just looking for opinions

[DisneyDoug85]

so we've got our first cruise(!!!) coming up in November, followed by 4 nights in WDW. I know I know, the cruise should be after WDW, but we have our reasons so we'll have to make the best of it...

I know this is beaten to death all the time but I'm just curious as to what peoples thoughts are for the dates we'll be in WDW, what do you think the crowds will be like? We'll get to WDW November 16th and leave the 20th. In my research I've seen that jersey week is the week of November 4th this year, so we'll miss that. Food and wine festival ended on Monday the 13th last year, assuming they follow a similar timeline, Monday the 12th seems like a decent guess for an end date this year. We'll be leaving 2 days prior to Thanksgiving, and i've read that typically the crowds are at their worst the day of or weekend following so we may get lucky there too. So, all those things considered, what are your thoughts on us avoiding any MAJOR crowds? I know its impossible to predict crowds in WDW these days....but im just looking for a general "hey you have a decent shot at avoiding craziness", or "nope doesn't matter get ready to wait 90 minutes for everything" haha. Thanks for any thoughts you have!

 

[NelleBelle]

Thanks for all the help! Being first time cruisers and already hoping to book the Dolphin experience at Nassau, I'm thinking we may just kind of "wing it" at Castaway Cay. Use that day to just enjoy the beach, the surroundings, and any activities that we can join in on, without actually booking an excursion or something. Although I've never snorkeled before, I think i would love it and definitely plan on doing it on future cruises when the kids are a bit older.

Good to hear about the transportation, that kind of had me worried as that would be just one more thing to worry about for us first timers. I fully plan on booking anything directly through DCL just to be safe, especially with young kids etc...not worth risking being stranded haha.

Glad to another positive experience with cruising first! It works out better for us this way anyway so either way we'll have to make the best of it this time and see what we want to do going forward. Trust me, we went back and forth on the 3-4 night vs a 7 night, but again, being our first time and with young kids we decided to play it safe. As we inch closer to the trip, i am starting to regret not just going for it. But, we're already talking about what we'd want to do for our next cruise and we're leaning toward an Alaskan or Mediterranean, so that'll be at least 7 nights. Either way, as long as we're "cruise people" we'll be booking the placeholder for sure and then we'll go from there.

We've never done an excursion on the trips we've hit CC. Although we've done the 5k (last time the kids did it with us), which is totally free and you get a cute medal! There has always been SO much to do on CC that we've never seen a need, so far, to spend extra $$ on an excursion. Don't know if you've read up on it or not, but you can put your kids in the kids club if you and your wife want to go to Serenity Bay for a bit. If you want to score a hammock early, make sure you're off the ship early. We did notice that the hammocks did free up towards the afternoon. But as for beach chairs/umbrellas, there are plenty as there are two family beaches. So if you don't find anything at the first beach...keep on to the next one. Oh, and we found that just walking to the first beach was quicker than waiting for the tram. But, if you are into pictures, make sure you get the pictures with the characters coming off the boat as we didn't see a lot getting back on the boat. AND...if you head back to the ship early, you'll likely have the place to yourselves and have the pool and aqueduck to yourselves

I'd definitely take advantage of the placeholder (just fill out the form and hand it in...no need to wait in that really long line)! We made the mistake of not booking after the first cruise and I could kick myself for not taking advantage of it. However, when we got home, DCL sent us a 10% off "welcome to castaway club" code that was good for 30 days, which I totally took advantage off (same % off as if I'd booked onboard). We also got a nice lithograph for DS birthday, courtesy of our room attendant, and were mailed our Castaway Club car magnet (working on getting the "gold level" magnet). So fun stuff to look forward to after the cruise, until you're booked on the next...which I'm sure you'll be hooked!!

 

[DisneyDoug85]

We've never done an excursion on the trips we've hit CC. Although we've done the 5k (last time the kids did it with us), which is totally free and you get a cute medal! There has always been SO much to do on CC that we've never seen a need, so far, to spend extra $$ on an excursion. Don't know if you've read up on it or not, but you can put your kids in the kids club if you and your wife want to go to Serenity Bay for a bit. If you want to score a hammock early, make sure you're off the ship early. We did notice that the hammocks did free up towards the afternoon. But as for beach chairs/umbrellas, there are plenty as there are two family beaches. So if you don't find anything at the first beach...keep on to the next one. Oh, and we found that just walking to the first beach was quicker than waiting for the tram. But, if you are into pictures, make sure you get the pictures with the characters coming off the boat as we didn't see a lot getting back on the boat. AND...if you head back to the ship early, you'll likely have the place to yourselves and have the pool and aqueduck to yourselves

I'd definitely take advantage of the placeholder (just fill out the form and hand it in...no need to wait in that really long line)! We made the mistake of not booking after the first cruise and I could kick myself for not taking advantage of it. However, when we got home, DCL sent us a 10% off "welcome to castaway club" code that was good for 30 days, which I totally took advantage off (same % off as if I'd booked onboard). We also got a nice lithograph for DS birthday, courtesy of our room attendant, and were mailed our Castaway Club car magnet (working on getting the "gold level" magnet). So fun stuff to look forward to after the cruise, until you're booked on the next...which I'm sure you'll be hooked!!

yeah i doubt we'll be doing an excursion on CC. The kids club you mentioned, is that on CC or do you mean the one on the ship? We definitely plan to take advantage of the one on the ship at least once. I just purchased 2 day passes to senses spa the other day, so that'll be nice adult time. I'm a very competitive person....I'll want to be the first on the ship, first off the ship, first in the line for food etc etc etc haha, so i'll definitely keep that in mind for the hammocks/beaches etc.

Yes i fully plan to book the placeholder, then we'll probably book something in the first half of 2020. It'll be my DS birthday on our last day of the cruise! Maybe he'll get a little gift too!

 

[NelleBelle]

Make sure to mention it to your wait staff and room attendant and ask if there is anything they can do to help "celebrate" Below is the picture of what our room attendant did for our oldest DS when he turned 12 on the ship.

As for the kids club on CC, I think it's called Scuttles Cove and it's actually on CC. The check-in procedures are just like on-board the ship. They have kinds of great kids activities from what I've read (my kids didn't want to go there, especially the 12 yr old). I would have loved the activities as an adult!!