thegooftroopfla 18 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Ok. As many have followed and given advice on our sons medical journey up and down the eastern seaboard he finally has some good coming his way. He was awarded make a wish. His make a wish was a Disney cruise to Saint Thomas. We have tried a few times to take a Disney cruise with him, but couldn't due to how he was feeling. So now we are going. Tonight we had his Make a wish Bon voyage party and we leave Saturday morning. We are going to be on the Disney fantasy and it is the Halloween cruise. Any tips on what to do or what to see. We did a Disney cruise before he born over 11 years ago. I think it was 2003, with our daughter. It seems a lot has changed now. He is so pumped and we are too. Also has anyone ever done a make a wish cruise with Disney. They gave us a make a wish granting stick and told us to have him point with it and make wishes. We don't know what that means. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I have no advice, but have a blast!!!! I know y'all will have a great time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 That's so great! I also don't have any advice, just wanted to wish y'all a Bon voyage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Have a wonderful trip! I've been to many of the famous beaches in St. Thomas, but Megan's Bay is by far my favorite. Most tour operators don't want to take you there because they have to pay a fee to get you in/out of the area, but it's certainly worth the few extra dollars. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblr....Rennie 224 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 No advice here either but just want to say congrats and have a great trip!!!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I don't know about the stick, but please ask Make-a-Wish as I'm sure it's something special :) Have a wonderful, magical, trip! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rm0530 5 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I know at the parks they give you a Make A Wish button that can be used to get to the front of lines and characters. I wonder if they also provide that for the character greetings on the ship. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Have a great time! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Wow. This is great. I don't know how Make A Wish cruises work, so I have no advice in that regard. But, as far as Disney Cruises go, my general advice is to go with the flow. It's not possible to do it all, so give up on that idea before you board. When you do get on the ship, consult the Navigator, which is a publication they print outlining all of the activities available for each day. Your family can pick the things they would like to do each day. You will be told when and where you will eat dinner each night, but for the other meals, you can pick when and where to eat (and that is even true for dinner if you want). Remember that room service is free and is available 24 hours a day. We love that. I don't know if your remember this from your previous cruise- but they will bring you those Mickey Premium Ice Cream bars for free. All that you want. They don't list those on the room service menu, but, they will bring them if you ask. Another unique thing about Disney cruises is that they have every Disney movie you can imagine available to watch on demand in your cabin. Not that I recommend sitting in the cabin watching movies, but it's a nice thing to have if anyone wants to hang out and chill. There are big shows put on in the main theater every night. These are Broadway quality productions. Try to see as many of those as you can. Up on the pool deck there are food service windows serving pizza, hot dogs, and all kinds of other things. Those are open all day long, and into the night hours as well. I like St. Thomas and all the other ports in the Caribbean, but you live in Florida, and I don't think their beaches are any nicer than ours. After you see a few of the port towns, you'll realize that they're all about the same- full of the same shops selling the same crappy souvenirs. I would plan on spending more time on the ship. It's way nicer than any of the ports. I truly hope that your family has a great trip! TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hope you have an amazing time!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Oops. I forgot something. Pirate Night. Find out what night that is for your cruise, and make sure that you attend the Deck Party. That's when they shoot of the fireworks. DCL is the only cruise line that shoots of fireworks from their ships. Make sure you are on the top deck, with a view of the starboard side of the ship (that's you're right if you are facing the front of the ship). DO NOT miss the fireworks! TCD BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 They gave us a make a wish granting stick and told us to have him point with it and make wishes. We don't know what that means. Point it at characters and cast members and see what happens :) (just guessing) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Point it at characters and cast members and see what happens :) (just guessing) I would point it at a Konch Kooler on Castaway Cay! TCD BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegooftroopfla 18 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 My sons initial wish was to have the Walt Disney suite, but that was not an option. He loved the fact it had a refrigerator with unlimited Mickey bars, so he will love that he can get them for free. About the movies. Do they have the channel with all he old Disney cartoons. That was my sons favorite part of the fort was watching and waiting for steamboat willie. He already asked if they had that on the cruise. He will also need to give his back and legs a rest and has to sit in braces for an hour every day, so that is a good thing. He already went and picked out a pirate costume for the pirate party. We were going to let him do the pirate make up garb at the place on the ship, but there last appointment is 1245 everyday. We thought it would be horrible to have him miss a day of pool and evening for the make up. His main goal is to ride the aqua duck as much as his body can take. Thanks for he tips on the starboard side viewing. I was wondering where the best place to see it was. As for the wand. It appears I will be pointing it at the konch cooler. Thanks everyone for the cheers. This kid has earned it after spending most of the last year and a half in hospitals BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Oops.I forgot something.Pirate Night.Find out what night that is for your cruise, and make sure that you attend the Deck Party. That's when they shoot of the fireworks.DCL is the only cruise line that shoots of fireworks from their ships.Make sure you are on the top deck, with a view of the starboard side of the ship (that's you're right if you are facing the front of the ship). DO NOT miss the fireworks!TCDGet "Pirate Outfits for everybody" it adds to the fun and get your pic taken with Capt Jack. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegooftroopfla 18 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 We did. Luckily Halloween is near. So his Bon voyage party was two nights ago. Mom and myself went and got him a costume as well as ourselves. We can't wait. Our biggest obstacle is packing all this stuff. It's a seven day cruise. So a formal and semi formal night. We have decided to do a formal both nights to get really good pictures, with us being in the hospital so much most of our pictures of the last couple years have been our son in a hospital room or with ivs or other stuff. So we want a great couple of pictures for Christmas, finally a positive Christmas picture. Then it's Halloween so there's the pirate party and a Halloween party. So that's two costumes. My wife and myself have decided to embrace this as much as possible . We do not think he will like the kids camp. He has been moved around so much the last year from Florida to Massachusetts to Florida to Maryland and now back to Florida. He has been having some really emotional times about always meeting new friends, and hen leaving them. So we are going to be his best friends and act like kids again with him, but we honestly hope he does join kids club. So we have two formal outfits per person, two costumes per person then outfits for everyday and every dinner. Seems like a lot of clothes and shoes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 There's an old saying about cruising that after you pack, you should remove half your stuff and you'll be fine. The nice thing about DCL cabins is that there is plenty of storage space. But, if you can cut down on what you're bringing you should. Don't forget that you have to pack it all up to bring home at the end. Most guests do not dress up on the formal nights. We always do- and you're right about it being a great time to take family photos. But, you could easily skip either the formal or semi-formal night ,and it wouldn't be a problem. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 We did. Luckily Halloween is near. So his Bon voyage party was two nights ago. Mom and myself went and got him a costume as well as ourselves. We can't wait. Our biggest obstacle is packing all this stuff. It's a seven day cruise. So a formal and semi formal night. We have decided to do a formal both nights to get really good pictures, with us being in the hospital so much most of our pictures of the last couple years have been our son in a hospital room or with ivs or other stuff. So we want a great couple of pictures for Christmas, finally a positive Christmas picture. Then it's Halloween so there's the pirate party and a Halloween party. So that's two costumes. My wife and myself have decided to embrace this as much as possible . We do not think he will like the kids camp. He has been moved around so much the last year from Florida to Massachusetts to Florida to Maryland and now back to Florida. He has been having some really emotional times about always meeting new friends, and hen leaving them. So we are going to be his best friends and act like kids again with him, but we honestly hope he does join kids club. So we have two formal outfits per person, two costumes per person then outfits for everyday and every dinner. Seems like a lot of clothes and shoes.Love your ideas and attitude! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegooftroopfla 18 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 We are really pumped. They told us he was awarded make a wish in late February early March. However, we were in Baltimore till July, so he couldn't have his wish granted till we returned. So we have been planning, and thinking for months. With all the struggles we were going through the thought of this trip is the only thing that kept our spirits up most days. Now it's two days away and we are in a state of disbelief. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegooftroopfla 18 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Another question. How does the boarding work.mwe went to do online check in last week, but it was saying not to show up till after 3. We waited because make a wish had our packet. When we got our packet it told us make a wish reccomendation was to arrive around noon because buses get there at 1230. Our initial plan was to get there as early as possible, it's a two hour drive approximately. I had seen on a famous TCD report that this might be a great idea so we can get to the aqua duck quicker, we are wearing our bathing suits up. Plus we want to have lunch on the boat. So we decided to not do online check in, we thoug even if it takes a few extra minutes at check in, we will still be 3 hours earlier than what the online check in slot was. I didn't know how strict they were about online check in and the time that comes with it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 I'm not sure how they're handling check-in now, as it is something that they constantly tweak to try to get guests from all showing up at the same time and overcrowding the terminal. I can only tell you what I've observed- which is that the check-in times are meaningless once the port opens. They had the requirement where you had to get a check-in time in advance for my last two cruises, so I jumped on that and got the earliest check in time. When we arrived at our assigned time, there were already people ahead of us, and a lot of them did not have the early assigned check-in time. There was nowhere for those folks to go, and they were allowed to check-in and wait in the terminal just like everyone else. The "secret" of arriving early to use the Aqua Duck isn't a secret anymore. It's always super busy on boarding day now. The only suggestion I have for that is that you go straight there upon boarding-even before you eat. But, to be honest, I'm not sure it's worth doing that. Since you're on a 7 night cruise, there ought to be opportunities to ride it when it's not too busy. Since you have a Make A Wish cruise, I would hope that they will streamline your check-in, and not make you wait with everyone else. I'd do whatever the Make A Wish folks tell you to do. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Sounds like good time to use the wand! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thegooftroopfla 18 Posted October 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Sounds like good time to use the wand! never thought of that. I guess we will see how it works. lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted October 24, 2015 Report Share Posted October 24, 2015 Just reading this thread. How exciting, I hope your trip was wonderful and your son had a blast. Wish I had seen this earlier, I would have recommended taking the tram way. It's in walking distance of the dock and takes you up above the trees and buildings to a beautiful view of the ships in port. Other stuff too, of course. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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