Gardeneroflove

Does he make friends easily?

Does he like swimming or slides?

Does he enjoy movies?

Yes, when cruising, unlike in hotels, each soul onboard counts, regardless of age/size. If you have 4 people, the website will not allow you to book a room that sleeps 3.

A person is a person, no matter how small!

Dh is shocked we can't book a year in advanced, and dates aren't available two years in advance.

No issue at all--you will be assigned to a room that has beds for 4 OR MORE persons. You could hypothetically be assigned to a room that sleeps 5. There are verandah rooms that sleep only 3 people--you will not be assigned to one of these.

 

DCL's computer will not allow them to place more people in a room than there are beds. Note--the big bed counts as sleeping space for 2 people.

This.

The cruise we want is sold out for rooms that sleeps 5, my twins sleep with me, so a room for 3-4 would work , plus they are little, lol. But she said the computer wouldn't allow that.

She is nearly 5, however; she is teeny tiny. Only 32 lbs and very short for her age. We have decided we will eat and shop in port and then take advantage of less crowded pools back on the ship.

 

While I'm sure everything would be fine, I just can't take that risk! I appreciate everyone's input :)

Dh takes odd shopping in Cozumel while I stay on board. Last cruise she came back with a wrist full of bracelets. We eat breakfast on ship, then they head out. He comes back, we eat, then he leaves for beer 🍻 while she has quite time or kid's club.

I figured it'll be a few years before we bother all getting off of the ship.

Whole milk is very easy and readily available- mdr, buffet, room service. We've never had an issue on ccl, RCL or dcl. If I remember correctly on ccl, the milk for the coffee is whole milk, I know it is on DCL. If they don't have any out, just ask and they will get you some!

Though I don't give cow milk till 2-3, it's a sometimes treat. They will get plenty of fat through a heathy diet. So really, there's no need to worry. Just enjoy your trip!

Booked a 5 day out of Miami. Decent itinerary with only 1 sea day:

 

1- Miami

2- Sea day

3- Grand Turk

4- Half Moon Cay

5- Nassau

 

Were not huge fans of Nassau either, but well make it work. Going on the Sensation so itll be a new boat for all of us :)

You may find it easier and more fun/relaxing to stay on board with young kids. You have to time naps, possible potty breaks, diaper changes, feeding them.

You'll need to wear them or have strollers.

We stay on board, mostly. Last cruise two cruises Dh did go shopping one port with odd. I stayed on board with twins.

I personally love sea days as the pool/splash pad isn't as busy. But carnival isn't kid friendly so I can understand wanting to get off in ports.

Do I need to put the 12 cans of pop in my carryon? What happens if I store it in my main checked luggage? Is this a potential trip to the naughty room?

 

We will not be packing wine or any alcohol - just pop. It's just that 12 cans x 2 carry ons is quite heavy to be lugging around

Yes, all drinks must be put in your carry on. Get a rolling one, easy. Put all drinks in one bag. After your bag is scanned you'll go to a table and open your bag. Only one of you needs to go. Typically I go to the table while Dh repacks our electronics.

For carnival, we had redbull, v8, juice and soda. For Disney we had 12 beers, Red Bull and v8. I told them exactly what I had. They look an we proceed through.

I didn't know about the cinnamon filled pretzels! I found out the only have them on sea days. Then our last sea day, they were 'out'. No more, Dh asked later and got the same answer. I only had ONE our second sea day.

I ate enough Mickey Bars, cookies and sundaes though. But I'll know for next year.

We let our 5 year old have her 1st Mickey bar last week. (She was only two on our last dcl cruise). If you order in mdr it comes with Mickey sprinkles which made it even better. She left most of the chocolate though.

Since we had no children for a while (Emily napping with Ashley, and the boys in the kids club) my mom and I went down to check out the adult's section! Crown and Finn was open so we hopped up to the bar tender, who was super, super sweet and helpful when we asked questions about what we should order. We both got the Crown and Fin. I liked it a little, it had a funny aftertaste to it, but I still drank it. My mom wasn't really a fan. While we were sitting down I sent my brother in law, Joey, a text saying we were down there having a beer if he wanted to join us. He came down there with us and we hung out for maybe half an hour?

