Hello All, it is time for me to give back to the board. I would go bonkers trying to remember everything day by day, so I will just share my thoughts about our first ever Disney cruise aboard the Magic for the Double Dip on September 16th 2006.
Traveling on this vacation was myself DM35 and my DD10 and DS6
Before I start on the cruise, we did stay at POP for 3 nights. POP was the perfect place to stay for my kids. They loved the bold and bright décor of the property. As it was Sept it was not crowded and we spent most of our time at the bowling pin pool. The food court Market was yuck, I looked at the food in each station and nothing appeared appealing so we ate off site for three days. Theses three days were for shopping and relaxing so the only park we visited was MK on the 15th for Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party. MK put on a fantastic show that night, even the rain could not put a damper on things. The parade was fun and the rides had no line ups. Note to self: Must take the kids back to DW and see all the parks!
Okay the Cruise ..
The Magic
What a beautiful ship. The old cruise line style appealed more to me than the Carnival ship next to us. The décor inside surprised me, but then again I did not know what to expect. Very nicely decorated and many times I had to remind myself that I was at sea and not in a hotel. The adult pool was never busy but the Goofy Pool was a zoo and should have been made much bigger. The big screen over the pool is a great idea, it would have been better if they had movies playing every night. Wished we could have heard the horn more often! Made use of the sports deck a few times. DS and I would go up there around midnight to shoot some hoops. The ship was kept very clean and I was impressed with the maintenance staff up and at it at midnight stripping varnishing and power washing!
The Cabins
Small Small Small!!! I know, I know its a ship. We had a Cat 12 for the three of us and there was not enough space to hold our clothes. Our luggage would not fit under the bed so we lined it up along one wall which blocked off that side of the bed right back to the night table. The bed was very comfortable and I had a good sleep every night which I dont get at home. Loved the pillows but never checked the label so if anyone knows what kind they are please let me know! Well if I thought the room was small then the bathroom must be described as non existent. Walk in, reverse out, because there was no room to turn around. Found them very sterile looking, like something in a hospital. But hey, how much time do you spend in there anyways. Oh and I hated the lighting in there!!! It seems to make every imperfection on my face seem ten times worse : ) We were in 7619 which is at the back of the ship. This location was perfect, steps away from the back deck and the aft elevators which were the least busy and under or above most of the restaurants.
The Food
Well this is what I was most looking forward to but it ended up on the lower end of my priorities unexpectedly. A combination of the heat and mild motion sickness took the edge off my usual passion for food. I found AP, Lumieres and PC to all be comparable. The food was good but not great. There was always at least one course each evening that didnt cut it. The presentation though gets an A. Sorry guys, but the lava cake seemed like plain old packaged chocolate cake with a moist centre. I stuck mostly to beef and seafood. The beef was cooked medium (pink no blood) the way I requested every time, but the seafood was usually slightly overdone. Oh and the peel and shrimp on the embarkation lunch was nothing to write home about, can get those at any local buffet. Of course I had not one but two lobster tails on semi formal night with the rice. Well the rice is crap! I love rice and it doesnt take much to please me but what they serve needs to be changed. I did love the green rice at the lunch buffet. The lunch buffets were decent and you could always find something to fill up on. I found the breakfast buffet boring, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hardened waffles and pancakes every single day. I would have like to see more variety here. Kids loved Pinocchios and Goofys Galley. I did try the chicken strips and they were nice, although I would like to see more variety of dipping sauce. I loved the option of wraps, pressed sandwiches and salads. The selection changed daily so no getting board here. The drink station had a lot of choices, pop, milk, water, lemonade, fruit punch and hot chocolate, it was also very convenient to our stateroom. We only use room service once and had the BLT on a multi grain bun with chips and chocolate chip cookies, it was really good or I was really hungry and dont forget to tip for room service. If I had the option I would have paid to eat brunch at Palos every morning, would have beat the runny eggs in the buffet hands down. Three entrée options of which I had the Veal, thanks Thea for the advice. Three pizza options, three egg options plus