First timer + last minute cruise

[Disney102015]

Hi all! We’d be first time cruisers and are considering booking a last minute sailing on the Wish, about 8 weeks away. I am a type A planner so booking this last minute is new for me. I know a lot of things are booked way in advance and will likely be booked up already.

• If you skipped most of the extras such as Palo or other speciality dining did you feel that it took away from your cruise at all? Or is there plenty to do without having any “extras” booked?
• I know speciality dining, shore excursions, and beverage tastings may be fully booked. Anything else I’m not thinking of that we might miss due to booking last minute?
• How about childcare in the Small World nursery - any chance we’ll be able to book a couple childfree hours if we are flexible on the day and time? Or will that likely be booked solid?
• Do you book your boarding time in advance and if so when? I want to make sure we won’t end up basically missing embarkation day if boarding times have already been assigned and we’ll be stuck boarding very late…

Thanks all! I’m very excited about the possibility of booking but just nervous about how much I don’t know and how little time I have to research!

 

[jsmla]

If pretty much in the same situation and interested in the replies.

 

[Mommb]

On a short cruise, you can absolutely have a great time without booking any extras in advance. You will be able to go to each main dining room once (plus have Pirate night, if you’re on a 4-night cruise). You will be able to see the 3 main theater shows. You can either tour Nassau on your own or explore the ship on Nassau day. There is plenty to do at Castaway Cay without advance reservations.

Adult dining, excursions, and beverage tastings are the main bookings that may fill up, along with maybe the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for kids 3-12. Spa treatment appointments are often available on board. It is also possible that other events will be available to book onboard even if they appear fully booked in advance.

I have used the nursery only once, many years ago, so I don’t know if it fills up in advance. Since there is a limit on the time that can be booked in advance, though, I doubt it will booked be solid every day.

Port Arrival times/Boarding groups are booked 30 days in advance for new cruisers, so if you have 8 weeks to go, you haven’t missed that yet.

I wouldn’t hesitate to book 8 weeks ahead if I wanted to do a cruise and wasn’t worried about transportation to the port.

 

[msmama]

I've done 8 cruises and have NEVER done specialty dining or any tastings or spa visits or anything extra and I've never felt like I've been missing anything. Unless there's a specific port adventure you're looking for I've never seen anything booked solid. And I probably wouldn't book anything at CC and Nassau is easy to do on your own if needed.

Can't speak to the nursery as I've never traveled with anyone nursery age.

As for port arrival time, yes, you may get a later one since newbies are the last to pick, but I don't think it'll be a wash of a day. They board everyone pretty quickly so no one is there THAT much longer than anyone else. And there's not a ton going on during boarding anyway.

 

[unrequited23]

In my opinion, as long as you book before your online check-in window opens you have plenty of time--especially for a first cruise. (I'm a type A person who normally schedules "freetime" on our vacation itinerary spreadsheets.) A DCL cruise is a ridiculously easy vacation.

 

[Lillebelle]

Looks like first time cruisers can do check-in 30 days in advance, so you're still before that -- which means you won't be getting absolutely last pick of boarding group since you can make sure to do check-in right when the window opens (I think the Wish actually gets a decent number of first time cruisers).

Nursery time is limited for pre-booking so I think as long as you take a look as soon as you've booked/paid, you should be able to get some nursery time. It can definitely book up once you're onboard, at least for peak times, but if you check before you're even on the ship, I think you'll likely be ok.

For a short cruise, I don't think you need to worry about getting extra activities. The Wish has some cool bars so I'd recommend checking those out rather than booking a tasting anyway. And I think there's a decent chance you could get an adult dining dinner if you really wanted one, though again, on a short cruise you're probably better off just experiencing all the main dining rooms.

As mentioned, planning a Disney cruise is a lot less involved than planning a park visit. I think you can have an excellent time without really booking anything in advance. The only thing I can think of that you might want to try for, depending on how old your child is, is the Royal Gathering character meet and greet. That is a ticketed event (but is free) where you get to meet four princesses in the atrium. Booking for that opens up 30 days before the cruise so you haven't missed that yet!

I say go for it!

 

[keighttf]

There is always plenty of nursery availability on board to be booked the first day and even later in the cruise we have gotten many same day reservations.
We have been on 14 Disney cruises but booked one recently about 3 weeks out and didn’t feel like we were missing anything.
I actually over planned our first cruise so much my husband wasn’t sure if he wanted to go on another one so less is more. There is so much to do that doesn’t require booking!
The previous poster mentioned royal gathering but even that we haven’t had a problem getting a spot for on embankment day.
As for boarding, I have seen open boarding (everyone) as early as 12:30 before.

