jlima
Beep Beep!
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2000
Cast: me, 38, soon to be 39; DH40, DS11 and DS5. We live in Las Vegas however I am from Louisiana and DH is from Los Angeles. This was our 2nd DCL cruise.
Embarkation - I was expecting the worst after reading other trip reports but this went as smooth as possible. We drove from Vegas on Friday night and arrived at the San Pedro Holiday Inn about 11pm. They have a park and cruise package that included parking (inside in their garage) for the duration of the cruise, the room Friday night, continental breakfast Saturday morning, a bottle of champagne and shuttle service to and from the port for $149. The front desk clerk said I needed to sign up for a time slot for the shuttle to the port and was able to get 10:30am. (Have seen others post here that I could have called earlier in the day to sign up for this.) If I had to do it over I'd pack a bag for just the night and leave our luggage in the car. We brought all 8 pieces up to our room and back down again in the morning; could not get a cart in the morning & had to move it all ourselves in 2 trips. Left the hotel at 10:30am and was at the port before 11am. Checked in at Castaway Club lines (only 4 families in front of me) and checked in the kids for the clubs by 11:30am. Boarding started about 12:15pm. We had boarding group 2. Had lunch in Parrot Key and was at the Mickey pool with a cocktail by 1:30!!!
Romance Basket from REAS package and CC blanket was in cabin on arrival. Should have checked the basket; I did not open the box of candy until we got home and discovered Lifesaver Creamsaver candies rather than the chocolates mentioned in the Gift brochure. Also had excursion tickets and a REAS letter confirming our massage and Palo reservations. We got 2 blankets as we booked 2 cabins.
Turndown with REAS package:
Cabin - we had 6064 and 6066. These are connecting category 6 cabins. This was soooooo much better than the category 3 (8546) on our first cruise!! We had so much space + having 2 bathrooms was such a plus. I brought door stops with us to prop open the connecting doors. Didn't even use the over the door shoe holders, we had so much space I didn't need them. We were very near the midship elevators and loved being one floor away from the kids clubs. I would highly recommend this arrangement over a category 3 cabin. The kids didn't have to share a sofa bed and we had much more space. Our steward was Narciso from the Philippines. Loved the towel animals and when I said DS5 loved the upper berth he left it set up for him to enjoy during the day.
DS5 in "his" bunk bed, cabin 6064:
View from our Veranda in Cabo San Lucas:
Meals - Our server was Boris from Bulgaria and our assistant server was Ana from Brazil. They were both excellent. Food seemed to be not as good as I remembered from our 2001 cruise. I didn't have a bad meal the entire cruise but would rate the food an 8 out of 10 instead of a 10 out of 10. The tenderloin on the pirate night menu was fabulous. The lobster on semiformal night was also excellent and the chocolate lava cake was just as good as I remembered. I still believe this is a better product than the Palo chocolate soufflé. There was a dessert on the pirate night menu - "Floating Island of Tropical Fruit" made with sheets of meringue and fresh fruit - this was really unique and unlike anything I've ever had before. Also the rib eye on the Wednesday night menu was very good. The only dish I didn't care for was the tenderloin entrée on the last night. On the semiformal night I asked Ana if I could try a taste of the Roquefort cheese risotto that was on the vegetarian menu and it was just amazing. Was disappointed in the cream brulee cheesecake but loved the sugar free strawberry cheesecake. DH just raved about the pizza prosciutto at Palo. The crust was perfect and easily could have been a meal on its own.
Really appreciated the sanitation efforts DCL is making. Was not expecting to be offered antibacterial wipes at every meal nor the hand sanitizing solution that is readily available all over the ship. The kids clubs had the kids wash their hands on every arrival and this was much appreciated.
DH was just on the moon when he discovered Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in Diversions. One of the cocktail servers in Diversions, Delroy from St. Vincents, was very knowledgeable about what beers were available on the ship and it was great to see him around the ship.
