worrywartmama

Host Anne - Just returned from our trip. Thanks for your help with St. John questions. Followed your directions, were wowed by Cinammon Bay, got back to the ship safe and sound. Success! Much appreciated.

Host Anne, our ship will be there from 8-4 on April 8th along with I think four other ships. Was planning to get over to St. John to avoid some of the crowd. Is that time frame too rushed?

 

Worrywartmama -- I hit the edit instead of quote so I apologize that this appears as an edit...sorry about that!

 

That is an average amount of time for a cruise ship stop in St. Thomas. If you get off the ship as soon as possible when you arrive, you should be able to catch the 9:00 AM ferry. I'd be taking the 2:00 PM ferry back so you are getting in a taxi on St. Thomas around 2:20. That should be plenty of time to get you back to your ship for your departure. That gives you about 4 1/2 hours on St. John. It's not a ton of time but enough to give you a good feel for just how beautiful it is if you get out and drive the north shore and check out the beaches. ENJOY!

You cannot drop off items for signatures--this ended a couple years ago.

thanks for the clarification moki'smommy

What has been your favourite item to get autographed by characters while cruising? Keeping in mind that my children are small, so I will be carrying it with me for both of them. A photo frame mat? A simple autograph book? I have a feeling that book will never get looked at again...thoughts? What worked well for you? What did you love?

Thanks!

We'll be on the Fantasy in two weeks. Does anyone know if you can still leave items to be autographed at guest services? I've heard conflicting stories. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

Enchanted Garden you are escorted to your table, and the servers take your drink order. Then you go to the buffet. Usually the buffet in Enchanted Garden is smaller than what's available in Cabanas.

 

Cabanas, you're on you own to walk the line, get drinks, find a table.

Thanks Shmoo!!

Basically you have the system right' date=' but it is not always the first three nights that are the signature menus. For instance, if one of those nights is pirate night, all restaurants will have the pirate menu. When this happens, there is generally a repeat night for one of the restaurants. For example, if instead of using names, we list the restaurants as 1,2, and 3....you may rotate 1231231 OR you may rotate 1223123.

 

I can't address which themed menus you will have although it is likely you are correct, I haven't done a Star Wars cruise to verify. My suggestion would be that you check the menus on the Disney blog and figure out which you wouldn't mind missing. If you choose Palo on lobster night, no worries--the best lobsters are sent to Palo![/quote']

 

Another dining question: What is the difference between Cabanas for breakfast and Enchanted Garden? They both seem to suggest they are buffets with some made to order omelets and waffles? Is it that Enchanted Garden has waiters and Cabanas doesn't?

Host Anne, our ship will be there from 8-4 on April 8th along with I think four other ships. Was planning to get over to St. John to avoid some of the crowd. Is that time frame too rushed?

Worrywartmama -- I hit the edit instead of quote so I apologize that this appears as an edit...sorry about that!

That is an average amount of time for a cruise ship stop in St. Thomas. If you get off the ship as soon as possible when you arrive, you should be able to catch the 9:00 AM ferry. I'd be taking the 2:00 PM ferry back so you are getting in a taxi on St. Thomas around 2:20. That should be plenty of time to get you back to your ship for your departure. That gives you about 4 1/2 hours on St. John. It's not a ton of time but enough to give you a good feel for just how beautiful it is if you get out and drive the north shore and check out the beaches. ENJOY!

First cruise in Sept. So, I signed up for one of the Facebook pages for our particular cruise. I just don't get it. It seems like people are going to spend more time worrying about how to decorate their doors, what gifts to give to random strangers, and taking a group photo with those same strangers than they are spending time with their own families or travelmates. I am not a curmudgeon but it seems sort of odd to me. Are people always this absorbed by mixology classes, ornament exchanges, etc. If we don't participate, we will still be OK, right? I want to make memories with my own family and if we meet some folks along the way then great. Any thoughts on this?

On our first trip on the Magic, I found out about these FEs the week of our trip. I was worried that my kids would feel left out somehow so I bought a recyclable Disney bag for each of my two kids with their favorite characters on it, stuck ribbons on it, duct taped them together with cute duct tape and bought a couple trinkets to put in there for them every night(very simple stuff). They thought Disney was leaving it for them. However, in the end I decided that it's not as prevalent or necessary as you might think given all the FB pages and discussions. The kids were so busy and happy that they would have been fine without our "fake FE". This April on the Fantasy, I will just be bringing a couple magnets and enjoying the relaxation and experience.

Thank you for clearing that up for me surran12, sjlocke and moki'smommy!

Quick response is appreciated moki'smommy! Will do!

I am sure this is buried in the threads somewhere, but I seem to find only older posts about how the dining rotations work. I am wondering if someone can please clarify the process. My understanding is as follows: that the first 3 days we will be switching through the themed restaurants, which have their specific menu. Then days 4-7 we will continue rotating through restaurants but all have same menu no matter what restaurant you are assigned? Is this so? The other nights will be Princess, Captain's, Star Wars and See Ya Real Soon? Is this correct? Any thoughts about skipping the Princess meal vs. Captain's for a Palo dinner? Any clarifications/corrections and recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!!

Can anyone tell me more about how the character meet & greets work on the Star Wars Cruise? My understanding is you fill out a form once onboard with your top choice? When do they occur? Star Wars Day or any day throughout the sailing? Any information would be appreciated .

We just booked yesterday on the Disney dream for 5/8. Now what? I am so used to royal and carnival.

 

 

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Dream was our first DCL cruise. You're going to love it! Disney makes it super easy. Just make sure you've created your account with DCL and they will remind you when it's time to set up your excursions, put in your passport info, request a character call etc. Just do your homework in the mean time about what your excursion choices are so that you're ready to register. You don't really need to do excursions on Castaway Cay to have a great time. It's a beautiful island. The customer service on the ship is awesome. Opportunities for pictures with characters are abundant. Have a great trip!

Really depends on what you want to do while on Tortola. A 3 hr island tour with a 1 hr at CGB is about $25pp for adults and a good option for a tour. Or take the tour and stay at the beach and pay $8pp for adults for a return taxi.

But if you want beach time you can see some of the island on the way to the beach.

 

Yes there are restrooms at Sapphire as well as abundant natural shade, you'll want to head straight there in order to find a shady spot for everyone if you want that (no umbrella rentals because of the shaded area) but you should be fine. Sapphire is our favorite St Thomas beach - here is a web cam and a drone video link if you haven't seen it -

http://www.sapphireinthesun.com

Thanks for all of the valuable information blue_water! Very appreciative. Can't wait!!

Hi Worry ~ no worries....Cinnamon has rentals although I'm not sure about umbrellas. I'll be there this week and check for you. You really don't see beach umbrellas on St. John beaches. The North Shore beaches (of which Cinnamon is one) does have quite a few places where you can place beach chairs in natural shade. We are normally able to find a shady place. I'll check on the umbrellas for you and I'll see if I can find a photo for you so you know what the shady areas look like.

 

By the way, it is truly beautiful!

Truly appreciative Host Anne! Thank you!

Does Cinnammon Bay have umbrella rentals or natural shade available? My mom will be traveling with us in April and can't be in the direct sun for long.

Thanks in advance for any help

Thanks a bunch for the response blue_water. I'll definitely follow-up with Host Anne about Cinnammon. Hope you don't mind a couple more follow-up questions:

1. Being the only ship while in Tortola sounds awesome! Do you recommend a taxi tour of the island before going to Long Bay or Josiah's? Sounds like we might have time?

2. Are there public restrooms at Sapphire? I think I read older posts where it said there were none. (My mother would definitely need that)

Thanks!

Thank you for this great summary Host Anne. It was exactly what I was looking for. Bringing Party of 9 there on DCL cruise in April for daughter's birthday. Can't wait to get to Cinnammon Bay. Based on your picture, it is beautiful!

This will be our first trip to Tortola and St.Thomas/St. John on DCL Cruise April 8th from Orlando on Star Wars Day Cruise. Sailing with wide range of ages: 6, 11, 15, 16, 18, 40 somethings and 70 yr old mom. Thanks so much (especially Blue_Water) for all the helpful info that have helped me narrow our choices.

Tortola:

I think I'd like to take the group to Long Bay or Josiah's on Tortola. I think the surf school at Josiah's would be great fun for the kids. My concern is my mom needs shade. Can I rent umbrellas? Are restrooms fairly accessible? Drinks/Snacks are close? If not, I'm thinking Long Bay.

St.Thomas/St.John: I am leaning towards the taking the ferry over to Cinammon bay for a relaxing beach day. Is this do-able with DCL schedule? Again, is there shade/umbrellas and are restrooms accessible? Drinks/Snacks?

Main concern is comfort of mom, accessibility to restrooms and our time constraints.

Any help is appreciated.