Hello all!
Well I am back....... and not very happy about it. I am pleased to say that this 4 day cruise, 4/16-22, was the best trip I have ever made, and well worth the money. I wish I still was back on the ship~
This report is soley my opinion, as a first time cruiser. I welcome your thoughts, please dont be offended by anything I print, just remember, these are MY OPINIONS!
First stop, the Disney Terminal, did I mention the word FRIENDLY yet? That sums it all up, the employees of Disney are extremely friendly, and it made this first time cruiser feel at ease. Everyone there is more than happy to explain and answer any questions you have, and it all went smoothly. I thought the entry way to the ship, the mickey head and ears, wasnt as dramatic as I thought, but off I went into the portal.
As you are walking through the portal, you are grabbed for pictures, so make sure you look presentable, no chance for fixing your hair, or clothes, no mirrors either, so be prepared.
As you walk on the ship, you are announced over the PA, I was tempted to give a false name, just for fun, but behaved myself, and gave her the correct names. The entry way to the ship is stunning, with the band playing, and glass sculptures. You are free then to explore the ship, or to have some lunch. We choose
Parrot Cay, the food was plentiful.
The ship was pretty awesome to me, I never have cruised before, I was amazed at how clean they keep it. It was larger than I imagined, here is a word of advice, before entering the ship, study like crazy the map of the ship, and what is on each floor, this will save you time, because it takes forever to remember and find places you want to go to.
I intend to write a letter to Disney, for some suggestions. I do recommend that there be more arrows pointing in what direction you are going, so many times I became disoriented in which was the front or the back of the ship is. Now I read somewhere that there is a few places on the carpet that show forward and aft, but I never found those. It takes at least a day to get used to the set up.
On the 9th deck, there is a self service drink station, with hot chocolate, coffee, hot tea, lemonade, fruit punch, and iced tea
with disposabe cups, so you can walk around with them, along with lids. I didnt choose to pay for the unlimited soda cup, I didnt want to walk around with a cup all the time, and you can get free soda with your meals at the sit down restaurants. I do recommend that you purchase a 6 or 12 pack of soda and bring it on the ship yourself, along with bottled water, will save you alot of money if you want to bring along your own can to functions.
The pools were smaller then I anticipated, but there is 3 to choose from. The kids seemed happy and they were mostly full to capacity. Plenty of clean towels, and a couple of bars by the pools for the adults.
As for the food, what can I say? There is an abundance for mostly any tastes, and it seems like it is always around you. I normally dont eat 3 meals, but how can you not? I found that most everything you need or want is at the Buffet on the 9th deck, and if you want to have a leisurely lunch or dinner, the rotation restaurants have more tasteful selections. My experience with the sit down dinners, I was a bit dissapointed.
I am not a finicky eater but, I didnt like the selections, I am more a seafood, lobster shrimp scallop crab person, although they did have some of those, I wasnt impressed. They did have a seafood lunch on wednesday, and that was good.
My son didnt see anything on the menu at Animators, so we decided to leave, and that started a chain reaction that i couldnt shake for the whole cruise. They practically pulled us back into the restaurant, and then got many calls at our room, hoping that they could improve the service. I never realized the importance of them pleasing you. Each and every time we ate from then till the end of the cruise, our servers found us, and made sure we were happy! I made sure they got double the usual tips at the end.
I am glad I upgraded my room a few months after I made my reservations, I forget the catagory number but, we started out with a inside cabin room, and upgraded to a balcony. Even though it was twice the price, it was well worth it. Seriously!
Nothing is better than waking up to the curtains blowing from your balcony, smelling the clean fresh air. Make sure you pack a plug in air freshner.... the cabins are musty smelling. Clean clean clean, they keep your rooms sparkling clean. Well worth it to upgrade!
Make sure even if you are not hungry, try room service, it is so much fun! I loved hot tea before I went to bed, and lots of different tea selections. I lived on the chocolate chip cookies, and the oatmeal raisin are out of this world. Dont forget to tip the person bringing you the tray.
