crabby5

Thanks for sharing! We took our honeymoon in May 2003 on the Voyager and had an awesome time. I also remember everyone always saying it was the biggest ship in the world along with plugging the ice skating rink and rock wall lol

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On 2 different trips, we have done the dolphin swim at Atlantis booked on our own and the sea lions at Blue Lagoon booked through RCL. Atlantis is huge and it was confusing to get to the right place.

There was much less stress with the sea lion encounter at Blue Lagoon and it's set up really nice. We personally all liked the sea lions better than the dolphins (me, my husband, and 9 yr old daughter) because they can come out of the water and hug and kiss you and interact more. If I remember correctly, the sea lions were also cheaper.

There's only 1 dining room, it's 3 floors and each floor has a different name. We did MTD on Oasis last August and I can't remember which floor we were on, but 2 (maybe only 1?) of the floors are saved for traditional dining. You can make reservations on your planner before you go but we loved our waiter the first night and changed our reservations to get him each night, so we ate at the same table on the same floor each night.

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If it makes you feel any better, we're on the Oasis that trip. We just booked a couple weeks ago and had no problems getting the shows and dinner times we wanted. We didn't do any specialty dining though.

We were on the Oasis last August and loved it. That trip was Eastern, I'm not crazy about the western route/ports but I don't care if I even get off the ship so it's not important to me.

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15-20 minutes before the show, they let the stand by people in, so if you have tickets you'll want to be there before that. We went last August and I think they times they put on the tickets was like 15 minutes before the show started but maybe someone else on here can remember (or we're going again in June so I can find out if you're going after that lol)? It also depends on the show, we didn't even need tickets for Cats, the theater was empty but for the aqua show, ice show and come fly with me, there were bigger crowds.

We used them but we only did the one going to Maho beach. We didn't have any time issues, the driver was friendly and informative and he returned when he said he would to pick us up.

Not sure if you're open to other suggestions but we picked the Grand Princess when we went to Alaska because it had an indoor pool. The kids club was SMALL but she went to a few of the educational sessions (like they had one about bald eagles and they talked about them and gave them little eagle stuffed animals). She really likes to swim so she was happy with the pool.

My daughter is 9 (was 7 in Alaska) and after taking 3 Disney cruises, she hasn't liked any other kids clubs, so we don't count on her using them anymore. Good luck deciding! Alaska was my favorite place that we've gone, I loved it way more than I thought I would (my husband was the one that originally wanted to go).

We had connecting rooms on the Oasis last August. There's only one door that the room steward has to unlock, I don't remember it being in the way so it must swing pretty flat into whichever room. The one thing is that once it's unlocked you can't lock it on your own.

It's located in the same place as it is in a hotel room, it's on an otherwise empty wall so it doesn't take anything away.

We went on the Oasis last August and loved it. You've got a lot of good advice but I will address the food. We didn't buy any food- we ate in the MDR every night and we thought the food was really good. As with anywhere, some nights were better than others. We generally hated the buffet, but we really aren't into buffets so the crowds there really bothered us. The fresh salads in Central Park were really nice too. Don't worry- you won't go hungry!

We went on the Oasis last August and we did MTD. On the first night, we got an awesome server and asst, so we made reservations to eat with them every night. You can make reservations, so it doesn't feel like a total free for all.

I would recommend the kids club the first day so she can get a feel if there is anyone she can hang out with. It depends where/ when you're going and the ship as to what the ages for the clubs are too. My daughter is a couple years younger, but when we went to Alaska on the Grand Princess, the kids club was laughable but she went to a couple of the educational things- turns out there are so few kids on the ship that they would all end up swimming at the same times and the all knew each other after a couple days.

Depends on where we are- if we go to a hot beach for the day, we usually just want to get back. When we were in Alaska, we'd go walk around (and sometimes eat) in the towns since they were usually really cool.

I always take a black cardigan to throw on and I always use it in the dining room and theater, but I'm always cold. You don't have to take a bunch, just something neutral (that's why I take black)- you can put it on after you sit if you don't match lol

I would talk to your doctor. I also found this stuff called motion eaze, it's some herbal oil that you dab behind your ears if you feel sick, it takes it away quickly (giving you time for melds to take effect). I don't have a problem on cruises but we've used this on my daughter on a particularly stormy night and it worked very well.

