Are we too late to make it worthwhile?

[pangyal]

We are currently booked to do Universal for the first time in February of this year. However, kiddo REALLY wants to do Marvel Day At Sea and we learned that there are still a handful of rooms left on the Feb. 4 sailing out of Port Canaveral.

My question is this, though- this is now non-refundable, so we would need to be very sure we want to try a Disney cruise (we've never been). We are exactly 76 days out today. We originally looked at Concierge, but the price is more than double that of a Verandah room and we wouldn't be getting the early booking benefits- so my sense is it wouldn't be worth it, correct?

My concern is that everyone else other than other newbies like us have probably already booked up anything good for MDAS such as the character meets and activities. As well, we would apparently have to go on a waitlist for the main dinner seating since we can't eat at 8:15 with a small child, so I'm nervous we would miss out on the nice MDE restaurants if they can't get us in to an earlier time for the duration.

In a nutshell, then- do you experts think we still would be able to book the MDAS stuff and not miss out on the character meets? And how likely would it be that we would be able to get moved to Main dinner seating for every one of the five nights? I would hate to spend all this money on the cruise and then not be able to experience the dining, but there is absolutely no way kiddo can eat that late (nor us, for that matter!). I understand that asking if Concierge is worth it is subjective, but I am tossing that out anyway, since I'd like to hear whether people think we should even bother looking at spending so much extra with no prebooking benefits included.

Any help is appreciated as tomorrow is 75 days out and we are thinking we might have to decide today

 

[FSU Girl]

I say book it. I've been on one Disney cruise that was over Christmas. We booked only a couple weeks out and were still able to sign up for a lot of things. I also know when you board they will sometimes hold back reservations for people to make there so if something is sold out you try getting it once on board.

You could reach out in the thread about this specific cruise and ask if someone could check what is still available to book to see what's left.

 

[lanejudy]

kiddo REALLY wants to do Marvel Day At Sea and we learned that there are still a handful of rooms left on the Feb. 4 sailing out of Port Canaveral.

The Magic is sailing out of Miami on Feb. 4, 2018, not Port Canaveral. Miami is a decent drive (4 hrs?) from Orlando. I believe MVDAS is only available on the Magic. There is Star Wars Day at Sea on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral in February, 7-night sailings. Or 7-nights on the Wonder and 3- or 4-nights on the Dream, but I don't believe either of those ships has a special theme at that time.

Whether it's "worth it" for you -- how long is your total vacation and how much time did you intend to spend at Universal? Are you willing to give up any of the current plans to make room for the cruise plus the added travel time across FL? Personally, I think I'd wait for another time. But if you expect this to be your family's only opportunity to be in Florida for several years, it might be worth modifying plans assuming it fits the budget.

Enjoy your vacation -- whether land only or land-and-sea!

 

[MM123]

Hi, I know you ask the more experienced cruisers but I've learned on this board that it is still possible to get the main seating if you can not book it but usually you'll hear that about a week before departure. I don't know how you would feel about that? If you have something else booked and everybody was happy with that I would keep that and if it's possible book the cruise for another time. From what I read your child is young enough to still enjoy the Marvel cruise next year or the year after. Than you have more rest now and you have another thing to look forward to.

 

[xQuizx]

We had to rebook our September cruise for a 7 Night Western Merrytime cruise leaving this Saturday. We rebooked at under 70 days out.

We were on the main dining wait list until last week (Friday) when we finally got in and we leave this Saturday, so that is one week out.

We are a family of 5. I wasn't able to book any meet and greets for the Frozen or Princess gatherings for my family, I've been watching online and will probably have to book on the cruise.

I was able to book the character breakfast right away as well as the royal court tea and massages. We couldn't book these events on the sea day, so we are doing this while in port at the Grand Cayman Islands.

Hope all goes well with your travels.

Cheers!

 

[MM123]

@xQuizx, great that you got at least your main dining. If you have time after the cruise would you mind posting about your experiences getting tickets for the meet and greets? We're in the same situation and hope to get something for the kids. Thanks! Enjoy your cruise!!

