Grades for the June 24 double dip

[disgal1]

My trip report, a little different because I hate to type. Quick info to help people plan their upcoming cruise.

Please remember these are my opinions, I'm sure many may disagree one way or the other.

background info....Cast of characters...myself, DH, DS(17). We are traveling with another couple from home and their sons. They have their 2 sisters families traveling with them. So we were a large group!

Spent first 4 days at Beach Club Villas , had a blast! loved BCV....A
DAY 1
Embarkation. Very smooth, only took us 1 hour to get there from WDW. We were late however, had to take oldest DS to airport to head home. arrived at Port around 1100. we were in group 17. DH dropped us and lluggage off, then returned car to Budget. We had filled all forms online, and all had passports. took about 3 minutes once we got to desk. Got great pix with Capt. Mickey.

Disney embarkation process A
Didn't like our dinner rotation We wanted APL, got PAL. Very tired of Parrot Cay by the end of our cruise. We requested APL months ago, talked to alot of people who got APL, none requested it.....so lesson on this, I won't request next time!! Don't get me wrong, it isn't that we dislike PC, it's just we would have preferred AP.if we were going to see so much of it.

Went up to deck 10 for dismeet, hi to all the dissers....Lorrie did a fabulous job of getting everyone together! Met a lot of dissers onboard, a lot of fun!

Dinner was ok, overall not impressed with any of the meals except Palo. ( A) THis is our third Disney cruise, and the food has gone down.
Wasn't bad, just not as good. this really was the only negative on the entire cruise to us......hate to do this, but food overall gets a C. as an average. a couple of things were a's but there were a few F's as well

Our server was Maria and (can't remember the assistant) SHe was excellent! really took care of us! A+

The night we ate in Lumieres's, I should have complained. talked to a couple people the next day who did, and the chef came out and spoke with them, and made them something else.

Lesson here, if you get something you don't like, don't be shy, be nice, but do tell the server. Get something you enjoy!

Went to welcome aboard show, loved it, I' ll give all of the entertainment an A
It was much better than I expected. Cried at most of them( a happy cry) loved Mike Super, and all of the performers.

Tired of 70's nite. wish they had a latin dance night with latin dance lessons.Had that on Norwegian , it was a blast!!

stayed out till about midnight, great first day! our luggage was in the room by 4pm, we brought a ton!! it all fit just fine. plenty of room for everything especially with the shoe holder for the little stuff.
room steward was Restu..A+ he was fantastic!!!!!!!

Also before I forget.....bring a sweater!!!!!!!!!!!!! I took my little french terry white zip up jacket out before the cruise, and was wishing I had it every day!!
They don't sell any white sweater type clothes in the gift shop.( 1 pullover sweatshirt) I was COLD a few nights!!!!

Also, I brought 2 hats and wore the daylights out of them!!!! don't forget a hat!!


Things I brought I used the most
Hat
sunscreen ( a 45,, a couple of 30's)
over the door shoe holder could have used 2. kept misplacing phone chargers and sunglasses
bug spray at costa maya and jeep tour at cozumel
disposable cameras, both underwater 3 and regular for DS 2
Moisturizer and chap stick!!!
strap on tevas
lite up travel clock
waterproof watch
white photomat for character signatures....turned out great!
oust mini spray for bathroom
I made a laundry ziploc, 2 premeasured bags of tide, 2 dryer sheets, mini mm container of quarters. Did 2 loads on sea day 2, only because the smell of DS dirty clothes was getting to me!
ZIPLOC bags, you can't have enough!


Things I didn't use
duct tape,
any wash in the sink stuff
sea lice lotion
sea sick meds, or any meds other than advil. ( but I still would bring meds every time just in case)
most of the clothes I brought!! way overpacked!

end of day 1.

