September 15, 2017 - 2-Night Cruise from San Diego

Disney1077

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
2-Night Halloween on the High Seas Baja Cruise from San Diego

Sail Date September 15, 2017 Ship Disney Wonder
 
That is a great anniversary celebration get away!
Have you sailed before on a 2 day Disney cruise? I am just wondering about the 3 rotational dining restaurants and 2 nights. Can we request a restaurant with DCL of our choosing?
 
I will be on this cruise with my husband.

Have you sailed before on a 2 day Disney cruise? I am just wondering about the 3 rotational dining restaurants and 2 nights. Can we request a restaurant with DCL of our choosing?
I've done the 2 night a couple times and just accepted whatever rotation they gave me, since I didn't go to the MDRs anyway. 2 night cruises fly by really fast and I didn't want to spend that much time sitting around in the dining rooms.

With that said, when you board the ship, there will be a room set aside (I've seen it at Triton's) for dining changes. You can go there and request that your dining line up changes. There's no guarantee that you will get your request, but the earlier you get in there to ask, the better your chances. The location and times for the dining changes will be in the navigator they will give you at the port.

I have read that the disembarking breakfast will be in whatever dining room you haven't had for dinner. I do not know if that is true, because all the other cruises I've been on have put the breakfast in the final night's dining room.
 


I will be on this cruise with my husband.

I've done the 2 night a couple times and just accepted whatever rotation they gave me, since I didn't go to the MDRs anyway. 2 night cruises fly by really fast and I didn't want to spend that much time sitting around in the dining rooms.

With that said, when you board the ship, there will be a room set aside (I've seen it at Triton's) for dining changes. You can go there and request that your dining line up changes. There's no guarantee that you will get your request, but the earlier you get in there to ask, the better your chances. The location and times for the dining changes will be in the navigator they will give you at the port.

I have read that the disembarking breakfast will be in whatever dining room you haven't had for dinner. I do not know if that is true, because all the other cruises I've been on have put the breakfast in the final night's dining room.


Thank you for the information. My family really want to have dinner at the Animator's Palate.
 
Greetings all! My family and I will be riding this cruise :) This is our first Disney cruise ever and after reading the site pretty well, we have one big question:

What should we sign up for after walking aboard?

The open sign-up on the Disney cruise website really only focused on spa treatments and the photo studio, but it didn't have anything we wanted. I read that my wife and daughter can sign up for a spa treatment together, but they have to do that after we get aboard because advance reservations apply only to adults. Because we learned this, we started to wonder what else we are missing! Is there anything else we should sign up for as quickly as possible after embarking? Character meals? Meet and greets? Parties and buffets?

We have costumes (early Halloween and all that). We are already working on our door decoration. We learned about the fish extender, but we decided to not participate in that, yet (maybe on a longer cruise). We are making something to drop off at guest services for the characters to sign (frame matting or pillow case or something like that). So, I'm sure fun will be had regardless.

This cruise is to "get our feet wet (hah!)" in the world of cruising, as we will likely go on another in the future. We want to eat in the Animator's Palate, but we won't be too dismayed if we don't because we will probably cruise again in the future. Anyway, we are looking forward to a fun and relaxing trip, but any ideas for stuff to sign up for will be welcome. Thanks!

-DJ
 
Greetings all! My family and I will be riding this cruise :) This is our first Disney cruise ever and after reading the site pretty well, we have one big question:

What should we sign up for after walking aboard?

The open sign-up on the Disney cruise website really only focused on spa treatments and the photo studio, but it didn't have anything we wanted. I read that my wife and daughter can sign up for a spa treatment together, but they have to do that after we get aboard because advance reservations apply only to adults. Because we learned this, we started to wonder what else we are missing! Is there anything else we should sign up for as quickly as possible after embarking? Character meals? Meet and greets? Parties and buffets?

We have costumes (early Halloween and all that). We are already working on our door decoration. We learned about the fish extender, but we decided to not participate in that, yet (maybe on a longer cruise). We are making something to drop off at guest services for the characters to sign (frame matting or pillow case or something like that). So, I'm sure fun will be had regardless.

This cruise is to "get our feet wet (hah!)" in the world of cruising, as we will likely go on another in the future. We want to eat in the Animator's Palate, but we won't be too dismayed if we don't because we will probably cruise again in the future. Anyway, we are looking forward to a fun and relaxing trip, but any ideas for stuff to sign up for will be welcome. Thanks!

-DJ

I wasn't aware that you can drop off something at guest services for the characters to sign:yay:. Is that on a first come first serve?
If you find any information on the cruise activities, please post here as I too have been looking for activities to do with the family. :sail:
 


It's a good thing you asked about the character signing. You made me check my facts!

I had read on other blogs about people dropping stuff off at guest services and we were all prepared to do just that! However, because you asked, I did more research. Turns out this practice is NO LONGER authorized :( Source url below. Sorry for the bad information!

https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/true-discontinued-mickey-mail-295596/

-DJ
 
Thank you for the information. My family really want to have dinner at the Animator's Palate.

On the 2-night cruises they don't do the Animator's "show" that the normally do as only 2/3 or the ship would be able to experience it.

On the 2-nighters it really doesn't matter what dining rotation you have because anything special that is usually done in those restaurants on regular-length cruises don't happen.

Just, go, enjoy, and be sure to book your next cruise while onboard.
 
I don't know if anyone here is aware, but they now have Beverage Tastings available for booking. Go check it out. I think there is a Whiskey tasting the first night and a Mixology class the second day.
 
