luv that cruise
<font color=royalblue>Someone give me instructions
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2004
- Messages
- 549
Just back from our 6th cruise! Weather was great and seas were smooth. I'm just going to touch on a few things that might make someone else's cruise just a little better...
We arrived at port early and were looking forward to spending the day on the ship prior to departure. Lunch was great but then not much else to do as couldn't get into our room for a few hours and kids not really wanting to swim in the very crowded pool. For people who are new to the boat the time can be spent getting to know the layout and seeing the different areas of the ship. But we have been there, done that. I think next time we will spend the morning at the hotel and board more leisurely around 2-3 pm.
Life boat drill was painless, as usual. Over before you know it. Don't show up early as those life jackets are uncomfortable, especially for small kids, and crew will fuss at you if you try to take it off before you get back to your room after the drill. Sail away is magical but we forgot to bring bubbles for the kids. Kids are getting older and they didn't miss it. if you do bubbles - do it off the back of the boat so they don't end up in someone else's face. That reminds me - please think twice about feeding the birds as they multiply fast and leave a mess (yuk).
Over the years we have noticed the ship's air conditioning decline and this time it was very noticable. If you can spare the room in your luggage I'd suggest small table top fans. Never needed a sweater in dining rooms or walt disney theatre but it was quite chilly in buena vista.
The food was so-so and seems menus have changed little over the years. The soups were especially good this trip (altho I may have been in a "soup mood"). The food on deck is good (pizza, chicken, burgers, etc.), fast and easy. Didn't try room service but I hear it's a great alternative to getting dressed and going thru the official dining routine. We tend to get attached to our servers and I think we look at dinner as an eating AND social experience. Palo's was excellent and well worth the extra few $$.
The rain forest was a treat but I have learned a little trick. Don't pay for it on the first day unless you will use it the first day. When I travel, I can't really settle in until the luggage is unpacked. Luggage is delivered later in the day, usually around life boat drill time, then sail away, then unpack, then shows/dinner and before you know it there is no time left for the spa. The price for the weeklong pass dropped $25 between the first and second day!
Excursions - We did the catamaran snorkle in St. Maarten. People sitting in the front WILL get wet. We sat by the bar at one of the few tables. We had to go to an alternate snorkle spot due to brief rough seas. I think a great spot for beginner snorklers but I thought kind of bare. One of the crew said regular spot had more fish but not more coral as storms keep the coral down. In St. Thomas we did St. John trunk bay. There are two trunk bay snorkeling excursions so make sure you reserve the one you want. On the ship, the meeting area was very crowded as several St. John excusions shared the ferry. While it makes sense now, it was very confusing at the time. We went by ferry, then open air bus to trunk bay where we entered from the beach. The other excursion is on the Leylon Sneed and you jump from the boat to snorkle. I've done both and think the snorkeling is better from the Leylon Sneed. If you are inexperienced I think less intimidating to enter from the beach.
Immigration in St. Thomas... Inconvenient and a hassle but over the past few years disney has really done a lot to make it go smoothly. Bottom line is that ship stops in St. Maarten (a foreign port) and then St. Thomas (a US territory) so by law everyone must clear immigration before anyone gets off at 8am. This means an early morning for everyone - no exceptions (sorry). Bring birth certificate or passport and photo ID, file into walt disney theatre where they seat you in sections. We only waited a few minutes before our section was called. It helps if everyone holds thier own papers, the official takes a quick look and another will stamp your hand and you are done. They do check hand stamps as you leave the boat so make sure small kids don't get overlooked at the stamping station. That happened to us a few years ago and it made for some unhappy shipmates in the line to get off the boat.
A hint about crowded elevators... Gangways are on the first floor - this trip they were aft. We take alternate stairways/elevators to the 2nd floor and walk to gangway. This won't really work at lifeboat drill since all elevator lobbies will be crowded so everyone just has to be patient!
A few complaints... Music is so loud at pool areas. We could usually find shaded tables but impossible to carry on a conversation. There were some quieter tables at adult pool but we couldn't sit with the kids over there. Just when you find a nice place to kick back on deck 4 a smoker would show up. Ironic because this is the jogging deck. I'm not familiar with the rules but it would be nice if there were designated smoking areas (maybe there are).
We take collapsable laundry hampers (target, walmart) and this really helps keep things neat. Clothes pins are handy to hang wet things from deck chairs. Duct tape will keep closet door from rolling open and closed (even in calm water this happens). We used ziploc bags for a number of things - left over snacks, leaky sunscreen, sandy snorkle equipment. A folder of some sort will keep papers neat and make them easy to locate. We also have a designated place for receipts as this really makes the customs form easy. You don't have to be specific on the form but it's easy to lose track and the receipts are good reminders. The number one advice I can give is... drumroll... start packing BEFORE the last day of the cruise. Castaway Cay is great but tiring. It's such a drag to have to return to a packing frenzy. The best way to spend the last night of the cruise is relaxing.
Don't forget to look for the smaller decks aft on 7 and 8. They are usually not crowded and sometimes are completely empty. It's a great place to be when the boat sails from Castaway Cay.
Something that would be fun for older kids is to take a hurricane tracking chart and periodically check info from TV bridge channel (direction, heading, wind, etc.) and chart the boat's course. Taking a compass on deck and watching directional changes would be a fun science lesson too.
Disembarkation... Everyone has to be out of the staterooms by 8am. We then went to breakfast and got off the boat about 9am. Luggage area not too crowded and no trouble getting a porter and no line for customs inspection.
