5/6/06 Western - real deal/ longer than I thought

[rbork]

Let me introduce myself DW33, DH38, DS9 and DS6. This was my 4th cruise. I've cruised with Regency, QE2, NCL and now DCL. This was our first time trying DCL and cruising with our children. Figured DCL would be a good bet since we were bringing the boys this time. I love Disney World. I have experienced good things with Disney in the past. My report is candid, some positive -some negative. I had heard how great DCL was and was ready to feel the Magic! I tried very hard to keep my expectations to a minimum in order to not be dissappointed. Here goes...

Friday 5/5/06 - drove to the port from Annapolis Maryland. Left at 0200hrs and arrived at 1600hrs. A little tired but excited about the next day. Still managed some beach time in Cocoa. Nice uncrowded beach.

Saturday 5/6/06 - Arrived at the port at 1000hrs. Hubby dropped us with luggage curbside and parked the car. Nice men started to check luggage curbside and throw onto a big luggage pallet. Very nice fellows who worked VERY hard and still put on smiles. Checked in upstairs in a breeze took about 10 minutes. I had my contract, payment signiture, immagration form, birth certs and ID's all ready which expedited the process. We got our pager and wrist bands for the kids and waited! Atlas, we were evacuated as you've heard. Bomb scare with the luggage etc... hearded down escalators to ONE door. WHy weren't more exit door's opened? very dangerous as people bottlenecked and the bottom of the escalator that did not stop! Escaped the hoards of people, cranky kid's and biting ants? to the far end of the parking lot where quite a bit of shade was to be found. Sat and waited patiently for 2 hours. Finally boarded, rushed and didnt really stop to enjoy the WOW of boarding. Dropped in a booked PALO with no problem. I wasn't picky and therefor it did not take long at all. Went to lunch in a cool Parrot Cay, danced in the sailaway party, and got to dinner. We got PLA F2. We were supposed to be at dinner at 1745 every night. We did aim for that time but never made it until 6pm most evenings. Servers Teddy and Collin didn't seem to mind. We also requested at large table when we originally booked the cruise. We enjoy mingling with others and that was a bonus to cruising for us. Well... we ended up at a table for 4 when we were seated. oh well...didn't fuss just happy to be cruising. Oh and casual dress code is interpreted widely! I saw people in shorts, tanks and a variety of othe things. We are traditional cruisers and I dressed the boys in sandles, slacks and polo's on casual nights. We went to the movies after dinner and saw Eight Below. Very good- I was even crying a little "over a dog!" lol. Kid's fell asleep in the movie theater.

Sunday 5/7/06 - Key West day. I had no excursion planned and was looking forward to shopping and walking around. It was very hot this day. Kid's not interested in being in port. Kept asking for pool back on the ship. We walked and walked, my DS9 liked the handblown glassware in a window... I looked closer to discover they were "handblown glass bongs"! Nice... now I had to explain the drug thing to the 9 year old.. If I was 19 and ready to party this town would be fine. But I'm all grown up now and don't drink and smoke to have a good time so this port wasn't for us. To it's credit the buildings,homes and gardens were beautiful. We had enough of Bars and Bongs and went back to the ship to swim. Kid's really enjoyed the slide!
Dropped Kid's in their seperate clubs and ate in Palo during the sunset. Dress code was Jacket /or dress shirt for men and dress for the ladies. I didn't plan on eating in Palo so we just wore our formals to dinner.. DH in suit and me in nice long dress. DH was annoyed that he could have worn his polo shirt and fit right it. Palo was great and more than just food it was an experience.. Our server was great, patient and informative. Chocolate souflee sp? and Expresso Martini was outstanding together! Had to drag DS9 at midnight from the club. DS 6 was ready for bed at 2200hrs.

Monday 5/8/06 - Sea Day. Prepared the boys ahead of time that we were NOT going to the pool as it would be too crowded and today was a club day for them. DS9 enjoyed Ocean Quest and less enjoyed the Ocean Lab. DS6 was content in Oceaneer's club. We picked them up for Lunch and Dinner. I also booked the stingray city snorkel tour for tommorrow. I did not book any excursions or Palo ahead of time. Formal night included suits for all 3 boys and gown for me. We had photos done and enjoyed free cosmos and some other drink? I forget the name? Free shirley temples for the boys. yeah, get them all dressed up and hand them a drink. I was a little on edge! After dinner we passed the atrium and picked up more Free drinks. Went to Golden Mickey's. Good show my sons were in the show as 2 of the seven dwarfs. They looked like the amish in black suits and white beards. Went to after Mickeys Party for a little while then kids were tired and off to bed.

