Cruise Epilogue...
Just so I can continue talking about this cruise for a little while longer (I literally cannot shut up about it to all my friends)...I thought to write a little epilogue of my thoughts on everything.
Things I'm glad I brought/done:
- Fabreeze or room spray. I'm glad a brought this as the bathrooms are small and tight...the shower curtain can get musty so I sprayed it all the time and it smelled much better! Plus our room always smelled nice.
- Downy wrinkle release. I'm lazy and I never iron. I always use this on my clothes to get them back in shape after sitting in a suitcase.
- Hanging toiletry organizer. Very handy and a huge space saver! The one I got was from target. It looks like this:
- Reusable water bottle. We got some from camelbak but in all honesty mine started to leak...it's the one with the built in straw. I'd go for a simple one with a wide mouth and non-leaky screw top lid because then you can add ice to your water/drinks. The ones with the straw are nice but it can be hard to clean especially if you drink soda or coffee. I like to throw it in my bag so it's important it's not leaky for me, but if you like to carry it around while on the ship then the ones with the straws would work fine. Oh and double-walled because there is less condensation! Never knew so much went into choosing the perfect bottle but I'm still on the hunt for one. LOL
- I brought some cardigans because it does get cool during the evenings at the shows - one black and one white so they are neutral and go with all my outfits.
- 2 usb port wall charger. Fits into one outlet and charges 2 devices. There are larger ones with more outlets but the 2 was fine for me.
- Ziploc bags - can't get enough of them and I always pack like 3 different sizes!
- Brought stuff to sign and left with Guest Services on first night of cruise. This is probably the best souvenir! Bring t-shirts, pillowcases, frame mats, etc. and markers. It's free (well, technically nothing is free, but it's
included in your cruise price) and now I have something pretty to display our pictures in!
- Experienced ALL the restaurants for dinner. Since it was our first
DCL cruise I thought it was important to attend every rotational dinner as long as the menu/theme was different. I had asked on the Dis Boards which night we should go to Palo and almost everyone said Pirate Night. We almost scheduled it on this night but in the end I'm glad I didn't as we loved pirate night at Lumiere's. Maybe it was made better because we were in a group and had family but we had a great time checking out the costumes, taking pictures and having fun with our servers. Even though we ate at Animator's Palate three times, each had a different menu and only one of them had the Drawn to Magic show.
- Brought Disney gift cards, rewards card from Disney Visa spending, etc. The Disney gift cards can be used in the stores and i think the spa as well, but the rewards card has to be taken to guest services to redeem. I had a bunch of dollars waiting to be used which covered my facial at Senses Spa
- Stateroom door decor. I'm so glad I did this as I felt like I was in college again...decorating our door made me really feel I was part of this cruise family...
Things I wish I had brought/done:
- A folder to store all the Navigators each day. I brought most of them home but they got all wrinkly in my suitcase
- More fitted dresses or shorts/capris because my flow-y and flare skirts and dresses would literally blow up in the wind on the upper decks...not pretty. I think a sheath dress or a heavy maxi dress would be fine.
- More fancy shoes. Cruises are a nice way to wear those heels! I love the way heels look but rarely wear them unless at work just because it's not comfy to walk in them when you live in a metropolitan area. I only brought one pair of wedges but wish I had brought more! It's comfy to walk on board the ship and you aren't walking that far at all. Plus if your feet hurt just go back to the stateroom and change...easy!
- An alarm clock. The staterooms don't have one and I don't want to keep picking up my phone to check the time. I didn't wear my watch after a while because I got a pretty bad watch tan...so a little mini battery-operated alarm clock would have been nice. (Don't get one that has to be plugged in as you want to save your precious outlets for your phone/ipad/kindle etc)
- Higher SPF sunscreen. I wear 50 all the time but I still got a weird face tan. The sun is really hot in the Caribbean so I think I should have worn 70 at least...and maybe 100 on my face! It has finally faded, so I look normal now. But in my WDW pics, my face is all different shades and I had to try and cover it up so I didn't look so odd.
- Ordered room service. Yup, didn't order it...either wasn't hungry or just not around or fast asleep. It's a shame as I consider it such a luxury...next time!!
- Eaten in one of the rotational restaurants for breakfast. We were very happy with Cabanas breakfast but we may change it up next time and go to a sit-down breakfast just to see what it's like.
- Palo for dinner...I initially did schedule this for our last night but in the end being with family for our last meal won out and we cancelled Palo. I think it's also because it was only a 5 night cruise...definitely would do this on a longer cruise...plus on the Fantasy we have Remy to try as well! So many meals...so little time...
- Ride the Aquadunk! Yes I know, I kept saying I wanted to do this but I just never found the time or was too busy doing other things! I'm not really big on water slides but I will make the exception for Disney...on the Fantasy I will try the Aquaduck!!
Things I brought but didn't need, or did that I wish I didn't:
- Too many lysol sanitizing wipes. I brought some but used maybe a third of what I brought...In all honesty, the staterooms are spotless. They are cleaner than airplane cabins. (which should be wiped down A LOT). I was really impressed with the cleanliness of the staterooms. I can understand a quick wipe when you first arrive though. just so any residual germs from previous tenants are gone. I will continue to bring them but just not as many packs as I had.
- Clothes. I tend to pack light but brought more clothes on this trip because I wanted to be prepared and have options. I could have brought 1/4 less clothes I think. and definitely leave the breezy dresses for below deck!
- I have a hot air brush that dries and styles at the same time. In all honestly I barely dried my hair and the stateroom has a dryer in any case. I think it would be nice if I had more formal dinners. We ended up cancelling Palo for dinner, so in all honestly I did my hair only once on the trip.
- Made spa appointments ahead of time. I booked before the cruise and in all honestly, I saw in the Navigators every day that there was some special pricing on treatments, usually on port days. I'd gladly give up an hour at port to get a nice massage at a discount. I may even try one of their spa sampler packages...so much cheaper than a full priced spa service!
And finally some thoughts on the best things about the trip:
- Best Service: Our entire team! Zsolt, Gerado, Branislav, Inka...they were all amazing and made our time spent on the ship so comfortable.
- Best Food: Palo was the best. I would pay for the upcharge.
- Best Restaurant Theme: Animator's Palate
- Best Rotational Restaurant Night: Drawn to Magic Show at Animator's Palate.
- Best Theater show: Dreams, an Enchanted Classic
- Best Outdoor Show: Pirate Night fireworks!
- Best Character meet: tie between Anna and Elsa, and the random Goofy run-in.
- Best place to take a break: Cove Cafe...air conditioned, lots of stuff to read, and real coffee!
- Best fast/quick service: Pete's Broiler Bites for the chicken fingers and fries.
- Best Port of Call on this cruise: I enjoyed all the ports on this cruise, but if I had to choose it would be
Castaway Cay!
I can't wait to do this all over again!
I went on a Disney Cruise years ago (before Disney had their own ships) so I'd love to try it again and see their private island.
