Two 20-somethings take on the Eastern Caribbean (Or reasons we are thankful to go DCL without kids)

[Flipflopgirl27]

DH and I are 50/40-somethings and often cruise DCL without DD (15). So you are not alone...there is just something about Disney's cruise ships that has worked magic on my formerly cruise adverse DH! We just returned from the Dream for our anniversary trip and are headed to Europe next summer. Looking forward to reading more of your report

PS Bless you for teaching. I couldn't last a day in a room full of 6 and 7 year olds!

Congratulations on your anniversary! I am anxious to try Europe, are you doing Northern or Med?

And thank you! I love being a teacher, but this cruise was a powerful motivator to make it until June!

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

Following! We've been on the Dream and Wonder, Magic coming up in November, and would love to book something on the Fantasy. Of course when the new ships come out I'll have to try those too!

I love the Magic and Fantasy! Have a great time in November!

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

We two sixty somethings, on a childless cruise in September, will enjoy reading of your adventure. So far so good...

Welcome! Enjoy your upcoming cruise; it's so close!

We'll be two twenty somethings in September! Eastern Caribbean too ^_^ enjoying your TR!

Welcome! I hope you love your upcoming cruise! It is the best vacation!

Joining in, Go Ravens!

Welcome! Thanks for following!

Joining in! Did you do tour the Baths in Virgin Gorda? If so, I think our family was right behind you going through the caves!

Thanks for following! We did! It was such a fun tour! I have to get all those pictures off my camera still.

Following along! We were on the same cruise with you... missing it so much!!!

That lightning storm was something else! We did one day at Magic Kingdom before our cruise and they closed a lot of things down for a bit and delayed the electric parade because of it.

Same! Writing the trip report is nice therapy because I was very sad to be back home after such a nice vacation. That's so sad about Magic Kingdom! But I understand why, it was so low and intense!


WooHoo figured out how to reply to multiple people in a post! Thanks for reading! I'll try to get as many posts done before my school year starts!

 

[tink1970]

Thanks...we'll actually be cruising one year after our most recent one so apparently I like that date

Neither, exactly. Dover to Barcelona. I'm going with DH and DM (think DD has something better to do ). Since neither of them have been to London or Paris, they'll be able to explore both a bit, and then Lisbon, Cadiz and Barcelona will be adventures for all 3 of us. It's really a neat little intro to Europe cruise I think!

LOL on the motivation... the last month of school seems like it lasts for 3 at my house somehow.

 

[mlegerto]

Joining in, can't wait for more! DH and I have been on other cruise lines and he hasn't been all that impressed. I've managed to talk him into a Disney Cruise for December (NYE!) 2017, so I hope this will win him over. Don't you just love when your significant other tolerates your love for Disney and will partake just to make you happy hee hee.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Great start! Looking forward to reading more! My fiance and I took our first cruise together in April as two 29 year olds and he is adamant that we will never sail a line other than Disney. It really is a great vacation for ALL ages. I'm a speech pathologist in a school, and this year had some unusual circumstances that made it the most challenging yet; I totally understand the cruise being the motivation to get through the school year. It was certainly mine to get to April!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Thanks...we'll actually be cruising one year after our most recent one so apparently I like that date

Neither, exactly. Dover to Barcelona. I'm going with DH and DM (think DD has something better to do ). Since neither of them have been to London or Paris, they'll be able to explore both a bit, and then Lisbon, Cadiz and Barcelona will be adventures for all 3 of us. It's really a neat little intro to Europe cruise I think!

LOL on the motivation... the last month of school seems like it lasts for 3 at my house somehow.

Sorry to butt in....we just got off the 7/30 EC Fantasy. We are looking at the Dover to Barcelona cruise hopefully in 2018! I am so excited--I hope the itinerary stays the same as 2017!

 

[TestingH2O]

This is great! I'm so excited to check out the fantasy next spring!

 

[SomeImaginationHuh]

Can't wait to follow along! Our first cruise is in January, so I'm taking in as many trip reports as possible!

 

[bonnielynn]

We are two late 40 somethings taking this cruise in October - no children. Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for the excessive delay in updates. The school craziness began and, before I knew it, it was mid-September. But here is the long overdue post.

Reason #4- I didn’t have to carry a child for the duration of the Guest Assembly Drill

So, after checking out our amazing room, Josh and I ventured to Cabanas before it closed up for the afternoon. I still wasn’t particularly hungry, but Josh was starting to get cranky and wasn’t looking forward to a five hour wait until dinner. I settled for some pizza, lamb chops, prosciutto, vegetables, and fruit. Josh had two gigantic plates of meat and carbs, a fitting first meal for him. There was the amazing POG juice available, so I happily sipped (or guzzled) down two cups.


None of the Cabana desserts appealed to me (Okay-that’s a lie, I did eat one cookie), so we set off for our first ice cream cone of the cruise. It was just as magical as I remembered. Since we were still in Port, we called home to let our families know we were safely on the ship and all that jazz.

At this point, I wish I could say we did something amazing and energetic. But, we curled up on a couch near the adult only pool and watched the other cruise ships in port. Yes, I know. We are party people.

The relaxation extended until it was time for the Guest Assembly Drill. Thank the heavens we were in a shady area (I think area J?). But it was still boiling. That wonderful mid-day Florida heat. Thankfully we were on time, but many families weren’t, which was incredibly frustrating. It was even more frustrating for all the poor exhausted little kids who missed out on their afternoon nap. There were two moms next to me, holding their toddlers with tears and sweat running down their shoulders. God bless moms.

Thankfully, the drill ended after 30 or so minutes and we were free! And, by free I mean, squashed in the staircases!

Reason #5 – My sail away was quiet and peaceful

While the Sail-Away deck party was cute the first time, I’m not a big fan of crowds or loud music. So I had decided prior to boarding, my sail away would involve a drink and the veranda. I figured Josh paid enough for the veranda, I was going to use it to its full potential. So, while everyone was heading up to the pool deck, Josh and I slipped down to the bar off the Lobby and snagged a Drink of the day (I think it was Paradise Punch? It was basically rum and pineapple juice, which is my heaven) and a rum & coke. There goes the first charge of the cruise! It is just too easy whipping out that key card.

We went up to our room and settled in for the sail-away. We had fun watching the shoreline pass by and pointing out all the sights of Coco Beach. As two adults seeking relaxation and fun, this was the perfect choice. We swore this would always be our plan (at least until we have little Disney fans).


Reason #6 Unlimited, uninterrupted adult pool time

As the Florida shoreline disappeared from view, the final calls home were made and phones were turned off. So, of course, I started begging to go to the pool! I had been on this boat almost 5 hours and had not been in a single pool! I was hoping to try the regular Mickey Pool, but that area was still crazy even though first dinner was going to start soon. So, we headed over to the adult pool were I happily read and sipped another drink of the day.

We had decided to forgo the first night’s show in favor of the nearly empty pool. We didn’t do much besides read and lay in the sun. Though I occasionally rotated between laying in the shallow water and the hot tub. It was a great start, but I was thoroughly looking forward to our first dinner!

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

Reason #7 – Romantic Dinners

Our first restaurant was Enchanted Garden. At first, I was disappointed, because I wasn’t super excited about the design of this restaurant and I would have to dine at it 3 times. However, we ended up at the coziest table. We were at table 112 and we were tucked away in a corner. It was perfect for seeing the flowers change throughout the meal, but we weren’t jammed against another table. I was so happy we requested a table change because we ended up with the most amazing wait staff. Our main server was Oshane from Jamaica and our assistant server was Laura from England. Literally, I would sail on the Fantasy again if I could have that team as my dining room servers. There were phenomenal. Oshane was hilarious and down-to-earth while Laura was such a sweetheart.

We put started with the Lobster Ravioli. It was incredibly delicious, but I wish it was served with a sauce instead of the juice. Next I devoured the Spinach and Raspberry Salad, which was so refreshing, while Josh raved about the tomato soup. For dinner, I ordered the Sea Bass. While I enjoyed the Sea Bass, the portion was huge and the flavors got overwhelming after a while, especially the fennel. However, Josh really enjoyed the Prime Rib.



We were so full at this point, we decided to skip dessert. Don’t worry! That will never happen again!

I was thoroughly impressed with our first meal on the Fantasy. While I wasn’t crazy about the atmosphere or menu of the Enchanted Garden during planning, it was a lovely meal.

After dinner, we stopped to takea picture with Belle. Then we walked around the illuminated pool deck, touring the areas we didn’t wander to during the day. We ultimately settled at the big round two person loungers overlooking the ocean in the adult area. I wanted to steal one of those loungers. They are amazing. We glanced over the Navigators and decided “Match Your Mate” would be an interesting way to cap the night. It was hysterical, but we had 3 great couples. Josh and I played by ourselves and we realized we would have got every question right! Oh darn!

After the show ended, we realized it had been a long day and we were starting to feel the sleepiness set in. So we wandered back to our room, looking forward to our first sea day.

