Chattyaholic
~For years I wanted to be older, and now I am~ Mar
- Joined
- May 6, 2000
- Messages
- 5,562
Cast: Me (Chattyaholic) 46, DH 46, DM 66 and DD 72
Let me begin by saying this was DH's and my 4th cruise and this time we invited my parents to come along. We decided a week might be too long for them, as this was their first cruise, so decided on a 4-night Wonder cruise. My parents would never go on a trip like this by themselves as my DD has "short term memory loss" and it would be difficult for him and DM to be by themselves 100% of the time. We had booked this trip about a year in advance so had lots of time to "save and plan."
We flew down on 1/16, Detroit to Orlando, on Spirit Air (great flight, both ways, would highly recommend them to anyone) and arrived about 10:30 a.m. We had reserved an SUV with Budget Car Rental so went to pick that up, and we were off!! We spent the first night in Zephyrhills, so we could visit family there. Then we spent Friday and Saturday nights at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral. We had side-by-side king whirlpool suites. I had requested #410, when I made my reservation, as that was the room we had last year and they honored that request) and DM and DD were in #409. Last year we paid $99 per night, but this year we had to pay $129. I thought that was kind of a big increase in just one year. The rooms are beautiful though, decorated in a Caribbean theme in peach and aqua tones. You walk into a small "foyer" and to the right is the kitchen with glass-topped table and bamboo chairs, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, sink, cabinets (with dishes and silverware). There is a nice sitting room with hide-a-bed couch, chair with ottoman, desk and chair, a bench by the window, coffee table, and an armoire with large TV. The bedroom is separated by curtained French doors. It had a king size bed with another armoire and TV, double whirlpool tub in the corner, sink/mirrors/hair dryer, closet with iron and ironing board, extra pillows and blankets and a separate room for the toilet and huge, glassed walk-in shower (with seat). Lots of amenities are included: shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, lotion, mouth wash, aloe cooling gel, shower cap, shower puff, etc. Very, very nice but one thing I noticed, the carpet in the sitting room needed vacuuming. The housekeeper did not vacuum at all for the duration of our stay. I commented on this in the e-mail I sent to them (they sent me one, asking how our visit was) as well as the raise in price, but never got an e-mail back. Everything else was great though. We did some local sightseeing, went to Bok Tower, Daytona Beach, and Jetty Park on Saturday to watch the Disney Magic leave.
1/18 Sunday, "the Big Day!" We checked out of the hotel at 9:50 a.m. and drove less than a mile to return the rental car. We had to share the ride from Budget to the ship with a family of 4. The couple had a little boy (maybe 5-6 years old) who was quiet as could be, but their little girl (maybe 3-4 years old) was afraid of strangers and she voiced her opinion about having to ride with us the entire way, screaming and crying very loudly!!! It made for a less-than-enjoyable ride since she would not shut up until we all got out of the van. I cannot imagine how that family had a good cruise, with the child being so afraid of strangers like that, yikes!!! We got to the terminal shortly after 10:30, there were no lines at all. Check in was very quick and easy. We were "first in line" to go through the Mickey ears!! DH didn't want to get in line at first, but since we had the opportunity to be first I wanted to, for DM and DD. Others quickly lined up behind us so I guess everyone was just waiting for someone to start the line. It was kind of disappointing though, because when they started boarding at noon of course they let those in categories 1-3 board first, which is fine. They pay big bucks for their rooms, they should get priority boarding, I have no problem with that. But, other people lined up behind them, who hadn't been waiting with them or in the original line, and they went right on. So that was kind of upsetting, but we were still on the ship quite quickly. We stopped to have our "Welcome Aboard" photos taken, and thankfully they are using nice "backdrops" for them. Last time they did not, and we had strangers in the background of our photo so we didn't buy it. This time they made a collage out of the photo, and included other photos of the ship, so we definitely bought it. It also had the ship's name and date on it. The photos are $9.95 for the smaller ones and $19.95 for the larger ones. DM got all teary-eyed when we boarded, she was just so excited and thankful to be there (they both have health problems and she had been afraid all year that something would prevent them from going). She loved having their names called out, and the staff applauding, when they boarded. She was in such awe of the ship, and it was fun to see it all new and fresh again through her eyes. We went right up to Beach Blanket buffet for the "Welcome Aboard" buffet. I was very disappointed in the shrimp. Last time it was cold "peel and eat" but this time they put spices on it, yuck!! I only ate two and gave the rest to DH. He liked them. They had delicious cold strawberry-banana soup. DM loved that! And of course they had a nice selection of yummy desserts, DD had 4!! At 1:30 we could finally go to our staterooms. Until then they had all the entrances in the hallways blocked off. I don't think they did that our last two Disney cruises. We would always go to our room early, just to drop off our carry-ons, but I guess they don't even want people doing that so they roped them off. We had category 6 rooms, starboard side (view of Jetty Park