 

[Mango7100]

Our very first DCL cruise was a 4 night on the Dream that we booked about 4 weeks before sailing. Palo dinner was sold out but we were able to get one once boarding and going to the dining request team. we didn’t do any excursions because we didn’t get off at Nassau and they aren’t necessary at Castaway. We did have late dining due to the last minute booking but we actually preferred it. We didn’t feel like we missed anything at all by booking late.

 

[kiford]

With a 3 or 4 day cruise, if you booked Palo or Enchante you'd end up missing the rotational dining so you're better off not booking it IMO. We haven't done Palo on the Wish because the menu is meh to me - just another steakhouse. I much prefer the menus on the other ships which focuses more on the Italian cuisine although I think they've scaled back on what made it really nice. As for Enchante - the menu is also meh to me. We love Remy on the Fantasy but Enchante just doesn't seem to have as good of menu options and the vlogs I've seen of people dining there have been underwhelming. So especially for your first time on the Wish, I think you really need to experience all of the main dining rooms before going to speciality restaurants. So save yourself the cost and the worry about not being able to book it.

If you want beverage tastings, you can check when you board and see if they've added any - which they often do - or if anyone has cancelled. However, you may want to prioritize your time investigating the ship on a short cruise. We did a four-day on the Wish in January and then did a 3 day one just recently because we didn't feel like we had a chance to experience everything we wanted. And we didn't get off the ship either time, even at Castaway Cay (we've been many times) so I don't think you have a lot of time to add activities if you really want to explore the ship and enjoy what it, and Castaway Cay, has to offer. We just did things like getting up early one morning to get coffee and beignets at the Bayou, sitting in the Rose at the window with a glass of champagne during the day just watching the water, trying some different cocktails at Nightingales, watching the baby races in the Hero Zone, the Aqua Mouse, trying the different pool areas, sitting on our balcony, having a snack in the pub, having lots of ice cream from the pool deck as well as trying some of the other offerings there. There's also the pirate party(s) on pirate night and trivia and other activities not requiring extra cost or sign-up.

It depends on what you mean by boarding late. Open boarding is usually before 1 pm so even if you a port arrival time of a late time, you'll typically be able to board around 1 pm. Staterooms aren't ready until 1:30-2:00 so you are also stuck hauling around a carry on bag until then which is why we typically prefer to arrive around 1:30 or so. Laat time we stayed at the Hyatt and were unaware of the fact that they'd changed their transport process so ended up on a bus at a little after 9 am. Got to the port just as they were opening and had to sit around for two hours until they started boarding and then had to have lunch with lots of crowds and sit in the Cofe Cave with a big carry on bag shoved under my feet waiting for the rooms to be ready. Arriving early not only doesn't necessarily mean getting on the ship early but getting on the ship relatively early doesn't always equate to a fun time.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

We did our 1st cruise on the Wish, booked about 4 week prior... I'm a planner when it comes to Disney World and we are super active on vacations. We grabbed a couple of excursions once on the ship, one at Nassau and then did the Stingray deal at Castaway. We just ate at our rotational dining, which we enjoyed. We can eat at a fancy steakhouse or French restaurant back home is the way we look at the adult dining. What I can't do is eat at any of the themed restaurants and 1923 had a great menu. We had a great time and we didn't feel like we missed out on a thing. If anything, we didn't have enough time to do all that was offered for free. Lots to do and see. Just relax and play it by ear.

 

[SeanSD]

For a first time cruiser, I don’t think you need to book any special dining or extras. Just go see how you like cruising. Enjoy main dining rooms, shows and explore the ship and other free activities like trivia, animation classes, piano bar, etc. 8 weeks would give PLENTY of time for a type A planner (count me as one too) to research ship, activities and other reviews to get an idea of what sounds good. Then try not to do everything and plan every hour, take some time to relax and see if you love cruising.

 

[lscrivan18]

We just completed our first DCL cruise and intentionally did not book excursions with DCL (I prefer not booking directly for a better price) as well as no specialty dining because everything was new to us. Figured try the free stuff first!
I did book Nursery and noticed I had lots of options but as the cruise got close (under 30 days) it filled up.
Princess Gathering doesn't become available for everyone until 30 days out so you're not behind the group with that.
I didn't even bother trying to get a beverage tasting. BUT! In my FB group for the cruise, someone coordinated a cancellation and I snagged a mixology. Fun but it definitely didn't make or break my cruise experience.
All that to say, I barely booked anything ahead of time and it was exceptional! And we were on a 6 night sailing.

 

[Disney102015]

Thank you all so much - this will be super helpful!