Eastern Caribbean Jan 28-Feb 5

[Scout54]

This TR is FABULOUS! We will be on the Magic in April and we just can not wait! I have a question for ya'll.....Did any of you happen to see Ariel on the ship? My DD, Teagan (4), is a little bit of an Ariel stalker and I am so hoping she will get to see her on "Mickey's Ship"!

 

[NAB]

This TR is FABULOUS! We will be on the Magic in April and we just can not wait! I have a question for ya'll.....Did any of you happen to see Ariel on the ship? My DD, Teagan (4), is a little bit of an Ariel stalker and I am so hoping she will get to see her on "Mickey's Ship"!

Sorry no Ariel on board.

Sleeping Beauty was not out much either. But was there.

Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Tiana, and Alice in Wonderland were out at the Princesses gathering.

 

[5boyz]

POR is our favourite resort. We have been there at least 5 times. It is a resort we really like and know. Tried Wilderness Lodge but went back to POR. Never had a problem with it. : The grounds are beautiful and the boat ride to DTD is great.

We ate at POR last 2 years ago and walked around the grounds, we all loved it. So I thought I would like to try it , the only thing is I would not want to stay in the Alligator Bayou...doenst appeal to me. Dont know if you can say you want the other Magnollia ? I wouldnt stay if I didnt know for sure that I was staying there. Now would that maybe be considered Prefered?

 

[5boyz]

Yeah I have really BAD luck so it is probably just me! Like when we went to Niagara falls our door locked us out when we were at the pool. It used the room key card so we thought the cards had gotten demagnetized and went to the desk for new ones (dripping wet). Nope. So then maintenance had to come and use a master card to let us in. Nope - not working. Turns out somehow in the time we went down to the pool and came back the computer in the door had broken. The door had to be taken off and completely disassembled and a new computer put in. Just my luck!

Last time we were at Wilderness Lodge the shower didn't work... and we had to get that fixed. I am sooooooooooooo unlucky!!!

And on our cruise the toilet broke at one point and the ceiling was leaking water. I think the AC was broken too

Not to add salt to your wound but you were sick on this cruise....

 

[5boyz]

Ok Joelle, I am patiently waiting for the ending...boo hoo!!! Again I wish I was with you...

 

[TifffanyD]

Not to add salt to your wound but you were sick on this cruise....

I know, right? And last night, in the middle of the night, I badly sprained my ankle and now I can hardly walk. Argh!

 

[5boyz]

I know, right? And last night, in the middle of the night, I badly sprained my ankle and now I can hardly walk. Argh!

You should just lock yourself in the tower of a castle..you should be safe and no bad luck should come to you there....most likely you will meet a handsome prince, not say Schmij is not a handsome prince......

 

[FJS961]

great report! I'm leaning toward booking an eastern cruise for summer 2012

 

[SLM]

What a great report and beautiful pictures! We took our first (and only) DCL cruise a little over ten years ago when our daughter was 15-we also had a wonderful trip! Later this year my DH and I are going on the Eastern cruise-you have given us many great ideas. When you got off the ship did you just take your chances with cab drivers and select one to take you to the beaches? Did you arrange to be picked up by the same driver or just get another cab that was waiting?

 

[stegel]

Thanks for all the great info. We are going on our 1st DCL in Dec and it will be the kids 1st cruise ever! We chose the Eastern as well and reading your report made me even more excited than ever. I have 1 question for you though. Did you have the late dinner seating? We are scheduled for the late dinner and I am wondering if it will be too late for my kids (8, 7 & 5). Do you know if it is Eastern time? We live in Illinois so it would be like 7:00 to eat then- which is not too bad. Just wondering what your thoughts were! Thanks again for the great report!

 

[boundfordisney]

Great trip report . cant wait to read more and your pics are wonderful!

 

[5boyz]

Thanks for all the great info. We are going on our 1st DCL in Dec and it will be the kids 1st cruise ever! We chose the Eastern as well and reading your report made me even more excited than ever. I have 1 question for you though. Did you have the late dinner seating? We are scheduled for the late dinner and I am wondering if it will be too late for my kids (8, 7 & 5). Do you know if it is Eastern time? We live in Illinois so it would be like 7:00 to eat then- which is not too bad. Just wondering what your thoughts were! Thanks again for the great report!

