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[daddyof2]

OK, not a big post but I promised I'd post something. We could finally pre-book activities and register for check-in today so I have some stuff I can say for definite.

We (me, better half, dd5 and ds4) are doing our first ever cruise after 2 family trips to DLP. We fly from East Mids to Barcelona on Thursday 11th August, and are spending the Friday soaking up a bit of culture (and maybe soak up a San Miguel too) seeing some of the city.

We set sail on the Saturday, and will board in time for lunch before we depart. We don't have much "official" planned as we think the kids would hate being dragged around some of Italy's finest cities (Pompeii, Rome, Florence) but are going to do a short trip to Pisa, as it's quite close to the port and we can do that fairly easily. If we get chance, we'll find a beach close-ish to one of the ports but mostly we're planning to eat, swim/splash and relax of a daytime and watch movies or shows of an evening. With luck, the children will like the kids club so we can have an hour or two of grown up time (stop giggling). On the Thursday night, there's a pirate party so we'll all be dressing up for that. Fingers crossed for lots of character meets, and that I don't break my credit card or become hooked on cruising

We get back to Barcelona on Saturday 20th, then fly home (sobbing quietly no doubt) so will try and do a report once we're back.

[NCC1701Q]

Sounds like an amazing trip - I look forward to the after trip report!

[DisneyRon]

That sounds rather lovely. Do keep us posted of your trip.

[never2old]

By window for booking activities for our cruise opened on Sunday 

We've booked the Herculaneum visit with Disney (I've always wanted to visit it, and it's a short one so I think it will be OK for my daughter). Then from Civitavecchia we'll do a private tour of Rome, and finally in Livorno we'll do the Easy Pisa trip with Disney. In Villefranche we'll visit on our own, and maybe try to find a nice beach... Other than the day we visit Rome, we should have plenty of time to relax. My husband is doing the half marathon in DLP so he'll need to train a bit (deck 4 is great for running, apparently); my daughter is doing also one of the kids races, but she's already told my husband that she won't have any time to train while we're on Mickey's boat because she needs to play  She's really excited about going back on the Magic, seeing the princesses (she's already asking me if Rapunzel will be there because she wants to show her her new dress) and playing in the kids clubs!

And we've registered to arrive at 11:00, so we'll get plenty of time on-board on the first day!

daddyof2, don't worry about the characters, you'll get plenty of opportunities!!  And the kids clubs are really great! If your children are anything like my daughter, you won't be able to get them out of there! There's usually an open-house on the first day (check the personal navigator for the times), you can go in with them to see everything and meet the cast members there (and take photos, you won't be able to take any photos at other times). There are also other times when parents can come in and participate into the activities.

Have you booked any activities on-board? I've booked a couple of visits to the bibbity bobbity boutique for my little princess (make up and hair only, prices for packages are quite something!!), one on the Frozen night and one for Pirate night. Now I'm working on our pirate costumes 

Don't forget when you board to go to the main desk (in deck 3) and get your tickets for the available events (the Frozen meet and greet, the princesses gathering (though at least in our cruise they were out almost every day) and I'm hoping an Avengers one. And if you want to do any of the adults activities (like wine tastings or mixology classes), the first day on board is also the time to book! Try to go early to avoid the longer queues in the afternoon.

Don't miss the shows, at least the Disney ones (we should at least have Twice Charmed, Tangled and Disney Dreams); Disney Dreams I think plays on the last night and it's absolutely amazing, seeing it again is one of the things I'm most looking forward to.

Have you looked at the photo packages? Particularly if you plan on meeting lots of characters, I would really consider getting one. If you buy it in advance (http://www.mycruisephotos.com/DCL/) you get a discount. It's not like in DLP where you have lots of characters without a photographer... Here they are everywhere (even in the ports and excursions), and they take lots of great photos. In our cruise last year we spent ages trying to select some photos to take with us (I think it was 20 dollars per photo, and no discount if you buy many).

Good luck on not becoming addicted to Disney cruising... My parents went on another cruise this year (not Disney), and although they really liked it, they kept saying 'it is not Disney'. How was the ship? Ok, but it's not Disney. How was the service? Good, but cannot be compared to Disney. How was the food? Good, but nothing to do with Disney. You get the idea... 

[daddyof2]

Have you booked any activities on-board? I've booked a couple of visits to the bibbity bobbity boutique for my little princess (make up and hair only, prices for packages are quite something!!), one on the Frozen night and one for Pirate night. Now I'm working on our pirate costumes 

We've looked at the boutique options but haven't booked any yet - they're certainly not cheap

[never2old]

I just booked a character breakfast, and the frozen and princesses meet and greets, they appeared online, under onboard fun (on the sea days). You should check in case you also have that option!!

[daddyof2]

I just booked a character breakfast, and the frozen and princesses meet and greets, they appeared online, under onboard fun (on the sea days). You should check in case you also have that option!!

I'm not as privileged a guest as you are - I'll have to wait. We don't have a frozen night so not sure if we'll have the meet and greet either

[never2old]

You sure about the Frozen night? In our cruise is on the 2nd night (apparently there's no formal night this time), it doesn't come up in the planner but people have called DCL to confirm. And you're doing the same cruise a couple of weeks before, I'd be surprised if they were different!

[daddyof2]

Well it's not showing up in the planner like pirate night so I assumed there wasn't one. Their website is a bit frustrating sometimes! How long do the shows last? We want to see them all

[never2old]

The deck party itself is not very long, maybe 15 minutes?, but they have activities going on all day.

[daddyof2]

Sorry, I meant the shows at the theatre

[never2old]

Ah! Those were a bit longer, around 45 minutes maybe?

During our cruise last year we had time to see the first show (we had the second seating for dinner), then do a couple of meet 'n' greets with the characters (there were always some scheduled around that time) and then go for dinner.

[daddyof2]

We're on first seating for dinner, so will have to hope the little ones aren't too grumpy to stay up for the shows - maybe we can persuade them to have  an afternoon nap