First Disney Cruise- The Unexpected?

We didn't do a placeholder on the first (boo) and not again on the 2nd because it was an 18month time frame to cruise and we knew we wouldn't be cruising by then. Since then, always booked a placeholder!
 
Castaway was the only thing that surprised me, or rather my reaction to it. I didn't think I wasn't a beach person but being there helped me to see that maybe my issues were the fact that the beach in my previous life had been cold shark-infested Santa Cruz beach with my dad being weird and making us leave after half an hour (except for the day he didn't put sunscreen on me bc it was overcast and we were there for hours and I got what turned out to be the second worst sunburn of my life). So, yeah, issues like that can cause you to think you don't like beaches. But castaway was a warm beach with drinks available and I'm now in charge of my sunscreen lol. :)

And therefore I knew I would enjoy Coco Cay, too. And I did. More so than castaway but castaway still gets credit. Plus they have the not-quite-a-5k.

I was not expecting the "wow" feeling from the cruise. We had cruised RCCL 3 times and they were fine. Every aspect of this first DCL cruise exceeded expectations. It was probably the great service and just Disneys ability to make you feel good that got my attention.

And for me it's the opposite. :)
 
Our 3rd cruise, first with our daughter, I was surprised at how resistant and opposed to Kids Club she was. We'd heard such great things and stories. But ours has had 0 interest twice now.

Next time she'll be in Edge, so more hopeful we get some family and non-family time.
 
I honestly was unprepared for how 'unconnected' electronically my husband and I were on our last cruise. I'm a workaholic and even planned on checking emails etc even though work knew I was on vacation. Ended up my husband and kids really enjoyed seeing me totally relaxed for the first time with not one single care in the world.

I was also shocked at the disney magic that started the night we embarked. Tiana (who is my dd's favorite princess) grabbing my dd5's hand and walking away with her to find a quiet corner to chat and omg my daughter loved it. Right then and there my DH and I looked at each other and said there is NO price tag you can put on that kind of magic. Cant guarantee it will happen again on our next, but who cares, just being on the ship calms our family down.
 


My first Disney cruise was my 15th cruise overall (four other lines). I was completely blown away by the attentiveness of the CMs. One evening I wasn't feeling well, ordered room service, and put out the do not disturb sign. Next morning the room steward appeared as soon as I opened my door to make sure everything was okay. I celebrated a birthday during the cruise and the next day a CM who I had not interacted with (think he must have seen me pass through the atrium) asked me if I had enjoyed my birthday the next day. I absolutely loved the great service!
 
My first Disney cruise was my 15th cruise overall (four other lines). I was completely blown away by the attentiveness of the CMs. One evening I wasn't feeling well, ordered room service, and put out the do not disturb sign. Next morning the room steward appeared as soon as I opened my door to make sure everything was okay. I celebrated a birthday during the cruise and the next day a CM who I had not interacted with (think he must have seen me pass through the atrium) asked me if I had enjoyed my birthday the next day. I absolutely loved the great service!
We always feel like our room steward and servers are supper attentive and seem very happy to be part of the crew. For whatever reason, I dont always get that feeling from the drink servers that work the deck or the beaches on CC. Seems we always try to get sold drink and beer packages day one and the rest of the cruise, they seem less than enthusiastic about their job. Maybe others dont agree but just my opinion.
 


We had done a number of cruises on other lines, before I took my extended family on the Disney Cruise a couple years ago. One of the things that I remember is that Disney really understands how to move people around. I don't recall it being too crowded, and I don't recall standing in line. My wife and I agree that the food was better than any of our previous cruises on other lines and we both really like the way we are treated on the Disney Cruise by cast members and the like. We like a rear facing balcony and had it on that cruise, and I spent a lot of time out there as I tend to be a bit of an introvert. For our upcoming cruise in Feb 2018, we again have the aft cabin, but have already been in touch with a BUNCH of other people on social media who are on the cruise with us. There are lots of plans for outings, and meets and all of those things that can make a cruise fun, including "BAR WARS" a Star Wars Day at Sea themed pub crawl through all the drinking establishments on the Fantasy. We are REALLY looking forward to this next Disney Cruise and feel it's well worth the cost of admission. I love Castaway Cay, we have been on a number of private islands and the Disney island is the best, hands down. Everything is just better on Disney.
 
Not from my first cruise, but this past week on the fathom Adonia made me realize how much I appreciate the little things on DCL and how having been away for 2 years made me see the Adonia in a better light over Christmas.

Not sure if that's clear...

When I went on the Adonia at Christmas I was so happy to be going to Cuba and to be back at sea in the Caribbean (it had been almost 2 years - with RCCL Alaska and Med cruises thrown in - since the Caribbean and DCL) that I overlooked a lot of little things. Went on the Magic in Feb and remembered why I cruised DCL. Just went on the Adonia again last week and little things just loomed this time - putting aside the lack of varied and good GF options, there was carpeting on the stairs that pulled free from the edge binding (a safety hazard if ever I have seen one) that went totally ignored for two days and then they tried to "fix" it with a 2-inch piece of packing tape; and then the last day even knowing I was coming back to brush my teeth and get my luggage my cabin steward went in and not just stripped the bed but made it up for the next cruise while I was at breakfast (and there were about 10 empty cabins in his section last week so it isn't like he had to do anything to them but dust)!! Being back on DCL made me that much more critical of "little" things that I was willing to let slide with not so fresh a memory of DCL.
 