I was pleasantly surprised by our head server Nurisin from Bulgaria. On our first cruise I never met our head server and did not tip him on the last day. This time was totally different; this lady was all over the dining room and worked her tail off and came by our table several times during our cruise. And yes, this time I did leave a gratuity.
Characters and Character Breakfast - Our breakfast was on Sunday morning and there were 5 characters at our breakfast - Mickey, Minny, Goofy, Chip & Dale. But as the week went on and I saw how many characters were actually on the ship I felt that DCL could have done much more with the characters at the breakfast. During the week I saw Timon, Alice, Pinnochio, Gepetto, Stitch, Genie, Mulan, all the princesses and even the Queen of Hearts! Where were these characters at the breakfast? They only sent the characters you see all the time. Late on Friday night in the atrium at the "Til We Meet Event" there was every character you could imagine + performers from the Twice Charmed and Disney Dreams. Even the two pirates from pirate deck party (the 2 that rappel onto the deck) were there. Do not miss this if you are into the characters. It was nice to have the schedule on the monitor in the atrium and the phone message that you could listen to, but it was not specific enough, IMHO. DH REALLY wanted a family picture with Captain Mickey and on Sunday I went to guest services and ask when would Captain Mickey be out & about; the CM had to call someone but she was able to tell me the Wednesday night portraits with Mickey & Minnie would use the Captain Mickey costume. The phone message on that day just said portraits with Mickey & Minnie. In Shutters I saw pictures with Pirate Mickey and other characters in different costumes. There's almost no way to tell when these characters will be out.
Family picture with Captain Mickey:
Ports of Call - IMHO the Mexican ports of call are much nicer than St. Martin and St. Thomas. Our family did the Paradise Village Beach Resort excursion in PV and DS11 and I did the dolphin encounter. The dolphin encounter was a lot of hurry up and wait; waited in Sessions, waited outside to load their bus; waited at the dolphin center to begin the experience. Had an extremely frustrating experience with the staff at the dolphin center who sold their photographs. They didn't give out their order forms to the people waiting in line until I had already waited 10 minutes. They didn't initially explain to watch the pictures on the TVs and then write down the number of the photos you wanted. The pictures were scrolling by on TV screens but had to wait until our group's pictures came up again, after I finally got the form from them. Then you had to go to their gift shop to pay; and then return to the photography area to pick up your pictures. It was extremely disorganized and extremely frustrating. Also, when we were dropped off no one explained when to return to the busses; after I picked up my pictures I waked to the busses and they were loading them but the driver refused to leave until every seat was filled. One person actually left the bus and walked back into the dolphin center and asked their staff to make an announcement that the busses were loading. We sat for a long time waiting for just four more people to fill the bus. We didn't leave the dolphin center until 5:15 and was back at the ship by 5:40. Had to change into our pirate outfits in a BIG hurry. I would HIGHLY recommend scheduling any of the dolphin encounters prior to 2pm, if you have the early dinner seating . . . the staff at the dolphin center is just not organized enough to get you back to the ship in a timely manner.
DS11 & DS5 on Pirate Night:
In Mazatlan we paid a taxi driver $50 to drive us around for 2 hours. It was very relaxing day with just DH & I; the kids wanted to go to their clubs. In Cabo the four of us went out in a glass bottom boat ($10 each) to the arch, and then went shopping.
Activities - we participated in the Mickey 200 on Sunday and it was a hoot! We made our car out of the potato and won our first heat and lost the second. I would highly recommend this. We also did the Bridge Tour on Thursday. I expected a little more than a walk around the bridge overlook but it was very informative. Saw National Treasure and Hitchikers Guide movies, and Herbie in the Walt theater. Could not stay awake in Hitchiker's Guide movie!!
First heat in the Mickey 200. Our car is the potato in the middle:
Weather - cold on Sunday; really cold on Friday but tropical, hot & humid on every other day. Bring at least one sweatshirt/sweater for everyone in your family. We sailed into a fog bank on Friday morning and the Magic actually used its fog horn. Was not comfortable sailing in the fog but as the sun came out the fog burned off.
