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View Full Version : Did we miss the kids? No way!


mom_rules
03-22-2005, 07:04 PM
We just returned from the March 13-17 Wonder cruise-pirates night with firworks and all! Yes, this was our first cruise and also our first no kids vacation. It was wonderful-we enjoyed watching the other families and their children and also enjoyed all the adult entertainment too. If you have a chance to see both of Michael Harrison's show (one for families and the other for adults in Wavebands) do-he was a blast.

The Pirates party was great-had a little of everything for everyone (no Jack Sparrow :pirate: )

We were on the REAS package-couples massage was great but really could have done without the sales pitch at the end. Champagne breakfast on our verandah as the sun was coming up was lovely. Palo for dinner was to die for - had the best server there and way too much food. The romantic turndown with the towel swans and rose petals-very romantic. We also had brunch in Palo-OMG talk about food including crab claws and snow crab, shrimp and beef tenderloin, omelets made to order, eggs benedict etc and a table of treats like none other!

Stateroom was always clean but they only provided one bar of soap for the entire cruise (always had shampoo and lotion though).

Didn't get to eat at Triton's since we had a very strange dining arrangement. Had the late seating but it was TAPP and we had booked Palo for the first night since we were under the impression that the first and last night would be the same. Oh well maybe next time.

There was a different drink of the day, two for one margaritas and martinis. The wine package is definitely worth it if both people like the same type of wine - will save you some $.

Nassau was different. We did not book any excursions and decided to venture out on our own to see the sites. Walked to 4 hours, talked to alot of people (neat culture) and once you get past the dock area and the straw market they don't bug you to buy things. We had wanted to go to Atlantis or Cable Beach but had bought so much stuff and walked for so long we decided to go back to the ship and have some lunch and cocktails instead. We now have a reason to go back (not that we need one).

Castaway Cay was beautiful-spent three hours on the adult beach. There were rays in the water and a ton of colorful little fish. We were warned that there wer barracuda and sharks nearby but they said they were keeping an eye on them and would get us out of the water if they got too close. On our way back to the family beach the tram driver drove the tram into a tree and rather than asking everyone to get off he rammed every car into the tree-pretty scary. When we finally got back, we were un the process of getting off the tram when the driver jumped out to check the damage but he had forgotten to set the brake and the tram started backing up and we were getting off. Luckily no one was injured. Family beach was packed so we only hung around for about an hour or so and then went back to the ship.

The shows were amazing. Don't miss them!

Our day at sea was very relaxed but we had strong 8-13 ft waves - the meclizine really came in handy that day. We had to make a detour to Freeport to let off a medical emergency before carrying on to Port Canaveral. Debarkation day we had to be at customs and immigration at 6am to retrieve our passports and go through customs. Had a really nice breakfast afterwards before having to leave the ship before 9am.

We spent a few days before and after the cruise at the Beach Club Concierge. Although it wa nice I really prefer the yacht Club concierge-the lounge, the food and the staff seem to be much nicer. We took the DCL transfers to and from port.
We took the Segway - tour around the world at Epcot.
We highly recommend this two hour tour-it was a blast. We had so much fun on those Segways zipping around Epcot.

We had booked a towncar service to get us to and from the airport and when they were late picking us up to take us back to the airport I called them and was advised there were no vehicles available and they told us to take a taxi to the airport. We'll see how this one works out-we were not happy and almost late for our flight.

We enjoyed this no kid vacation so much that we are already talking about booking another for the fall and we just got home!

allears
03-22-2005, 08:21 PM
Great report! We did our very first (at least in 17 1/2 years) no kids vacation by taking our 5th cruise in January. We had a blast. Our kids have been on the previous 4 trips, so we didn't feel the least bit guilty about them missing anything. And we really enjoyed the time together.

Glad you had a Wonderful time!

suzannef
03-22-2005, 09:26 PM
Glad you had a great time! :sunny: Maybe the tram drivers should lay off the drinks of the day :rotfl2: Geesh :confused3

Suzanne

natdencro
03-23-2005, 06:00 AM
Great report! Not been on the Wonder so always nice to read reports about the different itinery. Bit worried about your tram driver at CC though: perhaps a guest had "high-jacked" it after too many Corona beers! Nat :cool1:

mom_rules
03-23-2005, 07:52 AM
Yes, we kind of wondered about the tram drivers state of mind. It was late afternoon and we were in the last car with about a dozen people. We had just made the comment about how tired laying around in the sun drinking margaritas has made everyone-real strenuous activities. No sooner had the words come out of our mouths, looked like our tram driver fell asleep behind the wheel! What really surprised us is the way he quickly tried to cover it up-didn't even check to see if everyone was alright. Then to top it off, he doesn't set the brakes and people are jumping off as the tram is moving backwards.

Not DCL related but, on the Friday afternoon as we were walking around Epcot we noticed a line forming just outside the Land building. Turned out they were doing trial runs for Soarin'. After about a 5 min wait we got to experience this fantastic ride - it was amazing. If you have the chance - do it! Definitely on our must do list for next time.

At MGM they had one performance per day (soft opening) for the new Stunt Motor Cars show. If you plan on attending, get your fast pass early in the day.

nluvwithmickey
03-23-2005, 08:39 AM
We cruised for the first time in Dec 2004, without the kids too!

We celebrated our 15 th anniversary and it was our first vacation alone in 12 years, wayyyyyy overdue. Was nice to see the children and get an opinion as to whether our kids would like the DCL experience. Well after they saw the home movies they absolutely want to give this a try ( who wouldn't? ).

Thanks for the report.

Baloo&Crew
03-23-2005, 09:51 AM
Great report, thanks for posting! Glad you survived the tram ride. How scary!

Jen :shamrock:

bratray
03-23-2005, 10:31 AM
hi
sounds like you had a blast- nice to go away sometimes without the kiddies! :earboy2:

someone should have reported the tram driver- someone could have gotten hurt :guilty:

what car service did you use? concerned that they told you to take a taxi- that is not professional at all :sad2:

thanks for taking the time to post :wave2:

Scratch42
03-23-2005, 12:52 PM
OMG! I hope it wasn't Happy Limo? DD is highly expecting that they pick us up in August! If they did that to you.........Not Good!

Glad everything else, well except the Tram, went well!

So what did you buy in Nassau?

Scratch

mississaugamom
03-23-2005, 01:22 PM
Thanks for the terrific trip report! Sounds like a "kid-free" vacation would be a lot of fun!

Scary about the tram-driver, though! Did you report him????

Arlene

maryliz
03-23-2005, 02:35 PM
Sounds like a fabulous trip! I've always avoided the DCL boards 'cause I knew it would make me wanna go! But have to ask, just what kind of sales pitch would you be getting after a COUPLES MASSAGE -- hmmmm what "other" services is Disney offering to make your trip really, really magical :teeth:

You said that you dined at Palo. Help me understand ... the meal itself is included, but you pay (or you didn't because it was part of your REAS -- which by the way I just learned about from a post from our own Cdn Photobear Sam :) ) $10 per person for the ressie, and then the tip on top of that? Our friends just did the 7-day Eastern and highly recommended Palo, but for a 4-day cruise, I'm not sure I would want to lose out on one of my regular dining options. OMG, I sound like someone who is actually GOING... don't tell my DH, 'cause he'll have me committed for sure! :rotfl2:

And when you say you had TAPP for your dining rotation, does that mean you were slated for Triton's, Animator's Palate, and then Parrot Cay 2 nights in a row?

Thanks! And Welcome home!


Mary-Liz

mom_rules
03-23-2005, 02:47 PM
Sounds like a fabulous trip! I've always avoided the DCL boards 'cause I knew it would make me wanna go!
1. But have to ask, just what kind of sales pitch would you be getting after a COUPLES MASSAGE -- hmmmm what "other" services is Disney offering to make your trip really, really magical :teeth:


2.You said that you dined at Palo. Help me understand ... the meal itself is included, but you pay (or you didn't because it was part of your REAS -- which by the way I just learned about from a post from our own Cdn Photobear Sam :) ) $10 per person for the ressie, and then the tip on top of that? :rotfl2:


3.And when you say you had TAPP for your dining rotation, does that mean you were slated for Triton's, Animator's Palate, and then Parrot Cay 2 nights in a row?

Mary-Liz

Mary-Liz
1.They try to sell you Product-ie. tiny bottle of massage oil $65.00 or some aromatherapy beads for your bath at home $160 for a box etc. really quite annoying-next time I will take everyone's advise and put "NO SALES PITCH" on my form.
2.Apparently the $10 is a gratuity for the serving staff since they aren't part of your regular dining rotation. If you have a good server (and I think ours was one of the best) you have the option of leaving an additional gratuity which we did both for Palo dinner and for the Palo brunch.
3.We did-we were under the impression that the rotation usually had the same first and last night restaurants so we would dine in each one at least once but our rotation was really wierd. Had I known this in advance of booking Palo I would have chosen a night that was already a duplicate.



Scratch-got my Louis Vuitton purses, jewellery, shell/shark necklaces for the kids and a ton of t-shirts and straw bags from the Straw Market-all duty free (oh yeah-bought some Nassau Royale Rum and such-can't skip the duty free booze!)

