The "What I would've done differntly" has me worried...

[vital]

This will be my first Disney cruise but 5th cruise overall. I was reading the thread and ppl were talking about relaxing more. Is there really that much to do or am I just a beach bum? LOL! I've been on 2 cruises with DS. He was 3 1/2 the first one and 5 1/2 on the second one. The first one was more hectic if you can imagine, but I had family and was able to relax a little. The second one was just DS and I on a 5 day out of New Orleans. I was able to take him to the kids club at 9am and I headed to the pool until I had to get him at 11am. I tried to get him to stay with me in the afternoon instead of going back to the kids club. Sometimes I had to force him to go do something with me b/c he met some buddies and would rather play with them. I'm just curious what the activities are that could possibly draw me away from the sun, pool, froo-froo drink and a good book? I have read about the wine and beer tasting, and that sounds good. Other than that, I just can't imagine anything being better during the day than what I mentioned above.

 

[webray]

LOL, you can do as much or as little as you want to on a cruise, as you well know. Disney has a full day of activities (overlapping and double/triple booked) for kids of all ages. Hubby and I, if we want, can spend of full day of just doing things disney has to offer, plus doing things our dis group plans for each cruise. We do find a bit of time to just kick back and relax, take a nap, whatever. There are cooking demonstrations, dancing classes, a variety of alcohol tastings, live art auctions, photo opportunities, bingo, game shows, movies, stage shows..always something going on.

 

[musicgirl]

sometimes it's hard to put into words. When I look back at my cruise, which was awesome, always feel that I didn't relax enough. But then again, I loved to hang at the pool, eat, shop.

I did the martini tasting, went to a portion of the cake decorating, but started to nod off. We only had 2 days at sea, so maybe that is why.

Day 2- CC-all day at the beach, dressed for dinner, dinner, nap, adult shows
Day 3 Sea day-ate, pool, cake class (sort of), pool, martini tasting, and then the evening stuff.
Day 4-Costa Maya, all day in and out of port
Day 5-Coz. same as above
Day 6 Sea-ate, pool way toooo long,
day 7-CC-same as before

All in all, it doesn't sound like I did much. But I would get talking to someone in a hallway, in the pool, in the stores anywhere. TIME FLIES!!!!

 

[lbgraves]

You can look at the navigators shared in the FAQ thread on this forum to get an idea of some of the activities onboard. We have been on 3 7 day cruises and have NOT done eveything that we would like to. We have 2 more booked and hopefully we will never run out of things to do next time.

 

[Kaa]

It was not until my 8th cruise that I decided I was going to relax. I told my husband (his 6th cruise) that we weren't going to be going all the time like the past sailings. I have to say it was our best cruise ever! We spent much more time just sitting and doing nothing. We didn't have to send our son to the Lab because we wanted to do some activity meant just for adults. I wish I could say my next cruise was going to be relaxing, but we are doing a vow renewal and I have a feeling it will be just a bit frenzied.

 

[allears]

I think we also tend to be programed to go, go, go on vacations, for fear we're going to miss something. This is certainly true of a Disney World vacation. I keep us in the parks from the earliest possible moment to the last possible second. There is always something to see, do or ride again.

On our 3rd cruise, which was our second 7 night, we were "forced" to relax a little more. My DW had been in the hospital the entire week up to our departure with a kidney infection. So she had to take it a little easier the first few days. It was then, while spending a couple of hours sitting on lounge chairs on deck ten, looking out at the island off of Key West, that we realized this was also part of what we were paying for, to experience the beauty of the sea and these ports.

Now that we've done a couple more cruises, and done many of the activities, we try to consiously pack a little more "down" time into the week. It has gotten easier as our children have gotten older and need less direct supervision, but it is hard to tell yourself to slow down and smell the sea air.

 

[lbgraves]

I think that we tend to be active on the cruises because there is so much that interests us and the kids. If we want to plan something just for the adults I have to convince DD to go to the club for a couple hours then make that up to her by doing an activity right after we get her. Thursday is just hectic no matter how you look at it. Thank goodness it is a sea day! The kids go to the club around 1:45, DIS wine & cheese 2-4, go to room & change for semiformal dinner, 4:30 get to theater to get seat for DSeaU show after bingo finishes, 5 show, 5:20/25 leave to stand in line to pick up kids at club, 5:35 take kids back to room to get ready for dinner (I am seriously thinking of putting DD's hair in curlers before she goes to the club so they can put the hat on over them), 6 dinner.