I will be on this cruise with my husband.

I've done the 2 night a couple times and just accepted whatever rotation they gave me, since I didn't go to the MDRs anyway. 2 night cruises fly by really fast and I didn't want to spend that much time sitting around in the dining rooms.

With that said, when you board the ship, there will be a room set aside (I've seen it at Triton's) for dining changes. You can go there and request that your dining line up changes. There's no guarantee that you will get your request, but the earlier you get in there to ask, the better your chances. The location and times for the dining changes will be in the navigator they will give you at the port.

I have read that the disembarking breakfast will be in whatever dining room you haven't had for dinner. I do not know if that is true, because all the other cruises I've been on have put the breakfast in the final night's dining room.

I don't believe that is correct either. If I remember correctly, our debarkation breakfast was in the restaurant that we were in the previous night. That would make sense as you already have been there.
 
On the 2-night cruises they don't do the Animator's "show" that the normally do as only 2/3 or the ship would be able to experience it.

On the 2-nighters it really doesn't matter what dining rotation you have because anything special that is usually done in those restaurants on regular-length cruises don't happen.

Just, go, enjoy, and be sure to book your next cruise while onboard.

:thanks:for the information. I just called DCL and also informed me that because it is a 2-day cruise, they "do not do as much" as a longer cruise (dinner show, character meet and greet tickets in advance, firework show, etc. ).

I guess, I am just going to have to book another cruise:earsboy::stitch2:
 
Ok, I won't lie, this last post made me worry about my cruise activities. When you said you called DCL and they said they "do not do as much"... are you saying they don't do dinner shows or fireworks on short cruises? That doesn't sound right... Could you pass some more details from your conversation with DCL please? Thank you!

-DJ
 
They won't be doing the "shows" during dinner. But, I believe we had fireworks, but can't remember for sure.
 
The DCL representative I talked to (800-951-3532) informed me that they do not do the "dinner show" as sunshine1259 has mentioned. They also do not provide advance tickets for the character meet and greet. You can still meet some of the charters, but you will need look at the cruise newsletter (Personal Navigator) and/or the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app to see each day the time and location. They also do not have a firework show on a 2 day cruise.

But things are always subject to change.

https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney...e-san-diego-disney-wonder-know-having-341881/
 
Ok, everyone. I finally called DCL to ask a bunch of questions. Here are the answers I received. Hopefully they help someone else, too.

- Food allergies can be accommodated only if you eat in sit-down dining or order room service. Buffets and grab-and-go are at your own risk.
- As confirmed earlier, there are no sign-ups for meet and greets. Just go and enjoy.
- No fireworks, no in-dining dinner shows, YES Frozen and Disney Dreams Musicals.
- Most spa treatments are available by going straight there after you get aboard. Senses is on the 9th deck.
- 50" is tall enough for riding water slides. She didn't say what the height restriction is for shorter children, but yeah. Sorry I didn't do better on that one.
- I don't know how gratuity works, but she said gratuity for me is around $97 (which I told her seems a bit low, but she confirmed the cost). She said you can prepay gratuity over the phone up to 72 hours before the cruise or you can pay aboard (same amount as over the phone) out of your preset account. Also on gratuity, they will pass you an envelope to sort the gratuity among your server (your server rotates with you to each dining area) the head waiter (?), and your room attendant. You can give them more in the envelope if you desire. Lastly, gratuity does not include individual room service deliveries, extra support, etc.
- Character phone calls are automated and classic Disney characters only. No princesses, etc.
- Since this is a Halloween cruise, I asked about costumes for adults (in the parks, no one over 12 can wear a costume, which is how Disneybounding started). Anyway, she said there is no restriction for adults to wear Disney-related costumes at the Halloween deck party. She did say they couldn't have weapons or be overly scary or skimpy. Family-friendly is the name of the game, which falls under the rule of "common sense".
- Lastly, I was looking at the photo packages available and asked the DCL lady how many photos are taken during a 2-night cruise. She said enough would be taken to at least fill the photo book (34 photos). She said photos are taken at pre-boarding, arrival, pre-meal, deck parties, at the pool, and some are taken in the tween and lower clubs (usually NOT taken in the older teen clubs). She also said you can walk up to any photographer cast member and ask for your picture to be taken to add to the collection.

I think I have done all of the researching I want to do for my family's first cruise :) It's time to sit back and wait for the date. See y'all there!

-DJ
 
Gratuities are $12 a day per person. So, for us it is $48. Of course, you can add more if you like. We just automatically add them when we booked the cruise, that way it was all taken care of when we paid in full.

If you pre-pay your gratuities, they will still provide you will envelopes for everyone along with receipts for the amount that you have prepaid. You put those into the envelope (keeping you portion) along with any additional amount you might wish to add.

Regarding photos, unless they stopped, they usually take pictures during dinner as well.
 
I missed out on mixology, but in the forums, it looks like there still may be other times open when we get on board. We booked Palo brunch. Originally, I was planning on going into Ensenada, but decided I'd rather just enjoy my time on the ship. It seems like the only time I read fiction or take naps is on cruise ships, and this cruise is so short, I want to make sure I have time for that kind of stuff. I love sailing through the San Diego Harbor. Last time I took this cruise, we left late - after dark - and I wasn't able to sit and enjoy the harbor cruise with a drink like I had been planning. Hoping there aren't any issues and we can sail during daylight or at least sunset.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!







Top