cruise experts - can you help me please?

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Sun, 04/26/2015 - 21:29

Brinbunny's picture

Brinbunny

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cruise experts - can you help me please?

Hi all,

I am busy planning our rapidly approaching med cruise ( not quite rapidly enough though) and I have a couple of questions for those of you who have done the above.....

In mixology I hear they do a champagne/ wine based cocktail among others, is this changeable? I am fine with beer and spirits but have a very bad reaction to a very small amount of wine (I can't cook with it either) so I wanted to know if they do a champagne cocktail can I alter it? Info on the classes seem quite limited (that is probably my inept searching though)

A group of us have also booked an excursion with a different company (it goes to more places and is less than half the price), have many of you done this? I understand the boat won't wait if we are late and I wanted to know about getting on or off the boat, is this simple, do the external companies handle this well as a general rule? I suppose I'm just a bit twitchy about it being a non Disney organised trip. Any suggestions?

Online check in.... Is it imperative that I do it as soon as it opens? I am not booking Palo and thinking I don't need to meet the princesses. I have a couple of excursions we want to do, do you need to book the exercise/ gym classes? Just wondering if I can get away without a 5am start....

Last question (for today) if you could only pick 1 thing to do/ see/ participate in/ eat/ drink ect while onboard what would that be and why?

Thanking you in advance for any advice....

Wed, 07/29/2015 - 08:06

gismo1554

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Brinbunny wrote:

In mixology I hear they do a champagne/ wine based cocktail among others, is this changeable? I am fine with beer and spirits but have a very bad reaction to a very small amount of wine (I can't cook with it either) so I wanted to know if they do a champagne cocktail can I alter it? Info on the classes seem quite limited (that is probably my inept searching though)

Unfortunately its a set list of cocktails and varies based on which bar tender is actually organising the mixology. However if you mention to the bar tender when you go in (and when you book tickets get them to note too) they might be able to give you a replacement of two of one of the other cocktails. Last time I did Mixology however we did not have a champagne version.

Quote:

A group of us have also booked an excursion with a different company (it goes to more places and is less than half the price), have many of you done this? I understand the boat won't wait if we are late and I wanted to know about getting on or off the boat, is this simple, do the external companies handle this well as a general rule? I suppose I'm just a bit twitchy about it being a non Disney organised trip. Any suggestions?

Really simple disembarking and yes normally external companies will arrange with you a meeting point and you just go there. As long as time wise you've given yourself plenty of time to get back on the ship then its not a problem using an external company. Just make sure you are back with plenty of time to get on the ship.

Quote:

Online check in.... Is it imperative that I do it as soon as it opens? I am not booking Palo and thinking I don't need to meet the princesses. I have a couple of excursions we want to do, do you need to book the exercise/ gym classes? Just wondering if I can get away without a 5am start....

Online you sort out your port arrival time (which if you want to get to the port early is important). You can't book the character greetings online. You do need to book excursions. With the gym classes no you can't prebook these online unless you are on about the paid options such as boot camp. Online opens at 12pm ET so in the UK it is a 5am wake up. Only if you are set on a certain port arrival time or booking an excursion listed as "limited space" in the T&Cs on Disney site would I say its imperative. I did for my cruise as I knew the trip I wanted was down as "very limited availability" and found out from someone else on the same trip that they had tried two hours later and it wasn't available.

Quote:

Last question (for today) if you could only pick 1 thing to do/ see/ participate in/ eat/ drink ect while onboard what would that be and why?

OK so I can't narrow this down very well!
Food - the cheese souffle on any menu! Its always amazing
Participate - Mixology as honestly its so much fun
See - Anyone Can Cook series if there are any on your cruise (you get to try new food and get a sip of wine ) and any of the proper stage shows as they are all really good (Dreams & Believe are fantastic)
Do - Any "open house" or "adult" activities in the kids clubs! Honestly they are such great spaces and so much fun

Wed, 07/29/2015 - 22:52

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Kristen K.

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Brinbunny wrote:

In mixology I hear they do a champagne/ wine based cocktail among others, is this changeable? I am fine with beer and spirits but have a very bad reaction to a very small amount of wine (I can't cook with it either) so I wanted to know if they do a champagne cocktail can I alter it? Info on the classes seem quite limited (that is probably my inept searching though).

