ArthurUSCG

Unless the ship is really light on 11 to 14 year olds, it's unlikely they will let him into the Edge.

While she's likely to be able to play in the area some, there are usually lots of little kids and the cast members will say something if there's issues. Most 8 year olds are to big for the equipment in Nemo's Reef. The Fantasy/Magic/Wonder has the Aqua Lab behind the rear funnel and it is designed for larger kids and adults to be able to play together. For some reason the Dream did not get the Aqua lab in dry dock. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/onboard-activities/aqualab-pool/

There's not really enough difference to pick one ship over another. (unless there's specifically something like Marvel day at sea). Pick the itenerary you want and let that decide the ship. In general the longer the better, the relaxed vibe on 7night vs 3/4 night is sooo much nicer. The 3/4 night feels like a military style touring plan to see/do everything, while the 7night is relaxed since most activities are offered on multiple days/ times. So you don't feel rushed to leave the Quite cove pool to get to a scheduled activity.

The excursions listed on the website are for any of the sailings to that port, the excursions for your specific cruise/port are found under the Add activities. Example, There are a ton of activities at Castaway Cay, but some might not be available for your specific cruise. The web site will have them all listed, but when you go to "Add Activities" only the excursions that are available for your cruise are listed. Everything that is "sold out" is at the bottom of the list.

Still no dark mode or dark theme.

You can look at the daily schedule at the below link to a blog. But if you go to DCL's website, you can limit the search by month and departure location. https://disneycruiselineblog.com/cruise-planning/itineraries/ship-sailing-schedule/?ship=3

In general, it's better to not use MS Edge, there's a lot of other sites that has problems with Edge. Some of them have almost a complete separate site for Edge users. But I agree that Disney does have site issues.

It varies based on when the ship clears customs and is authorized to let guest depart. When you book the excursion, you will pick a time slot to leave the ship, but once onboard the Navigator app will update with the time and location for the check in on the ship.

When you check in for the bus, DCL will be able to print them right there. DCL uses airline style luggage tags, so it's no big deal for them to print them out. In case anyone else finds this post, if your going directly to the port, the curb side porters will print them out as well.

So the 3/4 night sailings are just to get a taste of what DCL has to offer. I've done them on the Dream and also done the 7 night sailing on the Fantasy (same class), and the overall feeling is very different. With the short sailings, most of the people on board are attacking the activities simular to the WDW minute by minute touring plans. So it feels so rushed. But with the longer sailings, most people relax into the cruise, they take time to breath and aren't rushing around. The buzz and complaints around the Wish is only because it is new, and soon people will be moving on to the Treasure and then the 3rd ship in the class. If you look at the prices, usually, the 4n on the Wish is priced around 5-7 nights on the other ships. I did the 7night Western Fantasy cruise for my 40th and it was amazing. There's not enough differences in the DCL ships that I would pick any of them over the itinerary and length.

The beer package is the same price as the bucket special or beer mug onboard. The water on the ship is made thru reverse osmosis and is very tasty.

The post covid restart DCL had someone by the turn into the terminal checking your PAT. But has since moved that person near the check in area.

DCL enforces the early PAT times, due to people showing up early and needing to spread out the workload/crowd. Once they transition to open boarding, they stop looking at the PAT. The exact time this happens varies on each cruising based on a lot of things. My rule of thumb, is anything before noon, don't arrive before your PAT. For the early PATs, if your lucky, they will let you arrive 15 minute early. I've arrived 16 minutes early and the guy held us there for a minute before we could drop off our luggage.

Before 9pm is when most of the family friendly activities happen. After 9pm, most of them switch over the adults only. In the USA we still suffer the affects of Puritan and Prohibition, so our cultural norms are to not have kids around alcohol. This will be the norm for Carnival, Celebrity and most other cruise lines when sailing out of the USA. I'm just happy DCL allows liquor sales on Sundays.

The hair drier onboard is 220V, make sure you are using the outlet that says "Hairdrier". Anyone that complains that it doesn't have any power plugged the drier into the 110v outlet.

Given there are now 2 vaccines approved for 6months to 5 years old, the previous exemption might not apply. Wait about a week and ask if the 6 week window still applies.