Another May 6th Western review UPDATED with final thoughts..

[Sneezy63]

I am glad everyone is enjoying the report and don't mind my candor.

Heather: it was great to meet you, only wish we could have bumped into each other during the week. I saw Sneezy (Melissa) like everywhere I went, but I never caught up with you again. Glad you made it back to our wonderful state...it is 98 degrees here today!

Lisa

Heehee! I was just getting ready to reply that I could certainly attest to the fact that your DS was there with you...remember he waved to us in Key West?.... and at first I didn't recognize him and was just thinking..."Hey, there are really friendly people, here!" LOL

I definitely enjoy the candor of your reports. I think it helps to prepare for your trip when people don't sugar coat things. You are not saying that the whole trip was awful...just pointing out some of the small stuff, and I, for one, appreciate that!

We also had Ritesh and Claudio for our servers...my kids LOVED them. Although I think I'll blame Ritesh for the extra 4 pounds I'm carrying now....yeesh, he brought so many desserts! (Not that he twisted my arm to eat them, though!)

 

[Downrivermama]

Lisa, great report.

I have to agree with you abut the 5% of the people. We were on the Wonder in March and most of the grandparents didn't pay any attention to their grandchildren! I had one incident with my dd7 who was clowning around in Shutters and smacked a lady in the face. (Not hard, although the woman carried on so.) I had just got done telling dd to stop and than that happened. The woman stood there and yelled at me and said the lest you could do is make her apoligize. I said she did, but you were too busy yelling. Than she just kept going on and on. Finally I asked her if it would make her happy if I beat my child? I found that a lot of adults were walking around either in a daze or like they were the only ones on the ship!

We are going on the Western this coming February, so thanks for the info.

 

[zzzzjohnzzzz]

I love the reports. Have never cruised anywhere so I'm looking for all the info I can get. Thanks for the reports.

 

[Sauunders]

My DH ALWAYS orders 2 or 3 entrees each evening. . . and everyone in our party ALWAYS orders at least 2 desserts each. . . we never gasp....we just love to try everything!!!

 

[geffric]

Thanks for the trip report, i really enjoyed it. I too sailed with teens and we only saw them at dinner ( which was mandatory). Our cabin neighbors and fellow DISers one day asked if we really had kids as they never saw them.

 

[DisneyMay06]

Thanks for the report. I was on the same cruise. I am surprised at your PAlo review. I did though think the brunch was better than dinner

Second on that one! I definetly thought brunch was better than dinner. Actually, I was one of my favorite meals aboard. We had a wonderful server Florencia, who walked us through everything. I must agree too with the Chocolate souflee not being all that great? Sorry, it tasted like a brownie and ice cream to me. I know I'll probably burn in Disney hell for that one.

I loved the trip except for one part. I knew that Cozumel was devasted by the hurricane and I've been to Cancun on the mainland before and know that they harass in a somewhat stalker kind of a way. But geez, at the shopping district we couldn't get like 5 feet without being bothered plus felt like we were being watched and it kinda creeped us out so we couldn't wait till we got out of there. Did not book an excusion through Disney, because my mother had been to Chaakkunaab Park years earlier, but come to realize that the hurricane wiped it out. Heard other Disney cruisers were heading up to Paradise Beach and decided to go there. Once you get out of the port area, you do really realize that the island was hit real bad. Our taxi driver was a real nice guy and we asked him alot of questions about what happened to the island and how it is now. He told us that the "eye" of the hurricane was over Cozumel for like three days. Felt really bad for the driver and gave him a good tip. He dropped us off at Paradise Beach and it looked really nice. Plunked ourselves on the beach. The waters were a little rough that day so the water was really cloudy. True, the beach was free but I thought the waiter we had was rude and he sucked. Also, my four year old wanted one of the rafts. You did have to rent them, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that we didn't have alot of cash on us and they charged an extra 20% to use a credit card. The couple next to us rented one and wasn't using it so we borrowed theirs. I think we used it maybe five minutes cause my daughter had enough, when someone who worked there yelled at us for not actually "renting" one. We left. Cozumel was my least favorite port and was actually looking very forward to coming back to Mexico. Had a great experience in Cancun. But just to forwarn others going there, they seem to be really hard hit and will hound you for the moolah.

 

[MickeyD]

Summing it up: final thoughts...

Well if anyone is still with me, sorry this took so long to finish up. Unfortunately, I came down with a bad cold that turned into laryngitis (dh is ). So other than feeling all week, I have also been trying to purchase Prom gear for ds. Why is it that boys wait until the last minute to do things???

So on with the summation:
Of all the tips that I read here on the boards, the one I am most grateful for is: taking the power strip. I so needed that extra plug in for blow dryers, curling irons, battery packs etc.

I am most relieved about: that ds had the time of his life. I seriously thought that he would be too old for Disney. But the teen group was marvolous and he met up with a great group of friends. There is one guy he met, who was also on an excursion with us, that actually came down the gangplank as we were leaving in order to say goodbye to ds. That was absolutely the sweetest thing and made me choke up! That he took the extra time to come say goodbye, I don't care what anyone says: teenagers are cool!