 

[Flossbolna]

Just found your trip report and really love it! We are just a couple, no kids, as well and I totally agree with your points so far!

i am glad that you enjoyed Enchanted Garden more than you thought you would. I know that it gets a lot of negativity here on the DIS, but it actually is my favorite dining room. I am sure that part of that is due to the fact that we had a lovely table there, too.

And Match your Mate is really great! I need to make sure that we catch it again on our next cruise!

 

[franandaj]

As I read this update and your "reasons", I was thinking "why would it ever be otherwise?"

I would have been a horrible mother!

I can't imagine why people don't like Enchanted Garden. I thought it was great on the Dream and really enjoyed the menu you had that night.

I always have my own private sail away party on the verandah. Usually I bring wine on board and just enjoy that for sail away. However I have also been known to enjoy a DOTD as well!

 

[Quellman]

We sailed as a couple without kids twice. Now we have a tiny tot and have sailed twice with him. Different vacations, but still loads of fun, cant wait to see how the rest of the trip pans out!

 

[detroitdad]

Haven't been on the boards in a while and just found your report. My family was on the same cruise as you and I actually recognize you and your boyfriend! It was a great cruise! I look forward to cruising on our own in the near future. We took probably our last complete immediate family only cruise since our kids are 22, 19, 17 and 15 and my eldest started med school this august so will be hard to line up vacation schedules again---so kind of bitter sweet but we've had great DCL memories. This was our 5th cruise over the last 10 yrs.

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

I profusely apologize for the lack of updates! A mix of a rough first semester to school and the death of my beloved laptop left me out of commission. But, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season filled with dreams of Disney!


So, here is the second day of our Eastern Caribbean Cruise


Reason #8 - Palo Brunch and a Nap


Josh and I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in on our lazy Sunday. We sent our alarm with just enough time to get ready for Palo Brunch. We made the trek up to Palo, our stomach ready for the upcoming feast. We had the best server on Palo and I really wish I could remember her name. She was such a sweetheart and had the best accent. We sat at one of the tables with chairs facing the ocean. We indulged in the complimentary mimosas, a beautiful start to our day.


Then, it was time to start the buffet, where I gluttonously loaded up my plate. Now, you should understand...I don't like food touching on my plate. But, today, I didn't care. I made a small mountain of baked goods, fruit, seafood, and cheese. I wish I could say I took a picture of this masterpiece, but I was too busy eating. The highlights were the sticky buns (I may or may not have had 4 of these bad boys), the croissants, the succulent strawberries, the shrimp (which were amazing, but I would have killed for some Old Bay), the bresaola, and the prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe.


However, I did promise myself I would try one unusual thing at Palo and I decided to try caviar. The wait staff made me up a beautiful plate of crostini and butter with the caviar. Josh laughed as I nibbled off the tiniest piece, but to my surprise, it was okay. I don't think I would order it personally, but I'm glad I tried it. Next time I visit Palo, I would hope to continue this adventurous streak, but I'll probably just eat my body weigh in sticky buns and aged meat.


After the first plate of appetizers, my foot really started to hurt. After I finished stuffing my face, I noticed my heels had rubbed a gigantic blister and blood was getting all over my shoes. I quickly excused myself and ran up to our room to grab a band-aid and a pair of sandals.


Next, Josh and I did some intense negotiating over the entree we wanted to sample. We decided to order the chicken parmesan, the strawberry soup, and a pizza with half grape and gorgonzola and half sausage. Plus, our waitress insisted on trying the lasagna.


Now, I will probably be cast down by the powers of DISboards, but I wasn't crazy about the chicken. While it was tasty, I didn't think it was any better than some chicken parmesan I get in Little Italy. But I'm glad our waitress insisted on the lasagna, because that was heaven sent. The slice easily weighed a pound from the layers of meat, cheese, and pasta. Josh and I started fighting over the bowl. I also really really really loved the strawberry soup. I dreamed of eating that soup every morning for breakfast and, if I wasn't so full, I would have probably ordered a second serving. I went into a small period of mourning when I learned the strawberry soup was replaced on the Palo menu.


For dessert, I loaded up on tiramisu, chocolate covered strawberries, cream puffs, and something made Nutella. These were all fantastic, but my favorite dish was the berries with champagne jell-o. It was the classy version of my favorite kid's food. I may have had 1....2...or 3 of those....

Overall, I would highly recommend Palo brunch. It was an amazing start to our cruise and it was a nice retreat from the crowds. We went around 10:30 and it was empty, we had the buffet and room to ourselves until 11:30.


