Help! First Cruise - Party of 19 - Just booked for June!

[erstwo]

Hey All!

I need your help! My mother in law just booked our family cruise on the Disney Dream for June 2011. We are a party of 19 - 7 children (ages 3 - 11), 12 adults.

This is not only my first Disney cruise, this is my first cruise ever. I need all the tips you can give me!

My sweet mother in law did all the bookings and knows nothing about how Disney works. The last time she took us all to Disney, we had only 2 meals together in 5 days because we waited until the week before to make dining reservations. (That was Easter 2008 and the reason I joined this board! :sohappy Anyway, we all felt like we never saw one another on that trip because we didn't have any "scheduled" times to be together - does that make sense?

Since my in laws are paying to take us on yet another uber expensive trip, I want to be sure they don't have the same feeling when we get through with our cruise.

So tell me, what do I need to do? How do I make dining reservations? Do I need to make dining reservations???? What shows should we plan on taking the little kids to? What shows should be adults only?

And finally, my in laws will celebrate their 50th!!! :sohappy: wedding anniversary on this trip - how can we make that special for them? (Keep in mind that they obviously want us to be with them - otherwise they'd be on a cruise for 2!)

Thank you all in advance!

 

[aj_steig]

How exciting! We just finished our second cruise on the Magic last month and had a wonderful time. I have to admit, I've been catching updates here and there on facebook about the Dream, but I'm not 100% familiar with it (it's going to be amazing though!)

My best recommendation would be to get a good guide book and check out the web. There's plenty of people on this site who have been on a Disney cruise who can help you out. The guide book I brought was especially helpful (Passporter) for me with planning shore excursions (I don't know what itinerary you have, but there's usually a bunch to choose from!)

My husband and I didn't do Palo (I think it will be called Remy on the Dream) so I have no idea what it's like (I heard it's fantastic!) but we did do a treatment at Vista Spa and that was a real treat. As far as how long out to book dining, I would call Disney Cruise line and ask. I know you can make reservations online, I just don't remember how far out it was. For kids, we don't have any yet (our first will be here in April so I don't know about the specific activities, but I was really impressed with how much there was for the kids to do based on what I saw printed in the Navigator. Generally, you'll find out more information about what activities there is to do on the cruise ship when you arrive and get your copy of the Navigator (I will try to scan some in later if it will work!) Some of the activities for adults on the ship included Bingo, ship tours, wine tasting, etc. I'm sure if will be different on the Dream since it's bigger and they will need more activities for more guests.

We did get a chance to see the Villians Tonight! show while on the Magic (I'm pretty sure it will be showing on the Dream) and we loved it!! Be sure to check that out if it's showing.

Have a blast and happy planning! :wave:

 

[DisneyJoe]

If your reservations are linked, and they should be, you will all have the same dinner dining rotation and you will be seated together, so you will see each other every night for dinner, unless you, or the others, don't attend dinner.

This should also give you the same schedule for the evening shows.

Everything else you get to schedule on your own - or not.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Congratulations, erstwo, that's going to be awesome!

You don't need to make dining reservations for anything except the adult only restaurants, Palo and Remy. You have enough adults to dine in the private room in Palo, it's a great experience and I wouldn't miss it. Remy is very expensive, but if you're foodies, it may be worth it.

As long as your reservations are linked you will be eating dinner together every night. You can set up times to meet for other meals.

The shows in the main theater are all for the entire family. The kids and adults will love them. There are some adult only shows late at night in the clubs. They'll be listed clearly in your nightly navigators.

Disney has some neat in room celebrations and gifts you can order. You need to let your servers know which night you'd like to celebrate and they'll bring a cake to the table that night.

 

[erstwo]

Thank you! All 3 of you!

My mother in law made all of the reservations at the same time and paid for them all at once too, and I am sure she made it clear that we are one family traveling together. So, I'm sure our reservations are linked!

She just wasn't sure about the dining reservations, she's cruised before, but I guess the way the CM on the phone talked confused her (she is German and sometimes people have a hard time understanding her English.) We've figured out now that we DO have dinner reservations for a later seating, but are on a waiting list for the 6:00 seating. (At first we thought we were on a waiting list period, the end - with no sit down meals scheduled. That's why I posted here. I knew you all would have the answers! We finally figured it out!)

I'm glad to know that about the shows. And we were told we can feed the kids as early as we want (5 or 5:30?) at the buffet and then take them to the show and then to the kids supervised play area while the 'adults' are at dinner. So really, even if we don't get the 6:00 seating, we will be just fine.

I'm going to mention Palo and Remy to my in laws, but not pressure them. They love good food, but they love time with their grandchildren even more, so I have a feeling they'd rather just eat at the 'regular' places.

