owensamo

We disembarked in Valparaiso on 12/23 and it was easily one of the weirdest disembarkation I've ever had (in over 20 cruises across 3 cruise lines and various continents). The gangway itself was rather... sketchy - and harder to navigate than the one we had in Manta which was gangways attached to shipping containers. This is the first time I was aware there were doors on deck 4 on a S-class ship!

Considering our tour guide in Lima said they get 20 ships a year during their "high season" - which was just starting when we got there, I imagine Valparaiso (which is technically a smaller port than Lima) probably has similar traffic and only a few of those are turn-over days. The port itself is not a dedicated cruise port - it's primarily a shipping port so handling the turn-over on these ships is not very common (unlike Civi or Miami or even Los Angeles). We had a post-cruise tour ending at the airport, but the disembarkation was a mess (though slightly better organized than it could have been) and once we arrived in the port building, there was *no* information on where to go, so it was a challenge getting to the bus. It was annoying, but honestly not unsurprising. It was also obvious on the tour that it wasn't a commonly run tour - the guide was fine, but the bus driver had issues and didn't know where he was going all the time so we ended up with a near mutiny on the bus to get to the airport (we had plenty of time once we got there, but it was an... interesting tour). 

All of this to say - if you're embarking/disembarking at a less commonly used cruise port (like Valparaiso, Lima, Bali, etc.), pack your patience and tolerance as things can take time. But the goal is to have everyone on the ship by departure, so once you're in line - you'll get there. The staff is probably just as frustrated by the hassle as you are. Embarkation is a short, anxious time, but once you're on board, you'll have an amazing cruise! We were thrilled with the service of the staff on our cruise - I hope you are enjoying the ship, and I highly recommend attending all of Milos's Beyond the Podium talks! He's probably the best entertainment on the ship! 

If, as someone has said, these are the old Family Verandahs at the front of the ship, we stayed in one on Deck 7 in 2021. The room itself was nice and had plenty of space for 3 adults, but the verandah was normal sized if not smaller, with Suite-level furniture - i.e. much too large of a table for the space. The bathroom is also just a normal balcony bathroom, and not really suite-level. 

For us, however, the main reason we won't book these rooms again is that every day there was a port, the crew started docking procedures 1-2 hours prior to port arrival time. Whatever these entailed, it was loud in the room. I mean, shock you out of bed because it sounds like someone's banging on the metal walls with a hammer right next to your head loud. The same could be heard for ~1 hr after leaving port as well, but that wasn't usually an issue. We've stayed in front-facing rooms on other lines in the past, and it never felt like we were in the middle of the winching process without adequate ear protection. 

There was also a day when they were doing some kind of maintenance on the front of the ship where they were actually banging something against the hull right outside our room. Honestly, that wasn't actually as loud as the docking procedures! 

This was our first suite experience, and Lumine and the Suite Sundeck were amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed everything about the cruise except for the unexpected early morning wake-up calls. One thing I recommend is to arrange to get chicken nuggets via room service to your suite - the ones we got were the best chicken nuggets my daughter said she's ever had. 

In my experience on the Summit (2 cruises since restart, one with early fixed-time dining and one with my time dining), the 5th deck section of the dining room is for fixed time diners, and deck 4 is for my time diners. So if you want a deck 5 2-top, make sure you are set up for either early or late dining and not my time dining. 

My daughter swears by the mudslides from the pool bar (or any bar that can crush ice). She's also had virgin Pina Coladas and virgin Strawberry Daiquiris on Celebrity. Our last cruise was on Royal Caribbean, and she had a lot of fun asking the bartender for something "Non-alcoholic, non-carbonated and fruity" and seeing what they came up with - I don't think she ever got a bad one. She really enjoyed the virgin Painkillers (no nutmeg) at Boleros!

I don't like flip flops, but I wear Croc dress slides (a couple of different types) on cruises and had no issues with them in Luminae. 

I have found for both the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity apps (which appear to be essentially the same), that the number of days you can see menus for your upcoming cruise matches the number of days of the current cruise the ship is actually on. So, if you have a 7-night cruise, and the ship is currently sailing a 5-night cruise, you'll see 5 nights of menus, then 2 extra nights with nothing (or Venue Closed for the current cruise's debarkation day). The actual menus for your cruise will load on embarkation day. 

We have a 5n in Feb that I repriced yesterday down $150 - not a lot, but that means our FCC more than covers the cost of the fare. I submitted a Best Price Guarantee form last night and got the "we got it!" email today. We'll see if it works, but if not, it was only an email and not hours on hold! 

55 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

 

That's odd. All of the recent compasses that I have seen for Harmony list early dining as 5pm. 

We thought it was odd too. We both have traditional dining, with different times showing in the app. I guess we'll figure it out once we get on the ship!

Does anyone know where they seat each dining time? We have 5:00 dining on one of our upcoming Harmony cruises, but friends on the same sailing have 5:15 for a dining time. Do they stagger entry for early/late dining? Or are those separate dining rooms/floors/etc?

