Now that I've talked about all the bad stuff, let's move on to the good.
The Pros:
1) I'll begin the list with something I wouldn't have expected to make a difference. And that was the character interactions. Before this trip, Alex and I could've cared less about meeting Mickey and Minnie or high-fiving Goofy. That was just never our thing. We figured we'd get around to it when we had kids and wanted photo ops with them.
Well, as we were waiting in the port terminal, there was a short line for Minnie Mouse, so we both said, "Why not?" and got our pictures taken. Then, a few days later, as we were walking to the show, I saw Dopey and Snow White and convinced myself to take a photo.
After that, we just kept taking more and more. But only because the lines were non-existent. We never waited longer than fifteen minutes (and that was when Minnie and Mickey were all decked out in their formal wear.) The same CMs monitored the lines, and Alex and I got to know them and joked around with a few of them.
In addition to the absurdly short lines, I absolutely loved the interactions, because the characters were so spontaneous and involved. When Alex and I met Chip and Dale, they spent five minutes with us, goofing around, trying to steal me away, hugging us. And the CM holding our camera caught it all!
Dopey planked for the kids in line. (He laid down on a little cocktail table and balanced himself. I'm sure it couldn't have been an easy task for the person inside.) Stitch walked behind me once and grabbed my head. I saw Tiana walk through Shutters (the photo store) sit down by the stairs with a little girl, and start talking about her dress.
The best had to be, though, when we were playing one the two dozen trivia contests. Donald Duck randomly walked into the room and began running the show. He pretended to puke at Hilary Duff's name, told a CM to go to the bar and get him a drink, and imitated throwing a pen at another CM's neck. (Don't worry, there weren't any young children in the room to scare.) Then, when my team (Shannonan and her husband and the two of us) won Donald refused to give us our prize bag. He kept running off with it.
Like I said, I'm not a big character person, but I have to admit, the cruise made them easily accessible and gave everybody (young and old) and chance to spend time with them.
2) The next is, of course, the food. How could that have NOT made the Pros list? The most important thing about this cruise, for me, was that I was able to try new things. For Alex, he got to eat his fill of seafood. He had shrimp almost every day and lobster 3 times.
I tried French Onion Soup, which was delicious and an aged mozzarella appetizer, which was definitely not delicious. I also found my new favorite soup: the chilled mango. I ordered it during lunch AND dinner, just because I had to have it again.
(This is the chocolate soufflé from Palo.)
3) Next up, which certainly deserves the number 3 spot is the cast members. I know Disney is known for their exceptional staff, but they take it up another notch on the cruise. Everyone there works so hard, and they always have a smile waiting for you.
Our server and assistant server, Romain and Dubravka, were forever making us laugh and giving us tips. We received some sort of mind puzzle every night, that had four adults scratching their heads and going, "Huh?"
Our stateroom host, Marvin, remembered our name after hearing it once, and he figured out our little quirks (like wanting 2 stateroom navigators) immediately.
Then, the entertainment staff...they were something else. TJ, who sometimes headed the trivias, recognized us, and Alex would always shout out, "Hey TJ!" And then they would high five each other. Tisa, the adult entertainment director, was one of the friendliest and funniest people on the ship. You couldn't be in the same room with her for more than five minutes before she was making you laugh so hard your sides hurt.
And all the officers we encountered were nice enough. One stopped and offered to take Alex"s and my's picture, another stopped and spoke with us one night before dinner. We even spoke briefly with Captain John (the head guy) while we both waited for an elevator.
Number 4: The entertainment. You couldn't find better Disney-related shows (unless you were actually at WDW). Twice Charmed and Villains Tonight were funny and captivating, but my favorite was Disney Dreams. I could have watched that show over and over again. The greatest thing about all the shows were, Alex and I always managed to find a seat in the first five rows of the theater without trying.
They also had a juggler and a magician on the cruise. Their family shows were cute, but their adult shows were their hits. Alex and I couldn't stop laughing at their jokes. We'd sit down to watch them, and before we knew it, an hour had passed and the act was over.
Even some of the dinners had little shows attached to them. Animator's Palate (which is, by far, the coolest restaurant ever) had the pictures change as we ate, then Mickey in his sorcerer's outfit came out and danced around the room to Fantasmic. On the last night, all the servers walked around the room carrying their country's flag and clapped to "It's a Small World" which was actually kind of touching. We spent all week getting to know our servers, their country, their traditions, and the song reminded us of how we're all the same.
(Twice Charmed)
(Villains Tonight)
(Disney Dreams)
5)Palo. Oh, how I could write sonnets about the amazingness that is Palo. The food, the service, the setting...it was one of the most romantic dinners Alex and I have ever shared. The sad thing was, we barely noticed, because we were both so engrossed in our food. If I had to pick one last dessert to eat, I would choose the chocolate soufflé. I don't even like chocolate that much! But this just melts in your mouth. Our server made it even more fun by making us close our eyes, make a hole in the middle of it with our spoon, and make a wish by "filling" it up with the sauces.
If I had all day, I'd go on and on about this place. I didn't even mention the brunch! We had brunch with a group of DISboarders and it was wonderful. Two hours passed before we even knew what had happened. The servers and chefs came and talked with us and we got to know them a little bit while we enjoyed our buffet choices. Mmmmm... I need to move on.
6)I'm throwing this one in here as a little aside...but the other DISboards people were definitely a Pro. If anyone ever does a
Disney cruise, I highly recommend finding their ship on the Cruise Meets thread. Alex and I didn't sign up for Fish Extenders or anything, but it was still a lot of fun running into a familiar face on the cruise. (Plus, all our questions were answered beforehand.) We were on the boat maybe an hour and a half before ColoradoDisneyFreak (Jennifer) and her daughter, Jillian, ran into us. Then, we met everyone at a meet and saw them all the time around the ship.
Plus, we met another couple honeymooning and they turned out to be very cool people. Shannonan (Shannon and Dan) We ended up hanging out with them a lot on the ship and teamed up for all the games and activities. We ended up having to borrow their lint roller, because we forgot ours.
It was nice knowing someone else on the ship and having someone to share crazy dinner stories with, and if we hadn't gone on the cruise, Alex and I would never have talked with them.
7) And, last but not least:
Castaway Cay. (Queue the clouds opening up to allow rays of sunshine to shoot downwards and angels to start singing hymns in the sky.) When we got there, it was too cold to do anything. Alex and I were in jackets and pants, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the beauty of the Bahamas. We spent the day relaxing at Serenity Bay, the adult's only beach (which I kept calling Paradise) and wandering around the island. The place was magnificent; I didn't want to leave. I kept telling Alex (and anyone who would listen) that Disney needed to do a 4 day cruise and just dock at Castaway Cay and stay there. I would have no qualms whatsoever with spending day after day on that island.
It was kind of ironic, because up until our CC day, I swore to Alex that I was not going on another cruise, that nothing he could do or say would change my mind. And then, I see Castaway and my whole mind changes. That island is cruisings redeeming quality, for me. I can't say I'll never cruise again, because that would mean I would never see that little place again, and that would be a small tragedy.
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr
