What I would do/not do next cruise

[Aussiechick]

Will not do...
1.Bingo
2.Spa treatment - very relaxing but I got upsold on the products at the end!

Will do...
1.Palo
2.Pirate party

[walloon]

Will Do:

1 Palo Brunch---FANTASTIC! We liked the brunch better than dinner we had the cruise before.

2 Rent a car at the ports, it was a great cheap way for us to explore

3 Lunch at one of the sit down resturants

4 Sushi bar at the buffet--YUM!




Won't Do:
1 Spa treatments--they are way to pricey and had a bad experience we the massage I booked for DH....

2 Order a margarita--they put orange juice in the margarita, who does that? It was YUCK!

[SwimMama]

Originally Posted by breakingd_awn

Things I would DO next cruise:
1. Get dry cleaning done on ship , it's cheaper than home...who would have thought.
2. Get DH a case of beer to bring on ship
3. Bring more $1.00 bills for tipping room service and porters, my kids took
FULL advantage of free room service.We only brought $50.00 and didn't
have enough after cruise to afford a porter at the airport.
4. DOCUMENT MILEAGE YOURSELF AND ALL RECEIPTS BEFORE LEAVING at
car rental place, we are still waiting to be credited for a 550 mile
mistake that budget made. We only drove 84
5. Tour Nassau more
6. Get more pictures taken by photographers onboard, we only found 2
pictures that we ALL liked.
7. pack an over the door shoe holder ...now I know why ..my toiletries
were all over the place, it was hard to keep them organized.

Things I would not do:
1. Not pack workout clothes ...fully intended to do it , just didn't have the
time and I work out regularly at home . Just too Busy,Busy,Busy on the boat.
2. I didn't need an extension cord
3. I'm not sure about doing the Fish Extender group again...My youngest DD
loved getting all the gifts , as did I , It was also a good way of exploring
the ship , I had fun doing that.But getting them there can be expensive(
I paid 28.00 to ship them to the boat) They took up too much room in
my suitcase.It also creates ALOT of clutter in your stateroom ,and more
to pack on the way home.
4. I packed 4 pairs of pj's ...I don't know why. I only used 2.

This is just my opinions from our experience on the ship. Oh ...and I would have ordered breakfast through room service at least one day. I saw the order slip in the drawer on our last day.Darn!! Getting up early every morning to make it to breakfast with 4 girls is exhausting!!! I would have liked to sleep in at least one day .Next time I'll remember breakfast in bed

Wonderful ideas! Like the dry cleaning , and more photos ideas. Thanks!

[Tarabra]

Originally Posted by walloon

Will Do:

1 Palo Brunch---FANTASTIC! We liked the brunch better than dinner we had the cruise before.

2 Rent a car at the ports, it was a great cheap way for us to explore

3 Lunch at one of the sit down resturants

4 Sushi bar at the buffet--YUM!




Won't Do:
1 Spa treatments--they are way to pricey and had a bad experience we the massage I booked for DH....

2 Order a margarita--they put orange juice in the margarita, who does that? It was YUCK!

Hmmm...I really liked their margaritas. I wonder what type you got or whether they were just out of the mix. I've never seen them put orange juice in mine.

[engle]

Will do that I didn't and wish I had....
1. Breakfast and Lunch in sit down restaurant
2. Coffee at Cove Cafe
3. Play backgammon and shuffleboard
4. Relax more.

Will do that I did and will do again....
1. Palo
2. Spa, spa, spaaaaaaaah
3. Carry on my own alcohol
4. See movies.

Won't do again...
1. Eat everynight at dining rotation (doing another 4 night and will probably skip all dinners except Pirate night and Tritons)
2. Get off the ship at Nassau...I spent enough money on this boat, I am going to stay on it!!
3. Try to do it all.

[aan1701]

Will do:
1. Palo Brunch. Love it way more than dinner.
2. Palo Tea. I just think it is very relaxing and at 5 bucks it is worth it.
3. Watch fireworks from Deck 4 insted of fighting thru all the people to get to the Pirate party (which in my personal opinion needs to either be changed or go away as it is old and the same for the last five years) and just run to deck 4 from were I am at 10:30 and see the all to breief firework show.
4. Do hardly anything but eat, drink, and relax at the cove durring the day.
5. Let everyone else get off in port and I will enjoy the ship to myself.
6. Eat lunch at the Air BBQ.

Won't do:
1. Go to the pirate party. To crowded and the rest I already noted.
2. Palo Dinner. In my personal opinion way over rated like the show in Animators.
3. Going to the regular shows. I have seen them enough, time for new ones. (I am looking forward to seeing Villians Tonight). I could use this time for more Cove relaxing.
4. Going to topsiders on embarkation day. Parot Cay has the same food but way less crowded and relaxing.
5. Every fly home the day the cruise gets back. Now we always spend at least 2 nights at WDW after. Thank you DVC.

[breakingd_awn]

Originally Posted by aan1701

Will do:
1. Palo Brunch. Love it way more than dinner.
2. Palo Tea. I just think it is very relaxing and at 5 bucks it is worth it.
3. Watch fireworks from Deck 4 insted of fighting thru all the people to get to the Pirate party (which in my personal opinion needs to either be changed or go away as it is old and the same for the last five years) and just run to deck 4 from were I am at 10:30 and see the all to breief firework show.
4. Do hardly anything but eat, drink, and relax at the cove durring the day.
5. Let everyone else get off in port and I will enjoy the ship to myself.
6. Eat lunch at the Air BBQ.

