jlima
Beep Beep!
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2000
- Messages
- 2,270
Cast: Me, 42, DH, 43, DS8 and DS14. This was our 3rd Disney Cruise and our 2nd West Coast Cruise. Booked in May 0f 2007. We had connecting Cat 6 cabins, 6600 and 6602. We had a Cat 3 suite on our first cruise that I refused to book again as I will not spend the $$ for a cruise only to have my kids sleep in a sofa bed, plus the value of the concierge service wasn’t there. Lots of space plus 2 bathrooms was HEAVEN. Booked through Dreams Unlimited and received $250 in shipboard credit for each cabin. On our first day we also had slips in our cabins that said we had another $25 in credit for each cabin. No idea why we had the extra shipboard credit . . . but I’ll take it!!
Embarkation Day – We stayed at the Holiday Inn in San Pedro, just like in 2005. Their Park & Cruise Package was $179 and included a one night stay, inside parking for the week and round trip shuttle to the cruise terminal. Same package in 2005 included breakfast and champagne and was $149 . . . oh well. Our car was inside all week. Parking at the terminal would have been $12/day. There were other hotels in San Pedro that I considered, but both the Doubletree and Crowne Plaza parked their cars outside. We actually arrived on Friday night and paid $119 for the extra night. Room was adequate; I did appreciate the free internet access. When we checked in I asked if I could sign up for the shuttle for Sunday morning; and the front desk clerk said yes! We signed up for 10am to go to the terminal. We spent Saturday going to Ikea, DH’s favorite SoCal comic shop (Comics Unlimited in Long Beach), the Maritime Museum, then Ports of Call in San Pedro.
We left 2 bags in the van when we arrived; and on Sunday morning moved those two and all of the bags from our room to the lobby. Shuttle was a little late but we were at the terminal by 10:30; and checked in by 11:15. Lines for Castaway Club cruisers were LONG! After I got us checked in, I sat with DH for a few minutes then decided to try and check in DS8 into the kids clubs. As I walked across the terminal the CMs gave me the boarding group card . . . Group 5. Had group 2 last time (grrrrrrrrrrrrr). Wish I had known where they were giving out boarding cards! Lines for check-in for kids clubs were incredibly long and we checked in later in the day on the ship. Boarding started about 11:45 and group 5 was called about 12:10. Had lunch at Topsiders and sat outside. Went to pools, then to the cabin after 1:30. Had all of our bags by 3 pm (woot!). REAS gift plus Castaway Club gifts were in cabins. I checked the REAS basket right away. In 2005 I didn’t open the box of candy until I got home after the cruise, only to discover that DCL had substituted LIFESAVERS for the chocolates! Evidently DCL was shipping EVERYTHING to the West Coast and had quality issues with some items after they were shipped, and the candy was one of them, so they substituted hard candies. Had I gone to guest services during the cruise, they would have replaced them with real chocolates. The staff at DU arranged for a $15 refund. The candy this time was Giardelli chocolate squares. DH was very happy and appreciated that it was a California product.
Our door:
Kids playing foosball:
REAS turndown:
Towel animals:
Food – Food quality was about what I remembered. I would give overall food quality 7 out of 10. Memorable dishes were the veal chop and the sugarless cheesecake. Our servers were Noel from India & Marcellino from the Philippines. Service was about 9 out of 10. Marcellino made a few small mistakes, like confusing our drink orders (bringing DH14 a chocolate smoothie instead of strawberry when DS8 ordered chocolate milk; and serving my drink to DH and vice versa). We only drank half of the bottle of wine included with the Romance package at Palo; and the Palo server said he could send it to the dining room the following evening. It never made it to us and DH didn’t remember until after dinner. Food at the pool was all that I remembered. At Pluto’s one day I asked the CM to put the taco meat on top of French fries and add cheese and . . . tada! Chili fries! On the day we were in Mazatlan, Topsider’s had a Mexican lunch and DH and I both tried the tamales. It was labeled Pork Tamales but there was the tiniest bit of pork in them! Either someone was cutting costs or they need real Mexicans in the kitchen. We had lunch at Lumiere’s one day and the Lumiere burger was terrific. Palo was terrific. The lobster was unbelievable and prosciutto pizza had DH in heaven. At brunch at Palo I had the pasta with the pumpkin sauce . . . really wonderful; you would not have know it was made with pumpkin! Cheese selections were awesome; there was even something from Kentucky!
Buffet line at Palo Brunch:
Ice Sculpture at Palo Brunch:
Veal chop entree from Wed night:
Entertainment – IMHO the entertainment was great, if you had never been on a Disney Cruise before. We skipped Disney Dreams and the Golden Mickeys as we’d seen them before. We did see the show on the first day; however we were a bit disappointed by Justin Kredible as he only had a bit part of the show. The trick was the bowling ball was really great. DH and I were both really disappointed by the movies. Now that Miramax isn’t part of Disney anymore, they can’t get any of those movies so they are left with their own product to show in the movie theater. Appreciated the extras like the mariachis on the day we were in Mazatlan. They were locals who were brought on the ship to perform - authentic!
Activities – We did the Mickey 200 and made a car out of a potato . . . and we won! You don’t get a pin anymore; they gave us buttons and a coffee cup that said “Event Winner”. That was a lot of fun. We also played bingo one night and DH won $149! He was so excited he knocked over his chair when he yelled bingo. DH 14 played with us. On the Friday DH & I were in the hot tub at Quiet Cove and they were having adult games . . . who knew there was a wet T-shirt relay! Loved the pub night on the last day! DH was able to catch the Lakers too – even on the Ariel screen.
DS8 with our car at the Mickey 200:
DH watching Laker game on Ariel Screen:
Shore Excursions – Hit & miss. We did the Dolphins in Cabo and this was really special for all of us. Loved not having to ride a bus; it was a 5 minute walk from the pier after you got off the tender. In Mazatlan we did the old city walking tour. Our tour guide had limited English skills and didn’t deliver the tour as well as it could have been. There was another tour about 5 minutes ahead of us and at one point both groups were in the same museum together and I actually listened to the tour guide with the other group for a few minutes. The tour was just OK. It wasn’t as much walking as I thought it was going to be. DS8 didn’t complain too much. In 2005 we paid a taxi $50 to drive us around and that guy took us to a lot of the same places the walking tour did. The walking tour even went to the same gift shop the taxi driver took us to three year ago! We went everywhere there was to go – the Cathedral, the Opera House, a few hotels, the Malecon and took a quick trip through the local market. Would have appreciated a warning before we went into the Market; it was very crowded and crazy and when we got out we were actually missing two people! In hindsight, I'd hire a taxi again. In Puerto Vallarta we did the Sierra Madre Off Road Adventure. DH REALLY enjoyed this. It was run by a company called Vallarta Adventures. We were put into the back of a truck and after stopping at 2 tiny villages, we were driven into the mountains, went on a 45 minute nature walk (complete with 1-inch winged ants, fire ants and gecko lizards), then were taken to secluded beach and served a Mexican BBQ. Our tour guide Gustavo was an absolute hoot. There was an ice chest with soda and beer; and on the ride back to the ship he had more beer, rum and a bottle of tequila, complete with lime & salt (I am not making this up!). He had all of us doing tequila shots in the back of this truck. My only gripe was that Disney’s description of this tour was 6.5 hours and it wasn’t . . .we were gone for 9 hours; we left the ship at 8:30 and got back at 5:30.
DS14 at Cabo Dolphins:
Cathedral in Mazatlan:
Market in Mazatlan:
Truck we rode in for Sierra Madre Off Road Adventure:
Pics from nature walk:
Beach we went to:
Spa – I made it to the spa three times – the Ionie treatment on Monday; Alone Time in a spa villa for a facial on Friday; and then on Saturday morning DH and I did the Rasul and then Couples’ Choice in a Spa Villa (I had the stone massage and DH a Swedish massage). All of this was really relaxing. It was nice to sit in the Jacuzzi with DH for time together. We also made it to the Rain Forest room one evening.
Spa villa pics:
Do & Don’t –
Don’t wait in the huge line in the terminal to get your pager & wristband for the kids clubs . . . just get it later in the day at the club.
Do book the REAS package as you will feel pampered throughout your cruise. The breakfast; the wine at Palo; the basket in your cabin on the first day (2 DCL bathrobes & a portable ice bucket); the Rainforest pass . . . it all adds up to a great experience plus you get the bonus of booking your Palo and excursion reservations 105 days out.
Don’t over pack! I packed 2 outfits, pajamas and a bathing suit that I never wore and DH packed stuff he didn't wear.