all the bread, seafood/appetizer, cheese and dessert stations. Well worth the money. It was also a grand experience as it was the one time all off our disboard group was able to get together! Hi everyone! I ended up sticking to martinis and usually something off the cove list. I did not like the pina coladas or strawberry daqs, give me the frozen Bacardi mix and Im good. The Konk Kooler was nice but too sweet for me to have more than one. My biggest disappointment was Cookies. I just did not like anything there. Ribs were over done and tasteless, potato salad was blah, mahi mahi and salmon sandwiches were double blah, jerk chicken or so called jerk chicken was just plain yuck Even my kids were not impressed. Dessert buffet took a look but was so stuffed from dinner that it was a no go, even for my kids. They managed to down to pieces of fruit covered in chocolate. It was pretty but its like tryin to do your grocery when youve just eaten. Okay I think its time to move on
Ports of Call
My favorite hands down was Costa Maya. What a perfect place, fishing village, natural beach, good food, strong drinks, cheap massage and friendly people. For a few hours I truly felt like I was on a Caribbean vacation. I would have stayed there all week if I could. I was at a small beach front property only about 30 wide, there was a bar with swing for bar stools and a massage cabana built on top of the bar. George and Manuelo were more than happy to please. Castaway Cay is beautiful, I loved the beach as there seemed to be no tide, and you could float for hours without really drifting anywhere. The kids loved climbing the jungle gym out in the water and playing in the white sand. We did the stingrays which was lots of fun and educational, my DD freaked out (tears and all) was too afraid to enter the water but my DS and I fed them and felt them rubbing up against us as they glided by. It had the feeling like running your finger over soften butter. My DD and I did the parasailing. Imagine that she is afraid of a little water creature but was ready to dangle hundreds of feet in the air!!! Well it was an amazing experience, we never felt scared at all. You really feel secure in the harness. It was very serene up in the sky and the view was beautiful. Our guides were Patrick and Miko and they were fantastic, very skilled at what they do. They will dip you only as far as you want. You ask for big toe only, well you will only get your big toe dipped. We had our camera so I requested calves only and they did just that. My DD did get a little freaky about that as she could see the dreaded stingrays from the air. I am really happy I chose the double dip trip. It was the best having two days to float about in the water. Cant really say much about Cozumel, we did not book anything for this day as I knew I wanted us all to get some rest for the Pirate Party. DD and I went across for a couple hours to shop, it was really hot so we wrapped it up grabbed a drink at Senor Frogs and headed back to the ship for lunch. Oh must add in my vendor experience. Was looking a poncho for my bro and came across one he would like, guy said 25, I said 15, he said 20 and I said okay, but I would come back for it as we had just started our shopping and I did not want to lug it around, guy said no, I told him not to hold it for me, but I would just come back and if it were there I would buy it, guy told me if I go and come back the price might change back to 25 at first I didnt get what he was tryin to say but when I figured it out I told him to keep his (insert nasty word) poncho.
Entertainment
Well I must admit I had no interest to see the shows. I did manage to drag us to the Golden Mickeys and surprisingly we all enjoyed it, that led me to get us to Disney Dreams and we enjoyed that one even better. But forget it on a port day, there was no way I could have got us all ready in time for the shows. I would have preferred to be able to see the shows after our late dinner seating but of course that may be too late for many people. I caught one of the shows in Rockin D with a guy and his guitar (cant remember his name) he was jokes, even when he was playing off of my Canadian-ness. Started watching the ventriloquist show but offered up my seat and the empty one next to me to a senor couple standing up. I didnt feel like standing so I left. I got to enjoy a couple of movies in the theatre, but the place is ridiculously cold, whats with that first time there I froze. Second time I made sure to wear socks and a track suit and a sweater and I was still cold! The air seemed to be coming up from the bottom of the seats. I would have like to see more movies in there at night and later into the night. The Pirate Party was lots of fun, lively, and the fireworks show was a nice touch. Did not even venture to the buffet as we had late seating dinner and did not want to see food. Would have like to see Captain Jack incorporated in to the show. He was doing meet and greets at Preludes prior to the show but that was it for him on Pirate Night.
