wide awake
<font color=darkgreen>Nuts are good<br><font color
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2003
- Messages
- 1,494
Will try to do this in catagories...
First the cruise itself...we did the Western last year, both DH and I preferred the Eastern...and that could be because we were more familiar with the ship and made better use of our time and money. I did notice that the ship's motion was more obvious...whether that was a fluke or due to sailing in the Atlantic instead of Caribbean I don't know.
Cabins. We had a 6 last time which we loved, but we booked two cabins this time so I went to connecting 9s. We loved them !! They, 2146 and 2148, are listed as noisy on Dave's site. They were that, lots of engine noise. I liked it because at least I felt like I was on a ship and not in a hotel. My mom said it reminded her of being in a sleeping car on a train so she didn't mind either. Wouldn't hesitate to book 9s again and spend the money elsewhere.
Excursions. DH did the Disney scuba in St. Maarten and St. Thomas...loved both. I'd booked both at 8 am Florida time at the 60 day mark and luckily had my faxed confirmation...I went to the excursion desk to book wine tasting and banana boat and asked why the scuba tickets weren't in our room...turns out they had no record of our purchase and both excursions were sold out. I showed them my confirmation and DH had his excursions. The supervisor told me they couldn't have put DH in on just my word, so ALWAYS take copies of your confirmations. He also told me it couldn't have been fixed if I'd waited till the day before or day of. My mother, DS, and I took the water taxi to the town beach in St. Martaan...very easy, paid $15 for three beach chairs, an umbrella, and two rum drinks and a coke for DS. We had lunch back on board and then mom and I went back to town and shopped. In St. Thomas we took a taxi to and from Megan's Bay, swam, and went back to the ship to eat. The taxi ride was fun and the views were incredible. We did more shopping after lunch. I decided I wouldn't be doing DCL excursions again unless it was something impossible to arrange on my own, like the banana boat ride at CC...both my mom and I did this and had a blast. The tip to wear a snorkel mask came in handy.
Service. Incredible. Our steward Craig took excellent care of us, as did our servers Girish and Karoly. Excellent, Excellent, Excellent !!!
On Board. I had a massage and tried the rain forest, loved both. I did not get a sales pitch to buy products. DH and I went to Gary Delana's adult and farewell shows. Both were hysterical. We saw Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams for the first time...all four of us loved them. I was thinking though that Disney needs another big hit soon...both Mickeys and Dreams are based on movies at least 10 years old.
Food. Loved all of the soups, the risottos, bread, grilled shrimp, lox and bagels, steaks and prime rib, fish dishes, and the pizza at Palos. The only foods that we didn't enjoy were some of the salads...my mom ordered two different green salads, didn't eat either. We left the macaroni and potato salads on our plates also. Some of the other salads were great though..the ones with fruit, the Greek salad (maybe that would fit as green ?), ham and cheese, cheese tortollini, and tomato avocado salads were all good. None of us are much for desserts so can't be much help there. I finally tried the chicken fingers that people rave about...they were wonderful...I couldn't figure out why people would eat chicken fingers on a cruise, now I know. I didn't like the honey mustard, bar-be-que, or ranch sauces...all too sweet. I asked for guacomole. The portions were huge, fish in particular could have fed three people.
CC looked fine, if I hadn't been there before I wouldn't have noticed the lack of vegetation.
We played Scattagories one day, the host was Scott...who also worked the excursion desk. He was so funny, everyone seemed to really enjoy it...I was taking care of some email a few days later and someone else was hosting...completely different atmosphere.
Palos. Mom and I did Tea, enjoyed it but probably wouldn't do it again. DH and I tried brunch, had Anne-Marie as our server. Both were fantastic. I only wish I could have eaten more.
Final thoughts. We had such a good time !! The weather was perfect every day, we all ended up with nice tans. I discovered the walking track on deck four so haven't been able to force myself to take my normal neighborhood walk since we got home. The bath sheets are a big improvement over the standard size towels they had last year. We changed to late dining about a week before, and were so glad we did. Just couldn't get it together last year to make it to the dining rooms on time. Late dining seemed to give us much more time, and I was able to wear jeans and a jacket to the shows so enjoyed them instead of sitting there feeling cold, tired, and stuffed. Will be happy to answer any questions.