Thank you all for the help! If anyone thinks of any other tips, I'll take them. Sounds like this is going to be just what my in- laws wanted to celebrate their 50 years of marriage!

 

[Phonedave]

The 'regular' places are all qute nice as well, so they should be quite happy there. I have yet to eat in Palo's. I go as a single parent with my two kids. Since they can't come in, I am not going to abandon them so I can eat alone. Makes no sense. Someday I'll eat there - just not right now.

You will be able to feed your kids just about anytime you want. The buffet restaruants do have set hours, but pizze / burgers / chicken fingers etc are open all day (pretty much, there is like a 30 minute window between lunch and dinner). Room service, which is free, is 24 hours a day. So you have that option as well.

As was said, there is not much in advance that you need to book. All that really pops to mind is Palo's, shore excursions, and Spa treatments.

Anyting else is either walk-in, arranged for you (dining rotation and shows), or book on board (some events have limited attendance - wine tastings and a few other things they announce)

-dave

 

[devoy1701]

I just booked my first Disney cruise (and first cruise ever) as well! We will be sailing on the Fantasy for a week in May 2012 for our honeymoon. Excited to be going on a ship that will only be 1 month old! And DEFINITELY excited to hear 1st hand experiences and trip reports from the KK crowd when they sail on the Dream next month! It feels crazy that I booked a cruise for a ship that isn't built yet and who's amenities haven't been fully planned out yet!

 

[MaryJaneP]

Even as HUGE as the Dream is, I'm sure you will be able to find plenty of time and locations throughout the ship (pools, theaters, breakfasts, lunches) to be with your entire family. I love mine and we just did a week long family reunion in WDW in May. I proposed a schedule that had us all together in the same park in the AM for a meal or rides, afternoon was not scheduled, so we could be in smaller groups, and then re-convene in the evening for a meal or parade or fireworks. Somtimes you don't want to spend every second together. Have fun, sounds like you will.

 

[erstwo]

The 'regular' places are all qute nice as well, so they should be quite happy there. I have yet to eat in Palo's. I go as a single parent with my two kids. Since they can't come in, I am not going to abandon them so I can eat alone. Makes no sense. Someday I'll eat there - just not right now.

You will be able to feed your kids just about anytime you want. The buffet restaruants do have set hours, but pizze / burgers / chicken fingers etc are open all day (pretty much, there is like a 30 minute window between lunch and dinner). Room service, which is free, is 24 hours a day. So you have that option as well.

As was said, there is not much in advance that you need to book. All that really pops to mind is Palo's, shore excursions, and Spa treatments.

Anyting else is either walk-in, arranged for you (dining rotation and shows), or book on board (some events have limited attendance - wine tastings and a few other things they announce)

-dave

Sorry about my quotes around 'regular.' I know that all the restaurants will be fantastic! It's just my excessive use of quotes, parentheses, and the word awesome - coming to light again. And possibly exclamation marks too....my English teachers may or may not have mentioned this in high school..... :lookaroun

Thank you for all the other information as well!

I just booked my first Disney cruise (and first cruise ever) as well! We will be sailing on the Fantasy for a week in May 2012 for our honeymoon. Excited to be going on a ship that will only be 1 month old! And DEFINITELY excited to hear 1st hand experiences and trip reports from the KK crowd when they sail on the Dream next month! It feels crazy that I booked a cruise for a ship that isn't built yet and who's amenities haven't been fully planned out yet!

Well, now I can't wait for their report either! That is so cool - you'll have to let us know how your trip goes too.

Even as HUGE as the Dream is, I'm sure you will be able to find plenty of time and locations throughout the ship (pools, theaters, breakfasts, lunches) to be with your entire family. I love mine and we just did a week long family reunion in WDW in May. I proposed a schedule that had us all together in the same park in the AM for a meal or rides, afternoon was not scheduled, so we could be in smaller groups, and then re-convene in the evening for a meal or parade or fireworks. Somtimes you don't want to spend every second together. Have fun, sounds like you will.

Thank you!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Well, now I can't wait for their report either! That is so cool - you'll have to let us know how your trip goes too.

Oh yes! There's going to be about a zillion Dream pictures on this board starting around the 27th!! I started writing my trip report last night!!:lol:

 

[aj_steig]

The 'regular' places are all qute nice as well, so they should be quite happy there. I have yet to eat in Palo's. I go as a single parent with my two kids. Since they can't come in, I am not going to abandon them so I can eat alone. Makes no sense. Someday I'll eat there - just not right now.

You will be able to feed your kids just about anytime you want. The buffet restaruants do have set hours, but pizze / burgers / chicken fingers etc are open all day (pretty much, there is like a 30 minute window between lunch and dinner). Room service, which is free, is 24 hours a day. So you have that option as well.

As was said, there is not much in advance that you need to book. All that really pops to mind is Palo's, shore excursions, and Spa treatments.

