Newbie Question: When to Book the Activities

[Mariano O'Kon]

Hi Everyone!

I just booked a surprise Disney Cruise for my daughter, 16, son, 10 and me! It will be our first Disney Cruise ever!

We are leaving in 6 days! And, yes, I booked it 2 days ago... told you it was a surprise... :-)

Anyway, my newbie question is: Do I have to book the activities for Castaway and Nassau NOW?

Why do I ask? 2 reasons:

1. My son and daughter have no idea we are going... therefore, it would be nice if we could decide all together in the ship what to do.

2. I've been looking at the choices... and they are overwhelming... Floaters, Dolphins, Skuba, Parasailing, Atlantis, and the list goes on and on...

So. Do I have to decide NOW, maybe spoiling the surprise a few days in advance and decide with them? Or can I wait and book the in-land activities on my 1st day at sea?

THANKS!!!

Mariano :mickey:

[DizneyRox]

Oh my, in 6 days? Hopefully there's still availability. I'd sit down right now and see what you want to do. It would probably take me 6 days to pack for the cruise with everything else.

[BrerGnat]

Honestly, if this is your first cruise, book NOTHING.

We didn't book anything prior to our cruise either (except one dinner at Palo that we ended up cancelling).

I am glad we didn't book anything. It gave us the freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted.

If you were able to book the cruise 2 days ago and the ship sails in 6 days, you are NOT on a full cruise. There will be plenty of availability to book stuff onboard.

FYI, you do not need to pre book anything for Castaway Cay. They do not "run out" of floats, snorkeling equipment, rental bikes, etc. There are so many of everything on the island and the rental huts just have piles and piles of stuff available.

Also, we considered the Atlantis excursion, and I'm so glad we didn't, because the day we were in Nassau, the weather was AWFUL all afternoon (but the excursion wasn't cancelled, and we heard all they got was an hour before the waterpark at Atlantis closed and it never opened back up, so they were out all that money for only 1 hour of fun).

If you want to book the Jet Ski or Parasailing adventures at Castaway, I'd book those now if you can, but then you are committed. That's something we have a hard time with doing as a family, as something always seems to come up last minute.

There will be enough to do on the cruise even if you book nothing extra. In fact, it will make the vacation that much more relaxing to be on your own timetable.

What you might want to do (for yourself) is buy one of the Rainforest Room passes, so you can get a few hours of "you" time, at least one day.

[Mariano O'Kon]

Thanks for the answers!

I will wait until we are in the ship then.

Thanks again!

Mariano

[JMTStone]

Hi Everyone!

I just booked a surprise Disney Cruise for my daughter, 16, son, 10 and me! It will be our first Disney Cruise ever!

We are leaving in 6 days! And, yes, I booked it 2 days ago... told you it was a surprise... :-)

Anyway, my newbie question is: Do I have to book the activities for Castaway and Nassau NOW?

Why do I ask? 2 reasons:

1. My son and daughter have no idea we are going... therefore, it would be nice if we could decide all together in the ship what to do.

2. I've been looking at the choices... and they are overwhelming... Floaters, Dolphins, Skuba, Parasailing, Atlantis, and the list goes on and on...

So. Do I have to decide NOW, maybe spoiling the surprise a few days in advance and decide with them? Or can I wait and book the in-land activities on my 1st day at sea?

THANKS!!!

Mariano :mickey:

IMHO. Book everything you can online now.

I don't know that you'll be able to book the kids clubs but definitely try. The 16 year old will not need a pre-form but the 10 year old will, along with a Mickey Band if he intends on spending time in the clubs. Its better to do the paperwork online than in line. Why waste cruise time in LINE?

Also get your excursions in if you can. Some of these fill up rather quickly so I don't know if it would be good for them to choose something then be disappointed choosing something and it be "filled up" at the excursions desk.

[Mariano O'Kon]

Well... I am back from my first Cruise and it was awesome!

I did NOT book anything before my trip as I was not sure what we would want and when.

I didn't want to book it before as the weather forecast was not very promising. I would have loved for the person in Guest Services that told me about the weather, the night before, that the latest group to Atlantis was leaving at 9:30AM...

On that morning, and after breakfast, my son wanted to ride the Aquaduck one time before leaving the boat, and by the time I went to guest services to book the activity it was already late.

In the end I had to get on a taxi myself in Nassau and pay for the Aquadventure tickets in Atlantis. The price was almost the same. No issues there. But if I would have known that the correct information I would have booked it directly on the boat.

The day of Castaway Cay we ended up enjoying the beach and didn't even rent a float.

All in all, we had a wonderful time.

For any other newbies out there, I would recommend to ask about deadlines and availability on Guest Services if you plan on booking during your cruise.

Thanks!

Mariano :mickey:

[JMTStone]

I'm glad you had a great time! Aquaduck is so cool! And you're right, Castaway Cay beach is perfect if you schedule something or nothing at all!