Tuesday 5/9/06 - went to stringray city snorkel tour. This was good for younger kid's. The water was knee deep and crystal clear. I was concerned about them being out in the bay in deeper water. This tour was 3.5 hour. Nice short tour with 45 minutes in the water. I noticed about 20% of the adults and kid's got in the water / got alittle freaked and watched from the boat. I enjoyed feeling the stingrays on the bottom of course! with my DS6. Went back to ship afterwards. Kid's wanted to go to clubs to DH and I went to the adult pool. Water was way TOO WARM ~85-87degrees REALLY. Not refreshing just too HOT. We had to set to clocks back to CST and kid's fell asleep after dinner. Still hadn't got to adult lounges.. Kid's keep falling asleep.

Wednesday 5/10/06. - Cozumel. I need a t-shirt that said "NO TAXI and NO JEWELRY" lol. merchants very pushy! I read about that ahead of time. Very HOT again. No excursions planned just shopped. Very touristy on the waterfront. Wish I had more time and would have enjoyed the port better if we went to local spots I'm sure. Still... bought sombreros, rosary etc... bartered for all! strayed off the main drag and didn't feel comfortable. Went back to ship for lunch and pool time. Pools really are good on port days! Never had a problem finding a chaise or chair in the shade. Pirate night. Brought the boy's halloween pirate costumes and enjoyed dinner. YEp... DS6 went to bed and thus missed the pirate party. DH and DS9 went up for a little while but came back after a rude man was holding 2 big tables for himself and wouldn't let DH and DS sit for a bit. DH sat down anyway got annoyed and left shortly after.

Thursday 5/11/06 - Sea Day. another club day and kid's don't plan on pool for crowded sea days. Much more free time in clubs than I thought. Kid's went anyway while we went to the pool and stores again. Dissappointed that not more planned stuff for the adults. Aside from wine tasting etc.. Did play Bingo and win $120. yippy! DS6 won chip it golf earlier and won disney pins and ears. Time change back again to EST and were able to keep boys awake this night! Check them in told them we be back at 1am! The lounges were pretty dead until 2230hrs or so when the late seating folks rolled in... We went to Diversions for some adult Who's the Boss game... nothing ever happened and we took our drinks over to Rockin D. for a magic show. The magician is very good and we enjoyed the show. We walked the decks and we did alot since the free time we had -there seemed to be nothing planned going on. Not even music in the promanade lounge.

Friday 5/12/06 - CC. woke up late as we'd now done every day... very nice. Got off the ship in time for "the storm". Interesting... wind blowing, rain sideways, lighting... I am sure if we'd been late getting to CC the captain would have not docked. We were lucky to get in we we did. Just like Florida - stormed for 20 minutes and past on. We got chairs and sat by the water. Hubby and I have our own snorkel equip and took turns going out to the barrier. That is were the fish are! Way out. past the red bouys. deeper water. We enjoyed ourselves and well as the kid's playing in the sand and water. Went up to get lunch... and realized everything was gone! guess we missed it. stayed until 1530ish and went back to ship to eat... we were hungry by now. Went to dinner with our tip enveloped and handwritten notes to our servers etc... Kid's wanted to go to clubs. We saw a nice show and wandered again. I had put quite a bit of clothes back in the suitcases on thursday. Had the luggage out at 2250hrs. Picked up kids and went to sleep.

Saturday 5/13/06. wake up call from Mikey Mouse at 0550hrs. ouch.... so early. Was at breakfast for 0645hr seating. This was the only time we WERE ON TIME. Since we weren't sitting with other folks we didn't have to worry about being rude and showing up late every day. Finished only to wait in BIG disembarkation line! Where's the walk off the ship in a jiffy thing? Cleared costums and in the car at 0820hrs - still not bad - got off faster than our previous cruises. We are home by 2130hrs. We only stopped for gas and food in the car. BTW - did you know there is only 1 stop light between Annapolis and Port Canaveral.

