First-time Dis cruisers 1/31/09 Eastern w/phots, navs, menus-FINAL THOUGHTS 3/21

[candiedoug]

There is no problem. Last year on the Magic, Arnold, our head server ordered one of each dessert on the menu for us. This is a cruise. Eat all you want.

 

[lbgraves]

We normally have not had a problem with doing this and the servers usually encourage it BUT last cruise the server made a big deal about it and sometimes only brought us one thing even when we had asked for two.

 

[OurOhana]

I was wondering if your waiter was nice about you ordering two of something. I did that on our first cruise (Carnival) and the waiter acted like that was not right. Then I did it on (Costa) he asked like I was rude for asking. So I do not like to seem rude or wrong. So that is why I am asking if they make it seem like it is not a big deal. I see some nights I would like two appitizers and no main dish or saddly two desserts

Our server, Toney, was just wonderful. Very nice, efficient and as with most everyone we encountered on the ship - he wanted to make sure we had a great vacation. He often asked what he could do to make that happen. He never blinked when we ordered double of something. We had done the same on our HAL cruises a few years ago, but then I read of many people doing it when I was looking at trip reports on disboards before our cruise. And it really made our trip better. If you'll remember at the beginning of the trip, we had some disappointing meals. By the end, we mixed and matched what we wanted to have a more enjoyable meal.

There is no problem. Last year on the Magic, Arnold, our head server ordered one of each dessert on the menu for us. This is a cruise. Eat all you want.

Arnold sounds great.

We normally have not had a problem with doing this and the servers usually encourage it BUT last cruise the server made a big deal about it and sometimes only brought us one thing even when we had asked for two.

Wow, I can't imagine. I'm curious if you ever said anything about it to him? I wonder why he wouldn't bring two of things.

 

[TammyNC]

Thanks TammyNC. I've been doing the same thing, enjoying the boards to help me pass the time. It helps that we booked late, but I have a feeling I'll have a longer wait next time.

You live in Burlington? I used to live there too. I went to college at Elon (before it was a university) and then worked in Burlington for a few years. I absolutely LOVED Burlington. It's a beautiful area.

Yes, we are in Burlington...I grew up in Gibsonville and my kids went to Elon Elementary for a few years before we started homeschooling. We love the area, it is growing a lot though. We enjoy being just a few hours from the mountains and the ocean.


I am so enjoying your trip report, ours is still a long ways off but I get more and more excited with every report I read.

Can't wait to hear and see more from you.

 

[OurOhana]

So my little one was sick this weekend, and still not up to par this morning. So we've stayed home. And I've had time to do some updating. I might even have Day 6 up today too, depending on how we're doing here.

So here's Day 5 -

When we were planning our cruise, we knew we didn’t want to leave our daughter on the ship for more than one day. No particular reason, other than we wanted to do some family activities. The problem was there aren’t a ton of those excursions for younger children. So we’ll have a blast when she’s a bit older, but for this day, we chose the St. Thomas Tram Ride. It was $18 per adult. DD was free. I can’t remember if the cutoff for free children is 3, her age, or older. I feel like it was older, just not sure.

On this excursion, we just had to walk to our destination, which wasn’t all that far. (There was nothing in writing that told us what to do, so we called down to guest services to ask.) So we walked through a little shopping area and went a few blocks. I’m horrible with distance. I know it took maybe 10 or 15 minutes. And it was a little warm out, but it wasn’t a bad walk. I will say that in this port, we were asked quite a bit about if we wanted a cab or to take a tour. There were a lot of people lining the streets. And there was a lot of traffic near the port. I wasn’t as comfortable here as I had been on St. Croix. It wasn’t bad, but just letting you know for a comparison.

So we got to the tram, which is a skyride. We had quite a few steps to get to the area where we got on the tram. And then we rode up. I’m not really sure how high we got, but it was a pretty view.