Fog bank we sailed into from our veranda:
Entertainment - Do not miss the staff show on the last night, "If I Were Not Upon The Sea." It was one of the funniest experiences ever. It is at 10:45pm on Friday but if you have your luggage packed by 10pm you can make it. DS11 saw Twice Charmed and loved it, especially the Fairy Godfather. DS5 loved the Golden Mickey show; I liked it more than Disney Dreams. The pixie dust effect at the end of Disney Dreams is just amazing. Did not know they showed movies in the Walt theater. It was great to see Herbie on a big screen.
Debarkation - Again, expected the worst from other trip reports but this went smooth. We were in the first group to leave; we had breakfast at 6:30 and left the ship about 7:45. Waited in line about 20 - 25 minutes as we had birth certificates for the kids and passports for us. DCL has no control over this. I would compare it to returning to an airport after travelling out of the country. They will check the documents of every single person on the ship. Not like Orlando where we handed the immigration form to someone who didn't even look at it and we were done. Got our luggage in no time; a porter helped us to the shuttle area. The staff at the Holiday Inn asked us to call them when we were out of the terminal and I actually called them 3 times during the morning! Waited about 10 minutes for their shuttle and had our car on the road just after 9am. To kill some time we saw the Batman movie, then to Anaheim and checked into Grand Californian around 2pm. Enjoyed the pool; then went to concierge lounge for snacks and drinks; then into CA; then back to lounge to see fireworks from the balcony. Then to bed. Up early Sunday; read on the boards that Space Mountain soft opening was Friday. Able to ride 2x before the line got crazy. Did lunch at the ESPN restaurant. Monday morning there was early entry for park guests at 7am. Kids were able to ride the gold Dumbo, gold Carousel horse, and gold Teacup. DS5 also rode on gold Autopia car with me. Too cool. Left Anaheim at noon on Monday and back in Vegas by 4:15.
DS11 on Gold Carousel horse at Disneyland:
Stuff I should have left behind - over the door shoe organizers; duct tape; bungy cords; suction cup hooks, over the door hooks. Also would have only brought one 12 pack of Diet Coke rather than 2 and two 10-packs of bottled water rather than one. Kids barely touched the Capri Suns I brought with us.
What I should have brought - a plastic Super Big Gulp cup from 7-11; DH would have used this at the beverage station. Did purchase a mug for $3 but not the same as having the size you want so you don't have to refill all the time.
Stuff I could not live without - 2 power strips, one for each cabin. DH needed to plug in his laptop, our 2 cell phones and his portable Ipod stereo + I had a nightlight in each cabin; in the kids cabin we kept their Gameboys charged up. Doorstops were invaluable to prop open the connecting doors. I had a travel alarm clock on my side of the bed that I appreciated having so I didn't have to look over DH to check the time. Pop-up laundry hamper was great so laundry didn't accumulate everywhere. Quarters came in handy when I had to do laundry.
Hints - Communicate with others traveling on your cruise in the Cruise Meets forum before you travel (Thank you Audrey, for organizing the DIS meets!). Pack at least 2 bathing suits per person. Enjoy Cove Café, especially the Internet terminals. Check the cubbies in the Club for your child's artwork, especially the younger age groups. Call your mobile phone service provider prior to your trip if you plan on using your mobile phone and verify if you have international calling. If you bring costumes for pirate night, don't go on an excursion that will overlap an early dinner seating. If you order any gifts from DCL open them immediately and insure that what is supposed to be there is actually in the basket. Make a door sign for your cabin. Bring quarters, dryer sheets and laundry soap in ziploc bags with you if you think you may be doing laundry. Enjoy the pizza at Palo. See the staff show on the last night. AND GET TO THE PORT EARLY AND TRY TO BE IN BOARDING GROUP ONE OR TWO IF YOU ARE SAILING FROM LOS ANGELES!!!