We arrived at port early and were looking forward to spending the day on the ship prior to departure. Lunch was great but then not much else to do as couldn't get into our room for a few hours and kids not really wanting to swim in the very crowded pool. For people who are new to the boat the time can be spent getting to know the layout and seeing the different areas of the ship. But we have been there, done that. I think next time we will spend the morning at the hotel and board more leisurely around 2-3 pm.
Life boat drill was painless, as usual. Over before you know it. Don't show up early as those life jackets are uncomfortable, especially for small kids, and crew will fuss at you if you try to take it off before you get back to your room after the drill. Sail away is magical but we forgot to bring bubbles for the kids. Kids are getting older and they didn't miss it. if you do bubbles - do it off the back of the boat so they don't end up in someone else's face. That reminds me - please think twice about feeding the birds as they multiply fast and leave a mess (yuk).
Over the years we have noticed the ship's air conditioning decline and this time it was very noticable. If you can spare the room in your luggage I'd suggest small table top fans. Never needed a sweater in dining rooms or walt disney theatre but it was quite chilly in buena vista.
The food was so-so and seems menus have changed little over the years. The soups were especially good this trip (altho I may have been in a "soup mood"). The food on deck is good (pizza, chicken, burgers, etc.), fast and easy. Didn't try room service but I hear it's a great alternative to getting dressed and going thru the official dining routine. We tend to get attached to our servers and I think we look at dinner as an eating AND social experience. Palo's was excellent and well worth the extra few $$.
The rain forest was a treat but I have learned a little trick. Don't pay for it on the first day unless you will use it the first day. When I travel, I can't really settle in until the luggage is unpacked. Luggage is delivered later in the day, usually around life boat drill time, then sail away, then unpack, then shows/dinner and before you know it there is no time left for the spa. The price for the weeklong pass dropped $25 between the first and second day!
Excursions - We did the catamaran snorkle in St. Maarten. People sitting in the front WILL get wet. We sat by the bar at one of the few tables. We had to go to an alternate snorkle spot due to brief rough seas. I think a great spot for beginner snorklers but I thought kind of bare. One of the crew said regular spot had more fish but not more coral as storms keep the coral down. In St. Thomas we did St. John trunk bay. There are two trunk bay snorkeling excursions so make sure you reserve the one you want. On the ship, the meeting area was very crowded as several St. John excusions shared the ferry. While it makes sense now, it was very confusing at the time. We went by ferry, then open air bus to trunk bay where we entered from the beach. The other excursion is on the Leylon Sneed and you jump from the boat to snorkle. I've done both and think the snorkeling is better from the Leylon Sneed. If you are inexperienced I think less intimidating to enter from the beach.
Immigration in St. Thomas... Inconvenient and a hassle but over the past few years disney has really done a lot to make it go smoothly. Bottom line is that ship stops in St. Maarten (a foreign port) and then St. Thomas (a US territory) so by law everyone must clear immigration before anyone gets off at 8am. This means an early morning for everyone - no exceptions (sorry). Bring birth certificate or passport and photo ID, file into walt disney theatre where they seat you in sections. We only waited a few minutes before our section was called. It helps if everyone holds thier own papers, the official takes a quick look and another will stamp your hand and you are done. They do check hand stamps as you leave the boat so make sure small kids don't get overlooked at the stamping station. That happened to us a few years ago and it made for some unhappy shipmates in the line to get off the boat.
A hint about crowded elevators... Gangways are on the first floor - this trip they were aft. We take alternate stairways/elevators to the 2nd floor and walk to gangway. This won't really work at lifeboat drill since all elevator lobbies will be crowded so everyone just has to be patient!
A few complaints... Music is so loud at pool areas. We could usually find shaded tables but impossible to carry on a conversation. There were some quieter tables at adult pool but we couldn't sit with the kids over there. Just when you find a nice place to kick back on deck 4 a smoker would show up. Ironic because this is the jogging deck. I'm not familiar with the rules but it would be nice if there were designated smoking areas (maybe there are).
We take collapsable laundry hampers (target, walmart) and this really helps keep things neat. Clothes pins are handy to hang wet things from deck chairs. Duct tape will keep closet door from rolling open and closed (even in calm water this happens). We used ziploc bags for a number of things - left over snacks, leaky sunscreen, sandy snorkle equipment. A folder of some sort will keep papers neat and make them easy to locate. We also have a designated place for receipts as this really makes the customs form easy. You don't have to be specific on the form but it's easy to lose track and the receipts are good reminders. The number one advice I can give is... drumroll... start packing BEFORE the last day of the cruise. Castaway Cay is great but tiring. It's such a drag to have to return to a packing frenzy. The best way to spend the last night of the cruise is relaxing.
Don't forget to look for the smaller decks aft on 7 and 8. They are usually not crowded and sometimes are completely empty. It's a great place to be when the boat sails from Castaway Cay.
Something that would be fun for older kids is to take a hurricane tracking chart and periodically check info from TV bridge channel (direction, heading, wind, etc.) and chart the boat's course. Taking a compass on deck and watching directional changes would be a fun science lesson too.
Disembarkation... Everyone has to be out of the staterooms by 8am. We then went to breakfast and got off the boat about 9am. Luggage area not too crowded and no trouble getting a porter and no line for customs inspection.
I would have been better buying it daily and saved a few dollars.
