Cedricandsophie

We are on the June 27 fantasy cruise and as of now the cruise hasn’t been cancelled. I did cancel our air on United because right now I can cancel and still get a credit. And if the cruise still goes I know I can get the air even cheaper. 

I too vote for late seating.  The kids can go to the club after dinner.  And before dinner you have the early show, a family game of some sort and then a much more leisurely dinner.  My husband still loves the shows.  I could care less,  he goes with our adult disabled daughter and her friend, who we always bring.  Sometimes I show up, sometimes I take my time getting ready and head to a bar for a drink,  we meet up after the show.  The girls often go to see characters and we head to the piano bar.  or sometimes we all hit family karaoke or a game show.  Then a leisurely dinner with our usually excellent servers and the girls may watch for characters while we go to the adult show or go dancing.  When my grandkids were your kids ages we never saw them after dinner. They would get back to the room late or we would pick them up late,   Now we are lucky that our adult daughter and her friend can be on their own and just meet us back in the room.  

You can order whatever you want.  We often order two apps each and share an entree.  To avoid too much food, I’d suggest considering sharing multiple apps, which tend to be more interesting than the entrees and an entree so they can try things but not get full and have entrees that go uneaten.  The servers are happy to get more food if needed but it may take awhile if everyone already has their food.  

As a first timer it is likely that excursions and meet and greets may show full since platinum and gold members have been able to book many weeks ahead.  If the meet and greets show full you likely book once you get onboard if you go to guest services quickly.  The excursions that are likely to be full already are animal encounters like dolphin swims.   Trips to beaches etc usually don’t book up,  but there is probably a lot you could do on your own.  

My husband always brings a sport coat for formal night and for palo. If we are on a European cruise he brings a suit and a sport coat because Europeans tend to dress up more than Americans. But people wear what theY want. We like to dress up at night. Others just live in shorts and tshirts. . 

We just finished the lAtest TCM Cruise. Lots of fun. Cecily Tyson and Diane Ladd were intelligent and insightful. Mitzi Gaynor was sassy and still gorgeous. Lots of good movies, interviews and discussions.  We are signed up for the 2020 cruise also. 

We have been on the fantasy many times in cabins all over the ship including on the same floor as the kids clubs. I’ve never had a problem anywhere with noise in the hall or above or below. 

The one time CC was cancelled for us there were lots of things to do. Movies, characters, trivia, etc. I’m guessing there was lots more to do for you too but you missed the activities. The app is updated all the time for new activities 

We have gone on all the TCM cruises and are going on the magic in Oct 2019 for the next one,  we will sign up for 2020 too.  The first two TCM cruises were on Celebrity, then they moved to Disney.  There have been 7 TCM cruises in all. 

This year the stars include Cecily Tyson, Diane Ladd and Mitzi Gaynor,  there are usually TCM hosts and  historians too and musical acts.  There is usually one fancy party where lots of people dress up in whatever theme is selected.  

They are wonderful fun.  We have met many movie stars like Eva Marie saint, kim Novak, richard Dreyfus, Robert Wagner, Angie Dickenson, Diane lane, and so many others.  And we are platinum on Disney so we obviously love the DCL line

They are are very different than a reg Disney Cruise.  Other than a glimpse of Mickey at the going away party, there are no characters.  If there are children, and there are very few children on these cruises, the characters appear in the kids club.  

Remy and Palo are available for booking.

the dining is the same, two seatings, your servers follow you from restaurant to restaurant. But the Disney theming is gone,  for instance,no Rapunzel show on the Magic.  

The interviews are scheduled so that everyone regardless of dining time has a chance to see them.  We always do late dining, so an interview with an actor might be at 630 one night, which we would go to, and then 8 pm the next time, so someone in early seating can go. 

The movies will will be shown at multiple times too.  

I will say the MDRs are sparsely populated.  Lots of empty tables because either people are doing other things or don’t care about the dining experience which we love.  

On port days, there are typically not a lot of activities on board. 

Obviously we love the TCM cruises.  And because we are regulars, we get to signup early.  We haven’t missed one yet.  

