Cruisin_Vol_Fan

Yes!! We used this company in 2018 and I tell everyone I know about them. We did 3 different ports with them, so 3 different guides/tours, and all were equally amazing. Our guide for the French Riviera was fantastic and made sure we did everything we wanted, including enough time to really enjoy Eze. It was an amazing place and I still want to go back. Ours was a private tour (we had 8 at this stop so we filled a small van) and he gave us a decent amount of flexibility in our schedule and made sure we got to stop all the places with plenty of time. We did a brief walking tour of Nice including the market and a stop along the beach. It was nice but did not stand out as much as our time in Eze for sure! We also had time in Monaco/Monte Carlo. It was truly an amazing day.

I am definitely not a vegetarian but lean that way when dining on a cruise. I just get tired of some of the meat options. I found myself selecting the vegetarian entree at dinner at least twice on our 5-night cruise. The choices are interesting to me and I found the food to be good. All the menu items are marked as vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. on the printed menus. You can google Disney Cruise Menus and find most all posted - it may help you determine if you think there are enough options for you. I was surprised that items on the buffet are not marked with any information. You will need to ask for specifics on items. However, they are incredibly kind and efficient on getting that information for you. My mom has a shrimp allergy and they would quickly be able to tell her if another buffet item was safe (i.e., seafood gumbo). Daisy's DeLites (Magic) had some fun options for lunch, especially the build your own bowl bar. I think how much variety you will have depends on what type of vegetarian you are. I can imagine someone who eats strictly vegan would have trouble. As others have mentioned, do not expect intense flavor or spice. They are cooking for the masses and have to spice it accordingly. Your dining team is there to help you find things that will interest you and will make sure you have a fantastic journey. I know they will do whatever they can to make things as wonderful as possible.

My niece had her birthday celebrated every night of our 5-night cruise last week. We were celebrating her 18th and her HS graduation. The Head Waiter was really messing with her the first night and brought out birthday desserts for 3 at the table but not her. Then they brought her's out...and brought one every night after. It was hilarious. You can special order a cake if you want something larger and more fancy. But it was the typical DCL celebration cake (slightly smaller than the one pictured above and square instead of round) and good. Considering most nights we had every single dessert off the menu covered (and then some) for our table of 10, I can't imagine having anything larger! The wine packages can be served wherever you are onboard - dining room, lounges, Palo, etc. If you do not open every bottle you can take up to 2 off with you at the end. Compared to bringing wine on yourself, it's a personal choice. You can bring on 2 bottles per adult and can get glasses from your stateroom attendant or room service and enjoy it in your room. But you would have to carry a glass to dinner rather than having it served to you each night. So it really depends on what you are looking for.

Completely accurate. I would even say "probable" but you won't know until onboard. We just got off a very tween/teen heavy cruise and there was a lot of kids moving up in the age groups. We had the other issue...my niece had just turned 18 and felt a little lost. She and my teen boys did visit the Club/Lab during Open House to relive their glory days!

Crab and shrimp were on the buffet both of the days I made it in there for lunch. Neither were the first day.

Just did Palo on the Magic last week. It is $50/person. I, personally, did not feel like it was worth it. The food was fantastic and the service was impeccable, as always. However, I missed the buffet for sure! Our main complaints were a complete lack of fruits or vegetables. My husband asked if he could have a simple salad (arugula and olive oil) and was told no. There are multiple dishes offered with arugula on them so it's not like it wasn't available in the kitchen. There are no vegetables as sides on the entrees. There was no fruit offered - not even a fruit cup on the appetizer list. It was as though the went out of their way to only include seriously heavy dishes. This was our 6th DCL cruise and we have done Palo every time (once for dinner and the rest brunch) but I will not do brunch again until they bring back the buffet or change the food options. The dinner menu looked wonderful but it's definitely more expensive!