Scratch42
03-23-2005, 03:37 PM
Scratch-got my Louis Vuitton purses, jewellery, shell/shark necklaces for the kids and a ton of t-shirts and straw bags from the Straw Market-all duty free (oh yeah-bought some Nassau Royale Rum and such-can't skip the duty free booze!)




Oh No! Don't ever, ever mention LV to DD! For some strange reason she has decided she likey! I told her, you workee, you buyee!LOL

Scratch

minmate
03-23-2005, 03:45 PM
Glad you had a great time!

Snowwark
03-23-2005, 04:37 PM
Wow, that's pretty frightening about the tram accident! I wonder if anyone reported the driver?

Two for one margaritas? Oh yummmmm.... :sunny:

Glad you had a good time mom_rules! :) Thank you for the report!

TimNDansMom
03-23-2005, 05:59 PM
Thanks for the great trip report mom_rules. I've always wanted to try a cruise and the more I hear, the closer I get to planning for one!

mom_rules
03-24-2005, 08:12 AM
Julie-we were the same and now there is no turning back!
Already planning for Dec cruise (maybe take the kids this time).

Have you done the Segway tour with your boys? They would have a blast.

MassDisLovers
03-24-2005, 08:30 AM
It's great to hear that you enjoyed your cruise so much without the kids. We think it's the best vacation we've ever taken! Done 2 DCL cruises with the kids now we're "on our own" for a cruise in August. Can't wait! Thanks for sharing your trip, :wizard:

natdencro
03-24-2005, 11:44 AM
Sorry, but the $10 per person fee at Palo is NOT the tip! It is a company fee, out of which your server gets just 40CENTS! So you need to tip extra for your server. Many people make this mistake, as DIsney do not make it clear to guests. Nat :earsboy:

mom_rules
03-24-2005, 11:55 AM
Actually, it was our server at Palo that told us-huh... I wonder why they would do that? We had the same one for both dinner and brunch.

natdencro
03-24-2005, 12:30 PM
I think most guests are under the impression that the $10 fee is mainly for the Server. Sadly, nowhere does it actually tell the guests that this is incorrect.The Server should say that this $10 is Company Policy - and only includes a 40cent tip. Last month we witnessed at least 25% of guests tip ZERO on top of the fee. A tip of between $10-$20 minimum per couple is regarded as reasonable. These Servers rely on their tips, as do the regular Dining Room Servers. They also work in Scoops and Topsiders when not working in Palo. Disney need to make this fact clearer in future.Nat :Pinkbounc

mom_rules
03-24-2005, 12:54 PM
I think you are right-they should not mislead the guests-these guys work hard (by far the best servers we had all cruise). We did tip $15 for Dinner and $10 for brunch because we felt they deserved it.

JungleCruiser
03-24-2005, 04:42 PM
Thank you for posting your trip report. The Segway tour sounds awesome. How old do yo have to be to participate? Can kids operate the Segway? Also, congratulations on being one of the first to go on Soaring! We found Soaring over California one of the most exciting experiences ever! (We loved Soaring on our last Disneyland trip) Is it the same movie or do they do "soaring over Florida"? Just curious. Also, did they say when it will be open to everyone?

Thanks for all the info! :flower3:

mom_rules
03-25-2005, 08:21 AM
I think the segway rules are 16 and over and under 250lbs. They adjust to a person's height-we had some 5' tall people and some 6'5" people and no one had any problems.

We also did Soarin' in Disneyland about a year and a half ago-it's the same show but the smells were more predominent and if was fresh and clean. The entrance way is different-it set up like an airport hanger-really cool pics as you walk through.

JungleCruiser
03-25-2005, 10:31 AM
Once again, thank you for posting. I can't wait for soarin' to open at WDW. I can almost smell the oranges...Thank you for the segway info. I guess we will have to wait for our kids to get a bit older. (Or maybe you have inspired us to take a "no kids" vacation) :flower:

jimmiej
03-25-2005, 12:15 PM
I enjoyed your report. DW & I are booked for our first Disney Cruise in July '06 to celebrate our 25th anniversary. :banana: Thanks for the heads-up on the sales pitch.

We've taken several "no kids" trips to WDW & DL (our kids are college age). Ain't it great? We took the Segway Tour on our last trip. IA, it was a blast! We both think it's the best thing we've ever experienced at WDW. See pic below.

mom_rules
03-27-2005, 07:38 AM
LOL sounds like your vacation was very similar to ours!

BTW-we will celebrate our 25th next July as well! Seems to have
been a good month and year!

Will try to convince DH we need to take another DCL cruise then as well!

Have fun planning!