Do bring your own quarters, laundry soap and dryer sheets if you plan to do laundry. The deck 6 laundry room was 3 doors down from us and it was busy ALL THE TIME. I did one load at 9 pm one night but it was easy to figure out when there were machines available, because I walked by it several times a day.
Do find the thread for your cruise on these boards before you cruise, and try to go to a DIS meet!
That’s it! Any questions, ask away!
Embarkation Day – We stayed at the Holiday Inn in San Pedro, just like in 2005. Their Park & Cruise Package was $179 and included a one night stay, inside parking for the week and round trip shuttle to the cruise terminal. Same package in 2005 included breakfast and champagne and was $149 . . . oh well. Our car was inside all week. Parking at the terminal would have been $12/day. There were other hotels in San Pedro that I considered, but both the Doubletree and Crowne Plaza parked their cars outside. We actually arrived on Friday night and paid $119 for the extra night. Room was adequate; I did appreciate the free internet access. When we checked in I asked if I could sign up for the shuttle for Sunday morning; and the front desk clerk said yes! We signed up for 10am to go to the terminal. We spent Saturday going to Ikea, DH’s favorite SoCal comic shop (Comics Unlimited in Long Beach), the Maritime Museum, then Ports of Call in San Pedro.
We left 2 bags in the van when we arrived; and on Sunday morning moved those two and all of the bags from our room to the lobby. Shuttle was a little late but we were at the terminal by 10:30; and checked in by 11:15. Lines for Castaway Club cruisers were LONG! After I got us checked in, I sat with DH for a few minutes then decided to try and check in DS8 into the kids clubs. As I walked across the terminal the CMs gave me the boarding group card . . . Group 5. Had group 2 last time (grrrrrrrrrrrrr). Wish I had known where they were giving out boarding cards! Lines for check-in for kids clubs were incredibly long and we checked in later in the day on the ship. Boarding started about 11:45 and group 5 was called about 12:10. Had lunch at Topsiders and sat outside. Went to pools, then to the cabin after 1:30. Had all of our bags by 3 pm (woot!). REAS gift plus Castaway Club gifts were in cabins. I checked the REAS basket right away. In 2005 I didn’t open the box of candy until I got home after the cruise, only to discover that DCL had substituted LIFESAVERS for the chocolates! Evidently DCL was shipping EVERYTHING to the West Coast and had quality issues with some items after they were shipped, and the candy was one of them, so they substituted hard candies. Had I gone to guest services during the cruise, they would have replaced them with real chocolates. The staff at DU arranged for a $15 refund. The candy this time was Giardelli chocolate squares. DH was very happy and appreciated that it was a California product.
Our door:
Kids playing foosball:
REAS turndown:
Towel animals:
Food – Food quality was about what I remembered. I would give overall food quality 7 out of 10. Memorable dishes were the veal chop and the sugarless cheesecake. Our servers were Noel from India & Marcellino from the Philippines. Service was about 9 out of 10. Marcellino made a few small mistakes, like confusing our drink orders (bringing DH14 a chocolate smoothie instead of strawberry when DS8 ordered chocolate milk; and serving my drink to DH and vice versa). We only drank half of the bottle of wine included with the Romance package at Palo; and the Palo server said he could send it to the dining room the following evening. It never made it to us and DH didn’t remember until after dinner. Food at the pool was all that I remembered. At Pluto’s one day I asked the CM to put the taco meat on top of French fries and add cheese and . . . tada! Chili fries! On the day we were in Mazatlan, Topsider’s had a Mexican lunch and DH and I both tried the tamales. It was labeled Pork Tamales but there was the tiniest bit of pork in them! Either someone was cutting costs or they need real Mexicans in the kitchen. We had lunch at Lumiere’s one day and the Lumiere burger was terrific. Palo was terrific. The lobster was unbelievable and prosciutto pizza had DH in heaven. At brunch at Palo I had the pasta with the pumpkin sauce . . . really wonderful; you would not have know it was made with pumpkin! Cheese selections were awesome; there was even something from Kentucky!
