catgirl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2008
- Messages
- 492
As you already know, the ship is amazing! I have cruised twice with RCI and their ships are nice, but Disney is so elegant. The attention to detail was unbelieveable! 
We had verandah room 9144, It was located just a couple doors from the aft stairs/elevator and a qucik walk up to the pool and cabanas. The bed was so comfortable and I wanted to steal the bed pillows. I never have been more comfortable! We've never had a verandah before, absolutely loved it. We spent time there in the afternoons before dinner, while in port, and speratically the rest of the time. Benjamin was our stateroom host. I don't know when the man slept, I think he lived outside our room. He couldn't be more efficient or pleasant.
We had early dinner, won't do that again, too rushed! We had Ned Eggers(?) as our waiter, we really enjoyed him. Daniel ? was the assistant, he was ok, he was kind of forgetful, but very nice. No real comment on the other, didn't interact with him much. Our favorite restaurant was Animator's Palate. The night they bring your drawing to life was awesome! Disney rocks! The other two restaurants were nice. I felt the food was very good and liked most everything I had. My husband was impressed with the food too & I can tell you we ate our share of desserts! The one family at our table was very nice and we really enjoyed getting to know them. The other showed up 1 night and never again. Guess we scared them off, by trying to engage in conversation. Oh well, there loss. lol
The food at cabanas was also very good, and we were so surprised with the offerings of peel & eat shrimp, crab legs & claws, mussels, and carved meats, etc. at lunch. Again all the desserts were fabulous! Didn't like there hours, they should have stayed open later for lunch in my opinion. Also, since we had early dinner, would have liked to have a lite buffet later in the evening, could only handle so much of Flo's.
Pools are way too small for the amount of people. Loved the big screen movies there. More family whirlpools needed for # of people on board. Aqau Duck was cool and my family road many times with hardly a wait or non at all.
Detective Agency game was so cool! Again, Disney rocks! I just wish they didn't shut the kiosk down in the evening. That was when we had the most time to do them. Loved all the interactive photos!
Loved the Alladin stage show, the others were good, but didn't care for the one on the last night, can't think of the name of it now. Wished they played more movies in Walt's theater. We saw Chimpanzee, but it played at odd times, I thought. In my opinion, they need to run more movies (didn't have to be new releases, could have played classics).
Very disappointed in the kid's clubs. My niece is 9 and she spent all of 3 hours during our 7 day trip. She was bored, said they were just a place for parents to drop their kids, so they could go to the bar. They didn't have many activites planned to engage the kids. Lots of computers and crafts to do on their own, but she does that at home. This really put a damper on my alone time with hubby, I really thought she would be more interested and spend time there. I spoke to several parents who have sailed DCL before and they said the Fantasy counselor's were not good, activities were sub par and sparse compared to other ships they sailed. One mother said she told her daughter she had to go to kids club or take a nap, she chose nap. That's just sad
Since she didn't spend time in kids club, we didn't get to enjoy any of the adult areas on the ship. We spent 1 hr in the Irish Pub doing moving trivia, but were called back to my niece and that was the end of that. So can't really comment on any of them.
Took a tour of the spa when we boarded, it is beautiful! Too expensive for my budget, would have liked to bought a Rain Forest day pass, but like I said, niece was glued to me.
My niece loved the characters and the character signatures that guest services provided. She had a wooden C, for Chloe, signed and a photo mat.
We didn't look at or purchase any photos from shutters. Again too rich for me. The photos I took will have to do.
Excursions - I booked a private one in St Marteen with Random Winds, but didn't go. I've been having health issues the last 3 months and wasn't feeling up to it
Booked Eco hike, kayak, & snorkel in St. Thomas thru Disney. If you have never done these things, you would really enjoy. My husband and I are certified divers and have snorkeled many times on vacation, so we were not really impressed, but niece loved it. Had booked parasailing for myself & niece, but again, health wouldn't allow me to go, so hubby filled in. They loved it! He has done before, said this one was short, but did have a good time. Didn't feel like I got to enjoy Castaway Cay, but I'm sure I would have loved it, If I were up to par.
