WrittenOnYourHeart

I'm in the "weird" camp that actually loves the Pirate Night menu, so I'd personally never schedule Palo that night. I've not been on the Wonder yet, so I can't help with which one to skip there.

My personal preference is to kick off the cruise by eating at Palo the first night. Just a fun way to kick things off. I am making an exception for my upcoming cruise as departure day is Feb 14 and the LAST thing I want to deal with is a restaurant full of couples - so I'm hoping I get my requested rotation and assuming I do will be missing Enchanted Garden (least favorite on the Dream and Fantasy) on Night 2.

As with everything, there are two sides to every story Side A, Side B, and the truth, which is usually somewhere in between. Due to privacy restrictions, we will never hear Disney's side of the story. But a couple of points...

With anyone, repetitive throwing up results in dehydration. Infants who become dehydrated do so quickly and crash from it even more quickly. Given that they went BACK to the doctor because of the baby still spitting up, that is a very reasonable conclusion that the debarkation was in fact due to the ILLNESS combined with the AGE.

The fact that the DOCTOR is who asked them to prepare to leave further reinforces that conclusion. If it was a policy thing, it would have been the Captain or another high-ranking officer having the discussion with them.

As far as DCL paying for a hotel (they are frankly lucky anything was available anywhere in Nassau around NYC) and their airfare, that was completely unnecessary and why everyone should travel with travel insurance. Situations like this are exactly why there IS travel insurance. And the fact that this party was traveling with an infant AND someone with cancer means even more that they should have had insurance.

We will never know the entire story, but given what WAS written, it's definitely easy and safe to say that it goes much deeper than the article.

Yes' date=' having another adult along would mean that you could pay child's fare for the 3 year old. Some considerations--if you travel at 2 years and 11 months, your costs will be even less. Of course, that could put you in a more costly season, negating the savings. Also "under 3" rides the DCL bus free.

 

The Wonder is the only ship where the big bed can divide into 2 twins. If you plan on one of the other ships, depending on your sleeping plans, you might want to be sure you have a cabin that "sleeps 4." If you get a "sleeps 3," you'll be sharing the big bed...which may or may not matter to you.[/quote']

 

Couple of things...

 

Regarding DCL bus transportation: True under 3 doesn't pay, but particularly at peak times they will require that the child sit on your lap. Happened on the first bus from MCO for my cruise last February - there were several families with under 3s who they had put in individual seats and a DCL rep came on the bus and said that all under 3s who had not had a seat purchased for them had to be in the lap of one of the paying guests in their party. They fill the busses based on the number of people who paid for the seats, so while one or maybe two MIGHT slip by, if people who were assigned to a bus cannot find a seat (they don't worry about together...just empty seats) they will come on and check that the lap babies are truly in laps.

 

And regarding the bedding, it's been reported that they are in the process of block-changing the cabins on the Wonder currently - changing (thankfully) to one Queen bed (which will also be the height as on the other ships so that luggage fits easily) as well as refurbing the carpet, etc. because the overhauling drydock like the Magic got can't happen until the Panama Canal is done unless they want to lose out on the Alaskan market. So it won't be long until the horrid split beds are a thing of the past.

Does each person get a medal at the end of the run? What do they look like?

A "medallion" it's a black plastic Mickey head with a DCL sticker on it.

I believe the channels are pretty much limited to Disney-owned things like ABC, ESPN, etc. I've heard exceptions are made and they get a special license for things like the Super Bowl - but I'm not 100% sure on that. My guess is that for just regular games they aren't going to be paying the licensing fee for CBS and/or Fox.

The pictures are great!

One question...I probably missed it in 25 pages, but what the heck is a Grow Walk? :confused:

It wasn't the worst thing. I might have been a little pissed but it all worked out. I just think it's messed up that when I booked the cruise, DCL told me (not a TA) that was the policy. The director told me that they have had this problem a lot and said its a problem bc the Disney side isn't doing them favors giving out the wrong info. She said two cruises ago a kid turned 3 on the cruise and they couldn't do anything about it.

Oh well. It happens.

But as has been pointed out, the policy is PENDING SPACE AVAILABLE. If there are a lot of pre-schoolers running around on the cruise so that the club is (or could be) at capacity with of-age kids, then those NOT of age will not be allowed to go in. So it's not so much WRONG information as INCOMPLETE information.

I'm afraid it was YOUR responsibility to determine whether you had to pay or it would be automatically deducted. Also, didn't you notice when no final payment was made to your card and your deposit was deducted????? No one fault's but your own. Hard lesson learned - be more conscientious about your trip details.