when we were leaving port, and the best view of Castaway Cay) and mid-ship. We were in #6582 and DM and DD were next door (not connecting) in #6484. The rooms are quite large, nicely decorated in a nautical theme. The split bath (two rooms, one with tub/shower and a sink, the other with a toilet and sink is so nice and there is ample space for all our "stuff" so we never have the need for an over-the-door-shoe-holder that so many others use. The bed is queen size with small end tables/lamps (beautiful lamp shades) on either side. There is a steamer trunk with shelves for clothes, drawers for more clothes and on top of that is your ice bucket (they now ask when you would like ice delivered) and glasses. The closet is a double one and huge with plenty of space to hang clothes, put shoes, and the suitcases. Your in-room safe is inside the closet as well. The sitting area has a couch on one wall, with a large vanity (more drawers on either side) with huge mirror, a coffee table, TV and cooling box (not really a refrigerator, but will keep already cold things cold). The two areas have curtains to draw for privacy. Nice artwork on the walls, well-lighted too. The verandah is so nice, with a small table and two chairs. My favorite place to relax, read, and watch the ocean go by. Our stateroom host was Willy and she did a wonderful job keeping the room clean. My only complaint, and it was a small one, was that she kept re-arranging things on the vanity. I know they like to "pick up", especially clothes, etc. on the floor. But I would have preferred she not rearrange stuff on the vanity. We rarely saw her, and I had hoped to get a picture of her but she was always so busy that I hated to bother her. Anyway, we unpacked and relaxed a little on our verandahs. Then we had the "dreaded mandatory lifeboat drill" at 4:00. It was kind of hot in the sun with our life jackets on, and it lasted so long. It's too bad they won't just check your room number off when you show up, and then let you go, instead of making everyone stay and dismiss all at once. Finally it was over. I went back to our room and took a shower and got ready for dinner. We had early seating at 6:00 p.m. with TAPT rotation. DH went up to the top deck to play with his GPS and to watch us leave port. I watched us leave from our verandah, as did DM and DD. Went down to dinner early and had our pictures taken with Donald and Daisy Duck, they make such cute sounds when they "blow kisses" at you. Triton's is a nice, elegant looking restaurant but not my favorite. I actually prefer Parrot Cay, with it's Caribbean theme and more relaxed feeling. Jackets/ties are "suggested" for men, but most didn't have them. We saw a few, but most did what my DH and DD did, they wore khaki slacks and polo shirts. DM and I wore black slacks and dressy blouses. We did not feel "underdressed" at all. As I said, most people dressed this way rather than "formal." We did see a few in shorts and jeans, but not many. We had a table for 4, which was what I requested (had gone to Wavebands earlier to make sure the table number we had was indeed a table for 4 and it was). My only complaint was the configuration of the tables, we were the middle table with a table for 4 on either side of us and they were way too close together. It felt more like we were at a table for 12, and that was not what we wanted. If the tables would have been turned the opposite way, it would have been nicer. Our head server was Sid from India (who now lives in Florida he said). He was so nice, stopping by our table at least once, and sometimes twice, during dinner. Called DD "Papa" and once he found out we were from Michigan, but DD was originally from Texas, he remembered that and mentioned it several times. It was nice that he was so "visible" during dinner each night. Our server was Mark from St. Vincent, and Marlon from Costa Rica. They did a very good job, but not quite as good as Sasha on our last cruise! We were still pleased with them though. Mark even cut up DD's steak one night, even though he really didn't have time to do that, he made the time and we thought that was sweet of him to help like he did (I thought DM would have cut if for him but she didn't). I asked for Diet Coke the first night, and DH asked for coffee with his dessert, and each night after that Marlon would ask if that was what we wanted again. So nice to have someone put your napkin in your lap, fill your water glass, and be so attentive the entire meal. That first night I had the pearls of melon in wine (good), cauliflower soup (delicious), Bib lettuce with raspberry viniagrette dressing (okay), and the roast duck with orange sauce (delicious - but I don't remember what came with it), and for dessert - of course, the creme brulee (extremely yummy!!). DH and I also ordered the white chocolate domes to share, very good too!! After dinner we waddled to Shutters to look at, and purchase, our photos and then we went down to the shops to buy some souvenirs. DM and DD went back to their room as they are early-to-bed people. DH and I went to Wavebands to listen to the band Sea Breeze. They were very, very good and we enjoyed them so much. We were the only ones there for a few minutes after they started to play so we interracted with them a bit, and enjoyed our "private concert." Then more people started showing up and their 45-minute concert went by very quickly. They had a comedian/ventriloquist, Lynn Trefzger, and she was great!!! Her puppet was an old man named Judd. We laughed so much, and hated to see the show end. We stayed for a little of the 80's party, and on our way out they had a table set up for "lite bites" so we each got a small plate of food to snack on before going up to take a walk on deck 10, just enjoying being back on a Disney ship again.