FE exchange, loved it! My fellow participants were awesome & sooo creative! If any of you read this, please know that we loved all our gifts and want to send you all a big THANK YOU! I found it stressful getting our gifts packed (we flew & it took 1 suitcase to bring them), but was so glad we joined in. Highly recommend to anyone considering. It was fun, exploring the ship while delivering. We enjoyed seeing everyone's decorated doors & their FE's
Hotels- we stayed the night before at Comfort Inn & Suites in Cocoa Beach, it was very nice and loved the location. Breakfast was good. We didn't use their shuttle to the port, we used Budget rental's and all went smooth. We stayed at the Hyatt @ Orlando Airport on our way back home. It was very convienient, but wasn't the cleanest place. We found it to be extremely dusty and found toys from the previous occupants in our room.
1 day car rentals from Budget @ Orlando Airport & turned it in at Cocoa Beach, then opposit directions on the way home. Both places were effiecent. The Orlando location gave us an upgrade to SUV for $2
I also lucked out and was able to do the paperwork in the garage at the Fast Break(?) location, which saved us from standing in long line in the airport. My stupidity got us this break. I thought I had signed up for the special service, but hadn't & the man working the counter was kind enough to process us anyhow.
Tips I loved & used - zip strips for luggage (great for the night left in hall), over the door shoe hanger, we hung ours on the connecting door (we didin't know the neighbors). Loved the suggestion for ordering pot of coffee from room service the night before disembarkment! We didn't find that we needed to bring large cups for drink stations, what they provided was sufficient. We did also bring a 12pk for our room fridge, which was nice on the verandah.
I found all kinds of useful tips and suggestions from everyone on the boards and appreciate their willingness to share their knowledge. Hubby laughed everytime we did or went somewhere based on my DIS buddies tips, suggestions, recommendations. He found that all my hours spent on the boards was worth it!
If anyone has a specific questions, I will do my best to answer. I don't have the ability to post photos or navigators due to lack of knowledge &/or equipement - Sorry!
We had verandah room 9144, It was located just a couple doors from the aft stairs/elevator and a qucik walk up to the pool and cabanas. The bed was so comfortable and I wanted to steal the bed pillows. I never have been more comfortable! We've never had a verandah before, absolutely loved it. We spent time there in the afternoons before dinner, while in port, and speratically the rest of the time. Benjamin was our stateroom host. I don't know when the man slept, I think he lived outside our room. He couldn't be more efficient or pleasant.
We had early dinner, won't do that again, too rushed! We had Ned Eggers(?) as our waiter, we really enjoyed him. Daniel ? was the assistant, he was ok, he was kind of forgetful, but very nice. No real comment on the other, didn't interact with him much. Our favorite restaurant was Animator's Palate. The night they bring your drawing to life was awesome! Disney rocks! The other two restaurants were nice. I felt the food was very good and liked most everything I had. My husband was impressed with the food too & I can tell you we ate our share of desserts! The one family at our table was very nice and we really enjoyed getting to know them. The other showed up 1 night and never again. Guess we scared them off, by trying to engage in conversation. Oh well, there loss. lol
The food at cabanas was also very good, and we were so surprised with the offerings of peel & eat shrimp, crab legs & claws, mussels, and carved meats, etc. at lunch. Again all the desserts were fabulous! Didn't like there hours, they should have stayed open later for lunch in my opinion. Also, since we had early dinner, would have liked to have a lite buffet later in the evening, could only handle so much of Flo's.
Pools are way too small for the amount of people. Loved the big screen movies there. More family whirlpools needed for # of people on board. Aqau Duck was cool and my family road many times with hardly a wait or non at all.
Detective Agency game was so cool! Again, Disney rocks! I just wish they didn't shut the kiosk down in the evening. That was when we had the most time to do them. Loved all the interactive photos!
Loved the Alladin stage show, the others were good, but didn't care for the one on the last night, can't think of the name of it now. Wished they played more movies in Walt's theater. We saw Chimpanzee, but it played at odd times, I thought. In my opinion, they need to run more movies (didn't have to be new releases, could have played classics).