At the top, they had some shops. They were pretty cheesy, nothing special there, and no great prices. And then the rain started. So we sat down at a little bar (I think it was also a restaurant, but we just got drinks – and we only did that because it was raining.) As soon as the rain slowed down – we hurried back to the skyride to go back down. And then we caught a cab back, since it was still sprinkling – and I was lazy.

We then grabbed lunch – I think in the room. I believe this is the day after my hubby realized the steak sandwiches on the room service menu were really good. He loved them. So I got one, and he got two. And we got DD either her favorite cheese platter or a hot dog. I can’t remember which. She loved that cheese platter, and I really did too.

After lunch, we took DD to the club, and we decided to go back out for just a little bit to do some shopping. She decided she didn’t want to do the shopping. (And not that she’s horrible to shop with, but I knew it would be easier without her, so I was OK with her staying on the ship.) The shops are right next to the ship – so we weren't far. We got some more shirts – with St. Thomas on them.

Here's the St. Thomas guide you get from the ship

Then we headed back for a late nap. When we got up, we got ready for dinner. DD said she wanted to go to the club. She said she wasn’t hungry. The problem was that the club was at Topsiders at 5:30, I believe, which is when our dinner started. So I told her she had a choice, we could go to dinner with her clubmates, and then go back and play. Or she could have dinner with us. We know she loved the little girl sitting at our table, but she decided to wanted to go to the club.

After dropping her off at Topsiders, we went to Parrot Cay. But our tablemates didn’t show this night. (Remember, we didn’t show the night before.) So it was just me and DH, which was really rather nice.

I had the crab/cheese dip for the appetizer. (I thought it was OK.) And then I had the onion soup, which was surprisingly good. My hubby tried mine, and thought it was good too. I then followed my trend of ordering more than one entrée and got the ribeye of beef (which was sliced beef, not a steak) and the grouper. I ate most of the beef, but only some of the grouper. Both were good though. I thought the beef was the best.

Hubby had the fritters, which were really good. He highly recommended them. I tried them, and agreed. He got the Caesar salad, which he liked again. For his entrees, he also did the beef, plus he did the mixed grill. It had a little of something from different entrees over the last few nights. He liked both, if I remember correctly.

Then I think we both got an ice cream sundae, which was really good.

After dinner, we did some shopping. Then we went to get DD to let her pick out a gift to take back. For a 3-year-old, I thought she did a good job of not wanting everything. She stuck with an Ariel toy, even after looking through everything else. But we took notice of what else she looked at, so we could go back later and get her a little surprise. (We ended up getting me and her matching bracelets, with different charms on them. We both love our little keepsakes from our cruise.)

A nice little note about shopping in the stores. The cast members will deliver your packages to the room later for you. The people who work the shops do the deliveries, so it’s not immediate. But it only took a few hours – and it was nice to shop whenever we wanted and not have to worry about carrying it all around with us. Of course, we didn't need this if we were going back to the room, but other times we didn't want to go back just then.

After shopping this evening, we headed back for bed.

Up next: Our last sea day, palo brunch, Friendship Rocks and more.

 

[lulu0506]

Sounds like your DD really loved the club! I am hoping the same for my DS3. Is your DD completely potty trained? My DS is doing great with the pottty but I am worried he will have trouble doing it all himself when at the club. Were the bathrooms easy for your DD to manage (were the toilets suited for little kids?)

Thanks!!!

 

[OurOhana]

Sounds like your DD really loved the club! I am hoping the same for my DS3. Is your DD completely potty trained? My DS is doing great with the pottty but I am worried he will have trouble doing it all himself when at the club. Were the bathrooms easy for your DD to manage (were the toilets suited for little kids?)

Thanks!!!

