SCDizneyDawn
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 15, 2000
- Messages
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Hello, I have never tried a trip report before, but thought I would try this time! We left the camera at home so I do not have any pictures, sorry! 
Our cast consists of me, Dawn, 43yr old and my DH Brian, 47 yrs old. This was our 5th Disney Cruise and our 11th cruise overall. We dont have kids, so this is an adult only report!
We live in Kissimmee, so we spent the night prior to the cruise at home, a first since we just moved to FL this year.
The morning of embarkation we left much earlier than I would have liked because there was an air show in Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach that day and traffic was rumored to be bad by late morning as people arrived for the air show. So we left the apartment by 730 am and we were in Cocoa Beach by 8:45. We had to waste some time! So we ate at Burger King and then headed to the port at 9:30am. We were turned away as they were not ready for arriving passengers, they had a free lot that we stayed in until a few minutes to 10 and circled back to the port, still not ready! So about 10:15 I guess they let us pull in to drop off our luggage and DH went to park. We could have dropped our luggage at a fence where car rental and hotel busses drop off but DH did not want to do that, wanted to wait til we could drive up to the normal drop off. He parked and we were thru security quickly! We got a number 7 card for embarkation and were in a long line to check in that moved fast by 10:30. Once we boarded we headed to Parrot Cay for lunch and they seated us with two other couples. Turns out one couple were from Windermere and the wife worked at the Wilderness Lodge and my DH works at Epcot, so we really enjoyed meeting them since we had so much in common! We ran into them many times over the week and will keep in touch now that we are back! We had a great lunch of Caesar Salad, shrimp, olives and cheese! I never even went thru the hot line (DH got the shrimp) and could not have enjoyed a lunch more!
After lunch it was time to get into the rooms (1:30 pm) and we checked out our sideways Cat 11 cabin, forward on deck 6. In the past we have stayed in 6641 3 times, it is a Cat 11 aft, so we were unsure if we would like being forward, but we loved it so much that we booked another sideways Cat 11 for the same week next year on the Magic! We dropped luggage and headed to the Spa. We booked a week long pass to the Rainforest Room. LOVE that place!! Now off to the adult pool for a BonVoyage drink. This is called a Miami Vice everywhere else, a half strawberry daiquiri and half frozen margarita. Then it was off to the Dis meet.
Day two was Key West and we only spent a couple hours off the ship. Started at Irish Kevins for a drink with our tablemates and enjoyed the live music. Then walked Duval Street checking out gift shops. We headed back to the ship and enjoyed a deserted adult pool! I had a Key Lime Margarita while soaking in the hot tub, ahhhh, love the Quiet Cove pool!!
Day three was a sea day; we spent lots of time at the Quiet Cove and in the Rainforest Room. Very Lazy day at sea. I think we may have seen Alice in Wonderland in 3D also this day.
Day four was Grand Cayman. We booked a Disney excursion, the Rum Point Beach Adventure. I have wanted to go to Rum Point for years and have never made it over there, so this was my golden opportunity. For $59 per adult Disney provided all transportation, lunch and a roped off section of loungers for us. The trip to Rum Point is a long one, I knew that when I booked it. First you tender into Grand Cayman. Then you ride in a little bus for about 15 min to a marina. Then you board another boat (just like the tender for us) and it is about a 45 min beautiful boat ride to Rum Point. We went past Stingray City and could see all the boats sitting there! The boat we were on did have a bathroom which was good since the ride was long! Once we arrived they showed us where they had reserved loungers for us, but everyone headed for a different section that was right against the water. The roped off section was a little further back. The beach was as beautiful as I had thought (from online pictures) and the food was outstanding. There is a pretty extensive menu for a beach bar and I got the special for the day which was fish (mahi mahi I think) in a red pepper sauce with sides of: rice and beans, corn on the cob and coleslaw. My DH got the fish and chips, which were pretty much the best fish and chips we have EVER had. The meal included either water or ice tea (I was able to get both). I felt like this excursion was an excellent value since the lunch would have been expensive since the Cayman dollar is a bad exchange from the US dollar. Did not really pay attention to what lunch would have cost, but I know food is expensive in GC.
Day five was Cozumel. We were supposed to meet friends on the Carnival Legend at Mr Sanchos but the Legend changed itinerary due to Hurricane Tomas so we just stayed on the ship for the day. Another lazy day at the pool. We meet a couple who are planning to move to Central Fl next year and chatted the whole day with them. We meet so many GREAT people on this cruise, just a great time!!