I was on this cruise too, we had the late dinner and it is too late for kids to me, my kids are abit older now (they were not with us) but they would not have liked it. We had kids beside us every night sleeping in the chairs. Dinner goes till about 10pm. It was too late for dh and me.... We are going again in Jan 2012 and I am taking the kids, I have already booked early dinning. The time changes the night before we get into St Marteen it goes an hour ahead and stays that way until we are coming back from St Thomas then we get an hr back... Dinner is at 8:15. I am in Canada and I think you are an hr behind us. Dont mean to freak you out just wanted to let you know..did they assign that time to you. BTW Jerelle had late dinner to they were near us....shhh dont tell her I told you......

 

[jerelle]

What a great report and beautiful pictures! We took our first (and only) DCL cruise a little over ten years ago when our daughter was 15-we also had a wonderful trip! Later this year my DH and I are going on the Eastern cruise-you have given us many great ideas. When you got off the ship did you just take your chances with cab drivers and select one to take you to the beaches? Did you arrange to be picked up by the same driver or just get another cab that was waiting?

HI there! You will enjoy this cruise so much! As far as the taxis go, yes, we just took our chances, (we rode in van-type taxis, with other families-not in a small car-type taxi, as we are used to here in Canada) It is all regulated as far as fares go and well organized especially in St Maarten. As well, at both beaches we went to, they were plentiful for returns as well. You can do some research on hiring a tour taxi if you wish. I know I've seen chatter on these boards in this regard.

Have fun and safe travels!

 

[jerelle]

Thanks for all the great info. We are going on our 1st DCL in Dec and it will be the kids 1st cruise ever! We chose the Eastern as well and reading your report made me even more excited than ever. I have 1 question for you though. Did you have the late dinner seating? We are scheduled for the late dinner and I am wondering if it will be too late for my kids (8, 7 & 5). Do you know if it is Eastern time? We live in Illinois so it would be like 7:00 to eat then- which is not too bad. Just wondering what your thoughts were! Thanks again for the great report!

5 boys said it best. It is late to eat but we didn't mind. Our DD always slept in and ate breakfast late. We ate breakfast later than we normally do and then ate a later lunch with snacks. I think maybe it might be too late for your kids, as we were eating at 8:45-10 but you can ask for them to hurry up and I heard you can ask for them to rush your kids meal so they can head off to their clubs and you can enjoy a quieter dinner with your spouse. The food options are plentiful and you can always go to buffet/snack bars/room service for a pre-dinner snack and opt to use the dining room for lighter fare and dessert.

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did and safe travels!

 

[jerelle]

After DH and I sent DD on to the last show, we opened a bottle of bubbly we had been saving for tonight. It was fun just having some, getting ready, laughing about our day and preparing for our date: just like old times! Our reservations were for 6:30.

We headed up around 6:15 so I could try and show DH the aft "hidden" deck on floor 7, that I had checked out a few days before. Sadly, it was locked-even though it wasn't 7 pm, so no star gazing before dinner for us!

Palo is lovely. It's pretty, not too dark but dimly lit. You couldn't see anything of the view, as it was dark outside, but the view indoors is perfect. The first thing we noticed, after the ambiance, was the volume-QUIET. Ahhhhhh. SILENCE!

We were seated straightaway, in a semi circle booth and facing the kitchen. I LOVE this experience-you get to see your meals being prepared and get a sense for the joy it brings the staff to cook it!

I ordered a martini and my DH, a beer. Our server was french, from France and we had a few french exchanges, as being from Ottawa, I can "parler the francais". Francois was a doll and a great conversationalist. Good job Disney!

He brought out a selection of infused olive oils and bread as well as an antipasti dish with olives, sliced meats and cheese. YUM!!
Francois was also very knowledgeable about the menu. He recommended DH's Tuna Carpaccio with Lemon Oil Dressing AND the Calamari(it is famous) and although he tried to sway me, I only had a salad(but tasted from DH's plates!)
After our appetizers, he brought over a palate cleanser, in the true Italian fashion. It was lemon sorbet with champagne and vodka.
DH had 2, he liked his so much!!
For dinner, DH had Halibut baked with vegetables in a paper bag and I had beef tenderloin in a red wine reduction.