 

[xQuizx]

@xQuizx, great that you got at least your main dining. If you have time after the cruise would you mind posting about your experiences getting tickets for the meet and greets? We're in the same situation and hope to get something for the kids. Thanks! Enjoy your cruise!!

Sure I will let you know how it works out.

Cheers!

 

[MM123]

Great, thank you! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

 

[pangyal]

The Magic is sailing out of Miami on Feb. 4, 2018, not Port Canaveral. Miami is a decent drive (4 hrs?) from Orlando. I believe MVDAS is only available on the Magic. There is Star Wars Day at Sea on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral in February, 7-night sailings. Or 7-nights on the Wonder and 3- or 4-nights on the Dream, but I don't believe either of those ships has a special theme at that time.

Whether it's "worth it" for you -- how long is your total vacation and how much time did you intend to spend at Universal? Are you willing to give up any of the current plans to make room for the cruise plus the added travel time across FL? Personally, I think I'd wait for another time. But if you expect this to be your family's only opportunity to be in Florida for several years, it might be worth modifying plans assuming it fits the budget.

Enjoy your vacation -- whether land only or land-and-sea!

Wow, did my newbie status ever show there! It is Miami, absolutely. I apologize!

Now we are thinking to skip Disney (we are DVC members and go a LOT) and do Universal, then the cruise...

 

[abuck75]

Hi, I know you ask the more experienced cruisers but I've learned on this board that it is still possible to get the main seating if you can not book it but usually you'll hear that about a week before departure. I don't know how you would feel about that? If you have something else booked and everybody was happy with that I would keep that and if it's possible book the cruise for another time. From what I read your child is young enough to still enjoy the Marvel cruise next year or the year after. Than you have more rest now and you have another thing to look forward to.

Since OP mentioned possibly sailing concierge, I'm nearly certain they would have their choice if they went that route. Also, while it can't "free up" space that doesn't exist, I'd suspect that having a list of desires to the shoreside concierge would improve chances of obtaining a spot in most items should someone cancel.

 

[lklgoodman]

I would go to Universal as you have planned this year and book a cruise for winter 2019, you can book one now. If you book a concierge cabin for next year you should be able to get everything you want. Keep in mind that concierge cabins are non-refundable.

 

[Laughfreely]

I am pretty sure if you book concierge you will get everything you want. I love the extras, even though I pay for them. Whatever you decide, enjoy your family time!

 

[cashda]

I would go to Universal as you have planned this year and book a cruise for winter 2019, you can book one now. If you book a concierge cabin for next year you should be able to get everything you want. Keep in mind that concierge cabins are non-refundable.

This sounds like a great plan and will take the pressure off of not getting what you want since your booking in advance.

 

[YawningDodo]

We are currently booked to do Universal for the first time in February of this year. However, kiddo REALLY wants to do Marvel Day At Sea and we learned that there are still a handful of rooms left on the Feb. 4 sailing out of Port Canaveral.

My question is this, though- this is now non-refundable, so we would need to be very sure we want to try a Disney cruise (we've never been). We are exactly 76 days out today. We originally looked at Concierge, but the price is more than double that of a Verandah room and we wouldn't be getting the early booking benefits- so my sense is it wouldn't be worth it, correct?

My concern is that everyone else other than other newbies like us have probably already booked up anything good for MDAS such as the character meets and activities. As well, we would apparently have to go on a waitlist for the main dinner seating since we can't eat at 8:15 with a small child, so I'm nervous we would miss out on the nice MDE restaurants if they can't get us in to an earlier time for the duration.

In a nutshell, then- do you experts think we still would be able to book the MDAS stuff and not miss out on the character meets? And how likely would it be that we would be able to get moved to Main dinner seating for every one of the five nights? I would hate to spend all this money on the cruise and then not be able to experience the dining, but there is absolutely no way kiddo can eat that late (nor us, for that matter!). I understand that asking if Concierge is worth it is subjective, but I am tossing that out anyway, since I'd like to hear whether people think we should even bother looking at spending so much extra with no prebooking benefits included.