Final Words.
Our bill was $89.71 at the end of the cruise!
We had $299. in Disney Rewards.
We hit BINGO for $120?
Had $40 in Disney bucks.

We booked an excursion for 4, bought a photo pkg, souvies including 4 DCL shirts, did PALO and tipped very well, had drinks in PALO and in the evening at the lounges when we did go. Took advantage of the Free drinks on Formal night and champange was offered at the auction. We don't feel that we missed or curbed our spending habits. Our kid's don't ask for everything in site! (most days. lol.) They had saved change in a huge jar for 18mos prior and had $120 to spend bythemselves.
We booked a Cat9 #2108. Fine stateroom. Quiet and large enough for 2 adults and 2 kid's. Loved the split bath and plenty of storage! DCL did it right when it comes to the staterooms. Very impressed. I've stayed in cabins from closet size to the penthouse on the QE2. I really liked our cabin on DCL. From a motion point of view. Virtually none the whole cruise. Little dissappointed as I like a little rocking and rolling. This was also our first cruise on a "modern ship".
Food was okay / good for feeding the masses during a dinner seating. Palo was excellent. Lacked variety during breakfasts... same stuff everyday.
Service was great, but no one went over/beyond and above the standard expected for us. Pools were too WARM! The adult pool was refreshing the last day. Did they change the water or something? Mikey pool closed for a "baby ruth" incident. yuck! Don't understand why parents don't insist on potty breaks. This was our first cruise that we didn't bring home friend's addresses. If we didn't initiate a conversation. No one would have spoke to us other than a nod. What's up with that? Again traditional cruiser here who enjoys conversation without being overwelming. The passengers are very self centered and must be focusing really hard on THEIR family time and forget about the people around them. (To each his own.)
The ship is very casual. To casual for my liking. I enjoy a dress code at dinner. 1000 kid's on this voyage. Hat's off to the kid's club staff- they are angels. Glad Disney brought in the bomb squad. Better Be safe and hot than dead. Will I book DCL again. No. Will I book a cruise with the kid's again? probably not. Will I cruise again? Absolutely. I enjoy an adult vacation about once every 5 years. DH and I deserve time to ourselves and love cruising but without the kid's. It was stressful at times and alot of work dressing them and making them happy because if they weren't happy we weren't happy. It was a good adventure and I am glad we did it.

 

[pppiglet]

Thanks for posting. Great report!

 

[nzdisneymom]

So when you win bingo, do they just credit your stateroom account?

Thanks for your trip report; I love reading about other people's experiences. We avoided the pools on sea days, too.

 

[rbork]

If you hit BINGO you get a receipt with your name on it. It is YOUR responsibilty to go to guest services before the end of that day. Guess they figure some don't go???? Well... free $$$, we went right after bingo was over.
p.s. the pot was about $3500 by the last bingo session and two people won. How nice. I was sincerely glad for them. Also someone's pager went off during the last game which is "very quiet" anyways. Not a soul answered their kid's page. I thought that was hillarious . Kid's must wait if $3500 is at stake?

 

[castlegazer]

I had almost the exact same thoughts. I also have cruised on other lines. I really got annoyed by day 4 with the breakfasts in Topsiders and I am sad we never made it to Lumiere's for breakfast because lunches there were spectacular, quiet and relaxing and for some reason my kids were angels for them. I also was annoyed with the amount of free time in the Oceanear's Club which meant I found my son watching TV a lot of the times I went to pick him up. He did love DoSiDo and the PJ Party. I also found it to be stressful with the kids as this was also our first time sailing with them, but it was still wonderful to spend the time with them and then have nap time in the afternoons to ourselvesplus our Palo time which was wonderful.

BUT, I did rebook as I did overall really like the experience, plus the kids really did love it. I will know better next time how to better plan my time and not do so many lines and just enjoy myself.

 

[skibum]

Great report - refreshingly honest.

We have had some of the same experiences and thoughts, but continue to go because the kids do love the experience (but not the kid's clubs - they are always with us). Good family time.

Agree with you, enforce the casual dress code, because right now there is no dress code.

