slightlysilly

Couple of things:

1. That lady is crazy town.

2. I feel bad for her daughter, even if she did get on that cruise, she still has to cruise with crazy town.

3. People fly in the day of all the time. I do it most of the time, in fact, I've only flown in the day before once and it actually doesn't count because my plane was late and we landed at around 1am.

4. A 9pm flight the night before can more easily be late than a 6am flight the day of.

5. I ALWAYS get trip insurance and I ALWAYS have a hotel picked out at the first port of call and an idea of flight times to the next port of call. That sort of over-planning behavior calms me.

I think the end of school year cruise might be cheaper, but not by much. In 2018, Easter and Passover falls on the same week which means that all of the public schools in Long Island and New York City will be off school that week (MILLIONS of children). Your spring break week will be at a premium. Cost-wise and crowd-wise I'd go for the end of school year trip.

They experimented with Palo brunch at Nassau in the fall of last year but then abruptly stopped it with no explanation. I myself was pretty disappointed until the booking window for my upcoming June Cruise opened a few weeks ago and lo and behold Palo brunch on Nassau was there. I too was pretty excited since it's my 10th anniversary on the actual day will be at Nassau and Palo brunch is quite possibly my wife's favorite meal anywhere

 

Now all this said the last time they did this experiment they did cancel it without much notice and even sent emails to people who had already booked the brunch telling them it was now cancelled so nothing's official until I eat that meal.

What about a Remy brunch? Is there such a thing as a Remy Brunch on a cruise with no sea days?

You can! We are on the Dream this June 3-day itinerary and we have a Palo Brunch booked for Nassau day.

WHAT??? :eek::eek::eek::eek: I thought you could only do Palo Brunch on sea days!!!

THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVERRRRRRR!!!!

If I could stay on the ship and do the Palo brunch, Nassau would be my favorite port!

There are a few cruises this winter that have just CC on the itinerary. It didn't suit with our schedule otherwise we would have done it. 1 day at sea and CC and then back to PC. I think it's on the Wonder.

If it were me, I would have 1 person take a taxi up to the airport and rent the car there. That way you have your choice of rental companies and you can get the best deal. The taxi ride is a very simple, short ride from the port to the airport. Maybe you can have the person get off the boat early and get the car situated and then come back for everyone.

When we got off the boat in Miami, the taxis were lined up to take us to the airport, meanwhile the shuttles, etc., had people waiting.

You can fit 6 normal sized 12 year old boys under the large bed on the Wonder (and you might be able to fit more, but I only had 6 available)

That's all I got as far as measurements go. Hope that helps.

DCL provided "coupons" or tickets indicating your tip to be placed in the envelope. This serves as their back up system. Unlike many other cruise lines' date=' the "standard" tips on DCL are not pooled. The tip you pay goes directly to the person who served you. If for any reason, the computer has the wrong person listed, your serving team or stateroom host can present the coupon to his manager and have the money credited to his account. No, this is not a hypothetical--we had it happen once. The person listed on our coupon had gotten off the ship on the day we got on (we were told for family reasons, but who knows?) When I saw the name on the coupon, I pointed out to the individual that "it says "server," but this isn't you." He told me not to worry about it and explained the system.

 

IF your listing in the computer is completely correct, your team will get their money whether you give them the coupon or not. But if there is a dispute, the CM holding the coupon can have the matter corrected.

 

I don't doubt that some people feel they "should" put more money in the envelope or feel shamed into doing so, but you can just as easily increase or decrease tips by making a trip to GS and adjusting them there. The coupon to my server can reflect $4 per person per night or significantly more or less depending on changes I may have made. Handing out the envelopes also provides a quick minute to thank the team and say good bye.

 

I did a cruise on another line a few months ago where their system is to pool charged tips and no envelopes are used. I was very surprised at the number of $20 bills I saw being handed out! We felt that the servers did their jobs, but not anything extra and did not tip beyond the automatic...we were definitely in the minority! I felt more pressured there than I ever did on DCL because it was totally obvious who was handing out "extra" and who was not. If everyone hands out envelopes, no one knows what is in them![/quote']

 

Wait. So let's review. If we get our coupons the night before debarkation and all the names are correct, it's understood that our server/asst/room guy (whatever) will get his tip from us? So really we just need to make sure the names are right?

