Mexican Riviera 8/3/08-8/10/08 *almost* live

[DMMarla07860]

loving the trip report you wrote so far, hope your trip was great

 

[DisneyMom92]

Those of you who are following along know that I haven't reported on my last two sea days yet. That fact is true. I will try to get to it in the next day or two. I will also try to add pictures here and there and maybe even post a link to the majority of them when I get them uploaded. It may take a little while, real life is beating down my door now. Kids start school tomorrow which is difficult in and of itself. For those of you considering it, I would not recommend a trip out of the country, flying across country, the week before school starts. Planning was horrendous and I still feel I have forgotten something.


Random observations:

Comparing this itenerary to the Western, which we have done twice before...the ports are more relaxed and quieter. This may be because it was slow season for them or because there are only 2 ships that visit here, but we felt welcomed and not rushed in any way in the shops or on the excursions.

The food has deteriorated, at least for what we ordered. We have simple tastes. There seemed to be nothing for us to order except off the lighter fare menu. Last time the lighter fare menu was delicious. However, this time, the steak (only offerings were sirloin 5 nights and ribeye 1 night) was tough and sometimes dry. Chicken offered was roasted each time. There was a light fish dish but I don't remember what.

We never made it to Topsiders for breakfast. Or even lunch. The three port days we ordered room service breakfast so that we could ready ourselves to leave more leisurely.

I still saw every sunrise on this cruise and every approach except the last one. I missed coming into Port Canaveral because we were early.

This itenerary was smoother than either Western we have taken. It was also colder. The first and last day are cold, even though Christiaan said that it was the warmest last day of the series.

The change of Ocean Quest to 11-13 really didn't affect my DS. He still met older kids and hung out with them, they just roamed the ship since they couldn't go into their separate areas together. I understand some parents' concern over their 12 yo being with 17 yo. However, mine always hangs out with kids that age because he has a sister who is 16 and they do a lot together. He can hang with 17 yos and 12 yos and have fun without doing anything too stupid. He is a boy, after all.

The Disney airline check in program is a godsend, but make sure you check to see what is considered an early flight. We leave at 12:45 p.m. and have to be in the Walt Disney Theater at 7:15 a.m. ready to disembark. For late night people, that's pretty early. I think I had 3 hours of sleep. And they call this vacation.

Our table assignment sucked! Sorry to use that language, but it's true. In Lumiers it was ok, not great, but ok. In Animators and in Parrot Cay, we were stuck in a corner. In Parrot Cay we were in the passage way between two tables to the kitchen area. The waiters kept bumping my sons chair until he was frustrated to the point of not eating. In Animators, we were seated right next to the exit of the kitchen. No bumping, but we had all the noise one associates with the kitchen. I even remarked that I felt like I was sitting in the kitchen.

That's it for now. Have to pack up the computer and head for Walt Disney Theatre.

Thanks for following along.

 

[BabyFavorite]

It was so nice to meet you, and I really appreciated you & Paul approaching me in the cruise terminal to introduce yourselves and the children. That was very sweet!

I hope I didn't seem too out of sorts; between my husband's bad back (he ended up bedridden/in a wheelchair/unable to visit 2 of the ports for part of the cruise) and finding out that my older, mentally ill brother is about to potentially become homeless (we have no other family left, so it all falls on me) -- which I found out right before the cruise -- I was a bit on edge for most of the trip. Probably not the ideal time to vacation, and I did end up in tears at one point when I found out we couldn't go to Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan, but what are you going to do?! Anyway, I enjoyed talking to you two and to Icesk8tersmom (Lisa), as well. All of you were so pleasant and friendly. I just wish I'd been more myself.

My son Chad REALLY enjoyed hanging out with your kids! He had such a good time with them. I'm glad they met right from the beginning, although I bet they would've hung out eventually even if they hadn't met through us. (Oh, I got a really nice picture of the 3 of them at Shutters! If you'd like, I can scan it/send it to you... unless you got a copy, as well.)

Oh, as an aside, I'm sorry I didn't make the DisBoard Meet & Greet at 10:00 on the first at-sea day! That was when we had our character breakfast (10:15, I believe), so I was there instead. I was kinda bummed the two conflicted. I found that our late dinner seating also conflicted with a lot we wanted to do!

Glad you had a nice trip, but I am sorry you didn't enjoy your dining experiences more! We had amazing servers (Sompong & Bomin) -- so much so, that my kids said THAT was what they were going to miss most about the cruise!!! That sure says a lot for their service, doesn't it?

