LindaBourdelais
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
- Messages
- 14
Its hard to believe that a vacation we planned over a year ago is over! This wasnt just our first Disney Cruise, but our first cruise, so I thought Id write information that I think may be helpful to others.
We arrived at the terminal at 9:30 a.m. and were in group 1. Check in opened at 10 a.m. At that point our check-in line was shorter then the Castaway Club check-in line. Check in was quick and easy. Our Keys to the World were issued at that time, and we were given a Welcome Aboard flyer with a map of the ship and information about when we could check into our room and dining information.
From there we went to youth activities registration. We had pre-registered on-line beforehand. The pre-registration line was longer then the non pre-registered line. The computers went down and we actually had to fill out our paperwork by hand.
Wish we had brought snacks for the kids! While we waited to board, the kids went to the Kid Zone and colored and had their faces painted.
Group one boarded around noon. As our bags were going through x-ray I heard a call for group two.
Our pictures were taken, we boarded the ship (so exciting!), our name was announced and we were directed downstairs to Parrot Cay for lunch. However, the flyer had said that we could also eat at Topsiders, Plutos Doghouse and Pinocchios Pizzeria. I wanted to eat there because they are adjacent to the pools. When I asked if those restaurants were open I was told that they were and directed to the elevators. Topsiders is a buffet and had all you can eat peel and eat shrimp. If you go through the line, walk through the doors, and walk starboard (I think I have that rightthe opposite way is blocked) you will find additional tables, the pools, Plutos Doghouse, Pinocchios Pizzeria, the beverage station, and ping pong tables.
We were able to go to our stateroom at 2 p.m. Our bags were at our door when we returned from the boat drill. The Boat Drill began at 3:30. We had trouble figuring our where to go. The door in your stateroom has a letter. Ours was K. There was also the letter K on our life jackets. As far as I can tell all the reporting stations were on deck 4. There are green signs in the hallway outside your door and on the wall on the stairs with an arrow pointing down or up. Hope this helps other novices like us.
Water-Weather: The weather was warm and beautiful except for the last day (Friday) when it was cold and windy. We needed our sweaters that day. I get terrible motion sickness, but the patch worked for me with the exception of around noon on Sunday and when we were on the Pirate Sail and Snorkel in Puerto Vallarta, when I took additional motion sickness medication (not recommended).
Food: Food was between good and excellent. We enjoyed the seafood dishes the most, with the exception of the sole one evening which was dry. Smoked salmon, which I usually enjoy was a slimy. Topsiders had an omelette bar each morning we eat there, which was good. The scrambled eggs had a strange consistency. Deserts were good, but our favorites were the warm chocolate lava cake, and the chocolate souffle at Palos. At lunch one day Topsiders had a desert crepe bar which was excellent. Scoops has soft serve ice cream and a wide range of fruit. Room service was fast and excellent. My only warning is that sodas are not free from room service, so if you want a soda in the middle of the day or night, go to the beverage station on deck 9 for free soda (they also have coffee, a wide assortment of teas, and cocoa). We ordered All Hands on Deck from room service which is an assortment of cheese with crackers and grapes. And its free! My eight year old son is very picky and only ate the pizza the first two days, then lived on fries, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies. Thursday is semi-formal night which is lobster night!
Stateroom: We followed the advise of other cruisers and brought see through plastic shoe hangers to hang on the bathroom doors. One held our shoes and the others held cosmetics, toiletries, etc. It really helped to keep things organized and clutter free. We had a balcony, and we discovered a light switch for it on one of the last nights. If you are facing the balcony it is on the right behind the curtains. Speaking of curtains, the privacy screen are really curtains, which doesnt afford any of the privacy that I was hoping for!
Spa Treatments: Sunday I had the Ionithermie Cellulite Reduction, which I thought sounded interesting. I was measured before the treatment, which was from my stomach to my knees. Afterward she said I lost three inches, but I dont know if this was true. It seemed to me that the measuring tape was more lax on the before treatment measurements. Also, she was pushing for me to buy her product, which was over $600 for a 45 day supply. Her way of pushing her product was trying to find fault with me physically. Since my BMI (before the cruiseyikes my husband and I both gained 5 pounds!) was 20.5, I eat healthy, and exercise regularly, I would have thought she would have a hard time finding fault, but she still tried. If your ego is up to someone trying to knock you physically, go for it! Even if Id lost three inches it wouldnt have been worth it to me! My husband had the hot stone massage, which I hesitated booking because Ive had it done elsewhere and thought it was funky, but he said it was a great massage. We also had the couples massage which was great.
