Well, I am back from my cruise. No more towel animals, gazing out at the ocean, passing Mickey Mouse in the hall, delicious food, etc.!! I am so depressed. I MISS MY CRUISE!!!!
No more whining. Back to the present and my trip report. This won't be a huge post since I am just too tired to type that much. I'll just mention some of the more important things.
Excursions:
In St. Maarten we went on the Golden Eagle Catamaran. It was a beautiful boat. The crew was very friendly and helpful. Those who are prone to motion sickness-be warned! Two of the adults in my group ended up hanging over the side of the boat due to nausea. Try to sit in the back of the boat, not in the nets, you will feel the rocking motion a little less. It was an hour long ride to a private island, Tintamar, where we stayed for about an hour and 30 min. Also, a note about getting off the boat. You climb down a ladder and hop into the water. We were told the water was only about 4 feet deep. Wrong! Talk about a surprise. I stepped off the ladder into water that was well over 6 feet deep. Not a problem, just be aware that you will probably have to swim to shore, which is not so fun if you are carrying a bag and don't want all your stuff to get wet. The beach was beautiful and the waves were wonderful. The rumors about possibly seeing nude sunbathers are definitely true. There was a fairly large group--they pretty much stayed in one area under their umbrellas. Not a big deal. I would definitely recommend this excursion. Refreshment-wise soda, water, fruit punch, & rum punch were served. Also sub sandwiches on the ride back. After feeling so sick, not many in our group partook of the sandwiches but they did look nice.
In St. Thomas we went on the Atlantis Submarine. It was amazing! You take a 20 minute boat ride out to the submarine. It seats about 40 people. There are plenty of portholes to take pictures out of. Take a camera that does not use a flash. We saw turtles, 4 different sharks, puffer fish, yellow tail snapper, a barracuda, and lots of other fish. The sub went down about 90 feet. You can't even tell that you are going down. The inside is pressurized and air conditioned. It is not for the claustrophobic but I found it to be quite comfortable. Definitely worth it.
Staterooms:
We had two rooms 2517 & 2519. Of course the bathroom was tiny but the rooms were quite comfortable. Our stateroom hostess, Nicole, was terrific. We looked forward to a new towel animal each night. Our rooms were located underneath the Beat Street area but we never heard any noise from the nightclubs. The bathroom air freshener is a necessity. We brought an extension cord but never used it--there were plenty of plugs by the desk.
Food:
The food was very good--especially the seafood. The desserts were not my favorite. Exceptions being the chocolate lava cake, chocolate mousse cake and a few others. I felt that they lacked in flavor and many had way too much cream. Beautiful presentation though. The fruit fruit was fabulous. I'm already missing my fresh pineapple and strawberries.
Service:
Our servers were Claudio and Gede. They were wonderful! So friendly and accomodating. We loved chatting with them. All over the ship we recieved excellent service. One member of my party had to change one of her excursions. Guest services was very helpful. They made everything work very smoothly. I had a slight problem with room service. I ordered a breakfast to be delivered at 7am before my shore excursion. It had not arrived by the time I had to leave. When I returned in the afternoon the breakfast was there. Later I received a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a note from room service apologizing for the late delivery. I also received a phone call from one of the room service managers making sure that I had received the strawberries and once again apologizing. I was very impressed. This was a great example of how helpful the staff was.
Entertainment:
The shows were great. I especially loved Hercules the Muse-ical and Disney Dreams. It is amazing that they can do those kinds of shows on a ship. The dancers and singers are quite talented. If you get a chance, go to the question and answer session with the cast. On board movies were okay. Not too many new movies. We saw Home on the Range and Hidalgo. There was a pretty good selection of in room movies. The nightlife was pretty good. Magician Mike Super was hilarious and very talented. The 70's party was a blast. The 60's party was really more of a Beatles party, but we love their music so it was great. The Charles Marshall Band is very talented.
Castaway Cay:
The most beautiful beach I've ever seen. We spent most of our time at the adult beach except for lunch at Cokie's. We walked all the way down the beach to get chairs under an umbrella. Next time, I would probably just stop at the first set of chairs I saw. We spent all our time in the water so we didn't even need the shade. Plus it was exhausting to walk all the way down the beach. The water was crystal clear. We saw lots of fish, including "Barry the barracuda". If you don't get a chance to buy "Safe Sea" don't worry about it. We didn't have a problem with sea lice. If you are sending postcards, try to write them ahead of time. By the end of the day you will be too tired to think about it. The same goes for souvenirs. I would either buy them when you first arrive or be sure to leave the beach at least an hour before the ship leaves. We had planned to do this but lost track of time while swimming and we almost ran out of time. Caught the last tram back and did a quick run through the shops.