Moki -

I have never eaten at Cabanas for dinner. The last time we were on the Dream was our first Disney cruise, and our first time in the Bahamas, so even though we have been on ship before, I trust this will be a very different experience.

Yes, I know what people go through to get main dining. I am in my forties and don't have small children and I would be standing in a line trying to get main dining as well. Our first cruise we had late dining and my stomach couldn't handle the eat and then bed routine. I tried though...

We weren't blown away by the main dining rooms (even Animator's Palate which everyone always raves about), BUT we were blown away by Palo, which I guess shows how far we will travel for a truly excellent meal experience.

Thanks for your help! Looking forward to trying Cabanas!

Quick question:

If we do not plan on using any of the main dining rooms with the exception of debarkation breakfast, do we have to tell anyone about that?

Our plan is Remy the first or last night, Palo the first or last night and Cabanas sit down the middle night. (This will be our third Disney cruise, so we've done all the main dining room stuff)

I currently have main dining, but will switch to late in order to get a late debarkation breakfast time (and to release a table for the people who want the much coveted main dining time)

I just don't want our table to disappear when we arrive for breakfast the last day. Could that happen?

Thanks in advance!

We had a stateroom back there on the Wonder. Very quiet, nice location. The only thing I noticed was the frequent smell of popcorn from the movies being shown... And twice I got to witness the verbal abuse the poor popcorn girl gets about selling popcorn and sodas. (Not from our room, just walking by)

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Oh, I forgot to mention...We scored Palo reservations as rookie DCL cruisers last year. So it is possible. Just be flexible as to the times, and you'll probably get in.

Note that we really don't "get" Pirate night (aren't pirates like a massive problem today? Why are we glorifying pirates????) so our flexibility with pirate night vs. Valentine's day vs. Palo reservations was a no brainer... although seriously, you have to really go looking for signs of Valentines day. It is very weird.

I've been on a ship on Valentine's Day for the past two years in a row. Pirate nights landed on Valentine's Day both days. Last year we were on the Dream and the only acknowledgement of V-day was a few little hearts on the Navigators (that's all I noticed) and this year we were on a 5-day Wonder trip got little hearts on the Navigators AND a card in our stateroom that said "The Captain, Officers and Crew wish you a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2016 - Disney Cruise Line" and we had the swan heart towel guys. But if it weren't for that, I would have completely forgotten that it was Valentine's day... (both years). We even went to Palo the first year and there was no acknowledgement of Valentine's day...

Join a roll call group (there's still time). I found a roll call group for my last cruise on a popular social media site. Just do a search of Disney Dream and the date of your cruise and there should be one there. There might also be one here on CC that is active.

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Disney is very funny about the "no saving seats" thing... they didn't enforce it on either ship I have been on. It's usually only me going to the shows, so I can show up whenever, but I usually get to witness more than one somewhat uncomfortable exchange between a family coming down the aisle against one person stretching across seven seats...

And this is probably a good place to mention that they won't be showing the mid-season premier of The Walking Dead... I asked...:(:(:(:(

If you actually own a pirate costume and/or dress up as a pirate on even a semi-regular basis (????), you will be sorely disappointed if you DON'T show up in full pirate gear. Seriously, wear the pirate stuff... that's what pirate night is for. It's sort of like Halloween, except everyone is a pirate.

I would even go as far to say that more people are dressed as pirates for pirate night than are formally dressed on formal night (or formal optional, or formal suggested, or whatever they call it.)

Edited to add: I just read the two responses before mine and I'm shocked... we were surrounded by ADULT pirates in the dining room... like dressed up all the way pirates... I was on the Dream last February and the Wonder just a week or so ago... so maybe the adult pirates are more of a winter thing?

No joke...pirates everywhere.... both cruises.