Any help is appreciated as tomorrow is 75 days out and we are thinking we might have to decide today

I'm booked on a MDAS cruise in January, and it's my first Disney cruise. I wanted to do two of the ticketed character meets (the Marvel ones; I'm skipping Anna and Elsa) and was nervous about my prospects of getting them because, like you, I couldn't do anything with my reservations until 75 days out. I got online at midnight (well, midnight Florida time) and was able to book literally everything I'd wanted except for a Palo brunch on the non-MDAS day at sea (still trying on that one). I had my choice of several times for both meets, my choice of port excursions, and several tasting/mixology classes to choose from (if you want to throw in an activity just for the adults). Granted, I did this as a solo, so it's possible I might have been able to sneak in to a few things that were too close to full to allow larger groups to book them. And, too, there's no guarantee it'll work out the same way for you -- I just wanted to make you aware, as someone who's actually done this recently, that I didn't have a problem getting things booked. I noticed that at least one of the meets was available on the other day at sea, so it seems to me like they've spread the ticketed characters out a bit to accommodate more people.

And, too, many of the MDAS activities don't require advance tickets. The ticketed characters are Groot and a selection of characters for the New York meet (I'm not 100% positive which, but I assume they're some of the big name heroes). Going off of Navigators posted here, characters like Loki and Thor will have open, scheduled meets throughout the day, and characters like Doctor Strange will simply wander the ship (plus the Doctor Strange show runs several times that day).

I think no matter what you do you're going to have fun on this trip, and the bigger factor is whether you're okay with the logistics of traveling from Orlando to Miami mid-trip. I think it's something like a four hour drive...? I'd checked because I was interested in maybe doing a park day or two before the trip, but the additional travel time on top of the extra expense was not worth it for me. YMMV.

edited to add: The one thing I can't advise you on is the early/late dining issue. I'd wanted late dining right from the start, so I never made any effort to see whether early dining was available.

 

[FigmentSpark]

No matter when you book - this year or next, as you are first time cruisers to DCL, you will only be able to book 75 days out (unless you go Concierge). There are a lot of people who will be in that boat and will be booking on day 75, so your chances to get the meet and greets is probably very good.

As for seating, you can phone DCL and see what your chances are. People here seem to have good luck with changes, even late in the game, but there are no guarantees. How small is your small child? What some people do when they have second seating is let the servers know that your child will eat quickly so he can be picked up for the kids' club. That gives you and DH a chance to relax through your dinner. The kids often stay up later on a cruise, because there are more things to do. I mention it, because this might be your plan B if you don't get second seating.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

 

[bumbershoot]

While I’m not a character person, my son and husband prefer the marvel characters at Universal a ton more than any character (apart from jack sparrow) at Disney. Ds has met a couple marvel characters at Disneyland and the ones at Uni are better.

Fwiw. From my family’s perspective.

My family wouldn’t pay through the nose for Disney’s take on marvel characters. We would spend more time at Uni instead.

If you book concierge they’ll get you whatever you want.

My kid always had a late bedtime so having us at a restaurant late wouldn’t have been a problem. On vacations he was either hungry or passed out, and I’ve eaten with him passed out on me many times lol. I wouldn’t avoid a cruise I wanted just because I might get late dining. If you have early dining you’ll be going to late shows, so the kidlet is up an equal amount of time either way. If they are hungry there are places to feed them ahead of time, too.

No matter when you book - this year or next, as you are first time cruisers to DCL, you will only be able to book 75 days out (unless you go Concierge). There are a lot of people who will be in that boat and will be booking on day 75, so your chances to get the meet and greets is probably very good.

This is an excellent point. Unless booking concierge if you booked today you would be exactly in line with others of your status.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We are currently booked to do Universal for the first time in February of this year. However, kiddo REALLY wants to do Marvel Day At Sea and we learned that there are still a handful of rooms left on the Feb. 4 sailing out of Port Canaveral.

My question is this, though- this is now non-refundable, so we would need to be very sure we want to try a Disney cruise (we've never been). We are exactly 76 days out today. We originally looked at Concierge, but the price is more than double that of a Verandah room and we wouldn't be getting the early booking benefits- so my sense is it wouldn't be worth it, correct?