Embarkation - I was expecting the worst after reading other trip reports but this went as smooth as possible. We drove from Vegas on Friday night and arrived at the San Pedro Holiday Inn about 11pm. They have a park and cruise package that included parking (inside in their garage) for the duration of the cruise, the room Friday night, continental breakfast Saturday morning, a bottle of champagne and shuttle service to and from the port for $149. The front desk clerk said I needed to sign up for a time slot for the shuttle to the port and was able to get 10:30am. (Have seen others post here that I could have called earlier in the day to sign up for this.) If I had to do it over I'd pack a bag for just the night and leave our luggage in the car. We brought all 8 pieces up to our room and back down again in the morning; could not get a cart in the morning & had to move it all ourselves in 2 trips. Left the hotel at 10:30am and was at the port before 11am. Checked in at Castaway Club lines (only 4 families in front of me) and checked in the kids for the clubs by 11:30am. Boarding started about 12:15pm. We had boarding group 2. Had lunch in Parrot Key and was at the Mickey pool with a cocktail by 1:30!!!
Romance Basket from REAS package and CC blanket was in cabin on arrival. Should have checked the basket; I did not open the box of candy until we got home and discovered Lifesaver Creamsaver candies rather than the chocolates mentioned in the Gift brochure. Also had excursion tickets and a REAS letter confirming our massage and Palo reservations. We got 2 blankets as we booked 2 cabins.
Turndown with REAS package:
Cabin - we had 6064 and 6066. These are connecting category 6 cabins. This was soooooo much better than the category 3 (8546) on our first cruise!! We had so much space + having 2 bathrooms was such a plus. I brought door stops with us to prop open the connecting doors. Didn't even use the over the door shoe holders, we had so much space I didn't need them. We were very near the midship elevators and loved being one floor away from the kids clubs. I would highly recommend this arrangement over a category 3 cabin. The kids didn't have to share a sofa bed and we had much more space. Our steward was Narciso from the Philippines. Loved the towel animals and when I said DS5 loved the upper berth he left it set up for him to enjoy during the day.
DS5 in "his" bunk bed, cabin 6064:
View from our Veranda in Cabo San Lucas:
Meals - Our server was Boris from Bulgaria and our assistant server was Ana from Brazil. They were both excellent. Food seemed to be not as good as I remembered from our 2001 cruise. I didn't have a bad meal the entire cruise but would rate the food an 8 out of 10 instead of a 10 out of 10. The tenderloin on the pirate night menu was fabulous. The lobster on semiformal night was also excellent and the chocolate lava cake was just as good as I remembered. I still believe this is a better product than the Palo chocolate soufflé. There was a dessert on the pirate night menu - "Floating Island of Tropical Fruit" made with sheets of meringue and fresh fruit - this was really unique and unlike anything I've ever had before. Also the rib eye on the Wednesday night menu was very good. The only dish I didn't care for was the tenderloin entrée on the last night. On the semiformal night I asked Ana if I could try a taste of the Roquefort cheese risotto that was on the vegetarian menu and it was just amazing. Was disappointed in the cream brulee cheesecake but loved the sugar free strawberry cheesecake. DH just raved about the pizza prosciutto at Palo. The crust was perfect and easily could have been a meal on its own.
Really appreciated the sanitation efforts DCL is making. Was not expecting to be offered antibacterial wipes at every meal nor the hand sanitizing solution that is readily available all over the ship. The kids clubs had the kids wash their hands on every arrival and this was much appreciated.
DH was just on the moon when he discovered Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in Diversions. One of the cocktail servers in Diversions, Delroy from St. Vincents, was very knowledgeable about what beers were available on the ship and it was great to see him around the ship.
I was pleasantly surprised by our head server Nurisin from Bulgaria. On our first cruise I never met our head server and did not tip him on the last day. This time was totally different; this lady was all over the dining room and worked her tail off and came by our table several times during our cruise. And yes, this time I did leave a gratuity.
