January 8, 2011 - 7 Night Western Caribbean Sailing

[cmclaura]

OMG, stay away when I'm in the hot tub. Not a pretty sight. The only reason I went in was I thought, "I'll never see these people again." And now it looks like I'll end up cruising with Tracy for the next several years, ROFLOL!!!

There are lots of excursions offered -- what are you thinking? One thing I noticed last year on this cruise ws that, on board, they offered an excursion to Tulum. That wasn't offered ahead of time. We had already booked a 'regular' Mayan ruins tour so didn't change it but it's not a bad idea to consider calling DCL or your TA for guidance.

One thing we LOVED last time in Cozumel was, after our ruins tour, we walked along the shopping street right down the end to a building that houses a number of nice little shops and a restaurant called Pancho's Backyard. We had an wonderful time there. Food was great, ambience charming, and the service exceptional. We're definitely going back again this time.

 

[scrappinsandie]

THe shore excursions are giving me a heaache. THere is too much to absorb.

Are any of the ports suited better to self exploration?

Sandie

 

[cmclaura]

Key West is definitely suited to walking around on your own. We did that last year. This year we will probably take one of the Old Town Trolley tours BUT we will book it direct with the company and not through Disney to save some money. It's walkable from the port and Disney doesn't seem to add anything extra value-wise so we'll do that.

The OTT will take you to all the sites, it's an on-off trolley tour. We like the Hemingway House (did that last year) and I like the Truman White House. Plus, there's the Southernmost Point in the US (closest to Cuba) which makes a great photo. I would, at all costs, AVOID the Pirate Soul Museum. Definitely not worth the admission price.

And don't miss Mallory Square for the sunset festivities!

As for excursions, it's really down to what you think you'll enjoy doing. I'm not a beach person so I don't gravitate toward those. My husband likes fishing, so he will sometimes go off on his own on one of those. My daughter LOVES LOVES LOVES the teen excursion on Castaway Cay, Wild Side, and will be doing it yet again this year. The past two years, she raved about it so much in The Stack that more kids signed up during the cruise. They get to bike, snorkel and kayak.

In Cozumel, we did the Mayan Ruins for a half day tour. In Grand Cayman, we did the dolphin swim and turtle farm (both were very good; I was surprised I liked the turtle farm so much but you go to pick up the turtles!).

Cozumel has the main strip for walking and shopping which, if you can ignore the vendors trying to get you to come into their shop (or the women who have polystyrene head forms with braids and wrapped hair on them -- the heads are mounted on long poles, like spikes, and I found that unnerving, lol), will take you down to a wonderful restaurant, Pancho's Backyard, which is housed in a building with lots of little shops (note: buy the Mexican vanilla, it is incredibly delicious -- we took home two bottles to use throughout the year and will probably be buying more as gifts, as it is so much more vanilla-y than anything you can buy here).

Grand Cayman is lovely but very much like any downtown banking district (which is, after all, what it is).

We haven't any excursions planned for this trip as we did it all last year but I will always have a look and see, closer to the booking date, if anything new has been added that may tempt us.

You might want to post here some of the ones you're thinking of, either here or on the main page, or both, and see what people have to say about them.

 

[Katekins13]

The excursions that interest us the most are the ones with the ruins (the main reason we booked this cruise compared to any of the other Disney ones). There does seem to be a couple of different tours that offer that in Cozumel, so we are trying to compare and see which looks like the best for us - though it may be worth a call to see if that other cruise that was mentioned that wasn't mentioned ahead of time is listed anywhere!

In Grand Cayman and Castaway we were thinking about doing with something with snorkeling, but again - lots of options.

And until I read the post above about Key West, I was actually wondering why that would have even been a stop! Now I'm going to have to look more into that and maybe see about doing a non-Disney tour there (not as worried since U.S. compared to a country I'm not familar with...just have to make sure not to miss the boat )

 

[cmclaura]

We did the half day excursion that toured the Mayan ruins. It was interesting, I thought. I see they now have Tulum listed as one of the excursions -- checked into it and it's a 7 hour tour. I'm hesitant to spend the whole day this time, as we really like Pancho's (if no one got that idea already, I wanted to ensure you all knew, LOL!) and wanted to spend some time actually in port.

You'll love Key West! It's charming. I'm so looking forward to going back again. I used to go there occasionally when I lived/worked in Orlando and our company (part of the Virgin group of companies, it was) flew old DC-3 planes down there as a little jaunt. It was such fun.

 

[scrappinsandie]

Ok I think we will go with the Tulum tour here. i have looked at them all and I think this one will suit us. In Key West, The Back to Nature Kayak Tour and in Grand Cayman maybe just the Island Tour because I want to see the turtles. Someone told me this is a good place to shop - is that true?

Sandie

 

[Goldeelox9]

Hi Guys!!! We are getting closer and closer! I am Very Excited!!!

So far for the Fish Extender Exchange we have:

Goldeelox9 - Cabin: GTY - Lisa & Pete
CMClaura - Cabin: ???? - Laura, Joe & Keighley
Daisy14'sDH - Cabin: ???? - ????
Newbydisney - Cabin: ???? - ????
Tatiana - Cabin: 7068 - Tania, John & Jackie
Scrappinsandie - Cabin: ???? - Sandy, Peter, Eloise (14) & John (12)

We also have the following cruisers:

Afavor001 & Katekins13

Let me know if you guys want in on the FE!

Wow...I really hope this means the ship will be EMPTY!!! LOL

 

[Tatiana]

I'm really considering doing the San Gervasio Mayan ruins on Cozumel. Has anyone else been there? It's said to be a smaller site, and less climbing for anyone not in top shape. I really like the idea of seeing the center of worship to the Goddess Ix Chel (The Mayan Moon Goddess!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gervasio_(Maya_site)

On Key West I definitely want to go to the butterfly and nature conservatory (I just have to remember not to put on bug spray! ) Mom also really wants to see Hemingway's house.