Day six was another day at sea, but it was windy and a little chilly. So not much time spent at the pool, did the Rainforest Room, saw a movie and RELAXED!!
Day seven, CASTAWAY CAY!!!! OK, the best day has finally arrived, whoo hooo! But the weather does not want to cooperate, it is overcast and very windy. We pack up and head off the ship after breakfast anyway and start at the family beach. I finally convince my DH to try the adult beach after about 30 min and we head over. Scored GREAT close chairs and settled in. The wind was ok, and the sun was peaking in and out of the clouds. But about 11:30 some VERY dark clouds were rolling in so DH convinced me to return to the ship before we were caught in the storm. Had lunch at the adult beach (burger for him, steak for me) and caught the tram back. It sprinkled some on the return trip, but we were back on board with no downpour! We headed straight to an empty Quiet Cove and it NEVER RAINED!!! So, we were chickens and we were wrong!! LOL. But we will return next year and hopefully have better luck.
FOOD: We had 8:15 dinner and were at a table with two other couples, very similar in age, we and one other couple were DVC members and the third couple were on their Honeymoon. We speculated at one point during the week that Disney does this on purpose, put DVC members at a table with non-members with the hope that they will become interested by your membership! We enjoyed our tablemates VERY much, formed a great bond and even went into Key West for a couple hours together.
The food all week was GREAT! I had the beef entrée most of the week. So tonight I had the Grilled Beef Tenderloin from the Lumieres Menu. Our server was Simoun and he was INCREDIBLE!! Best server we have had and we will be requesting him again! His recommendations were always right and he was always joking around with all of us! We did skip one dinner, formal night and went to Topsiders. They were serving a very similar menu to what was offered in the dining room and we enjoyed eating in our shorts instead of dressing up! Formal night was the Prince and Princess menu, and they had a couple of the appetizers, one soup and I think about 3 of the entrees from that menu available. I know that they had the Beef Wellington available because DH got that, I got a porterhouse steak that is offered at Topsiders on a regular basis, maybe even every night they are open.
We ate all but one of our breakfasts in Lumieres, the one we missed was due to an early excursion. Loved every breakfast in Lumieres, but had one morning where the wait staff we were assigned were not very attentive.
We also ate as many lunches as we could in Lumieres. The lunch food was the BEST food of the week. The notable things we ordered were: Monday at sea: Vegetable Quesadilla appetizer and Meatloaf entrée. Wed Cozumel: Chicken Tortilla Wrap and Captains Cobb Salad. I am a BIG fan of Cobb salad and this one did not disappoint. It was so good in fact that I asked if it were possible to get it again for dinner. The server said he would put one aside and let our dinner server know it was there. So, we arrived at dinner and Simoun did not know about the salad! He had the head server come over who offered to make it the next night, but we were in Palo the next night, so he offered for the last night. But, I already knew I wanted the Yachtsman Steakhouse steak offered that night so I tried to tell him never mind, but that was not in his vocabulary!! LOL. He did manage to get one made for that night without the blue cheese crumbles, so I was VERY happy!!! LOL Then the last night I ordered the steak as I had planned (which was INCREDIBLE, I highly recommend it) and they also brought me another Cobb salad. So I had steak and salad for dinner, no room for dessert!! LOL. The salad was among one of the best salads I have ever had and I eat a lot of salad!!! My DH gave the head server and our server extra tips for all the work on the salad!!!
We had Palo brunch on our Key West Day, Palo dinner on Thursday and could not get a Palo tea reservation, but didnt try on embarkation day.
Palo brunch was incredible as always, for my entrée I had the Chicken Parm as it is highly suggested here on the boards. It did not disappoint, and I will likely try it again next year!
Palo dinner was on lobster night and Palo had an excellent lobster entrée on a bed of risotto that I LOVED! I had filet tenderloin also, but without the side dish. So Surf and Turf for ME!!!! The meal was excellent and we will do Palo on Thursday night again for the lobster!
One other interesting thing to note is they served cheese, crackers and olives at the Cove Café every evening at 6pm. We made it for wine and cheese three nights and one night we were joined by another DIS couple and had a great time with them!
