First Trip to the Med (Complete)

[heapies926]

Thanks so much for posting! My husband and I are thinking about booking this as our next cruise. Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Das1990]

Brittany this is so nice!

 

[Das1990]

 

[remlap]

Subscribing. We're on the cruise next year, and already trying to figure out how many Hard Rock Cafes can be squeezed into the trip.

 

[m3owbox]

Day 2 (Disney Day) Continued

So about our room, we weren't even planning on cruising this year. Then one day, 91 days prior to sail date to be exact, I was playing around and checking prices online. When I saw a reasonably priced Med cruise I jumped on it. I ran over to work (we havnt even moved into our house yet) and made sure I could have those dates off. Then when that was set I made the phone call to Disney. So soon after that we were booked into an IGT with restrictions. That's an interior room guarantee. About a week prior to sailing we finally got our room number, and we got upgraded! We were placed on the first floor, with two small port hole windows. It was so nice to have a view. I was worried to be so low on the ship but, we loved being on the first floor as well, it was so quiet! And I mean quiet! Hardly anyone in the hallway since it had a smaller number of rooms. And we were very close to the forward elevator.

Back to cruise stuff! It was time and the room were opened up. After lunch we made our way down to our room so we cold put our carry ons down (and trust me they needed to be put down, I had only packed my stuff in my carry on. I still don't know how but I had managed to make all my clothes, hair stuff and makeup fit into a backpack!). We opened the door to our room and it was amazing. Very clean and everything I remember sailing on Disney.

Here is DH and our little port holes.

For our castaway gift we got a nice blue backpack. After everything was set down on the bed we took a little break put the TV on and watched Dumbo while we waited for the drill. I think we also ordered the all hands on deck platter, because we love cheese . At one point we did more exploring (and to sign up for the chocolate and liquor tasting and see what other tasting offerings there were) and saw most of the ship then went back into the room to wait for the drill as I always feel weird walking around the boat prior to the drill. Signing up for the tasting was very easy and we were told what all the offerings were available. We ended up only doing the chocolate and liquor though.

When the drill sounded off it seemed to be shorter to me, the alarm only went off once, and didn't continue sounding. So we proceed to our muster station which was in the Walt Disney Theatre. All of our group arrived on time but there we six families missing on other parts of the ship, so we had to wait a while in the theatre. After they let us out we went right up on deck to get a spot for the Adventures Away party.

Here is a picture facing towards northern Barcelona. For reference Downtown and the Gothic Quarter would be to the left of the picture.

We got a great spot for the Adventures Away party on the 10th floor, so we were looking down onto the stage. I don't know if you can tell from this picture but our cruise didn't have many children on it at all. At least not compared to other cruises.

The show was really cute and I'm sure DH will never go to another one ever again, I'll tell you why in a second. The adult entertainment manager (I think that's the title) her name is Jo, and Jo is absolutely amazing and I hope she's still there in June when we sail to Norway. Anyways, she was in charge of the party and was getting everyone to dance along. Well DH wasn't dancing. And Jo saw him not dancing, so she said everyone has to dance until the guy in the grey shirt with the glasses and hat up there starts dancing. Everyone was dancing for a while because DH was so mortified and never danced lol. Then she said everyone on the ship now has to do the wave because the guy in the grey shirt with the glasses and the hat ob deck 10 never danced. Well DH decided to do the wave and Jo was happy and said now we can continue. Haha! DH always seems to get called out everywhere we go, probably because he does'nt dance. The party was really cute as usual and the horns sounding off made me tear up.

We went and found us some drink of the days and waited for sail away. It seems like we set off a little late because we didn't leave for another 30 minutes.

This one was pretty neat because we actually backed up out of the port. We skipped the show tonight because we wanted to relax. We were trying to take selfies in front of the Mikey atrium statue and a young girl came out of dinner and took my favorite picture of the trip.

We stumbled across a family game show in Fathoms. It was a scavenger hunt for families and we sat and watched. It was very very funny. We went back to the room to get ready for dinner and our bed was already made up. Below is a picture of the bed after DH flopped down on it before I could snap a picture. Our first towel animal!

I do not have any more pictures from this night so I apologize. We had dinner in Lumiere's. We never requested to be seated alone because we were very open to meeting some people to hang out with as it was just us on this sailing. We were shown to our table, which already had one couple seated at it and there were 4 more open spots after we sat down. After we got seated with the rest of our table mates (two more couples). They were all amazing. We ended up being so happy to have not requested a table by ourselves! I don't think our table mates could have been cooler honestly. Everyone was around the same age. Our server and assistant server were a little quiet this night (I don't think they had time to get any words in because our table was talking so much lol).

DH and I got the 4 night wine package, which I thought was just going to be me using it, but Dh wanted some every night so that would mean no reds allowed haha. We got the classic package which is the cheaper option. And tonight we went with a Pinot Grigio. Tonight was a standard rotational menu. For appetizers I got the fried brie, and the French onion soup. For my entree I got the crispy roasted duck breast. Dessert of course for both of us was the Grand Mariner soufflé, which is always a favorite!

