Thank you so much for this! I wasn’t sure what exactly the onboard booking perks were with
DCL!
omg, I could talk about DCL all day.
That brings about a whole other addiction that makes the parks feel like manual labor. Not exaggerating.
At dinner our table is waiting for us. They pull out my chair, put my napkin on my lap and say, "Patti, how was your day?" They remember that dh and I like ice tea with our meal and that I prefer whole milk vs. half n half for my coffee after dessert. I don't have to keep reminding them every night.
When my kids were little, the servers would cut their meat and crack their lobster.
If I tried to get up to do it, I'd be told, "No, no Mommy. You're on vacation too!" (We didn't cruise until our youngest was 4 so I doubt it would be THAT relaxing with a baby but you get the gist of it.)
Dh stays in touch on FB with one server from Hungary. He was so phenomenal, besides being good at his job, just all around nice guy with a great sense of humor. He taught my kids cool magic tricks and we would request him over and over.
One time when ds20 was around 12, on the first night at dinner ds asked if there would ever be creme brulee on this cruise and our server told him he would get him some. When ds pointed out that it's not on the menu that night, the server grabbed his pen and wrote it on the menu.
They are incredibly humble and just want you to be happy. (It was probably being served in a different dining room that night but he went out of his way to get some and made ds feel like a king.) We always tip extra, beyond the recommended amounts, when they go way beyond like that.
Castaway Cay is wonderful; no lugging chairs and umbrellas like I would if at our local shore. Just grab some towels as you step off the ship, however many you like, with used towel bins along the main path to toss them when they're wet. As a comparison, Carnival and Royal Caribbean make you sign out a specific # of towels with your stateroom # and you're charged $20 per towel if not returned, and be sure to save your proof that they were returned. So I'd be constantly pestering my kids where their towels were left, which of course they weren't sure so we'd guess. Freakin' cheapskates...as if I want to keep their used towels.
With DCL, the whole thing is a little slice of heaven.
They bring drinks to your chair and it's all soooo relaxing.
I never, EVER leave the ship without rebooking. It's expensive enough already and I refuse to pay full price when there's a way to avoid it. Also prices tend to rise, not drop, so it's best to book early. TAs can't discount the cost of the cruise (sort of like Kohl's coupons and Nike, Levi's etc) but they do offer OBCs that are stackable on top of the DCL onboard booking OBCs. My TA matches what DCL gives. Like a WDW trip, you don't NEED a TA but hopefully it helps to keep her job and makes me happy.
Seriously, it's why I'm here on this thread to begin with and probably why I'll never be able to retire early. Oh well, no one ever puts on their tombstone, "If only I had spent more time at work." My kids have amazing memories not just the 4 of us but many with my parents, dh's parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
Just a great family vacation. Be prepared for the 12-step program. I'm booked for our 20th cruise.
Check out the DCL boards, there is LOTs of helpful info there.