Nassua, what an experience. Just like I read, keep your children close at hand. Like a flash, a bohemian grabbed my 13 year old son, and pulled him into a gazebo with a band, for a picture, and I must have said NO at least a dozen times, but they are very persistent, and I was furious. He wanted money too, I wanted so badly to freak on him, but I held back. I guess I am not used to people grabbing me, and this gave me a bad feeling about the Nassua. You are bombarded with people selling items, and if you have any hair on your head, they will bug you to death to braid it. My party and I felt very uncomfortable shopping, and it wasnt a good experience. The straw market is for the strong willed and brave, people grabbing at you , and following you. I wish I could have stayed longer, there was some interesting items. But if they knew how this type of selling disturbs potential customers, perhaps they would back off some.
I choose to book a room at Comfort Suites to gain access to Atlantis, my price was $207 with taxes..... so the party I was with which included 4 people, was able to enjoy Atlantis for the day. I found the employees at Comfort Inn had a bit of an attitude, which wasnt pleasing to me. But I was there just for Atlantis, so got my room, and off I went.
To sum Atlantis up in one word, it would be AWESOME. I am a beach lover, and this truly is a paradise. The ultimate in clean, and extravagant. CAsino room makes Atlantic City NJ look bad.... it has glass sculptures you must see. There seems like there is an employee every few feet to assist you with anything you need. Pools, are great, many of them. I was hungry, and had to have the fish and chips at Pisces. IT was one good lunch, ab out $8, but worth it. I took my lunch out to the beach, I was in heaven. I have a bohemian man crack me open a fresh coconut, and made me a Bahama Mama, with ice, it was soooooo good, you have to get one, $6. Of course, they are bothering you with getting your hair braided but, just be firm with them and they will leave you alone. The aquatic sealife is quite breathtaking, and the water slides and lazy river are fun too.
Make sure you through the DIG, cool story and nice gift shop too.
The whole place is so full of beautful flowers and greenery, and they entire floor of the hotels are in marble, quite a sight to see.
I will never regret paying a steep price for access, it was well worth it, and you do it on your own time, not with a tour guide.
I plan on going just to ATlantis for a week next year, flying right into the Bahamas. I was that impressed. I better start saving my money.
Castaway Cay is another paradise, so much for the kids to do, and you can feel at ease that your children will be safe there. Nice beaches, go to the end near the Look Out bar, not so crowded there. Food at the barbeque was good to me, loved the lobster burgers, kinda like a crab cake, but grilled.
As for packing do yourself a favor, really take this advice, listen to the others previously that wrote on the boards, take half out!
You spend a good portion of the trip dressing and undressing, folding and unfolding, packing and unpacking. Half the time, you cant find what you need anyway! I am one the most organized people you will ever meet, and I had trouble! Take one pair of dress pants, and mix it with dressy shirts, or one dress. Cut down the amount of shoes, you wont need them, seriously!
I didnt wear half the shoes or clothes, and then you wind up washing them anyway, really a pain.
Shopping on the ship was fun, but I think it would be a smart move on their part to put more shops on the ship. People want to spend money on vacation, and they need more of a selection.
Shows were great, make sure you bring a camcorder.
Seasickness, the first night they are speeding to Nassua to make it on time, that was the only time I had a problem. I wore the seabands, and took bonnine. Worked like a charm. The only thing it doesnt help with is the sealegs, or wobbly legs. I felt no sickness, just couldnt keep my feet and legs straight. The rest of the trip they lower the speed of the boat by half, and I was fine, took the bands off. It just takes some getting used to.
I am hooked now, I dont know why it took me so long to cruise, now I will be doing it every year. It is a wonderful experience to show your children, and it makes lasting memories.
Hope this report helped you with some decisions for an upcoming cruise!!