Surprised by the little things that you don't expect. Sat on our veranda in the Caribbean once and saw sailfish skipping across the waves and dolphins. On our Med. cruise last Sept. we couldn't dock in Monte Carlo (too rough for tendering) and DCL got permission to dock the next (At Sea) day in Marseilles, France, arranged a dozen excursions (took one to Avignon and winery that we loved), set up a bunch of activities for our new At Sea day and let everyone on board know about all this within maybe three hours. Also, realizing that the cast member in charge of your safety drill on day 1 is one you will see as a thug in the Tangled show at night, an escort for one of the princess appearances and someone you can talk to in the hallway about his life & future. We also love door decorations (very creative) and giving a bit of pixie dust (glow sticks, candy) to FE kids without being in a FE group. Lastly, never expected to own a pirate costume with parrot or realize I am singing "Hi Ho, Hi Ho" in the hallways on the way to dinner. Never expected all the fun!!!
 
On my first Disney cruise I was amazed when, on the last night, the Assistant Cruise Director told me there were over 900 children on the cruise. I sure didn't see many of them...
 
I expected my kids to be blown away by the club/lab and want to spend all their time there. My older one HATED it and my younger one tolerated it because of the unlimited screen time. It just wasn't for them and I had to bribe them to go so my husband and I could get some alone time by the adult pool. I still feel guilty about it! Next time I would never send them when one side was closed for an open house (the noise level and chaos was unreal) or choose a cruise line with a more structured kids club.
 
Our 3rd cruise, first with our daughter, I was surprised at how resistant and opposed to Kids Club she was. We'd heard such great things and stories. But ours has had 0 interest twice now.

Next time she'll be in Edge, so more hopeful we get some family and non-family time.

My daughter never liked any of the kids clubs -- and she sailed during all three age changes. She hated the teen club and just liked hanging out in window cubbies and drawing and reading and hanging out with us.


I didn't realize that cruising would cause so much damage to my fingernails!!! Well it wasn't the cruising so much as the crew having to pry my hands off the ship on disembarkation day!!

:lmao: I cried after our first cruise after we got off the ship.

My biggest surprise really was that I didn't get seasick! We only booked a 4-night because none of us were sure we wouldn't get seasick. I was surprised I not only didn't get seasick, but couldn't wait to get right back on for another cruise! Really made me wonder why we waited so dang long to cruise! I guess we had to wait until Disney came out with their own brand to give us the confidence.
 
I was surprised by how easy it is to pick up a stomach bug on a cruise ship. It hadn't really been something I've dealt with before. I ended up so sick on the last couple of days of the cruise. Never again. Moving forward I stopped using the wipes they hand out, became more vigilant about washing my hands instead and not touching anything I don't have to. Thankfully, it's only been that first cruise on DCL that I've experienced a stomach virus - and not on any of my subsequent 15+ cruises.
 
I do think that while there are some who do legitimately get seasick, a lot of people worry needlessly about it and perhaps could actually make themselves get seasick because they are hyper-focused on it whereas if they just didn't focus on it they *might* not get seasick at all.
 
My biggest surprise was how truly magical a Disney Cruise is. I had been on other cruise lines, and I expected to have a wonderful time, and even to feel SOME Disney magic, but the magic on a Disney Cruise is unparalleled. Without question, it was the best vacation of my life and I can't wait until our next one. I literally cried myself to sleep the last night onboard knowing I had to debark in the morning and the whole family was seriously depressed all of debarkation day.
 
I didn't expect to get involved in an FE. I had never heard of one before I joined a meet group on these boards. Next thing I knew I was organising it! I had never even done one! I only did a small one but really enjoyed it plus I meet a really good friend I still am in contact with weekly to this day!
 
I was surprised by how easy it is to pick up a stomach bug on a cruise ship. It hadn't really been something I've dealt with before. I ended up so sick on the last couple of days of the cruise. Never again. Moving forward I stopped using the wipes they hand out, became more vigilant about washing my hands instead and not touching anything I don't have to. Thankfully, it's only been that first cruise on DCL that I've experienced a stomach virus - and not on any of my subsequent 15+ cruises.

Please wash hands vigilantly and use the wipes.
 
On my first Disney cruise I was amazed when, on the last night, the Assistant Cruise Director told me there were over 900 children on the cruise. I sure didn't see many of them...
On my first Disney cruise I was amazed when, on the last night, the Assistant Cruise Director told me there were over 900 children on the cruise. I sure didn't see many of them...

On our EBTA last Sept. we found that only 200 kids were on the Magic. Talk about hardly seeing/hearing any rugrats, wow! They had to really scrounge to find them for some of the stage shows at night.
 

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