Annie12345
Cruise Lover!!!
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2002
- Messages
- 458
PART 2: WEEK 2 Feb. 7th Eastern Cruise:
The cast: DH (Randy); DD (Jaclyn); and myself (Ann)
This week was a continuation of our back to back cruises. We had the same stateroom so did not have to pack and we were allowed to stay on board
Saturday morning we had to do the disembarkation thing where we picked up our passports only to turn them back in again since we were staying on board. We went for the early breakfast so that we could say goodbye to Gary and Gail, then once everyone was off the ship, I did laundry. It was wonderful I had the entire laundry room to myself, I had four loads and I was able to do them all at once. The whole process took just over an hour we tried to snooze but we were interrupted a few times by gifts being dropped off (what a wonderful reason to be woken up). First of all, the repeat cruiser gift was given to us again the towel and pins; then a bottle of wine was dropped off this was a thank you from the cruise line for doing back to back cruises. We had booked the Romantic Escape at Sea so that gift basket came, then we were sent a fruit basket by the concierge it just didnt stop. We couldnt believe it. We felt like royalty. Then I got a call from the concierge to say if we needed anything at all to let him know Im not sure why we got this service but I just thought Id enjoy it until they realized we were just in a category 6 We were sent goodies ranging from fruit baskets to chocolate covered strawberries, to little cakes, bottle of champagne, cheese and crackers EVERY DAY! Its not like we needed more food in our room but we enjoyed it all. We used our veranda even more this week because we decided to really take it easy (we had to recuperate from all the partying we did the week before!) We went to the Dismeet and there were about 20 people who showed up. Its so nice to recognize people when you are walking around the ship. We decided to have our own sailaway party from our veranda we had the nice fruit basket that had been delivered to us and we had brought along some sparkling apple juice. We ordered two of the cheese and cracker trays from room service and had a great time one would have been plenty for the three of us but we managed to eat it all. We couldnt believe all the people who were lined up at the Port waving to us We also got to watch the coast guard accompany us out I love the sailaway party, but we really enjoyed doing our own this time as well
For dinner, we had the LAP rotation (because we accompanied our servers from last week - Antonio and Luis). This time our head server was Nadege but John stopped by every night as well Along with the royal treatment we received in our stateroom, Lloyd, the Manager of all the dining rooms came by every night to see how we were doing. We took the opportunity to tell him how wonderful our servers were and how much we enjoyed John and Nadege
We took the bottle of wine that had been sent to us to the dining room and Luis kept it on ice for us each night until it was finished.
On Sunday, we enjoyed the Palo brunch with about 12 other Disers... they put us in the private dining room and it was excellent. Kristian from Croatia was our server again. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. He's wonderful!!
Because we had booked the Romantic Escape at Sea package, we went to Palo again this time on Thursday (it is a wonderful meal but I really go for the chocolate souflee because the meals and service are just as great in the dining rooms). We didnt want to miss another evening with our servers but we wanted to go up to Topsiders one more time (and Clive was giving us a hard time whenever we ran into him that we had to visit him more) so on our Palo night, we went up to Topsiders to enjoy their ceasar salad (we dont really like the salads or appetizers that are offered at Palo anyways). We had a great visit with Clive, then we went to Palo and enjoyed our main course there It was semi-formal night so we were all dressed up in Tux and Gown and the servers at Topsiders really appreciated that Our daughter wanted to eat in the dining room by herself (I had booked our Palo reservation at 7 pm so that we could join her for dinner first since we had our own table this time) but she was adamant that she wanted to eat dinner by herself she knew that Antonio and Luis would take great care of her and they wanted her to join them as well Our baby is growing up They doted over her even more than usual if that is possible, and she had a great time Im sure those seated around us thought we were terrible parents to send her there by herself but it was really her choice and she loved it
Along with the Romantic Escape at Sea, came the couples massage This was great. We get massages regularly at home but I can honestly say this was the best ever I will definitely do it again We were so very relaxed. We then went into the Rainforest Room. I didnt really like it and was very glad that I hadnt purchased the week long pass. I know that many people really like it, but it wasnt for me While Im talking about the Romantic Escape At Sea, the night you go to Palo, they give you a romantic turndown. This consisted of rose petals on our bed and in the tub and the towel animals were kissing swans (shaped like a heart) and another towel made into a heart on our daughters bed. It was a very nice touch.
Our at sea days were again spent by the pool or on our veranda. We went to see three movies (Brother Bear, Miracle, and Calendar Girls) and since we have seen all the evening shows, we only went to the Golden Mickeys again This is such a great show and we were interviewed by Rona Rivers on the Red Carpet.