For sure. It's your responsibility to make a note of the dates and know IF the payment will be automatically deducted. The ONLY time I've seen that stated anywhere was with a group cruise I was on where the TA working with our group made it clear that payment would be charged to the CC on file on the due date if they had not received full payment in another form (either by check or by paying a little along the way) prior to that date.

I booked two DCL cruises on the 72-hour hold while I decided and awaited a check. Both confirmations I got clearly stated that a deposit was required by the required date or the reservations would be cancelled. It was CRYSTAL CLEAR. I paid the deposit on the one I chose to keep and just ignored the other one. As I expected - because I figure if I'm old enough to book and take vacations on my own I'm old enough to make note of due dates and policies - I did NOT get anything from DCL saying "Hey! We see you have a cruise on hold and the deposit date is now. Do you want to book??" Nope. When I looked the next day, it had disappeared from my cruises page. No problem. I will have my upcoming cruises paid off well before the PIF date, but I have that date (well, 90 days for DCL so I can book excursions and stuff) marked on my calendar just on the off chance I don't get it PIF before.

I get that there are people who don't want to give up their money one day more than necessary, but I'd rather have things paid off early than deal with something like a crashed internet and/or no phone access the day that payment is due and know that it's done than fret over people "making interest" off my money.

Thats aka a Miami Vice. Sad to see they don't have any heavier/darker beers. Light lagers are nice in the Caribbean but not imo so much Alaska.

I don't know for sure about DCL, but I know HAL had Alaska Brewery beers on board - those are not available outside of certain areas, and I'm pretty sure Florida is not on their distribution list. I'd think there's a good chance they'd have them on board when they're in Alaska.

Question... If you purchase the package in advance but then they (not likely but just in case) drop the price, do they refund the difference? Or do you just keep what you had at the price you paid?

I'm trying to decide if I'm better off getting it beforehand or when I get on board. (The advantage to getting it in advance being that it's paid for, so I don't have to budget for it.)

I think the main reason Cats had such a long run on Broadway was because it didn't require a good grasp of the English language to enjoy. The plot is paper thin (not a slam here, just a statement) and the emphasis was on spectacle. This made it a perfect show for families with young children and non-english speaking tourists and also makes it a good candidate for cruise ships.

It's like today's Mamma Mia or Chicago. It's like walking through the UN when those shows let out - if you hear English you're amazed.

As for the other comment about "standing ovations"... You can pretty much tell who the New Yorkers are in the audience of a show at curtain call. We're the ones who only stand if the show and performances deserve it - not just because people showed up on stage. You EARN your standing O from New Yorkers. You GET a standing O regardless of if it was deserved from the tourists.

Palo is now $25 for dinner or brunch. Still a FANTASTIC deal!

Am I the only one who almost always sees the name as "labradoodle"? The first time, I wondered how there were tons of puppies all over the island. :)

Add me to the list of people who has no desire to go on "monster ships" as I call them. Disney's Dream-class is about as large as I ever want to go.

Definitely looking forward to my Alaska cruise on the Radiance next summer! :)

Everything else would be OK ... but would not like the "Bionic Bar". :(

LuLu

I agree. That idea just creeps me out. Not that I plan to cruise on the monster ships anyway...

You don't have to wear the band all the time. It can be carried with you. Plenty of people carry them in their bags at Disney rather than wearing them. Take it out when you need to use it. Put it in a bag or pocket when you don't need it. Not that much different than a card, which you have to dig out anyway.

That said, give me the ability to tap into my cabin rather than dig out a card any day - be it tapping a card or tapping a bracelet. At least with Disney's KTTW card you don't even have to remove it from the lanyard to tap in (for those of us who don't mind wearing a lanyard).

Disney does use prerecorded music, but the shows are more like plays than variety shows. I don't really think live music would be any improvement. The special effects are amazing.

The vocals are live.

Is this feature available on all ships or just Oasis/Allure?

I'm spoiled to being able to see it on stateroom TVs on DCL. Having to go to the Front Desk on HAL seemed so last century. :D

I have heard there is a laundry room on the wonder Is that true?

Yep. Three actually. Deck 2, 6, and 7.

Disney cruises are FANTASTIC - lots to do and Disney does it right!

 

You will get tired of the "when you wish upon a star" the cruise horn blows this before every announcement and there are lots of announcements.

 

Pirate night is fabulous - kids clubs are great!

 

One thing that I think has not been mentioned, is when you enter the promenade, an announcement is made "Ladies and Gentlemen welcome The "insert last name" Family. I thought that was a nice personal touch.