I've rambled on long enough! Just wanted to apologize for not being more social. Normally you can't shut me up.

Link to some pictures I took, if you're interested: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=2023197

 

[Michelle2]

Our table assignment sucked! Sorry to use that language, but it's true. In Lumiers it was ok, not great, but ok. In Animators and in Parrot Cay, we were stuck in a corner. In Parrot Cay we were in the passage way between two tables to the kitchen area. The waiters kept bumping my sons chair until he was frustrated to the point of not eating. In Animators, we were seated right next to the exit of the kitchen. No bumping, but we had all the noise one associates with the kitchen. I even remarked that I felt like I was sitting in the kitchen.

That's it for now. Have to pack up the computer and head for Walt Disney Theatre.

Thanks for following along.

I totally can relate, because I had this table not only on one 7 night cruise, but on 2 (and they were in a row). I got so frustrated, especially in Animator's Palate, I asked the head server to move us, and although we were at different table every night, and different servers (we should have moved to later dining) it was much better. I always go to the dining table changes station in rockin bar D upon embarkation and always check my dining placement now because of that. I will never be at that table or location again.
to you!

 

[DisneyMom92]

It was so nice to meet you, and I really appreciated you & Paul approaching me in the cruise terminal to introduce yourselves and the children. That was very sweet!

I hope I didn't seem too out of sorts; between my husband's bad back (he ended up bedridden/in a wheelchair/unable to visit 2 of the ports for part of the cruise) and finding out that my older, mentally ill brother is about to potentially become homeless (we have no other family left, so it all falls on me) -- which I found out right before the cruise -- I was a bit on edge for most of the trip. Probably not the ideal time to vacation, and I did end up in tears at one point when I found out we couldn't go to Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan, but what are you going to do?! Anyway, I enjoyed talking to you two and to Icesk8tersmom (Lisa), as well. All of you were so pleasant and friendly. I just wish I'd been more myself.

My son Chad REALLY enjoyed hanging out with your kids! He had such a good time with them. I'm glad they met right from the beginning, although I bet they would've hung out eventually even if they hadn't met through us. (Oh, I got a really nice picture of the 3 of them at Shutters! If you'd like, I can scan it/send it to you... unless you got a copy, as well.)

Oh, as an aside, I'm sorry I didn't make the DisBoard Meet & Greet at 10:00 on the first at-sea day! That was when we had our character breakfast (10:15, I believe), so I was there instead. I was kinda bummed the two conflicted. I found that our late dinner seating also conflicted with a lot we wanted to do!

Glad you had a nice trip, but I am sorry you didn't enjoy your dining experiences more! We had amazing servers (Sompong & Bomin) -- so much so, that my kids said THAT was what they were going to miss most about the cruise!!! That sure says a lot for their service, doesn't it?

I've rambled on long enough! Just wanted to apologize for not being more social. Normally you can't shut me up.

Link to some pictures I took, if you're interested: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=2023197

We were happy to meet you all as well. The kids really DID have a good time together. My kids were impressed with the t-shirts you made. They told me a number of times about Chad's shirts.

I am sorry your trip didn't turn out quite as idyllic as you would have liked, but was glad to hear that your dining team was wonderful. Ours really wasn't as bad as I made it sound. They were just ok. Our team on the last cruise was really perfect for us. We had requested them for this one, but didn't get them. We ended up loving our assistant server. Our regular server was ok, only problem with him was that his accent was heavy and he spoke extremely softly which made him hard to understand. He also made some assumptions that made his service less than stellar. But we did end up liking them, just not as well as we liked the others.

We were sorry the meet conflicted with so many's character breakfast. We had a fairly good turnout, but still would have liked to see some others.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. I look forward to looking through them tonight.

 

[DisneyMom92]

I totally can relate, because I had this table not only on one 7 night cruise, but on 2 (and they were in a row). I got so frustrated, especially in Animator's Palate, I asked the head server to move us, and although we were at different table every night, and different servers (we should have moved to later dining) it was much better. I always go to the dining table changes station in rockin bar D upon embarkation and always check my dining placement now because of that. I will never be at that table or location again.
to you!

That will be the first order of business for us for future cruises as well. Unfortunately (or fortunately really) we were seated at the exact same table for our previous 2 cruises and they were fine. I didn't realize you could go through 7 days and only be at a decent table for 2 of them. Because of our rotation we were at Animators 3 days and Parrot Cay for 2, plus the character breakfast, of course. It wasn't enough to spoil the cruise for us but it was an annoyance most meals.