 

My grandma was actually born and raised in England so we took a LOT of pictures of the club for her.

 

 

We got a text on our wave phones that the boys wanted to be picked up from the club while we were hanging out down there, so...... Up to the club we went!

 

After picking up the boys, Joey took Noah back to their room and we took Jacob to ours. This is where I lose track of time a little.... We may have napped.... We may have hung out in the room.... Not really sure to be honest.

 

I know, I know. I'm a terrible review writer.

 

What I DO know is that it was formal night. So I DO know that eventually we started getting ready.

 

Well, mom and I were getting ready in our room, Jacob was sulking about having to wear "real pants" on the couch. I found out later that he was acting kind of poopy because he was getting sea sick and just didn't say anything to any of us about it.

 

I was EXTREMELY excited about eating at Tiana's tonight. I couldn't wait to see Tiana, Louis, the new restaurant, eat beignets, Emily was wearing her Tiana dress, EVERYTHING! I made Jacob take a picture with me while we were waiting on my sister and her family.

 

 

My mom had requested one picture of all of us together, and we did try and go get in line to take the ship's pictures..... but the lines were ridiculous..... like wrapping around the elevator ridiculous so we said forget it and found someone to take our picture in front of one of the regular stairways.

 

What really matters is that we were all there, not the background, right?

 

 

This is the ONLY picture we got of all of us during the entire cruise.

 

Family fail lol.

 

Now, take a REAL GOOD look at Jacob's face.

 

Does he look happy?

 

No?

 

Oh yes! That's because this poor sweet child was super sea sick. We were standing on deck 3 close to where Tiana's is at the front of the ship and we were moving a lot. It didn't bother me, but a few other people were making comments about it too.

 

I hadn't noticed that he didn't feel good yet, but I took one good look at his face and rushed over to him, whispered in his ear "Are you going to throw up?" which is a terrifying question to ask your child when there are a whole bunch of people standing around.

 

He immediately said no, he wasn't going to throw up, but his stomach didn't feel good and he was very dizzy. So I hurriedly told my sister to tell everyone else that we were going back upstairs and would be skipping dinner. She had some chewable children's Dramamine in her purse so she gave me one real fast to give to Jacob.

 

Once in our room Jacob took off the hated "real pants," took the Dramamine, and laid down on the couch immediately. I got him some water, and got him distracted with some tv. After a few minutes of laying down and watching tv he felt a lot better, and actually told me he was hungry and would really like some room service.

 

I ordered some pizza for him along with a coke, because my mom used to always tell me that sometimes they can settle an upset stomach, and I ordered me a hot dog with fries. I knew he was bummed about not being able to eat steak again tonight so I was trying to make him as happy as possible.

 

Tonight I experienced some of the most kindness ever, from any kind of cruise staff.

 

When room service brought our tray in, he asked if Jacob was ok. I explained that he just wasn't feeling very well with the movement on the lower levels of the ship, so we were just relaxing in the room. He asked if we needed any Motrin, Tylenol, motion sickness medicine, additional food or drink items that would help, anything at all. He stayed in our room and chatted with Jacob and I and just really made us feel cared about. He said that they would check back in on us a little later to see how Jacob was doing, and to see if we needed anything.

 

Next, our mousekeeping, Doly came into the room to change the couch into a bed and pull down the bunk bed. She also chatted with us, asked if we needed anything to eat, drink, medicine, etc. She was so amazingly attentive and sweet to us! She said that in the future if we want the beds pulled down early, whether it's because someone isn't feeling well, we want a nap, any reason at all, we should just call her. I explained that it really wasn't an issue for him to lay on the couch as a couch at all, but she insisted that we call next time because she wanted him to be more comfortable. She also said she would check in on us later to make sure everything was ok.

 

And y'all. They did. They called and checked back in on us to make sure Jacob was feeling ok and to see if we needed anything. Never in my entire life would I have expected room service or housekeeping to actually call in and check on us. I was really blown away.

 

On top of that, the wait staff also was checking with my family asking if we were ok, if we needed anything, if we wanted dinner from the dining room sent up, etc.