I wish I could write about the grand adventures we went on after Palo, but we went to our room and took a two hour nap. Basically, it was my dream morning.

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

Reason # 9 – The Ability to Do Nothing

When we woke up from our nap, I realized I had been on this cruise almost 24 hours and hadn’t gone swimming yet. It was a travesty.

So I dragged Josh out of bed and we went up to the pool deck. After scooping out the areas, we settled on the adult pool. The line for the water slide was crazy and the other pools looked like kid soup. We ordered our drinks and settled into our vacation. I wish I could say something more interesting, but we spent all afternoon floating between the adult pool and reading beside the adult pool. (Spoiler: Tomorrow will look pretty similar).

We stayed at the pool until 5:30, because I really wanted to see Aladdin at the Walt Disney Theatre. We got ready for dinner and headed to the theatre which was already packed. We ended up finding two seats on the end in the third row. They weren’t the best seats, but it was worth extending our pool time. The show was really good and I’m glad we decided to see this production. The Genie was amazing! If you’re going to see any show on the Fantasy, I would highly recommend this one!

After the show, we strolled around the shops for a few minutes before dinner. I started deciding which Tervis I was going to purchase for this cruise as I ran between shops. Because, you know, they can't have all the different Tervis designs in one place.

Today’s dinner was in Royal Court. This was easily my favorite restaurant and this would be our only night eating here. We both ordered the Deep Fried Brie, which is my favorite appetizer on DCL. It is so salty and creamy. Josh also ordered the French Onion Soup which he devoured. We both ordered the Filet, which was delicious. Finally, I ended the meal with the soufflé which is my favorite dessert on DCL. Basically, this was my favorite dining room meal. I left very happy and very stuffed.

Afterwards, we were so full, we just decided to wander the ship. I can’t exactly remember what we did, but we walked around the ship until midnight and called it a night.

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

Haven't been on the boards in a while and just found your report. My family was on the same cruise as you and I actually recognize you and your boyfriend! It was a great cruise! I look forward to cruising on our own in the near future. We took probably our last complete immediate family only cruise since our kids are 22, 19, 17 and 15 and my eldest started med school this august so will be hard to line up vacation schedules again---so kind of bitter sweet but we've had great DCL memories. This was our 5th cruise over the last 10 yrs.

Congratulations on your eldest starting med school! I'm sure I will love cruising with future kids at different life stages, but I do enjoy cruising with just the two of us. I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise as well!

 

[Flipflopgirl27]

Reason # 9 (continue) – The Ability to Do Nothing

I wish I could say we did something vastly different on Day 3 (the second sea day), but then I would be lying. We managed to do nothing spectacularly.

I wanted to eat breakfast in Royal Court, but we didn’t set an alarm. This resulted in our only choice being Cabanas. We enjoyed breakfast out on the deck (my favorite place to eat), before heading towards the pool. Today we flip-flopped between the adult pool and Satellite falls. While I really enjoy Satellite Falls, it was too windy and too chilly to stay long. We enjoyed multiple drinks of the day and read some more. We had Mixology that afternoon, so we loaded up on the delicious greasy deck food (a brie and bacon Panini, chicken tenders, and some fries) to prepare for the alcoholic adventure.

Reason #10 – Mixology

We left the pool to clean up before our 3 o’clock Mixology class. It was Meridian, a beautiful bar I wish we had spent more time visiting. We met a lovely couple there, who were enjoying the cruise for their anniversary! We had a great group and two really nice bartenders. We made a strawberry and basil mojito, a Malibu Breeze, a layered red, white, and blue drink, Pomegranate Passion, and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shot. I really enjoyed every drink and it was definitely worth the $20 free to participate.

Is it bad that I have no memory of what we did after Mixology? If I know us, it probably involved taking a nap or walking around. But, I seriously remember nothing. Sorry about that guys!

I do know that we went to see tonight’s show, Wishes. It was very cute and enjoyable, but I don’t think it’s a must-see show.

Afterwards, we started Midship Detective Agency for a bit before laying out on some loungers on the Promenade deck.

Tonight’s Dinner was in Animator’s Palate with the Crush the Turtle Show. I devoured the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes and requested a plain garden salad. I enjoyed the chicken dish for my meal and Oshane surprised me with the Royal Court’s Soufflé for dessert. Crush didn’t directly interact with us, but he did interact with the two tables on either sides of us. It was worth it to see the kids’ reactions. The one boy got challenged to race against Crush. The technology is definitely amazing! Though, I was equally amused by the fish making shapes in-between Crush’s appearances. Tonight we checked out Skyline for some cocktails before heading to bed.