April 2-9 Eastern-Magic....Rained on Castaway Cay

[Heathercat]

First I would like to say that this was my first Disney Cruise....I was NOT disappointed, despite the downpour on Castaway Cay and the cancellation of the excursions....I'll get to that later in this thread...

We flew in that morning to Orlando from Maryland. I had read horror stories regarding flying in on the same day, but our arrival was smooth and so was the bus ride to the terminal. I would do it again in a heart beat....As we approached the port, I started crying...The sight of the magic was everything that I had imagined and more...it overshadowed the other two cruise ships in dock, by looks and size.....my kids thought I was crazy....but I just felt blessed to be able to take this trip with my parents, husband, three children, brother and his family....


Boarding- We got to the port terminal around 12:30...and waited in line for maybe 10 minutes to get our key to the world cards....still crying......The staff was EXTREMELY friendly and helpful. We took a few pictures, (Mickey showed up) and then we were off to board the ship.

We stepped onto the ship and we all just stopped dead in our tracks and looked in awe.....It was GORGEOUS!!!! There is much detail to be taken in....As we worked our way through the atrium, our family was announced, welcoming us aboard....I just stood there and hugged my husband....while the kids squirmed with embarrassment....Our rooms werent ready yet so we went to Topsiders for lunch....(Dont yell at me too much) I thought the food was terrible. I read all these threads about how wonderful the food was....and was VERY disappointed with all of the meals I ate at Topsiders. After eating lunch with an incredible view, we lugged our carry ons to the room..

Cabin 6648
I will try to honestly describe the room...The room was pretty big for a ship's cabin. It was located in the stern of the ship....Upon entering, the left was a double closet with a safe. To the right were two separate rooms. One was a toilet and sink. The other was a shower and sink. The queen bed was just past the shower. Then past the bed was a couch,TV,Table....and then the Verandah.......This verandah had a solid walled balcony...It was not open with plexiglass.....I did not mind this at all...(refrain from yelling again)...I liked to go out on our verandah au natural in the wee morning and this gave me more privacy...
Noise level----I did not hear any noise coming from anyone in the hall. But there were low to high levels of engine vibrations heard throughout the day and night. (my husband said it was the stern thrusters) This did not bother us, we slept with the door to the verandah open and the waves drowned out the sound. The vibration also caused one of the lights in the bathroom to shake on occasion....but that was fixed with a piece of tape....We arent hard to please.....Our Room Host was Arya....I cant remember where he was from, but he was great. We didnt get a chance to talk that much to him, but when we passed in the hall, he was always chatting with the kids and always had a smile...he seemed genuinely happy...not trying to put on a show....

The farewell party was a lot of fun...but a little bit of a let down....at least for me....The kids were on a super adrenaline high so it didnt matter to them if the boat sank....they were bouncing off the "railings"
My reason for feeling a little letdown...it was a pseudo farwell party...Before the confetti fell...they announced that the ship would not be leaving at that time because they were waiting on a few more people to arrive from the airport.....all that excitement working up the crowd and then no movement.... .....Again, I am going to stress, Im not hard to please....And I had a FABULOUS time....just trying to give you all my initial reaction at the time things happened....I am going to have to finish this tomorrow......it is 10:40p...and I am beat....

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Thanks for the beginning of what seems to have been a very emotional cruise. I understand you completely I cry all the time for the silliest things too. When I heard that horn I just welled up and the worst is DH knows how sensitive I am and every time something that gets me going happens he just stares at me and waits to see my reaction. Of course this only makes it worse and I cry even more. Now my kids are starting to do it to me too!


Looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report.

 

[DisneyPete]

can't wait to hear more!

 

[Heathercat]

This probably wont be the last thread, because my daughter has a softball game and I am running out of "home time".....SO here I go again...

I forgot to mention a few more things regarding the room....The hair dryer was ok for my type of hair (curly). But if you use it to straighten or style, you will need to bring your own..Picture a vacuum hose with the attachment hooked to it....that was the hair dryer...it took a long time to dry my hair...Personally I brought my own, but couldnt figure out where to plug it in. There were plugs in the bathroom, but it wouldnt work with my hair dryer....Maybe a DIS veteran can shed some light on this area....Also, you may want to put a few blankets under the bottom sheet...My husband and I could feel where the bed was put together when we laid on it, there was a lump in the middle of the bed...But we didnt complain....we just asked for more blankets and fixed it.