After dinner the whole table decided to go down to Keys for some drinks. So we had a few drinks and talked a bit more. DH and I headed off to bed around 12:30. We had such an amazing time so far and it was only the first day of the cruise.

 

[elena_n2o]

Following

Did that itinerary a couple of weeks before you (we were on the 27/08 sailing), and I would have loved to stay onboard to do it all over again...

We did Norway last year, it was amazing!!

 

[linetbo]

We are doing Norway next year too!!!!

 

[m3owbox]

We are doing Norway next year too!!!!

Oh awesome! I'm so excited for it. It will be nice because my parents and sister are coming and I don't get to see them that much. DH is mostly Norwegian and he's been wanting to go for quite some time, and it will be even betting going there with Disney.

Following

Did that itinerary a couple of weeks before you (we were on the 27/08 sailing), and I would have loved to stay onboard to do it all over again...

We did Norway last year, it was amazing!!

I cannot wait. What was your favorite thing that you did there?

 

[Flossbolna]

We did Norway in 2015 as well. It is an amazing itinerary. We loved being able to explore the ports on our own mostly as everything was so close to the ship.

My favorite thing was the hike we did in Geiranger. We just started out from the ship and hiked up the mountain to a waterfall and an overlook. Back down we got some amazing Norwegian pastries from a bakery in the village as a treat. My sister was going to write a trip report about our cruise, but never got past the introductory post. I am thinking about finishing it for her now that my trip report from last summer is nearly over...

 

[elena_n2o]

I cannot wait. What was your favorite thing that you did there?

Hard to say, everything was really special!! The ports are all very different. We did half day excursions in most ports, so that we had time to explore the towns on our own (except in Bergen where we were free all day).

Geiranger is definitely the place not to miss. We didn't get up early to see the ship entering the fjord (if I ever do the cruise again I will definitely do that!) but we stayed up on deck 10 when we were leaving, it was really something.

We also loved the Sunmore Museum, in Alesund, it was beautiful there!

It was really an amazing holiday

 

[m3owbox]

We did Norway in 2015 as well. It is an amazing itinerary. We loved being able to explore the ports on our own mostly as everything was so close to the ship.

My favorite thing was the hike we did in Geiranger. We just started out from the ship and hiked up the mountain to a waterfall and an overlook. Back down we got some amazing Norwegian pastries from a bakery in the village as a treat. My sister was going to write a trip report about our cruise, but never got past the introductory post. I am thinking about finishing it for her now that my trip report from last summer is nearly over...

Hard to say, everything was really special!! The ports are all very different. We did half day excursions in most ports, so that we had time to explore the towns on our own (except in Bergen where we were free all day).

Geiranger is definitely the place not to miss. We didn't get up early to see the ship entering the fjord (if I ever do the cruise again I will definitely do that!) but we stayed up on deck 10 when we were leaving, it was really something.

We also loved the Sunmore Museum, in Alesund, it was beautiful there!

It was really an amazing holiday

We are most excited for Geiranger. We want to try to do the kayaking I think.

 

[m3owbox]

Day 3 Day at Sea

This morning I had booked the Disney Character Breakfast, so we were up early enough for that. Our time 9:30.

Here's our day at sea Navigator.

We made our way to breakfast at Animators Palette. We were guided to a confused looking line and then led into the restaurant. We were seated at one end of an eight top, with two people at the opposite end of it, the didn't seem very happy to have anyone else at their table with them. So we just kept to ourselves. It was awkward as they asked to be moved. We were so far away from them lol.

The breakfast was actually quite disappointing. This is the one time on the ship that I was not happy with a meal, and I got an omelette which isn't something that is too hard to mess up... I know we are two adults at a character breakfast but I was expecting character interactions to be more along the lines of what you get in Disney World. The characters were Mickey, Goofy and Minnie. And the breakfast was very rushed. There was no character interaction at all. They would come over and take a picture. We could barley get a wave... I would understand if the restaurant was full and they had to get around to all those tables, but the restaurant was only about 1/4 full. So I wouldn't do this again. I even saw them rushing the characters through tables with children, so it seemed no one in the whole restaurant was getting a character for any longer than a quick photo.

After that interesting breakfast we had a bit of time to spare before our princess gathering. DH went down to the room to get a shower since he hadn't woken up early enough for one. And I waited out on deck 4 in a lounge chair. Deck 4 is a really great place to just sit back and relax.

Dh came back and it was on to our princess gathering. We were there right on time and let in line. We only waited about 5 minutes to get to the first princess which was Belle. Belle is my favorite and this Belle was very interactive and a delight to talk to.

After Belle, we met with Rapunzel. This Rapunzel was just amazing. She was so in character and one of the best interactions I've ever had. After her we met with the final pricess which was Cinderella. Cinderella was a total let down after meeting with two amazing princesses. She was basically like hi come get a picture and leave. Didn't even say anything to us except hi. So it made me a little sad for a while.