J Davis
Well I am back....... and not very happy about it. I am pleased to say that this 4 day cruise, 4/16-22, was the best trip I have ever made, and well worth the money. I wish I still was back on the ship~
This report is soley my opinion, as a first time cruiser. I welcome your thoughts, please dont be offended by anything I print, just remember, these are MY OPINIONS!
First stop, the Disney Terminal, did I mention the word FRIENDLY yet? That sums it all up, the employees of Disney are extremely friendly, and it made this first time cruiser feel at ease. Everyone there is more than happy to explain and answer any questions you have, and it all went smoothly. I thought the entry way to the ship, the mickey head and ears, wasnt as dramatic as I thought, but off I went into the portal.
As you are walking through the portal, you are grabbed for pictures, so make sure you look presentable, no chance for fixing your hair, or clothes, no mirrors either, so be prepared.
As you walk on the ship, you are announced over the PA, I was tempted to give a false name, just for fun, but behaved myself, and gave her the correct names. The entry way to the ship is stunning, with the band playing, and glass sculptures. You are free then to explore the ship, or to have some lunch. We choose
Parrot Cay, the food was plentiful.
The ship was pretty awesome to me, I never have cruised before, I was amazed at how clean they keep it. It was larger than I imagined, here is a word of advice, before entering the ship, study like crazy the map of the ship, and what is on each floor, this will save you time, because it takes forever to remember and find places you want to go to.
I intend to write a letter to Disney, for some suggestions. I do recommend that there be more arrows pointing in what direction you are going, so many times I became disoriented in which was the front or the back of the ship is. Now I read somewhere that there is a few places on the carpet that show forward and aft, but I never found those. It takes at least a day to get used to the set up.
On the 9th deck, there is a self service drink station, with hot chocolate, coffee, hot tea, lemonade, fruit punch, and iced tea
with disposabe cups, so you can walk around with them, along with lids. I didnt choose to pay for the unlimited soda cup, I didnt want to walk around with a cup all the time, and you can get free soda with your meals at the sit down restaurants. I do recommend that you purchase a 6 or 12 pack of soda and bring it on the ship yourself, along with bottled water, will save you alot of money if you want to bring along your own can to functions.
The pools were smaller then I anticipated, but there is 3 to choose from. The kids seemed happy and they were mostly full to capacity. Plenty of clean towels, and a couple of bars by the pools for the adults.
As for the food, what can I say? There is an abundance for mostly any tastes, and it seems like it is always around you. I normally dont eat 3 meals, but how can you not? I found that most everything you need or want is at the Buffet on the 9th deck, and if you want to have a leisurely lunch or dinner, the rotation restaurants have more tasteful selections. My experience with the sit down dinners, I was a bit dissapointed.
I am not a finicky eater but, I didnt like the selections, I am more a seafood, lobster shrimp scallop crab person, although they did have some of those, I wasnt impressed. They did have a seafood lunch on wednesday, and that was good.
My son didnt see anything on the menu at Animators, so we decided to leave, and that started a chain reaction that i couldnt shake for the whole cruise. They practically pulled us back into the restaurant, and then got many calls at our room, hoping that they could improve the service. I never realized the importance of them pleasing you. Each and every time we ate from then till the end of the cruise, our servers found us, and made sure we were happy! I made sure they got double the usual tips at the end.
I am glad I upgraded my room a few months after I made my reservations, I forget the catagory number but, we started out with a inside cabin room, and upgraded to a balcony. Even though it was twice the price, it was well worth it. Seriously!
Nothing is better than waking up to the curtains blowing from your balcony, smelling the clean fresh air. Make sure you pack a plug in air freshner.... the cabins are musty smelling. Clean clean clean, they keep your rooms sparkling clean. Well worth it to upgrade!
Make sure even if you are not hungry, try room service, it is so much fun! I loved hot tea before I went to bed, and lots of different tea selections. I lived on the chocolate chip cookies, and the oatmeal raisin are out of this world. Dont forget to tip the person bringing you the tray.