The mixology class that I took did not include champagne or wine cocktails. There are other classes specifically for these things, but they were not the mixology class. I have a bad reaction to tequila, and they did let me use rum instead for one of the drinks. The rum was already out as it was being used for a different cocktail. Honestly though, there was so much booze flowing I wouldn't have felt slighted if I had skipped one.

Brinbunny wrote:

A group of us have also booked an excursion with a different company (it goes to more places and is less than half the price), have many of you done this? I understand the boat won't wait if we are late and I wanted to know about getting on or off the boat, is this simple, do the external companies handle this well as a general rule? I suppose I'm just a bit twitchy about it being a non Disney organised trip. Any suggestions? .

They will not wait for you since you're booked with an outside company, it's simply a risk you take when you do that. My inlaws (who cruise about 4 months out of the year) always book through outside companies. The one time I took the risk and booked through an outside company the seas were too rough and we couldn't make port. I lost all my money, all the people who booked through the cruise line got theirs back. It's just the way the dice rolls when you take that chance.

Brinbunny wrote:

Online check in.... Is it imperative that I do it as soon as it opens? I am not booking Palo and thinking I don't need to meet the princesses. I have a couple of excursions we want to do, do you need to book the exercise/ gym classes? Just wondering if I can get away without a 5am start.....

If this is your first Disney cruise you are already "behind" half the people onboard in bookings because you are not part of the castaway club. I personally would be up at 5am trying to get the excursions that I want. You do not need to book the gym classes online. Is it imperative - of course not, if you're willing to accept the risk of your tour being sold out.

Brinbunny wrote:

Last question (for today) if you could only pick 1 thing to do/ see/ participate in/ eat/ drink ect while onboard what would that be and why? .

Picking just one thing is hard for me, but I think I'm going to go with the Rainforest Room at Senses. Set aside a few hours to pamper yourself at the spa. Sit in the sauna, take a scented shower, meditate on a heated lounge chair, stare out at the sea, buy some salt scrubs and take a luxurious cleanse, get a manicure. For me it's a MUST DO. In fact Tori and I got Rainforest passes on day just so we could get ready for dinner in a gorgeous environment instead of in the tiny cabin shower.

Fri, 07/31/2015 - 07:06

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DisneyDee27

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Kristen is on point. My only difference would be I enjoy eating brunch at Palo. I'd pick Palo Brunch as my can't miss thing to do onboard.

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Member of the 6 castle club and working to pay for my next Disney vacations: 1/5-10/18, September 2018 for my 50th and 2018 the year of Disney cruising.

Sat, 08/01/2015 - 13:46

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Kristen K.

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DisneyDee27 wrote:

Kristen is on point. My only difference would be I enjoy eating brunch at Palo. I'd pick Palo Brunch as my can't miss thing to do onboard.

Palo Brunch is magnificent!!

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 20:35

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Brinbunny

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Thanks everyone that has been a great help.

Only 20 sleeps to go!

- I was up at 5am, got a great PAT and all of my trips booked so it was worth it.
- Decided not to do Palo as DS could not join me being under 21.
- FE is made and I've nearly finished buying the gifts.
- Mixology class is a Martini tasting, so as long as it's not too heavy on the vermouth I will be fine, will check with the bar tender as I've had vodka martini and I can manage those.
- The group has set a main meet up and we have all ordered personalised wristbands - a very cool touch I think.

Just need to print all my docs, pack and change up some currency......

Thanks again for the advice. This forum is a great help.

Sat, 08/08/2015 - 22:12

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DisneyDee27

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Palo is 18 and older. If your DS is over 18 he can go to Palo. the Martini class is not just traditional martinis, you'll have or make between 4-5 different martinis. They aren't usually pre-made.

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Member of the 6 castle club and working to pay for my next Disney vacations: 1/5-10/18, September 2018 for my 50th and 2018 the year of Disney cruising.

Mon, 08/10/2015 - 15:52

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Brinbunny

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Posts: 645

DisneyDee27 wrote:

Palo is 18 and older. If your DS is over 18 he can go to Palo. the Martini class is not just traditional martinis, you'll have or make between 4-5 different martinis. They aren't usually pre-made.

DS turns 18 just 10 days after the cruise so he only just misses out on Palo. But we are still looking forward to all the other great food.

The martini sounds good, I have been advised to tell them of my wine/ vermouth intolerance before hand and see what they can do. It's one of the things I'm most looking forward to as its from the Facebook group and we are all really starting to become friends, we have a few things set up already which is fab.