Suite Booking Question (Cat 1-3)

[iceman93]

This is my first time posting on the DCL board, so please forgive my ignorance. I am one of the world's biggest Disney fans, though, so I certainly have a broad base of knowledge of non-cruise Disney stuff. Also, my family has cruised quite a few times with HAL and Regent, so we're not new to cruising in general.

 

A few times now I've looked into booking a Disney cruise. We want to sail in the Roy or Walt Disney suites, but would "settle" for the Cat 2 or 3 suites if we had to. Yet whenever I check cabin availability on the Disney website, for any itinerary of any length, the highest cabin category that shows availability is 4.

 

Do you have to call direct to book the suites? Or are they sold out before even being made available to the general public, and therefore unavailable for a first-time DCL cruiser?

[outahere2]

You, or your TA, must call DCL directly for the suites, they are never displayed on the web site. There are not many suites and they do usually sell out quickly.

 

One thing to know about booking a suite..... the per person deposit is twice as much and is 100% non-refundable. If you change your mind, you can change your date, and even the cabin category, as long as you do it prior to your "paid in full" date. However, the deposit remains non-refundable.

[ducklite]

We've sailed in a Cat 3, and we loved it. Make sure you book a midships Cat 3 if you do book one. That would be 8032, 8034, 8532, 8534. They have a different layout. It's roomier and has the murphy bed in the living room as opposed to the bedroom. They also has a triple wide balcony as opposed to doublewide, and are a few s/f larger.

 

You do need to call DCL direct (or have your TA do so) to book, and they require a $500 per person deposit. You can change sailing dates or itineraries and transfer the deposit, but you can't get a "cash refund."

 

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to try and answer them.

[iceman93]

Thanks to both of you for confirming that the Cat 1-3 cabins are not listed online. It's too bad, as I would probably have booked one of them for either a transatlantic or European itinerary, but on the day those cruises were released for sale and all I saw online was availability in Cats 4+, I simply assumed that the tiny supply of suites was already spoken for.

 

Anyway, since I'm used to "the suite life" on HAL, what perks do you get on DCL in addition to the larger stateroom?

[ducklite]

You get...

 

Priority advance booking for shore sxcursions, spa appointments, and Palo dining. We also were told that certain preferred spa times were reserved for suite guests until late on the first day of sailing. Once you board you meet with one of the concierge staff and they make your appointments for wine tasting or any other onboard activity--there's no running around from place to place and waiting in line.

 

Priority embarkation and a special waiting area at the port.

 

Every day a treat is delivered to your suite--anything from an appetizer to chocolat strawberries. When we first got to the room there was a fruit bowl and a dozen assorted bottles of water and soda. (Those were not replenished during the cruise without additional cost.)

 

You may order pretty much anything from any menu to be delivered to your cabin from room service. We ordered a full hot breakfast every morning. It was delivered promptly. Room service came in and set up the table with a tablecloth, silverware, and our breakfast. Non-suite cabins may only order from a specific and limited room service menu. I don't recall ordering any other meals to our cabin--although the option was certainly there.

 

There is a DVD player (used to be VCR but I think either currently is or is being switched during drydock) and you can borrow movies from the concierge. I recall a list of about 200 or so titles. Obviously a lot were Disney movies, but there were a variety of action/comedy/drama titles for adults as well. There is also a CD player and a really nice BOSE sound system in the cabin. Again, you can borrow CD's, I recall a variety of classical, jazz, calypso, adult contemporary, some Disney sound tracks, and a few rock titles. The receiver in the cabin at the time didn't accomodate an iPod/MP3 player, I don't know if that has changed. The TV in the living room was a 32". I think the one in the bedroom was about a 19". We could easily see both from anywhere in thier respective rooms.

 

There were also a couple of board games and a bucket of alphabet blocks in the cabin. You could borrow additional board games from the concierge. There was also about 30 books on a variety of topics, many related to the ocean, astronomy, or the history of the Caribbean.

 

There are two full baths. The smaller of the two has a toilet/sink/shower. The larger has a toilet, double sinks, a shower, and a jetted soaking tub. Suite guests receive additional and upgraded toiletries, although I can't really recall exactly what we got. There were also robes and slippers.

 

There was a private sail-away party for suite guests as we left one of the ports. They had some hot and cold hor d'oeuvres, punch and maybe iced tea and lemonade--I can't remember exactly.

 

We had two concierge onboard who checked on us daily to see if we needed anything. Every afternoon a printed itinerary of our next day's schedule and booked events was left for us. They basically perform the duties of a typical hotel concierge--although one thing to note, there is no actual concierge lounge. If you need your concierge you press a button on your phone and either talk to them that way, or they will visit your cabin.

 

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head, hope that helps. :)

[iceman93]

It does help, quite a lot actually. It's interesting for me to note the things that are the same and the things that are different between HAL and DCL, so that I can already start to calibrate expectations for whenever that first Disney cruise will be.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences!