Advice for celebrating son's first birthday on board Disney Dream

Hi All, we are less than 2 months away from our very first Disney cruise. We are avid cruisers and love Disney, so we thought of no better way to celebrate our son's first birthday than a trip to Disney and a short 3 night cruise. The last night of the cruise is our son's first birthday. While we will be doing a small party for him the next day with family, I was wondering if anyone could give us advice on what to request from the dining staff (if anything at all).

Also, since this is a Christmas cruise, I was wondering if they have a picture time with Santa? From what I've seen online, it doesn't look like it, but thought I'd ask.

The dining room will deliver a standard birthday dessert and sing. You can special order a cake at least 7 days prior to sailing - the order form is on the DCL website under Amenities.

Make sure his birthday is noted on your reservation as a special request.

Our grandson will be celebrating his sixth birthday on a Disney cruise with us in January. On the Disney Cruise website under Gifts & Amenities a 6 inch plain cake ($25) and a Mickey cake ($55) are offered for delivery to your stateroom or to the dining room. If I do not purchase a cake, will any special recognition be given to our grandson on his birthday in the dining room? Although we have done 25+ cruises this is our first on Disney, on other cruise lines your birthday is recognized with a cake to share with your table in the dining room.

Our grandson will be celebrating his sixth birthday on a Disney cruise with us in January. On the Disney Cruise website under Gifts & Amenities a 6 inch plain cake ($25) and a Mickey cake ($55) are offered for delivery to your stateroom or to the dining room. If I do not purchase a cake, will any special recognition be given to our grandson on his birthday in the dining room? Although we have done 25+ cruises this is our first on Disney, on other cruise lines your birthday is recognized with a cake to share with your table in the dining room.

As I mentioned the servers will bring the birthday person the standard birthday dessert and sing. Make sure it's noted on your reservation which night you want to celebrate the birthday, you can do this by calling DCL to have them add the special request. If you don't call them you can also tell your head server the first night that you want to celebrate and which night you want to do it.

If you do not pay for anything special, you will receive a birthday desert and the servers will sing HB. You can also get a button saying either "It's My Birthday" or "I'm Celebrating" from Guest Services or the head server (If you get it from GS in the morning, you can wear it all day. Not sure I'd put it on a 1 year old though. CMs are trained to look for these, so you get a lot of attention all day.

You can also purchase a special cake as noted above, starting at $25 and going as high as you wish depending on size and decorations. You can purchase decorations for the stateroom.

For a 1 year old...I'd stick to the freebies!