Now for my biggest disappointment of my trip I was completely board after dinner. I just could not find anything fun to do. Sessions is just not my scene. Diversions had no scene. Rockin Ds was a bad scene. Im only 35, not dead yet, still am current with music, still hit the clubs although maybe once every couple of months. It would have been nice to have some where to chill with some reggae, soca, or at least some music released within the last 10 years. Here and there I got lucky and spent some time with a few 22-24 yr olds who were also at a loss for what to do, and some times I ran into a few of the Disers at the cove, I did catch two movies but most of the time I was walking around the ship with no purpose, or sitting alone at the cove drinking a martini. I couldnt even go to bed because my DS insisted on closing down the kids club every night and I figured at least one of us is enjoying ourselves. In DCLs defense, there really was not very many of my type on this ship, not that I was looking for a party but at least at hip atmosphere to chill at.
Kids Clubs
My DS loved loved loved it. He couldnt get enough, sometimes he participated in activities like the cookie making or flubber making, but most of the time he was playing. Late at night he lay down and watched the movie right till the very end. I would walk around and every ½ hour check to see if he was done, and he was never done. My DD liked the clubs but mostly when her two friends Sade and Meka were there, otherwise she preferred to be at the goofy pool. The staff at the kids clubs are amazing, how they maintain such a clam and serene nature around the madness of all the kids is beyond my comprehension. They all knew my son by his first name and he got many hugs from some on his last day. The kids never got around to Ocean Quest, we took a look one day but I didnt really understand what goes on there, guess Im not as with it as I thought!
The Staff
The staff was great, friendly and helpful. Every staff member had a smile on their face and was always willing to help and even chit chat for a bit. Ike, our room attendant always had a smile on his face even though his day started really early and ended really late. I know cause we ran into him in the hallway at all hours of the day. Our room was kept clean and the kids loved the towel animals. The only thing he could not do for us was remove the coffee table. We did not need it and it was just taking up valuable space. I was a bit surprised as I had heard of others on this board having the table removed. I wont mention the names of our servers as I was not too impressed. Their smiles and niceness just did not seem natural or real. The main server we barely saw, he really only took our dinner orders and brought out the food some times. The assistant server really did everything else. A noticeable difference did come over them on the Thursday night (the night before tipping), suddenly they were all over us making sure everything was okay. Making boats and planes out of paper for the kids, cutting up food for my son, replacing our drinks that were only ½ empty. It all was a bit fake for me. In their defense, maybe they were burnt out. I can see that happening in their occupation. This does not fit under this heading but its going here. DCL sat us with a party of 4 older female women. It was such an uncomfortable first night. Especially for the women and my kids. I have no problems sitting with others but it would have made more sense that families be sat with other families. Thankfully these lovely ladies made a request to be seated alone, so for the rest of the cruise we were seated with a moms and her DS22. The head waiter Pierre made it a point to check in at our table every single night.
The Spa
I only a ½ body massage and it was good but not when youre getting them in Costa Maya for $25. The staff member tried to sell some product after the massage, but she wasnt pushy, she actually seemed kinda dejected that I wasnt biting. Maybe Im wrong but I got the impression that the staff in the spa are a bit snooty. After the massage I bought a day pass for the Rain Forest. WOW!!! I loved it in there. I had forgotten how good your skin feels after a sauna. I immediately went against my plan to forego the Rain Forest and bought a pass for the rest of the week. 4 days for $45. Everyday after the beach or the pool I spent some time in the sauna and the showers. I felt cleaned of all the saltwater and chlorine and it also saved me the time it would take to go back to the cabin to shower for dinner.
Characters
They were every where!!! Every night in the Atrium characters rotated every 20 minutes or so. We also had Alice and Co. running through Lumieres one night like they were on Acid. Checked into the kids club and ran into Lilo entertaining the kids. We saw Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Stitch, Captain Hook, Pluto, Goofy, Peter Pan, Chip n Dale, Dopey, Mickey and Minnie of course, plus some Im sure Ive forgotten and some I didnt know. The lines up were never more than 5 or 10 kids, with the exception of Captain Jack where the line was ridiculously long. We did the Character breakfast and Pluto, Goofy, Chip n Dale, Mickey and Minnie were in attendance. Yes it did feel really rushed and I was disappointed with the plain ole eggs and bacon thing.
Shutters
I swore I would never pay money on those photos cause I had my own camera to take pics. Fool was I. Piece of advice for ya, if you dont want to be suckered in then dont even walk through there! Some of them were so nice I just couldnt help myself. I stuck to purchasing the Lifestyle and a few other 8 x 10s. It was never crowded except for the last night and even that cleared up when I came back after 10pm.
I would like to take a moment to give out my own Golden Mickey Awards
Best Pirate Costume Rhonda and Family
Most Missing In Action Thea
Most Entertaining Beaker
Most Glazed Over Eyes From One Too Many Eric
Cutest Eyes The 22yr old at my table
Biggest Disney Fans Amandas Squared
Luckiest Mom Joanne (kids are all off to college and she can float in the pool all day in peace)
Smartest Mom Gail (for dining every night in TopSiders and getting the same food we did but having it fit into her schedule)
Best Mom Julie (still smiling even with all the kids and more on the way)
My most valuable advice to give is read the Disboard to find out valuable information, there are tons of tips to help you out. Take everyday one at time. I am so anal I had originally planned every single day down to the hour. That is a one way road to insanity. I threw that plan out the window and we only glance at the navigator in the morning. Sure we didnt get to do everything but we had a great time so I refuse to look back and mourn what we missed.
Okay Im at 6 pages in Word time to wrap it up
Final Thoughts
This was a great vacation. It will always have a special place in my heart. It was our first experience of DCL and WDW for myself and the kids. Would we do it again? WDW for sure(we have lots left to see). DCL most likely not. The cost of this cruise for a second time would just not be worth it for us. My daughter and I just dont have the appreciation for the Disney characters that I feel one must have to justify the expense of this cruise line. Everyone else saw Cinderella, we saw a girl in a costume(sad, I know!) Great staff and good food can be found in other places too. The motion of the boat did affect me, although I was not nauseated, I was dizzy and even though I took Bonine I still felt off so Im not sure about cruising in general. When I posed the question to my kids, my son could not care less where we go on vacation. He is easy, he has fun anywhere. My daughter said she like the cruise but would like to try another cruise line next time, but not for a few years cause she (like mom) prefers island based vacations.
Still, I was very sad driving away from the port. I kept looking back at that beautiful ship knowing that I may never see it in person again. Knowing I met some wonderful staff and fellow cruisers that I also may never see again.
During this cruise I though all of you Disney Addicts were freaks, how do all these people get stupid for Disney. As far as I was concerned Disney is a BIG money making corporation. I left my cruise realizing I am the stupid one. It is about the Magic that we all must hold onto in ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in the trials and tribulations of our daily lives and being a single mother my kids have been raised aware of my struggles, to keep them safe I also keep them aware of the troubles in our society. This Magic does not necessarily need to come from Disney but we do need it and I will make a conscious effort to keep it alive in our lives.
Okay thats it probably not but I gotta stop somewhere ..Hope you enjoyed!
Traveling on this vacation was myself DM35 and my DD10 and DS6
Before I start on the cruise, we did stay at POP for 3 nights. POP was the perfect place to stay for my kids. They loved the bold and bright décor of the property. As it was Sept it was not crowded and we spent most of our time at the bowling pin pool. The food court Market was yuck, I looked at the food in each station and nothing appeared appealing so we ate off site for three days. Theses three days were for shopping and relaxing so the only park we visited was MK on the 15th for Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party. MK put on a fantastic show that night, even the rain could not put a damper on things. The parade was fun and the rides had no line ups. Note to self: Must take the kids back to DW and see all the parks!
