Some questions that you may have about the Disney Cruise...
As promised, here are some of my thoughts on the following issues not yet mentioned in any detail in the course of the blog so far... there are no pretty pictures in this post!
Show times and dining:
There are two main shows each evening, at 6.15 PM and 8.30 PM (6.30 and 8.30 on shore days), rather than the more usual industry practice of shows at 8.00 and 10.00 (after each respective dinner seating). The way that Disney does it is much more appropriate for their typical clientele, allowing those on late seating to see their show BEFORE their meal. It works very well. There is sufficient time after the show to wander the ship, meet with characters (of course), see the daily photographs shot by the ever-present ship's photography team before the meal. If you are on early dining, then you have more of a rush to get back, into your evening clothes and into the meal for 5.30, 5.45 or 6.00 PM, but after the meal, you again only have a short while before the show.
Are there any advantages of late dining if traveling with small children?
None that I have found yet...except, maybe, it would be difficult to get back to the ship, shower and dress all by 5.30. Apart from that, I would thoroughly recommend trying to get on first sitting - which usually requires booking WELL in advance - i.e. more than 9-12 months, Canadians! There were a lot of children (ours included) that just couldn't deal too well with waiting so long to eat (and then staying up even later before going to bed). Some of the other parents seemed to have had less success than we did with finding some coping strategies - one child near us pretty much spent every evening meal in tears, which couldn't have enhanced his parent's vacation much. Our coping strategies were trying to insist on a nap sometime during the day - worked most days. Also, letting our kids eat with the kids club at 5 PM worked pretty well. They often didn't have much room left at 8 PM for their "main" meal, but they could still pick at their food and have something (usually desert!), but they would not be cranky while waiting. There are always activity sheets with colouring and quizzes offered at every meal, usually some other distractions (the serving staff usually have some talents, shows, characters, TVs, even the room itself at Animators Palette). Kids are even allowed to draw with crayons on the tablecloths! - don't try that at home! - so this worked fairly well with us. It took us a while to work these out, of course, and those of you on a shorter cruise may need to be forewarned.
Movement of the ship
We were blessed with unusually good weather. Our own Caribbean experience tells us this, particularly as is hurricane season, but staff and other passengers remarked on it too. So it has been hard to comment on this, apart from the following. You CAN feel movement on this ship (it is not big enough to blast through the waves, it still rides with them). You can feel more movement at night when the Captain puts the pedal to the metal and picks up speed significantly over the daytime cruising speed. We had one sailing day of moderate swells and some of the passengers and crew that we questioned about it, felt that it was quite uncomfortable. For me (and my family) the motion was never even slightly objectionable, and was easy to deal with. But, you should expect that you will know that you are on a ship. It does move.
Full description and photos of the cabins.
I don't have time to do this here, today. I did take multiple photographs of our cabin the first day (before we messed it up) and I will post them soon. The only difference between our cabin and cabins on higher floors are the size of the portholes. Once you get to the balcony cabins, the room is still essentially the same, though there is more space provided by the balcony. Watch this space for my full description.
Smoking policy
At present, the Disney Cruise ships are not smoke-free. Most of the ship is non-smoking, and there are designated smoking areas (the open decks on the port side only). While this sounds like quite a lot, it actually isn't all that much, as the area around the Mickey pool and the Goofy pool are "covered" not open, as are the outside restaurants, so generally speaking the smoke barely affects anyone (except the smoker, of course).
What is actually free (well, included) and what is extra.
Included - with no extra charge
Meals - 15 a day if you want - even breakfast delivered to your cabin and room service. The only exception is Palos (the adults-only, super-fancy restaurant) where there is a $10 per person supplement.
Drinks (except alcohol, and speciality coffees) - Unusually for the industry, Disney have a 24 hour, free soda/water/tea/coffee station on deck 9. (Apparently this costs Disney $1,000,000 a year!) All soft drinks and regular teas and coffees at mealtimes are included too.
Entertainment. This is extensive, as it covers many, many things that we personally did not discover at all, not just the dazzling production show each night. There are the deck parties, nightly music at 4 locations around the ship, bingo, lessons, lectures, port talks etc.
Kids programming (though not baby-sitting for the under 3s)
As mentioned this programming runs from 7.30 AM most days, to 12 midnight or 1 AM. And it is free! Well, included. It is awesome value!
Not included:
Photographs. Some of the nicest photographers that you will ever meet follow you around the ship/meet at set pieces etc. and document your every move. The photographs are really nice - very Disney in their presentation - and quite pricey, though the price goes down the more you buy.
Shore excursions. Whatever you want to do off-the-ship (except the free stuff on Castaway Cay, will cost you something, whether organised by Disney or not.
Booze.
Gratuities. Gratuities are a fact of life on cruises, and really are part of the cost of your vacation. There are suggested amounts given by Disney, which are internationally agreed-upon daily amounts. Gratuities are not optional. Many of the staff are on very low salaries, and need the gratuities in order to make a living.
Gifts and souvenirs. This is obvious. I just want to mention it, because Disney has such nice souvenirs! You are bound to buy some!
This list is not exhaustive. I think I will need to revisit it in the days to come, and will re-post it, if I come up with things that I feel I should tell you about.
Watch out for my final post of the cruise, coming right up...