She really did love it. It looked like all of the kids were having a blast. Now I will say, my daughter is an extrovert, and used to child care. But she far prefered to be in the club than with us much of the time.
My DD has been potty trained for more than a year. However, the first night she had an accident - just too excited and not wanting to miss out on the action. The counselors were very nice about it. I thought they might question is she was potty trained, but they didn't ask. She never had a problem the rest of the trip.
The counselors aren't allowed to help the kids in the potty in anyway, so they have to do it all on their own. Fortunately, the bathrooms were all kids-sized. They were adorable.
If there's a problem, you could pop by every couple of hours to make sure he's OK. (and to be honest, there's so much to do on the ship, you might find that two hours is as long as he would be there at one time. I can only think of a few times when our DD was in the club longer than 2 or 2 1/2 hours. When were on an excursion off the ship, and the last night are the two that come to mind immediately. But we would get her to eat, or go swimming or see a show, etc.) It might help if you put him in shorts that easy to get on and off himself.
Now my daughter isn't regular about when she has to poop. If she was, I would have made sure I was with her to help with the wiping. She did it herself, but not always great. If by chance your son is one of those who goes at certain times, you just might want to be around during those times if wiping is still an issue.

 

[1stdisneycruise]

We normally have not had a problem with doing this and the servers usually encourage it BUT last cruise the server made a big deal about it and sometimes only brought us one thing even when we had asked for two.

Yes the same here for us. I think this time if that happens I will talk to the head guy. We want great meals like the TR is talking about. That is what we are paying for not feel bad that we want to eat up that is what we like about vacation trying lots of new things . That is why I wanted to ask to make sure that it is ok to do. Thank you for the great waiter that brings two.

Ok only 24 hours to go. We have weighed our selfs and ready to gain weight

I know that sounds weird. But on our first cruise it was a 7 day and a week after we got back I went to this fitness thing and I told them my weight They said why not let us weigh you. I said ok. I was 10 pounds over . Now I had some idea I had gained SOME weight with my pants getting smaller with the sea air
But that is ok I will lose it when I get back.

 

[OurOhana]

Yes the same here for us. I think this time if that happens I will talk to the head guy. We want great meals like the TR is talking about. That is what we are paying for not feel bad that we want to eat up that is what we like about vacation trying lots of new things . That is why I wanted to ask to make sure that it is ok to do. Thank you for the great waiter that brings two.

Ok only 24 hours to go. We have weighed our selfs and ready to gain weight

I know that sounds weird. But on our first cruise it was a 7 day and a week after we got back I went to this fitness thing and I told them my weight They said why not let us weigh you. I said ok. I was 10 pounds over . Now I had some idea I had gained SOME weight with my pants getting smaller with the sea air
But that is ok I will lose it when I get back.

I would agree. Talking with the head waiter would be a good idea if that happens. But it sounds like it's somewhat rare. Hopefully anyway. I would have felt horrible if the waiter had questioned us. What I wish they would do is let you build your own plate - pick the meat, starch, veggie and only add the sauce if you want it. But I know that's a tough thing to do when you're feeding so many people. But often, I only ate the meat off of one plate. In fact, one night my husband asked the waiter in Topsiders to just double the portion of something, rather than bringing out two full plates.

As for losing weight - I say the best trick is to not weigh yourself ahead of time, that way you won't know if you gained or lost weight on the cruise

I hope you have a blast on your cruise. I can't wait to hear about it when you get back.

 

[1stdisneycruise]

I would agree. Talking with the head waiter would be a good idea if that happens. But it sounds like it's somewhat rare. Hopefully anyway. I would have felt horrible if the waiter had questioned us. What I wish they would do is let you build your own plate - pick the meat, starch, veggie and only add the sauce if you want it. But I know that's a tough thing to do when you're feeding so many people. But often, I only ate the meat off of one plate. In fact, one night my husband asked the waiter in Topsiders to just double the portion of something, rather than bringing out two full plates.

I agree with you. I hate wasting but I am there to try new things and I my only wanting the one thing on the plate. But at the same time I also agree that they are prbly premaking the plates so they can get them out as fast as the orders are going in.