We book through where ever we can find the best price and most OBC. We generally book within 2 months of the cruise, so we don't worry much about the prices going down.

We do fine without phones on the ship- in fact I love not having a phone and Internet on vacation. When you take a Disney cruise, they have 2 phones in each room that are free (unless you lose them) that you can call between or call to rooms, so that is convenient. We don't book Disney cruises a long time in advance- we have flexibility at work that we can get time off within a month and we have found extremely good deals about 2 months out, so it depends on your flexibility.

They have basic supplies on board, so don't be too paranoid about fear getting something.

You've received a lot of good tips here so I'll just give you a little of our experience. We decided to leave from Seattle since we had free flights to use in the continental US. We also had a 7 year old at the time and the flight from PA to Seattle seemed scary long enough lol.

We took the Grand Princess, it wasn't the biggest ship but it had an indoor pool which was a must for our daughter. Just something to keep in mind if you have kids going, the kids clubs on those smaller shops that go to Alaska aren't usually the best (especially since we've been on the Disney Dream 3 times and that has an unbelievable kids club).

We did a lot of excursions and the ports that we stopped at had really cute little towns within walking distance, which was really cool. We spent quite a lot on excursions because we thought this was a once in a lifetime trip ( which we now know it won't be because it was our favorite trip out of anywhere we've been). We took a helicopter and landed on a glacier, we did a dog sled excursion and a ducky tour (which was more affordable than the others and pretty cool). But, depending on where you go, if someone doesn't want to spend the money, like I said the little towns are really neat.

I like wearing lanyards when crushing to hot places since most of my shorts/ summer clothes don't have pockets - so it's lanyard or purse and I have no desire to carry a purse. It also depends on the ship. We've been on the Disney Dream 3 times and they actually give you a lanyard after your first trip. The lanyard works there because they have a tap system to get in your room. We just went on the RCL Oasis and you can't tap, so you'd have to take the card out every time if you have the kind with a pocket.

I don't care if it looks dorky, I really don't care what other people think of me. My 9 yr old thinks lanyards are cool lol

I would pick Disney over any other company. I would totally go as an adult only trip. The Dream has a really nice adult only pool and an area with multiple bars that kids aren't allowed to enter after a certain time (I think it's 9pm). That bar area is so cool- my favorite is the martini bar, the them changes into different cities while you sit there.

The only thing that can get overwhelming with kids is dinner. I would def choose that later seating for dinner- there are so many less kids (we have 1 daughter who is 9 and we pick the late one because I it seems less chaotic).

On the first day, we went to the kids area to sign her up- they gave her a lanyard while I filled out the paperwork. She wore that all week.

We were on board with you! We got messed up with the Baltimore/East coast issue and didn't get home until 2:30 this morning, but we made it! We had a great time and I'm looking forward to your opinions.

Just got off the Oasis yesterday. We had an awesome time and did not go to any specialty restaurants. The most expensive thing on our bill was the tips(and a Kate Spade bag that was a splurge)! lol

We ate in the MDR every night and most breakfasts and we thought the food was great (there are always a couple hits and misses but I think that's normal). We didn't like the Windjammer biggest at all but it was always crowded so others liked it. Let me know if you have any questions- we seriously had a fantastic time and didn't spend too much.

We had an excursion to Maho Beach at St Maarten on Wednesday and there was some seaweed, but nothing crazy.

I love these forums so you'll find lots of great info. Our next cruise is on Royal Caribbean so I just bounced over here to DCL check out what was going on. When I was researching the DCL there's also another great forum at disboards.com (they also have a non-DCL thread so I've been hanging out there too. Not to plug another site but you might find some different stuff there too.

I totally agree with moki'smommy. This was our experience. We were adults traveling with 1 DS (I'm the mom, so her dad and the grandparents too) and didn't really care if we had rooms together. We booked through the TA and never spoke to them again, we did everything on our own so that part didn't matter to us.