We did the transatlantic from Dover Sept 2018. It was one of my favorite cruises ever. Great entertainment, cooking classes, lots of trivia sessions. Our weather happened to be excellent so we could sit outside. But even if chilly my husband and I would hang out in the Cove reading , either wrapped in a blanket outside or in the coffee shop. There are not very many kids though so he should either get lots of attention or maybe he will bored, probably hard to tell until you are there. Most of the activities seem to be adult oriented although there were family activities too. But there are movies every day and other kid oriented activities 

Any of the airports will work. Just depends on which has the most convenient flights. As for hotels you can go to any of the hotel booking sites to find hotels. Or ask your travel agent for recommendations.  I’m guessing the only hotels with shuttles to and from airport are those right at airport. I can’t believe any would offer shuttle to port unless you stay at the precruise disney hotel. Then they would offer a transfer. 

The price will depend on what day of week, location, amenities etc.  my husband are going to nyc in October and wanted to stay in theater district. We are staying at the Premier hotel  with continental breakfast for about 325 a night. I thought that was pretty decent price. And we are flying in and out of LaGuardia. We will take a taxi to hotel. 

In PR you clear customs at pier to get your luggage. But there is still passport control at PR airport. And if you are flying from PR to the states you probably need to clear customs at your home airport. 

If you want to have your bags checked in for you by one of participating airlines your flight must be after 11 30. Yes you could make at 10 am flight but I personally wouldn’t chance it. As someone mentioned you would need to walk off ASAP. Have a private ride waiting. Get to airport without traffic no later than 830. If you have to check bags at airport you don’t know how long the line will be. Security at MCO can be long and slow. It would be too stressful for me. But good luck. 

200 a person sounds like a great number but I can’t believe it can be done on a Disney trip.  We are doing Norway and Iceland in July on Disney in an ocean view and that comes out to over 15000 for 4 or about 359 a person per night.  Also we are looking st the Greek cruise in 2020 and that’s priced st about 18000.  

As many sea days as possible in the Caribbean. In fact we hardly ever get off.  In Europe we would prefer more sea days although if we have been to a port before we generally view it as a sea day.  

Sea days!  If we have been to a port before we treat the ship as a floating resort.  Enjoy the pool, the movies, etc 

I’m not on this cruise but our experience is that th shuttle starts leaving at the same time people are allowed off the ship.  As they fill up, the shuttles leave.  So whatever time disembarkation is, you can generally use that to figure when shuttles start leaving,  

We booked through our travel agent opening day. The 12 day for 4 in a verandah was a little over 22000. We were on the last Greece cruise from Venice.   Loved it. We are going on the Norway Iceland cruise this summer. We will see if there is any savings using the 10% discount for onboard booking. My agent did say that when she paid the deposit 2 days after actual booking the price had already gone up 1000. 

While adults and kids can wear pretty much anything I always have my family clean up and wear long pants and collared shirts.  Gym shoes are fine,  I just believe it is a good idea to teach our kids to be respectful to others and dress nicely for dinner.  We always do late dinner.  The thought of eating at 545 or 6 is just not appealing,  we go to 630 show, then 730 family event, like a game show or trivia, and then head to dinner. Very relaxing to us.  After dinner kids watch a movie or see characters and my husband and I head to the adult area.  

Definitely dinner.  But I’m not a fan of brunch because there is way too much food.  I love the atmosphere at dinner and the food.  We always order extra antipasto. It’s my favorite thing. And I rarely get an entree.  Antipasto, salad and pasta.  That’s enough for me,  we are platinum so we get it free. But i would pay for it if needed.  Also we usually take the longer cruises, 9 days or more.  So it doesn’t seem like we are giving up too much time in the MDR. 

The  itinerary for the November 25 AmaSonata cruise is now finalized.  My daughter and I leave today to fly to Vienna and get on the ship on Sunday.  We are now bussing to Budapest on Monday and then bussing to Bratislava on Sunday. Once back from there on Monday, we will cruise to Tulin, overnight there.  Then on Tuesday we will cruise to Vienna, stay there for most of day and cruise to Durnstein, where the original itinerary will continue except we will disembark at Vilshofen instead of Nuremburg.  All in all, it's fine.  My daughter and I have a driver reserved to get us to Munich on December 2, where I will catch a plane home and she catches a land tour for another week in Germany.  d

10 hours ago, Bizmark'sMom said:

Thanks for posting!