I've been on the Dream and the Wonder (and I've been thinking about this since the OP posted). When we were on the Dream, we stopped in Nassau and CC. Nassau was crazy busy as there were many ships at the port and it was nutso. CC was not terribly crowded but there were lines for things. And getting on the Aquaduck was really tough... every time I walked by it, it was either closed or there was a huge line. Cabanas "felt" crowded and by that, I mean I had a little sleuthing to do to find a table a prime times. Once we went there about 20 minutes before closing time and found a table with no problem.

On the Wonder, the only time I really experienced a "crowd" was in the terminal at the port, BUT, I realize that we stopped in Grand Cayman on a Sunday when there was ONE other ship anchored. I heard there can be up to 20k people from cruise ships on GC. So GC was absolutely fantastic (except for the rocky waters)... now CC was where I noticed the big difference, and it could be that the water was cold and only people north of the Mason-Dixon line dared to jump in, AND there was a crazy rain storm that lasted around 20 minutes that may have led people back to the ship (for what, I don't know), but that's when I really felt the smaller amount of people and like I said, circumstances may have caused the same thing to happen on the Dream.

As a third, youngest child who has been left with Grandma before... I give you my blessing...

I'm with Moki, although I am going on the Dream in June. My alibi is that I'm taking the whole family and the budget wouldn't allow a longer cruise. But don't discount the Magic or the Wonder. While they may not have some of the newer features of the bigger ships, they are still beautiful ships and have a lot to offer. And you do get different experiences, from different shows to different itineraries. Only the Wonder cruises Alaska and the Magic does the European cruises and so far is the only one to have sailed out of New York (Fantasy launch none-withstanding).

I kind of reluctantly booked the Dream for next February because it fit into our vacation plans, but I sniffled a little when I saw the Wonder would be doing a Castaway Cay run throughout next Winter. The sea day means a Palo Brunch which for us is reason enough to consider it. How I wish they would do the brunch for the short Nassau runs...

As an adult, I liked the Wonder. When you step out onto Castaway Cay you are instantly aware that there are about 1500 people missing. Beach chairs are plentyful, lines are very short or non-existent. Palo reservations are easier to get on the ship. I really noticed it between the Wonder and the Dream... my son (age 12) missed the presence of the aquaduck and the new ship smell that the Dream had.

The Wonder is older and you can totally tell. We are told it's going into dry dock for some refurbishment in September and October. As a raging introvert who hates crowds, I'm a Wonder convert. I hope they do a good job with the refurbishment.

On our first cruise (a 3 day out of PC on the Dream) my son (age 11 at the time) didn't get the gist of the kid's club until we were well into the second day. Then before we knew it the cruise was over.

We just got off the Wonder last week, and we barely saw him. He was really really good about showing up for dinner time and wasn't put off in the least bit when we told him we had reservations at Palo and he would have to find his own supper. If nothing else, it's a good dip in the independence pool. I think every night except the last night he came "home" around midnight.

Totally depends on the kid, I think... I had the same concerns as the OP... won't know until you get there.

We often cruised off season. Yes' date=' there are fewer school age kids, but that can be an advantage. Our absolutely best ever from kid standpoint had 15 teens on board, ages 13-17. As you noted, your son is a bit of a loner or a one friend guy. You don't need 300 kids in the age range to meet that one or two. Fewer kids means more access to whatever the desired equipment might be, fewer squabbles, etc.

 

Example--we made the mistake of cruising on "President's Week" once (a time when many private schools take the whole week off). The CM in charge of the teens told us that she had 5 pages of names for that week while the week before she had only half a page.[/quote']

 

 

Unless they changed things recently, every public school in New York state is closed the week of President's Day for mid-winter break. That's why the uptick in prices and influx of kiddos from the north. Even if it's just NYC and Long Island, that's a lot of kids.

[quote=moki'smommy

I wonder why it made national news. That article (actually a few articles) were sent to me from friends and family while I was on the ship and popped up when we came back to Miami. Was it the amount of people on the boat?