DCL questions

[Melanore82]

Hooray, hooray! My husband just surprised me! To celebrate our 15-yr anniversary, he is taking me, our kids, my sister and her family, my brother and his family and my parents and in-laws on a Disney cruise! The youngest is 3 1/2 and my parents and father-in-law are in their 70's, so we run the gambit when it comes to ages. Any suggestions which ship we should look at?

 

My sister only feeds her kids gluten-free, can DCL accomodate this?

 

We are all over the map so we'll probably meet in Orlando or Miami prior to boarding. Can Disney transport handle large parties (there will be 17 of us)?

 

Can we all eat together or would they break us up into smaller tables and just put us near each other? If that's how they do it, can we sit however we want...kids table and grown-up table?

 

I am so excited!

[Shmoo here]

Hooray, hooray! My husband just surprised me! To celebrate our 15-yr anniversary, he is taking me, our kids, my sister and her family, my brother and his family and my parents and in-laws on a Disney cruise! The youngest is 3 1/2 and my parents and father-in-law are in their 70's, so we run the gambit when it comes to ages. Any suggestions which ship we should look at?

 

My sister only feeds her kids gluten-free, can DCL accomodate this?

 

We are all over the map so we'll probably meet in Orlando or Miami prior to boarding. Can Disney transport handle large parties (there will be 17 of us)?

 

Can we all eat together or would they break us up into smaller tables and just put us near each other? If that's how they do it, can we sit however we want...kids table and grown-up table?

 

I am so excited!

 

IMO, any Disney ship is a good choice. Typically, you'll look at the itineraries and decide which interests you the most. Then go with that ship.

 

For special diets, you just need to let DCL know. It can be noted on your reservation.

 

DCL transfers from Orlando airport to port costs $35.00 per person. You're more likely to find cheaper transportation options by using private transportation.

 

If you link your reservations, you'll all be seated together at dinner. It might be possible to have a table that large, but I'd suggest not. Tables larger than 8 - it's just really difficult to carry on any sort of conversation. Each serving team has a service area that has a 4 top, a 6 top, and an 8 top table. It's quite likely that they would put you in the same serving teams area, but at separate tables. You can switch up where everyone sits, if you wish, each evening. Just have the request placed on your reservation that you'd like to be seating in the same area.

[Melanore82]

Thanks for the quick response.

 

I'm not worried about sitting at one large table because we would just put the kids down on one end of it. I just want to know if it's possible to sit like that or if they automatically break large parties up. If that's the case, I'd want to tell them to break us into a table of 10 and 7 if it were possible.

 

My sister will be glad they can accommodate her eating choices.

 

I'm not concerned about cost, but I am concerned about ease of getting to port. Is it just as easy to take private transportation as Disney transfer?

[Shmoo here]

Thanks for the quick response.

 

I'm not worried about sitting at one large table because we would just put the kids down on one end of it. I just want to know if it's possible to sit like that or if they automatically break large parties up. If that's the case, I'd want to tell them to break us into a table of 10 and 7 if it were possible.

 

My sister will be glad they can accommodate her eating choices.

 

I'm not concerned about cost, but I am concerned about ease of getting to port. Is it just as easy to take private transportation as Disney transfer?

 

I'm pretty sure that if you ask for a 10 top and a 7 top, you'll mostly likely get it. As to whether you would still have the same servers, that might or might not happen, but the tables would probably be next to each other.

 

With private transportation, you'll have to handle your bags from baggage claim to transportation. With DCL transfers they will claim your checked bags and you won't see them until they show up at your room onboard the ship. And arrange the actual pick up times and locations.

 

We've taken DCL transfers on 3 of our cruises with no problems.

[moki'smommy]

The "normal" for a serving station is 18 people, so 17 will be no issue at all. Just have your TA tell DCL in advance what you want.

 

Special diets are no problem--again, have it noted on your reservation.

 

Transportation...if you use DCL, you will NOT have to claim your luggage at the airport. It will "magically" appear outside your stateroom. Since a typical DCL bus holds 60+ people, 17 will not be in issue at all. Worst case, you may have to wait for the ext bus--say there are 10 remaining seats and you need 17. You don't want to split up, so they will fill the first bus with 10 other people and your party of 17 will start the next one. The bus departs every 20 minutes or when full, whichever comes first. Thus, there is never a long wait. AND, if you cruise from Port Canaveral and use a participating airline, you can place your luggage outside your cabin the last night and not see it till your home airports.

 

However....DCL is costly. Many people have reported hiring a private bus for groups of 15 or more at a cost of less than $20 per person. But then you have to claim luggage and take it to your transportation.

 

If you don't mind the price, the DCL convenience is amazing.

Edited January 21, 2014 by moki'smommy

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We loved the Dream this year, so much wonderful technology, amazing dining, great interactive CMs, amazing shows.

 

We are on the 'new' Magic this year, and it has the Marvel Superheroes. Its the only ship that does. Is that of interest to the little ones? If so, pick the Magic!

 

The Wonder is the classic ship that has not been updated yet but many people still like it.

 

Fantasy is my dream ship, but I have to figure out how to cruise for a week on her! Maybe next time!

 

Disney is amazing when it comes to food allergies. I will be eating GF and happy on this trip too!

 

What a wonderful present! The cheapest way to get a good rate is to book ahead of time, as the closer you get, the prices tend to increase up to the Paid In Full time. After that, if you are really fortunate, you might see a "guarantee" sale come up that is designed to fill the ship at a good price. We booked our 4 day Magic in July '13 and this week, the room is $400 more than we got it for! So definitely book ahead of time.

 

Hope you enjoy DCL as much as we did! We didn't have any kids with us but we had our senior parents and they LOVED it too! It really has something for all ages (just like their parks.)

Edited January 21, 2014 by TwinPrincessMermaids

[Melanore82]

Thank you all for your responses. We actually decided to go with a different cruise line, but I appreciate your advice. Maybe we will try Disney some other time.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Whatever floats your boat! (Hope it isn't CCL though. :( )

[moki'smommy]

Whatever floats your boat! (Hope it isn't CCL though. :( )

 

Love the response....:)