Characters and Character Breakfast - Our breakfast was on Sunday morning and there were 5 characters at our breakfast - Mickey, Minny, Goofy, Chip & Dale. But as the week went on and I saw how many characters were actually on the ship I felt that DCL could have done much more with the characters at the breakfast. During the week I saw Timon, Alice, Pinnochio, Gepetto, Stitch, Genie, Mulan, all the princesses and even the Queen of Hearts! Where were these characters at the breakfast? They only sent the characters you see all the time. Late on Friday night in the atrium at the "Til We Meet Event" there was every character you could imagine + performers from the Twice Charmed and Disney Dreams. Even the two pirates from pirate deck party (the 2 that rappel onto the deck) were there. Do not miss this if you are into the characters. It was nice to have the schedule on the monitor in the atrium and the phone message that you could listen to, but it was not specific enough, IMHO. DH REALLY wanted a family picture with Captain Mickey and on Sunday I went to guest services and ask when would Captain Mickey be out & about; the CM had to call someone but she was able to tell me the Wednesday night portraits with Mickey & Minnie would use the Captain Mickey costume. The phone message on that day just said portraits with Mickey & Minnie. In Shutters I saw pictures with Pirate Mickey and other characters in different costumes. There's almost no way to tell when these characters will be out.
Family picture with Captain Mickey:
Ports of Call - IMHO the Mexican ports of call are much nicer than St. Martin and St. Thomas. Our family did the Paradise Village Beach Resort excursion in PV and DS11 and I did the dolphin encounter. The dolphin encounter was a lot of hurry up and wait; waited in Sessions, waited outside to load their bus; waited at the dolphin center to begin the experience. Had an extremely frustrating experience with the staff at the dolphin center who sold their photographs. They didn't give out their order forms to the people waiting in line until I had already waited 10 minutes. They didn't initially explain to watch the pictures on the TVs and then write down the number of the photos you wanted. The pictures were scrolling by on TV screens but had to wait until our group's pictures came up again, after I finally got the form from them. Then you had to go to their gift shop to pay; and then return to the photography area to pick up your pictures. It was extremely disorganized and extremely frustrating. Also, when we were dropped off no one explained when to return to the busses; after I picked up my pictures I waked to the busses and they were loading them but the driver refused to leave until every seat was filled. One person actually left the bus and walked back into the dolphin center and asked their staff to make an announcement that the busses were loading. We sat for a long time waiting for just four more people to fill the bus. We didn't leave the dolphin center until 5:15 and was back at the ship by 5:40. Had to change into our pirate outfits in a BIG hurry. I would HIGHLY recommend scheduling any of the dolphin encounters prior to 2pm, if you have the early dinner seating . . . the staff at the dolphin center is just not organized enough to get you back to the ship in a timely manner.
DS11 & DS5 on Pirate Night:
In Mazatlan we paid a taxi driver $50 to drive us around for 2 hours. It was very relaxing day with just DH & I; the kids wanted to go to their clubs. In Cabo the four of us went out in a glass bottom boat ($10 each) to the arch, and then went shopping.
Activities - we participated in the Mickey 200 on Sunday and it was a hoot! We made our car out of the potato and won our first heat and lost the second. I would highly recommend this. We also did the Bridge Tour on Thursday. I expected a little more than a walk around the bridge overlook but it was very informative. Saw National Treasure and Hitchikers Guide movies, and Herbie in the Walt theater. Could not stay awake in Hitchiker's Guide movie!!
First heat in the Mickey 200. Our car is the potato in the middle:
Weather - cold on Sunday; really cold on Friday but tropical, hot & humid on every other day. Bring at least one sweatshirt/sweater for everyone in your family. We sailed into a fog bank on Friday morning and the Magic actually used its fog horn. Was not comfortable sailing in the fog but as the sun came out the fog burned off.
