Conorama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2012
The Secret 3rd Disney Cruise - Magic 7-night Western Caribbean - Mini-report- January 25 to Feb 1st, 2015 - Final reflections
Overall, we did not have much of a different experience on a classic ship than on a Dream-class ship (except for someone who very much missed his mystery games and mini-golf).
This is probably because (risky statement ahead) the ships are not the focus for us.
Our vacation focus is always to spend some good times together as a family, much of it together, some of it apart. As in many families, I have a job I love that involves somewhat longer hours, and although we spend most of our weekends together, much of that is taken up with "Conor has outrgrown his shoes. Again. Back to the store...", and swimming/skating/etc. lessons, visiting with friends, etc., so we really, really value our family time together on vacation. We do enjoy escaping our beloved Canada's winters, and we don't want to worry about things like whether this restaurant is safe to eat at or not, as that would defeat the purpose. We all value our sleep, and the grown-ups at least consciously work on wellness while we're away - so regular exercise, eating well, and getting good sleep.
How does Disney fit in to this? The cruises so far have managed to support our goals. Because Big Mouse is smart, he allows us to relax, and do the things we are interested in. He does it well, we will admit. So do many resorts, and we don't prefer one over the other. The Disney part itself is not the destination - even now, I'm pretty sure Conor wouldn't care if he missed character meets - they worked out in terms of the fact we weren't doing much when they happened, so we went. The fact that there is a schedule with ports, etc., is getting to bother me less (she who wants no schedule on vacation) because we're figuring out ways around that, including arranging our own stuff at the ports. For sure the boy loves the clubs and the other kids, but not because they're Disney clubs. He spent most of his time in the Mickey clubhouse room on the Magic, ignoring the Avengers room, because he liked the colours better, and there were computer games he could do, and he could colour. Wild child!
And now that we are approaching our Grand Slam (this is still very embarrassing!) we know what we can skip, and much of that is the big Disney stuff. The decision-making process was really that we wanted to do Alaska, and we considered other cruise lines, but for our family right now, DCL meets our needs best. We'll take what we need, and leave the rest - and hey - this works for everyone, right? If we're not standing in line to see princesses, then that opens up a spot for someone who actually cares/doesn't run screaming from the things.
Oh, and if you are on our Alaskan cruise- we'll help you out - as soon as we find out when Frozen Day is occurring, we will plan very carefully to avoid it entirely.
And we won't be going to the character breakfast. We might actually make it to a show this time, but given the time change we'll be working with, it'll only be a matinee, if that. And if you think we'll be fighting for space on Tracy Arm day, you haven't been reading this report.
At least Conor no longer has to fight tears when he hears That Song (we have made fun of it enough that he laughs), but we don't want to push our luck.
Thanks for reading. And I finished this all exactly 1 year minus 3 days from when we went on the Dream, so I snuck in under my own deadline.
Overall, we did not have much of a different experience on a classic ship than on a Dream-class ship (except for someone who very much missed his mystery games and mini-golf).
This is probably because (risky statement ahead) the ships are not the focus for us.
Our vacation focus is always to spend some good times together as a family, much of it together, some of it apart. As in many families, I have a job I love that involves somewhat longer hours, and although we spend most of our weekends together, much of that is taken up with "Conor has outrgrown his shoes. Again. Back to the store...", and swimming/skating/etc. lessons, visiting with friends, etc., so we really, really value our family time together on vacation. We do enjoy escaping our beloved Canada's winters, and we don't want to worry about things like whether this restaurant is safe to eat at or not, as that would defeat the purpose. We all value our sleep, and the grown-ups at least consciously work on wellness while we're away - so regular exercise, eating well, and getting good sleep.
How does Disney fit in to this? The cruises so far have managed to support our goals. Because Big Mouse is smart, he allows us to relax, and do the things we are interested in. He does it well, we will admit. So do many resorts, and we don't prefer one over the other. The Disney part itself is not the destination - even now, I'm pretty sure Conor wouldn't care if he missed character meets - they worked out in terms of the fact we weren't doing much when they happened, so we went. The fact that there is a schedule with ports, etc., is getting to bother me less (she who wants no schedule on vacation) because we're figuring out ways around that, including arranging our own stuff at the ports. For sure the boy loves the clubs and the other kids, but not because they're Disney clubs. He spent most of his time in the Mickey clubhouse room on the Magic, ignoring the Avengers room, because he liked the colours better, and there were computer games he could do, and he could colour. Wild child!
And now that we are approaching our Grand Slam (this is still very embarrassing!) we know what we can skip, and much of that is the big Disney stuff. The decision-making process was really that we wanted to do Alaska, and we considered other cruise lines, but for our family right now, DCL meets our needs best. We'll take what we need, and leave the rest - and hey - this works for everyone, right? If we're not standing in line to see princesses, then that opens up a spot for someone who actually cares/doesn't run screaming from the things.
Oh, and if you are on our Alaskan cruise- we'll help you out - as soon as we find out when Frozen Day is occurring, we will plan very carefully to avoid it entirely.
And we won't be going to the character breakfast. We might actually make it to a show this time, but given the time change we'll be working with, it'll only be a matinee, if that. And if you think we'll be fighting for space on Tracy Arm day, you haven't been reading this report. At least Conor no longer has to fight tears when he hears That Song (we have made fun of it enough that he laughs), but we don't want to push our luck.
Thanks for reading. And I finished this all exactly 1 year minus 3 days from when we went on the Dream, so I snuck in under my own deadline.
And no, there was no time to clean it up. 