Nassua, what an experience. Just like I read, keep your children close at hand. Like a flash, a bohemian grabbed my 13 year old son, and pulled him into a gazebo with a band, for a picture, and I must have said NO at least a dozen times, but they are very persistent, and I was furious. He wanted money too, I wanted so badly to freak on him, but I held back. I guess I am not used to people grabbing me, and this gave me a bad feeling about the Nassua. You are bombarded with people selling items, and if you have any hair on your head, they will bug you to death to braid it. My party and I felt very uncomfortable shopping, and it wasnt a good experience. The straw market is for the strong willed and brave, people grabbing at you , and following you. I wish I could have stayed longer, there was some interesting items. But if they knew how this type of selling disturbs potential customers, perhaps they would back off some.
I choose to book a room at Comfort Suites to gain access to Atlantis, my price was $207 with taxes..... so the party I was with which included 4 people, was able to enjoy Atlantis for the day. I found the employees at Comfort Inn had a bit of an attitude, which wasnt pleasing to me. But I was there just for Atlantis, so got my room, and off I went.
To sum Atlantis up in one word, it would be AWESOME. I am a beach lover, and this truly is a paradise. The ultimate in clean, and extravagant. CAsino room makes Atlantic City NJ look bad.... it has glass sculptures you must see. There seems like there is an employee every few feet to assist you with anything you need. Pools, are great, many of them. I was hungry, and had to have the fish and chips at Pisces. IT was one good lunch, ab out $8, but worth it. I took my lunch out to the beach, I was in heaven. I have a bohemian man crack me open a fresh coconut, and made me a Bahama Mama, with ice, it was soooooo good, you have to get one, $6. Of course, they are bothering you with getting your hair braided but, just be firm with them and they will leave you alone. The aquatic sealife is quite breathtaking, and the water slides and lazy river are fun too.
Make sure you through the DIG, cool story and nice gift shop too.
The whole place is so full of beautful flowers and greenery, and they entire floor of the hotels are in marble, quite a sight to see.
I will never regret paying a steep price for access, it was well worth it, and you do it on your own time, not with a tour guide.
I plan on going just to ATlantis for a week next year, flying right into the Bahamas. I was that impressed. I better start saving my money.
Castaway Cay is another paradise, so much for the kids to do, and you can feel at ease that your children will be safe there. Nice beaches, go to the end near the Look Out bar, not so crowded there. Food at the barbeque was good to me, loved the lobster burgers, kinda like a crab cake, but grilled.
As for packing do yourself a favor, really take this advice, listen to the others previously that wrote on the boards, take half out!
You spend a good portion of the trip dressing and undressing, folding and unfolding, packing and unpacking. Half the time, you cant find what you need anyway! I am one the most organized people you will ever meet, and I had trouble! Take one pair of dress pants, and mix it with dressy shirts, or one dress. Cut down the amount of shoes, you wont need them, seriously!
I didnt wear half the shoes or clothes, and then you wind up washing them anyway, really a pain.
Shopping on the ship was fun, but I think it would be a smart move on their part to put more shops on the ship. People want to spend money on vacation, and they need more of a selection.
Shows were great, make sure you bring a camcorder.
Seasickness, the first night they are speeding to Nassua to make it on time, that was the only time I had a problem. I wore the seabands, and took bonnine. Worked like a charm. The only thing it doesnt help with is the sealegs, or wobbly legs. I felt no sickness, just couldnt keep my feet and legs straight. The rest of the trip they lower the speed of the boat by half, and I was fine, took the bands off. It just takes some getting used to.
I am hooked now, I dont know why it took me so long to cruise, now I will be doing it every year. It is a wonderful experience to show your children, and it makes lasting memories.
Hope this report helped you with some decisions for an upcoming cruise!!
J Davis