In St. Maarten we went to Orient Beach. Supposedly this was the family section of the beach but there were LOTS of people wandering around and suntanning with alternate clothing arrangements if you know what I mean It was very windy, and although it is a nice enough beach, I wouldnt spend the cab fare to go back to this beach. I dont see what all the fuss is about. In my opinion, the public beach in Philipsburg is just as good. We also did a fair bit of shopping for souvenirs at this port, etc. because there are some great buys.
In St. Thomas we went to the beach at the Marriott Hotel. This beach is wonderful and we had a great time playing in the waves. We also did a bit of shopping here.
Castaway Cay the weather was PERFECT!! Wow!! Jaclyn again wanted to go to the club, so off she went, and we went to Serenity Bay. Then it was my turn to go Parasailing. I was so nervous, but once I got up there I didnt want to come down. It was a wonderful experience, and I would do it again
We rebooked for the Dec. 18th Christmas cruise and the Feb. 12th Western. Id like to do a back to back again and Im sure we will in the future. When we were getting of the ship on our last day (which was very emotional when we had to say goodbye to Antonio and Luis), our daughter asked if we couldnt stay for just one more week instead of spending it in Orlando
Ill just quickly say that the disembarkation is a snap, and very soon we were on our way to spend our last week of vacation in Orlando at the Royal Palms.
Last minute thoughts and tips:
The over the door shoe holder is an excellent way to keep your counters organized
Dont feel like you need to eat all the time just because its there we went for a late breakfast and skipped lunch most days I felt a lot better than our first cruise when we ate 3 meals a day every day and always felt full.
Dont miss the Palo Brunch its excellent
Sunscreen is a must even on a cloudy day
If you want to rebook on board but dont want to stand in line, you can call the rebooking agent, leave a message about what you want to book, and she will call you back to confirm. If you dont know what you want, shell still do it all by phone with you. Its much easier this way.
Dont forget to have a Conk Kooler at Castaway Cay. If you dont drink, you can have the non-alcoholic version.
Dont feel like you have to do everything. You can always re-book to do what you didnt do the last time.
I know that I have so much more to say but maybe Ill end here and if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Im sorry for the rambling and if I skipped back and forth. Next time Ill be more diligent with my note taking Because of the disboards we have made wonderful friends, and have enhanced our disney cruise experiences.
The cast: DH (Randy); DD (Jaclyn); and myself (Ann)
This week was a continuation of our back to back cruises. We had the same stateroom so did not have to pack and we were allowed to stay on board
Saturday morning we had to do the disembarkation thing where we picked up our passports only to turn them back in again since we were staying on board. We went for the early breakfast so that we could say goodbye to Gary and Gail, then once everyone was off the ship, I did laundry. It was wonderful I had the entire laundry room to myself, I had four loads and I was able to do them all at once. The whole process took just over an hour we tried to snooze but we were interrupted a few times by gifts being dropped off (what a wonderful reason to be woken up). First of all, the repeat cruiser gift was given to us again the towel and pins; then a bottle of wine was dropped off this was a thank you from the cruise line for doing back to back cruises. We had booked the Romantic Escape at Sea so that gift basket came, then we were sent a fruit basket by the concierge it just didnt stop. We couldnt believe it. We felt like royalty. Then I got a call from the concierge to say if we needed anything at all to let him know Im not sure why we got this service but I just thought Id enjoy it until they realized we were just in a category 6 We were sent goodies ranging from fruit baskets to chocolate covered strawberries, to little cakes, bottle of champagne, cheese and crackers EVERY DAY! Its not like we needed more food in our room but we enjoyed it all. We used our veranda even more this week because we decided to really take it easy (we had to recuperate from all the partying we did the week before!) We went to the Dismeet and there were about 20 people who showed up. Its so nice to recognize people when you are walking around the ship. We decided to have our own sailaway party from our veranda we had the nice fruit basket that had been delivered to us and we had brought along some sparkling apple juice. We ordered two of the cheese and cracker trays from room service and had a great time one would have been plenty for the three of us but we managed to eat it all. We couldnt believe all the people who were lined up at the Port waving to us We also got to watch the coast guard accompany us out I love the sailaway party, but we really enjoyed doing our own this time as well
For dinner, we had the LAP rotation (because we accompanied our servers from last week - Antonio and Luis). This time our head server was Nadege but John stopped by every night as well Along with the royal treatment we received in our stateroom, Lloyd, the Manager of all the dining rooms came by every night to see how we were doing. We took the opportunity to tell him how wonderful our servers were and how much we enjoyed John and Nadege
We took the bottle of wine that had been sent to us to the dining room and Luis kept it on ice for us each night until it was finished.
