What should I be booking?

-kat- · 30 Jul 18, 09:45 PM

Hey there guys, sorry it's me again with another daft question (or 2!)

...my booking day for cruise stuff opens up on Wednesday so I'm panicking as I don't want to make any rookie mistakes

I was just wondering what (if anything) should I be looking to book quickly? We're taking on board all previous advice and defo aren't booking any excursions as it's our first ever cruise but are all character meet & greets etc easy enough to get? And what about the kids clubs?
Do we need to pre book the shows/entertainment etc? Is it anything like the craziness of getting adr's/fp's at Disney?!

Oh...and how do the restaurants work? Do we need to book for each night (we're not bothered about Palo/Remy)?

All help/advice greatly appreciated, thanks

Licoricelover · 31 Jul 18, 11:01 PM

There are three restaurants and you dine in each one once if you are on a three day cruise. You will be told when you board the ship which rotation you will be on. You will have the same dining staff throughout and there are two sittings so you need to choose which one you want.
A lot of people with young children choose the early sitting as the later sitting is 8 o'clock
One night is pirate night or possibly Halloween and you can dress up.
There are two shows each evening and you don't need to book.

Not sure about meet and greets as have never done it but there always seem to be a long queue for them.

If you are not booking any excursions I would only go for a quick walk round some of Nassau just to say you've been there as its like most ports. There are plenty of things to do on board.
Castaway cay is amazing. Get off the ship early and make the most of the day there is so much to see even without any excursions. Great bbq so you don't need to go back to the ship for lunch.
If you don't have small children visit the over 18s beach. It's very tranquil.
Unfortunately once is not enough! It can become a habit.

-kat- · 1 Aug 18, 06:51 PM

Perfect! Thank you! That helps a lot! So very relieved that we don�t have to book restaurants or shows!
We were really hoping to book our little boy (6) into the pirates league for either pirate night or the Halloween night but we�ve missed it...it was sold out by the time we checked it 🙁. Don�t even know what�s on what night tbh, but we figured it'd probably be 1 of the 2 middle nights?! Dunno if it�s worth asking when we board?
Thanks again 😀

Licoricelover · 1 Aug 18, 09:30 PM

I think the children's club on castaway cay is called Scuttles Cove and is for children 3 - 12. I am not sure how quickly it books up though. You keep in contact by wave phone.
We have booked the nursery this year which is on the ship the whole time as we have 9 month twins with us.
I think you may have a chance of booking on the ship as some people book then cancel once on board. I would enquire at the desk as soon as you can.

-kat- · 1 Aug 18, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by Licoricelover

I think the children's club on castaway cay is called Scuttles Cove and is for children 3 - 12. I am not sure how quickly it books up though. You keep in contact by wave phone.
We have booked the nursery this year which is on the ship the whole time as we have 9 month twins with us.
I think you may have a chance of booking on the ship as some people book then cancel once on board. I would enquire at the desk as soon as you can.

Thanks for that! Think we're planning on exploring with the kids but good to know our options...they might want to ditch us

.

What an awesome adventure going with your twins

...super exciting times ahead!

**Bats** · 8 Aug 18, 09:37 AM

No need to book the youth activity (YA) areas at all. Your children are automatically allocated a space even if they don't use it once on the cruise.

On Castaway Cay day, the YA areas on the ship close (not the nursery) and move over to CC. They do all kinds of activities with them, in the shade and in a secure area where the same rules apply for picking up/dropping off (adult must be on the approved list, must have their KTTW card and must have the password too).

They do not take them near the water at all, so if you want them to experience that, you'll need to take them out of the club for that bit of time.

Definitely go over to Serenity Bay (over 18s) once he's in the Club - you won't regret it and it has a better BBQ too (in my opinion)!
Just catch the tram if you don't fancy a massive hike in the heat.

Enjoy!

-kat- · 8 Aug 18, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Bats

No need to book the youth activity (YA) areas at all. Your children are automatically allocated a space even if they don't use it once on the cruise.

On Castaway Cay day, the YA areas on the ship close (not the nursery) and move over to CC. They do all kinds of activities with them, in the shade and in a secure area where the same rules apply for picking up/dropping off (adult must be on the approved list, must have their KTTW card and must have the password too).

They do not take them near the water at all, so if you want them to experience that, you'll need to take them out of the club for that bit of time.

Definitely go over to Serenity Bay (over 18s) once he's in the Club - you won't regret it and it has a better BBQ too (in my opinion)!
Just catch the tram if you don't fancy a massive hike in the heat.

Enjoy!

Great, thank you! I think we�ll need to be strict with ourselves and chill about leaving the kids as Serenity Bay does sound very appealing! My friend has previously done this cruise and mentioned getting a massage on the beach...do you happen to know if this would�ve been at SB?

**Bats** · 13 Aug 18, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by -kat-

Great, thank you! I think we�ll need to be strict with ourselves and chill about leaving the kids as Serenity Bay does sound very appealing! My friend has previously done this cruise and mentioned getting a massage on the beach...do you happen to know if this would�ve been at SB?

Yes, the massages are at SB. Just be aware that you will be face down so won't be able to see the ocean while having your massage. You will hear other guests too - it's not quite as tranquil as you'd like it to be apparently.

-kat- · 15 Aug 18, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by Bats

Yes, the massages are at SB. Just be aware that you will be face down so won't be able to see the ocean while having your massage. You will hear other guests too - it's not quite as tranquil as you'd like it to be apparently.

Cool, thanks! Might just skip that then 🙂