nolatravelgirl

You will not miss the fireworks if you have late dining. We loved late dining as we were all fresh and lively for the early show. We would grab a snack from pool deck and then would freshen up for dinner/show. If you have early dining then you see the late show. If you have late dining you get to see the early show entertainment. Pick your poison, do you want sleepy kids in the show? The Broadway style shows were a must do for us. Also, if you have late dining then they can do "express dining" for the kids and if you would like the kid's club staff will pick up your kids which allows the adults to have a leisurely dessert and after dinner cocktail. The other bonus of late dining is that the fireworks and pirate show are between early and late dining. Because we had late dining we were able to stake out prime viewing spots for the show/fireworks. The show fireworks are scheduled for 7:30-8:15PM. The early diners were rushed and got less desirable spots since they were finishing dinner. After the fireworks then late diners make their way to the dining room for dinner. You don't miss anything. Even my brother-in-law who is usually an early dinner kind of guy agreed that late dinner was great, even with an 8 year old.

I don't think you are missing out on much by not just booking port-to-port. It looks like you would probably be better off just booking your own flights and car service. I would confirm that your fare actually includes hotels pre/post cruise. The difference is $4,100 dollars. You can book Delta today for about $1300pp, so $2600 which leaves you with $1,500. With the remaining $1500 you could book some fairly nice hotels and get an Uber Black to/from the airport. The other bonus would be you would know exactly what flights you are on today and could research which fare are upgradeable.

Can you share which sailing you are on? I am going to assume that you are in the US?

I have found that the mega ships with the "ship within a ship" concept don't always call on very interesting ports. They tend to just hit the same Caribbean ports over and over. The big ships are great when the ship is your major focus and/or you have kids who need to be entertained. The big ships are also great for many multi-generational trips as it gives a wide range of room types and activities to suit a diverse set of budgets. Sure there are some families that can afford for everyone to sail the luxury lines but that just isn't the reality for most. There is a cruise that fits everyone's style but personally I am not going to pay the "ship within a ship" concept if just traveling alone as you have pointed out that the cost is similar to just sailing on the luxury lines.

I just did a quick search for a date and it looks like there are multiple departure times. I would see if you could get on an earlier excursion.

I think you need to look at the services provided and duration to decide what is reasonable. We had one attendant who picked us up from an international flight at Newark airport and then pushed us through customs/immigration helped transfer our bags, as Newark was our entry point to the US, so you have to "touch" your bags for them to be checked to your final destination and then onto the lounge. It was well worth the $20 service as I was tired and there was no way I could juggle pushing my dad and handling our carryon bags. The person who brought us just from the lounge to the gate got a $5. I would not assume that the same person would get you so be prepared to tip multiple people. Tipping is a bit out of control. You will encounter multiple people handling your luggage at the hotel as well. One bellman will load it on a cart from the car/taxi and then a different bellman will then deliver it to your room.

If you are in the US I would highly recommend using Costco. We got about 10% of our cruise fare back in the form of Costco gift cards and it also counted as spend on our executive membership which is an additional 2% back. Well worth my exec membership fee. I am a fan of using a TA usually but for Disney cruise it was a no brainer to bank the cash.

It isn't the most beautiful solution but I bought some of the small ziploc bags for jewelry and just pack those in a bigger ziploc baggie. You can see everything easily and nothing gets tangled with other items.

I appreciate the comments regarding the lack of food between 2-5pm and will take that into account before returning to the ship. Which excursions did you do in each port? We signed up for this cruise late and it seems like a lot of the excursions are already full. Were you able to switch excursions once on the ship. Were you able to pre-book LaDame? LaDame and Kaiseki are completely booked everyday of our cruise.

Slightly off topic but does Silversea have hand washing stations by any of the restaurants, other than public toilets? I don't just want a spritz of hand sanitizer. I do have to say that is one of the things that I thought was a great addition to the mass market ships as they enforce hand washing before entering the buffet. It doesn't prevent bad manners but it is a step in the right direction.

I have this one and it works great. When you have so many devices it is perfect https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charger-PowerPort-iPhone-Galaxy/dp/B00P936188/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=multi%2Busb%2Bcharger&qid=1683742402&sprefix=multi%2Bus%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-5&th=1

