I'm soooo with you. DH and I were just talking about how our server learned my eating habits and just started bringing me double portion or multiple appetizers ... ditto on the desserts. I soooo would love to have a Mickey Bar or 2 right now. Even w/ all the crazy exercising I did do, I still gained 4 pounds & 3% body fat. But, it was all worth it.
I only managed to exercise 1 day of the whole week trip. On Key West morning I got up to go run. A friend who was on the 1st Magic 5 day had noted how the running deck was partially blocked in the early morning the day she & her hubby tried to get a run in. The only portion of deck 4 available for me to run was from forward door to forward door thru the narrow passage that goes around by the mooring line hoists in the front. They had the rest roped off for refurbing. I was spitting mad. I hate treadmills with my whole heart. Seriously. I hate running on a treadmill. I had sooooo looked forward to running with the views. I went up to the gym & got my 30 mins in but I wasn't happy. Afterwards when I met back up with the hubby he said it looked like the runners had all migrated to deck 10. Wish I'd known.
It was when I finished my run on the treadmill that my stomach tied itself into knots the first time. That was the loveliness I was dealing with at Palo brunch. My stomach stayed a mess for a full day. Then the final night it started up again and has yet to improve. Ugh! And both the boys are fighting what Chandler so eloquently named 'the power poohs'. LOL!
Up until Pirate Night, I was meh about the cruise. I am used to the go go go of WDW and it is hard for me to just relax. There were many times that we were just wondering what to do. I did not like the Sea Day, way to crowded for us. I did like the brunch and dh liked the martini tasting, but I thought it was just ok. I really loved pirate night and Castaway Cay the most. I kept wanting MORE Disney, but I felt it more on pirate night and we had a great spot right up by the stage. I felt pretty claustrophobic in our room and the shower was SO small. None of us got sea sick or sick at all, so that was great. The food was much better then I thought it would be, but our service wasn't great. I hated our table location every night, we were stuck in the corner in every dining room and the circulation wasn't very good so it was stuffy. I had to get up a few times and walk around to get some air.
My kids LOVED the cruise. I think they loved it more then Disney World by far. They all loved the kids clubs, shows, characters and all the ice cream. My ds had so many ice cream cones and mickey bars that we lost count. All and all it was great and now I think I know how we could make it even better. I have booked a dummy cruise, but we probably won't actually do it until 2014, we plan to go to WDW next year.
Definitely the cruises are a different rhythm than the parks. Like I mentioned, that's what I've been after. I think I'm officially getting old. I don't want to go-go-go full speed anymore. And I really don't want to have to plan everywhere I'm going to be 6 months out or try to outrun the crowds in the early mornings. That's not vacation. It's another form of work. That's why I love the cruising.
I'm not the biggest fan of the pirate night & pirate show. Maybe they should do it more than once or something. I have yet to feel that squashing up in that crowd of folks was the thing to do. I don't care what goes on, it ain't worth the herd to me.
The showers are small! On the Dream, in the bigger family oceanviews with verandahs they have the split baths that have the big round tubs. Those tubs/showers felt way more spacious than the showers on the Magic to me. Tracey & I could shower together on the Dream (don't ask...it's an innocent habit thing!) whereas I took one look in the shower once he got in and was like, "Not even trying that one, babe." I waited for him to finish.
I did notice that the classic ships seemed to have waaaaaay less going on at any given time. For instance, compare the Navigators for the classics and the new ships. The new ships have double the size of Navigator. They aren't using a bigger print. They're bigger with a lot more going on all the time. Definitely more options to choose from. I, too, had moments where I wasn't sure what to do next. Ah, well, those moments became nap times. Never can get too many naps, right?
That is my Hailey. She loved Kaleigh and I know she would love to be pen pals. I will message you our information, we are in Texas.
Ah, sweet!
DCL BFFs!
I wanted to drop in and say thanks to everyone one last time. We had a great time on the cruise, and we were lucky enough to get an upgrade to the 1 bedroom suite which was AMAZING!! I'm glad we did because I'm not sure how we all would have fit otherwise. We were truly spoiled by our Concierge Danny. Every night there was a gift in our room, and on the last night he left an adorable DCL print of Mickey and the gang getting ready for a cruise of their own. I can't wait to see it framed! Great family vacation!!
Hope to talk to you all soon.