 

[disgal1]

Castaway Cay....what can I say about heaven on earth....A+!
DS did stingrays, DH and I snorkled in the lagoon. I kept having calf and toe cramps, lifeguard told me to take my fins off, it is along way back without fins !! great snorkling though, we went out as far as you can. saw the 20,000 leagues sub, it was fantastic! snorkled for about 2 hours. we brought our own gear.

went over to Serenity bay, used our 2 day floats, and had the best time!!
cheeseburgers and steak for lunch.

headed back very late,

heads up!!!!! the swim vest they make you wear while snorkling, ruined my bathing suit!! pulls like velcro does all over my suit. wear a t shirt or an old suit!!!!

back on board at 4, mailed post cards from the castaway cay post office.
went to rainforest A+ for about an hour, then dressed for Palo A

had a blast after Palo, went to show, went up to deck 10. lovely evening.
haven't seen much of DS! He's having a ball!

end of day 2

I took lots of pix, but used both digital, my 35mm and disposables.
my digitals are here http://community.webshots.com/user/Noletucker78
hope that works...they uploaded to webshots poorly. they turned out much better when I printed them out from my camera. anyway, you can get somewhat of an idea. didn't take any of cozumel with digital. or formal night, took the 35mm for some stupid reason that night.

 

[disgal1]

another winner!
Beautiful weather so far.
ordered coffee from room service before bed, it was still hot! not great tasting, but hot and good enough for 6 am! sat on the verandah watching dolphins swim by!!

never heard a sound from the cabins next to me. also, never had any issues with smoking. only place I noticed it was right outside Cove Cafe.

Cove Cafe A Patrick made the best large cappuchino with double shot espresso , for me every morning. I was there when he opened!

Oh the internet....what a mess!!! give that a D! I actually fell asleep while trying to log on! when near the bahamas it worked fine, but near mexico, no luck. Guest services was very good about it. after trying 15 minutes to get to my email with no luck at .75 a minute, we went to GS. they credited our account. GS gets an A

Did rainforest again....loved it

unable to get Palo brunch online. when got onboard, put on a waitlist...they called sunday night for a 10 am mon spot, but since we had eaten at Palo the night before, we passed. we weren't hungry till the afternoon!!!

formal night was fun, ordered cheese and cracker tray (small but good) had wine on verandah and took pictures.!

stayed out late, got in hot tub after dinner......just such a nice day!!

Movies playing for adults could have been much better, give the movies B

ordered my coffee, and 3 PBJ uncrustables and cookie ( for Costa Maya ruins tour next day) off to bed.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Wow what awesome pictures you took of CC! Thank you so much for the beginning of what seems to be a great cruise report.

I am so looking forward to my upcoming cruise, although I have been on a 4 day back in 2004, feels so new and exciting to know all the fun I am going to have for 7 WHOLE days.

 

[disgal1]

I have mixed grades on this one......we split up into 3 groups.
Got off the ship with group 1 at 800 am. went straight to Cats Meow...it was FANTASTIC!! we felt like we were in a corona commercial! beautiful water, great people. hung out there for about 30 min. talking to owner and pix. got a coke, and headed to David and Ivan AC vans. left group there. they had a great time, ate and drank, said great food. DH and DS got there around 11. slept in...ate and then they all watched world cup with the staff in the bar.! they gave their day and A, they went shopping around 12. had no complaints.

saw 1 stray dog, nice fellow. not too thin.
saw lots however on the 1 hour van ride to the ruins. that really depressed me.

David and Ivan.....they were very good, but it was HOT and LONG! standing in that humidity and heat was tough!! if you are sensitive to that, you may want to think about it. I loved the tour, but wouldn't go again in that heat. luckily, it became overcast, and was pleasant. then the skies opened. we stood in the jungle in the pooring rain, freezing. at first it was fun, but after a while, it was just cold......now I am 50, and I'm sure the younger folk loved that!! speaking of that, I saw a lot of bored looking childeren.

I would say you have to know your kid, if they like that kind of thing.
For what it was it was an A. David and Ivan are A the ruins are A
but for me the heat, then the cold rain, were very tough.!!!

