11/1 Easterners - Highs and Lows

[Masonpips]

Besides the seas which were *very* high and low the first 2 days, how about a quick recap for those to be sailing soon?

High's:
Palo - brunch and dinner, absolutely fabulous
Castaway Cay - our best weather day (by luck) and just an overall great day
Rainforest - wow! check into this
Absolute Massage and Facial; girlfriend and I did it at the same time and both agree: it's the best!
Brother Bear - kids LOVED it; this mom got teary-eyed at the mom bear scene at the end
Hercules; love this show
Pluto's, Scoops & room service; all the kids loved all of them
Formal night pictures - we all agreed these turned out the best
St Maarten: Orient Beach for dh and I (on our own), gorgeous
St. Thomas: daysail with Ike Witt - almost private beach to ourselves; heaven!
Chip-It golf: dh won 4th place and a medal
Medical Center; DS had an earache, they took us back immediately on "non-business" hours and gave ds a bravery badge; DD was thrilled at meeting Mickey & Minnie's dr.
Servers: Clive & Maria; head waiter PJ - the *best*. We swapped from Early to Late seating after 2 nights and kept all three; they were WONDERFUL in getting us switched
Stateroom host: Osden - *excellent* and speedy; he was amazing

Lows:
Our A/C unit sucked (room 2106); we had the entire fan replaced and had the until turned to the coldest setting the entire week and never felt cold. We kept the drapes closed as well and nothing helped. They said it was registering 22-23C (at the unit) and could turn it lower downstairs but it never felt that cool.

We also blew fuses twice; by having the tv on and running a hair dryer. This led me to believe there were electrical issues near our area (based on the AC/fuse situation)

Rebooking issues: 1st request: left note on pad; took 2 days to get a completely different quote (asked for Cat 9, got Cat 11).

2nd request: After waiting over an HOUR for one person (the next 3 people took a total of less than 30 minutes) and sitting down with the exact specificiations; our re-booking confirmation came back incorrect; DH was more than frustrated with the process.

 

[SweetSpot]

I'll give this one a shot:

Highs:

Meeting a great group of DISer's that we met several times along the way. It was great running into people you knew and having other couples to talk to while out.

The CM's. I spoke with so many different people from around the world who were on the ship for so many different reasons. Away from their families for so long yet so determined to smile and make sure you are having an amazing vacation.

Manuel, Noel and PJ our serving staff. Manuel and Noel always had a bright smile and trick for the kids. Manuel told us the first night that he was there to do whatever it takes to make us happy and he excelled. PJ was at our table everynight with a smile that would make you smile. I don't even remember the head servers name from last year because I saw him once, PJ I'll never forget.

The 70's and 80's night which had my DH and I dancing like we were kids again.

Darren Romeo's show. Started out slow but by the end the entire theatre was standing. An amazing show.

The cameras filming people walking in for the Prem"ear". When the kids sitting in the theatre finally realized where the camera was they went out and mugged for the camera. One girl was so hysterical everyone I enjoyed watching her better than I enjoyed the movie.

The ship was emaculate. All new rugs and everything was so new looking. New mattresses were going into our staterooms while we were there.

The lows:

The seas. They were so rough that although we didn't get sick we were exhausted trying to keep our balance. I'm still rocking.

Rebooking was horrible. I went to the first meeting at the Promanade Lounge asked him to get me the quotes for our room and heard nothing for 3 days. When I finally got the quote I called and said book and heard nothing. I had to keep calling and was constantly given excuses. They shared printers, couldn't use printers while the seas were rough, the captain wouldn't let them use the printers while it rained.... Finally got the confirmation 7:00 AM Saturday before we got off the ship. Too much of my time wasted rebooking. I miss Donna.