I was most disappointed with: that I didn't get to parasail! I know, I know, I was waffling that day and almost hoping they'd cancel, but I really did want to go! It was nothing that ruined my trip, so no biggie.

I will mention here that our room was fabulous. Dewa was our stateroom host and he never failed to say hi, always brought us ice, asked where ds was (by name)...heck, half the time we were asking him if he saw ds!
We had 7062 and one side of the veranda was a bulkhead so it was solid. Made it nice because we only really noticed the neighbors on one side. (and who wouldn't notice loud mouth smokers?) whoops...did I write that?

Our favorite afternoon "activity" was to get ice cream and fruit (hey, we tried to keep it healthy!) and go to back deck 9. It was quiet and usually in the shade. We avoided deck 9 around the pools at all costs because of running little kids. One day heading to our ice cream rendevous, I sidestepped one little charmer and while my body went one way, my knee stayed where it was. I was limping for the rest of the trip! So word to the wise: little ones do NOT look where they are going.

Tip: take a sweater to the Buena Vista theater! It was freezing . Ok, part of it might be that we were watching Eight Below , but it was so cold I swear I could see my breath!

I just want to say again how much I enjoyed meeting all my fellow Dis-ers on board. It was great to connect with people on the ship and in port. It is still priceless seeing Melissa/Sneezy63 and her family in KW and having them try to figure out who the crazy people were waving to them!

Weather: our weather was awesome! The waves never got above 4 ft and the only squall we had was in Castaway Cay. It was hot and humid, but not too bad.

Finally: I booked this trip to try and erase some of the bad memories and discontent we felt from the previous trip. I just didn't want to do Disney the injustice since we had sailed with them a couple of times before. I can honestly say those bad memories were erased. I have nothing but the majority of fond memories of this cruise. I did not rebook as I really don't know if we will cruise the Caribbean again for a while. I think if we cruise it will be West Coast or Alaska since the flights were horrific to me. I can drive to Seattle. To dispel any naysayers that Disney is not for older kids, my son had the trip of a lifetime. At 16 it isn't easy to please him, so I was pleasantly surprised that he did enjoy it so well. For those that read the ultrafabulous-glowing-pixie dust coated trip reports, just try to keep it in perspective. Disney isn't for everyone, and every trip is different. One trip may be fabulous, the next-not so much.
Either way-have fun---you're on vacation, but remember-so is everyone else on the ship!

Cheers!
Lisa

 

[musicgirl]

When you snorkeled in Coz on your excursion, did you snorkel from the beach or from the catamaran?

You said the waters were rough and it was hard to snorkel, but did you see alot of fish?

Thanks, we're headed there in June!!!

 

[MickeyD]

When you snorkeled in Coz on your excursion, did you snorkel from the beach or from the catamaran?

You said the waters were rough and it was hard to snorkel, but did you see alot of fish?

Thanks, we're headed there in June!!!

We snorkeled directly from the catamaran. The scary thing was that the current kept drawing people under the catamaran! The one gal on our excursion that I talked with, said they saw quite a few fish but that the reef has been stripped from the last hurricane. If I was going to suggest snorkling, I'd say do it in Grand Caymen.

 

[jillane88]

Summing it up: final thoughts...

Well if anyone is still with me, sorry this took so long to finish up. Unfortunately, I came down with a bad cold that turned into laryngitis (dh is ).
Cheers!
Lisa

Hey Lisa! It was fun to meet a fellow Washingtonian! I too came down with that same bad cold and had laryngitis - except mine happened day 4 on the cruise. For the last 3 days of the cruise, I couldn't even speak. VERY hard to communicate with our servers (or yell at my kids!)

All in all, we had a great time but did not re-book. I agree about the flight - it was especially brutal with 3 small children!

Heather

 

[dlf246]

For those that read the ultrafabulous-glowing-pixie dust coated trip reports, just try to keep it in perspective. Disney isn't for everyone, and every trip is different. One trip may be fabulous, the next-not so much.

So well stated... this should be part of a notice at the top of the Board!

 

[JeannieH]

Hi to a fellow cruiser! Had to laugh about you being cold in the Cinema onboard! We also watched "8 Below".........and Im sure it WAS!I took my coat with me on each occassion when we saw a movie. A lady in front of me had her blanket, coat and cardigan wrapped around her! Not what you expect on a Caribbean cruise!

I also noticed many children getting away with bad behaviour. I dont blame the kids.......but the parents! Very hard for CM's to keep from saying something to them, Im sure. How some of the servers managed to dodge kids in the dining room - while carrying 18plates-worth of food I dont know!

Probably the same guests who persistently come to dinner 40mins later than advised! If you turn up late........you should only get the course they are currently serving! Those servers work a 14hr day and if you turn up late........then their shift is that much longer. Needless to say, its those "late" folk who "forget" to tip at the end of the week!

Pity you didnt go on the Tulum Ruins trip.........it was the best bit of our back-to-back. (see my report). We also dont care for Cozumel for the same reasons as you.

Hopefully, you have some great photos of your cruise -and will look back at the whole experience as one of good fun and lots of laughs. Happy sailings.