Okay the Cruise ..
The Magic
What a beautiful ship. The old cruise line style appealed more to me than the Carnival ship next to us. The décor inside surprised me, but then again I did not know what to expect. Very nicely decorated and many times I had to remind myself that I was at sea and not in a hotel. The adult pool was never busy but the Goofy Pool was a zoo and should have been made much bigger. The big screen over the pool is a great idea, it would have been better if they had movies playing every night. Wished we could have heard the horn more often! Made use of the sports deck a few times. DS and I would go up there around midnight to shoot some hoops. The ship was kept very clean and I was impressed with the maintenance staff up and at it at midnight stripping varnishing and power washing!
The Cabins
Small Small Small!!! I know, I know its a ship. We had a Cat 12 for the three of us and there was not enough space to hold our clothes. Our luggage would not fit under the bed so we lined it up along one wall which blocked off that side of the bed right back to the night table. The bed was very comfortable and I had a good sleep every night which I dont get at home. Loved the pillows but never checked the label so if anyone knows what kind they are please let me know! Well if I thought the room was small then the bathroom must be described as non existent. Walk in, reverse out, because there was no room to turn around. Found them very sterile looking, like something in a hospital. But hey, how much time do you spend in there anyways. Oh and I hated the lighting in there!!! It seems to make every imperfection on my face seem ten times worse : ) We were in 7619 which is at the back of the ship. This location was perfect, steps away from the back deck and the aft elevators which were the least busy and under or above most of the restaurants.
The Food
Well this is what I was most looking forward to but it ended up on the lower end of my priorities unexpectedly. A combination of the heat and mild motion sickness took the edge off my usual passion for food. I found AP, Lumieres and PC to all be comparable. The food was good but not great. There was always at least one course each evening that didnt cut it. The presentation though gets an A. Sorry guys, but the lava cake seemed like plain old packaged chocolate cake with a moist centre. I stuck mostly to beef and seafood. The beef was cooked medium (pink no blood) the way I requested every time, but the seafood was usually slightly overdone. Oh and the peel and shrimp on the embarkation lunch was nothing to write home about, can get those at any local buffet. Of course I had not one but two lobster tails on semi formal night with the rice. Well the rice is crap! I love rice and it doesnt take much to please me but what they serve needs to be changed. I did love the green rice at the lunch buffet. The lunch buffets were decent and you could always find something to fill up on. I found the breakfast buffet boring, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hardened waffles and pancakes every single day. I would have like to see more variety here. Kids loved Pinocchios and Goofys Galley. I did try the chicken strips and they were nice, although I would like to see more variety of dipping sauce. I loved the option of wraps, pressed sandwiches and salads. The selection changed daily so no getting board here. The drink station had a lot of choices, pop, milk, water, lemonade, fruit punch and hot chocolate, it was also very convenient to our stateroom. We only use room service once and had the BLT on a multi grain bun with chips and chocolate chip cookies, it was really good or I was really hungry and dont forget to tip for room service. If I had the option I would have paid to eat brunch at Palos every morning, would have beat the runny eggs in the buffet hands down. Three entrée options of which I had the Veal, thanks Thea for the advice. Three pizza options, three egg options plus all the bread, seafood/appetizer, cheese and dessert stations. Well worth the money. It was also a grand experience as it was the one time all off our disboard group was able to get together! Hi everyone! I ended up sticking to martinis and usually something off the cove list. I did not like the pina coladas or strawberry daqs, give me the frozen Bacardi mix and Im good. The Konk Kooler was nice but too sweet for me to have more than one. My biggest disappointment was Cookies. I just did not like anything there. Ribs were over done and tasteless, potato salad was blah, mahi mahi and salmon sandwiches were double blah, jerk chicken or so called jerk chicken was just plain yuck Even my kids were not impressed. Dessert buffet took a look but was so stuffed from dinner that it was a no go, even for my kids. They managed to down to pieces of fruit covered in chocolate. It was pretty but its like tryin to do your grocery when youve just eaten. Okay I think its time to move on