Getting sick again. Last year DD got intestinal thing (Norwalk like) on Thursday this time DS got it on Friday. We were up all night vomitting every 10 minutes. Called nurse at 2:00 AM for medicine and she kept asking me what I wanted to do and in the end said there was nothing to do it would run its course. I caught it the next day. Hopefully it was isolated and others didn't get sick. Saw a lot of sick people but think that was more from sea sickness.

The day of rain although we were forced to relax. Glad it wasn't on Castaway Cay day.

All in all a great cruise. Can't wait until next year.

 

[savsawmom]

Mine are basically the same . . .

High's:

Palo - brunch and dinner, by far the best
Castaway Cay - gorgeous!
Rainforest - definately the way to shower and relax -- LOVE the amenities basket! PERFECT way to spend a few hours if it's a rainy sea day
Absolute Massage and Facial - the absolute best!
Brother Bear - cute, cute, cute
Pluto's, Scoops & room service - Mmmmm
Formal night pictures - our best photos
St Maarten - liked hanging at the mickey pool and then doing a quick shopping jaunt.
St. Thomas - daysail with Maxine on the Lou (tandem with Ike Witt), AWESOME way to spend the day.
Our Servers - Clive (jamaica) & Maria (UK) plus the head waiter PJ was the *best* (great stories and great service). We swapped from Early to Late seating after 2 nights and kept all three; they were WONDERFUL in getting us switched
Stateroom host - Maurice (Jamaica), after a slow start, he made excellent blanket animals!
Darren Romeo's show. - GREAT show

Lows:


Rebooking issues - hopefully we'll iron that out
The Seas - 18 -24 foot seas is NOT fun, nothing like CRAWLING out of the WD Theater after the opening show.
Lumiere's - the first rotation menu was nothing spectacular, we were in Palo for the second rotation

 

[2disneycruzrs]

I'll try to add some of our highs and lows that aren't the same as above:

HIGHS
*parasailing
*weather-internet reports showed a lot of rain before leaving but only had one rain day
*chocolate souffle (got the recipe too)
*Paradise Point tram/view
*Serving Team of Dwight, Areli, Gaspare (we were seated at a table of four with my parents; they moved us to group table)
*Stateroom Host Carlos...fun towel animals and always
*English pub night
*Rich Purpura show
*Brother Bear (I shed a tear too!)
*Art of Entertaining series/Galley Tour

LOWS
*St. Maarten overall
*long photo lines on formal night
*not meeting Debby (Masonpips)...wanted to thank you in person for the work you did pre-cruise (did pass your s/room on ship tour)
*Dad seasick Sat so he missed dinner, and he was temporarily blind in one eye and disoriented sometimes due to retinal bleeding (we found out today)
*all aboard at Castaway Cay

As for your re-booking experience, I'm bummed both of you had difficulty. The sales manager on board happened to sit at our dinner table, and he did say they were swamped with requests, especially those that came in toward the end of the cruise. I dropped ours off with him on Thursday and had my info by Friday evening. I gave all specific room location preference, cruise date options, and everything was filled as requested and my card on file was charged for the deposit.

He did mention that they only originally published to mid-2004 but had to open it up for the whole year and into 2005 b/c at the start of this year, they only had 13 cruises with staterooms available all of 2003. With 597 returning cruisers on our ship (1/4 of the ship), most probably took advantage of the on-board credit and extra savings. As for the delays, I can't explain those because he was getting everyone taken care of earlier than they normally start taking reservations due to demand. I don't know if there was anyone else working reservations but he was the one at the Deck 4 desk.

Thank you to my fellow DISers for a great time!

 

[twhipple]

Boy it sounds like we were all on the same cruise

Highs:

Palos for dinner. Panna Cotta was outstanding!
Teddy was so much fun at dinner.
Kayan for getting us creme brulee on Thursday since we all missed it on Saturday due to the seas.
Meeting great DISers! Even DH liked that part!
Snorkeling at Trunk Bay
Seeing Danielle in Guest Services again.
Castaway Cay - WOW!!! This was my first time there, I can see why no one wants to miss it.
The ship was gorgeous with all the new stuff.
Diversions! (and my Packers won!)
DH won the second chip-it tournament and placed second in the putting contest.
The sign that was placed on my door by a fellow DISer announcing our special occasion.