Fog bank we sailed into from our veranda:
Entertainment - Do not miss the staff show on the last night, "If I Were Not Upon The Sea." It was one of the funniest experiences ever. It is at 10:45pm on Friday but if you have your luggage packed by 10pm you can make it. DS11 saw Twice Charmed and loved it, especially the Fairy Godfather. DS5 loved the Golden Mickey show; I liked it more than Disney Dreams. The pixie dust effect at the end of Disney Dreams is just amazing. Did not know they showed movies in the Walt theater. It was great to see Herbie on a big screen.
Debarkation - Again, expected the worst from other trip reports but this went smooth. We were in the first group to leave; we had breakfast at 6:30 and left the ship about 7:45. Waited in line about 20 - 25 minutes as we had birth certificates for the kids and passports for us. DCL has no control over this. I would compare it to returning to an airport after travelling out of the country. They will check the documents of every single person on the ship. Not like Orlando where we handed the immigration form to someone who didn't even look at it and we were done. Got our luggage in no time; a porter helped us to the shuttle area. The staff at the Holiday Inn asked us to call them when we were out of the terminal and I actually called them 3 times during the morning! Waited about 10 minutes for their shuttle and had our car on the road just after 9am. To kill some time we saw the Batman movie, then to Anaheim and checked into Grand Californian around 2pm. Enjoyed the pool; then went to concierge lounge for snacks and drinks; then into CA; then back to lounge to see fireworks from the balcony. Then to bed. Up early Sunday; read on the boards that Space Mountain soft opening was Friday. Able to ride 2x before the line got crazy. Did lunch at the ESPN restaurant. Monday morning there was early entry for park guests at 7am. Kids were able to ride the gold Dumbo, gold Carousel horse, and gold Teacup. DS5 also rode on gold Autopia car with me. Too cool. Left Anaheim at noon on Monday and back in Vegas by 4:15.
DS11 on Gold Carousel horse at Disneyland:
Stuff I should have left behind - over the door shoe organizers; duct tape; bungy cords; suction cup hooks, over the door hooks. Also would have only brought one 12 pack of Diet Coke rather than 2 and two 10-packs of bottled water rather than one. Kids barely touched the Capri Suns I brought with us.
What I should have brought - a plastic Super Big Gulp cup from 7-11; DH would have used this at the beverage station. Did purchase a mug for $3 but not the same as having the size you want so you don't have to refill all the time.
Stuff I could not live without - 2 power strips, one for each cabin. DH needed to plug in his laptop, our 2 cell phones and his portable Ipod stereo + I had a nightlight in each cabin; in the kids cabin we kept their Gameboys charged up. Doorstops were invaluable to prop open the connecting doors. I had a travel alarm clock on my side of the bed that I appreciated having so I didn't have to look over DH to check the time. Pop-up laundry hamper was great so laundry didn't accumulate everywhere. Quarters came in handy when I had to do laundry.
Hints - Communicate with others traveling on your cruise in the Cruise Meets forum before you travel (Thank you Audrey, for organizing the DIS meets!). Pack at least 2 bathing suits per person. Enjoy Cove Café, especially the Internet terminals. Check the cubbies in the Club for your child's artwork, especially the younger age groups. Call your mobile phone service provider prior to your trip if you plan on using your mobile phone and verify if you have international calling. If you bring costumes for pirate night, don't go on an excursion that will overlap an early dinner seating. If you order any gifts from DCL open them immediately and insure that what is supposed to be there is actually in the basket. Make a door sign for your cabin. Bring quarters, dryer sheets and laundry soap in ziploc bags with you if you think you may be doing laundry. Enjoy the pizza at Palo. See the staff show on the last night. AND GET TO THE PORT EARLY AND TRY TO BE IN BOARDING GROUP ONE OR TWO IF YOU ARE SAILING FROM LOS ANGELES!!!
Thanks for your trip report. I gained 3 lbs just looking at your chocolate decadence desserts. I don't know what's going to happen to my waistline when I actually have it in front of me.
I have not even had a chance to edit and download my pictures. I did not check any of mail on the boat. When I got back to the office after 10 days aways, I had 963 unopened items to review.