1/19 - Monday We were up by 7:00, went to Beach Blanket buffet for breakfast. I had a croissant (they are so good!), fruit and 2 slices of bacon. We were docked at Nassau, so after breakfast we went up to the top deck to walk around, look, and take a few pictures. This year we had a digital camera, plus I also used my regular camera as well. We got off the ship at 10:00 and it was a short stroll to the town area. DH and I had been to Nassau before, but of course DM and DD had not so they enjoyed seeing another culture. After politely refusing numerous taxis and many, many chances to have my hair braided we took horse and buggy rides. We had hoped the four of us could go together, but we had to go two in one and two in another. A guy, who I thought was our driver, said to give him our camera and he would take our picture so I did, then he mumbled something about "needing to be tipped" for his "service." DH was going to give him $2 but I said only $1, it took all of 10 seconds for him to snap the photo, and if it would have been our driver doing that I would have been happy to tip more. The ride cost $10 each, and lasted almost a half-hour. It was nice to see some of the side streets we missed on our last trip. After the ride, we went to a few of the shops so DM could buy a Nassau t-shirt. She also wanted a pen that said "Nassau" but they all just said "Bahamas" and she didn't want that so she didn't get one. DD got tired of walking so we took them back to the dock and they went back to the ship on their own, DH and I went back to one of the jewelry shops, Diamonds International I think it was. I had been thinking about getting a tanzanite ring as a gift to myself for losing almost 40 pounds before the cruise, but the one I liked was $900! Gulp!! I didn't want to reward myself quite that much, so I passed on it. We walked back to the ship and went to Beach Blanket for the buffet lunch. I went back to our room to take a shower and DH went up top. I took a short nap and relaxed awhile. We went to the atrium a few minutes before dinner and were sitting in some chairs when Donald and Daisy walked by, we saw them several times like this throughout the cruise. I wish I would have seen Stitch. It seemed, to me, that they were hiding him or something because we rarely saw him. I had hoped to have my picture taken with him as he's my favorite, but never had the opportunity. Dinner tonight was in Animator's Palate, and the "show" was very nice. DM was amazed by it. I had the duck and goat cheese flatbread which I ate about half of but wasn't impressed with. Also had the butternut squash soup, wonderful!!! I didn't care for any of the entrees they offered that night so I opted to have the sirloin steak. It was very, very tough and full of gristle. Very disappointing. I remember being disappointed with it on our last Magic cruise as well. I think Disney should be able to serve better steaks than they do. It was extremely difficult to cut, plus it had gravy all over it and I had not been expecting that. I would have preferred it "plain." For dessert I ordered the cheesecake with strawberries, and it was very good. We went to the 8:30 show in the Walt Disney Theater (skipped last night's show as it was "Hercules" and DH and I had seen it once before and didn't care for it, DM and DD didn't think they would enjoy it either so skipped it as well.) Tonight's show was the same comedian/ventriloquist, Lynn Trefzger, that we had seen at Wavebands the night before. Again she was hilarious, and used several different puppets. DM and DD went to their room right after the show (such party poopers they are
), while DH and I went up to the Tropical Deck Party and enjoyed the music and watching the characters (and other people) dance down below. They had a buffet at 11:00, with various hot foods and tons of delicious desserts. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!! 
1/20 - Tuesday We were up by 7:00 and went to the buffet for breakfast (DM and DD had room service then they were "on their own" for the day). We saw us try to dock at Castaway Cay but it was too windy so we had a "day at sea" and they would try to go there the next day. The weather was cloudy most of the day so not really a "beach day" anyway. DH and I went to the "secret" deck #7 aft, we relaxed and enjoyed the sun peaking out now and then for a couple of hours. The "secret" deck is becoming "not-so-secret-anymore" though. The last cruise we were on we pretty much had the area to ourselves and hardly anyone coming out "just to look." But this time the door was almost constantly being opened and closed. I didn't mind those that sat down in lounge chairs to read and relax, but it was the ones (especially the ones with noisy kids) that came out for 2 minutes "just to look" and then left again. I think that area should be for just adults, as there is absolutely nothing out there for children to do anyway. JMHO. Went back to the room to shower, and had lunch at the buffet. It was their seafood buffet, they even had "octopus salad." Yikes!! I had no inclination to even try it, not with all those tiny little tentacles!!! After lunch we went to the shops again to "buy more stuff." Plus DH was able to get his necklace and bracelet replaced (the gold-by-the-inch stuff) as they had tarnished so much over the past year since he'd bought them on the Magic. After that DH went to deck #4 so he could read and relax in one of those nice, comfy blue lounge chairs. I went back to our room, and was going to sit out on the verandah and read but it was too breezy and chilly so I used the couch in our room instead, nice and quiet, which was exactly what I was needing at that point. DH went to the "Behind the Scenes" session, and enjoyed the question and answer period with the crew of the ship. I decided to take a walk up on deck #4 but they had a portion of it blocked off for some reason so I couldn't walk all the way around like I wanted to. We had dinner at Parrot Cay tonight, my favorite of all the restaurants. I had the trio of salmon (poached, smoked and marinated) as my appetizer and it was delicious. Also had the cold mango-papaya soup, very, very good!! And the pan fried grouper, excellent as well. For dessert I had the creme brulee cheesecake, it was very good too but I just could not finish it, was too full and with me being a type 2 diabetic I did not want to feel sick or "too stuffed" from the meal so I had to stop, even though I didn't really want to. We went to the "Golden Mickeys" show and really enjoyed that although my DM kept covering her ears, she felt it was too loud. She was also upset because before the show two separate children had stomped on her foot so she was in a bit of pain from that. It's too bad some people don't keep better watch of their children, so that kind of thing doesn't happen. Or at the very least be aware of what the child does, so you can have him/her stop and apologize to the older person they have just stepped on. In both cases these were children who were running/horsing around. It wasn't like it was a crowded situation and they just happened to step on her foot. They were each playing too roughly and should have had better supervision. My DH didn't care much for the show either, and a kid behind him kept talking throughout the whole thing so that annoyed him. It wasn't a 2 or 3 year old, but more like an 8 or 10 year old, so the child should have known enough to be quiet for the show. Afterward we walked DM and DD back to their room, then at 10:15 DH and I went to Wavebands to listen to Sea Breeze and again we enjoyed their music very much. Took a walk around deck #4 before calling it a night.