Had the same experience as your husband on Pirate Night. A grandmother had saved two tables on Deck 10, and would not let us near them. I reminded her that there was no saving, and she got upset - calling me names. I suggested we call a CM over to settle it, but she said no, and went on calling me names. I asked her where the people were, and she said down on Deck 9 dancing. Although I wanted to sit down, I didn't, but stood there between her and the stage. By the way, 8 chairs saved and nobody ever sat in them! Next time, I will sit down.

Also had kids on the adult pool deck - one kid (11 or 12) was sitting in a chaise with his parents for over half an hour, and was never talked to.

I do not think it is Disney's fault, we see those problems every day in society. It is tough to teach your kids to follow the rules when there are so many around you who feel the rules do not apply to them. But stepping up enforcement, as uncomfortable as it is, would be a good thing.

In my view, the negatives are minor in relation to the enjoyment we get out of the experince, and are looking forward to next spring break.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I've been thinking about how I might would handle the whole "saving seats" thing at the deck parties... I think I would smile politely and say to the person saving if they were being ugly about it that "well, I'll just sit here until the rest of your party arrives and then I'll be glad to get up then." Especially since it sounds like the party never arrives! Or if they do, it's enough later that I'd be ready to go anyway.

 

[rbork]

I agree totally it's not DCL fault about some of the negatives concerning pax. Just making some observations as I get a "little older" (I said, LITTLE older. ) Dcl seems to have the younger generation on board. Of course, as they are likley child bearing families and DCL is for FAMILIES. I've not been on a ship with such young pax until now. My first cruise when I was 20, I learned to cha cha with an 80yr old guy. Definately no cha cha and rhomba lessons on DCL.

To add, my kid's had a blast. And it makes me happy that I could provide them the opportunity. That in itself makes it a successful trip.

Thanks to all! for the kind replies- I know flaming was a possibilty. Also thanks to this board - I learned a great deal before we cruised and was able to maximize our experience.

 

[cinderella_mom]

Thanks for the post. Your comment about some of the people on the Stingray City excursion made me feel better about booking this excursion. I was worried about DD5 and me getting a little freaked and glad to hear some people end up on the boat.

Great, honest report.

 

[mazzarafe]

Whew, glad to hear that you had no complaints about your neighbors in the next room...we were in 2110. I do agree though, that it was a very comfortable cabin. Just needed a few more places to put things. Our bigger luggage had to go into the closet because it did not fit under the bed so we had alot of the suvies on top of the desk. It was a great location too, being close to the aft elevators. Loved our room steward Don, he was great.

castleqazer, my DD7 did not like having to watch movies in the clubs. The sad thing is, the poor thing was only put in at night after the shows about 9:45 and only enjoyed some of the free time before it was quiet time. I don't think that is fair to them at that age. I had tried to move her up into the next age group, but they asked her what she liked to do and made it sound like the next group only did sports activities. So she did not spend much time there at night so we missed out on the adult activities. It was the girls vacation too and I didn't want to make her hate going. I did have her go in during the days at sea though, they at least kept her entertained. But, I do think that they need to change what they have the kids doing in the clubs while the parents would want to have them there to go to the adult shows.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi Thanks for your report.

Im looking forward to our western in July.

 

[yazee1]

I think I would smile politely and say to the person saving if they were being ugly about it that "well, I'll just sit here until the rest of your party arrives and then I'll be glad to get up then." .

What a great idea!

 

[yazee1]

I enjoyed reading your report. There's nothing "flammable" in it to me, but I can understand how it could happen.

 

[Tarabra]

I inadvertantly became one of those "table savers" during the deck party, but of course, turned no one away and certainly didn't call anyone any names. My DH bought a Cuban cigar in Cozumel. Doesn't really smoke them even at home, but thought it would be the "cool thing" to do while on a cruise so he could tell his cigar affecianado (sp.?) brother. Well after dinner he smoked it, and then he started getting dizzy. He said, "I'm going back to the room for a little, just go ahead up to the deck party and I'll be up." So I grabbed a table while I waited. There weren't really many people sitting that I recall anyway. After about 15 min. I decided to go check on him. Here he was crashed in bed, his glasses were on the floor on the opposite side of the bed and he wasn't going anywhere! Needless to say, he hasn't had a cigar since! And, yea, I went back to the party without him!!