Very disappointed in the kid's clubs. My niece is 9 and she spent all of 3 hours during our 7 day trip. She was bored, said they were just a place for parents to drop their kids, so they could go to the bar. They didn't have many activites planned to engage the kids. Lots of computers and crafts to do on their own, but she does that at home. This really put a damper on my alone time with hubby, I really thought she would be more interested and spend time there. I spoke to several parents who have sailed DCL before and they said the Fantasy counselor's were not good, activities were sub par and sparse compared to other ships they sailed. One mother said she told her daughter she had to go to kids club or take a nap, she chose nap. That's just sad
Since she didn't spend time in kids club, we didn't get to enjoy any of the adult areas on the ship. We spent 1 hr in the Irish Pub doing moving trivia, but were called back to my niece and that was the end of that. So can't really comment on any of them.
Took a tour of the spa when we boarded, it is beautiful! Too expensive for my budget, would have liked to bought a Rain Forest day pass, but like I said, niece was glued to me.
My niece loved the characters and the character signatures that guest services provided. She had a wooden C, for Chloe, signed and a photo mat.
We didn't look at or purchase any photos from shutters. Again too rich for me. The photos I took will have to do.
Excursions - I booked a private one in St Marteen with Random Winds, but didn't go. I've been having health issues the last 3 months and wasn't feeling up to it
Booked Eco hike, kayak, & snorkel in St. Thomas thru Disney. If you have never done these things, you would really enjoy. My husband and I are certified divers and have snorkeled many times on vacation, so we were not really impressed, but niece loved it. Had booked parasailing for myself & niece, but again, health wouldn't allow me to go, so hubby filled in. They loved it! He has done before, said this one was short, but did have a good time. Didn't feel like I got to enjoy Castaway Cay, but I'm sure I would have loved it, If I were up to par.FE exchange, loved it! My fellow participants were awesome & sooo creative! If any of you read this, please know that we loved all our gifts and want to send you all a big THANK YOU! I found it stressful getting our gifts packed (we flew & it took 1 suitcase to bring them), but was so glad we joined in. Highly recommend to anyone considering. It was fun, exploring the ship while delivering. We enjoyed seeing everyone's decorated doors & their FE's
Hotels- we stayed the night before at Comfort Inn & Suites in Cocoa Beach, it was very nice and loved the location. Breakfast was good. We didn't use their shuttle to the port, we used Budget rental's and all went smooth. We stayed at the Hyatt @ Orlando Airport on our way back home. It was very convienient, but wasn't the cleanest place. We found it to be extremely dusty and found toys from the previous occupants in our room.
1 day car rentals from Budget @ Orlando Airport & turned it in at Cocoa Beach, then opposit directions on the way home. Both places were effiecent. The Orlando location gave us an upgrade to SUV for $2
I also lucked out and was able to do the paperwork in the garage at the Fast Break(?) location, which saved us from standing in long line in the airport. My stupidity got us this break. I thought I had signed up for the special service, but hadn't & the man working the counter was kind enough to process us anyhow.
Tips I loved & used - zip strips for luggage (great for the night left in hall), over the door shoe hanger, we hung ours on the connecting door (we didin't know the neighbors). Loved the suggestion for ordering pot of coffee from room service the night before disembarkment! We didn't find that we needed to bring large cups for drink stations, what they provided was sufficient. We did also bring a 12pk for our room fridge, which was nice on the verandah.
I found all kinds of useful tips and suggestions from everyone on the boards and appreciate their willingness to share their knowledge. Hubby laughed everytime we did or went somewhere based on my DIS buddies tips, suggestions, recommendations. He found that all my hours spent on the boards was worth it!
If anyone has a specific questions, I will do my best to answer. I don't have the ability to post photos or navigators due to lack of knowledge &/or equipement - Sorry!
Not sure what they did. I would assume they had to meet the ship in Port Canaveral to gather their items. Our next stop was 