1/21 - Wednesday We were up before 7:00, and we watched us dock at Castaway Cay. Beautiful blue-sky-and-sunshine day! We had the "pretty view" of the island from our verandah. We met DM and DD at 8:00 to go to Triton's for breakfast. We had been going to the buffet, but DH really wanted eggs benedict so we went to the restaurant so he could have that. He liked it well enough, but they were a little stingy on the sauce. I had French toast and bacon, it was very good. About 9:45 we got off the ship to show DM and DD the island. We had our pictures taken with the ship in the background. We took the tram to the first stop, and went to "She Sells..." Greg, from Treasure Ketch, checked us out and Mom asked him about the DCL stick pens, she wanted to buy some (she liked the "free" one in her room) but he said they weren't for sale. But he gave her one, and it just pleased her so much. We took the second trm back to the adult beach, "Serenity Bay" so they could see it. We enjoyed all of the pretty flowers along the way. It was kind of breezy and a bit chilly so we didn't stay long. We took the tram back and it was too early for lunch, but we saw and pet the island cat, Tipper. He seemed to enjoy the attention. We took DM and DD back to the ship about 11:30 and they went to Parrot Cay for lunch. DH and I walked back to Cookie's for the BBQ. There are two large areas with tables, but also a more secluded area with just two tables and we were able to sit there and enjoyed watching the birds. I had a hot dog, BBQ chicken, some pasta and potato salad, and a Big Island cookie. It was all good. We also had some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream as we were leaving the area. One of the CM's (Jaimey from the Netherlands) stopped us and said the ice cream was Italian and you could smell it, so gullible me tried to smell it and he pushed it into my nose! In a way it was cute, but in a way it wasn't. How did he know I wouldn't get very angry over it? I wiped it off my nose and did not have a napkin, so he let me wipe it on his shirt, so I guess it was all right then, but still...not something they should do on a regular basis I don't think. We continued walking, all the way back to the adult beach. We got some fresh mango and papaya there, and sat down on a lounger on the beach and gobbled it up....yum!!! Then, as we started walking back, we decided to get konk koolers from the bar too. Sooooo goooood!!!
Back on the ship we decided to get our swimsuits on and use one of the whirlpools at the adult pool. We laid in the sun on loungers for a little while after that. I went back to the room early to start the dreaded task of packing the suitcases back up as we had to have them outside the door that night by 11:00. DH came back later and we got ready to go to dinner. The Castaway Club (for returning cruisers) reception was tonight so we went to that. The captain stopped at our table so it was to chat with him a moment. Dinner tonight was again at Triton's. I had the California roll with smoked salmon, garnished with black caviar. I thought this might be the only opportunity I would ever have to try caviar, so I decided to try it, and it was good. I also had the crawfish and lobster bisque and it was quite good. For my entree I had the grilled beef tenderloin, it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!! To top it off, I had the chocolate decadence for dessert but I was so full I could only manage a few bites of it. All I can say about that dessert is, WOW!! We took pictures of our servers tonight, and handed out our tip envelopes. We gave each person a little extra in their envelopes too. Tonight was "Disney Dreams." This was our third time to see it, and it was wonderful as always. DM and DD enjoyed it very much too. I had a young boy behind me that kept pushing my seat though, so that took a little of the enjoyment out. I put up with it as long as I could, then finally turned and asked him to stop. He did, for a few minutes. I guess his mother was oblivious to the fact he was annoying me. After the show we went back to the room to finish packing and put the suitcases out. DM and DD immediately went to bed (DM felt overwhelmed about having to rush to pack, fill out the forms, etc. so we helped them with all of that) and DH and I went to the atrium to catch the last few minutes of the character farewell appearances. Again, I was just a few seconds too late to get a picture with Stitch. We walked around taking pictures, then took "one last walk" up on deck. We stopped at Treasure Ketch so I could "just look" at the jewelry and I ended up buying a Caribbean Lights topaz ring. I mentioned to Greg how happy he made my DM that morning, at "She Sells..." by giving her that pen, he remembered and said "just a second..." then he went and got a box that jewelry goes in, and put one more of the "free" pens inside and said "give this to your Mom." I mentioned these "Magical things" Greg did for my DM, on the comment card. He was just so sweet and kind.
1/22 - Thursday We were awakened before 6:00 by all the noise from the dock, with all the trucks loading and unloading things. Our cruise was almost over, so sad. We did our last minute packing and went to the buffet for breakfast at 7:30. We would have had to be at Triton's at 6:45 for our "assigned" breakfast and that was just too early, so we opted for the buffet a bit later. They did have scrambled eggs and bacon, so it wasn't just continental. We got off the ship shortly after 8:00 and a porter took our luggage to the bus to take us back to the airport. The ride was about 45-minutes long (we had purchased one-way transfers) and we were back at the airport by 9:00 a.m. Our original flight home was not until evening so we had planned on just spending the day at the airport. I suggested a day room at the hotel there, but DM and DD didn't want to spend the money. But, since we were there so early we went to the Spirit counter to see if they happened to have any seats left on the early flight, and they did. They were so helpful in changing our flights, and we appreciated it so much. Again, I have only good things to say about Spirit Air, they were absolutely fantastic, and so reasonably priced, only $185 each round trip from Detroit. We were in the air, headed for home, before noon.
Final comments: It was a very nice cruise, and I'm so glad we were able to take my DM and DD along and so thankful they were healthy enough to go and enjoy it. It was a little "different" being with them, rather than being by ourselves, and we had to wait a lot for my DD to finish his meals, but it was still a great trip, and virtually hassle free. Disney ships are beautiful, and their service is wonderful. The weather was a bit chilly and cloudy, but still better than the snow and zero degree weather we left at home so we couldn't complain at all!!!