This was a MAGICAL trip that we both enjoyed to its fullest! We have re-booked for the same week next year, Oct 29, 2011.
Our cast consists of me, Dawn, 43yr old and my DH Brian, 47 yrs old. This was our 5th Disney Cruise and our 11th cruise overall. We dont have kids, so this is an adult only report!
We live in Kissimmee, so we spent the night prior to the cruise at home, a first since we just moved to FL this year.
The morning of embarkation we left much earlier than I would have liked because there was an air show in Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach that day and traffic was rumored to be bad by late morning as people arrived for the air show. So we left the apartment by 730 am and we were in Cocoa Beach by 8:45. We had to waste some time! So we ate at Burger King and then headed to the port at 9:30am. We were turned away as they were not ready for arriving passengers, they had a free lot that we stayed in until a few minutes to 10 and circled back to the port, still not ready! So about 10:15 I guess they let us pull in to drop off our luggage and DH went to park. We could have dropped our luggage at a fence where car rental and hotel busses drop off but DH did not want to do that, wanted to wait til we could drive up to the normal drop off. He parked and we were thru security quickly! We got a number 7 card for embarkation and were in a long line to check in that moved fast by 10:30. Once we boarded we headed to Parrot Cay for lunch and they seated us with two other couples. Turns out one couple were from Windermere and the wife worked at the Wilderness Lodge and my DH works at Epcot, so we really enjoyed meeting them since we had so much in common! We ran into them many times over the week and will keep in touch now that we are back! We had a great lunch of Caesar Salad, shrimp, olives and cheese! I never even went thru the hot line (DH got the shrimp) and could not have enjoyed a lunch more!
After lunch it was time to get into the rooms (1:30 pm) and we checked out our sideways Cat 11 cabin, forward on deck 6. In the past we have stayed in 6641 3 times, it is a Cat 11 aft, so we were unsure if we would like being forward, but we loved it so much that we booked another sideways Cat 11 for the same week next year on the Magic! We dropped luggage and headed to the Spa. We booked a week long pass to the Rainforest Room. LOVE that place!! Now off to the adult pool for a BonVoyage drink. This is called a Miami Vice everywhere else, a half strawberry daiquiri and half frozen margarita. Then it was off to the Dis meet.
Day two was Key West and we only spent a couple hours off the ship. Started at Irish Kevins for a drink with our tablemates and enjoyed the live music. Then walked Duval Street checking out gift shops. We headed back to the ship and enjoyed a deserted adult pool! I had a Key Lime Margarita while soaking in the hot tub, ahhhh, love the Quiet Cove pool!!
Day three was a sea day; we spent lots of time at the Quiet Cove and in the Rainforest Room. Very Lazy day at sea. I think we may have seen Alice in Wonderland in 3D also this day.
Day four was Grand Cayman. We booked a Disney excursion, the Rum Point Beach Adventure. I have wanted to go to Rum Point for years and have never made it over there, so this was my golden opportunity. For $59 per adult Disney provided all transportation, lunch and a roped off section of loungers for us. The trip to Rum Point is a long one, I knew that when I booked it. First you tender into Grand Cayman. Then you ride in a little bus for about 15 min to a marina. Then you board another boat (just like the tender for us) and it is about a 45 min beautiful boat ride to Rum Point. We went past Stingray City and could see all the boats sitting there! The boat we were on did have a bathroom which was good since the ride was long! Once we arrived they showed us where they had reserved loungers for us, but everyone headed for a different section that was right against the water. The roped off section was a little further back. The beach was as beautiful as I had thought (from online pictures) and the food was outstanding. There is a pretty extensive menu for a beach bar and I got the special for the day which was fish (mahi mahi I think) in a red pepper sauce with sides of: rice and beans, corn on the cob and coleslaw. My DH got the fish and chips, which were pretty much the best fish and chips we have EVER had. The meal included either water or ice tea (I was able to get both). I felt like this excursion was an excellent value since the lunch would have been expensive since the Cayman dollar is a bad exchange from the US dollar. Did not really pay attention to what lunch would have cost, but I know food is expensive in GC.
Day five was Cozumel. We were supposed to meet friends on the Carnival Legend at Mr Sanchos but the Legend changed itinerary due to Hurricane Tomas so we just stayed on the ship for the day. Another lazy day at the pool. We meet a couple who are planning to move to Central Fl next year and chatted the whole day with them. We meet so many GREAT people on this cruise, just a great time!!