We are Gold level on DCL - so we were able to check in slightly earlier than Silver or new cruisers. I logged on at midnight on our checkin day and got an 11:30 AM PAT and Boarding Group 6. Extended family is Silver and when the checked in a couple of days later they got 11:45 AM and BG 9. We all arrived at the port (Miami) at 11:10 and dropped our bags. As we were walking to the entrance we saw they were making those with PAT of 11:30, 11:45 and 12:00 wait to the side. As we walked up (around 11:20) to join that group they let us go ahead and go through. The guy at the door said it's dependent on how many arrive at once and if they are backed up inside. Lines for security were non-existant and we waited a minimal amount of time to complete our check in. The waiting area for the Boarding Groups was packed but right after we found a seat they called our group. We went ahead to get in line for photos and by the time we were up to the photographer the rest of our party's group was called. It all went very quickly. The walk to board was forever but that's an issue with Miami specifically... This was in line with our experience at Port Canaveral through the years. Resort transfers will not guarantee you an earlier time - only that you are not constrained by your PAT as you can't control when you arrive. If you want to get on earlier, hope/try for an early PAT and BG and book private transportation.

Off the Magic yesterday - the amenities are in pump bottles (pictured above) in the shower. Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash. (side note...they smell sooooo good...) There was Body Lotion at the sink in the shower half of the bathroom and Hand Soap in the toilet half.

Current shows on the Fantasy - all get excellent reviews: Frozen Disney's Believe Aladdin They will also have additional entertainment on the off nights. Yes, you can get Mickey bars delivered via room service. It is not listed on the menu in the app but our group had PLENTY delivered during our last cruise!

Just off the Magic and can confirm that the buffet (Cabanas) was not open for dinner. It was closed most day by 2:00-2:30pm. Definitely one of our (very few!!) complaints of this cruise. At least one if not two of the poolside options were open later - during dinner time and after. As @angelsfort said...do what you can to get to the dining room! Not only is the service fantastic and the food is above par (for cruise dining we have experienced in the last 5 years) but the dining rooms are unique and part of the experience on DCL. A night at Palo would be another option. It's an additional charge but it is beyond fantastic!!

I had a small, soft-side cooler packed in my bag but did not need it. The small refrigerator in our room kept things perfectly cold - white wine was put in at room temperature and was quite cold when I went to drink it the next day. I did purchase the DCL cooler on Castaway with waters in it but never needed to use it after that. We don't worry about non-alcoholic drinks on DCL. The free drinks available pool-side and in the buffet area are fantastic and they have tons of options from Coke to Diet Coke to ginger ale to Powerade to lemonade...and everything in between.

Yep - just let your service team know and they will make sure you are out. Just disembarked yesterday and had 8:15 dining and made our 10:00 tasting with no problem. And we were a table of 10 so dinner always took a little longer for us than most around us.

Yes, waitlist requests often come through. Unfortunately, it sounds like you have a large group and there are a limited number of large tables per rotation. You are also on a PST sailing and most everyone probably requested early dining! If your waitlist does not come through prior to sailing, go directly to dining assistance upon boarding. It's in a different location each ship, in a dining room usually, but it will NOT be handled at Guest Services that day. There is always a chance they can help you there. On thing to note, they can expedite food in the dining room, especially for the kids. We have had late dining on every cruise, even when they were 4 & 6 years. The servers can have the kids fed and gone in 45 minutes. Most kids are itching to get back to the Club and happy to eat quickly and run! We would then eat our meal at the normal pace. As for the little one, there were some young kids near us on our last cruise that were happily asleep in their stroller while their parents ate. Not sure how good of a sleeper the 2yo is but might be worth considering that option as a back up! As much as I hate for you to completely miss the dining room experience (because it IS an experience on Disney and one of our favorite parts of cruising them!) there are other options. On our most recent DCL cruise, there was at least one "quick" option open near the pool open each night until around 10:00. I would not put too much stock in room service as the menu is quite limited. Another option is for the adults could do Palo one evening. Try for a 7:00ish reservation, feed the kids pool side or in the room and then send them to the Club (and make a reservation for the little ones in the nursery) while the adults enjoy an amazing meal. Good luck and have a great cruise!