Our first cruise - DIY Disney Magic round the Med (31st May - 7th June)

[Alohagirl73]

Wonderful trip report. Your DD is darling especially with all those characters.

Can't wait to see more!!

 

[debsters41]

Thank you so much for this trip report!!!! We are on this itinerary at the end of the season!!!

If you could let me know your dining rotation (it's on your kttw card) that would be great because I am trying to plan which night for Palo.

Thank you for scanning the Navigators! We love reading them and would love the other pages as well


Your daughter is adorable and I love seeing her having a great time. Kudos for making this vacation fit her schedule!

 

[llqool]

We did have the Navigator app on OHs phone, however I did prefer the paper version - there's something fun (to me, anyway) of reading through it of an evening and circling things we'd like to go to! We found the App handy for checking if something was going to be on again during the week, which made dealing with clashes easier.

I'm with you on the paper preference (and I am old-fashioned and still like to read printed books!), but it is so good to know that you are able to see if another activity will be offered later in the week. That's something that has irked me in the past, because scheduling things can be hard if you don't know what's coming up.

Thanks for the picture of the shawarma station! I'm excited about that. The toppings look yummy. Do you remember what kinds of meats they offered?

And, last question...were the Frozen characters on board?

Thanks!!!

 

[Peppermintangel]

It was formal night, and we were in Lumiere’s this evening – so we went off to get changed, have some photos out on deck 4 and, of course, to go to a character meet & great – we went for Chip and Dale in their formal outfits!



Dinner was, again, superb. It was the Prince and Princess menu and I went for Belle’s Blue Cheese Polenta Cake, Roasted Portobello Mushroom pasta and the Sweet Temptations dessert







OH went for Steak again (with fries this time I think) and DD had the childrens pasta.

I had noted on our reservation that it was our 10 year anniversary and so our servers came out with a special mini cake, singing "Happy Anniversary to you" which was nice! I have a picture of the cake, but didn't manage to take it before DD had stolen and eaten the Happy Anniversary label!



We had a little wander around the atrium and back down to our room, ready for an early night before our first port day the next day

OH and I again couldn't resist the lure of the room service, and had late night snacks around 11pm again!

 

[Peppermintangel]

I'm with you on the paper preference (and I am old-fashioned and still like to read printed books!), but it is so good to know that you are able to see if another activity will be offered later in the week. That's something that has irked me in the past, because scheduling things can be hard if you don't know what's coming up.

Thanks for the picture of the shawarma station! I'm excited about that. The toppings look yummy. Do you remember what kinds of meats they offered?

And, last question...were the Frozen characters on board?

Thanks!!!

it was just the one meat (either in pita bread or tortilla) - like a doner meat which was carved off for the shawarmas

No Frozen characters - we saw the 4 princesses, Sofia, Jake, Captain America (though he was only out on one day and we missed him!), Mickey + friends and Captain Jack, Peter Pan, Hook and Smee on Pirate night

 

[Peppermintangel]

Wonderful trip report. Your DD is darling especially with all those characters.

Can't wait to see more!!

Thank you

 

[Peppermintangel]

Thank you so much for this trip report!!!! We are on this itinerary at the end of the season!!!

If you could let me know your dining rotation (it's on your kttw card) that would be great because I am trying to plan which night for Palo.

Thank you for scanning the Navigators! We love reading them and would love the other pages as well


Your daughter is adorable and I love seeing her having a great time. Kudos for making this vacation fit her schedule!

Thank you We had such a great time - the ports were fab!

Our rotation was C L AP C L AP C (We were in Lumiere's on Formal night)

 

[Peppermintangel]

Monday 2nd June

We preordered room service breakfast the night before as we knew it'd be easier than going to Cabanas with a schedule to keep to! Our breakfast arrived right on time at 8am (with a handy phone call 5 minutes before to let us know it was on its way)



We let DD sleep in until we'd had our breakfast (a selection of pastries, croissants and jams) and got ourselves sorted - she was very surprised to be woken up with breakfast on the table next to her bed (but she quickly got very used to it!!)



Once we were all fed, watered and ready, we headed off to the theater to wait for a tender boat. We were only there around 5 minutes before we were led off (though they did apologise for the wait - so I'm not sure how long others were waiting for - we must have timed it just right!)

Monaco was our plan for the day - months of preparations, research and a folder full of timetables and maps - and we were on our way! The tender process was really easy (this was around 9am) and when we got to the port in Villefranche, it was about a 5 minute walk along the sea front (past a lovely little beach, which we stopped at on our way back) to get to the train station (which was at the top of a fairly long flight of stairs - just incase anyone is planning the trip with pushchairs etc)....

 

[debsters41]

Thank you We had such a great time - the ports were fab!

Our rotation was C L AP C L AP C (We were in Lumiere's on Formal night)

Thank you! That rotation looks fantastic! I look forward to hearing more

 

[pascalstongue]

Thank you so much for this report. We are on this cruise at the end of August and as our children are 3 and 5 we are planning to do all the ports DIY.

We are also staying at the Novotel in Barcelona so I'm glad to hear you liked it.