Lows:

Table 44 sucks! In Lumiere's, it's by the front window, behind a service station, in the other two, by the kitchen.
Getting seasick - bad - the first night.
St. Martin - maybe we gotta go to a beach instead.
Rebooking!! We had the same problem everyone did. Rebooked next two cruises. On Saturday at 7:00 a.m., got confirmation for only one! CM said he didn't want to get overly aggressive with charging our credit card!
Our room was not up to par. The door to the beverage cooler was missing screws, the outlet in the bathroom didn't work, by Friday, the toilet took 5-10 minutes to flush, and there is a spot on the floor near the end of the bed (you have to step there to cross the room) that was bowed upward. Sounded like a can being crushed whenever we moved across the floor. I feel sorry for the cabin on 6 below us

All in all we had a great time though. I wish I didn't have to come home!

 

[laurenk]

Where is Donna? We had a really great experience rebooking with her on our cruise October 25th.

 

[dis4me]

Wow I would like to start with the biggest Low NOT meeting any disers on the ship. We had major problems with our room(IT reeked of vomit) when we got on board. We missed the Saturday meet,had character breakfast through the Sun meet I left my cheat sheet at home so I didn't even know where anyone was. I did see one diser's room on Deck 7 when we were changing rooms for the 2nd time but it was midnight so I didn't want to disturb and actually forgot all about it until now.
Saint Martin... my daughter was grabbed by a local drunk on the beach.
Highs Included Diversions DH loved the Giants/ Jets game. We missed the British Pub night though since DS hated Flounders and cried at the sight of it.
Darren Romeo was fabulous. Brother Bear preiere was great I missed half the movie but love the red carpet etc.
Gary ... the last variety act was great and from NJ so it really fit with the cruie for us.
Castaway Cay was gorgeous.
All in all a great cruise with minor aggravations.

 

[strasfamily]

Highs:

Our room was larger and more than I expected with lots of storage space. Never had to use the over the door shoe hanger that I bought.

The towel animals brought squeels of laughter from my daughter each night.

The Rich Purpura shows were hilarious!

The facial in the spa was nice and relaxing - especially with the 20 foot swells, I was being rocked into relaxation.

Castaway Cay - what more can I say?

Snorkeling in St. Thomas at Buck Island - I think this was the biggest highlight of my trip.

Lows:

Not getting to any of the Dis meets exept for the T&T at the Radisson.

The big thumping noise in our stateroom when the seas were rough.

Late seating - didn't like it. I feel like we missed some good activities because we were at dinner, and some nights we went to bed right after eating such a huge dinner.

Having to leave - we got so spoiled on the ship with instant babysitters and people to feed us and clean up after us in the room!

 

[Thumpersmom]

Hello everyone.....this is a great way to see what everyone did on the cruise.

Highs-traveling with 23 others and not one fight!!!

Meeting a few from the boards and seeing each other on the ship. My DS would say mommy there is one of your friends!

Wait staff- we were with Oliver from the Philipines, Glendene from Trinadad ( who is married to Fitz from Jamaica-our last server on our June 2002 trip!-small world.) and Nadage from France as the head server. Nadage brought 12 servings of escargot to our tables the night after we ate it at Lumiers everyone loved it so much and made sure it had more garlic then before!

Brunch at Palo- We ate in the private room and it was great-Kristian from Croatia was our waiter. The head server-his name started with a Z called each of our rooms after to thank us for coming and to see if anyone else wanted Palo dinner reservations.

New places on the ship- Made a trip to the Cove Cafe and Diversions-enjoyed both

Art of entertaining & Lion king talk- enjoyed the recipes and then Winston was the chef to take us through the galley. The Lion King traveling show will be in San Francisco in Feb and I might just have to get tickets now!