First the cruise itself...we did the Western last year, both DH and I preferred the Eastern...and that could be because we were more familiar with the ship and made better use of our time and money. I did notice that the ship's motion was more obvious...whether that was a fluke or due to sailing in the Atlantic instead of Caribbean I don't know.
Cabins. We had a 6 last time which we loved, but we booked two cabins this time so I went to connecting 9s. We loved them !! They, 2146 and 2148, are listed as noisy on Dave's site. They were that, lots of engine noise. I liked it because at least I felt like I was on a ship and not in a hotel. My mom said it reminded her of being in a sleeping car on a train so she didn't mind either. Wouldn't hesitate to book 9s again and spend the money elsewhere.
Excursions. DH did the Disney scuba in St. Maarten and St. Thomas...loved both. I'd booked both at 8 am Florida time at the 60 day mark and luckily had my faxed confirmation...I went to the excursion desk to book wine tasting and banana boat and asked why the scuba tickets weren't in our room...turns out they had no record of our purchase and both excursions were sold out. I showed them my confirmation and DH had his excursions. The supervisor told me they couldn't have put DH in on just my word, so ALWAYS take copies of your confirmations. He also told me it couldn't have been fixed if I'd waited till the day before or day of. My mother, DS, and I took the water taxi to the town beach in St. Martaan...very easy, paid $15 for three beach chairs, an umbrella, and two rum drinks and a coke for DS. We had lunch back on board and then mom and I went back to town and shopped. In St. Thomas we took a taxi to and from Megan's Bay, swam, and went back to the ship to eat. The taxi ride was fun and the views were incredible. We did more shopping after lunch. I decided I wouldn't be doing DCL excursions again unless it was something impossible to arrange on my own, like the banana boat ride at CC...both my mom and I did this and had a blast. The tip to wear a snorkel mask came in handy.
Service. Incredible. Our steward Craig took excellent care of us, as did our servers Girish and Karoly. Excellent, Excellent, Excellent !!!
On Board. I had a massage and tried the rain forest, loved both. I did not get a sales pitch to buy products. DH and I went to Gary Delana's adult and farewell shows. Both were hysterical. We saw Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams for the first time...all four of us loved them. I was thinking though that Disney needs another big hit soon...both Mickeys and Dreams are based on movies at least 10 years old.
Food. Loved all of the soups, the risottos, bread, grilled shrimp, lox and bagels, steaks and prime rib, fish dishes, and the pizza at Palos. The only foods that we didn't enjoy were some of the salads...my mom ordered two different green salads, didn't eat either. We left the macaroni and potato salads on our plates also. Some of the other salads were great though..the ones with fruit, the Greek salad (maybe that would fit as green ?), ham and cheese, cheese tortollini, and tomato avocado salads were all good. None of us are much for desserts so can't be much help there. I finally tried the chicken fingers that people rave about...they were wonderful...I couldn't figure out why people would eat chicken fingers on a cruise, now I know. I didn't like the honey mustard, bar-be-que, or ranch sauces...all too sweet. I asked for guacomole. The portions were huge, fish in particular could have fed three people.
CC looked fine, if I hadn't been there before I wouldn't have noticed the lack of vegetation.
We played Scattagories one day, the host was Scott...who also worked the excursion desk. He was so funny, everyone seemed to really enjoy it...I was taking care of some email a few days later and someone else was hosting...completely different atmosphere.
Palos. Mom and I did Tea, enjoyed it but probably wouldn't do it again. DH and I tried brunch, had Anne-Marie as our server. Both were fantastic. I only wish I could have eaten more.
Final thoughts. We had such a good time !! The weather was perfect every day, we all ended up with nice tans. I discovered the walking track on deck four so haven't been able to force myself to take my normal neighborhood walk since we got home. The bath sheets are a big improvement over the standard size towels they had last year. We changed to late dining about a week before, and were so glad we did. Just couldn't get it together last year to make it to the dining rooms on time. Late dining seemed to give us much more time, and I was able to wear jeans and a jacket to the shows so enjoyed them instead of sitting there feeling cold, tired, and stuffed. Will be happy to answer any questions.
!