My concern is that everyone else other than other newbies like us have probably already booked up anything good for MDAS such as the character meets and activities. As well, we would apparently have to go on a waitlist for the main dinner seating since we can't eat at 8:15 with a small child, so I'm nervous we would miss out on the nice MDE restaurants if they can't get us in to an earlier time for the duration.

In a nutshell, then- do you experts think we still would be able to book the MDAS stuff and not miss out on the character meets? And how likely would it be that we would be able to get moved to Main dinner seating for every one of the five nights? I would hate to spend all this money on the cruise and then not be able to experience the dining, but there is absolutely no way kiddo can eat that late (nor us, for that matter!). I understand that asking if Concierge is worth it is subjective, but I am tossing that out anyway, since I'd like to hear whether people think we should even bother looking at spending so much extra with no prebooking benefits included.

Any help is appreciated as tomorrow is 75 days out and we are thinking we might have to decide today

We were on the very first MDAS and it was our favorite cruise ever, (5 DCL and 3 CCL). We were able to get all the reservations we wanted, however once on board all except for the Groot Meet and Greet were available. On the actual MDAS characters were available everywhere, (except Groot). We saw lots of them just walking around without handlers or anything, they were just out and about interacting with guests and there were tons of actual scheduled photo ops.

We are not even fans of Marvel but loved this cruise, we booked it before it was announced as a MDAS. I'd do another MDAS again in a heartbeat because the character interaction and the nighttime show was so amazing.

Here are the Navigators from that day in case you haven't seen them, it will give you the whole days activities except the ticketed events. Good luck with the decision, please let us know what you decide.

 

[party-of-five]

While I’m not a character person, my son and husband prefer the marvel characters at Universal a ton more than any character (apart from jack sparrow) at Disney. Ds has met a couple marvel characters at Disneyland and the ones at Uni are better.

Fwiw. From my family’s perspective.

My family wouldn’t pay through the nose for Disney’s take on marvel characters. We would spend more time at Uni instead.

If you book concierge they’ll get you whatever you want.

My kid always had a late bedtime so having us at a restaurant late wouldn’t have been a problem. On vacations he was either hungry or passed out, and I’ve eaten with him passed out on me many times lol. I wouldn’t avoid a cruise I wanted just because I might get late dining. If you have early dining you’ll be going to late shows, so the kidlet is up an equal amount of time either way. If they are hungry there are places to feed them ahead of time, too.

I have to agree with Club Disney Chandler, we were on last week's MDaS Cruise on the Magic and the characters were phenomenal. The kids (all of us) had a blast! The actors/characters were amazing at staying in character. So much fun!

I do agree with you about not letting a late dinner seating get in the way. We have done both seatings and at both I've had a sleeping child on my lap. Definitely not a deal breaker for us.

 

[Chirple]

I agree with @Club Disney Chandler and @party-of-five--the MDAS cruise was far better than we expected (and we're a party of two adults).

The deck show was the best one of all DCL deck shows, and we've seen them all. The character interactions were so much fun. At first I was doing them alone (Loki and Black Widow), but then my husband joined me for Captain America and Thor. When he of the why-would-I-stand-in-line-to-get-a-photo-with-a-person-in-a-costume fame realized how much went into this and how much fun he was having, I was able to switch my NY Mission M&G scheduled for Thursday at 5:00 pm (solo) to Friday at 1:15 pm on Thursday afternoon so that he could come with me. I was unable to get Groot, but a woman in line with me said she did as soon as her family boarded.

There is a disclaimer for the NY Mission M&Gs; the characters listed were Iron Man, Black Panther, and Spider-Man. We were told at Guest Services when changing the tickets they could be swapped out for others. We ended up with all three listed. We were able to see Groot at the deck show but no personal photos with him.

We would do this theme again in a heartbeat.

 

[Brett b702]

I also just back from magic all we had in advance was NY heros meet and greet and wait list for early seating we got on board and was able to get everything we wanted character breakfast princess meet and greet frozen meet and greet early seating and they even offered us groot tickets but we had no idea who that was at the time and turned them down... I was very worried about getting stuff but it turned out great