Ports of Call
My favorite hands down was Costa Maya. What a perfect place, fishing village, natural beach, good food, strong drinks, cheap massage and friendly people. For a few hours I truly felt like I was on a Caribbean vacation. I would have stayed there all week if I could. I was at a small beach front property only about 30 wide, there was a bar with swing for bar stools and a massage cabana built on top of the bar. George and Manuelo were more than happy to please. Castaway Cay is beautiful, I loved the beach as there seemed to be no tide, and you could float for hours without really drifting anywhere. The kids loved climbing the jungle gym out in the water and playing in the white sand. We did the stingrays which was lots of fun and educational, my DD freaked out (tears and all) was too afraid to enter the water but my DS and I fed them and felt them rubbing up against us as they glided by. It had the feeling like running your finger over soften butter. My DD and I did the parasailing. Imagine that she is afraid of a little water creature but was ready to dangle hundreds of feet in the air!!! Well it was an amazing experience, we never felt scared at all. You really feel secure in the harness. It was very serene up in the sky and the view was beautiful. Our guides were Patrick and Miko and they were fantastic, very skilled at what they do. They will dip you only as far as you want. You ask for big toe only, well you will only get your big toe dipped. We had our camera so I requested calves only and they did just that. My DD did get a little freaky about that as she could see the dreaded stingrays from the air. I am really happy I chose the double dip trip. It was the best having two days to float about in the water. Cant really say much about Cozumel, we did not book anything for this day as I knew I wanted us all to get some rest for the Pirate Party. DD and I went across for a couple hours to shop, it was really hot so we wrapped it up grabbed a drink at Senor Frogs and headed back to the ship for lunch. Oh must add in my vendor experience. Was looking a poncho for my bro and came across one he would like, guy said 25, I said 15, he said 20 and I said okay, but I would come back for it as we had just started our shopping and I did not want to lug it around, guy said no, I told him not to hold it for me, but I would just come back and if it were there I would buy it, guy told me if I go and come back the price might change back to 25 at first I didnt get what he was tryin to say but when I figured it out I told him to keep his (insert nasty word) poncho.
Entertainment
Well I must admit I had no interest to see the shows. I did manage to drag us to the Golden Mickeys and surprisingly we all enjoyed it, that led me to get us to Disney Dreams and we enjoyed that one even better. But forget it on a port day, there was no way I could have got us all ready in time for the shows. I would have preferred to be able to see the shows after our late dinner seating but of course that may be too late for many people. I caught one of the shows in Rockin D with a guy and his guitar (cant remember his name) he was jokes, even when he was playing off of my Canadian-ness. Started watching the ventriloquist show but offered up my seat and the empty one next to me to a senor couple standing up. I didnt feel like standing so I left. I got to enjoy a couple of movies in the theatre, but the place is ridiculously cold, whats with that first time there I froze. Second time I made sure to wear socks and a track suit and a sweater and I was still cold! The air seemed to be coming up from the bottom of the seats. I would have like to see more movies in there at night and later into the night. The Pirate Party was lots of fun, lively, and the fireworks show was a nice touch. Did not even venture to the buffet as we had late seating dinner and did not want to see food. Would have like to see Captain Jack incorporated in to the show. He was doing meet and greets at Preludes prior to the show but that was it for him on Pirate Night.