I hope to do a great TR but you guys are really good at it.
I hope to figure out how to add photos because that always makes a TR so much better

Ok I am now counting hours and yes I have jumped up and down today like a 9 year old.

tomorrow before we leave. I have a busy day. I have to do all the reg. things and we have to take our puppy to a friends to be watched. You would not think that is a big deal but we got Ramon two months ago (the same time we booked this cruise) from a man that could not keep him. He is only 10 months old and he is the best dog ever. Really.
Plus, we have had some bad luck with dogs. We have got in the past 6 years 4 dogs and they are sick when we get them and die from parvo (sp) or get attacked when we are taking them out in our own back yard by a lose dog. So we are over protective of Ramon. He is small and loves us and tells you when he has to go potty and everything.
So our friends are like yea we will watch your dog not a big deal
But we know they will do a good job and he does not like other dogs and could not go to no dog retreat he would not do well and we would be scared he would get sick Plus he loves the kids and they have 3. We are just hoping he does not forget who we are when we get back

Sorry you had to here my dog worry

 

[OurOhana]

I would agree. Talking with the head waiter would be a good idea if that happens. But it sounds like it's somewhat rare. Hopefully anyway. I would have felt horrible if the waiter had questioned us. What I wish they would do is let you build your own plate - pick the meat, starch, veggie and only add the sauce if you want it. But I know that's a tough thing to do when you're feeding so many people. But often, I only ate the meat off of one plate. In fact, one night my husband asked the waiter in Topsiders to just double the portion of something, rather than bringing out two full plates.

I agree with you. I hate wasting but I am there to try new things and I my only wanting the one thing on the plate. But at the same time I also agree that they are prbly premaking the plates so they can get them out as fast as the orders are going in.

I hope to do a great TR but you guys are really good at it.
I hope to figure out how to add photos because that always makes a TR so much better

Ok I am now counting hours and yes I have jumped up and down today like a 9 year old.

tomorrow before we leave. I have a busy day. I have to do all the reg. things and we have to take our puppy to a friends to be watched. You would not think that is a big deal but we got Ramon two months ago (the same time we booked this cruise) from a man that could not keep him. He is only 10 months old and he is the best dog ever. Really.
Plus, we have had some bad luck with dogs. We have got in the past 6 years 4 dogs and they are sick when we get them and die from parvo (sp) or get attacked when we are taking them out in our own back yard by a lose dog. So we are over protective of Ramon. He is small and loves us and tells you when he has to go potty and everything.
So our friends are like yea we will watch your dog not a big deal
But we know they will do a good job and he does not like other dogs and could not go to no dog retreat he would not do well and we would be scared he would get sick Plus he loves the kids and they have 3. We are just hoping he does not forget who we are when we get back

Sorry you had to here my dog worry

No worries - You're talking to a person with three dogs. We always worry when we leave them - especially when they were new to the family. but I'm sure Ramon will do great, and he'll definitely remember you.

As for the trip report - the best part of these boards is everyone does them a little differently. I've seen people only write a post or two, and others who've written novels. I've enjoyed reading those and everything in between. Even if you don't get a chance to write something, I hope to hear how much you liked it.

As for adding photos, I'm happy to help you figure that out - and I'm sure there are others who are experts on here who could help even more. I've been using photobucket.com. I hadn't heard of it before reading this boards, but I like it. I just move my photos there and then copy them into the report. It doesn't take too long. And I write my stuff in a word document ahead of time. I only learned to do that after losing one of my posts early on because of my computer. It's all trial and error.

Well, by now, you're probably already gone - or at least getting ready. So if you see this - I hope you have a great time!!!

 

[OurOhana]

After a couple of port days, I was looking forward to another sea day. But it didn’t take long for the weather to start getting chilly again. Not that it was that bad, just chillier than it had been when we were in port.

We started our day with room service – as usual. And we got the same stuff as the other days. But we had a light breakfast, because was Palos brunch day.

Then we decided to take DD to Playhouse Disney. We weren’t sure what it was. I was thinking they would have characters from some of her favorite morning Disney shows. But it didn’t. There was a cast member there who led the kids in song and dances from the shows. My DD was only a little into it – she was more interested in playing with the babies in attendance. But she did some dancing.

