newbie question - multiple staterooms

[ekmom]

Four of us (all adults) are cruising with two staterooms. Our son's husband made the reservation for all of us. Our son is silver, the rest of us are first timers. Son and his husband have been able to book their activities, but our window isn't until September 5th. Is this normal or have we not linked up the rooms correctly?

 

[lanejudy]

Yes, it's normal. Each room can book activities based on the highest Castaway Club level present in the room. It doesn't carry to linked rooms.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

If both people in your stateroom are first-time guests on DCL, then bookings for your port adventures is at 75 days out. Your son’s stateroom will be able to book at 90 days out since he is silver and his higher status applies to both him and his husband for booking purposes. Linking the two staterooms does not give your stateroom the silver status that his stateroom has.

 

[ekmom]

Thanks for the replies! Should we jump right on it the first day we can book? Do things tend to get booked up?

 

[Disneygirlxo91]

Thanks for the replies! Should we jump right on it the first day we can book? Do things tend to get booked up?

Yes, most things do book up pending what you are hoping to book.

 

[daedelus]

As stated, at the first timer level (and even Silver to an extent) a lot of things will be fully booked up already. Especially the alcohol tastings - those go fast! There are a couple of things you can do though.

First, be flexible and persistent! Grab what you can on your schedule and then check back every couple of days (if you want). People can and do change their minds and cancel excursions, onboard activities, even entire cruises. So things will open up. This can happen up to a week before you sail! So while you should set realistic expectations, keep your eyes open too!

Next, talk to shipboard guest services when you get on board. For everything except excursions, talk to GS. I've been able to get into "full" alcohol tastings or find out about additional offerings that weren't on the website and get in to those just by asking. For excursions, check the Port Adventures desk. Last minute cancelations might be your best friend! Note that once aboard you cannot cancel any of your excursions, but if you have an open day, you might be able to score something cool!

Finally, check outside of DCL. A LOT of people "freestyle" it using Viator or other such sites to book non-DCL excursions. You can save a lot of money sometimes that way too. A couple of words of warning there: A) on a DCL excursion, the boat will always wait for you. On a freestyle one, they won't. B) Check the reviews for reputable excursion operators, not just 2 guys and a truck. You want to make sure it's safe and well run. Most of them will be - they need the good reviews to stay in business.

Best of luck to you and hope you have a great time!

 

[lanejudy]

Since your son and his husband are already done their activities booking, if one is willing to sit up until midnight on your date they could help try to get you added to their activities. As long as the staterooms are linked they should be able to see your names (currently gray and unable to select) once your booking window opens. With 2 of you working on it, you might get lucky.

What activities are you hoping to book? Not everything is sold out before newbies can book. And we did our first cruise without anything extra scheduled - and still loved it, there is plenty to do without the extras.