What Do You Do to Make Sailaway Uber Special

[GrannyDee]

Full Disclosure: I'm the granny goes overboard (pun intended) on everything.

Our first Disney cruise with our granddaughters (aged 2 and 6) and their parents is coming up this December. As is my vacation habit, I've got plans for everything.

I'm thinking about Sailaway now. On previous cruises with our granddaughter (Carnival and Celebrity), we've kept sailaway simple: Blowing bubbles from our balcony as the ship pulls away from land.

But this is a Disney cruise. I want to up the sailaway ante. What do you do to make sailaway special? Do the kids dress up (a la Disney princesses and pirates). Dress down? Do you have a ritual? A favourite place to be?

 

[Dug720]

My parents and I (alone or together) go to Deck 12 (on Dream and Fantasy...I guess it will be the equivalent on the Magic) for the sail away party... We'll watch for a little and then go to the rail to watch (and wave for the webcam if applicable).

Just being on the ship makes it special in our opinions.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just being on the ship makes it special in our opinions.

Yes.

Except now we don't care about it. We do our own thing for it instead of frolicking just because the cruise director tells us to. (Though if its Christiaan I'll make an exception. That dude's funny. )

 

[Dug720]

Yes.

Except now we don't care about it. We do our own thing for it instead of frolicking just because the cruise director tells us to. (Though if its Christiaan I'll make an exception. That dude's funny. )

Oh even at the party we just listen. We don't dance. Lol.

And I agree about Christiaan! My fave ever - and the only CD whose name I remember. I'm thrilled that he got the promotion, but so sad that means he's not really on the ships.

 

[Sytrace]

Full Disclosure: I'm the granny goes overboard (pun intended) on everything.

Our first Disney cruise with our granddaughters (aged 2 and 6) and their parents is coming up this December. As is my vacation habit, I've got plans for everything.

I'm thinking about Sailaway now. On previous cruises with our granddaughter (Carnival and Celebrity), we've kept sailaway simple: Blowing bubbles from our balcony as the ship pulls away from land.

But this is a Disney cruise. I want to up the sailaway ante. What do you do to make sailaway special? Do the kids dress up (a la Disney princesses and pirates). Dress down? Do you have a ritual? A favourite place to be?

If I were travelling with kids that little (mine were 11 and 12 when we started sailing with Disney) I would be sure to go the extra mile to make it memorable for them.
Since the sailaway is all about dancing, jumping and being in motion (especially after the serious mandatory lifeboat drill) I would go with just enjoying the activity of the cruise director and team of dancers. There is a lot of crowd interaction and I don't really think you need to overthink it. Just let Disney magic take over and have fun watching (and photographing) the little ones.

As for our family...we will be on our verandah waving at the folks at Fishlips and the jetty (as well as other boaters) along the way. I personally like to avoid the sailaway crowds and just enjoy the views.

 

[jlynch924]

We head for the top deck with a drink of the day and wave at the people on the docks, we watch the water for dolphins and we enjoy the music.

 

[Jess_S]

If your grandkids haven't been on DCL before, I would actually recommend the sailaway party. They give out little pom poms for the kids to shake and the characters come out and dance. For a 2 and a 6 year old, I think it will be really fun and special. My son loved it. (We make it special for the hubby and I by buying our first onboard drinks at the sailaway party).

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

Full Disclosure: I'm the granny goes overboard (pun intended) on everything.

Our first Disney cruise with our granddaughters (aged 2 and 6) and their parents is coming up this December. As is my vacation habit, I've got plans for everything.

I'm thinking about Sailaway now. On previous cruises with our granddaughter (Carnival and Celebrity), we've kept sailaway simple: Blowing bubbles from our balcony as the ship pulls away from land.

But this is a Disney cruise. I want to up the sailaway ante. What do you do to make sailaway special? Do the kids dress up (a la Disney princesses and pirates). Dress down? Do you have a ritual? A favourite place to be?