Then we took her to the club, and we went to see a Question and Answer segment with castmates. It started at 10 a.m. They were all in the shows and it was interesting. Now I wish I took notes, because I don’t remember much of what they told us. But they were great about answering questions. We had to run out a little early in time for our 10:30 brunch at Palos.

Now, I’m glad we tried it, but I wouldn’t need to do the brunch again. I might try dinner one time, just to see. There’s a large buffet for most cold items – There’s plenty of breads and pastries (all fresher than we had most of the week – so pretty good.) There was also quite a bit or fruit, very large shrimp with cocktail sauce. Crab legs and claws. Caviar (Not sure how it was, I don’t like it.) I can’t remember what else, but it was an OK selection. I probably have this opinion because I’ve been to many incredible buffets, and this didn’t qualify as incredible. But it wasn’t bad. The server took us around to show us all of the self-serve items. She then explained that she would get the hot foods for us. Those included pizzas (pretty good) pastas (I had a seafood one, but wasn’t overly impressed with it.) and entrees – We had the Chicken Parmesean, which was good. I think they had veal or something like that, whatever it was – my hubby got it. Anyway, I would have liked to have a beef selection – only because we thought Disney did beef rather well. I assure you we left full, and found plenty to keep us happy. They were very nice in there. It just wasn’t on the top of the list for us.

I’m pretty sure we then went to get DD for lunch (probably room service) and a quick nap. I only say this because I thought we did a nap every day, but it would have had to be a short one because we wanted to go to the 2 p.m. Disney Dreams show.

First, I love that they offered the show earlier. I wish they had done that for the shows on the other sea days. It was just nice, not to feel so rushed at night – and not to have to stay up really late. The show was really wonderful. I think they just got better every night – which is hard to believe since the first one was pretty great too. DD just loved it. In fact, she liked it so much that she wanted to meet Anne Marie (the main character) and Peter Pan the next night. But that story comes later.

After the show, it was time for DD to get back to the club for the rehearsal/prep for the Friendship Rocks show. So while she was in there, we decided to give Bingo a try. It was our first time the entire trip. (We played quite a bit when we were on HAL twice in 2003, but just hadn’t tried here. I saw that it was expensive, and didn’t really want to spend all of our money on that. I think we ended up spending $69 for like 40 some odd cards. They have these electronic holders for the cards and you really have to do nothing. The machine tells you when you’re close to winning and alerts you if you win.

Needless to say, we didn’t win. But it was still fun. The Bingo staff was entertaining. It is something I would recommend trying at least once, if you like that sort of thing.

It wasn’t long after Bingo that it was time for Friendship Rocks. And of course, there’s a story.

So, all of the kids are in shirts – different colors for different ages. Our DD was in a yellow shirt.

They bring the kids in the Walt Disney Theater and get them up on the stage. They're greeted by Mickey and Minnie. Then a couple of the counselors lead the little program, which includes a slideshow of pictures from the cruise.

Anyway, while they’re all on stage, kids and the big mice SMILEY HERE, I’m taking video and DH is taking pictures. And then we see it – DD makes a run for it. She is determined to see Mickey or Minnie. Not sure which, but I have to say, I felt like the counselors turned into the secret service at that point. I don’t mean that in a mean way, it was just funny. The pictures are kind of amusing when they realize she’s running toward them.

(I have to say, the characters always do a good job of staying in character and never trying to shoo a child away. I didn’t think of it until later, but it probably would have freaked my DD out if Mickey had scolded her – not that she didn’t deserve to be scolded for running on stage when she should have been sitting.) Anyway, the counselors quickly got her back to her spot, and kept a hold on her.

(Though I do think she once tried to make a run for the audience. I think she thought she spotted us – but I’m not sure if she really did see us. We weren’t that close.)

Anyway, obviously, we’re going to have to discuss not stalking, hmmm chasing, Disney characters before the next cruise, because she had another problem with this the next night.) Anyway, the program was pretty short – not much to it.

After her show, we headed for dinner.



And then off to dinner.

This time, we were in Animators Palate and it was semi-formal night, which means – LOBSTER.

