"Magical" cruise with Disney

[peaches26]

We just returned from a 7 night Western Caribbean Cruise on the "Magic", our very first Disney Cruise. We traveled w/our 10 month old son and 10 year old son. We truly loved the cruise, everything from our stateroom (Cat 9, deck 2) was great, the service in all areas is truly superb and the ship itself is immaculate and just as beautiful as I had imagined. Disney will truly cater to all of your needs. We loved all the activities and ports of call. Cozumel was our favorite as we spent the day at Chankanaab Park and it is AWESOME! We did the Dolphin Encounter there and spent the day at their pool/beaches. Great snorkeling there also. Absolutely beautiful and not crowded at all! One of our favorite days. Castaway Cay is also amazingly beautiful the day just went by too fast! I also highly recommend the Stingray City/Snorkel Tour in Grand Cayman. We booked through Moby Dick Tours directly and saved quite a bit of money. It was an awesome experience, one our family will do again! The stingrays are so gentle and we enjoyed every minute of our excursion! The days at sea were very relaxing and there is always tons to do on a Disney Cruise. The entertainment was great, and always something going on somewhere on the ship. My 10 year old enjoyed the Kids Clubs and the 10 month old did stay in the Nursery some, but usually cried so we didn't leave him much. Dinner at Palo was excellent and I highly recommend making a reservation! Igor was our waiter and was wonderful. His wife, Jelena was our Dining Room Server along w/Raphael. They both did an outstanding job taking care of us and the kids each evening. Our dinners were some of the best parts of our trip, as we celebrated my son's birthday and our Anniversary and they made it extra special! I highly recommend cruising w/Disney. They really have everything down to a science, from check-in, which was a breeze, to disembarkment. Everything was great, hardly ever a line for anything! Also, the food was fantastic, lots of great choices and desserts to die for!! Castaway Cay lunch was also delicious w/hardly no lines or waiting. We are just back but ready to start planning our next cruise

 

[newtandkaren]

We're going on this same cruise on June 27. It's amazing how much of your report is similar to my trip. We are staying on deck 2 in a cat 9. We have a dolphin swim booked for Cozumel at Chankanaab and plan to spend the day there. We also have a stingray city/snorkel tour booked thru Capt. marvin's in Grand Cayman. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. It is our first cruise as well and your post got me even more excited. Thanks again!!

Did you do anything special at CC? How did your ds10 enjoy the shows? Did you let him check himself in and out of the clubs or did you sign him out? There are 10 of us traveling together on this cruise, 4 kids, ages 8,9,11,11. The 8 yo is a boy. Any advice?

 

[frdeb1999]

Thanks for the TR! Glad you had a wonderful time!!

 

[peaches26]

We're going on this same cruise on June 27. It's amazing how much of your report is similar to my trip. We are staying on deck 2 in a cat 9. We have a dolphin swim booked for Cozumel at Chankanaab and plan to spend the day there. We also have a stingray city/snorkel tour booked thru Capt. marvin's in Grand Cayman. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. It is our first cruise as well and your post got me even more excited. Thanks again!!

Did you do anything special at CC? How did your ds10 enjoy the shows? Did you let him check himself in and out of the clubs or did you sign him out? There are 10 of us traveling together on this cruise, 4 kids, ages 8,9,11,11. The 8 yo is a boy. Any advice?

We did not book any shore excursions for Castaway Cay, as we just wanted to use this day for relaxing before heading home. We did rent floats ahead of time but this really wasn't necessary, as there were plenty available. My husband and 10 year old son went kayaking. They enjoyed it but it was very windy that day which made it difficult. I don't recommend doing the kayaking or anything related if it is really windy. We found you could really do about anything you wanted and advance reservations didn't seem necessary the day we were out there. We also brought our own snorkel gear and did snorkeling at Castaway Cay. That was really fun and they require and provide life vests for anyone who is snorkeling, for no charge. They also rent snorkel equipment, very reasonable I might add. As for kids club, yes we let him check himself in/out and he did great. We had no problems at all and never worried about him. If he wasn't back when we told him to be, we just went and checked on him and usually he was on his way back to the cabin. If you have any more questions, let me know. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

[peaches26]

We're going on this same cruise on June 27. It's amazing how much of your report is similar to my trip. We are staying on deck 2 in a cat 9. We have a dolphin swim booked for Cozumel at Chankanaab and plan to spend the day there. We also have a stingray city/snorkel tour booked thru Capt. marvin's in Grand Cayman. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. It is our first cruise as well and your post got me even more excited. Thanks again!!