In Grand Cayman we want to check out the Nautilus Undersea Tour. I've also marked the store "Du Sole" on my must see (and buy from!) shopping list. They have stuff that changes color in the sun

The rest of the time we'll just walk around the ports

 

[7500WonderGirl]

Hello, all! My son(19 at time of cruise) and I will be joining you on this cruise as well. We were originally booked in Dec. but due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to postpone But we are very happy to be joining you. Its our 3rd Disney cruise, first 7 night with Disney. I am oh so excited!!!
Susie

 

[Tatiana]

Hello, all! My son(19 at time of cruise) and I will be joining you on this cruise as well. We were originally booked in Dec. but due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to postpone But we are very happy to be joining you. Its our 3rd Disney cruise, first 7 night with Disney. I am oh so excited!!!
Susie

Welcome Susie! Its wonderful to have you and your son joining us!

 

[cmclaura]

Hello to Susie & her son! Make sure he goes to some of the college age meets they have on board. I understand the more folks that show up and say what they'd like to do, the more they plan for them. I guess it's a matter of "if they don't know, they can't do anything" so tell him to let them know he what he wants to do.

I've been going over the *very short* list of who's going on this cruise (minus the lurkers suffering from intense shyness) and my list so far (this is NOT the FE list, Lisa is maintaining that) is:

LIST IS NOW ON THE FIRST PAGE OF THIS THREAD, MESSAGE #1.

Hmmm, need you guys to fill in your names! It's easier than calling you by your DIS name, lol! Ages, too, if you'd like. And where you're from is always interesting. As you get your cabin numbers, let me know and I'll include that. Last time, some of us found fellow DISers right next door to them on the cruise! I'll keep the list going for the Meet in the Promenade Lounge at 3pm on sailing day.

I see that we have 3 sets of honeymooners on our cruise. Lots of romance in the air!

Feel free to email me if you'd like to fill in your info -- CMCLaura@aol.com.

 

[7500WonderGirl]

Thanks for the warm welcome!
I will have to tell my DS, Chris, about the College Meets. He was kind of worried about perhaps not meeting anyone since he is going to be too old for the Teens' Club, he loved using those on another line. I felt like I only seen him for dinner.

 

[Katekins13]

In Grand Cayman we want to check out the Nautilus Undersea Tour. I've also marked the store "Du Sole" on my must see (and buy from!) shopping list. They have stuff that changes color in the sun

The rest of the time we'll just walk around the ports [/QUOTE]


Hi! I just wanted to tell you that "Del Sol" is also on-line. I first saw the store in the Bahamas, but then again in the Orlando airport. I have bought several different things from them - but love their nail polish and hair accessories! On-line they have quite a few sales.. in fact, about a month ago I believe it was 50% off your order when you spent $50 (or $75??).. I'm not sure if you are going with any kids or not, but they also have a clearance section so might be nice to pick some of the stuff up cheaper ahead of time and then you can whip it out once everyone sees the store..lol... (I actually do this for myself because I do like the concept, but hate the higher prices!!!)

 

[Tatiana]

Hi! I just wanted to tell you that "Del Sol" is also on-line...

Cool! Thanks for the tip! It looks like I can save a lot of money by buying online! I'm the youngest of my sailing group (29 yrs) but I'm just a big kid at heart and love fun and silly stuff

 

[scrappinsandie]

Eloise is excited about spending money in Del Sol!

By the way I paid for my cruise in full today - so will we get a cabin number soon?

 

[cmclaura]

Our family loves Del Sol and we make a point of visiting them in every port; in fact, wherever we are, we stop. Keighley was in Las Vegas recently as part of a Girl Scouts trip to the canyons in the area and found a Del Sole in a mall, so she got a great T shirt with the Las Vegas skyline and it turns the prettiest colors in the sunlight.

You might want to attend the cruise shopping info session, which is usually held the first sea day, if I remember correctly. They offer coupons and such for lots of places, including Del Sol. We always pick up the coupon for the free bag with purchase of two T shirts. And, they often toss Del Sol plastic rings into the crowd -- they change color, too. The kids love them. My daughter has been known to scramble all over the floor at the end of the presentation to pick up as many as she can.

 

[Goldeelox9]

Are you a Gty. Cabin. You will not get a number intil like 30 days before we sail....I am a GTY too....The stress kills me!!

 

[scrappinsandie]

Sorry I don't know what a gty cabin is.

I had a cruise nightmare last night involving ironing. Are there irons in the rooms?

Sandie

 

[newbydisney]

I still think we are going on this cruise..and our single son will be with us as far as I know..if anyone else has any unattached peeps..he is 30..but seems younger...I am afraid we do not want to do FE ..sorry..we are traveling for an extended period and I feel like it's more than I can handle right now...we were gty 11b and have been asigned 5509 ..a sideways room..but we will upgrade to a Cat 4b at the port..I cannot see 3 of us in that tiny room!! we are not tiny people!
I will probably wear my bright green visor and shirt like last year and I expect we will be first or second to board as per usual as well..look for us..we will be looking for you! If everyone could wear lime green that would make it easy!
As far as excursions I think we will do the beach again in Cozumel..that was nice..the one we did was great they limit attendance so we will probably do that again ..the service was superb...they tried really hard..We may just go to the Marriot on Grand Cayman and get a day pass and we do not get off at Key West..been there done that..although maybe my son would like to go ashore..and I have been checking..and we are for sure the only ones on the ship so that good news.

 

[newbydisney]

..o and I think there are irons..if not they will bring you one and pretty much anything else you want!...and I need a few things ironed..hmmm..I am not sure I will bother tho.....