Even after several cruises, I never miss a sailaway - with the whole family (older teens, BTW) or just my DH and I, we LOVE it!

I'm not sure you need to do anything special to make it fun for kids those ages, though. Seeing Mickey and the gang is likely to be enough.

Since you'll have a toddler with you, I suggest going up to Deck 12 and finding a good spot at the rail at least 30 minutes before to be sure the kids can see well. Costumes sound like fun, just be sure they can dance in them! Otherwise you can certainly dress down - swimwear is fine and you'll see plenty of that since lots of people will have been getting in as many Aquaduck rides as they could before the ship fills up that day. CM's will pass around red and blue streamer wands, so grab some for the whole family to dance with, and enjoy!

 

[Sytrace]

Full Disclosure: I'm the granny goes overboard (pun intended) on everything.

Our first Disney cruise with our granddaughters (aged 2 and 6) and their parents is coming up this December. As is my vacation habit, I've got plans for everything.

I'm thinking about Sailaway now. On previous cruises with our granddaughter (Carnival and Celebrity), we've kept sailaway simple: Blowing bubbles from our balcony as the ship pulls away from land.

But this is a Disney cruise. I want to up the sailaway ante. What do you do to make sailaway special? Do the kids dress up (a la Disney princesses and pirates). Dress down? Do you have a ritual? A favourite place to be?

A little extra tip: Keep in mind that you will be coming from the lifeboat drill on Deck 4 and the elevators get pretty crammed up (so do the stairs for that matter) Especially at Midship. Everyone will be trying to get up to the same place at the same time to get to the sailaway party and find the "best" spot. Pack your patience and be prepared.

 

[GrannyDee]

Awesome tips, thank you! I have tucked them all into my (of course I have a) spreadsheet. I'm am SO on those red streamer wands!

If your grandkids haven't been on DCL before, I would actually recommend the sailaway party. They give out little pom poms for the kids to shake and the characters come out and dance. For a 2 and a 6 year old, I think it will be really fun and special. My son loved it. (We make it special for the hubby and I by buying our first onboard drinks at the sailaway party).

Yes, the sailaway party sounds like a blast. The Little Ladies love to sing and dance. Are there plenty of pom poms and streamer wands to go around?

 

[The Sasquatch]

you have to go to the sailaway party, its the official start of the vacation! it should be mandatory attendance and dancing. No time for grumpy balcony lurkers!

Dress em up Granny Dee and head to the main deck and Disney will do the rest!

 

[Geomom]

Sailaway party and their first free soft serve ice creams!

 

[MickeyEarrings]

A little extra tip: Keep in mind that you will be coming from the lifeboat drill on Deck 4 and the elevators get pretty crammed up (so do the stairs for that matter) Especially at Midship. Everyone will be trying to get up to the same place at the same time to get to the sailaway party and find the "best" spot. Pack your patience and be prepared.

If you need to take the elevator up to the party after mister drill, but can walk down 2 or 3 flights of stairs, go down to deck 1 or 2 to catch an elevator going up. They're always full when they stop for the 4th floor, where the drill is.

 

[GrannyDee]

you have to go to the sailaway party, its the official start of the vacation! it should be mandatory attendance and dancing. No time for grumpy balcony lurkers!

Dress em up Granny Dee and head to the main deck and Disney will do the rest!

Sounds like great advice!

 

[Sytrace]

If you need to take the elevator up to the party after mister drill, but can walk down 2 or 3 flights of stairs, go down to deck 1 or 2 to catch an elevator going up. They're always full when they stop for the 4th floor, where the drill is.

In June on the Dream after the drill, there were people backed up into the WD theatre waiting in line to just get out of there. One could not see the stairs much less get to them to go up or down a flight.
I was thinking there should be a safety drill AFTER the lifeboat drill where they could review things like courtesy for others, not jamming elbows into strangers, or stepping on the heels of the person in front of them knowing that they cannot GO anywhere.
It actually reminds me of being at Magic Kingdom and having someone shove their double stroller into my heels and ankles because they must have missed the crowd in front of me that stopped moving. However, at least at MK you can go up the curb or over to the other side or down the middle. Not so much on the Deck 4 forward at the stairs and elevators with little wiggle room.
We stay out of the way after one to many of these incidents and just wait for the crowds to clear from the elevators and stairs. Just my little tip to Granny Dee and others who might want to avoid the chaos and still enjoy the show.

you have to go to the sailaway party, its the official start of the vacation! it should be mandatory attendance and dancing. No time for grumpy balcony lurkers!

Dress em up Granny Dee and head to the main deck and Disney will do the rest!

Personally, I am not a grumpy person by nature, but the mass of humanity on the top deck at sailway is not my thing, especially when I can lurk on my balcony just one deck below the party and still enjoy the ambiance.

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

My family has only been on one cruise and we missed the sail away party due to a thunderstorm. They moved the party to the Atrium and we were not digging the crowd with a three year old. So we chose to watch sail away from our balcony and it was awesome! The girls were so excited to see the other boats, dolphins, and watching us pull away from land. It was exciting and relaxing after the rush of boarding and the safety drill.

This time, we are going to try for the sail away party again. The girls will be older and we'll probably end up in the thick of things on Deck 11. Plus it will be a new experience for us this cruise since we skipped it the last time! It is supposed to be fun!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Full Disclosure: I'm the granny goes overboard (pun intended) on everything.

Our first Disney cruise with our granddaughters (aged 2 and 6) and their parents is coming up this December. As is my vacation habit, I've got plans for everything.

I'm thinking about Sailaway now. On previous cruises with our granddaughter (Carnival and Celebrity), we've kept sailaway simple: Blowing bubbles from our balcony as the ship pulls away from land.

But this is a Disney cruise. I want to up the sailaway ante. What do you do to make sailaway special? Do the kids dress up (a la Disney princesses and pirates). Dress down? Do you have a ritual? A favourite place to be?

We have two teens and never miss the sail away party. We do however watch it from the railing on deck 12 instead of bring in the thick of things on deck 11. Honestly though, you need to do nothing to make it special, DCL totally takes care of that for you. The best part is when they do the countdown to sailing away and the When You Wish Upon a Star horn sounds, it literally brings tears to my eyes. Don't plan anything for this, just sit back and enjoy it. BTW, there are plenty of sail away videos on YouTube if you want to preview them.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[CamperMomma]

How much time is between the lifeboat drill and the sail away party?

 

[Starwind]

A little extra tip: Keep in mind that you will be coming from the lifeboat drill on Deck 4 and the elevators get pretty crammed up (so do the stairs for that matter) Especially at Midship. Everyone will be trying to get up to the same place at the same time to get to the sailaway party and find the "best" spot. Pack your patience and be prepared.

One thing we have found often works well when navigating the ship is at really busy elevator/stairs times we avoid the midship elevators and go aft or (our preference, but prolly becasue our staterooms are forward) forward and use those elevators/stairs. At the peak busy times they will be busy too, though usually not so bad as midship. AT other times they are much less busy or even not busy at all.

Sometimes if we decide we'll just do the stairs we'll go up a deck or two at midship, then cross the ship to aft or fwd then up the rest of the stairs -- this does a couple things: we aren't crossing the ship with everyone else doing the same thing, and it breaks up the stair walk into two chunks which is much more doable than the whole set at once.

For sailaway, we watch from above for a little bit, but then hang out along the railing to watch the land passs by. On our last cruise we went and hung out on deck 4. Got a couple nice loungers and then one or both of us would step over to the rail for a few minutes as we cared to. Quite relaxing. A bit sheltered from the sun. Quieter and WAY less people.

SW

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

How much time is between the lifeboat drill and the sail away party?

It's only about 15-30 minutes in between.