Let me begin by saying this was DH's and my 4th cruise and this time we invited my parents to come along. We decided a week might be too long for them, as this was their first cruise, so decided on a 4-night Wonder cruise. My parents would never go on a trip like this by themselves as my DD has "short term memory loss" and it would be difficult for him and DM to be by themselves 100% of the time. We had booked this trip about a year in advance so had lots of time to "save and plan."
We flew down on 1/16, Detroit to Orlando, on Spirit Air (great flight, both ways, would highly recommend them to anyone) and arrived about 10:30 a.m. We had reserved an SUV with Budget Car Rental so went to pick that up, and we were off!! We spent the first night in Zephyrhills, so we could visit family there. Then we spent Friday and Saturday nights at the Radisson in Cape Canaveral. We had side-by-side king whirlpool suites. I had requested #410, when I made my reservation, as that was the room we had last year and they honored that request) and DM and DD were in #409. Last year we paid $99 per night, but this year we had to pay $129. I thought that was kind of a big increase in just one year. The rooms are beautiful though, decorated in a Caribbean theme in peach and aqua tones. You walk into a small "foyer" and to the right is the kitchen with glass-topped table and bamboo chairs, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, sink, cabinets (with dishes and silverware). There is a nice sitting room with hide-a-bed couch, chair with ottoman, desk and chair, a bench by the window, coffee table, and an armoire with large TV. The bedroom is separated by curtained French doors. It had a king size bed with another armoire and TV, double whirlpool tub in the corner, sink/mirrors/hair dryer, closet with iron and ironing board, extra pillows and blankets and a separate room for the toilet and huge, glassed walk-in shower (with seat). Lots of amenities are included: shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, lotion, mouth wash, aloe cooling gel, shower cap, shower puff, etc. Very, very nice but one thing I noticed, the carpet in the sitting room needed vacuuming. The housekeeper did not vacuum at all for the duration of our stay. I commented on this in the e-mail I sent to them (they sent me one, asking how our visit was) as well as the raise in price, but never got an e-mail back. Everything else was great though. We did some local sightseeing, went to Bok Tower, Daytona Beach, and Jetty Park on Saturday to watch the Disney Magic leave.
1/18 Sunday, "the Big Day!" We checked out of the hotel at 9:50 a.m. and drove less than a mile to return the rental car. We had to share the ride from Budget to the ship with a family of 4. The couple had a little boy (maybe 5-6 years old) who was quiet as could be, but their little girl (maybe 3-4 years old) was afraid of strangers and she voiced her opinion about having to ride with us the entire way, screaming and crying very loudly!!! It made for a less-than-enjoyable ride since she would not shut up until we all got out of the van. I cannot imagine how that family had a good cruise, with the child being so afraid of strangers like that, yikes!!! We got to the terminal shortly after 10:30, there were no lines at all. Check in was very quick and easy. We were "first in line" to go through the Mickey ears!! DH didn't want to get in line at first, but since we had the opportunity to be first I wanted to, for DM and DD. Others quickly lined up behind us so I guess everyone was just waiting for someone to start the line. It was kind of disappointing though, because when they started boarding at noon of course they let those in categories 1-3 board first, which is fine. They pay big bucks for their rooms, they should get priority boarding, I have no problem with that. But, other people lined up behind them, who hadn't been waiting with them or in the original line, and they went right on. So that was kind of upsetting, but we were still on the ship quite quickly. We stopped to have our "Welcome Aboard" photos taken, and thankfully they are using nice "backdrops" for them. Last time they did not, and we had strangers in the background of our photo so we didn't buy it. This time they made a collage out of the photo, and included other photos of the ship, so we definitely bought it. It also had the ship's name and date on it. The photos are $9.95 for the smaller ones and $19.95 for the larger ones. DM got all teary-eyed when we boarded, she was just so excited and thankful to be there (they both have health problems and she had been afraid all year that something would prevent them from going). She loved having their names called out, and the staff applauding, when they boarded. She was in such awe of the ship, and it was fun to see it all new and fresh again through her eyes. We went right up to Beach Blanket buffet for the "Welcome Aboard" buffet. I was very disappointed in the shrimp. Last time it was cold "peel and eat" but this time they put spices on it, yuck!! I only ate two and gave the rest to DH. He liked them. They had delicious cold strawberry-banana soup. DM loved that! And of course they had a nice selection of yummy desserts, DD had 4!! At 1:30 we could finally go to our staterooms. Until then they had all the entrances in the hallways blocked off. I don't think they did that our last two Disney cruises. We would always go to our room early, just to drop off our carry-ons, but I guess they don't even want people doing that so they roped them off. We had category 6 rooms, starboard side (view of Jetty Park when we were leaving port, and the best view of Castaway Cay) and mid-ship. We were in #6582 and DM and DD were next door (not connecting) in #6484. The rooms are quite large, nicely decorated in a nautical theme. The split bath (two rooms, one with tub/shower and a sink, the other with a toilet and sink is so nice and there is ample space for all our "stuff" so we never have the need for an over-the-door-shoe-holder that so many others use. The bed is queen size with small end tables/lamps (beautiful lamp shades) on either side. There is a steamer trunk with shelves for clothes, drawers for more clothes and on top of that is your ice bucket (they now ask when you would like ice delivered) and glasses. The closet is a double one and huge with plenty of space to hang clothes, put shoes, and the suitcases. Your in-room safe is inside the closet as well. The sitting area has a couch on one wall, with a large vanity (more drawers on either side) with huge mirror, a coffee table, TV and cooling box (not really a refrigerator, but will keep already cold things cold). The two areas have curtains to draw for privacy. Nice artwork on the walls, well-lighted too. The verandah is so nice, with a small table and two chairs. My favorite place to relax, read, and watch the ocean go by. Our stateroom host was Willy and she did a wonderful job keeping the room clean. My only complaint, and it was a small one, was that she kept re-arranging things on the vanity. I know they like to "pick up", especially clothes, etc. on the floor. But I would have preferred she not rearrange stuff on the vanity. We rarely saw her, and I had hoped to get a picture of her but she was always so busy that I hated to bother her. Anyway, we unpacked and relaxed a little on our verandahs. Then we had the "dreaded mandatory lifeboat drill" at 4:00. It was kind of hot in the sun with our life jackets on, and it lasted so long. It's too bad they won't just check your room number off when you show up, and then let you go, instead of making everyone stay and dismiss all at once. Finally it was over. I went back to our room and took a shower and got ready for dinner. We had early seating at 6:00 p.m. with TAPT rotation. DH went up to the top deck to play with his GPS and to watch us leave port. I watched us leave from our verandah, as did DM and DD. Went down to dinner early and had our pictures taken with Donald and Daisy Duck, they make such cute sounds when they "blow kisses" at you. Triton's is a nice, elegant looking restaurant but not my favorite. I actually prefer Parrot Cay, with it's Caribbean theme and more relaxed feeling. Jackets/ties are "suggested" for men, but most didn't have them. We saw a few, but most did what my DH and DD did, they wore khaki slacks and polo shirts. DM and I wore black slacks and dressy blouses. We did not feel "underdressed" at all. As I said, most people dressed this way rather than "formal." We did see a few in shorts and jeans, but not many. We had a table for 4, which was what I requested (had gone to Wavebands earlier to make sure the table number we had was indeed a table for 4 and it was). My only complaint was the configuration of the tables, we were the middle table with a table for 4 on either side of us and they were way too close together. It felt more like we were at a table for 12, and that was not what we wanted. If the tables would have been turned the opposite way, it would have been nicer. Our head server was Sid from India (who now lives in Florida he said). He was so nice, stopping by our table at least once, and sometimes twice, during dinner. Called DD "Papa" and once he found out we were from Michigan, but DD was originally from Texas, he remembered that and mentioned it several times. It was nice that he was so "visible" during dinner each night. Our server was Mark from St. Vincent, and Marlon from Costa Rica. They did a very good job, but not quite as good as Sasha on our last cruise! We were still pleased with them though. Mark even cut up DD's steak one night, even though he really didn't have time to do that, he made the time and we thought that was sweet of him to help like he did (I thought DM would have cut if for him but she didn't). I asked for Diet Coke the first night, and DH asked for coffee with his dessert, and each night after that Marlon would ask if that was what we wanted again. So nice to have someone put your napkin in your lap, fill your water glass, and be so attentive the entire meal. That first night I had the pearls of melon in wine (good), cauliflower soup (delicious), Bib lettuce with raspberry viniagrette dressing (okay), and the roast duck with orange sauce (delicious - but I don't remember what came with it), and for dessert - of course, the creme brulee (extremely yummy!!). DH and I also ordered the white chocolate domes to share, very good too!! After dinner we waddled to Shutters to look at, and purchase, our photos and then we went down to the shops to buy some souvenirs. DM and DD went back to their room as they are early-to-bed people. DH and I went to Wavebands to listen to the band Sea Breeze. They were very, very good and we enjoyed them so much. We were the only ones there for a few minutes after they started to play so we interracted with them a bit, and enjoyed our "private concert." Then more people started showing up and their 45-minute concert went by very quickly. They had a comedian/ventriloquist, Lynn Trefzger, and she was great!!! Her puppet was an old man named Judd. We laughed so much, and hated to see the show end. We stayed for a little of the 80's party, and on our way out they had a table set up for "lite bites" so we each got a small plate of food to snack on before going up to take a walk on deck 10, just enjoying being back on a Disney ship again.