I am already dreaming about doing another Disney cruise. It was excellent!!
No more whining. Back to the present and my trip report. This won't be a huge post since I am just too tired to type that much. I'll just mention some of the more important things.
Excursions:
In St. Maarten we went on the Golden Eagle Catamaran. It was a beautiful boat. The crew was very friendly and helpful. Those who are prone to motion sickness-be warned! Two of the adults in my group ended up hanging over the side of the boat due to nausea. Try to sit in the back of the boat, not in the nets, you will feel the rocking motion a little less. It was an hour long ride to a private island, Tintamar, where we stayed for about an hour and 30 min. Also, a note about getting off the boat. You climb down a ladder and hop into the water. We were told the water was only about 4 feet deep. Wrong! Talk about a surprise. I stepped off the ladder into water that was well over 6 feet deep. Not a problem, just be aware that you will probably have to swim to shore, which is not so fun if you are carrying a bag and don't want all your stuff to get wet. The beach was beautiful and the waves were wonderful. The rumors about possibly seeing nude sunbathers are definitely true. There was a fairly large group--they pretty much stayed in one area under their umbrellas. Not a big deal. I would definitely recommend this excursion. Refreshment-wise soda, water, fruit punch, & rum punch were served. Also sub sandwiches on the ride back. After feeling so sick, not many in our group partook of the sandwiches but they did look nice.
In St. Thomas we went on the Atlantis Submarine. It was amazing! You take a 20 minute boat ride out to the submarine. It seats about 40 people. There are plenty of portholes to take pictures out of. Take a camera that does not use a flash. We saw turtles, 4 different sharks, puffer fish, yellow tail snapper, a barracuda, and lots of other fish. The sub went down about 90 feet. You can't even tell that you are going down. The inside is pressurized and air conditioned. It is not for the claustrophobic but I found it to be quite comfortable. Definitely worth it.
Staterooms:
We had two rooms 2517 & 2519. Of course the bathroom was tiny but the rooms were quite comfortable. Our stateroom hostess, Nicole, was terrific. We looked forward to a new towel animal each night. Our rooms were located underneath the Beat Street area but we never heard any noise from the nightclubs. The bathroom air freshener is a necessity. We brought an extension cord but never used it--there were plenty of plugs by the desk.
Food:
The food was very good--especially the seafood. The desserts were not my favorite. Exceptions being the chocolate lava cake, chocolate mousse cake and a few others. I felt that they lacked in flavor and many had way too much cream. Beautiful presentation though. The fruit fruit was fabulous. I'm already missing my fresh pineapple and strawberries.
Service:
Our servers were Claudio and Gede. They were wonderful! So friendly and accomodating. We loved chatting with them. All over the ship we recieved excellent service. One member of my party had to change one of her excursions. Guest services was very helpful. They made everything work very smoothly. I had a slight problem with room service. I ordered a breakfast to be delivered at 7am before my shore excursion. It had not arrived by the time I had to leave. When I returned in the afternoon the breakfast was there. Later I received a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a note from room service apologizing for the late delivery. I also received a phone call from one of the room service managers making sure that I had received the strawberries and once again apologizing. I was very impressed. This was a great example of how helpful the staff was.
Entertainment:
The shows were great. I especially loved Hercules the Muse-ical and Disney Dreams. It is amazing that they can do those kinds of shows on a ship. The dancers and singers are quite talented. If you get a chance, go to the question and answer session with the cast. On board movies were okay. Not too many new movies. We saw Home on the Range and Hidalgo. There was a pretty good selection of in room movies. The nightlife was pretty good. Magician Mike Super was hilarious and very talented. The 70's party was a blast. The 60's party was really more of a Beatles party, but we love their music so it was great. The Charles Marshall Band is very talented.
Castaway Cay:
The most beautiful beach I've ever seen. We spent most of our time at the adult beach except for lunch at Cokie's. We walked all the way down the beach to get chairs under an umbrella. Next time, I would probably just stop at the first set of chairs I saw. We spent all our time in the water so we didn't even need the shade. Plus it was exhausting to walk all the way down the beach. The water was crystal clear. We saw lots of fish, including "Barry the barracuda". If you don't get a chance to buy "Safe Sea" don't worry about it. We didn't have a problem with sea lice. If you are sending postcards, try to write them ahead of time. By the end of the day you will be too tired to think about it. The same goes for souvenirs. I would either buy them when you first arrive or be sure to leave the beach at least an hour before the ship leaves. We had planned to do this but lost track of time while swimming and we almost ran out of time. Caught the last tram back and did a quick run through the shops.
I am already dreaming about doing another Disney cruise. It was excellent!!