It's been so confusing! RCL had a 30 day final payment date for cruises starting before May 30th (I think). Our cruises in July we paid our TA for in late March, because our final payment date was 90 days - so we paid for July before some people in May had their payments due! 

Make sure you don't have your Captain's Club number included. I booked 2 rooms in December for the same cruise, and one of them (solo cabin) ended up with Always Included and the other didn't - it had a loyalty promo that ended up with no perks. It seems that having my CC number at booking put me in a different pool of offers that eliminated the Always Included offering (and it didn't seem possible to get it back). When I called to have it added (like an hour after booking), it was more than purchasing the drink package and adding gratuities, so I ended up just doing that instead.

On 2/13/2022 at 10:28 PM, Vagabond Knight said:

Although I have a very competent smartphone, I don't necessarily want to carry it around with me all the time.  Maybe they'll eventually go to something like the Disney magic band for onboard access/reservations/purchases.

It looks like Disney's slowly doing away with Magic Bands - and they never made it to DCL beyond the kids club. Disney's smartphone app is fully-featured, and allows for use as a magic band (and works well for opening doors and getting into parks). It also pairs with smart watches, so if you have an Apple Watch already, no need for a magic band (though it may not work for charging to the room). My husband did Disney last summer without a Magic Band, and they're no longer free with bookings (the single color bands were $10 when we travelled) and I didn't find the Magic Band to be that much more convenient than my phone - which was pretty much required to do stuff in the parks. 

I know Princess has their Medallion which sounds like a similar thing - but with Disney slowly backing away from the RFID Bracelet option (probably as an extra cost when everyone already has stuff that works on them), I have to wonder how long that will continue as well. 

My only introverted teen daughter stopped going to the teen club by the time she was 15 on both Celebrity and Disney. She prefers to hang with us, attend the activities (Trivia, game shows, etc) and find a quiet spot in a lounge or on deck to read, draw, or watercolor paint. She's now 19, and is used to interacting with the crew/cast members and enjoys her down time from school on a ship where people will bring her fruity non-alcoholic beverages, and compliment her on her artwork. If she can make friends on the cruise group prior to the cruise, that's a bonus, and she's fine with going off and doing her own thing, or hanging out on her own while we do something less interesting as well. 

We haven't been on RCI yet (currently have a trip scheduled this summer) but from what I can tell, there's so much to do on the ship for all ages, I doubt anyone could be bored. Check the activities and plan your days, but be prepared to sit in an ocean breeze and read with a cold beverage on occasion if that's how she recharges. Being an introvert myself, sometimes quiet time not being around people is the best part of the vacation!

My daughter is not yet of drinking age and she doesn't like carbonated beverages, tea or coffee. This makes finding drinks while travelling a challenge - as even many mocktails include something fizzy! She's been pretty pleased with the availability of Mudslides and virgin daiquiris on the Celebrity ships, however, and additionally the servers and bartenders are great for suggestions or even just surprising with something that fits within specific requests (i.e. non-alcoholic, fruity, no carbonation). I'm pretty sure I ordered her something "frozen with pineapple and orange" from the pool bar on our last cruise, and she loved it.

9 hours ago, gfkcruiser said:

What is given in concierge these days?  Debating on what type of tote to bring. 
We were in veranda in December and got the open tote shown. 

We cruised the Summit in Concierge in December and got one of the heavier bag-in-a-bag totes in our room the night before our port day. However, it may depend on the particular cruise and what supplies they've managed to get as we were on the Nov 22 Silhouette cruise out of FLL in a suite, and got nothing but the standard freebie bag.  Given some of the differences between that cruise and our Miami Summit cruise later that month, we could tell they seemed to be missing a fair amount of things. 

We sailed the Summit recently with 4 minors 11-19. The 19yo had the Kid's beverage package, the rest had the Premium NA package. All of them were able to enjoy virgin pina coladas, daiquiris and mudslides regularly (mostly from the pool bar), along with sodas and juices. We went with the Kid's Beverage Package for the 19yo because it was less expensive and specifically said it included smoothies and mocktails.

On 12/13/2021 at 6:34 PM, neverlaysup said:

We were on the same cruise with you and the one port we had no interest in was Cartagena due to the incessant amount of harassment we got from the street peddlers on our previous visit. We opted for a day break on a private island that in our opinion sucked as well. All that aside, Cartagena may have been one of my favorite stops due to the aviary in the port itself (we are easily amused by animals). From now on, when we book and ABC cruise and it visits this port, we will just walk around the port area and enjoy nature.

We were also on the cruise, and that's what we did! We had been to Cartagena in 2019 on a PC cruise and did a full city tour (with Dora) on that trip. While I would love to visit Old Town again and perhaps see the inside of the fort, we didn't feel comfortable doing so this trip, so just got off and wandered the port area. It is probably one of my favorite ports - the birds are amazing, the animals were cool to see, and I like the little shop area as well. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the view of the HAL ship from the deck and sipping drinks. It was a nice, relaxing day.