Did you do anything special at CC? How did your ds10 enjoy the shows? Did you let him check himself in and out of the clubs or did you sign him out? There are 10 of us traveling together on this cruise, 4 kids, ages 8,9,11,11. The 8 yo is a boy. Any advice?

Oh, I forgot to mention the shows. We actually didn't make it to all the shows. My 10 month old would not sit through them and my husband usually ended up standing up w/him or taking him out, so we saw a couple. My 10 year old seemed to like them but really didn't care that much about going. He was more interested in some of the movies and Kids club activities over the shows. I personally wish we could have seen them all but it is hard to fit everything into your schedule, especially w/a little one. I'm sure your kids will love the shows, but may opt to go to kids club instead and if they do, no biggie. They have such great activities around the clock, they will have fun no matter what they decide to do! One more thing, Pirate's night is awesome, don't miss the Pirate Party and the dessert buffet. They also showed "Pirates in the Caribbean, At World's End" on the big screen out by the pool after the Pirate Party. My husband and son stayed and really enjoyed watching the movie under the stars! It did get windy, so bring a jacket.

 

[pheathers24]

I am fixing to book my first cruise and I will be on Deck 2 in a Category 9 and just wondered which stateroom number you stayed in. Thanks.

 

[peaches26]

I am fixing to book my first cruise and I will be on Deck 2 in a Category 9 and just wondered which stateroom number you stayed in. Thanks.

We were in Cabin 2144. We enjoyed it and there is a little noise, because you are at the back of the ship, but its not that bad. Mostly just when coming into port.

 

[pheathers24]

Any motion sickness? That's what I'm scared about.

 

[peaches26]

Any motion sickness? That's what I'm scared about.

Well, our family had no motion sickness, at all. The first day, leaving out of Port Canaveral was rough. But I am told that it is always that way going out of the Gulf. That was honestly as rough as it got for us and after a day or so, you totally get used to it. I just tried not to look out the window. I found the rocking soothing at times, especially when going to sleep! For the majority of the cruise it was quite smooth and beautiful weather for us the entire week. Just windy.
Remember to take some "Bonine" for the motion sickness (doesn't make you drowsy at all) or wear the patch. We only took something that first day and after you get your "sea legs" you'll be fine!

 

[kittyscrap1]

I'm curious to see who the Cruise Directors were as we are going 27Jun. Thanks for the TR.

 

[zerog]

We just sailed the May 2 Western. The only hiccup we had was the diversion from Cozumel to Nassau due to the swine flu. Otherwise, we had smooth seas and perfect weather.

Our Dolphin excursion in Cozumel was moved by the DCL excursion desk to Grand Cayman. This worked out well, especially for our DD6 who was too young to participate in the 'swim' in Cozumel. In Castaway Cay, we made a last minute decision to try parasailing. We were all a little anxious, but it turned out to be a wonderful experience. The CMs were helpful and explained the whole process very clearly.

I for one, am prone to motion sickness. I have gotten seasick before, but never on a cruise ship. However, I have witnessed others. Here is my gameplan:

SEA SICKNESS GAME PLAN ​

When discussing sea sickness, we should look at an overall game plan (and not just focus on ginger, medications, or wrist bands). So here are my recommendations, that have worked for me:

MEDS: If you've never taken motion sickness medication, experiment before the cruise. Find out how these things affect you before you get on the ship.
They affect different people in different ways.