Won't do:
1. Go to the pirate party. To crowded and the rest I already noted.
2. Palo Dinner. In my personal opinion way over rated like the show in Animators.
3. Going to the regular shows. I have seen them enough, time for new ones. (I am looking forward to seeing Villians Tonight). I could use this time for more Cove relaxing.
4. Going to topsiders on embarkation day. Parot Cay has the same food but way less crowded and relaxing.
5. Every fly home the day the cruise gets back. Now we always spend at least 2 nights at WDW after. Thank you DVC.

I totally agree with you on Animaters Palate. I was expecting ALOT more ...I thought all the walls and ceiling would change colors. Just tv screens changed and some lights on pillars oh and our servers vests. I would not pay 4.whatever million they paid for that.I did however LOVE their food Palo Brunch was also one of my faves

[aan1701]

Originally Posted by breakingd_awn;

I totally agree with you on Animaters Palate. I was expecting ALOT more ...I thought all the walls and ceiling would change colors. Just tv screens changed and some lights on pillars oh and our servers vests. I would not pay 4.whatever million they paid for that.I did however LOVE their food

I completly agree. The food was great. I two was expecting more than just some simple light trick at the end to change only about 1/4 of the room. I was expecting the whole room to change. It was and still is a big let down.

[aurorafan65]

Originally Posted by Mom323

I have a friend that does this with her old undies.

thank you for saying this - my dh thinks I'm nuts because I suggested it for our 12 night Baltic trip - I was thinking all the souvenier space we'd end up with if we took old undies, socks & t-shirts

[Homemom]

Will do:
1. Upgrade at port to a cat 3 if available, we got spoiled by conceirge.

Won't do:
1. Eat every night in main dining room (being in a suite we were able to have dinner from the main dining rooms delivered to our room and we enjoyed that much more).
2. Leave the ship in Nassau. We were not impressed with it and would've enjoyed a less crowded pool/slide experience on board much more.

[Doingitagain]

I have to throw my vote in for the dry cleaning and ironing. I don't dry clean before I go, I give all our dress clothes to the stateroom host the day we arrive on the ship. Those that need dry cleaning get that, those that just need to be pressed after being in our suitcase just have that done.

I find the cost reasonable, and it saves me spending the money at home before I leave. There are many other ways to spend a lot of money on the ship, this is one I really can justify to start enjoying my vacation right away.

I have used laundry services on the ship, and the clothes come back clean and pressed. The first time I saw my shorts come back with an ironed crease in the front I was so excited I didn't want to wear them!

Marie

[Presentation]

Really a great topic!
Will do again..
#1) rent our own vehicle to get from the airport to the cruise port and back.
#2) call the cruise line the day before we sail and if there are rooms available at a category above ours, get to the port at about 9:30 to get in line to try for a port upgrade.
#3) attend the ‘til we meet again’ character gathering in the atrium the last night of the cruise.
#4) Palo’s dinner
#5) Book any island tour / activity on our own.
#6) get off the ship at castaway cay right away, as soon as you can to get a great spot and get some photos of the empty beach.
#7) Fly in at least one night before the cruise.
#8) Bring our own wine onboard.
#9) Use a Google pop3 email account + my laptop, log on, send / receive emails, log off then compose replies, repeat. I got my work done and had a grand total internet expense of only $17 versus more than a hundred!
#10) Book next cruise onboard to take advantage of the 10% discount offer.


Will not do again..
#1) Palo’s lunch. I know many love Palo’s lunch. I don’t like cold cuts, even high end cold cuts. Had our fist and last Palo’s lunch / bruch in January of this year.

[DaParkers]

Originally Posted by tjbaggott

You know what I Would NOT do next time? I would NOT listen to DH when he suggests a short nap after dinner on Pirate night! On our last trip, we were all still so exhausted from 4 days in WDW then onto the Cruise. On Pirate night we all lay down for that nap and didn't wake up till after 10 pm!! errrgghhhh. We missed the WHOLE Pirate Party!

I didn't want to go because of I too, was tired, but, thankfully my wife wasn't having that. She made me go and I'm glad I did. We danced and had a great time!

[TinklednPants]

Originally Posted by Presentation

.

Will not do again..
#1) Palo’s lunch. I know many love Palo’s lunch. I don’t like cold cuts, even high end cold cuts. Had our fist and last Palo’s lunch / bruch in January of this year.

There's a heck of a lot offered beyong cold cuts

Will: Palo (both)
Arrive the day before
Over the door organizer
Room service chocolate chip cookies

Won't: Pirate Party
Character Breakfast

[Presentation]

Originally Posted by TinklednPants

There's a heck of a lot offered beyong cold cuts

If you like the Palo’s brunch, cool, go, I’m happy for you.

I really enjoyed the dinner. I did not like the brunch.

All the stuff I wanted to eat was there during brunch, it was just cold. I darn near asked to use the microwave in the kitchen. Cold scallops? Cold Crab? Cold soup? Cold lots of stuff.

Yes, there were hot dishes offered but the stuff I wanted to eat was there, it was just cold.

Hey, by us not going to Palo’s brunch there will be more room for you, right?