After months of planning it finally arrived. We left on Saturday from North GA and stopped about 2 hours from Port Canaveral Saturday night and spent the night. We got up Sunday morning and after having breakfast at the Cracker Barrell, headed to Port Canaveral. We arrived at Port Canaveral around noon or so. What a beautiful sight. I have told my husband all along that I would cry - but I didn't!! The ship was so much bigger than what I had pictured. After hubby parked car, a nice man helped us with our luggage. We got into the terminal quickly. In about 30 minutes, it was time for us to board the ship. They announced our name as we entered and my DS-5 thought that was really neat. We went up to Beach Blanket Buffet and had lunch. My son couldn't wait to jump in the pool, so I changed him and off he went. I loved beach blanket buffet throughout the whole cruise. There was always good food there. When we finally went to our room, my son was suprised to see his gift waiting for him that I had ordered from The Perfect Gift.
That night the waters were really rough. Thankfully I had brought some generic bonine. Our first dinner rotation was at Animater's Palate. It was a good meal, but I really couldn't enjoy it because the boat was swaying really bad from side to side. It messed with my head! Later on, we took our son to the kids club. He loved it loved it loved it!! We couldn't hardly get him to leave the entire time. My husband and I walked around the ship and headed back to the room. We both had to lay down because our head was so swimmy. It was a long day. We all three finally went to bed. It was a rough nights sleep for me because of the rough waters.
The next day was Nassau day. We awoke and got up on the top deck as we were pulling in there. What a beautiful place. I took lots of pictures. We went to breakfast and headed off the boat that morning for a Nassau Harbor Cruise excursion. We got to see homes that belonged to many famous people - Oprah Winfrey has a home there. The driver of the boat took us out and let us feed some fish. When we got back we tried to walk through the straw market. I really didn't like that place. There was so much pressure to buy stuff and I felt like someone was gonna grab my bag off my shoulder or something. They had zillions of knock off purses and tried to convince me they were real. Sorry....you can't get a genuine coach purse for $50. We left there without buying anything. Back on the boat, we ate lunch and stayed at the pool most of the afternoon. That night, my husband and I had reservations at Palo. What a wonderful meal. The service was top notch! I was really impressed. After that, we picked up son from kids club and went to see Hercules the Musical. What a riot! I loved that show. My husband had an older lady that sat next to him that griped the whole time about how she didn't think it was funny. There is a lot of inside current event humor - I think she just wasn't up to date on any of that stuff. I loved it! Disney definately has some of the best entertainers in the world! After the day was done, we were all tired. We slept like rocks that night!
Next morning we awoke as the ship was pulling in to Castaway Cay. Off to breakfast we went. We were some of the first ones on the island. We got a hammock and our lounge chairs and off to the water we went. The water was cold, but once you were in, it was nice. My husband and I took turns snorkleing with the gear we had rented. I found the sunken mickey! We saw lots of beautiful fish. Lunch that day was really good! They had a great selection at Castaway Cay. Around 3pm we headed back to the ship and showered and got ready for dinner which was at 5:45pm. Dinner that night was at Parrot Cay. Good food, great servers, great people at our table! We went to the show that night which was The Golden Mickeys. Really great. My son loved it as did my husband and I. After the show, we went and changed clothes and headed to the pirate party. My son was so tired and was ill as a hornet. He fell asleep on my shoulder in about 10 minutes. We didn't stay for the pirate party because of this. I was so dissapointed! I really wanted to see the fireworks, but it just didn't work out.
Wednesday morning, I headed off for my facial. This was our at sea day. The facial was good - but to me it wasn't worth $109 plus tip. I could have gotten one just as good here at home. They also try to sell you they products they use. I wasn't interested in them because I already have something I use. Good thing was they were not pushy. I met my husband back in the room and we grabbed breakfast at Beach Blanket and stayed around the pool most of the day. We finally pulled my son away from the mickey pool by offering to let him go to the kids club. HE LOVED THAT PLACE! That night we went to dinner at Triton's. We headed to the Disney Dreams around 8pm that night and got great seats - 3rd row. What a wonderful production this was! After the show, we took son to kids club and hubby and I packed our stuff. We set our suitcases out around 10:30 and left out clothes for the next morning, toothbrushes, deoderant, etc., I couldn't believe we had to leave the next morning! These 4 days had passed so quick.
Thursday morning arrived, and we were up at 6am getting ready to disembark. We went to breakfast at beach blanket and were heading off the boat around 7:30. Getting off was so easy. We had received tags the night before and the luggage was very easy to locate the next morning. A nice gentleman helped us with our luggage and loaded it into the car for us. With that said, we were headed back to North Georgia.
Here's what I did and other thoughts:
1. I used every single bit of the clothing I had brought. I brought my own iron and ironed on the desk area. It worked alright.
2. I brought my small little desk fan and used that at night to block out noise from fellow cruisers next door.
3. It gets a little annoying when you are setting around and the workers are constantly offering you drinks. We are not drinkers and this was a little agravating.
4. Another thing, I wished that cruise ships had a small chapel or something. It seems that Disney was really focused on partying and drinking, and didn't cater to the ones that didn't do those things. Oh well - I'm sure all cruise ships are like that
5. The cruise ship is VERY clean. The workers are constantly cleaning. This was really nice.
6. I liked the idea that they give you hand wipes every time you come into the restaurants.
7. Be sure to bring dollar bills. I brought 50 $1 bills. I used these alot. We also had cash to leave for our tips at the end of the cruise.
8. The servers and workers on the ship are top notch! They were always so helpful and attentive!
8. I guess my biggest pet peave was Shutters. They take all these beautiful pictures and if you decide not to buy them, they throw them away! What a waste. They should consider dropping the price a little to begin with and more people may buy. They were really overpriced in my opinion. If you didn't buy a package, the prints were $20 each! Crazy that they would just throw the ones not purchased away.