1/19 - Monday We were up by 7:00, went to Beach Blanket buffet for breakfast. I had a croissant (they are so good!), fruit and 2 slices of bacon. We were docked at Nassau, so after breakfast we went up to the top deck to walk around, look, and take a few pictures. This year we had a digital camera, plus I also used my regular camera as well. We got off the ship at 10:00 and it was a short stroll to the town area. DH and I had been to Nassau before, but of course DM and DD had not so they enjoyed seeing another culture. After politely refusing numerous taxis and many, many chances to have my hair braided we took horse and buggy rides. We had hoped the four of us could go together, but we had to go two in one and two in another. A guy, who I thought was our driver, said to give him our camera and he would take our picture so I did, then he mumbled something about "needing to be tipped" for his "service." DH was going to give him $2 but I said only $1, it took all of 10 seconds for him to snap the photo, and if it would have been our driver doing that I would have been happy to tip more. The ride cost $10 each, and lasted almost a half-hour. It was nice to see some of the side streets we missed on our last trip. After the ride, we went to a few of the shops so DM could buy a Nassau t-shirt. She also wanted a pen that said "Nassau" but they all just said "Bahamas" and she didn't want that so she didn't get one. DD got tired of walking so we took them back to the dock and they went back to the ship on their own, DH and I went back to one of the jewelry shops, Diamonds International I think it was. I had been thinking about getting a tanzanite ring as a gift to myself for losing almost 40 pounds before the cruise, but the one I liked was $900! Gulp!! I didn't want to reward myself quite that much, so I passed on it. We walked back to the ship and went to Beach Blanket for the buffet lunch. I went back to our room to take a shower and DH went up top. I took a short nap and relaxed awhile. We went to the atrium a few minutes before dinner and were sitting in some chairs when Donald and Daisy walked by, we saw them several times like this throughout the cruise. I wish I would have seen Stitch. It seemed, to me, that they were hiding him or something because we rarely saw him. I had hoped to have my picture taken with him as he's my favorite, but never had the opportunity. Dinner tonight was in Animator's Palate, and the "show" was very nice. DM was amazed by it. I had the duck and goat cheese flatbread which I ate about half of but wasn't impressed with. Also had the butternut squash soup, wonderful!!! I didn't care for any of the entrees they offered that night so I opted to have the sirloin steak. It was very, very tough and full of gristle. Very disappointing. I remember being disappointed with it on our last Magic cruise as well. I think Disney should be able to serve better steaks than they do. It was extremely difficult to cut, plus it had gravy all over it and I had not been expecting that. I would have preferred it "plain." For dessert I ordered the cheesecake with strawberries, and it was very good. We went to the 8:30 show in the Walt Disney Theater (skipped last night's show as it was "Hercules" and DH and I had seen it once before and didn't care for it, DM and DD didn't think they would enjoy it either so skipped it as well.) Tonight's show was the same comedian/ventriloquist, Lynn Trefzger, that we had seen at Wavebands the night before. Again she was hilarious, and used several different puppets. DM and DD went to their room right after the show (such party poopers they are
), while DH and I went up to the Tropical Deck Party and enjoyed the music and watching the characters (and other people) dance down below. They had a buffet at 11:00, with various hot foods and tons of delicious desserts. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!! 1/20 - Tuesday We were up by 7:00 and went to the buffet for breakfast (DM and DD had room service then they were "on their own" for the day). We saw us try to dock at Castaway Cay but it was too windy so we had a "day at sea" and they would try to go there the next day. The weather was cloudy most of the day so not really a "beach day" anyway. DH and I went to the "secret" deck #7 aft, we relaxed and enjoyed the sun peaking out now and then for a couple of hours. The "secret" deck is becoming "not-so-secret-anymore" though. The last cruise we were on we pretty much had the area to ourselves and hardly anyone coming out "just to look." But this time the door was almost constantly being opened and closed. I didn't mind those that sat down in lounge chairs to read and relax, but it was the ones (especially the ones with noisy kids) that came out for 2 minutes "just to look" and then left again. I think that area should be for just adults, as there is absolutely nothing out there for children to do anyway. JMHO. Went back to the room to shower, and had lunch at the buffet. It was their seafood buffet, they even had "octopus salad." Yikes!! I had no inclination to even try it, not with all those tiny little tentacles!!! After lunch we went to the shops again to "buy more stuff." Plus DH was able to get his necklace and bracelet replaced (the gold-by-the-inch stuff) as they had tarnished so much over the past year since he'd bought them on the Magic. After that DH went to deck #4 so he could read and relax in one of those nice, comfy blue lounge chairs. I went back to our room, and was going to sit out on the verandah and read but it was too breezy and chilly so I used the couch in our room instead, nice and quiet, which was exactly what I was needing at that point. DH went to the "Behind the Scenes" session, and enjoyed the question and answer period with the crew of the ship. I decided to take a walk up on deck #4 but they had a portion of it blocked off for some reason so I couldn't walk all the way around like I wanted to. We had dinner at Parrot Cay tonight, my favorite of all the restaurants. I had the trio of salmon (poached, smoked and marinated) as my appetizer and it was delicious. Also had the cold mango-papaya soup, very, very good!! And the pan fried grouper, excellent as well. For dessert I had the creme brulee cheesecake, it was very good too but I just could not finish it, was too full and with me being a type 2 diabetic I did not want to feel sick or "too stuffed" from the meal so I had to stop, even though I didn't really want to. We went to the "Golden Mickeys" show and really enjoyed that although my DM kept covering her ears, she felt it was too loud. She was also upset because before the show two separate children had stomped on her foot so she was in a bit of pain from that. It's too bad some people don't keep better watch of their children, so that kind of thing doesn't happen. Or at the very least be aware of what the child does, so you can have him/her stop and apologize to the older person they have just stepped on. In both cases these were children who were running/horsing around. It wasn't like it was a crowded situation and they just happened to step on her foot. They were each playing too roughly and should have had better supervision. My DH didn't care much for the show either, and a kid behind him kept talking throughout the whole thing so that annoyed him. It wasn't a 2 or 3 year old, but more like an 8 or 10 year old, so the child should have known enough to be quiet for the show. Afterward we walked DM and DD back to their room, then at 10:15 DH and I went to Wavebands to listen to Sea Breeze and again we enjoyed their music very much. Took a walk around deck #4 before calling it a night.
