July 9 West Coast Trip Review

[calmom]

9:45 is when the Pirate party on Deck 9 was scheduled to start.

 

[disneylandkids]

Thanks for a great trip report. We are going on the west coast cruise July 30th and now are a little concerned about the west coast flavor to the menus you describe. Being native New Englanders we have always enjoyed the food in the cruise dining rooms. If Disney is catering their menus to people from California I think this is a mistake, because in cruise meets there seems to be people from all over th U.S. on our cruise. Could you be more specfic on the menus and what was disappointing. Did all 19 feel that way,because that is a good crosssection of cruisers. Do they still have lobster night, and did just the main course change,or other courses like desserts change also? Any imfomation you could give us on menus and quality of food would be helpful.

OK, so I'm an East Coaster transplanted (HAPPILY!) to California, so I have to chime in here...

I think there were a lot of people from California on our July 9 cruise, as is probably the case for many of these itineraries, because it's a convenient opportunity for us (meaning folks out West) to be able to go on DCL without having to go to Florida. I think that there's probably a broader spectrum of people on the Florida cruise itineraries than there was out here. Probably more Castaway Cay people are on the Florida trips too; I think the west coast had a lot of first timers, like my family.

I heard from other cruisers that DCL had to make some changes in what they offered on the west coast because those Californians are so picky about having fresh fruit and vegetables. If that's so, count me in! I'd rather have fresh fruit and veggies than canned/frozen any time! I don't think that offering food that your demographic prefers is wrong...

We thought that the dessert buffet was wonderful and decadent (and certainly not for someone preoccupied with watching their waistline!).

There was lobster at dinner on Thursday (we ate at Palo that evening), and we enjoyed it very much. I had thought it was special to Palo, but it was also in the regular rotation dining apparently.

My family hasn't been on a cruise before, so I can't compare to other companies' offerings, but my family of 5 felt that the food was fine. I have some picky eaters, and they never complained for lack of food.

All that said, being the picky Bay Area coffee drinker that I am, I never trust *anyone* to have decent coffee and bring my Peets with me wherever I travel. We simply had room service bring hot water in the mornings and we used our Melita filters.

 

[disneylandkids]

Pirates Night was Tuesday -- after Puerto Vallarta. We had 8:30 dinner, so we asked the waiter ahead of time if he could accelerate our meal. My husband was done by 9:15 (we skipped dessert) and went up to deck 10 to get us a spot. Deck 10 was already packed and the party had already started. We ended up in a perfect spot -- standing on deck 9, near the dance floor and beyond the overhang of deck 10 on the left side of the performers. Our pictures of the fireworks have Mickey Mouse in front of them -- they couldn't be nicer. We all enjoyed the pirates party -- it was one of the most memorable events for us all.

Whatever you do, DON'T miss the dinner! (and if you're a scrapbooker like me, you'll want to take a small mailing tube to roll up your Pirate menu to take home in pristine condition).

We were tempted to go to Topsiders that evening because we were not happy with our rotational dinner server (but that's a different story). Fortunately, fate knew better and conspired against us so when we arrived at Topsiders, it was closed because the kids' clubs were eating there.

We went to our regular rotational dinner, which was at Parrot Cay, and it was the BEST meal/time there! If you're lucky enough to be in Parrot Cay for Pirate Night, it is perfect for the theme.

The desserts at the Pirates party buffet will more than compensate for whatever dessert you might miss at dinner, imho.

If you can send someone up to Deck 10 to hold a space for your party, try to do so. We had a table along the railing so we could see the party below, and it gave our kids a place to come sit when they needed to. We had an EXCELLENT view of the fireworks from there too. Even though we had a space, it got very crowded up there but we were happy to share the space with little kids who were so small they couldn't see otherwise. I did have to boot out some pushy grownups, though...

Another tip for Pirate night? Get some glow sticks/bracelets before you sail (the kids love it, and it will help you keep track of them!). I got a bunch on ebay for pretty cheap, and people came up to us all night wanting to know where we bought them.

 

[bstsuda]

Whatever you do, DON'T miss the dinner! (and if you're a scrapbooker like me, you'll want to take a small mailing tube to roll up your Pirate menu to take home in pristine condition).
.

I AM a CM scrapbooker and am taking a filemate with me to save all the 'memorabilia' - how large is the menu - will it fit into an 8.5x11 folder?

 

[disneylandkids]

I AM a CM scrapbooker and am taking a filemate with me to save all the 'memorabilia' - how large is the menu - will it fit into an 8.5x11 folder?

I'm a CM consultant. I think the idea of taking a filemate is brilliant (and wish I had!). Ask your stateroom host to give you an extra copy of the Navigator (or you can get it at Guest Services) each day.

The Pirates menu is 16 inches long, so it won't fit. It does have two places where it looks like it could fold, but I didn't want to do that with mine. Now, given its size, I don't know exactly how to deal with getting it into an album!

 

[bstsuda]

I'm a CM consultant. I think the idea of taking a filemate is brilliant (and wish I had!). Ask your stateroom host to give you an extra copy of the Navigator (or you can get it at Guest Services) each day.

The Pirates menu is 16 inches long, so it won't fit. It does have two places where it looks like it could fold, but I didn't want to do that with mine. Now, given its size, I don't know exactly how to deal with getting it into an album!

omg - i'm a CM consultant too!!!! Just celebrated 7 years!!! Well thanks for the tip on the menu - i will definitely get a tube - and i have a color copier at home, so i will just color copy reduce it to fit in to our albums...if you don't have one at home...take to office max or kinko's - they can do it fairly reasonable. Who is your Natl Director? We are under Jody Summers - i forget who her upline is....