Room service was heavenly.....We ordered just about every night...and sat on the verandah under the stars,listening to the waves, eating them....We also ordered "all hands on deck" which is a cheese and cracker and grape platter, fruit bowls, and PB&J....which was creamy...not chunky.....We were always told that it would be about a 25 minute wait, but it always came within 10 minutes....I tried ordering room service when I got home, but all I got from my daughter was a laugh....

(Oh, I forgot to tell you my daughters ages...15, 13 and 5..)

Our dining schedule was LAPLAPL. And we were second seating (8:30p) ....I loved the second seating because I didnt feel rushed trying to get dressed for dinner or to leave the dining area. We relaxed several days until 10:45p at our table drinking and talking.... Our servers were Sachin from India and Ben from Ausrtalia....Sachin was too cute...all the girls were falling over him....and he was very knowledgable with everything...Ben was 6'6" and shy. This was his first time away from his home....EVER....He has only been working on the ship for 5 weeks. But he did a great job.

I dont remember what food I got where, but I will list the foods and drinks that I thought were outstanding...

Creme brulee (Sachin brought this to me every night...no matter where I was)...he even had three brought to my room for breakfast one day...lol
mango sundae
baked lobster
seafood linguine
glazed salmon
beef tenderloin
baked clam appetizer
baked alaska
double chocolate lava cake
Mickey Bars

lime frozen margarita
cool breeze
bloody mary
White Star Champagne
Mojito

Luminere (I am sure I butchered that spelling) was our first dinner....Again I started this trip with eyes wide open and no doubt in my mind that everything was going to be fantastic.....maybe that was my mistake.....The food tasted like SH*$....(Before you jump to conclusions about my negativity...I only found the first night at Lumineres bad....the rest of the nights were pretty good)..But maybe my palate isnt use to the gourmet.....Dont get the duck and goat cheese appetizer..lol......I ended up getting chicken tenders at Plutos hotdogs.....That place was my savior...

Animators Palate was great. The changing of the walls from black and white to color amazed my youngest....The older two didnt stay for the whole dinner. They left after Sachin brought out the food and went to Plutos....

The SHOWS-

If you have an early dinner then you see the shows after you eat. If your dinner was second seating like ours, then the show was before you ate.

I thought all of the shows....even HERCULES the Muse-ical was wonderful. The humor of Hercules was intended more for adults then small children...But they still enjoyed it. The shows were broadway quality. The music, singing and costumes were A+++++.

WILL CONTINUE WHEN I GET HOME

 

[PPFQP]

seafood linguine

Here's a funny story about this menu item. My dd (just turned 10) is very adventurous in eating. She likes grown up food and didn't hesitate to order it. She even ordered escargot in Lumiere's on formal night!

Well, she ordered the seafood linguine on the night it was offered. But, when it was brought out, she said, "This isn't what I thought it would be." She asked our server if she could get it with the shrimp and scallops and the asparagus and the pasta, but no sauce. Basically, she wanted him to rinse off the pasta and bring it back to her. I told her she was being ridiculous, but Deneval, our server, just smiled and said, "Absolutely." Sure enough, a few minutes later, she had a plate of plain pasta with scallops, shrimp and asparagus and she ate very bite!!

P.S. Dh had the same dish, and said it was also delicious with the sauce.

 

[Heathercat]

Parrot Cay was our third restaurant in the dining rotation....The food was great and the servers wore tropical. The oversized port holes around the restaurant were decorated with huge plastic tropical leaves. This was the "fun" restaurant for my 5 year old.

We didnt get to eat at Palo which was something I had been looking forward to. But that is something we can look forward to next time.....I dont think I will ever take the kids on any other cruise but Disney.

THE MOVIES....

The movies on board at the time we went were..

Pacifier
Ladder 49
Pooh's heffalump movie?
Ice Princess
The Incredibles
National Treasure
Around the World in 80 days
Pirates of the Caribbean
Finding Nemo
The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou
Princess DIaries 2

KIDS CLUBS

My oldest one said that the teen club was boring. She is 15. She said basically all she did in "The Stack" was play with the playstation and watch TV.....They did do a few movie outings and went to the sports deck to shoot some hoops...She did like that....She met a few people and roamed the ship, swam, played in the arcade and ate and ate and ate and ate......

Before Sydney (my youngest) was allowed to enter in the club I was given a pager. If she ever wanted me to pick her up, all she would have to do was tell a club counselor and they would text message me. Sydney never wanted to leave her club...ever..... It was opened from 9am to 1am.....The latest I let her stay was 11p....and when I picked her up she was asleep...

