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. 

On 6/23/2023 at 12:19 PM, mommb said:

If your grandson is almost 11 when he boards the cruise, it is possible, but not guaranteed, that he would be allowed into Edge. The decision is at the discretion of the castmembers and does depend in part on how many kids onboard are in the 11-14 age range. You can ask after you're onboard. 

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! 

On 6/16/2023 at 4:50 PM, Tee & Chilli said:

Does Disney still have the chilled shrimp and crab claws the first day at the buffet? TIA

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! 

Happy 90 Days post-cancellation! Still no sign of any sort of refund. 

Cancelled March 24

Cruise Date May 11 (Pacific Princess LA-Vancouver)

Definitely not thrilled...

2 minutes ago, remydiva said:

I am sorry for your refund delay; many of us could use the money given the financial impact CoVid is having on the world.

 

I don't wish to be contrary but I am curious tho what 'other cruise lines' you know of that do not seem to have this problem.?

 

Many here have also said 'never again' but NOW is the time to find out how other cruise companies are handling this situation.

In fact, I worry about whether Viking (who we have cruised with a few times)will even be around in a year after they had to offer a $600 million 'junk bond' with 13% return.

From my limited research on line, I can't find any that are doing any better.  Please share if you have found some! TIA

DCL - family scheduled to sail after us and canceled after us received their refund within a couple of weeks.

RCL - friends scheduled to sail this past Saturday received their refund before their original sail date.

I'm just disappointed that it is taking so long to release our money. It's not limited to cruises - we have thousands of dollars tied up in baseball leagues and tournaments that aren't happening and have not received any money back. Plus one of the leagues has issued a firm "no refunds" statement and envoking an "act of God" clause.

Maybe it's a case-by-case situation and we are just the "lucky" ones not getting money back from anyone... 

We canceled our May 11 cruise on March 24 (64 days ago) not long before Princess would have canceled it any way. We are awaing our refund. There is no sign of a FCC in my account, either. 

Our total amount out of pocket isn't huge by some standards, but with a job furlough for me and a large pay cut for my husband, that money would really help cover some costs right now. The inability of Princess to refund our money has confimed we will not sail with them again. Other cruise lines do not seem to have this problem based on friends and family reporting their experiences.

1 hour ago, WillCruiseForMoney said:

Duplicate - merged thread

We are either really lucky or really unlucky...our cruise departs May 11. Guess we will hang on for a little longer and see what happens!

Since I used this thread as part of my search for tours during our planning I wanted to come back and add my review! (This is the same review I posted on another site...because I'm lazy...)

Our multi-generational family of 10 took three separate tours with ItalyTours.EU during our recent Western Mediterranean cruise and each one was equally amazing. We selected the Pompeii, Sorrento & Positano tour at Naples, the Best of Lucca & Pisa tour at Livorno (and we are all totally in love with Lucca now!!), and the French Riviera tour at Cannes. On each of the tours our drivers were waiting where expected when we disembarked from the ship and were friendly, knowledgeable and fun (Salvatore, Simona, and Yannick). We have zero complaints from any of our experiences!

A true highlight of our trip was our guided tour of Pompeii with Sabina. She was equally lovely, passionate, and completely engaging. The kids (and the adults!) were tired and hot but not once did anyone complain because we all wanted to see what was next and hear what she had to say! We all agreed she made the experience perfect and made Pompeii come alive!

I am very happy we selected ItalyTours.EU for our adventures! My only regret is not using them for our Rome excursion as the entire day ended up being a debacle with the company we used...lesson learned...stick with ItalyTours at all ports next time!!

I would advise against using the Roman Guy. We used them for two tours (Underground Colosseum and Early Entry Vatican) and neither went well. All of our pre-trip interactions were great but when it came to the actual tours (and especially the transportation to said tours) we had multiple issues. Based on our experiences with another company at other stops I feel there are better options out there. Just my opinion!

Lucca!! We spent a few hours there on an excursion from Livorno and we are all (10 people, ages 10 to 70) wanting to go back! We rented bikes and biked the "wall" which was amazing. My parents rented a surrey bike (as my mom does not typically like to ride) and had a fabulous time. We then walked and biked through the rest of the town which is just perfect. Great places to eat, beautiful buildings/churches/plazas, cute shops...a great place to spend the day. We followed Lucca up with a wine tasting which was wonderful!

We did make a quick stop at Pisa to climb the tower and take some photos. Definitely worth it if you have never seen it...I had no idea it truly leaned so far. Climbing to the top and back was one of the highlights of our trip. In all we were there just over an hour. I definitely recommend using a tour company that has smaller vans that drop you right at the tower. We used ItalyTours.EU for this excursion day and they were great to work with and it was a wonderful day!

No one yet? Pretty please!

The 27 May from Barcelona roll call is a little more active. They can catch those that will be in Cannes and Mallorca with them.

We tried to book the 30 May from Rome but could not get rooms for our group. According to NCL and our TA there are only 10% of the rooms set aside for Rome boarding and the remainder board in Barcelona. Hence the Saturday boarding in BCN versus the Wednesday boarding in Rome.

Thanks for asking this and for the detailed reply. We are booking a 9:30 train now just to be safe and not rushed! We did not realize there was security scanning here for the high-speed trains. We did not experience that in Germany or the Netherlands last year so had not added that into our timeline.

Kids used to get 50% off but it hasn't been that way for years. Their charge is the same as adults. 12 and under are no charge if they order off the kid's menu which does not include specialty restaurant meals.

Yes - this! We just added a 3-night UDP to our upcoming cruise for our 10 and 12 year olds. No way they are going to Cagney's and watching us eat filet while they eat chicken tenders or hot dogs! Plus they are so excited about Teppanyaki. Since there is no longer a 50% discount for kids at the specialties we just sucked it up and added the package.

I absolutely understand your hesitance! We are Gold with DCL with our kids (plus cruised multiple times on Celebrity and Princess on our own) but are doing our first NCL on the Epic Western Med in late May for my parents' anniversary trip. We, too, are in a 2-bedroom Haven suite. I have heard so many horror stories (many in person from friends) about the ship that I have very low expectations! However, those who have positive reviews (including a cousin and an aunt) have all been Haven guests. So I'm hoping for the best!!

Based on the fact that we are in port for 12+ hours almost every day, I figure it's really just a mode of transportation and hopefully a comfortable place to sleep. I plan to post a trip review when we get home in June (we are adding on 9 days after to drive from Barcelona to Berlin...) and will specifically call out differences between DCL and NCL as there seems to be many groups making this switch, especially for this itinerary. Probably because a regular balcony room on the Magic was the same price for us as the 2-BR Haven on the Epic for the same week!!