 

[disneylandkids]

omg - i'm a CM consultant too!!!! Just celebrated 7 years!!! Well thanks for the tip on the menu - i will definitely get a tube - and i have a color copier at home, so i will just color copy reduce it to fit in to our albums...if you don't have one at home...take to office max or kinko's - they can do it fairly reasonable. Who is your Natl Director? We are under Jody Summers - i forget who her upline is....

I was thinking that perhaps I'd do that two-page spread trick I saw recently using photo tape. I sort of hate the idea of shrinking the menu down. Fortunately, there's five of us, so I have that many to play around with.

Thank you for the suggestion about the color copies, though!

I'll email you privately about CM stuff, though, because it's probably more appropriate to keep it off the board.

 

[jjksutton]

I am so confused. I have done a bunch of research but still can't find anywhere where someone talks about the dining (besides the food) attire. What are we suppose to wear for each night. It says we should not bring a lot of clothes, however, it sounds like we will need to dress up at least twice. HELP please!!!

 

[bstsuda]

I am so confused. I have done a bunch of research but still can't find anywhere where someone talks about the dining (besides the food) attire. What are we suppose to wear for each night. It says we should not bring a lot of clothes, however, it sounds like we will need to dress up at least twice. HELP please!!!

i believe i read this in the DCL planning guide that semi formal would be more like pantsuit / slacks for women; suit jacket men and formal nights - dress for women - suit/tie or tux for men...
hope that helps

 

[disneylandkids]

I am so confused. I have done a bunch of research but still can't find anywhere where someone talks about the dining (besides the food) attire. What are we suppose to wear for each night. It says we should not bring a lot of clothes, however, it sounds like we will need to dress up at least twice. HELP please!!!

It *is* hard to know how much to pack (and I know that I took too much)! Basically, they don't want you to wear the tee shirts and shorts that you wore all day to dinner anyplace (except Topsiders). I know, it 'shows respect for the show and other dinners, yadda yadda,' but I thought it was a bit of a pain to have to have two outfits per day.

There's a formal night as well as a semiformal night, but you can get away with using one outfit (especially if you change the look with some accessories such as jewelry or scarves). There's Pirate night, but a summery dress that has a tropical look will do if you don't want to go all out.

Some people will bring an astounding amount of clothes--I saw very coordinated formal outfits for the photos on formal night as well as elaborate pirate costumes for Pirate night. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose...

We rented a tux for my husband to wear on formal/semiformal night and since it was delivered to our stateroom, we didn't have to pack it.

I had nice party dresses for my girls and a suit for my son so he'd sort of 'match' my husband, and that worked for formal night. The kids had dinner with the Lab on semiformal night and we went to Palo. My oldest daughter re-wore her party dress when she went to have Tea with Wendy.

There's onboard drycleaning and there are laundry rooms (take baggies of your own detergent if you don't like Tide or want to pay $1/box) and bring quarters! There are ironing boards in the laundry rooms too, btw.

 

[jjksutton]

Thank you so much. My main concern was my husband, b/c he doesn't have suits. Females are a little easier b/c we can kinda dress up a nice summer dress by putting on a jacket. Also thanks for the daughter info.

One more questions, how does the dining go? I have heard the "tea with Wendy" thing a couple of times, how do I ensure I get my daughter signed up for that, or does that happened automatically?

 

[disneylandkids]

Thank you so much. My main concern was my husband, b/c he doesn't have suits. Females are a little easier b/c we can kinda dress up a nice summer dress by putting on a jacket. Also thanks for the daughter info.

One more questions, how does the dining go? I have heard the "tea with Wendy" thing a couple of times, how do I ensure I get my daughter signed up for that, or does that happened automatically?

My DH does not have a suit either, so that's why we opted for a tux. He can go to a tux shop near your home and get measured for free. It's a professional courtesty, I believe. Then you can order a tux for him online, and it will be delivered to your stateroom. We priced it out and it was about the same (if not a wee bit cheaper?) for him to rent onboard and we didn't have to schlepp it. It comes with two shirts, so unless he really trashes the pants or jacket, he should be fine for two events.

Tea with Wendy...I was very keen on this and tickets went fast at Guest Services. After attending it, I can't recommend it.

First, it's held in Studio Sea, which is like a nightclub--not an atmosphere really suited for an afternoon tea. Lumiere's would have been a better venue, I think.

Also, my daughters and I have attended other teas that Disney has put on--the Mary Poppins tea at Disneyland (awhile back) and the two Princess Diaries teas held next door to the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood when those movies were released. Compared to a grown-up tea, the Disney versions are scaled down more to kids' tastes, and that's fine. There's an assortment of little sandwiches that kids will like, a variety of sweets, teas, lemonade and sparkling cider (if you don't like tea). Those teas were charming, memorable, and a great way to introduce kids to what tea is about.

Not the case with Tea with Wendy! There were little pots of iced tea on the tables as well as full sized chocolate chip cookies, just the same as you can get at Scoops or at Topsiders buffet. And that was *it.* Even my 9 year old daughter thought it was disappointing.

The CM who portrays Wendy does an admirable job of telling the story of Peter Pan and also talks about the finer points of tea...pity that she didn't have a proper tea to go along with it.

It was probably the least impressive meet-and-greet experience we've had.
YMMV, though...

 

[hunzabunz]

Alli,
Hi, I'll be going on that same cruise along with my husband, sister and her husband and their 8 year old girl (my gorgeous niece). Any children around her age in your pary? If so would be great to know.