Now for my biggest disappointment of my trip I was completely board after dinner. I just could not find anything fun to do. Sessions is just not my scene. Diversions had no scene. Rockin Ds was a bad scene. Im only 35, not dead yet, still am current with music, still hit the clubs although maybe once every couple of months. It would have been nice to have some where to chill with some reggae, soca, or at least some music released within the last 10 years. Here and there I got lucky and spent some time with a few 22-24 yr olds who were also at a loss for what to do, and some times I ran into a few of the Disers at the cove, I did catch two movies but most of the time I was walking around the ship with no purpose, or sitting alone at the cove drinking a martini. I couldnt even go to bed because my DS insisted on closing down the kids club every night and I figured at least one of us is enjoying ourselves. In DCLs defense, there really was not very many of my type on this ship, not that I was looking for a party but at least at hip atmosphere to chill at.
Kids Clubs
My DS loved loved loved it. He couldnt get enough, sometimes he participated in activities like the cookie making or flubber making, but most of the time he was playing. Late at night he lay down and watched the movie right till the very end. I would walk around and every ½ hour check to see if he was done, and he was never done. My DD liked the clubs but mostly when her two friends Sade and Meka were there, otherwise she preferred to be at the goofy pool. The staff at the kids clubs are amazing, how they maintain such a clam and serene nature around the madness of all the kids is beyond my comprehension. They all knew my son by his first name and he got many hugs from some on his last day. The kids never got around to Ocean Quest, we took a look one day but I didnt really understand what goes on there, guess Im not as with it as I thought!
The Staff
The staff was great, friendly and helpful. Every staff member had a smile on their face and was always willing to help and even chit chat for a bit. Ike, our room attendant always had a smile on his face even though his day started really early and ended really late. I know cause we ran into him in the hallway at all hours of the day. Our room was kept clean and the kids loved the towel animals. The only thing he could not do for us was remove the coffee table. We did not need it and it was just taking up valuable space. I was a bit surprised as I had heard of others on this board having the table removed. I wont mention the names of our servers as I was not too impressed. Their smiles and niceness just did not seem natural or real. The main server we barely saw, he really only took our dinner orders and brought out the food some times. The assistant server really did everything else. A noticeable difference did come over them on the Thursday night (the night before tipping), suddenly they were all over us making sure everything was okay. Making boats and planes out of paper for the kids, cutting up food for my son, replacing our drinks that were only ½ empty. It all was a bit fake for me. In their defense, maybe they were burnt out. I can see that happening in their occupation. This does not fit under this heading but its going here. DCL sat us with a party of 4 older female women. It was such an uncomfortable first night. Especially for the women and my kids. I have no problems sitting with others but it would have made more sense that families be sat with other families. Thankfully these lovely ladies made a request to be seated alone, so for the rest of the cruise we were seated with a moms and her DS22. The head waiter Pierre made it a point to check in at our table every single night.
The Spa
I only a ½ body massage and it was good but not when youre getting them in Costa Maya for $25. The staff member tried to sell some product after the massage, but she wasnt pushy, she actually seemed kinda dejected that I wasnt biting. Maybe Im wrong but I got the impression that the staff in the spa are a bit snooty. After the massage I bought a day pass for the Rain Forest. WOW!!! I loved it in there. I had forgotten how good your skin feels after a sauna. I immediately went against my plan to forego the Rain Forest and bought a pass for the rest of the week. 4 days for $45. Everyday after the beach or the pool I spent some time in the sauna and the showers. I felt cleaned of all the saltwater and chlorine and it also saved me the time it would take to go back to the cabin to shower for dinner.
Characters
They were every where!!! Every night in the Atrium characters rotated every 20 minutes or so. We also had Alice and Co. running through Lumieres one night like they were on Acid. Checked into the kids club and ran into Lilo entertaining the kids. We saw Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Stitch, Captain Hook, Pluto, Goofy, Peter Pan, Chip n Dale, Dopey, Mickey and Minnie of course, plus some Im sure Ive forgotten and some I didnt know. The lines up were never more than 5 or 10 kids, with the exception of Captain Jack where the line was ridiculously long. We did the Character breakfast and Pluto, Goofy, Chip n Dale, Mickey and Minnie were in attendance. Yes it did feel really rushed and I was disappointed with the plain ole eggs and bacon thing.