1/21 - Wednesday We were up before 7:00, and we watched us dock at Castaway Cay. Beautiful blue-sky-and-sunshine day! We had the "pretty view" of the island from our verandah. We met DM and DD at 8:00 to go to Triton's for breakfast. We had been going to the buffet, but DH really wanted eggs benedict so we went to the restaurant so he could have that. He liked it well enough, but they were a little stingy on the sauce. I had French toast and bacon, it was very good. About 9:45 we got off the ship to show DM and DD the island. We had our pictures taken with the ship in the background. We took the tram to the first stop, and went to "She Sells..." Greg, from Treasure Ketch, checked us out and Mom asked him about the DCL stick pens, she wanted to buy some (she liked the "free" one in her room) but he said they weren't for sale. But he gave her one, and it just pleased her so much. We took the second trm back to the adult beach, "Serenity Bay" so they could see it. We enjoyed all of the pretty flowers along the way. It was kind of breezy and a bit chilly so we didn't stay long. We took the tram back and it was too early for lunch, but we saw and pet the island cat, Tipper. He seemed to enjoy the attention. We took DM and DD back to the ship about 11:30 and they went to Parrot Cay for lunch. DH and I walked back to Cookie's for the BBQ. There are two large areas with tables, but also a more secluded area with just two tables and we were able to sit there and enjoyed watching the birds. I had a hot dog, BBQ chicken, some pasta and potato salad, and a Big Island cookie. It was all good. We also had some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream as we were leaving the area. One of the CM's (Jaimey from the Netherlands) stopped us and said the ice cream was Italian and you could smell it, so gullible me tried to smell it and he pushed it into my nose! In a way it was cute, but in a way it wasn't. How did he know I wouldn't get very angry over it? I wiped it off my nose and did not have a napkin, so he let me wipe it on his shirt, so I guess it was all right then, but still...not something they should do on a regular basis I don't think. We continued walking, all the way back to the adult beach. We got some fresh mango and papaya there, and sat down on a lounger on the beach and gobbled it up....yum!!! Then, as we started walking back, we decided to get konk koolers from the bar too. Sooooo goooood!!!
Back on the ship we decided to get our swimsuits on and use one of the whirlpools at the adult pool. We laid in the sun on loungers for a little while after that. I went back to the room early to start the dreaded task of packing the suitcases back up as we had to have them outside the door that night by 11:00. DH came back later and we got ready to go to dinner. The Castaway Club (for returning cruisers) reception was tonight so we went to that. The captain stopped at our table so it was to chat with him a moment. Dinner tonight was again at Triton's. I had the California roll with smoked salmon, garnished with black caviar. I thought this might be the only opportunity I would ever have to try caviar, so I decided to try it, and it was good. I also had the crawfish and lobster bisque and it was quite good. For my entree I had the grilled beef tenderloin, it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!! To top it off, I had the chocolate decadence for dessert but I was so full I could only manage a few bites of it. All I can say about that dessert is, WOW!! We took pictures of our servers tonight, and handed out our tip envelopes. We gave each person a little extra in their envelopes too. Tonight was "Disney Dreams." This was our third time to see it, and it was wonderful as always. DM and DD enjoyed it very much too. I had a young boy behind me that kept pushing my seat though, so that took a little of the enjoyment out. I put up with it as long as I could, then finally turned and asked him to stop. He did, for a few minutes. I guess his mother was oblivious to the fact he was annoying me. After the show we went back to the room to finish packing and put the suitcases out. DM and DD immediately went to bed (DM felt overwhelmed about having to rush to pack, fill out the forms, etc. so we helped them with all of that) and DH and I went to the atrium to catch the last few minutes of the character farewell appearances. Again, I was just a few seconds too late to get a picture with Stitch. We walked around taking pictures, then took "one last walk" up on deck. We stopped at Treasure Ketch so I could "just look" at the jewelry and I ended up buying a Caribbean Lights topaz ring. I mentioned to Greg how happy he made my DM that morning, at "She Sells..." by giving her that pen, he remembered and said "just a second..." then he went and got a box that jewelry goes in, and put one more of the "free" pens inside and said "give this to your Mom." I mentioned these "Magical things" Greg did for my DM, on the comment card. He was just so sweet and kind.
1/22 - Thursday We were awakened before 6:00 by all the noise from the dock, with all the trucks loading and unloading things. Our cruise was almost over, so sad. We did our last minute packing and went to the buffet for breakfast at 7:30. We would have had to be at Triton's at 6:45 for our "assigned" breakfast and that was just too early, so we opted for the buffet a bit later. They did have scrambled eggs and bacon, so it wasn't just continental. We got off the ship shortly after 8:00 and a porter took our luggage to the bus to take us back to the airport. The ride was about 45-minutes long (we had purchased one-way transfers) and we were back at the airport by 9:00 a.m. Our original flight home was not until evening so we had planned on just spending the day at the airport. I suggested a day room at the hotel there, but DM and DD didn't want to spend the money. But, since we were there so early we went to the Spirit counter to see if they happened to have any seats left on the early flight, and they did. They were so helpful in changing our flights, and we appreciated it so much. Again, I have only good things to say about Spirit Air, they were absolutely fantastic, and so reasonably priced, only $185 each round trip from Detroit. We were in the air, headed for home, before noon.
Final comments: It was a very nice cruise, and I'm so glad we were able to take my DM and DD along and so thankful they were healthy enough to go and enjoy it. It was a little "different" being with them, rather than being by ourselves, and we had to wait a lot for my DD to finish his meals, but it was still a great trip, and virtually hassle free. Disney ships are beautiful, and their service is wonderful. The weather was a bit chilly and cloudy, but still better than the snow and zero degree weather we left at home so we couldn't complain at all!!!
Great Trip report- I truly truly appreciate your efforts in taking the time to write. It seems lately there have not been to many trip reports....yours was most appreciated. Thank you.