The 1-bdrm was awesome! I thought it was way cool. Loved having the 2 baths. I saw another thread here on the Dis where people were fussing about the Magic concierge, Andreia, but we had no issues with her. She was great. We made such a fuss over that Mickey print they left as gifts that she brought us the print from last year, too. Cool beans! On the way home we discussed room layouts between the big family verandah rooms on the Dream and the 1-bdrm on the Magic. Honestly, we felt the layout was smarter, the storage was better, and we felt like we had just as much space on the Dream as we did the Magic....and that was with less than half the square footage. I didn't like that the murphy bed was in the master bedroom. Tracey & I both thought the fact that both patio doors were blocked when the beds were folded out was very inconvenient. The duvet/comforter crackhead in me loves the bedding on the Dream a bunch better, too.
HI everyone! Thanks for all the great FE gifts. Our son loved checking for gifts every time we were in or out.
We loved the cruise. Had a couple of rude people that kind of spoiled it a little, but I'm trying not to think about those people. We liked our servers, but weren't overly impressed with the stateroom host. I figured we'd see him more than we did. And 3 times, we had to go and track down the next day's navigator. My parents' room would get them, but we didn't. They weren't hard to track down since there were always people in the hall, but I still expected more I guess.
Oh, and Cindy - THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE CABANA! We all LOVED it. It was so great having a place to ourselves and the semi-private beach. We all just loved it. Thanks so much for reserving it for us. Oh, and that was another thing about the stateroom host - he just handed us the cabana model in an envelope. I thought it was supposed to be set up in your room for you. Ours is still not set up, in the envelope he handed us. Oh well...
Talk to you guys later!
Our stateroom host on the Dream last year was brand new. We never saw him. This time around we had a much better host and finally felt like we had the killer experience others talk so much about.
Yeah, after getting a better look-see at those cabanas Tracey says the next time around we need to get one. Especially if you're on the Dream or Fantasy I'd think they'd be worth their weight in gold. The beaches get really busy when there's more people. The cabanas would make the beach much more doable for us. Looks like next year when we're there on the Fantasy my brother will be there with his girls as well. He'll split a cabana with us without even batting an eye.
Same with us. I was bored quite a bit. It seemed when there were "adult" activities that would be the time when Chapin didn't want to be in the lab. When she was in the lab I couldn't seem to find anything to do.
The first night I ended up having to leave because the movement was making me feel a bit queasy and extremely dizzy. I think I could have gone back but I turned around and there stood my whole family. I urged them to go back but they wouldn't
I figured out that I would get dizzy and a bit nauseous whenever I sat down. If I was up moving around or lounging I was fine. I found that if I had a drink before dinner and ate something (usually bread) as soon as I sat down I could get through it.
What is really weird is I am STILL having problems when I sit for extended periods I get soooo dizzy. I have read it wears off after a few days. I sure hope so.
Camille says she wants to do the Dream because of the teen pool but I said I only want to do the Wonder or the Magic. I am leaning toward the Magic just because I loved our servers and would like to have them again (Ciao & Marut) (the cabin steward was awesome too). It's funny, when we talk about it we want our cabin in about the same spot too.
My stomach was messed up just about the whole time just because I don't normally eat like I ate on there. Way too many carbs and sugars, and too much soda. Normally I drink lots of water but for some reason I just didn't want it on the ship.
My magical moments:
*Seeing the Avengers
*Villains (I lost it in Dreams when Mickey & Minnie came out. I think that signified the end of the cruise for me
)
*Drinks of the day
*Our servers & room stewards
*Key West
*Naps
My less than magical moments:
*Being right by the lift for the restaurants (boy, that thing is noisy)
*The obnoxious little boy in the cabin next door. All the sweet, well-behaved kids on that boat and we get the unruly screamer next door.
*I am going to say Castaway Cay, not that I didn't love the island but, totally my own fault, my gut was killing me from all of the eating and I was just exhausted. I ended up laying on a lounge chair all day. Also, the water was sooo cold. I am a total wimp and couldn't stand it. I am definitely going to make a note to myself if we do take another cruise to remember how sick all that eating made me. Also, we all got burned there so I am going to pack the SPF 80 for next time. Camille's feet are still purple and swollen
I agree, there wasn't as much to do overall as I had hoped there'd be. The 1 night Tracey & I tried to go to the adult cabaret Rockin Bar D was already full so they were directing people to Diversions where it was going to be simulcasted. That takes the fun out of seeing a "live" comedy act. We skipped it. I was really disappointed because I wanted to see a comedy act in person. It's something I've never done before.
In Camille's defense, there's a lot more going on at any given time on the bigger ships. If you like having more hub-bub around you and more options it may just be up your alley as well.