Shutters
I swore I would never pay money on those photos cause I had my own camera to take pics. Fool was I. Piece of advice for ya, if you dont want to be suckered in then dont even walk through there! Some of them were so nice I just couldnt help myself. I stuck to purchasing the Lifestyle and a few other 8 x 10s. It was never crowded except for the last night and even that cleared up when I came back after 10pm.
I would like to take a moment to give out my own Golden Mickey Awards
Best Pirate Costume Rhonda and Family
Most Missing In Action Thea
Most Entertaining Beaker
Most Glazed Over Eyes From One Too Many Eric
Cutest Eyes The 22yr old at my table
Biggest Disney Fans Amandas Squared
Luckiest Mom Joanne (kids are all off to college and she can float in the pool all day in peace)
Smartest Mom Gail (for dining every night in TopSiders and getting the same food we did but having it fit into her schedule)
Best Mom Julie (still smiling even with all the kids and more on the way)
My most valuable advice to give is read the Disboard to find out valuable information, there are tons of tips to help you out. Take everyday one at time. I am so anal I had originally planned every single day down to the hour. That is a one way road to insanity. I threw that plan out the window and we only glance at the navigator in the morning. Sure we didnt get to do everything but we had a great time so I refuse to look back and mourn what we missed.
Okay Im at 6 pages in Word time to wrap it up
Final Thoughts
This was a great vacation. It will always have a special place in my heart. It was our first experience of DCL and WDW for myself and the kids. Would we do it again? WDW for sure(we have lots left to see). DCL most likely not. The cost of this cruise for a second time would just not be worth it for us. My daughter and I just dont have the appreciation for the Disney characters that I feel one must have to justify the expense of this cruise line. Everyone else saw Cinderella, we saw a girl in a costume(sad, I know!) Great staff and good food can be found in other places too. The motion of the boat did affect me, although I was not nauseated, I was dizzy and even though I took Bonine I still felt off so Im not sure about cruising in general. When I posed the question to my kids, my son could not care less where we go on vacation. He is easy, he has fun anywhere. My daughter said she like the cruise but would like to try another cruise line next time, but not for a few years cause she (like mom) prefers island based vacations.
Still, I was very sad driving away from the port. I kept looking back at that beautiful ship knowing that I may never see it in person again. Knowing I met some wonderful staff and fellow cruisers that I also may never see again.
During this cruise I though all of you Disney Addicts were freaks, how do all these people get stupid for Disney. As far as I was concerned Disney is a BIG money making corporation. I left my cruise realizing I am the stupid one. It is about the Magic that we all must hold onto in ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in the trials and tribulations of our daily lives and being a single mother my kids have been raised aware of my struggles, to keep them safe I also keep them aware of the troubles in our society. This Magic does not necessarily need to come from Disney but we do need it and I will make a conscious effort to keep it alive in our lives.
Okay thats it probably not but I gotta stop somewhere ..Hope you enjoyed!
Rainforest is worth its weight in gold for the decent showers and those warm loungers are great, especially when you've been pacing the cold, wet decks in the middle of the night. I went in one morning at 0600 (forgot about the hour back time change) and fell asleep in a lounger until 0900. I would have slept longer but I was rudely awaken by traveling companions who came to draw me out of the spa.
I must also say that I didn't stand in line to get a picture with anyone except Captain Jack and the characters on 
I know it's not "Disney" but for $450.00 a person for a seven day to Cozumel, Costa Maya and Belize, I had to jump on it. Plan on going in 2008 with us for the Double Dip reunion, I promise to bring Ambien and NoDoze and medicate myslef to your schedule! 
We're crossing our fingers for an Alaskan Cruise or at the very least a Pacific Itinerary in 2008! Flying across country from Oregon to Florida is getting on my nerves.