Yeah, I had decided I would go against my new rule of staying away from seafood and get the lobster. It was a little overcooked, but not bad. And I enjoyed it. I also had the shrimp for an appetizer, which I think I remember was pretty good. And I had the mushroom soup. But to add to my meal tonight, instead of a second regular entrée, I had the risotto off of the vegetarian menu. It was really very good.

DH had the fruit salad, which he liked. He also got the garden salad, which was basic, veal, which was good, and the fettuccini, which was also good, but not as good as the veal.

I believe my daughter had a pizza that night, but it might have been chicken. Not sure. And she may have had a Mickey Ice Cream Bar for dessert - but for the life of me, I can't remember if she went to the club for a while when we waited for our dinner to come (the dinners could last two hours often, just too long for her)

DH and I had came back and we had lava cake for dessert. It was pretty good, which was surprising since we weren’t fairing well on the desserts. But I liked this one.

And we finished it off with a decaf coffee. I started liking finishing dinner off with coffee. It was just relaxing, for some reason to me. Go figure.

After dinner, we wanted to get some more pictures. I know I got DD changed from her earlier show - though I don't remember if did before or after dinner. But we did get a few pics.

(The funny thing about this Tinker Bell pic. They tried to get us all to do this picture a night or two before. But we didn't know it was a Tinker Bell pic. Obviously, a tiny Tinker Bell didn't jump in our DD's hand. So when the guy told us to look at her hands, but didn't say why, we didn't understand. Those pics didn't turn out. But when I saw other Tinker Bell pics, I thought they were cute. So we tried again - just with her this time. Plus, we got some cute pics with our tablemate's daughter.)


And then off to bed we went.

Actually, the more I think of it, maybe we did the pictures after dinner this night. I just can't remember for sure. Maybe my DH will remember later.

We did do most of our packing that night, by the way. It was a suggestion I read on the disboards, to leave us time the last night for more fun things. It was a good idea, and worked out well.

Up next: Chilly day on Castaway Cay, but fun nonetheless. Some tears, but many smiles, as our cruise neared an end.

 

[disneynewbee]

The picture of your dd with Tink is absolutely adorable.

 

[Billinaz]

There is no problem. Last year on the Magic, Arnold, our head server ordered one of each dessert on the menu for us. This is a cruise. Eat all you want.

You must mean this guy... we met him on our very first cruise in 2004 and have always looked for him ever since!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

(The funny thing about this Tinker Bell pic. They tried to get us all to do this picture a night or two before. But we didn't know it was a Tinker Bell pic. Obviously, a tiny Tinker Bell didn't jump in our DD's hand. So when the guy told us to look at her hands, but didn't say why, we didn't understand. Those pics didn't turn out. But when I saw other Tinker Bell pics, I thought they were cute. So we tried again - just with her this time. Plus, we got some cute pics with our tablemate's daughter.)

This photo is absolutely beautiful and so natural.

 

[bonzie1]

Your daughter is precious! LOVE the picture with Tinkerbelle!

 

[fairfax]

Oh my gosh, that picture with Tinker Bell is the cutest thing ever! I'm going to have to see if I can get my DD to do that.

I just wanted to say again how much I've enjoyed your TR and it's helped me pass the time and get even more excited (if possible) for our cruise this Saturday. You've answered so many questions for me with the menus, navigators, St. Croix report, and now the description of Friendship Rocks which I've wondered about. Also, we'll be doing the Palo brunch for the first time ever this cruise. So thank you again! And your DD is so adorable.

 

[LisaSp]

You must mean this guy... we met him on our very first cruise in 2004 and have always looked for him ever since!

We loved Arnold--he was our head server on our cruise last year and he was fantastic.

Enjoying this trip report too--the Tink photo is beautiful!

 

[lbgraves]

That Tink picture with your daughter is priceless!!! I wish they did that when DD was little.

 

[OurOhana]

Thanks everyone for your comments about our Tinker bell picture. It really is a favorite. We have it in a frame on top of the TV now. I know our daughter will love seeing it when she's older.