queue will be through the DCL app.

Honestly I don't get all the teeth knashing about reserving pool time, or the limited capacity first come first served with activities such as trivia. The full details about all the changes have been known since April 24, are people that naïve to think that major tech changes to the DCL AP for the UK sailings will not apply to USA sailings?? DCL are not going to invest money in AP upgrades, new procedures etc just for a few weeks of sailings on one ship. These changes are fleet wide and will be what USA sailings will be like.
Because sometimes you get back from the port mid-afternoon and decide spur of the moment you'll take your two kids to the pool so they can be in the water and you can watch the funnel vision and have a snack and a drink. Or maybe you're on a cruise with 3+ sea days and you're worried that your kids will be driving you crazy and you'll need an activity and the luxury of just dropping by the pool any time you want is gone. Or maybe you like to plan ahead to have dinner by the pool so you can skip a restaurant menu you're not fond of, and the kids can spend the evening eating pizza and ice cream and watching funnel vision from the pool, but now you're not sure if you can even plan on that.

I like to plan lots of pieces of my vacations. But I also don't love the idea of something like the pool only being possible if we schedule it ahead of time or if we get in a virtual queue hours and have to wait for hours. I have a 9 night cruise next summer and I'm starting to be anxious thinking about trying to entertain my kids during sea days when everything's been booked up. And all of this goes for the kids' club too - we pay a high premium for Disney cruises and there's many things I can take or leave. But one of the things I truly value is being able to decide spur of the moment that we'll drop the kids off at Oceaneers and go to the adult pool or have a drink or whatever else. I'm not paying a premium so that I can be disappointed and feel like everything I want to do on the ship has a virtual queue that's hours long.
 
Because sometimes you get back from the port mid-afternoon and decide spur of the moment you'll take your two kids to the pool so they can be in the water and you can watch the funnel vision and have a snack and a drink. Or maybe you're on a cruise with 3+ sea days and you're worried that your kids will be driving you crazy and you'll need an activity and the luxury of just dropping by the pool any time you want is gone. Or maybe you like to plan ahead to have dinner by the pool so you can skip a restaurant menu you're not fond of, and the kids can spend the evening eating pizza and ice cream and watching funnel vision from the pool, but now you're not sure if you can even plan on that.

I like to plan lots of pieces of my vacations. But I also don't love the idea of something like the pool only being possible if we schedule it ahead of time or if we get in a virtual queue hours and have to wait for hours. I have a 9 night cruise next summer and I'm starting to be anxious thinking about trying to entertain my kids during sea days when everything's been booked up. And all of this goes for the kids' club too - we pay a high premium for Disney cruises and there's many things I can take or leave. But one of the things I truly value is being able to decide spur of the moment that we'll drop the kids off at Oceaneers and go to the adult pool or have a drink or whatever else. I'm not paying a premium so that I can be disappointed and feel like everything I want to do on the ship has a virtual queue that's hours long.
I think all of us here are in agreement that we hope by Next Summer, all this will be gone. If you are sailing this summer, all this may and likely is to apply. Hopefully not a year from now.
 
What about having to pre-book free on-board activities? Like trivia, crafts, towel folding, etc. I think that is also part of it. If everything has to be pre-scheduled, it really defeats the purpose of a cruise (at least for us).

I agree, which is one reason I paid extra for a nice veranda. I have no idea how all this is going to work, and I want to make sure we have a nice room with private outdoor space if we're crowded out.

I'm really disappointed at there only being one theatre show, and it only running on two nights, we'd purposely booked the late dining so we could have the earlier show time, now I'm not sure how it's going to work. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Anyway. We'll see.
 
That’s
I think all of us here are in agreement that we hope by Next Summer, all this will be gone. If you are sailing this summer, all this may and likely is to apply. Hopefully not a year from now.
what we said last summer about this summer 😩
 
the maritime law about the need to dock in a foreign country at least once has been temporarily changed for Alaska to allow cruise ships to leave from seattle snd go straight to Alaska without stopping in Canada. I don’t know about the Caribbean.

This only applies to Alaska, and not to the East Coast or California at all.
 
In my uneducated opinion, if you're committing to pay extra for Palo, you should get to jump the queue to secure a nursery/kids/teen spot.
This summer in the UK there is no nursery and teen/tweens do not need to be scheduled. Only the Club/Lab.
 
Because sometimes you get back from the port mid-afternoon and decide spur of the moment you'll take your two kids to the pool so they can be in the water and you can watch the funnel vision and have a snack and a drink. Or maybe you're on a cruise with 3+ sea days and you're worried that your kids will be driving you crazy and you'll need an activity and the luxury of just dropping by the pool any time you want is gone. Or maybe you like to plan ahead to have dinner by the pool so you can skip a restaurant menu you're not fond of, and the kids can spend the evening eating pizza and ice cream and watching funnel vision from the pool, but now you're not sure if you can even plan on that.

I like to plan lots of pieces of my vacations. But I also don't love the idea of something like the pool only being possible if we schedule it ahead of time or if we get in a virtual queue hours and have to wait for hours. I have a 9 night cruise next summer and I'm starting to be anxious thinking about trying to entertain my kids during sea days when everything's been booked up. And all of this goes for the kids' club too - we pay a high premium for Disney cruises and there's many things I can take or leave. But one of the things I truly value is being able to decide spur of the moment that we'll drop the kids off at Oceaneers and go to the adult pool or have a drink or whatever else. I'm not paying a premium so that I can be disappointed and feel like everything I want to do on the ship has a virtual queue that's hours long.

All of this. We paid a LOT more for our Alaska cruise to be on DCL, and a big part of the reason why was the kids clubs/nursery. Not that I didn't want to spend time with my kids, but with 3 sea days, I wanted them to be entertained, and they were. My eldest loved the clubs and never wanted to leave, and my youngest enjoyed the nursery activities while DH and I got to enjoy Palo, and on another night, a movie. My DH vastly preferred the cruise to our WDW trips because despite having planned all of our shore excursions ahead of time, the sea days retained some element of spontaneity. Reserved times for the clubs/pools would just push me to competitors that are cheaper. But then, I'm not cruising again anyway until you can do your own shore excursions instead of only going on the overpriced, overcrowded follow the Mickey paddle ones.
 
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