 

I was so in awe at how much all these people cared. I know there are going to be some people who will say "that's just their job" "it's an act" etc but I don't believe it. These people were so thoughtful, so concerned, we felt so loved on. It was incredible. This night alone solidified for me that Disney Cruise Line is forever going to be my favorite, and that the price of the cruise was 100% worth it. Never, ever have I felt like people cared so much about my little boy. All because he wasn't feeling well. It really makes me tear up because they were all so amazingly kind to us.

 

I'm done gushing now, back to the review.

 

I made Jacob take a picture of our formal night dinner with me

 

 

He really perked up pretty quick once he had eaten, but we just laid low for the rest of the night and rested in the room.

 

My sister took these pictures of Emily at Tiana's that night

 

 

And it turns out that this night was NOT the night that they were serving beignets, so Jacob and I didn't miss out on them after all!

 

Or did we.... dun dun DUN......

 

Everyone went to the show that night and my sister said it made her cry because it was so beautiful, it was the Golden Mickeys. I am sad that I missed it, but there's always next time!

 

Jacob and I laid around the room in sweat pants watching cartoons until everyone came back from the show, and then it was bedtime!

Were your beignets missing the powdered sugar as well? I'm bitter. And that stupid alligator never came to our table.

You can watch the Golden Mickeys on YouTube. I've never seen it on the ship. I did go to Dreams and sat through Frozen, only because I had odd.

Our last night was the first in 9 cruises I've been so sea sick, and I was on 8! I wasn't sure our room person was going to make it through collecting luggage.

Hi! I don't think I've ever in the history of my Internet life abandoned a thread, I'm sorry!

We ended up taking two ergos, (bought one, borrowed one), two umbrella strollers with connectors, disposal bibs and sippies. No utensils as they eat with hands. The bibs were a waste, they pulled them off immediately, every time. Oh well.

To board I wore one and had one in the stroller since Dh dropped us off. Leaving we wore both. I never left for ports, though he wore one baby out to scuff up is new boots.

We didn't use the second umbrella stroller for the twins BUT Dh took odd to port while I took twins to mdr for lunch. She hasn't been in a stroller in over a year but the pier is long and hot, so it worked out!

Mostly we wore them, one each, they loved it! They'd crawl right to whoever was putting a carrier on. Best part was great naps while wearing them, we actually were able to see a movie. If I/Dh had both, then wore one and the other in the umbrella.

They offered a pnp, but there was really no room without blocking the balcony or ability to move around.

We used two bed rails on the bed and they slept with me. They both started pulling up, but no one fell off of the bed. I had to put trash cans and such up, but they couldn't open drawers or doors.

I let them crawl in the floor in the cabin, in the new toddler area, and splash pad (Disney Wonder). Mostly they liked being worn. There were lots of open play times and toddler time but we never made it.

The downside was they got used to being worn very quickly and loved having us both so close. Now that we're home one still fussing when I leave the room.

I highly recommend not waiting till the last day to book your next cruise on board. The system on the Wonder is you check in with your kttw card, then are placed in line. A message will be sent to your wave phone when you are 3rd, then next in line.

At 5:30pm on our last day, the screen showed 37 names waiting. As we passed the desk I heard 'I'm sorry, the system crashed.' (The system crashed on Dh when he attempted book a few days earlier.)

Cabana's has real ice cream, if you don't want soft serve, and you can get Mickey Bars or chocolate chip cookies from mdr.

You can now set up meet and greets (princesses and frozen) and character breakfast online (Wonder, I'm not sure if on the other ships.) Gingerbread house tickets (merriment cruises) are only available at Port Adventures.

The Wonder now has two splash pads. Dory's Reef for 3 and under/not potty trained (so if your 4 year old needs a swim diaper, they can play in Dory's). The Aqua Lab is a splash zone for potty trained kids (same filtration as the kid pool, but separate from slide and Dory's).

There are lots of options depending on your personal choices. When we post' date=' we have a tendency to think only of what mattered to us.