I feel ya in having to be so careful with the sun. Yeah, my boys burn super easy. I could show you scars on Brian's shoulders where an olive-skinned friend kept the boys a few days in a row when they were little. She didn't understand that they burn in a matter of minutes. They couldn't be in the pool even 15 minutes without being thoroughly buttered. Then, the following day she thought since they were already burned and it was cloudy they'd be okay for a half hour in the pool. Burn on top of a burn = open bleeding blisters that scab then scar.
Needless to say, as sweet as she was, we didn't leave the boys with her anymore. That said, we used the SPF 50+ shirts for the first time this year. It was an investment to buy them ($30+ each at Academy) but so worth it! Brian is the fairest of the 4 of us. He has long sleeves. I thought that'd be hot in the sun but he was mostly cold. I guess when the shirt is wet and the breeze hits you it's a cooling effect regardless of the sun or ambient temp. Tracey wants long sleeves now, too. Love that you only have to apply sunblock to the arms, legs, neck, & face. Also, there was a Groupon a few months back for
Thinksmart Livestrong SPF 30 sunblock. I think it was 2 tubes for $14 + shipping or something which was like a 50% discount. I did a little digging around to find out what the big deal was with that sunblock over the standards at Target or
Walmart. I read good stuff. It definitely lasts and works really good. When showering after using it and being in the sun for several hours we'd have to scrub ourselves down 3 times to get it all off. LOL! Annoying? Yes. But is that also a good sign? I'd say YES! The boys did get burns on their faces some but that's from repeated rubbing, not applying properly, or (in Chandler's case) just not applying it at all.
Yes, studies point to the correlation between tanning beds and skin cancer. At least for me, I can honestly say that 1 big pro that I've found from working at building color via tanning beds is that my skin tolerates being outside in the sun so much better now. I don't instantly burn anymore. I still use some SPF but I don't get the extremes like the rest of my family does. I used to be just like them. Not so much as long as I keep my color built up.
Sounds like we are a lot alike, I am also feeling dizzy when I sit or stand still. Yesterday I worked, so I was moving around a lot but today I am still having issues.
I thought it was just me and my sour stomach with the continued ocean motion! I still felt it yesterday. I'd pay to feel it today. I miss it!
Did those who were sensitive to the motion take anything??? I should've mentioned pre-cruise that if you needed anything I was stocked. I had meclazine and 2 boxes of the the prescription patch. None of us ever took any of it. Tracey & I are nuts. We want to have a Deadliest Catch rolling seas experience in the worst way.
Good idea to list your favs and least favs.
Magical moments:
Castaway Cay, that by far was my favorite of the trip. Yes the water was cold, but we got used to it. We also got burned and I will for sure pack stronger sunscreen next time.
Pirate Night: Loved the show and fireworks.
Food: Surprisingly it was really great.
Palo Brunch: Really nice
Kids clubs: my kids loved it.
Least favs:
Key West, it was just so hot and my kids were miserable walking around. The Key lime pie was great though.
Servers, ours had a lot of issues, they kept bringing us the wrong food, wrong drinks, took forever to do anything.
Our seating, the tables were all in the corner of the restaurant and it was muggy.
Pools, they are just to small.
Adult entertainment, I think there should be more.
Key West was hot! Agreed! The heat, my sour stomach, and the motion of the airplane had me quite nauseated before I got off. It was hot as sin out there! I asked a local what their winter weather was like because I'd love to go back and spend some time. He said it's like what we had with a somewhat cooler breeze. I'll have to rethink that Key West vaca. LOL!
Cruise ship pools are notorious for being small. I'm curious to see what the situation is like on the Fantasy because the Dream compared to the Magic in the pool department was really terrible. I have yet to set a foot inside a
Disney cruise ship pool. Especially the family pools. When they're really busy and there's all those kiddies piled in...oh you couldn't ~pay~ me to get in that water! There's no telling how much is water and how much is........ .....nevermind.......
I think Camille got up early to watch a sunrise one morning but luckily she told us the night before so we weren't too surprised when she was up and gone 
) so I have got to go to the grocery store tonight. Gotta buy some healthy foods so I can break my carb addiction I developed on the ship 
I find myself at every meal thinking what dessert I will have...ummm no 
But I can't blame the cruise. I started to come down with a cold the first night. I saw my doctor yesterday for my yearly stuff and her guess was I got something on the plane since it takes about 3 days from exposure to get sick. I did fine on the ship - just a cough and some nasal problem. But today I am trashed. So I'm home sick. I'm still coughing up a lung and my voice is totally gone! I better be better tomorrow. I'm running out of vacation time!
