My family and I were first time cruisers. We loved our experience. I traveled with my husband and two boys - 8 and 10. My husband - when I first told him I was making a reservation said - "I'm not going on any cruise"! He ended up loving it and is looking forward to going back. Every day now the kids ask where they would be if we were on the boat and my husband gives them the itinerary.
Dining - I thought the food was great - be sure NOT to miss your first seating at Animator's Palate. It is a wonderful experience. My kids loved it. We loved our servers (Aleksandra - no longer with the ship and Dragan - I believe this week is his last week for 2 months). We truly enjoyed our one dinner at Palo. Be sure to make your reservations once you board the ship - they go quickly!
Spa - We only had one Spa treatment - the Sureal (sp?) Bath. I guess I would have to go against the prevailing sentiment on this Board - I really didn't think it was that great. Truly messy/sloppy - which wouldn't have been a problem but the water from the showers and steam were extremely hot. I read a thread where you can lower the water temperature. Make sure you find out prior to entering the bath where you can make that adjustment. The water on the floor of the steam room was unbearably hot. Also, realize you will be required to tip - your hostess doesn't provide that much service - so I found having to tip approximately 20% a little bit much but I didn't want to appear cheap!
Entertainment - The stage productions were GREAT. There are so many great activities. The Oceaneer's Lab was terrific - my kids loved it. The evening family shows - Karoke (sp?), game shows, etc. were tons of fun. The theatre with current movies was also fun - we ended up at the 10:30PM showing of My Big Fat Greek Wedding on Thursday - because we could take advantage of turning the clock back that night! The kids loved the movie!
Cleanliness - The ship was very clean - I saw them cleaning constantly. I did notice that though they serve the food at Topsider's at the beginning of the cruise - they get slack towards the end and let you serve yourself. I don't think that's a great idea. The dining experience is first rate - as I stated above - plates/cloth napkins are provided - even when you get fruit from Scoops! (The ice cream is the only thing I noticed that was served in a paper bowl.)
Excursions - In St. Martin - I would strongly recommend NOT going on the Pinel Island excursion. The excursion people overbook with the other boats at the dock. They have to feed the fish to attrack them and you find yourself bumping into other snorkelers because of the over-booking. On our next trip - I would like to do our own excursion over to Anguilla - it's a 20 minute ferry ride, from St. Marigot. St. Martin is a very depressed island.
In St. Thomas - we did the 5 Star Snorkel cruise aboard the Leylon Sneed to St. John. I would strongly recommend this excursion. Make sure you sit on the port side (left) of the boat (I think it's the port - the side that is closer to shore on the way out - they had the better view with the info. the narrator provided and they had the sun on the way back. Snorkeling in Trunk Bay was a one-in-a-life- time experience. You step off the boat or jump off - depending on your courage. They provide life jackets so you are bouyant - never a need to worry. The water is probably 15 ft. deep but it's clear as can be and the sand is white and the fish are beautiful. It was GREAT. My children are pretty good swimmers and they snorkled for about an hour before going to the beach for a break. But there is really just floating going on - not much swimming required.
Miscellaneous - We were in room 2006 - port side towards the front. I took that room because we had only the adult bar (Sessions) over us - and no room on one side. Our room was very quiet and luckily we had calm waters - so we were all very happy. Upon our arrival though, one of the drawers in our room had some clothes in it from the prior guests. I called Guest Services and they immediately sent our Room Steward down to take the clothes and disinfect the drawer. They provide fresh towels twice a day and a wonderful animal arrangement made from towlels each evening. The kids loved that!
My pediatrician had recommended that we take a Claritin each day for sea sickness - we followed his recommendation and had no problems. I followed Calgon's packing list so we were very prepared with over the door hangers, etc. Laundry can be an issue. I brought detergent in a freezer bag and quarters. I guess I would recommend either doing it early or doing it late in the day. People would get a little crazy and pull things out if you weren't back in time - I think it was more of a problem later in the week. Disney should definitely provide more laundry room space!
P.S. I brought my own Clorine pop-up wipes and wiped out all the drawers, wiped the tables, bathroom down, etc. We experienced no problems with any sickness. Be prepared the flushing of the toilet is a very LOUD experience. My youngest would run from the bathroom the moment he flushed - but on the way home, he said he even missed the loudness of the toilet.
He was hearbroken after leaving. He just took off his identification badge last night form the Oceanneer's Club - the only reason he took it off is that in our local pool the clorine was bleaching out the info on it and he wanted to save it for memories.