Day six was another day at sea, but it was windy and a little chilly. So not much time spent at the pool, did the Rainforest Room, saw a movie and RELAXED!!
Day seven, CASTAWAY CAY!!!! OK, the best day has finally arrived, whoo hooo! But the weather does not want to cooperate, it is overcast and very windy. We pack up and head off the ship after breakfast anyway and start at the family beach. I finally convince my DH to try the adult beach after about 30 min and we head over. Scored GREAT close chairs and settled in. The wind was ok, and the sun was peaking in and out of the clouds. But about 11:30 some VERY dark clouds were rolling in so DH convinced me to return to the ship before we were caught in the storm. Had lunch at the adult beach (burger for him, steak for me) and caught the tram back. It sprinkled some on the return trip, but we were back on board with no downpour! We headed straight to an empty Quiet Cove and it NEVER RAINED!!! So, we were chickens and we were wrong!! LOL. But we will return next year and hopefully have better luck.
FOOD: We had 8:15 dinner and were at a table with two other couples, very similar in age, we and one other couple were DVC members and the third couple were on their Honeymoon. We speculated at one point during the week that Disney does this on purpose, put DVC members at a table with non-members with the hope that they will become interested by your membership! We enjoyed our tablemates VERY much, formed a great bond and even went into Key West for a couple hours together.
The food all week was GREAT! I had the beef entrée most of the week. So tonight I had the Grilled Beef Tenderloin from the Lumieres Menu. Our server was Simoun and he was INCREDIBLE!! Best server we have had and we will be requesting him again! His recommendations were always right and he was always joking around with all of us! We did skip one dinner, formal night and went to Topsiders. They were serving a very similar menu to what was offered in the dining room and we enjoyed eating in our shorts instead of dressing up! Formal night was the Prince and Princess menu, and they had a couple of the appetizers, one soup and I think about 3 of the entrees from that menu available. I know that they had the Beef Wellington available because DH got that, I got a porterhouse steak that is offered at Topsiders on a regular basis, maybe even every night they are open.
We ate all but one of our breakfasts in Lumieres, the one we missed was due to an early excursion. Loved every breakfast in Lumieres, but had one morning where the wait staff we were assigned were not very attentive.
We also ate as many lunches as we could in Lumieres. The lunch food was the BEST food of the week. The notable things we ordered were: Monday at sea: Vegetable Quesadilla appetizer and Meatloaf entrée. Wed Cozumel: Chicken Tortilla Wrap and Captains Cobb Salad. I am a BIG fan of Cobb salad and this one did not disappoint. It was so good in fact that I asked if it were possible to get it again for dinner. The server said he would put one aside and let our dinner server know it was there. So, we arrived at dinner and Simoun did not know about the salad! He had the head server come over who offered to make it the next night, but we were in Palo the next night, so he offered for the last night. But, I already knew I wanted the Yachtsman Steakhouse steak offered that night so I tried to tell him never mind, but that was not in his vocabulary!! LOL. He did manage to get one made for that night without the blue cheese crumbles, so I was VERY happy!!! LOL Then the last night I ordered the steak as I had planned (which was INCREDIBLE, I highly recommend it) and they also brought me another Cobb salad. So I had steak and salad for dinner, no room for dessert!! LOL. The salad was among one of the best salads I have ever had and I eat a lot of salad!!! My DH gave the head server and our server extra tips for all the work on the salad!!!
We had Palo brunch on our Key West Day, Palo dinner on Thursday and could not get a Palo tea reservation, but didnt try on embarkation day.
Palo brunch was incredible as always, for my entrée I had the Chicken Parm as it is highly suggested here on the boards. It did not disappoint, and I will likely try it again next year!
Palo dinner was on lobster night and Palo had an excellent lobster entrée on a bed of risotto that I LOVED! I had filet tenderloin also, but without the side dish. So Surf and Turf for ME!!!! The meal was excellent and we will do Palo on Thursday night again for the lobster!
One other interesting thing to note is they served cheese, crackers and olives at the Cove Café every evening at 6pm. We made it for wine and cheese three nights and one night we were joined by another DIS couple and had a great time with them!
This was a MAGICAL trip that we both enjoyed to its fullest! We have re-booked for the same week next year, Oct 29, 2011.