 

For instance, we've driven to the port (a 16 hour drive) and we've flown. Obviously that makes a HUGE difference in all the following changes. When flying, we've used the DCL bus, had private towncar service, and rented a car. Each of these also engenders choices.

 

The right choice is what works best for each person. Often it is a matter of which matters most to each cruiser--cost or convenience.[/quote']

 

Thankfully, we save money by doing what's convenient, though saving wasn't our intention. I'm only slightly bitter Dh didn't think of dropping us off till our 8th cruise and only because I was pregnant with twins. 😂

Op, another tip, take your own pictures as well, don't just rely on DCL. My favorite moments were captured by me or another cruiser with my camera.

Dcl photographers take 1-3 pictures, you miss the special moments of the hug, the smile, of Olaf 'laughing' because you told him to smile to get your kid to smile, of the interaction between characters and your child, of Mickey Mouse playing peekaboo with your baby, of tinker bell asking odd about her map, of Anna putting reindeer antlers on herself then your kid. 💕

The dcl photos were mostly of everyone looking at the camera. Lame. Those aren't memories to capture.

The series of Mickey Mouse playing peekaboo with one twin will always be dear to me.

Simple solution, pick the princess you want to meet and dress him for that. Check the navigator for times, often they have a few within a short time frame, you could dress him only once sand possible get a few.

We missed a few meet and greets due to when they were offered (super early or late), it didn't make or break our cruise.

Personally, I didn't like the princess meet and greet, only three of the princesses odd wanted to meet, not worth waking early for. I expected more than four princesses but the others weren't on the ship.

I'm not sure about on the Dream, but on the Wonder we had a farewell thing, the princesses and characters were there for last chance pictures and signing. If this is in the Dream, You could dress him then, then try to get the princesses. We got Ariel, Minnie, Cinderella, and Belle. We already had the princesses from the meet and greet but odd wanted another.

I haven't been to that port, but at New Orleans and Galveston, Dh drops us all off at the port, a porter takes our luggage right at the curb. He drives to park, then walks back to port (or takes shuttle if one is ready but it's faster to walk than wait) and we get in line board.

This cuts out the shuttles, additional tips to shuttle driver for luggage, wait time for shuttles, luggage on/off shuttles.

For the return trip, porter brought luggage to curb, I waited with kids, Dh went to get the truck. The kids and I and our luggage never deal with shuttles or parking.

DD jokes that the better a cake looks' date=' the worse it tastes.

Not always true, but often is.[/quote']

 

I think I've done enough testing to agree with her. I'll stick with the sundaes- they never disappointed.

Dory's Reef.

The lifeguard told odd No toys allowed. Dory's is PERFECT. A covered, enclosed splash pad for non potty trained, swim diapers allowed, and under three's. If the Aqua Lab (kids pool and splash pad) is closed due to weather or accident the life guard will allow older kids in Dory's but keeps it under 8ish. They try to be a little more flexible. We had rough waters, bad weather, a spill and an accident. The Aqua Lab was closed more than it was open. It was open last sea day until Dh and odd showed up, (he checked) then three minutes later closed.

Water comes out of the wall

My twins loved Dory's Reef. They played, laughed and crawled all around grabbing for the water. The second door is closed, only one in/out! It's like they KNEW I'd be returning with twins

Sampler appetizer the second night

Boudin Fritters were pretty good!

Louisiana Rum trio

Sad, sad, sad.

No sugar under, in case you were wondering

Parade second night. Not a great shot, but I was wearing a sleeping baby

Tiana's

Louisiana Root Beer Cream. I have no idea what this is supposed to be, it was flavorless. The chocolate cake looked great, but wasn't.

Andy's Room.

My Kid's tower. These blocks were fun.

when you say "frozen soundtrack" the implication is that the actors are lip syncing - which they're not.

Fair enough. They are singing, very well I'll add. I'm told let it go is a difficult song and she did it perfectly. But it's still all of the songs from Frozen.

I can think of a 100 other things I'd rather do on my last night at sea. Dh was lucky, a baby was fussy and he got to leave. I was stuck there.

Don't get me wrong, great show! The lights, the effects were awesome. I'd say it's a better show than Dreams (disclaimer, I haven't seen any of the other shows I'm only comparing the two).