Unfortunately, the rest of my day was to meet DH and cats meow around 1( we didn't get back till around2) then head to Chac Chi.

the driver let us out at the port because it was pouring....i figured DH wouldn't be waiting for me in that rain....welll he was , and was very worried when I didn't come back, after an hour of looking for each other , we finally met on the pier, both soaked to the bone!! it was 3 pm and I was starving! thank goodness for those pbj 's i had brought!

everything was closing up, but we sat at the rest. at the pier, and had the best nachos and huge grilled shrimp!!! not cheap, but delicious!!
bought a blanket, and back on the ship around 4

That shower really felt fantastic!!
can't remember what show we saw, but we loved it.
dinner was ok.
back in hot tub....off to bed, ordered coffee!

 

[disgal1]

First tender off....took taxi ( 7 of us) to Paradise beach, got there at 845! not open yet, but they let us go onto the beach. got chairs in front of iceburg, very sandy area. it was BEAUTIFUL!!! A+

a little overcast, which actually made for a great day. sun would pop in and out, no rain!

clean bathrooms, good food, pretty beach great service!! nice gift shop.
took the 1230 snorkel, loved it.!

got a massage 20$ first thing at 915, got another at 3 before I left.!!!!
Paradise beach gets A+ from me!!

all the men took the disney jeep tour. they had done it last cruise. this time went to a different area. they loved it! mosquitos bad, glad they had spray.

DH bought me a beautiful blue topaz bracelet for my BD. it is big enough on my wrist, we can take some stones off, and I can get a pair of earrings from it!!

dinner ok, shows good
Pirate party fantastic!!!! great pix with Pirate Mickey! great fireworks! sat on deck 10 and watched pirates ! on the bigscreen which was great A+

off to bed at 130 am

 

[disgal1]

I think we just relaxed all day!!!! pool, drinks, food, what's not to love

did some laps on deck 4, did rainforest again , could stay in there all day.....
fell asleep reading book on deck 4 after lunch.

did a load of laundry.....thought I'd beat everyone there, 630 am and all the washers were full!!! sat on secret deck on 7 read my book, waited for washers. they emptied out around 8. nice setup...washer with dryer on top. pretty cheap $1 for wash I used$1 for dryer.

 

[disgal1]

another perfect weather day!

the flying dutchman looks absolutely incredible in the lagoon!!

had disney snorkel trip scheduled,met at 915. great trip, beautiful reef, good fish, stayed out an hour. loved it! not as big fish as cozumel, but i;d do it again.

went straight over to serenity bay, stayed till 3. snorkled alot way out. saw a huge school of fish, floated with them it was a fantastic experience!!

lobster on the grill at serenity cook out, got 2 and a cheeseburger!!

another A= day!!!!!

2 for 1 bahama mamas at the bars, we were one of the last stagglers on board! off to the pool, what a great daY!!!

Had shower, dressed ordered room service cheese tray, sat on verandah, packed. dinner. great day.

 

[disgal1]

it is so hard to wake up and say port canaveral!!!

we were headed to wdw to spend the night at Wilderness lodge, then leave sun pm. we weren't in a hurry to get off the ship.

didn't feel like eating breakfast, so wandered downstairs. headed off ship, really not much crowd around 8. in our rental car and headed to wdw by 9am!

disembarkation smooth as silk the porters were fantastic!! worth the big tip we lefthim! A+

did MK, sat, AK sunday and home.

digital pix turned out well, didn't upload well to webshots, don't know why.
underwater and coz and 35 mm back sunday. took about 300 pictures.

was shocked when we got the bill from what we spent onboard!! really didn't think we were doing to bad...checked it on monday, but we must have gone wild those last days


Can't wait to cruise again
going to yellowstone next summer, then doing the 4 day disney bahama in mayof 08 for niece graduation, then the 11 day disney southern in sept of 08.

never too early to start planning!!!!!

best advice I can give upcoming new cruisers...
do homework! don't wait till getting onboard to decide what to do.
bring twice the cash, film, and sunscreen, and half the clothes.