I wish they would have had Tiana. I've yet to get a picture with Tiana and The Princess and the Frog is such a great movie.

There was a presentation for Pompeii this morning and we thought it sounded really interesting. We were most excited for Pompeii so we wanted to learn as much about it as we could. We made our way down to the Buena Vista Theatre and so did a lot of people because there were a ton of people standing outside waiting for the doors to open. After the doors opened we sat down and shortly after almost the whole theatre filled up! There were some people standing in the back.

Unfortunately I forget the name of the speaker but we both thought he was very very good. It was a great presentation, and we were glad we went.

Next stop was right to Jack Jacks Diaper Dash. In case you don't know, it is where they race babies. DH thought the idea of it was a little weird. But after watching it he enjoyed it. There was one little baby dressed up as Donald Duck.

Soon after we headed up on deck 9 to get some coffee or whatnot. We were supposed to be sailing through the Straight of Bonifacio shortly and we wanted to be on deck for that. We stopped at Cove Cafe.

I got some kind of latte and DH got this awesome iced tea. It was peach chipotle, and it actually had quite a bit of heat to it. It was very good. I would recommend it for anyone who isn't afraid of spice. We sailed through the straight and I could have sworn I had pictures but I cannot find them! We had some chicken fingers for lunch and hung out.

Up next, Open Bars and Captains Receptions...

 

[elena_n2o]

We though the same thing about the character breakfast!! I was a bit disapointed by the whole thing, service was rushed and not as good as elsewhere (we're still waiting for my daughter's chocolate milk), and the characters interaction was close to non-existent. My daughter did enjoy it, I admit, but I thought it could have been a bit better... I much preferred meeting the characters elsewhere.

Sounds like a very relaxed first day!!

 

[Rabb it]

Very cool so far! Great read

 

[GrantFam]

Great trip report so far! We will be on the May 28, 2017, sailing to Northern Europe which will be our first cruise. We are discussing doing a 2018 medditerranean cruise so I'm really enjoying your report!

 

[Flossbolna]

Sounds like you got a good sea day morning after the rocky start with the character breakfast! I have never been to one, but sounds like I did not miss much.

I love it that they have those talks on the ports in Europe, I wish they did this for the Caribbean, too. San Juan would have been great to get to know some history about, or Jamaica.

Isn't deck 4 magical? Definitely one of my top three spots on the ship! And a reason why I don't need a verandah.

 

[linetbo]

Great trip report so far! We will be on the May 28, 2017, sailing to Northern Europe which will be our first cruise. We are discussing doing a 2018 medditerranean cruise so I'm really enjoying your report!

We were on the Northern Europe cruise this year, it was good. We did a private tour in ST Petersburg that was my favorite port and tour.

 

[cheermom2four]

Yeah I remember the character breakfast on our Western cruise on Fantasy last month and it was a cluster to say the least. We wont be doing it again.

 

[m3owbox]

We though the same thing about the character breakfast!! I was a bit disapointed by the whole thing, service was rushed and not as good as elsewhere (we're still waiting for my daughter's chocolate milk), and the characters interaction was close to non-existent. My daughter did enjoy it, I admit, but I thought it could have been a bit better... I much preferred meeting the characters elsewhere.

Sounds like a very relaxed first day!!

I laughed pretty good at the part where you're still waiting for your daughters milk. The character interactions were much better around the ship.

Very cool so far! Great read

Thank you! It really means a lot. I've never written one before and was hoping I wouldn't bore you all.

Great trip report so far! We will be on the May 28, 2017, sailing to Northern Europe which will be our first cruise. We are discussing doing a 2018 medditerranean cruise so I'm really enjoying your report!

I would love to do Northern Europe one day! You will have an amazing time. I'm glad you're enjoying!

Sounds like you got a good sea day morning after the rocky start with the character breakfast! I have never been to one, but sounds like I did not miss much.

I love it that they have those talks on the ports in Europe, I wish they did this for the Caribbean, too. San Juan would have been great to get to know some history about, or Jamaica.

Isn't deck 4 magical? Definitely one of my top three spots on the ship! And a reason why I don't need a verandah.

I've never been to one of those talks before this cruise, they're so cool though. I love learning about history and such. They give you so much information on history and places to go and eat and things to look for, I loved it. Too bad we could only get to one with our schedules though. And I also love deck four. It's very relaxing.

We were on the Northern Europe cruise this year, it was good. We did a private tour in ST Petersburg that was my favorite port and tour.

I would love to go to St Petersburg one day. It looks amazing from pictures.

Yeah I remember the character breakfast on our Western cruise on Fantasy last month and it was a cluster to say the least. We wont be doing it again.

I think I would rather sleep in next time.

 

[Alohagirl73]

Really enjoying your report. Hoping to do Med cruise soon. Thank you for sharing your trip and pictures!!!

We did the British Isles earlier in the summer. We loved Belle. She was terrific with my 5 year old. Sorry about Cinderella. We had same but she was so great and really interacted well with not only my 5 year old but got my 1 one year old to come over and participate (we have great photos!).