With all of this said, we had a wonderful time and plan to go back in a few years. Our son (5yr) gave us lots of problems. He had a lot of major melt downs and that caused stress for Dad and I. We probably will wait until he's 8 or so before we go again.
Anway, this was my cruise report from the best I can remember.
Blessings ~ Tina
That night the waters were really rough. Thankfully I had brought some generic bonine. Our first dinner rotation was at Animater's Palate. It was a good meal, but I really couldn't enjoy it because the boat was swaying really bad from side to side. It messed with my head! Later on, we took our son to the kids club. He loved it loved it loved it!! We couldn't hardly get him to leave the entire time. My husband and I walked around the ship and headed back to the room. We both had to lay down because our head was so swimmy. It was a long day. We all three finally went to bed. It was a rough nights sleep for me because of the rough waters.
The next day was Nassau day. We awoke and got up on the top deck as we were pulling in there. What a beautiful place. I took lots of pictures. We went to breakfast and headed off the boat that morning for a Nassau Harbor Cruise excursion. We got to see homes that belonged to many famous people - Oprah Winfrey has a home there. The driver of the boat took us out and let us feed some fish. When we got back we tried to walk through the straw market. I really didn't like that place. There was so much pressure to buy stuff and I felt like someone was gonna grab my bag off my shoulder or something. They had zillions of knock off purses and tried to convince me they were real. Sorry....you can't get a genuine coach purse for $50. We left there without buying anything. Back on the boat, we ate lunch and stayed at the pool most of the afternoon. That night, my husband and I had reservations at Palo. What a wonderful meal. The service was top notch! I was really impressed. After that, we picked up son from kids club and went to see Hercules the Musical. What a riot! I loved that show. My husband had an older lady that sat next to him that griped the whole time about how she didn't think it was funny. There is a lot of inside current event humor - I think she just wasn't up to date on any of that stuff. I loved it! Disney definately has some of the best entertainers in the world! After the day was done, we were all tired. We slept like rocks that night!
Next morning we awoke as the ship was pulling in to Castaway Cay. Off to breakfast we went. We were some of the first ones on the island. We got a hammock and our lounge chairs and off to the water we went. The water was cold, but once you were in, it was nice. My husband and I took turns snorkleing with the gear we had rented. I found the sunken mickey! We saw lots of beautiful fish. Lunch that day was really good! They had a great selection at Castaway Cay. Around 3pm we headed back to the ship and showered and got ready for dinner which was at 5:45pm. Dinner that night was at Parrot Cay. Good food, great servers, great people at our table! We went to the show that night which was The Golden Mickeys. Really great. My son loved it as did my husband and I. After the show, we went and changed clothes and headed to the pirate party. My son was so tired and was ill as a hornet. He fell asleep on my shoulder in about 10 minutes. We didn't stay for the pirate party because of this. I was so dissapointed! I really wanted to see the fireworks, but it just didn't work out.
Wednesday morning, I headed off for my facial. This was our at sea day. The facial was good - but to me it wasn't worth $109 plus tip. I could have gotten one just as good here at home. They also try to sell you they products they use. I wasn't interested in them because I already have something I use. Good thing was they were not pushy. I met my husband back in the room and we grabbed breakfast at Beach Blanket and stayed around the pool most of the day. We finally pulled my son away from the mickey pool by offering to let him go to the kids club. HE LOVED THAT PLACE! That night we went to dinner at Triton's. We headed to the Disney Dreams around 8pm that night and got great seats - 3rd row. What a wonderful production this was! After the show, we took son to kids club and hubby and I packed our stuff. We set our suitcases out around 10:30 and left out clothes for the next morning, toothbrushes, deoderant, etc., I couldn't believe we had to leave the next morning! These 4 days had passed so quick.
Thursday morning arrived, and we were up at 6am getting ready to disembark. We went to breakfast at beach blanket and were heading off the boat around 7:30. Getting off was so easy. We had received tags the night before and the luggage was very easy to locate the next morning. A nice gentleman helped us with our luggage and loaded it into the car for us. With that said, we were headed back to North Georgia.
Here's what I did and other thoughts:
1. I used every single bit of the clothing I had brought. I brought my own iron and ironed on the desk area. It worked alright.
2. I brought my small little desk fan and used that at night to block out noise from fellow cruisers next door.
3. It gets a little annoying when you are setting around and the workers are constantly offering you drinks. We are not drinkers and this was a little agravating.
4. Another thing, I wished that cruise ships had a small chapel or something. It seems that Disney was really focused on partying and drinking, and didn't cater to the ones that didn't do those things. Oh well - I'm sure all cruise ships are like that
5. The cruise ship is VERY clean. The workers are constantly cleaning. This was really nice.
6. I liked the idea that they give you hand wipes every time you come into the restaurants.
7. Be sure to bring dollar bills. I brought 50 $1 bills. I used these alot. We also had cash to leave for our tips at the end of the cruise.
8. The servers and workers on the ship are top notch! They were always so helpful and attentive!
8. I guess my biggest pet peave was Shutters. They take all these beautiful pictures and if you decide not to buy them, they throw them away! What a waste. They should consider dropping the price a little to begin with and more people may buy. They were really overpriced in my opinion. If you didn't buy a package, the prints were $20 each! Crazy that they would just throw the ones not purchased away.
With all of this said, we had a wonderful time and plan to go back in a few years. Our son (5yr) gave us lots of problems. He had a lot of major melt downs and that caused stress for Dad and I. We probably will wait until he's 8 or so before we go again.
Anway, this was my cruise report from the best I can remember.
Blessings ~ Tina