Buffet line at Palo Brunch:
Ice Sculpture at Palo Brunch:
Veal chop entree from Wed night:
Entertainment – IMHO the entertainment was great, if you had never been on a Disney Cruise before. We skipped Disney Dreams and the Golden Mickeys as we’d seen them before. We did see the show on the first day; however we were a bit disappointed by Justin Kredible as he only had a bit part of the show. The trick was the bowling ball was really great. DH and I were both really disappointed by the movies. Now that Miramax isn’t part of Disney anymore, they can’t get any of those movies so they are left with their own product to show in the movie theater. Appreciated the extras like the mariachis on the day we were in Mazatlan. They were locals who were brought on the ship to perform - authentic!
Activities – We did the Mickey 200 and made a car out of a potato . . . and we won! You don’t get a pin anymore; they gave us buttons and a coffee cup that said “Event Winner”. That was a lot of fun. We also played bingo one night and DH won $149! He was so excited he knocked over his chair when he yelled bingo. DH 14 played with us. On the Friday DH & I were in the hot tub at Quiet Cove and they were having adult games . . . who knew there was a wet T-shirt relay! Loved the pub night on the last day! DH was able to catch the Lakers too – even on the Ariel screen.
DS8 with our car at the Mickey 200:
DH watching Laker game on Ariel Screen:
Shore Excursions – Hit & miss. We did the Dolphins in Cabo and this was really special for all of us. Loved not having to ride a bus; it was a 5 minute walk from the pier after you got off the tender. In Mazatlan we did the old city walking tour. Our tour guide had limited English skills and didn’t deliver the tour as well as it could have been. There was another tour about 5 minutes ahead of us and at one point both groups were in the same museum together and I actually listened to the tour guide with the other group for a few minutes. The tour was just OK. It wasn’t as much walking as I thought it was going to be. DS8 didn’t complain too much. In 2005 we paid a taxi $50 to drive us around and that guy took us to a lot of the same places the walking tour did. The walking tour even went to the same gift shop the taxi driver took us to three year ago! We went everywhere there was to go – the Cathedral, the Opera House, a few hotels, the Malecon and took a quick trip through the local market. Would have appreciated a warning before we went into the Market; it was very crowded and crazy and when we got out we were actually missing two people! In hindsight, I'd hire a taxi again. In Puerto Vallarta we did the Sierra Madre Off Road Adventure. DH REALLY enjoyed this. It was run by a company called Vallarta Adventures. We were put into the back of a truck and after stopping at 2 tiny villages, we were driven into the mountains, went on a 45 minute nature walk (complete with 1-inch winged ants, fire ants and gecko lizards), then were taken to secluded beach and served a Mexican BBQ. Our tour guide Gustavo was an absolute hoot. There was an ice chest with soda and beer; and on the ride back to the ship he had more beer, rum and a bottle of tequila, complete with lime & salt (I am not making this up!). He had all of us doing tequila shots in the back of this truck. My only gripe was that Disney’s description of this tour was 6.5 hours and it wasn’t . . .we were gone for 9 hours; we left the ship at 8:30 and got back at 5:30.
DS14 at Cabo Dolphins:
Cathedral in Mazatlan:
Market in Mazatlan:
Truck we rode in for Sierra Madre Off Road Adventure:
Pics from nature walk:
Beach we went to:
Spa – I made it to the spa three times – the Ionie treatment on Monday; Alone Time in a spa villa for a facial on Friday; and then on Saturday morning DH and I did the Rasul and then Couples’ Choice in a Spa Villa (I had the stone massage and DH a Swedish massage). All of this was really relaxing. It was nice to sit in the Jacuzzi with DH for time together. We also made it to the Rain Forest room one evening.
Spa villa pics:
Do & Don’t –
Don’t wait in the huge line in the terminal to get your pager & wristband for the kids clubs . . . just get it later in the day at the club.
Do book the REAS package as you will feel pampered throughout your cruise. The breakfast; the wine at Palo; the basket in your cabin on the first day (2 DCL bathrobes & a portable ice bucket); the Rainforest pass . . . it all adds up to a great experience plus you get the bonus of booking your Palo and excursion reservations 105 days out.
Don’t over pack! I packed 2 outfits, pajamas and a bathing suit that I never wore and DH packed stuff he didn't wear.
Do bring your own quarters, laundry soap and dryer sheets if you plan to do laundry. The deck 6 laundry room was 3 doors down from us and it was busy ALL THE TIME. I did one load at 9 pm one night but it was easy to figure out when there were machines available, because I walked by it several times a day.
Do find the thread for your cruise on these boards before you cruise, and try to go to a DIS meet!
That’s it! Any questions, ask away!
