Just back from 2/10 - 2/14 Wonder!

[mouseclick1]

I'll try to keep this short!

This was our second cruise, and it was even better than the first! We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for one day before the cruise, which was absolutely wonderful! We were in a 5th floor concierge room overlooking the zebra trail. We did not go anywhere that day; just enjoyed the beauty of the lodge. It was a perfect way to start the trip!

When we arrived in our stateroom on the ship, our Castaway Club duffle bag was waiting for us on our bed. They messed up our shipboard credit (didn't give us the full amount), but it was resolved by the next day.

Highlights of our cruise were:
Atlantis! We booked through Comfort Suites and never went to the room. This place is so awesome-well worth the $$. For those who were wondering about kids in the Casino-they are allowed if they they do not stop and watch the machines. They must be "continuously walking", as we were told straight from the casino employees. Pools and slides were great fun for everyone!

Freeport stop-no excursion. We did get off the ship and walked over to the straw market. Low-key but still a good time.

family activities- We hit lots of the smaller family activities around the ship: Family dueling pianos, Mickey Mania, Music Trivia (we won 4 DCL mugs and Mickey medals!), ping pong tournament (DH was the champ!), Monsters, Inc., Sailor Tales (hilarious!) . We also saw "Mouseketeer", though none of us were really that impressed with it. There was nothing wrong with the show, we just really aren't fans of the TV show either.

Return cruiser reception-Wednesday at 5:15. Fun time mingling with Captain and Cruise director.

Food was fantastic every night. Our servers were Ralph from Jamaica, Rajat from India, and Abraham from Turkey. They were great!

After we left the ship, we drove up to Disney's Hilton Head resort for the next 2 days. I fell in love with this place and can't wait to go back. Began our drive home yesterday at 10:00 am, and arrived at 2:00 am. Long drive but well worth it!

This was one of our best vacations ever, though it is good to be home! (I guess)

 

[sandee]

I am interested in Disney's Vero beach and Hilton Head resorts. I don't see a lot of stuff in print on theme like I see for the parks and DCL. How far ahead did you have to book HH? We enjoyed your report and I agree the AKL is amazing. We were there in early Dec. for 2 nights and had to drag ourselves away from our verandah each day. Glad you made it home safe and sound.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Thanks for the word on children at the Atlantis casino.

Glad to hear you were pleased with your experience with the Comfort Suites excursion option.

 

[Mickey4Me]

we drove up to Disney's Hilton Head resort for the next 2 days. I fell in love with this place and can't wait to go back

We loved HH so much that we joined at the end of our trip! It's a wonderful resort with beautiful accomodations (very similar to OKW if you've seen those). Great activities for adults and kids. They even have a teen group that did some fun stuff. No theme park but lots of great beach time, shopping and restaurants. And if you're a golfer you'll be in heaven.

 

[pal2pluto]

Does every returning cruiser get a duffle? I cruised for the first in Jan and haven't gotten my membership info. We are going again in October. Just wondering what percs we'll see.....thanks

 

[natsmom125]

Anyone coming to Hilton Head.....

Email me and I'll give youall the details on restaurants and
shopping.

The resort is very nice....we had dd's bday party there and we
really enjoyed it. The bedrooms are much larger than OKW..but
the living, kitchen, dining is smaller. The rooms are more rustic
looking and decorated in darker colors than OKW. Even though
it was cold...the kids enjoyed the pool and hot tub!!!! DH had
them turn the slide on and they did this until the were frozen!!lol

Just send me an email...and I'll get the info to you.

Natsmom125@AOL.COM

Phyllis

 

[mouseclick1]

sandee- because this is still the off-season, we had no problem booking HH. I think I made reservations for 1 night back in the summer, then added the 2nd night a couple of months ago. It was a perfect way to unwind after 4 nights on the cruise.

Pal2pluto-I would call DCL see if you can get a castaway club number over the phone. Make sure they note this on your October reservation so you receive all the goodies you are eligible for (duffle bag, shipboard credit, return cruiser reception invitation).

 

[briternik]

Mouseclick- Can you give me some more information on Atlantis? We are booked at the Comfort Suites too. How far was the walk? Did you have to go back and check out? How much was the taxi and did you negotiate before you left? Did you pay the toll? Did you bring food from room service or eat there? What time did you arrive back on ship and did you get to do everything there?
Sorry to bombard you with questions, but this is the part of my cruise I keep stressing over. I'm trying to decide whether it's worth doing or not. I have 2 children ages 9 & 14.
Thanks.

 

[mouseclick1]

briternik- my kids are 10 & 12 and it was one of the best parts of the trip for them! Here is sort of a play by play of how our day went:

We were one of the first off the ship at 9:30 am. There are taxi drivers waiting around as soon as you get off the ship; very easy to catch a cab. The driver told us $4 right away and we did not try to negotiate. We shared a ride with another family of 4 that was already waiting with the driver. The driver paid the $1 toll.

It was a short ride to Comfort Suites, only about 10 minutes. We checked into the hotel and told them right away that we were on the cruise ship and would not even be going to the room. She said we did not need to check-out as she had our credit card imprint. Atlantis was a very short walk through the hotel and across the street.

Atlantis is huge-that's where you'll do most of your walking! We had to ask for directions to get to the pools-we were getting totally lost in and around the hotel! We did not bring lunch from the ship, but we did bring some snacks and our own drinks. We had a mini soft-sided cooler that will hold six cans-so we brought some pop for the kids and drinks for us. We did order a couple of pool side frozen drinks that were pretty good! We purchased lunch at Atlantis-$20 for 2 burgers and a plate of nachos.

We stayed at Atlantis until 4:00, which got us back to the ship in plenty of time to get ready for dinner. There was still so much to Atlantis that we did not see. We never made it to the aquariums. We pretty much spent our time at the pool and on the big slides. My 10 year old would not go on the biggest slide (either would I), but my 12 year old loved it (so did my DH!).

I hope I have answered all your questions. For us, it was definitely worth it! If you have any other questions, just ask!

 

[aprilgail2]

would anyone know if the atlantis excursion is handicapped accessible. I know its a lot of walking which I have no trouble with, but will I be able to push my godson in his chair and have my mom push my daughter in her stoller through the whole thing? How do you get there from the ship, is the bus or other boat handicapped accessible??...

 

[disneydawn]

Maybe this is a stupid question but why did you check into the Comfort Suites?

 

[pal2pluto]

And to add to disneydawn's question.....how much did it cost and what is the draw besides swimming?

 

[mouseclick1]

In order to use the facilities at Atlantis, you have to be checked into the Atlantis Resort or the Comfort Suites. A lot of people just pay for the room but never even go to it, as we did. As a teacher, I was able to get a government rate of $176 before tax. The pools and slides are unbelievable, unlike anything I've ever seen! There is a lot of stuff to see inside the hotel itself, but we spent most of the time poolside. Here is link to the resort if you want to check it out: http://www.atlantis.com/atlantis.asp

aprilgail2-I wish I could answer your question but I'm really not sure. Maybe someone else could help out?