 

I'm due to embark Ama in Vienna Dec. 7.  Is Ama busing you to Budapest, or are you expected to get there on your own?  We are spending several days in Vienna independantly prior to the cruise, which is why I am wondering.

The revised itinerary says we port at Esztergorn and leave from there for Budapest excursion.  So I'm not sure where that is. But we still get on the boat in Vienna on November 25 and we sleep on the boat.  After Budapest, we cruise to Bratsilava and then the rest of the cruise is the same itinerary except we don't end at Nuremburg, we stop at Vilshofen.  That's the only part that is concerning for me considering I need to be in Munich in the morning of our debarkation date.  But I'm assuming it will work out. 

My daughter and I Are on this cruise which was supposed to go from Vienna to Nuremberg leaving Nov 25. Because of low water levels, getting to Nuremberg may not be possible. We just got our documents yesterday, delayed because their office is involved in  the SC fires and has been closed.  The letter with the documents states that the itinerary may change with the new itinerary shown which now 8ncludes Budapest and ends at another town but not Nuremberg,  I’m not unhappy with the new itinerary since my daughter has not been to Budapest and will love it.  My only concern is that I am flying out from Munich on our debarkation date of Dec 2 (since we were there the night before, there didn’t seem to be an issue with a same day flight and getting an early car) and have a 11 25 am flight  out of Munich.  From Nuremberg it was an hour ride to MUNICH airport.  My daughter then goes into Munich and is joining a land cruise.  The new ending port is twice as far as Nuremberg to Munich which will increase travel and cost.  I emailed Amawaterways with my post cruise travel info as they requested and got an immediate response about how they will look into our post cruise car arrangements  to determine how best to get me to airport.  They indicated a final decision about the itinerary will be made 4 days before cruise.  

Im not unhappy with their response since I understand there is little to be done.  And I do appreciate their willingness to work with me to find a solution. Have others run into this issue for Nov and Dec cruises? 

On 10/4/2018 at 9:05 PM, Sea Day Cruiser said:

I have more questions and will probably have more as time goes on since we booked the Disney cruise today.

 

Our travel agent confirmed us for early dining and said it is hard to get and we were lucky to get it. I have never liked early dining. Is there any benefit to it? I have heard that the evening shows are very good on Disney so we want to be able to work around that. Also the youngest person in our party is 11 so there are no small children involved.

 

Does Disney offer trip insurance?

 

Does Disney give stockholder credit the way Carnival cruise lines do?

 We only do late dining which is always open because so many people prefer early, slthiugh I’m not sure why.  You go to 630 show, then there is usually 45 min to go to a fsmily dance party or game show, go to dinner and then go to late shows for adults,  and the teens and tweens tend to have more going on in their clubs later in the evening. We have done early dining once and hated it.  

For travel insurance, get your own.

never heard of stockholder credit,  

We have done 23 Disney cruises none less than 7 days and many 9 or more.  For us it is worth every extra penny but we have a disabled adult daughter who still loves it and we bring her best friend always.  Our next cruise is the Norway Iceland cruise next July,  we always see lots of adults only on our cruises and those I have talked to would rather pay for the service, which is exceptional, and the Disney ambiance.  My husband and I have been on many other cruise lines, including princess. Celebrity and all inclusives like crystal and silver sea.  The all inclusive ships tend to have a variety of itineraries you won’t find anywhere else and are wonderful for older adults.  Your son would probably be the youngest but the sights are wonderful. As for other ships, while there may be a lot of activities and bar life, I haven’t found the cost to be that much less when you look st the additional cost for special restaurants, drink packages, special shows, and other activities that all seem to have an extra cost.  I guess if you only eat in the main dining room, don’t buy drinks or engage in other activities, it will be a lot less.  

As someone else said, we too will on the Sept westbound crossing.  Four days at sea while crossing.  I absolutely loved it.  We did have good weather which was a plus but there was so much to do.  Cocktail tastings, lectures, broadway stars, other great entertainers,  cooking classes, lots of different trivia contests and more.  Even some adult pool games in the Cove.  I would do it again.  And I’m one that loves the food which I thought was very varied and very good.