We got home last night after an extra night's stay in Orlando. We had an absolutely Magical time for 7 nights on our Western Carribean cruise. I will try to capture some of the highlights and things that were amazing to a first time cruiser family.
-We stayed POR Riverside the night prior to our cruise (Apr 25th) and took the DCL transfer to the port the next day. I want to say we were picked up around 11:30am and got there close to 1pm. Checked in, got the girls registered for youth activities and walked onto the ship since it was open boarding at that point. I got very emotional at the terminal just walking onto the ship, this was an absolutely dream of mine and it was finally coming true! Hearing our family name announced was nice but I was awestruck at that point anyway. Got the Princess Gathering and Anna/Elsa tickets right away and it was almost 1:30pm at that point. Went up to Deck 8, waited for maybe 3 minutes and walked into our stateroom (8518). Found our way to Carioca's for lunch right after that. Back to our stateroom for some unpacking, muster drill (only 1/2 hour btw), get ready for deck party, hit Deck 10 and dinner. Deck party was meh for all of us, it was also very very hot and sunny and that made it harder. Plus, we didn't have awesome spots. That's one thing that can be skipped next time for sure.
-Didn't leave the ship in Key West, DH was very tired and we didn't have anything planned anyway so just relaxed, took naps, discovered the ship a bit.
-Grand Cayman, we went to Royal Palms. $4/pp taxi ride through some crazy traffic and an anticlimactic day for our family there. There were 3 other Carnival ships in port that day and most of the clientelle seemed to be from there, even the DJ made a joke about how Disney travellers don't come to their club since they have too many kids and don't know how to have fun. I beg to differ but whatever. All through our cruise there was a pretty strong wind wherever we went and that made the seas choppy and beaches not too much fun for my girls. It was crowded as well and with the heat and girls not enjoying themselves, we went back early. I don't think we'll go there again if we're ever back in Grand Cayman.
-Cozumel, we went to Paradise Beach Club ($16 cab ride from port) and OMG what a difference! The staff was awesome, pool was clean and beautiful, changing rooms/bathrooms clean, nachos delicious. It was actually a rainy day and after much pondering, we decided to leave the girls in Oceaneer Club (not an easy decision for a helicopter mom like me but I knew they were happy and well cared for). They had a blast, we had some adult time and even though the beach was covered in seaweed (thank you mother nature for the winds) and the ocean was choppy so we only swam in the pool, it was a good afternoon overall.
-Castaway Cay was incredible. Even though the wind was still there, the sun was out and it was low 80s. The beach was almost deserted, lunch was OK but nothing to write home about and we all had a good time swimming and relaxing together.
-The service was incredible... Our servers were Ivan (from Montenegro) and Maria (from Brazil). They were beyond amazing, we almost had a hard time when saying goodbye to them. Up until the second day of the cruise, I'd never understood why so many people were talking about requesting certain servers but I now totally get it! If we were ever to go back to Magic, we'd be requesting them for sure! Our room host was Froi (from Phillipines), he was very nice and efficient but since we didn't need anything much/extra, I didn't see anything beyond ordinary in his services.
-We didn't book a future trip onboard since this was a VGT and you really can't beat that. DH is a convert, he had big time doubts before the trip but he has been saying how wonderful it was over and over again. Girls loved the youth activities, they must've spent more than half of their waking hours there and kept talking about this and that and how Stitch came in and played with them, how they celebrated Donald's BD together, etc etc etc. On evening #2, they both asked if Disney cruises could become a family tradition <3
-We watched all the shows and loved them all. Character meetings were the highlight of the cruise for my girls, there was never much of a wait and they always spent plenty of time with them.
I know there's more to add so I might come and add to it. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions. This place has helped me tremendously while dreaming about and then preparing for this trip!
-We stayed POR Riverside the night prior to our cruise (Apr 25th) and took the DCL transfer to the port the next day. I want to say we were picked up around 11:30am and got there close to 1pm. Checked in, got the girls registered for youth activities and walked onto the ship since it was open boarding at that point. I got very emotional at the terminal just walking onto the ship, this was an absolutely dream of mine and it was finally coming true! Hearing our family name announced was nice but I was awestruck at that point anyway. Got the Princess Gathering and Anna/Elsa tickets right away and it was almost 1:30pm at that point. Went up to Deck 8, waited for maybe 3 minutes and walked into our stateroom (8518). Found our way to Carioca's for lunch right after that. Back to our stateroom for some unpacking, muster drill (only 1/2 hour btw), get ready for deck party, hit Deck 10 and dinner. Deck party was meh for all of us, it was also very very hot and sunny and that made it harder. Plus, we didn't have awesome spots. That's one thing that can be skipped next time for sure.
-Didn't leave the ship in Key West, DH was very tired and we didn't have anything planned anyway so just relaxed, took naps, discovered the ship a bit.
-Grand Cayman, we went to Royal Palms. $4/pp taxi ride through some crazy traffic and an anticlimactic day for our family there. There were 3 other Carnival ships in port that day and most of the clientelle seemed to be from there, even the DJ made a joke about how Disney travellers don't come to their club since they have too many kids and don't know how to have fun. I beg to differ but whatever. All through our cruise there was a pretty strong wind wherever we went and that made the seas choppy and beaches not too much fun for my girls. It was crowded as well and with the heat and girls not enjoying themselves, we went back early. I don't think we'll go there again if we're ever back in Grand Cayman.
-Cozumel, we went to Paradise Beach Club ($16 cab ride from port) and OMG what a difference! The staff was awesome, pool was clean and beautiful, changing rooms/bathrooms clean, nachos delicious. It was actually a rainy day and after much pondering, we decided to leave the girls in Oceaneer Club (not an easy decision for a helicopter mom like me but I knew they were happy and well cared for). They had a blast, we had some adult time and even though the beach was covered in seaweed (thank you mother nature for the winds) and the ocean was choppy so we only swam in the pool, it was a good afternoon overall.
-Castaway Cay was incredible. Even though the wind was still there, the sun was out and it was low 80s. The beach was almost deserted, lunch was OK but nothing to write home about and we all had a good time swimming and relaxing together.
-The service was incredible... Our servers were Ivan (from Montenegro) and Maria (from Brazil). They were beyond amazing, we almost had a hard time when saying goodbye to them. Up until the second day of the cruise, I'd never understood why so many people were talking about requesting certain servers but I now totally get it! If we were ever to go back to Magic, we'd be requesting them for sure! Our room host was Froi (from Phillipines), he was very nice and efficient but since we didn't need anything much/extra, I didn't see anything beyond ordinary in his services.
-We didn't book a future trip onboard since this was a VGT and you really can't beat that. DH is a convert, he had big time doubts before the trip but he has been saying how wonderful it was over and over again. Girls loved the youth activities, they must've spent more than half of their waking hours there and kept talking about this and that and how Stitch came in and played with them, how they celebrated Donald's BD together, etc etc etc. On evening #2, they both asked if Disney cruises could become a family tradition <3
-We watched all the shows and loved them all. Character meetings were the highlight of the cruise for my girls, there was never much of a wait and they always spent plenty of time with them.
I know there's more to add so I might come and add to it. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions. This place has helped me tremendously while dreaming about and then preparing for this trip!