On our recent Silhouette cruise, we had originally only had the option of a 3:00 PM boarding time at check-in (90 days). A few days later, I checked on the app and managed to switch to 11:30 AM. They then turned off check-in when they switched it to 45 days - so no idea if we had to redo everything or not! We didn't - and ended up with the earliest 11:30 check-in time.

We arrived at the port around 10:30, dropped off the bags with the porters, got the car parked and made our way to the terminal building. They had lines for all but the first arrival time set up - but no one was in them. We were probably in the terminal about 10-15 minutes, and most of that was because the check-in tablet was on the wrong internet. I'm pretty sure we were on the ship shortly after 11 AM, and we were not the first people aboard. We were on board so early we couldn't finish our muster drill until later!

Check-in was a breeze, and everything worked smoothly. Photos were set up on the ship near the Ensemble lounge, which worked out great as well. They were not passing out champagne, but they did have trays with drinks available on all of the bars in the main atrium area. All in all, I have to say that the embarkation changes post-Pandemic have made for a much better boarding experience!

We'll be boarding the Summit on the 26th, and I'm hoping the experience is just as smooth on the smaller ship.

If you're not interested in going to the beach, but do want to explore Castaway Cay a bit, I would recommend planning your shore time around posted lunch times on the island. Or at least check the hours for the different lunch locations and see what would work best for you. There are trams on the island - both from near the ship to the main activity area, and then from there to Serenity Bay - so that could be a big help in exploring the island at your leisure as well as being able to enjoy the island lunch that is typically reviewed as a highlight of the cruise.

Normally we cruise NCL but are considering a cruise on DCL with the grand kids. I assume DCL ships have two dining rooms, one with traditional set dining times and the other "open" with no reservations required. Is this correct?

Next question, are there formal nights and if so, what's the dress code?

What's the dress code on non formal nights?

While your assumption is good for most lines, that's not how dining works on DCL.

Disney offers 3 different themed dining rooms, with 2 set dining times. Guests (and their service teams) rotate through each of the rooms different nights of the cruise, so you will get to enjoy each of the rooms and their themes. There is "open seating" dining also available at Cabanas for dinner, as well as 1-2 adults-only dining options (Palo and Remy, 18+ only). Cabanas is the buffet, but only during breakfast and lunch, and is not open as a sit-down open seating option on the first or last night of the cruise.

For example, on a 7 night cruise, you would rotate through each of the dining rooms twice, and one of them a third time. Each evening's meal is also themed differently - you will have an opportunity to experience each restaurant's signature menu once, and the other 4 nights the menus are common to all dining rooms (Pirate Night, Captain's Gala, Prince & Princess, etc). So every night the menu is pretty much completely different, except for the "lighter fare" options which are always available (simple chicken, steak, fish, etc). The kid's menus are similar - they have different menus every night (though there are often some repeats).

AP has 2 "shows" on all ships. On the Magic, there's the one where the room switches from black/white to color and has Sorcerer Mickey come out at the end, then the second show where everyone gets to do some animation. If you happen to have a 3rd night in AP, it will often be on Pirate night, which includes pirate-themed images on the screens along with regular pirate night activities and theming.

Longer cruises (10n+) will usually have a per-bag special around the middle of the cruise. We've used them when offered, and it helped out a lot! Otherwise, we just go to the self-serve laundry a couple of times on longer cruises.

I have been trying for two days to update some information in my Disney Cruise reservation. I either get an error message saying Disney is working on it or I get a completely blank page when I click on My Reservations. Not only that, the 3 phone numbers I have to call Disney are all busy all the time. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone know what is going on? Any suggestions? Thanks.

Summer itineraries have opened for pre-sale for Castaway Club members, so the phone lines are overloaded. The website could be having problems due to the same problem. If its not an urgent issue, I'd wait until Monday, then give them a call. If you're a Castaway Club member, I believe there might be a separate number you can call that may get you through quicker.

My MIL often orders off the kid's menu - it's no problem! Kids can order off the adult menu, and adults can order off the kid's menu. You can also mix and match, or even just order a kid's dessert (it's the only way to get a mickey bar!)

As for cheese pizza - some menus offer it on the kid's menu, but it may not always be available. The pizza at the pizza station on deck isn't really the same as in the dining rooms, so they're not busy making pizzas for the dining rooms at that time - I believe they're probably closed during dinner because the pool deck eateries are covered by the dining staff, and they're all busy with dinner in either the dining rooms or Cabanas.

they cost a fortune in comparison to the key to the world card....

 

it's a big expense for DCL to take on...

The KTTW cards have your table information, dining rotation and muster station printed on them - this assists not only you but others to help you locate where you should go. Having to go high-tech to find this info could be problematic if there is no power on the ship.

Additionally, KTTW cards are often used by port security along with photo ID to verify you are on the ship - as they have your name and the cruise dates on them. How would the verify the Magic Band?

I do think it would be cool if you could link an existing MB to your cruise and use it on-ship. But I can't see DCL moving over to them instead of KTTW cards anytime soon.