 

If you love the Magic Kingdom, you will LOVE a Disney Cruise!

Different strokes. :) I ADORE their chimes before the announcements. I know to listen then. I never did adjust to just a chime on Holland this summer. So boring! :P

And yes, I love being announced and applauded onto the ship (you board into the atrium). I also love that someone will greet you and direct you to locations for dining or how to get to the pools or whatever you need. I had to ask everyone I encountered when I boarded the Westerdam this summer for how to get to guest services ("What? Oh. You mean the front desk." Way to make someone feel welcome.) and then I stood at the elevator bank for over a minute until the CREW MEMEBER STANDING THERE bothered to tell me "They're not coming down to this deck right now." I'll take Disney's hospitality over Holland's any day. Hoping Royal will fall closer to the Disney side of the hospitality thing. :)

It's a cool idea, but the phones are old and beat up. They only operate in silent mode, and they only provide one charger though they provide two phones. They remind me of cellphones from about a decade ago. Neither water resistant nor shock resistant. If you damage or lose one I think the charge is $250 for the phone.

They have them set to vibrate because far too many people couldn't be bothered to silence them during the shows.

From what I understand they are changing them out for somewhat more updated phones, but they're never going to put this gen smart phones in the cabins as they know they'll never get them back.

How do you get those phones?

There are 2 Wave Phones in each cabin. They usually have some additional ones available for a deposit at Guest Services if you need more than 2. They also work on Castaway Cay.

My wife and i have cruised DCL with the kids, with our grandson and just by ourselves.

 

Loved every minute of every DCL cruise.

 

Would cruise with them more often if they weren't so expensive.

 

Bill

Yeah...going solo most of the time, it can end up being a wash in a lot of cases for me.

Contemplating taking my parents on a cruise over my Spring Break (I teach)...not sure what their plans are, and they would need to get themselves to the port (I can't do it ALL!) - but that kind of mimics what happened on our family cruise in July 2013 where they paid fare and I paid my travel. :) We'll see.

We sailed Disney a few years ago and it is quite different than the other cruise lines. They are very family oriented. If you have children they will LOVE Disney as there is so much to do.

 

The character breakfast was fantastic. Every evening before dinner you can take photos with the different characters in the large atrium. The Disney shows are amazing compared to other cruise lines.

 

There are different dining rooms you eat at every night (total of 3) The food is pretty much the same. Disney includes soda for free. Disney has themed dress nights (like Pirate night) they had fireworks at sea.

 

If I compared the Allure to Disney I would say they are both on par as far as entertainment. However If I'm comparing Disney with other RCI cruises I've taken then by far Disney entertainment is better.

 

Disney is more expensive to sail - however their inside cabins are larger than RCI inside cabins. I would sail Disney again if given the opportunity and good price. Again if you have kids you will NOT be disappointed by going with Disney.

Just so you're aware, the character breakfast is NOT offered on the Dream and Fantasy at all and is not offered on every Wonder or Magic cruise. It depends on the itinerary.

And just as a note, I've been on 2 Disney cruises, one with my all-adult family and one as a solo adult, and there is plenty for adults also. Thanks to the amazing kids' clubs they have with extensive hours, I was far less aware of kids running all over than I was on the Holland America cruise I was recently on to Alaska where the club area seemed small and with limited hours as I saw kids all over all the time.

Disney's ships have three main dining rooms. You will rotate between the three, keeping the same table number and serving team throughout. How many nights you are on the ship will determine which menus you will see. The first time through the rotation you will get the standard menu for each restaurant. If you're on a 4-night cruise, one night will be Pirate Night with a menu to match. If you are on more than 4 nights, there are additional menus - on the themed nights all MDRs will have the same menu.

There is a dining room, Cabanas, that is buffet for breakfast and lunch. It is available for dinner as a sit-down restaurant (no up charge) for all but the first and last nights.

All of the ships have Palo, an Italian restaurant for those passengers 18 and over - $25 up charge per person. On the Dream and Fantasy, there is also Remy which is 18 and over also - I think the up charge there is $75 (not positive).

Shows are Disney-themed and Disney quality - I've heard on 7-nights the opening show is more an ad, but I haven't experienced it. I live in NYC and go to Broadway shows, and these easily match the quality of those.

First-run Disney movies - even 3D - in an actual movie theatre (as opposed to a room where they put a screen down).

Castaway Cay has a family beach and an adult beach . They offer a 5K non-competitive fun run every day a ship is there.