I hope you have a great time and the weather cooperates so that you have a truly magical vacation. It so wonderful to walk out of your room and hear the Disney music playing. We can't wait to go back!
Dining - I thought the food was great - be sure NOT to miss your first seating at Animator's Palate. It is a wonderful experience. My kids loved it. We loved our servers (Aleksandra - no longer with the ship and Dragan - I believe this week is his last week for 2 months). We truly enjoyed our one dinner at Palo. Be sure to make your reservations once you board the ship - they go quickly!
Spa - We only had one Spa treatment - the Sureal (sp?) Bath. I guess I would have to go against the prevailing sentiment on this Board - I really didn't think it was that great. Truly messy/sloppy - which wouldn't have been a problem but the water from the showers and steam were extremely hot. I read a thread where you can lower the water temperature. Make sure you find out prior to entering the bath where you can make that adjustment. The water on the floor of the steam room was unbearably hot. Also, realize you will be required to tip - your hostess doesn't provide that much service - so I found having to tip approximately 20% a little bit much but I didn't want to appear cheap!
Entertainment - The stage productions were GREAT. There are so many great activities. The Oceaneer's Lab was terrific - my kids loved it. The evening family shows - Karoke (sp?), game shows, etc. were tons of fun. The theatre with current movies was also fun - we ended up at the 10:30PM showing of My Big Fat Greek Wedding on Thursday - because we could take advantage of turning the clock back that night! The kids loved the movie!
Cleanliness - The ship was very clean - I saw them cleaning constantly. I did notice that though they serve the food at Topsider's at the beginning of the cruise - they get slack towards the end and let you serve yourself. I don't think that's a great idea. The dining experience is first rate - as I stated above - plates/cloth napkins are provided - even when you get fruit from Scoops! (The ice cream is the only thing I noticed that was served in a paper bowl.)
Excursions - In St. Martin - I would strongly recommend NOT going on the Pinel Island excursion. The excursion people overbook with the other boats at the dock. They have to feed the fish to attrack them and you find yourself bumping into other snorkelers because of the over-booking. On our next trip - I would like to do our own excursion over to Anguilla - it's a 20 minute ferry ride, from St. Marigot. St. Martin is a very depressed island.
In St. Thomas - we did the 5 Star Snorkel cruise aboard the Leylon Sneed to St. John. I would strongly recommend this excursion. Make sure you sit on the port side (left) of the boat (I think it's the port - the side that is closer to shore on the way out - they had the better view with the info. the narrator provided and they had the sun on the way back. Snorkeling in Trunk Bay was a one-in-a-life- time experience. You step off the boat or jump off - depending on your courage. They provide life jackets so you are bouyant - never a need to worry. The water is probably 15 ft. deep but it's clear as can be and the sand is white and the fish are beautiful. It was GREAT. My children are pretty good swimmers and they snorkled for about an hour before going to the beach for a break. But there is really just floating going on - not much swimming required.
Miscellaneous - We were in room 2006 - port side towards the front. I took that room because we had only the adult bar (Sessions) over us - and no room on one side. Our room was very quiet and luckily we had calm waters - so we were all very happy. Upon our arrival though, one of the drawers in our room had some clothes in it from the prior guests. I called Guest Services and they immediately sent our Room Steward down to take the clothes and disinfect the drawer. They provide fresh towels twice a day and a wonderful animal arrangement made from towlels each evening. The kids loved that!
My pediatrician had recommended that we take a Claritin each day for sea sickness - we followed his recommendation and had no problems. I followed Calgon's packing list so we were very prepared with over the door hangers, etc. Laundry can be an issue. I brought detergent in a freezer bag and quarters. I guess I would recommend either doing it early or doing it late in the day. People would get a little crazy and pull things out if you weren't back in time - I think it was more of a problem later in the week. Disney should definitely provide more laundry room space!
P.S. I brought my own Clorine pop-up wipes and wiped out all the drawers, wiped the tables, bathroom down, etc. We experienced no problems with any sickness. Be prepared the flushing of the toilet is a very LOUD experience. My youngest would run from the bathroom the moment he flushed - but on the way home, he said he even missed the loudness of the toilet.
He was hearbroken after leaving. He just took off his identification badge last night form the Oceanneer's Club - the only reason he took it off is that in our local pool the clorine was bleaching out the info on it and he wanted to save it for memories.
I hope you have a great time and the weather cooperates so that you have a truly magical vacation. It so wonderful to walk out of your room and hear the Disney music playing. We can't wait to go back!