We're not the couple that fine dines but we do eat out and we are blessed with friends and family who can cook and as well, have had some very fine dining experiences. We both agreed that this was one of the best meals we'd EVER eaten! Well, well worth the $40 fee/couple!
From what I understand, you are paying for the gratuity that your server, who is not on your normal dining rotation, is entitled to.
Don't think of it as paying extra for food-trust me-your meal is far more expensive than $40-FAR MORE!!!
Before dinner, we were offered the opportunity to order the chocolate souffle. The order needs to be in ahead of time for obvious reasons and being the chocoholic that I am-when opportunity knocks...
The dinner portions are perfect and I was so glad that I was not feeling too stuffed to at least try my dessert.
DH is not a dessert type guy(he's already sweet enough) but our server suggested the panna cotta for a contrast to my souffle. Can I just say that it was HEAVEN?!!
While we were eating our dessert, Francois came by to offer coffee/tea and an apperatif(more $ 6 cognac, please!). We got to talking about when we'd cruise again, and I said that we were saving for Ireland next year.
It turns out he had worked in Dublin for a while at a place called Clarence Hotel(OMG!!!)
He was wondering if we'd heard of it...?
Oh, I'd heard of it alright and I began to tell him of our love for U2 (Bono owns this hotel) and he said, "oh they would come in all the time with their families" and we were happy to find out what nice fellas they are!!! Wait until DD finds this out!

To sum it up :the whole dining experience at Palo exceeded our expectations and we were glad we took the tip and didn't cheap out on this one!

After dinner, we headed down to get changed and meet DD in Parrot Cay with our regular table mates, who had just started dessert. It was almost time for the Til We Meet Again show in the Atrium. This show is not to be missed-especially the meet and greet!
It moved me to tears.
Of course, I'm a big baby when it comes to little kids and make believe, but really it is a sweet ending to a magnificent cruise!
DD was able to get her picture taken with just about everyone, and since it's all happening at the same time, the lines are not too long.

DD was anxious to get to the Vibe for the last night's party. We dropped her off, and headed down to Diversions to see what was going on-NOTHING! I must say that I was disappointed in always missing the good stuff in this bar. Oh well, off we went to Rockin Bar D where they scooped up DH just after we'd sat down, to participate in a dance with 5 other DH's, worthy of a bag of ice between the legs!
They then put on a little skit called If I Were Not Upon The Sea. HILARIOUS!!!

**The entertainment staff are wonderful and work so hard to ensure that you have FUN on your cruise. Especially Tesia, a crowd favourite-but sadly they announced her leaving at this event. She was either being transferred or was finished her contract, I'm not sure. Too bad-she is really, really good at her job!

We had a quick walk around after our nightcap and took the opportunity to take a few shots of the empty atrium, Animator's Palate entrance way and the mural at the back of Lumiere's. We thought the only thing that could top this evening would be a final walk under the stars on Deck 10. The stars complied.
MAGIC!​

 

[jerelle]

Was the Captain up to no good?










Left the little doll in the picture for her mama's perusal!

 

[jerelle]

We LOVED this show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlg1pS9aSNA

 

[TifffanyD]

Ohhhhhhhhhh Scar! I like him!

 

[DisneySilver]

Well since you met me you already know I'm a dumb blonde! Disneysilver can attest to that!!!!

Jerelle

We are thoroughly enjoying your trip report. It really makes me wonder how we could have missed so much. Maybe its because it was our Adults only cruise .
Disney sure made our special Anniversary cruise "Magical" with all their little extras and "daily" surprises as did all the friends and people that we met that week.

It was great to meet you and your family and I hope you are having a easier time keeping track of DH.
Couple "A" J and J

 

[5boyz]

Jerelle

We are thoroughly enjoying your trip report. It really makes me wonder how we could have missed so much. Maybe its because it was our Adults only cruise .
Disney sure made our special Anniversary cruise "Magical" with all their little extras and "daily" surprises as did all the friends and people that we met that week.

It was great to meet you and your family and I hope you are having a easier time keeping track of DH.
Couple "A" J and J

I said the same thing Joanne, we had great fun together but damn did we miss alot...well we will just have to use my kids next year as pawn in our little disney game.....