TeeVeeTD

I am sure they would be happy to serve 2 of them to you. In the past they have given one to-go for my child, who had been served one in the MDR per special request by one of my table mates, and loved they souffles and couldn't have dinner because he was too old. It gave me a great excuse to have dinner in Palo, even if I was solo.

If you are a blood donor, you probably be rejected from donation for at least a year. This go also for other locations in the Caribbean and Mexico.

Just make sure that it is not a beach launch as that requires a little running. I am sure that you have the videos of people being dragged off the beach when a face plant takes place.

I have used my Gopro on a pole on both DCL excursions and non DCL excursions both SCUBA and snorkleing. No one has ever said anything about it. Since the excursions are run by contractors and nor DCL you shouldn't have any issues.

I donate blood at "Children's Hospital Orange County" CHOC in California regularly. I have been deferred, from donating, several times because of travel into Malaria areas of the Caribbean. A stop in Costa Rica on the west bound Panama Canal cruise deferred me for a year. A stop in Puerto Vallarta also cost me a year. More recently a trip to the Mexican Riviera deferred me for 28 days because of Sitka.

CHOC uses the FDA's recommendations for blood donations. The FDA recommendations changed to the 24 or 48 hour rule just in the last few years.

CHOC is very strict because my donation goes straight to Neonate babies.

During my Puerto Vallarta deferral, Red Cross was happy to take my blood.

Thanks to all the people that donate blood. It doesn't make any difference if someone is making money off the donation, the blood is doing someone some good.

Tim

PS, I am 63 and I have been donating at CHOC as often as I can since my child was in the NICU at CHOC 18 years ago.

Can anyone tell me what exactly are all the 'extra charges' with NCL that are mentioned ^^? Yes, I realize soda needs to be paid for, but to be honest, when DH and I sailed on HAL last summer, the soda charges really didn't add up astronomically, since there were other choices (lemonade for example). There are upcharge restaurants, but you don't have to use them (just like you don't have to go to Palo or Remy). I'm just a little confused, and I'd appreciate knowing. Thanks!

I sailed on a NCL ship out of Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera. The experience that my DD then 10 was not great. She hated the kids club. Granted my child is spoiled by DCL.

NCL has the Freestyle dining. You don't have a scheduled time to eat. You go down to the free dining room and wait in line to get in. We waited for about 40 minutes once and sat down to discover that the dining room was not full. We finished our meal and discovered people still waiting in line. I was told that I could get reservations to eat in the free dining rooms. When I attempted to do so, I was told I could only get reservations for 5 people or more. It just wasn't very efficient. That being said, the food was pretty good.

You question is about fees. It was my impression that the waiting in line to eat would force us to go to the many up-charge restaurants. In looking at the menus for those restaurants, they seemed to be a basic 3 course meal. For a $35 per person up-charge he did not seem to worth the money. Particularly compared to Palos, then $15 charge. I don't drink soda, so that perk on DCL is irrelevant. I don't drink much alcohol so I cannot comment on drink prices.

I have talked to many people that have had good experiences on NCL. It could have been just a bad ship. The crew all seemed lackadaisical about working on the ship. That compared to the crew on DCL, where they all seem to be happy.

OP, thanks for the reminder on why I will never cruise on Disney. Not because of them, but because of people like you.

 

Before everyone loses their mind, most of the replies here were perfectly reasonable and I would be happy to cruise with any of you. But... it's the small portion of people like OP and his family on board that I have always imagined exist on any Disney Cruise. It appears my suspicions may have been correct! ;)

 

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You would let one troll stop your from enjoying your cruise. The OP was a 1st time poster and not the typical Disney cruiser. There are morons everywhere. Enjoy your upcoming cruises.

Capt BJ,

Thanks for the information and the link. I will give them a call.

:) Tim

Thanks for the information. I was afraid of the time issue.

Tim

My DD and I are going to be in Key West March 30 on the Disney Magic. We would like to dive the Vandenberg. The ship arrives at 12:30pm. Does anyone know of a dive operation that dives the Vandenberg in the afternoon?

Thanks in advance,

Tim

I have cruised on Princess, NCL, RCCL, Carnival and Disney. The one thing that shines on Disney is the fact that the crew members from the maintenance staff all the way to the ship's officers all seem to have a smile on their faces. They all make an effort to say hello and ask how you are doing. On the other lines, some worse then others, the crew, at times, are surly. The service that you get on Disney reflects that fact.

My 16 year old DD is a Disney snob, after we tried a NCL cruise, I cannot get her to try another cruise line.

Tim

We did not dive in Costa Maya as we were feeling a little under the weather. I did not talk to anyone that did sorry. Disney was using DreamTime resorts for the operator in Costa Maya. Check to see if there are any reviews on other web sites. One that I would check would be Scuba.com. I do not have notes in my research for DreamTime Resorts. Enjoy your cruise.

My DD16 and I just returned from our Western Caribbean Fantasy cruise. We scuba dove in GC and planed on diving both Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Unfortunately, we were not able to dive CM or Cozumel. Disney used RedSail Sports in GC and they were great. We heard from other divers on the ship that they were not happy with the dive operator in Cozumel. When I discovered that DCL was using Sand Dollar Sports, I admit I was less than thrilled as I have read many poor reviews concerning them.

Because I did not dive them myself, I am not in position to complain to DCL about them. But, if any others have used them and were not happy with the experience, please make DCL aware of it. Disney runs too good of an operation to have their vendors not do a great job and they need to be aware of them.

Also if anyone has had a good experience with Sand Dollar please let me know. Maybe the reviews have been biased.

Thanks for listening to me.

Tim

My Daughter and I just returned from our Western Caribbean Fantasy cruise. We scuba dove in GC and planed on diving both Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Unfortunately, we were not able to dive CM or Cozumel. Disney used RedSail Sports in GC and they were great. We heard from other divers on the ship that they were not happy with the dive operator in Cozumel. When I discovered that DCL was using Sand Dollar Sports, I admit I was less than thrilled as I have read many poor reviews concerning them.

Because I did not dive them myself, I am not in position to complain to DCL about them. But, if any others have used them and were not happy with the experience, please make DCL aware of it. Disney runs too good of an operation to have their vendors not do a great job and they need to be aware of them.

Also if anyone has had a good experience with Sand Dollar please let me know. Maybe the reviews have been biased.

Thanks for listening to me.

Tim

I have had the souffle in MDR on a cruise in 2011. I asked to get one in the MDR on cruises in 2012, 2013 and was told that it was no longer allowed. My DD fell in love with the souflle and I am forced :) to go to Paulo on our cruises so I can get one to go for her to enjoy in out cabin.

Has anyone used the Disney excursions for Scuba diving in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel? If so how crowded were the boats and how were the dives?

Thanks in advance.

Tim G.