javander0524
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2019
This was our first Disney Cruise (or cruise of any kind) and we were immediately hooked. We have 3 boys, ages 13, 7, and 7. We also went with my sister and her family (5 total) and my parents (2) for a total party of 12 people in 3 staterooms. We were originally scheduled to go over Christmas, but due to my BILs father getting a bad medical diagnosis we switched, somewhat late, to Thanksgiving. We were assigned late dining and went on the wait list for early. Prior to boarding we had excursions for Dolphinaris at Cozumel and the Exclusive and Fun Beach Break at Jamaica. We had a first night reservation at Palo and had wanted a drink tasting, but were not able to get that prior to getting on board. We took a private limo from Saratoga Springs to the boat, and other than the cars lined up to get into the port, that was really smooth and would recommend Happy Limo to anyone that is looking for a private car service. My Sister's family had a PAT of 11:00, my parents 11:15, and ours was 11:30. We were all able to check-in immediately upon getting into the port and got boarding number between 5 and 10. Ours was 10, but that process was efficient as long as you had a bit of patience. When we got the first day navigator, we noticed that you could sign up for drink seminars at La Piazza. We went directly there and there were numerous drink seminars available at that time. We booked mixology at 2:00 on Thursday. When we walked back to meet our family in the atrium, we happened upon Cinderella on the balcony. It appeared that not many people had noticed here there and our boys got a picture with her without a wait. We came across characters not doing a meeting, but just wondering the ship a number of times and were able to get pictures without a wait. We got Pluto, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Daisy and a couple others I don't remember right now. Cabanas, the first day and throughout the trip, had adequate food and a good selection. We never left there hungry, either after breakfast or lunch. We got into our staterooms at 1:30 and put stuff away, and then went to visit the clubs. One of our 7 year olds was apprehensive at first, but quickly warmed to the club and both of them wanted to spend most of their time there, as did our 13 year old in Edge. We enjoyed the sailing away party and got the chance to meet Jo Slow, the adult entertainment director, on the way down the stairs. We told her we had heard great things about her from others on here and she recommended some activities to attend. She was great throughout the cruise. When we went up to Palo for our meal, I was getting my first, and only, pangs of motion sickness. I was able to get some water in and cool down a bit, and felt better shortly. Our Palo meal was amazing. In my opinion, $40 is a steal for that meal. The souffles are to die for. Our shows were Aladdin, Frozen II, a comedian/magician, the Frozen Spectacular, a comedian/juggler, and Believe. Aladdin was great and the Genie was hilarious. Had a brief stop in the show due to technical difficulties and it was funny when it was announced to the crowd in a similar way to how they announce a brief shut down of rides at the parks. The Frozen Spectacular was a lot of fun as well. I didn't think the sound was great in the Walt Disney Theater for Frozen II, as I couldn't hear well when people were laughing at the jokes. The Magician was fun, and I could have done without the juggler. He wasn't bad, just nothing special. I missed Believe due to having a child not feeling well, but my wife said it was just so-so. Our dining team was great. JC bent over backwards to try to get us into early dining, but was unable to do so due to the size of our party. We were concerned with it at the beginning, but the kids all did well with eating later and our boys would eat quick and then go up to the club when they came to pick up. I would recommend informing you server if your kids want to go to the clubs after eating. They will feed them quickly and help to inform you if they see the club staff coming to get the kids. Our servers, Diogo and Vaneza, were great and were like members of the family at the end. The food was really good, but the only things I absolutely loved were the escargot and the Gran Marnier souffle. Our favorite restaurant was Royal Court and we got that for both Formal Night and Thanksgiving. As for excursions, we really liked the Dolphin swim on Cozumel. The inflatable obstacle course on Jamaica was fun, but more work than expected. The meals at both places were just OK, but Dolphinaris did include all drinks, including alcohol, with it. We did a lot of trivia and adult shows, and found a group of others to do trivia with. My wife and I got to participate in Match Your Mate (The Newlywed Game) and won a bottle of champagne and a scalp massage for winning that. The game was a blast, but I am glad I didn't have any family members there to listen to some of our answers. Jo Slow was as awesome as advertised for all the adult stuff we did. The mixology was great. Roland was our bartender. He explained about the new rules regarding not letting people behind the bar, but also allowed us to make a couple drinks by setting up stations on the outside of the bar to do so. My wife and I each got to make a drink for the group. There were a couple people that didn't show up, so there were some leftover drinks from the pre-made and Roland allowed us to take those and drink them as well, so we had 6-7 drinks in about 45 minutes. All in all we had a great time and I can answer questions if anyone has them. We had never been on a cruise, but booked a placeholder while onboard since we enjoyed it so much.