Looking for opinions of these two excursions. Silversea offer the summer dog camp as an included excursion but the heli flight and dog sledding is $679. Is the latter worth $679? IDITAROD DOGS’ SUMMER CAMP (JNU-C) Juneau (Alaska), United States of America Relive the spirit of the Gold Rush during this fascinating visit with an Iditarod dog musher and his team of Alaskan huskies. Your scenic excursion passes the Gastineau Channel and Sheep Creek Valley en route to the Sled Dog Summer Camp. Tour the camp, learn about dog-sledding and take an exciting dog-sled ride. Points of interest seen on this excursion include: Juneau, Gastineau Channel, Sheep Creek Valley, Mountains, Southeast Alaskan Rainforest, Sled Dog Summer HELI-FLIGHT & MENDENHALL GLACIER DOG-SLEDDING (JNU-OA) Juneau (Alaska), United States of America Experience Alaska's glacial beauty in a unique new way during this combination helicopter flight-seeing and dog-sled tour. Your half-day excursion features a narrated flight over lush rainforests, deep blue crevasses and glacier-carved peaks en route to a dog-sledding camp for a panoramic dog-sled ride on the Mendenhall Glacier. Points of interest seen on this excursion include: Helicopter Ride, Rainforests, Deep Blue Crevasses, Glacier-Carved Peaks, Mendenhall Glacier, Dog-Sledding Camp, Dog-sled Ride, Musher, Alaskan Huskies

There is no crystal ball to tell the weather the dates of your cruise. I have been on a cruise that was rerouted due to a hurricane in the gulf. Ports are never guaranteed so just plan to go with the flow.

this was the magic button I needed. Thank you!

I know that I can click on the "view" button next to each excursion but I would be nice to have a bit more of a one stop shop so that I could see them all in one document. Am I missing some secret button?

The key factor for me would be that the Wish only does 3 or 4 night itineraries versus the Fantasy mostly doing 7 night cruises. Disney cruises are ridiculously priced but you go on them for the unique entertainment and activities. Are you interested in seeing the big musical Broadway style shows, meeting characters, having themed dinners? With the 3/4 day you are trying to cram a lot into a short window of time. On the 7 day itinerary there are still 3 big Broadway shows but they are spaced out over 7 nights with "filler" shows on the other nights like magicians, comedians, etc. that you can decide to skip. There are three main restaurants and if you want to experience them all along with the specialty restaurants like Remy and Palo then you SOL on Wish as you would have to skip one of the dining experiences. The 7 day allows you to relax and take it all in.

You will be fine if your dates are after Mardi Gras. The city goes back to New Orleans "normal" after Ash Wednesday.

NOLA native here. It is a super fun city but be aware that the sailings from New Orleans are all around Mardi Gras. Make sure you consider hotel prices for before/after your cruise in town as they can be expensive. A Disney cruise to me is more about experiencing all the things on the ship and not as much about the ports. You are paying a significant premium over any other cruise line for the ship. I haven't sailed on the Magic but did the Wonder, the sister ship and we loved it. Plenty of activities and you would never know that the ship is 25 years old. Everything was in tip top shape. the February 9 - 16, 2024 Friday - Friday cruise is targeted to NOLA locals as the schools are out that week.

Note that kids don't HAVE to order from the kid menu. Several times we asked for something on the adult menu but asked for sauces on the side. There is only so many chicken nuggets and fries one kid should eat.

The areas I would avoid are Deck 5 since it doesn't have a full glass balcony Suites 745/746 as they have a smaller veranda, slightly different layout. this is because it is attached to the Wintergarden suites Accessible suites, they have a slightly different layout to accommodate disabilities On warm weather cruises, I like being on the same deck as the pool but that is a personal preference, as I like to spend a lot of time on the pool deck and prefer to use my suite bathroom rather than the public lavatories.

I have never heard of anyone being turned away at the pier due to overbooking. As others have said, they will assess loads and start calling people making them offers to move. They just make the offers more and more attractive to get enough volunteers.

Perhaps if you post what your ship/itinerary you are sailing and others can assist with activities. Ship excursions are very pricey and you can usually book a much more intimate and lower priced excursion on your own.

While the colonnade does have buffet service, I wouldn't let that stress you out. Take a quick peak at what is on the buffet on your way in and your waitstaff will gladly bring you anything you want, so you aren't limited to what is on the menu. Secondly, it isn't like the big buffets on mainline ships with self serve drink stations and cafeteria trays, when you finish going thru the small line of hot food items there is almost always a staff person ready to take your plate to the table for you. I personally like looking at the food and picking out the specific piece of chicken/fish, etc that I would like along with maybe asking for a half portion just so I could taste something. The cold bar is a square and has a staff person in the middle that can assist you with anything. You will have a server at your table who handles all drinks. Once the staff know you want/need assistance they will be right there to assist. They get to know customers wants and likes and will often bring you things unprompted because they learn your order and habits.

It just seems much more frantic as everyone is trying to cram all the same ship activities into 5 days vs 7 days.

We went out of NOLA for Spring Break it was a sea of people to get through security which was crazy backed up. Once you made it through security there was literally 25 agents waiting to check people in with nobody in line so while there was technically a line for Haven, tier members, etc. it really didn't matter as the security line was the problem.