When do most people begin to feel queasy? My guess is the first evening. This may not be true for everybody, but I think that most folks need to get their 'sea legs.'

T-1 DAY AND COUNTING: The first move is to take a ginger tablet (or chew) the morning and/or evening before your sail date. If you take it in the morning, take another one before bed. Be sure to eat something with these things, because they will leave a bad taste in the back of your throat. Ginger is supposed to be good for you.

SAIL DAY: Start the day with a reasonable breakfast. Try to avoid anything too heavy or greasy. On this day, I stay away from sausage, bacon, and acidic juices (like OJ or grapefruit juice). Take your ginger tablet with breakfast so you don't get that icky taste in your throat. It's said that you don't want to start your cruise with an empty stomach, but you also don't want to start with your stomach stuffed full. Our stomachs will be stuffed later; why rush it!

Next, think about getting your body hydrated. I personally start chugging lots of water. Watch out for beverages that dehydrate you like coffee or tea. I mean, drink it but try not to go overboard (pun intended). If possible, drink your cup(s) of coffee early.

MEDS PRIOR TO EMBARKING: This is where I apply the patch - around 11:30am so it has time to kick in before we set sail around 5pm. If you are taking oral meds, follow the directions accordingly. After we set sail, it is probably too late if you begin to feel queasy and nauseous.

EMBARK: Once you've boarded the ship, choose your lunch food carefully. I've heard that bread is good. Now is a good time to take another ginger tablet. Remember to stay hydrated (H20 - wink). Also, think about other remedies for which you have an interest. For me, I pop in an Altoid from time to time because some say peppermint helps. For others, maybe this is a good time to wear that wrist band.

Next, if you are seriously worried (like me) of getting seasick, then drink alcohol with reason or not at all. Don't get me wrong, I love a beer or 6 , but I'm holding back on day 1.

BED TIME: I take off the patch before bed. If the seas are real rough, maybe leaving it on is the right move. This is a personal decision/risk. If you are feeling fine, then go ahead and remove it.

In conclusion, most people will be fine with the meds and/or ginger and don't need to go thru such preparations. My game plan is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. After 5 cruises, so far so good!

 

[chmunr2]

Peaches26,
I was just wondering if you had a picture of the Igor that you had on your cruise? We just went recently and there were two there, I was curious if it was the same one because we really enjoyed him and would like to request him again on upcoming cruises! I would just like to see if it was the same one. Thank you!

 

[hoffman17]

We were situated next to the baggage loading/unloading area. I would not recommend it. It was just my wife and I, but it was very noisy at about 4am on the day we disembarked.

 

[disneyluver6]

We are taking our first cruise in September with our 5 yr old and 10 month old sons. I was wondering how your 10 month old did on the cruise. Did you take him on the stingray/snorkeling excursion? We have the same excursions scheduled that you did but we were considering leaving him in Flounders for the stingray excursion. Although I am concerned that he will cry and we won't be there to get him. Any other tips that you can give about taking an infant? Thanks!

 

[nemofans]

We are taking our first cruise in September with our 5 yr old and 10 month old sons. I was wondering how your 10 month old did on the cruise. Did you take him on the stingray/snorkeling excursion? We have the same excursions scheduled that you did but we were considering leaving him in Flounders for the stingray excursion. Although I am concerned that he will cry and we won't be there to get him. Any other tips that you can give about taking an infant? Thanks!

i am interested in this too.

 

[CalsMomma]

Me too! I was hoping we could do the Stingray excursion but I have a 1.5yo that may not be as excited about that as we are...

 

[Waltworshiper]

It sound like you had a great vacation, we can't wait to go on ours!

Any motion sickness? That's what I'm scared about.

WE started taking bonine the day before and we were ok the whole trip just taking one little check with your dr before you go.

 

[disney_dreamin]

Was your beverage server Raphael from South Africa, peaches26?

We were on the Magic in November 2008 and we had a beverage server whose name was Raphael and he was an absolutely fantastic server! I was just wondering if it was the same man.