Second dinner sitting?

[catlady]

Hi, We are off on our first cruise in a few weeks and our tickets have just arrived

We have a 2nd dinner sitting and just wondered if this means we will miss the evening entertainment/shows etc . Also, do we have to share a table with others? there are 4 of us (2 adults & 2 children) we weren't asked?

I'm very under prepared for the cruise (for a control freak like me that's not good ) and I'm finding it hard to work out what I'm meant to be doing I logged on to the disney cruise page and found our booking but couldn't seem to find much info to help, the website kept crashing too, have others found this?

[disneydreamer]

Hi Kate

You won't miss any of the main shows as they do 2 every night. The 2nd dinner seating people go to the first show then have dinner after. The first dinner seating have dinner then watch the show after . There is so much to see and do. We only did 3 nights which wasn't nearly enough time to do everything we wanted but we made sure we saw all the evening shows and the fireworks on Pirate night.

We were a party of 2 ad and 2 kids and we had a table to ourselves. We were seated very close to another table which had 2 ad and 2 kids around the same age as ours. If you think it will be a big problem being seated with strangers you can ask for a table of 4 either through email prior to the cruise or going to guest services when onboard.

You will have a fab time. Try to relax and enjoy. How long are you on the ship for? if your kids enjoy clubs they could be in them from 8am to midnight everyday if they wanted to. They can come and go as they please. You get a pager and if the kids want to leave you would get paged to go and pick them up. If they are in the clubs at meal times the CM's will take them for their meals also. This is good if you want to prebook a meal in Palo.

You will get loads of good advice on this forum so if you are worrying and have lots of questions don't be frightened to ask. There will always be someone who can help. I'm a bit like you and like to be organised and know what I'm going to and be prepared for all eventualities.

Jackie

[catlady]

Thanks Jackie for the info.

We are going just on a 3 night cruise, DH didn't really fancy it but gave in and let me book 3 nights I'm hoping he'll enjoy it and we can go for longer next time i might ask for a table on our own, I'm not anti-social really (well abit!) just don't want to end up having to make small talk while we eat

Do you mind me asking?

Is there a pirate night on every cruise? and which night is it?

Do you have to book the shows or can you just turn up?

I assume if you don't want to get off at the ports you don't have too? Does that mean the kids club continues through the day?

Sorry for the questions and thanks again

[disneydreamer]

Hi Kate

My DH wasn't all that fussy about cruising either but he thoroughly enjoyed it. Pirate night was on Nassau stop day. As far as I'm aware there is still a Firework display and midnight buffet on that night.

You don't have to book any of the shows you just turn up. There is plenty of room for everyone.

You do not have to get off the ship at any of the ports. The kids didn't want to get off in Nassau and were happy to stay in the kids clubs. We just let the CM's know just in case our pagers didn't work. I wasn't overly inpressed with Nassau but it was OK to have a look around some of the shops. This is a good day to have a good tour of the ship and enjoy reasonably quiet pool areas. I think if we did it again we may have a trip over to Atlantis so the kids can have a day at the water park. I would recommend you get off on Castaway Cay. The beach and activities are second to none. On that day the kids clubs are held in an area on the island and not on the ship. Castaway Cay day was dress up night. The boys took their kilts with them and DD and I had our prom dresses on but It's not compulsory. There was a big mix of what everyone was wearing so you don't feel you have to go over the top.

Not long to go now. You will have a fantastic time. Only thing is there is not enough time to see and do everything you want to do. You will get a Navigator every night telling you all the activities that are on the next day. I took a highlighter pen with me and marked the activities that the kids wanted to do so that we were at the right places at the right times. The ship never felt that busy. No crowds like MK or other parks.

Jackie

[catlady]

Many thanks for all the help Jackie

I feel abit more prepared now I've just booked the kids into their clubs and looked at the excursions on-line, (still really slow website though ). Some of the trips are full now anyway. I'll ask the kids about the trips while in Nassuau but I think they want to stay on he boat.

We will get off at Castaway Cay though, looks great!

Thanks for the tip about dressing up, I didn't know that I'll make sure DD takes a nice outfit (she loves dressing up abit!) and a shirt for the boys!

Might look for a pirate costume for the kids now, they'll love that

Thanks again

[disneydreamer]

We dressed up for pirate night and formal night. Good opportunity to get family pics. Here are a couple of them.





Be prepared to have lots of pics taken! There are Shutters photographers all over the place if you want pics done. DD and I had over 100 photos to choose from at the end of our 3 night cruise.

How old are your kids? Mine were 9 and 7 when we went. DS wasn't sure about doing the clubs by himself as they should have been in different clubs but I asked when we checked them in at the port if they could be in the same and they moved DD down to DS age group. Not so sure that they are keen to move the younger ones up to the older group.

Jackie

[jdybnsn]

Just to say we had first seating on our first cruise and it nearly killed us !

We are late eaters anyway, but we found that no sooner had we had breakfast it was lunch, and then only a few hours later we were having to get ready for dinner ! It really cut back our afternoons activities too.
We ended up taking a light room service breakfast in our room (no extra cost - just tip a few $s) in order to free up some time and space in our tummies !
On the whole cruise it was the only thing that we really did not enjoy.

Second cruise we did late dining - and whilst it does not suit everyone, we found it much easier to "cope" with the eatathon you otherwise call a Disney cruise !

We bought some pirate T shirts in Nassau (check out the Pirate Museum & shop there - its fab and relatively cheap to get in) to wear for our Pirates Night dinner.

[catlady]

Thanks for posting the photos Jackie, they are really lovely Do you have to go somewhere special to have them done?


Thanks jdybnsn for the extra info We also like to eat later so I think this will be the best time for us, the children just didn't want to miss the shows and things!

Thanks also or the pirate tip! I'm trying to find something for my DS to wear, he's 11 but in a size 13/14 as he is so tall. Most dress up stuff seems to stop at 10, so I'm struggling

[disneydreamer]

Originally Posted by catlady

Thanks for posting the photos Jackie, they are really lovely Do you have to go somewhere special to have them done?


Thanks jdybnsn for the extra info We also like to eat later so I think this will be the best time for us, the children just didn't want to miss the shows and things!

Thanks also or the pirate tip! I'm trying to find something doe mt DS to wear, he's 11 but in a size 13/14 as he is so tall. Most dress up stuff seems to stop at 10, so I'm struggling

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Hi Kate

Every night there are white background photo opportunities in the main Atrium. This is where you will find most of the characters also. There is also a different back drop everynight in the deck above the main atrium so you just have to look out for what it is. You have loads of choices.

We went all out as we thought this may be our first and last cruise we could afford but there is such a wide variety of outfits from t shirts to ballgowns. You choose what you are comfortable with.

This is the one we got done on dress up night up stairs.



Jackie

[catlady]

Wow! Jackie that is a wonderful photo! I bet that has pride of place We never seem to take a good family photo Just need to pursade DH to dress up abit now