Excursions: In Puerto Vallarta we went on the Pirate Sail and Snorkel. The staff were fantastic hosts and entertainers. My only words of caution are if you are prone to motion sickness take something at least two hours beforehand. The pirate ship rocks side to side, and there were quite a few people who were sick. They take you ashore to a beach where you can boogie board and go for a ride on a banana boat. My 8 year old daughter and another boy were stung by jelly fish while boogie boarding. In Mazatlan we did the Mazatlan Beach Escape. The beach was not well maintained and there were beggars on the beach. However, they did offer Parasailing for anyone who was interested, and you could use their pool which was clean and large. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. In the pool area there was a table set up for painting ceramics, which cost between $5 and $12. If you are on a budget, Cabo San Lucas would be my choice to go ashore. You can take a Water Taxi to Lovers Beach, go parasailing, or rent jet skis. It was beautiful and the only one of the three ports that I would describe as a Rivera. My husband and daughter did the Snorkel and Sail Fiesta. They enjoyed themselves, but they were supposed to be dropped off at a beach, which didnt happen. Also, about 1/3 of the people who snorkeled were stung by jelly fish, despite the fact that the water is supposedly too cold for jelly fish. If you go on excursions, remember to bring cash to buy souvenirs, pictures, tips.
Medical: My son contracted strep throat, since the incubation period is 2 to 5 days he most likely contracted it on ship. The doctor visit was $100, but the cost included return visits if needed. The antibiotic cost $6.99 and over the counter Tylenol $8.99. I found out that if you need any over the counter medications you can purchase them from the Heath Center. The staff was competent and friendly.
Oceaneers Club: Our kids quickly got tired, much to our dismay, of the Oceaneers Club. One cause may have been that my son asked for us to be paged and we never camebecause our pager never went off. When we went to check on him he was on the verge of tears. We never figured out if we were paged or not, but were told that they only page once, and only page again if the child asks for his/her parents to be paged again. Our kids didnt go back again until Friday (after our son had been on antibiotics for 24 hours and was no longer contagious). They were resistant to going, but ended up having a great time. They were in the Celebrate the Journey show, received t-shirts, and a graduation cap with mickey mouse ears!
Hope this information will benefit someone, like us, who is new to cruising! My only wish is that the magic and pixie dust would have stopped my kids from bickering!
We arrived at the terminal at 9:30 a.m. and were in group 1. Check in opened at 10 a.m. At that point our check-in line was shorter then the Castaway Club check-in line. Check in was quick and easy. Our Keys to the World were issued at that time, and we were given a Welcome Aboard flyer with a map of the ship and information about when we could check into our room and dining information.
From there we went to youth activities registration. We had pre-registered on-line beforehand. The pre-registration line was longer then the non pre-registered line. The computers went down and we actually had to fill out our paperwork by hand.
Wish we had brought snacks for the kids! While we waited to board, the kids went to the Kid Zone and colored and had their faces painted.
Group one boarded around noon. As our bags were going through x-ray I heard a call for group two.
Our pictures were taken, we boarded the ship (so exciting!), our name was announced and we were directed downstairs to Parrot Cay for lunch. However, the flyer had said that we could also eat at Topsiders, Plutos Doghouse and Pinocchios Pizzeria. I wanted to eat there because they are adjacent to the pools. When I asked if those restaurants were open I was told that they were and directed to the elevators. Topsiders is a buffet and had all you can eat peel and eat shrimp. If you go through the line, walk through the doors, and walk starboard (I think I have that rightthe opposite way is blocked) you will find additional tables, the pools, Plutos Doghouse, Pinocchios Pizzeria, the beverage station, and ping pong tables.
We were able to go to our stateroom at 2 p.m. Our bags were at our door when we returned from the boat drill. The Boat Drill began at 3:30. We had trouble figuring our where to go. The door in your stateroom has a letter. Ours was K. There was also the letter K on our life jackets. As far as I can tell all the reporting stations were on deck 4. There are green signs in the hallway outside your door and on the wall on the stairs with an arrow pointing down or up. Hope this helps other novices like us.
Water-Weather: The weather was warm and beautiful except for the last day (Friday) when it was cold and windy. We needed our sweaters that day. I get terrible motion sickness, but the patch worked for me with the exception of around noon on Sunday and when we were on the Pirate Sail and Snorkel in Puerto Vallarta, when I took additional motion sickness medication (not recommended).