I think if you really like Disney or have children there is value in a Disney cruise. If you don't fall into either of those categories I don't see the point in spending the extra money to cruise on Disney. Another thing is you must really like little kids because there are hundreds of them everywhere. After reading through reviews and talking to people on our Disney cruises that cruise multiple cruise line I don't get the impression that Disney does things better it's just a different experience. All of its very subjective anyway.

I feel at home when I walk on aDisney ship, but I'm sure I'd feel at home on Carnival or Royal if I had cruised on them 20 times. Most of my love for Disney at this point is due to memories of my kids being little and just nostalgia...not so much because of the product. The Disney product is good, but not so good to keep me paying double or triple to cruise on them every time.

I hope you enjoy your Disney cruise it's definitely a unique experience.

Disney does entertainment, family fun, and kid dining better than ccl and rcl. I don't consider trivia or bingo a family activity with littles. My five year old was never bored even with crappy weather. There were tons of activities in the club/lab and around the ship. Diaper dash, wake up with Disney Jr, toddler time, crafts, character meet and greets, character breakfast (rushed, but still better than dr Seuss breakfast and no extra charge).

I have three littles, we were all over the ship in the kid areas, and I never felt over run by kids. It helps we travel during school, so fewer tweens (the problem group in my experience).

On ccl and rcl, dining was a disaster with kid. The mdr was not kid friendly. No kid cups, no top or straw. Too much extra fancy dishes. On dcl all the extras are removed, kid's drinks are in plastic cups with tops no straws, not huge glass water goblets. Dcl just does kids better. Dining room entertainment was enjoyable and fun, no table dancing or questionable songs.

The service and friendliness of the staff is better.

Andy's room

If anyone wants the navigators or kid's menus I can take pictures and upload. The kid's menu on pirate night was a pirate hat.

As this was only my second cruise on the Wonder, some things I mention may not be new, but were new to us.

No more Dopey chocolates on the bed, it's Ghirardelli now! The gold coins are still left on pirate night.

Shutters is completely digital. Scan your kttw card and your pictures will appear. They are water marked so no taking a picture of the screen. No more hours hunting for your pictures.

Dining-

Cabanas- has hand washing stations on both sides. They have real ice cream too! (We either forgot or didn't know) I'm not impressed with the soft serve ice cream so I liked this option.

Triton's- I didn't notice any changes but I'm not familiar enough with the menu. Last night was oysters, lobsters and mint chocolate chip sundae.

Animator's- walls were updated to include the newer movies, yet still kept the classics. Night one was changing of the colors. I'm not sure if the show was the same or not. Night two (or last if 3rd) was completely different. When you arrive your drinks, kid's/baby's food, bread will not be waiting for you. At each place will be a sheet of paper with instructions. Once you draw your person and they are collected, drinks/bread will be brought. Your drawing will be scanned and animated on the screen. At the end, the credits will show your name. After the show the papers will be returned with a seal.

Tiana's Place- Tiana and Louis (?) are there and live music each night. The Second night (or last if 3rd time in rotation) is Mardi Gras-I wish I knew as my kids have tutus and shirts for Mardi Gras. They do a little parade/dance through the restaurant. The kid's menu are an instrument. The dessert menu lights up if you press the top left. Beignets are on the menu-skip. I took a picture and laughed. They was only a slight sprinkle of powdered sugar!

Overall atmosphere was fun and entertaining. The food was ok. We did the three Louisiana rum tasting, only because we live in Louisiana.

Daisy's - I'm told is new/redone, but I don't remember what was there. They offer sandwiches, wraps, fruit, cookies, salads, then soups and noodle bowls made upon request with ingredients of your choosing.

Pinocchio’s Pizzeria- has soft pretzels on sea days only. They were 'out' our last sea day.

Room Service- the Mac n cheese is different. I remember greatness in a bread bowl but I may be confusing my cruise lines. Either way, the Mac and cheese was gross to all five of us.

In general the food is ok, nothing fabulous but no one went hungry. I kept trying fancy desserts or what looked good and I was never impressed. I did enjoy the sundaes, cookies and Mickey Bars!