Here is a sample of a day in the 5-7 year old club

Sunday- (this was the first full day at sea)
9a-10a
meet new friends and play

10-11:30a
Detective School

11:30-12p
Cirecles of fun

12:30-1:15p
Lunch (yes they even feed them)

1:45p-2:30p
To Infinity and Beyond

2:45p-3:30p
Before the Last petal falls

3:30-3:45p
Memory Wall

3:45p-4:30p
Animation Antics

4:30p-4:45p
Circle of Fun (this is cool down for dinner)

5:00p-5:30p
Dinner (they take them to topsiders and there is a buffet just with "kid food"...fruit, raw vegetables, hot dogs, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, jello...etc)

5:45-8:00p
On the Big Screen (taken to the movies)

8:30p- 9:45p
The Jr. Chef Experience...(they made chocolate chip cookies)

10p-1a
Movies and Captains Closet fun...
When I picked her up during this time...Almost the entire play area was one big quilted pillow. The kids were laying on it watching movies....Most were sleeping...

This is just one day...Every day is a new adventure.....I did not allow her to stay all day in the club...though she would have in a heart beat...Beware though.....I noticed after the 2nd day at sea, most kids were cranky and crying more then not. I think it was from too much stimuli. I made her take a nap after that....I couldnt take the whining anymore.....
OHHHH and also, the minute she stepped onto the ship, she was turned in to a monster then had no manners, didnt know the word NO, Stop, or the phrase Dont do that...... I talked to 5 other parents that week and they said the same thing about their children...will continue later....

 

[anlashokna]

I wanted to say hi ! Time got away and didn't make the DISboard Meet
I do agree on the food at Topsiders...ick. I never ate there after one lunch attempt. Basically stuck with room service at breakfast and dinner at the rotation. Mine was PLA. Did you have the short Sachin or the tall one?? We got the tall one and he was an absolute gem. Lost him on Thursday and Friday due to illness It took two others plus the wonderful Iam to replace him. Didn't get sick on the cruise at all. (my greatest fear). Did get sea sick on the regatta which I was not expecting. That was not the expierence I wanted.

I guess the blessing of the trip was 6 out of 7 days being beautiful. I know the 7th days was horrid You can tell that story.

The lump in the middle of the bed was where the two beds were joined Never bothered me and boy oh boy..I've never slept so well. Had a bit of a fight getting the AC under control so I could sleep. Have to have it cool. And then there was the constant billing question on the REAS package. This was my biggest headache and they were probably tired of hearing from me at guest services. I was shown where it was taken care of on the bill. Then I got here to WDW still thinking something was not right and found that yes it was removed but I was double billed for it! So I still have an 89 charge that should be gone Oh and they're quick to take your money...but not to give it back. I'll hear from someone after 7 business days! Two weeks to get the dispute taken care...little ticked on that one.

How did you like that one night was it Wednesday when the ship was rocking so weird??

 

[Heathercat]

anlashokna---I didnt make the DIS meet either but I did wear lime green most of the trip....I didnt realize it until I had on something green for the third day.... my middle daughter Emily did meet her penpal from the board...Kaitlyn...(HI!!! If you are reading this) But my oldest daughter couldnt remember her penpals name, stateroom, etc....so she didnt have a clue where to start.....We had the short Sachin.....and I was impressed with my sea worthiness....I didnt get sick either.....I couldnt believe how bad the boat was rocking that night....and the wind was horrific......my youngest daughter got scared because the oldest said that it was Ursula....After she fell asleep, I must have been close behind her....my next memory was waking up the next morning.....I kind of liked the rocking, it put me to sleep....

The Islands This was my first time going to all of these islands...and I was not impressed.....I didnt go exploring throughout St. Maarten, but the section we went to was so commercialized with jewelery stores, and souvenier shops, I was ready to go after 30 minutes...I did buy 3 beautiful gold bracelets though..and we all got our hair braided....I was so happy that I got a "deal". I bartered from $90 to $20 a head....but then to my dismay, I heard the lice horror stories from past cruisers who had this done....Only time will tell, but I bought medicine when I got home and "treated our heads" just in case.......lol.... to my daughters delight....we found a McDonalds......so the day was complete...
We booked a 1:00p excursion (Golden Eagle Catamaran). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS.....Drinks (beer, sodas and water were included...as was sandwiches and a glass of champagne or "shirley temple" for the kids)
We sailed for approx 45 minutes and then went to a beach where we could sunbathe, swim, and snorkle (snorkle gear was provided).....And I got to see a few nude men to boo t.....Hey, I can still look....(the girls were so busy snorkling, they didnt notice...which I am grateful for) We seen hundreds of tropical fish.....(it helped that someone was out there feeding them bread )

St Thomas- We docked in Crown Bay, so that meant we had to take a taxi (an open air safari bus) to get to the shops....I recommend taking a taxi in St thomas.....The ride is WILD!!!! How do I describe it....picture a 10 year old driving what seemed like 60 mile an hour in rush hour traffic on a two way road......driving in the middle of the road pushing other cars to the side.....