Food: Food was between good and excellent. We enjoyed the seafood dishes the most, with the exception of the sole one evening which was dry. Smoked salmon, which I usually enjoy was a slimy. Topsiders had an omelette bar each morning we eat there, which was good. The scrambled eggs had a strange consistency. Deserts were good, but our favorites were the warm chocolate lava cake, and the chocolate souffle at Palos. At lunch one day Topsiders had a desert crepe bar which was excellent. Scoops has soft serve ice cream and a wide range of fruit. Room service was fast and excellent. My only warning is that sodas are not free from room service, so if you want a soda in the middle of the day or night, go to the beverage station on deck 9 for free soda (they also have coffee, a wide assortment of teas, and cocoa). We ordered All Hands on Deck from room service which is an assortment of cheese with crackers and grapes. And its free! My eight year old son is very picky and only ate the pizza the first two days, then lived on fries, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies. Thursday is semi-formal night which is lobster night!
Stateroom: We followed the advise of other cruisers and brought see through plastic shoe hangers to hang on the bathroom doors. One held our shoes and the others held cosmetics, toiletries, etc. It really helped to keep things organized and clutter free. We had a balcony, and we discovered a light switch for it on one of the last nights. If you are facing the balcony it is on the right behind the curtains. Speaking of curtains, the privacy screen are really curtains, which doesnt afford any of the privacy that I was hoping for!
Spa Treatments: Sunday I had the Ionithermie Cellulite Reduction, which I thought sounded interesting. I was measured before the treatment, which was from my stomach to my knees. Afterward she said I lost three inches, but I dont know if this was true. It seemed to me that the measuring tape was more lax on the before treatment measurements. Also, she was pushing for me to buy her product, which was over $600 for a 45 day supply. Her way of pushing her product was trying to find fault with me physically. Since my BMI (before the cruiseyikes my husband and I both gained 5 pounds!) was 20.5, I eat healthy, and exercise regularly, I would have thought she would have a hard time finding fault, but she still tried. If your ego is up to someone trying to knock you physically, go for it! Even if Id lost three inches it wouldnt have been worth it to me! My husband had the hot stone massage, which I hesitated booking because Ive had it done elsewhere and thought it was funky, but he said it was a great massage. We also had the couples massage which was great.
Excursions: In Puerto Vallarta we went on the Pirate Sail and Snorkel. The staff were fantastic hosts and entertainers. My only words of caution are if you are prone to motion sickness take something at least two hours beforehand. The pirate ship rocks side to side, and there were quite a few people who were sick. They take you ashore to a beach where you can boogie board and go for a ride on a banana boat. My 8 year old daughter and another boy were stung by jelly fish while boogie boarding. In Mazatlan we did the Mazatlan Beach Escape. The beach was not well maintained and there were beggars on the beach. However, they did offer Parasailing for anyone who was interested, and you could use their pool which was clean and large. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. In the pool area there was a table set up for painting ceramics, which cost between $5 and $12. If you are on a budget, Cabo San Lucas would be my choice to go ashore. You can take a Water Taxi to Lovers Beach, go parasailing, or rent jet skis. It was beautiful and the only one of the three ports that I would describe as a Rivera. My husband and daughter did the Snorkel and Sail Fiesta. They enjoyed themselves, but they were supposed to be dropped off at a beach, which didnt happen. Also, about 1/3 of the people who snorkeled were stung by jelly fish, despite the fact that the water is supposedly too cold for jelly fish. If you go on excursions, remember to bring cash to buy souvenirs, pictures, tips.
Medical: My son contracted strep throat, since the incubation period is 2 to 5 days he most likely contracted it on ship. The doctor visit was $100, but the cost included return visits if needed. The antibiotic cost $6.99 and over the counter Tylenol $8.99. I found out that if you need any over the counter medications you can purchase them from the Heath Center. The staff was competent and friendly.
Oceaneers Club: Our kids quickly got tired, much to our dismay, of the Oceaneers Club. One cause may have been that my son asked for us to be paged and we never camebecause our pager never went off. When we went to check on him he was on the verge of tears. We never figured out if we were paged or not, but were told that they only page once, and only page again if the child asks for his/her parents to be paged again. Our kids didnt go back again until Friday (after our son had been on antibiotics for 24 hours and was no longer contagious). They were resistant to going, but ended up having a great time. They were in the Celebrate the Journey show, received t-shirts, and a graduation cap with mickey mouse ears!
Hope this information will benefit someone, like us, who is new to cruising! My only wish is that the magic and pixie dust would have stopped my kids from bickering!