On Sunday, we enjoyed the Palo brunch with about 12 other Disers... they put us in the private dining room and it was excellent. Kristian from Croatia was our server again. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. He's wonderful!!
Because we had booked the Romantic Escape at Sea package, we went to Palo again this time on Thursday (it is a wonderful meal but I really go for the chocolate souflee because the meals and service are just as great in the dining rooms). We didnt want to miss another evening with our servers but we wanted to go up to Topsiders one more time (and Clive was giving us a hard time whenever we ran into him that we had to visit him more) so on our Palo night, we went up to Topsiders to enjoy their ceasar salad (we dont really like the salads or appetizers that are offered at Palo anyways). We had a great visit with Clive, then we went to Palo and enjoyed our main course there It was semi-formal night so we were all dressed up in Tux and Gown and the servers at Topsiders really appreciated that Our daughter wanted to eat in the dining room by herself (I had booked our Palo reservation at 7 pm so that we could join her for dinner first since we had our own table this time) but she was adamant that she wanted to eat dinner by herself she knew that Antonio and Luis would take great care of her and they wanted her to join them as well Our baby is growing up They doted over her even more than usual if that is possible, and she had a great time Im sure those seated around us thought we were terrible parents to send her there by herself but it was really her choice and she loved it
Along with the Romantic Escape at Sea, came the couples massage This was great. We get massages regularly at home but I can honestly say this was the best ever I will definitely do it again We were so very relaxed. We then went into the Rainforest Room. I didnt really like it and was very glad that I hadnt purchased the week long pass. I know that many people really like it, but it wasnt for me While Im talking about the Romantic Escape At Sea, the night you go to Palo, they give you a romantic turndown. This consisted of rose petals on our bed and in the tub and the towel animals were kissing swans (shaped like a heart) and another towel made into a heart on our daughters bed. It was a very nice touch.
Our at sea days were again spent by the pool or on our veranda. We went to see three movies (Brother Bear, Miracle, and Calendar Girls) and since we have seen all the evening shows, we only went to the Golden Mickeys again This is such a great show and we were interviewed by Rona Rivers on the Red Carpet.
In St. Maarten we went to Orient Beach. Supposedly this was the family section of the beach but there were LOTS of people wandering around and suntanning with alternate clothing arrangements if you know what I mean It was very windy, and although it is a nice enough beach, I wouldnt spend the cab fare to go back to this beach. I dont see what all the fuss is about. In my opinion, the public beach in Philipsburg is just as good. We also did a fair bit of shopping for souvenirs at this port, etc. because there are some great buys.
In St. Thomas we went to the beach at the Marriott Hotel. This beach is wonderful and we had a great time playing in the waves. We also did a bit of shopping here.
Castaway Cay the weather was PERFECT!! Wow!! Jaclyn again wanted to go to the club, so off she went, and we went to Serenity Bay. Then it was my turn to go Parasailing. I was so nervous, but once I got up there I didnt want to come down. It was a wonderful experience, and I would do it again
We rebooked for the Dec. 18th Christmas cruise and the Feb. 12th Western. Id like to do a back to back again and Im sure we will in the future. When we were getting of the ship on our last day (which was very emotional when we had to say goodbye to Antonio and Luis), our daughter asked if we couldnt stay for just one more week instead of spending it in Orlando
Ill just quickly say that the disembarkation is a snap, and very soon we were on our way to spend our last week of vacation in Orlando at the Royal Palms.
Last minute thoughts and tips:
The over the door shoe holder is an excellent way to keep your counters organized
Dont feel like you need to eat all the time just because its there we went for a late breakfast and skipped lunch most days I felt a lot better than our first cruise when we ate 3 meals a day every day and always felt full.
Dont miss the Palo Brunch its excellent
Sunscreen is a must even on a cloudy day
If you want to rebook on board but dont want to stand in line, you can call the rebooking agent, leave a message about what you want to book, and she will call you back to confirm. If you dont know what you want, shell still do it all by phone with you. Its much easier this way.
Dont forget to have a Conk Kooler at Castaway Cay. If you dont drink, you can have the non-alcoholic version.
Dont feel like you have to do everything. You can always re-book to do what you didnt do the last time.
I know that I have so much more to say but maybe Ill end here and if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Im sorry for the rambling and if I skipped back and forth. Next time Ill be more diligent with my note taking Because of the disboards we have made wonderful friends, and have enhanced our disney cruise experiences.