Late again....I need to get up early for YUCK.....I mean WORK

Will continue later tomorrow

 

[Heathercat]

I think this will be my last thread...My excitement of trying to give everyone the "full picture" is getting out of hand....

Castaway Cay- We had a downpour almost the entire day. But we still managed to dock. They gave out yellow rain ponchos with Mickey on the back and we made the best of the day....All of the excursions were cancelled and reimbursed. There were some people who still rented floats and snorkels.....They were able to do this, but the lightening cut that short. My daughter and I got in the water for about 5 minutes....but it was too cold for me....I think if the weather had been warmer, then the water temp would have been fine.....Cookies BBQ was good.....And I may be the only one who liked the lobster patties....

Immigration was a joke...We were of the unlucky bunch who sat on the side where we had the officer from hell....he was soooooooo sloooowwww....We got there about 6:45a...and didnt get out until 7:45a....

If anyone wants to know anything else....just email me...heathercat72@aol.com

 

[Heathercat]

Teenagers and room service are a dangerous combination. My two daughters (13 and 15) got "bored" by Thursday....So they thought it would be funny to call and request mulitple amounts of...towels, pillows, minnie lotion, shampoo to get sent to the room...typically they are not coniving. But lo and behold....we had 6 pillows on our bed at turn down and 4 on the sofa bed.... We had 8 towels, 5 lotions, 5 shampoos...etc...My husband was thrilled, but when I asked our room host about it, he said that it was ordered....I would have never known it was my daughter if she hadnt started laughing....They didnt call from the room , they used a hall phone....Just a word of warning.....

WALKIE TALKIES...We had Motorolas (Talkabouts?) They were not that expensive in the store and we never lost range on the boat. The only problem I had was the noise level in certain areas (pool). I couldnt hear the alert or him talking, unless it was right at my ear...I would invest in a few more of these next time we cruise to keep track of the kids....But my husband and I discovered an even less expensive way to find the kids....try to get intimate in the stateroom at any time day or evening....kids will be at the door....trust me....its like clock work....

 

[logan1_2000]

Your advice on a surefire way to keep track of kids might have been too much information, LOL. I'm sure many readers of your fine and thorough posts will relate, though. Cruisus Interruptus

 

[Dreamer04]

Cruisus Interruptus

lol!! I can surely relate!

 

[jhorstma]

But my husband and I discovered an even less expensive way to find the kids....try to get intimate in the stateroom at any time day or evening....kids will be at the door....trust me....its like clock work....

So all you need to do is let your teenagers walk in on you once and I'll guarantee that you'll have all the privacy you desire for the rest of the cruise.

 

[jennat]

Thanks for the great trip report. I enjoyed it much. Don't feel bad about the food comments. I almost never like the food on any cruise ship....It is usually ok to me. Princess last year was TERRIBLE and I didn't even like the PIZZA!!! Made up for the calories in margaritas . Everyone has there own expience and it is okay. You are obviously not a negative person and it helps to keep others expectations in line. Maybe they will find you are wrong and have a nice surprise. As for me......yuck! One thing I will say is that the specialty restraunts usually have fantastic food! The best ever. Maybe it has to do with where your from or where you usually eat????
Thanks again for the review,

Natalie (my six year old wanted me to put that in

 

[Heathercat]

Another tidbit...I won at BINGO...Did I already mention that in here?

I dont remember...

It was the last BINGO day, I just woke up from taking a well needed cat nap. I told my dh that I was going down to play bingo. (1st time playing) So I got my $35.00 cards, sat by myself and eagerly got wrapped up in the "ball calling"....They make it a lot "funner" then a normal bingo game....Well, to make a long story short... I wont $298...I would have been $596...but I had to spilt it with another winner. I had the option of getting cash or added to my KTTW card...I chose the latter.

 

[anlashokna]

Congratulations

I played twice, my luck has never been good It was funny I ran into a very nice gal who walked me back to the ship from the Regatta again on Friday night. She was one of the three that won the jackpot I think she said it came out to 1800 and some change. She was happy And of course I was happy for her...you don't run into a lot of folks who would be concerned about a perfect stranger.