This was our third DCL cruise, but the first cruise on DVC points. It was really great. Cast is myself (39) and my lovely wife (forever youthful 
).
DCL Transfers from the airport went smooth. We walked off the monorail at the airport, and saw the big "DCL" sign. Smooth! Got on the bus, a great ride to the terminal. Always love that first glimpse of the ship at the top of the bridge.
Lines were short at the cruise terminal. It only took about 5 minutes from security screening to walking through the "Big Ears". Got announced (always love that), then down to the room, and off to the reservation run!
We got our Palo Brunch and Dinner reservations, then got a Frangipanie (sp?) treatment for the DW.
Really, everything else was magical. We took the Key West Walking Tour. It was fun, but I probably wouldn't do it again.
We did Stingray City. Really Fun, although the seas were a bit rough. They tell you not to step backwards, because there might be a stingray behind you. But, you can't help but step backwards when you get hit by a large wave. But, it went great, plenty of time to play with the rays, and great memories.
We were scheduled to Snorkle at Chakannab State Park in Cozumel. Unfortunately, it had rained over 60 inches the past 7 days, so they closed the park to check for ecological damage. They offered to move us to the Reef Snorkle Tour. It was good, and the people were extremely friendly. However, there is no real "Beach". They simply bought a section of seawall, built a bar, snackbar, restrooms and some steps into the ocean. My wife is not the best swimmer, and is not comfotable walking on slick rocks or in rocks in the ocean, so she did not like how she had to get into the water. However, there were people there to help her get in and out. Plus, one of the dive guides offered to pull her out on the snorkel tour on a float. She declined, but it was very nice for him to have offered. The snorkling was ok, but I didn't like the "group" snorkle. We kept bumping into each other.
The shopping was best in Cozumel. We bought some silver jewelry, and had a great "dickering" session to get the price down.
Dinner each night was fantastic. We sat with a family from Liverpool, England, who couldn't have been nicer. Our server, Dante (from the Phillipines), was excellent. We started with one drink server, but then he got sick, and they replaced him with a server who was on vacation, named Stipe (from Croatia). We felt bad they pulled him off vacation, and put him to a lesser role than he was used to, but it was great having two servers.
The only problem area was our cabin attendant. He was very friendly and nice, but was not the best. He really couldn't make a proper bed. It always looked like he made it, and then rolled around on it. We thought our cabin wasn't ready when we arrived, but then noticed the items sitting on the bed for us. And then, every day, he forgot something. When we arrived, we had no soap. Then, on formal night, we had not washclothes. We called and asked for them, but never got them until the next day. We asked for ice, and would get it, but had no glasses. Or we would have glasses, and no ice. We spoke to guest services after the wash cloth incident, but it really never improved. This was the only downer on the whole cruise. Nothing major, just a frustration.
The shows were awesome, Palo was . . . well Palo. What can you say that hasn't already been said. Fantastic.
One fun moment was when we saw our server, Erasmo, from our cruise two years ago. We walked up to him, and he looked up, smiled and said, "I remember you two!". Handshakes and hugs all around.
A really neat thing was the talk by Marty Sklar, Co-chairman of Disney and head of Imagineering. He talked about Imagineering, and it was really interesting. He wrote Walt's speechs for him. I was bold before the talk, and had my picture taken with him.
Apparently, in Key West, there was a long line to re-board the ship, and Marty was caught in it. He had words with the Captain about it. It always seems something goes wrong when the boss is around, doesn't it?
My wife said this was our best vacation ever. That made it all worth while. Now, we just have to figure out when we're going back!
).DCL Transfers from the airport went smooth. We walked off the monorail at the airport, and saw the big "DCL" sign. Smooth! Got on the bus, a great ride to the terminal. Always love that first glimpse of the ship at the top of the bridge.
Lines were short at the cruise terminal. It only took about 5 minutes from security screening to walking through the "Big Ears". Got announced (always love that), then down to the room, and off to the reservation run!
We got our Palo Brunch and Dinner reservations, then got a Frangipanie (sp?) treatment for the DW.
Really, everything else was magical. We took the Key West Walking Tour. It was fun, but I probably wouldn't do it again.
We did Stingray City. Really Fun, although the seas were a bit rough. They tell you not to step backwards, because there might be a stingray behind you. But, you can't help but step backwards when you get hit by a large wave. But, it went great, plenty of time to play with the rays, and great memories.
We were scheduled to Snorkle at Chakannab State Park in Cozumel. Unfortunately, it had rained over 60 inches the past 7 days, so they closed the park to check for ecological damage. They offered to move us to the Reef Snorkle Tour. It was good, and the people were extremely friendly. However, there is no real "Beach". They simply bought a section of seawall, built a bar, snackbar, restrooms and some steps into the ocean. My wife is not the best swimmer, and is not comfotable walking on slick rocks or in rocks in the ocean, so she did not like how she had to get into the water. However, there were people there to help her get in and out. Plus, one of the dive guides offered to pull her out on the snorkel tour on a float. She declined, but it was very nice for him to have offered. The snorkling was ok, but I didn't like the "group" snorkle. We kept bumping into each other.
The shopping was best in Cozumel. We bought some silver jewelry, and had a great "dickering" session to get the price down.
Dinner each night was fantastic. We sat with a family from Liverpool, England, who couldn't have been nicer. Our server, Dante (from the Phillipines), was excellent. We started with one drink server, but then he got sick, and they replaced him with a server who was on vacation, named Stipe (from Croatia). We felt bad they pulled him off vacation, and put him to a lesser role than he was used to, but it was great having two servers.
The only problem area was our cabin attendant. He was very friendly and nice, but was not the best. He really couldn't make a proper bed. It always looked like he made it, and then rolled around on it. We thought our cabin wasn't ready when we arrived, but then noticed the items sitting on the bed for us. And then, every day, he forgot something. When we arrived, we had no soap. Then, on formal night, we had not washclothes. We called and asked for them, but never got them until the next day. We asked for ice, and would get it, but had no glasses. Or we would have glasses, and no ice. We spoke to guest services after the wash cloth incident, but it really never improved. This was the only downer on the whole cruise. Nothing major, just a frustration.
The shows were awesome, Palo was . . . well Palo. What can you say that hasn't already been said. Fantastic.
One fun moment was when we saw our server, Erasmo, from our cruise two years ago. We walked up to him, and he looked up, smiled and said, "I remember you two!". Handshakes and hugs all around.
A really neat thing was the talk by Marty Sklar, Co-chairman of Disney and head of Imagineering. He talked about Imagineering, and it was really interesting. He wrote Walt's speechs for him. I was bold before the talk, and had my picture taken with him.
Apparently, in Key West, there was a long line to re-board the ship, and Marty was caught in it. He had words with the Captain about it. It always seems something goes wrong when the boss is around, doesn't it?
My wife said this was our best vacation ever. That made it all worth while. Now, we just have to figure out when we're going back!
Thankfully never had that problem again.
