Ahoy there, Shanita, and welcome aboard planDisney!
Ah, it's not every day that a full crew like yours decides they'd like to pull alongside and cast off toward adventure! I'm so excited that a large family such as yours is ready to take advantage of everything that's included on a Disney Cruise Line vacation! There's so much to discover, so "all hands to stations, and make preparations to get underway! Weigh anchor and come about!"
Ooh, that's nautical terms for "Let's get to it" - loosely translated, of course!
There are really two ways to go about booking large groups:
- Have each part of the family reserve their own staterooms and link your reservations together afterward, OR
- Let the magic of the Disney Cruise Line crew members be your guide!
When my "large" family of around 15 castaways was planning our last trip, we found it easiest to have each part of the family book their own staterooms through the Disney Cruise Line website. If your family is anything like mine, everyone's got an opinion on EVERYTHING. From what deck they want to stay on, to whether they like an Inside Stateroom, Oceanview, or a stateroom with a verandah, to which dinner seating time they want. With this many opinions, we all decided to agree on two things: which cruise worked for everyone's schedule by using the "Find a Cruise" tool, and the First Seating for dinner. For everything else, we knew it was up to each family unit!
After we were all booked, we called a Disney Cruise Line crew member to ensure our reservations were linked to our other family members - and requested to sit at a single table at dinner. Doing this is easy - just be sure to have the last name of the person who booked the stateroom and their reservation number when you call! Linking your reservations also will let you book activities with those in other staterooms, assuming everyone's booking windows have opened! Oh, and I almost forgot, it's possible to book up to FOUR staterooms on a single reservation!
With 50+ family members, though, I'd probably suggest calling a Disney Cruise Line crew member directly from the start to help you make your family's reservations for this incredible adventure. This way, the crew members will know everyone's reservation should be linked together, and specific requests like keeping all your staterooms as close to - or as far from - one another as possible! I'd also suggest having some planning fun by making a chart or some drawings of the names, birthdays, and preferences for who will be in each stateroom! It might seem a bit silly, but I promise it will come in handy when it's time to make the reservations correctly!
Those are the basics, but here are a few bonus "planDrew-approved" tips:
- Most family stateroom categories across the ships of the Disney Cruise Line fleet hold up to five castaways, but some (like Standard Inside Staterooms) only hold up to three or four.
- At least one adult must be in each stateroom!
- If you don't have little sailors coming, definitely consider the Second Seating for dinner - this could also help you all get tables near one another with such a large group!
Whew! Well, Shanita, that's about all the chain we've got on our anchor! I hope that helps you at least get a start on setting a course for you and your crew! Thank you so much for your question, and if you need any more help, please drop me another line - it's what we're here for at planDisney!
SEA ya real soon!
Andrew