Anyting else is either walk-in, arranged for you (dining rotation and shows), or book on board (some events have limited attendance - wine tastings and a few other things they announce)

-dave

We haven't been to Palo either...maybe some day! I'm the pickiest eater ever...my husband and I we were totally content with the hot dog/pizza stand up on the pool deck for most meals! :lol: The buffets were great too (especially for breakfast) so you should have no trouble with finding something everyone will enjoy. I should have mentioned that Disney does rotational dining (meaning your group will be assigned a specific time to dine in each of the restaurants) so there's no need to make reservations for anything except Remy, shore excursions and Vista spa (just as the previous poster had mentioned). Your servers move with you from restaurant to restaurant each night too, so that's really neat! If you are interested in changing your dining time for whatever reason (I don't know what time you have, maybe you already have it all set up the way you want!), the request can be made on the ship but since you're in such a large group I would call ahead to see what the procedure is. I noticed that most adults had the late seating so they could go see the show with the children before sending them to the kids activities and then they could enjoy a slower paced dinner. My husband and I got the late seating, and being pregnant really made it hard to stay up that late so we requested the earlier rotation with no problems!

 

[mommamouse411]

The 'regular' places are all qute nice as well, so they should be quite happy there. I have yet to eat in Palo's. I go as a single parent with my two kids. Since they can't come in, I am not going to abandon them so I can eat alone. Makes no sense. Someday I'll eat there - just not right now.

You will be able to feed your kids just about anytime you want. The buffet restaruants do have set hours, but pizze / burgers / chicken fingers etc are open all day (pretty much, there is like a 30 minute window between lunch and dinner). Room service, which is free, is 24 hours a day. So you have that option as well.

As was said, there is not much in advance that you need to book. All that really pops to mind is Palo's, shore excursions, and Spa treatments.

Anyting else is either walk-in, arranged for you (dining rotation and shows), or book on board (some events have limited attendance - wine tastings and a few other things they announce)

-dave

I too am single with two (Little ones) and I booked Nursery times for them and at Palos for Brunch and it was awesome...lol

Look in the Oceaneers Club for the 3yrs Olds..i'm not sure if you have to register them but you might want to ask..

 

[Atomicmickey]

Just happened on this thread, and we're going for a 50th Wedding Anniversary trip on Feb 6., with 13 people! Very similar!

So, I really appreciate seeing all of these tips, and will be sure to stop by with what worked and what didn't for our bug family gathering.

I am wondering how far in advance to show up for the shows to get good seating. My understanding is that the seats are not reserved . . . there probably isn't a bad seat in the house, but just wondering.

It's snowy and cold here, I am dreaming of the DREAM . . . . !

 

[WDWRLD]

We will be on the Dream sailing on the 29th of June......

 

[shoppingnut]

There really isn't a bad seat in the house for the shows, but know it isn't like having to get there a huge amount of time ahead like you would for a parade at the MK.

I have eaten at Palo's twice and the food is excellent, so I highly recommend it. If you do, I suggest you make the reservations as soon as you can. It can be done either online prior to sailing or when you get on board. Depending on the stateroom category, first time on the cruise, or level of castaway membership there will be different times you can do it. I know the first time on the cruise is 75 days out.

Also, depending upon if you want to do any tours or spa treatments, you should go online and see what is being offered that way you can discuss it with the group. You can book these ahead of time online as well.

I would recommend doing the online check-in for the cruise it will make things easier and you can book the tours and spa at that time.

 

[Phonedave]

I too am single with two (Little ones) and I booked Nursery times for them and at Palos for Brunch and it was awesome...lol

Look in the Oceaneers Club for the 3yrs Olds..i'm not sure if you have to register them but you might want to ask..

My girls are 9 and 12 - I don't think they would enjoy the Oceaneers club.

The first cruise we went on, in 2007 I think, I did sign them up for the Oceaneers club. They did not want to stay there. According them it was "a bunch of silly games". They much perferred to hang with me, because dad is so cool.

I figure I have another 3 year or so untill my oldest daughter does not want to be seen in public with me and at that point things may change. Until then I will spend time with them.

What is funny is my daughters, especialy my oldest, get downright offended by adult only stuff. One night the they wanted to swim, but the family pool was closed. Of course they are not allowed in the adult pool. There were two adults in the pool and they were splashing around. My daughter put up a great argument about how she just wanted to swim, there was plenty of space, she did not want to splash and run around, she was in fact better behaved than the adults that were in there, etc. Of course it made no difference. She is also now into trying new foods, especialy in a fine dining setting. She would love to go into Palo. She stated her case - I looked at the menu and I like what is on there, and I know how to behave in a restaruant, so what's the problem? Of course, she still can't go in


-dave