I think how I ended up overpacking was taking all of the what if stuff. I never used any of my what if stuff, and when I needed it(poncho andrain gear at the Costa Maya ruins) I didn't have it!! Don't really know how to fix that, except just leave it all at home and hope you don't need it!

We had a fantastic trip, and met a lot of really wonderful people!!!!

and thanks to all the previous cruisers trip reports, a treasure trove of info!!

I felt like I got my money's worth, and would go every year if I could talk DH into it. He likes to skip a year to see the rest of the world...

 

[Babs417]

Great report thanks for your time.I got the massage also and loved it, I want to go back just for that!

 

[tinytink]

loved your honest tr, brings back the memories. we were on the first dd cruise.

 

[bairdbeth]

Hi! Glad we got to meet you on the David and Ivan tour. Mine was one of the bored kids. This just was not her cup of tea, although she perked up when she saw some lizards and Caroline gave her some cocoa bean to taste. By the way we are also going to Yellowstone next summer! Small world!

 

[disgal1]

Hi! Glad we got to meet you on the David and Ivan tour. Mine was one of the bored kids. This just was not her cup of tea, although she perked up when she saw some lizards and Caroline gave her some cocoa bean to taste. By the way we are also going to Yellowstone next summer! Small world!

Hello again!!
It was so nice to meet you guys on the tour! I didn't think she looked bored....I think if anyone looked at me , they might have thought I was bored!
but I was just HOT!!! I thought the kids were all very well behaved considering most of them were probably wishing they were on the beach with their friends.

When are you guys going to Yellowstone? We have reservations July 23-30.staying at 3 different places inside the park. we are then trying for a time share somewhere in wyoming, montana or colorado, hasn't come through yet.

It truly is a small world! Wish I could find a yellowstone board like the disboard....I have gotten so much great info here.
Hope to see you out west!
Christy

 

[musicgirl]

I'm having lots of fun reading all the reports!!!

 

[bairdbeth]

Not sure of our dates for Yellowstone. My parents are planning this trip. we fly into Las Vegas and then we will see Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Sea World in San Diego and the San Diego zoo. I was also very hot on the David and Ivan tour. You would think they could air condition those ruins!

 

[PoohJen]

DisGal,

Can you tell me a little more about your massage in Cozumel? Where was this set up? How long was it? Sounds like it was a good massage, and that you felt comfortable, since you went back for more!!!

 

[jbaker1118]

I noticed you said you had your phone charger did your cell phone work?

 

[Doingitagain]

My work Blackberry didn't work the whole cruise (darn ). Blackberries generally work everywhere.

 

[Babs417]

Jen I got the massage in Cozumel. It was the best,$1 a min. cant beat that I liked it so much I got my 2 DD one also. I didnt even think to get a second one.

 

[disgal1]

Jen,
the massage table was set up near the water at the edge of the Paradise Beach property. Very easy to spot.

since we got there at 845am...I was the first one to get a massage....it was so quiet, I could hear Jimmy Buffet on the stereo, and the gentle waves lapping against the sand. No kids there yet, and the breeze was blowing across me.....it was heaven!!! I felt very comfortable. My friends had my belongings.

what you do is go up to her, get a ticket, take the ticket to the bar..to the other girl who collects the money, she gives you a receipt which you then take back to the massage lady.

There were 2 girls there, I had a massage in the am by the shorter one, then after snorkel, by the other (Veronica) I asked her to do 10 min on back and 10 on legs, they were sore from snorkeling.

they were both very good, and nice. didn't speak much english.

on the cell phones , we got no service, but we had already lost 3 on this trip, and were down to 2...so we just kept them plugged in on our power strip so we could keep up with them! was just easier. we had so much stuff crammed in our shoe holder alreadY