Will I be able to book excursions? 1st timer

[ktmo]

We are taking our first Disney Cruise in March of 2013 on the Dream. It is a spring break cruise. I am a little worried about booking excursions. Since it is our first Disney cruise, I have read that we have to wait until 75 days out to book excursions. Will all the good excursions be taken? I really want to do the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon. We have been on two other cruises and both times we missed the port and didn't get a chance to do the dolphin excursions.

Is there any hope?

 

[jpeka65844]

I'll be of no help since I'm just now doing my first cruise on June 24 on the Dream and by the time our 75 day window opened, there was nothing left.

BUT, I didn't let it bother me! I figured with the $$ we're shelling out, we're going to enjoy that beautiful boat! We'll probably only get off briefly in port at Nassau and otherwise enjoy relaxing and not worrying about being any particular place at a particular time.

But that's just me.

 

[lbgraves]

Honestly, the dolphin and stingray excursions seem to go first. That's how it has always been. You can look at booking on your own, however. Be sure to book the earliest time so you have no problem getting back to the ship. Cancellations do happen, so you could check a couple times a day, but if this is something you really want to do I would book with a vendor directly.

 

[Pikester]

First time cruiser here. My cruise is June 24, 2012 and the excursion I wanted was still available when I booked it late morning of my 75th day. I had computer problems at midnight (was not a pretty sight around here!) so had to wait until my DH got to work (sometime around 9am) and was able to book the Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day for me. I have heard that the Dolphin and Stingray ones sell out first but just give it a try on your 75th day at midnight EST.

A couple weeks later my Mom was able to book a Palo Brunch for us on our second Castaway Cay day when they opened that day up for Brunch bookings. Just stumbled upon that one when another poster on the DIS mentioned the openings on our cruise meet thread. Last week we were able to book a Cabana on CC which we never thought we would be able to do. She just happened to check one afternoon and one was available.

To quote Dory "Just keep swimming" or "Just keep trying" because there are cancelations all the time, you can even be put on a waiting list once you get on the ship. (Atleast I think you can)

 

[Skitheboat]

I'm a first time DCL cruiser. When my 75 day window opened, I was able to get both a Palo reservation and an excursion. The only reason I booked my excursion through DCL is because we are at port for an extremely short time. I think it's a much better value to book your excursion from a local vendor.

 

[baddog576]

I'm on the June 10 cruise going to Nassau and we got a last minute fare so we booked 60 days out and the Atlantis and BL Dolphin encounter was sold out. I kept checking often and finally the Atlantis one (shallow water excursion) opened up so I grabbed it. I really wanted the BL one but it was still sold out. I posted in my meet thread that if anyone saw the BL on open up to let me know and someone was kind enough to reply back when they saw it come available.

I just checked and it's still available for our cruise as are other dolphin excursions. Granted spring break will be more in demand but there's a chance. People snatch them up and then decide as the time gets closer they want to do something else. You can also go straight to the Port Adventure desk when you board and see if they have any availability.

 

[ktmo]

Thanks everyone. It gives me a little hope. I will definately check and check and check if it is sold out at 75 days.

Katie

 

[Cruisebound]

I am a first timer also. I was told by people on my meet board not to fret. People overbook their excursions and then start to figure out what they are going to do and then start to cancel.

I would just put your name on the wait list. You can always look at your port times and book the excursions yourself. Just make sure you give yourself enough buffer to get to and from the ship. Taxis are easy to find.

 

[Cruisebound]

If your really want a good Dolphin excursion and are spending time in Orlando before or after your cruise - just go to Discovery Cove. It is all day - they feed you and I hear 10X better than any of the Dolphin excursions you can book on the cruise.

That is what we are doing. With the price of their admission - we also get free days at Sea World, Busch Gardens Florida, and their water park Aquatica.

I just want to get a good ruins tour in Mexico. Other than that - we are going to just do a few beach excursions.

 

[ktmo]

Will Blue Lagoon let me book the excursion through them? I know that some cruise lines have restrictions on booking your own excursions.

What about cancellations because you miss the port? The last two cruise we have been on, we missed the port where we were suppose to do the dolphin encounter. Since, I booked it through the cruise line, they just refunded it.

I looked into Discovery Cove, and thought about it, but my youngest won't turn 6 until April and we sail in March.

 

[emmamc252]

How hard is it to get a reservation at remy for us first timers? Ours is April 6th 2013 so peak period. Will I have any chance of getting me and dh in AND be able to book dd into the nursery at the same time?
I'm still trying to figure out how all this works!
Is it all online or can you phone?