Scuba Diving- My DH said it was great diving and the others with us had a great time and saw a lot!

Darren Romeo- enjoyed the new show!

Castaway-what else can I say it was a great day.

Lows-
Not getting to meet everyone from the boards. Maybe DCL should have a party just for us like the Castaway Club!

Our table location-Near the kitchen and a server station!!! We let the kids stand on their chairs for any activity too hard to see what was going on. Glad the wait staff made up for it!

St. Maarten- Definately not my favorite island. We hired our own taxi (got it for $10 per person) and went on a two hour tour then shopping downtown. Checked out the shops at the port too. Others in our group seemed to get good prices on jewelry though.

Catching a cold on Thursday- I stayed in most of the day and rested. Surprised to get it with all of my anal handwashing and purell! My DS caught up on the pile of homework we brought. Have no voice still but getting better.

Rebooking issue too. Actually did not do it yet. I think the prices seemed high compared to what we paid this time and we have to decide if we are doing a group thing again. Number of repeat cruisers probably made it very busy for the booking agent.

Budget rental cars-YUCK!!! We waited a looong time to get the car and then they did not have what we reserved. My group had reserved 5 cars and no one got what they had requested. They tried to get everyone to rent a Mustang!!!! Not exactly luggage friendly. After one hour of waiting we took a smaller car and headed off to two days at WDW. I will not use them again.

All in all a great trip with fabulous memories! Happy to hear everyone had a great time and made it home safely!

Kristina

 

[2disneycruzrs]

Kristina-I agree with you on Budget at MCO! I think Mustangs are all they stock in compact or mid size! And it's not just MCO... I find that at Budget in other cities! Don't they realize how annoying that is!? Glad we met!

 

[disneykins]

Great mini-trip reports. A few questions.

Masonpips--what is "daysail with Ike Witt on St. Thomas?

Savsawmom--What is daysail with Maxine on the Lou (tandem with Ike Witt)?

What is the "Lion King talk"?

How can we choose a table with a window in the dining rooms or is this just the luck of the draw?

What exactly is the Rainforest room? And what does it cost?

Thanks

 

[dis4me]

Tee hee I forgot one of our lows We really had a black cloud over us. When we got to the cruise terminal parking lot our battery was dead. One of the kids must have hit a llight on in the minivan.UGH Some nice guy from Hertz came over and gave us a jump. many nice people offered unfortuntaly no one(including Us) had jumper cables. I will definately pack those next time.


A major plus though was that they had the kids wash their hands before they entered the club and Flounders.I really think they are doing their best to help from having the same problems as last year. There were hand wipes available everywhere and all the bathrooms had soap. I was very happy to see that change.

 

[savsawmom]

Daysail in St. Thomas
We booked our own excursion which consisted of chartering two sailboats to take us on a daysail to St. John. It was WONDERFUL -- the Ike Witt is Captain'd by Pat (www.ikewittcharters.com) and the Lou is Captain'd by Maxine (I'll have to find the web address).

We took a taxi to the American Yacht Harbor ($8 per person, each way) and boarded the sailboats -- we sailed for about 2 hours and then were dropped at a small, secluded beach (we were one of maybe 10 at the beach) -- we snorkeled and sunned and then they prepared lunch for us. After lunch (about 2-ish) we sailed back and took another taxi back to the ship.

PERFECT way to spend the day.


__________________
~ theresa

 

[moochinkassarole]

Oh my gosh! I am thrilled I read this loop! First off, we were booked in room 2106, you know, the one with the bad A/C! Just found out we were upgraded. I wonder if that is why? Perhaps the room is all out of whack?

The next bit of news that tickled me was to hear that Kristian is still at Palo's! He was so wonderful and even taught us some Croatian. Ok, so it was things like "slacker" so we could joke around with our head waiter in the dining room which was also from Croatia.

Thanks for the info!
Kitty