Show times and dining:
There are two main shows each evening, at 6.15 PM and 8.30 PM (6.30 and 8.30 on shore days), rather than the more usual industry practice of shows at 8.00 and 10.00 (after each respective dinner seating). The way that Disney does it is much more appropriate for their typical clientele, allowing those on late seating to see their show BEFORE their meal. It works very well. There is sufficient time after the show to wander the ship, meet with characters (of course), see the daily photographs shot by the ever-present ship's photography team before the meal. If you are on early dining, then you have more of a rush to get back, into your evening clothes and into the meal for 5.30, 5.45 or 6.00 PM, but after the meal, you again only have a short while before the show.
Are there any advantages of late dining if traveling with small children?
None that I have found yet...except, maybe, it would be difficult to get back to the ship, shower and dress all by 5.30. Apart from that, I would thoroughly recommend trying to get on first sitting - which usually requires booking WELL in advance - i.e. more than 9-12 months, Canadians! There were a lot of children (ours included) that just couldn't deal too well with waiting so long to eat (and then staying up even later before going to bed). Some of the other parents seemed to have had less success than we did with finding some coping strategies - one child near us pretty much spent every evening meal in tears, which couldn't have enhanced his parent's vacation much. Our coping strategies were trying to insist on a nap sometime during the day - worked most days. Also, letting our kids eat with the kids club at 5 PM worked pretty well. They often didn't have much room left at 8 PM for their "main" meal, but they could still pick at their food and have something (usually desert!), but they would not be cranky while waiting. There are always activity sheets with colouring and quizzes offered at every meal, usually some other distractions (the serving staff usually have some talents, shows, characters, TVs, even the room itself at Animators Palette). Kids are even allowed to draw with crayons on the tablecloths! - don't try that at home! - so this worked fairly well with us. It took us a while to work these out, of course, and those of you on a shorter cruise may need to be forewarned.
Movement of the ship
We were blessed with unusually good weather. Our own Caribbean experience tells us this, particularly as is hurricane season, but staff and other passengers remarked on it too. So it has been hard to comment on this, apart from the following. You CAN feel movement on this ship (it is not big enough to blast through the waves, it still rides with them). You can feel more movement at night when the Captain puts the pedal to the metal and picks up speed significantly over the daytime cruising speed. We had one sailing day of moderate swells and some of the passengers and crew that we questioned about it, felt that it was quite uncomfortable. For me (and my family) the motion was never even slightly objectionable, and was easy to deal with. But, you should expect that you will know that you are on a ship. It does move.
Full description and photos of the cabins.
I don't have time to do this here, today. I did take multiple photographs of our cabin the first day (before we messed it up) and I will post them soon. The only difference between our cabin and cabins on higher floors are the size of the portholes. Once you get to the balcony cabins, the room is still essentially the same, though there is more space provided by the balcony. Watch this space for my full description.
Smoking policy
At present, the Disney Cruise ships are not smoke-free. Most of the ship is non-smoking, and there are designated smoking areas (the open decks on the port side only). While this sounds like quite a lot, it actually isn't all that much, as the area around the Mickey pool and the Goofy pool are "covered" not open, as are the outside restaurants, so generally speaking the smoke barely affects anyone (except the smoker, of course).
What is actually free (well, included) and what is extra.
Included - with no extra charge
Meals - 15 a day if you want - even breakfast delivered to your cabin and room service. The only exception is Palos (the adults-only, super-fancy restaurant) where there is a $10 per person supplement.
Drinks (except alcohol, and speciality coffees) - Unusually for the industry, Disney have a 24 hour, free soda/water/tea/coffee station on deck 9. (Apparently this costs Disney $1,000,000 a year!) All soft drinks and regular teas and coffees at mealtimes are included too.
Entertainment. This is extensive, as it covers many, many things that we personally did not discover at all, not just the dazzling production show each night. There are the deck parties, nightly music at 4 locations around the ship, bingo, lessons, lectures, port talks etc.
Kids programming (though not baby-sitting for the under 3s)
As mentioned this programming runs from 7.30 AM most days, to 12 midnight or 1 AM. And it is free! Well, included. It is awesome value!
Not included:
Photographs. Some of the nicest photographers that you will ever meet follow you around the ship/meet at set pieces etc. and document your every move. The photographs are really nice - very Disney in their presentation - and quite pricey, though the price goes down the more you buy.
Shore excursions. Whatever you want to do off-the-ship (except the free stuff on Castaway Cay, will cost you something, whether organised by Disney or not.
Booze.
Gratuities. Gratuities are a fact of life on cruises, and really are part of the cost of your vacation. There are suggested amounts given by Disney, which are internationally agreed-upon daily amounts. Gratuities are not optional. Many of the staff are on very low salaries, and need the gratuities in order to make a living.
Gifts and souvenirs. This is obvious. I just want to mention it, because Disney has such nice souvenirs! You are bound to buy some!
This list is not exhaustive. I think I will need to revisit it in the days to come, and will re-post it, if I come up with things that I feel I should tell you about.
Watch out for my final post of the cruise, coming right up...
On to... 27th September - Castaway Cay
[Back to... 26th Sept - Another Day at Sea]
posted by Alex at "Let's Take the Kids Travel Agency" | 11:09 PM
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