DD is all about the characters so I'm enjoying seeing all of the characters you got to meet. I wasn't going to request that we sat on our own, but I'm getting a bit worried now. :-/

 

[Peppermintangel]

Our train was delayed about 15 minutes (though managed to catch up around 5 minutes of that on the journey) and about 20 minutes after boarding we were in Monaco.

The train was very busy and OH got a seat (with DD on his lap) but I had to stand - along with a fair few others. It was very reasonably priced though - I believe we paid around 15 euros return for the 3 of us.

Getting to Monaco was where the research paid off. We knew we wanted to do it in about 3 - 4 hours and had a plan of action! Leaving Monaco from the Sainte Devote exit (signposted) we ended up right next to the bus stop to get the number 1/2 bus over to Monaco Ville where the Aquarium was. (Tip: Bus tickets are a little bit cheaper if you buy them from the machines at the stops rather than from the driver)

It was about a 10 minute bus journey from the station over to the Aquarium and cost 2 euros each (DD was free)

The Oceanographic Museum was 14 euros each for adults and 7 euros for DD, and was the most expensive part of the day. We did all really enjoy visiting though, there is one large floor which houses an aquarium, a couple of floors of museum pieces and they have a rooftop area (with some amazing views) with a cafe and playground for children.









I would definitely recommend a trip to the aquarium if you're DIYing Monaco and have young children - we spent about an hour and a half there (but could have easily spent longer)

After the aquarium, we walked through really picturesque gardens (looking at google now, I believe it was the St Martin Gardens) to see the Cathedral and the Palace from the outside - they were around a 10 minute (leisurely) walk from the aquarium and though we didn't go inside either, I believe you can tour them.



It was getting pretty warm now so we stopped to buy ice creams which we ate walking back down to the bus stop....

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

How was the tender process in Villefranche? We are planning on staying in Villefranche and just hanging out there for a few hours (probably lunch, beach, etc). Does the tender to Villefrance stop at a certain hour? I really want to make this a "sleep-in" day getting off the ship at around 10am or so. Just curious if you think that's doable.

Thanks so much! Love your report and LOVE LOVE LOVE your pics!

 

[Peppermintangel]

When we got there, we bought tickets from the machine and within 5 minutes our bus arrived (I believe it was the number 1 route) we took the bus over to the Casino Square to check that again. Again, we didn't go in, but enjoyed walking round and seeing the sights.

The Casino is at the top of a hill and walking down to the bottom brings you out back at the train station, so we did just that! Walking past the harbour on our way down - some of the yachts there were incredible!



We got back to the train station around 1.30pm and had a 10 minute wait for our train back to Villefranche (the trains ran every 30 minutes, at 15 past and 45 past the hour). We'd spent around 3 hours in Monaco - which was enough to enjoy the aquarium with DD and see all the major sights from the outside (and cost us around 70 euros for the 3 of us for train and bus travel, ice creams and entrance to the aquarium)

On our way back from the train station in Villefranche, we passed a lovely little beach and couldn't resist a paddle (you can spot the Magic in the background of some of these pics!)







Again, would recommend making time to have a stop here (weather permitting!) We hadn't planned on any beach stops, but actually had 3 over the week and DD loved playing in the water - it was perfectly warm enough to paddle in

 

[Peppermintangel]

How was the tender process in Villefranche? We are planning on staying in Villefranche and just hanging out there for a few hours (probably lunch, beach, etc). Does the tender to Villefrance stop at a certain hour? I really want to make this a "sleep-in" day getting off the ship at around 10am or so. Just curious if you think that's doable.

Thanks so much! Love your report and LOVE LOVE LOVE your pics!

Very easy Leaving around 10am you should have no problem getting off the ship - I think there were two tenders going back and forth throughout the day: taking people off the ship, dropping them at the port, waiting until fairly full again and then taking back to the ship continuously.

On our tender back, we were on the boat around 10 minutes, waiting for it to fill up, before we left

They give you a last tender time on the navigator the night before, so no worries about missing it (especially as you'll be staying in Villefranche)

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Very easy Leaving around 10am you should have no problem getting off the ship - I think there were two tenders going back and forth throughout the day: taking people off the ship, dropping them at the port, waiting until fairly full again and then taking back to the ship continuously.

On our tender back, we were on the boat around 10 minutes, waiting for it to fill up, before we left

They give you a last tender time on the navigator the night before, so no worries about missing it (especially as you'll be staying in Villefranche)

Awesome!! Thanks so much!!!! You are awesome!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Thank you so much for this report. We are on this cruise at the end of August and as our children are 3 and 5 we are planning to do all the ports DIY.

We are also staying at the Novotel in Barcelona so I'm glad to hear you liked it.

DD is all about the characters so I'm enjoying seeing all of the characters you got to meet. I wasn't going to request that we sat on our own, but I'm getting a bit worried now. :-/

Please don't be worried about it - out of the 20 or so families on our facebook group, I think we were the only ones not to have a great dining experience (and even then, it wasn't terrible, just a little uncomfortable & you can always request to be moved after the first night if needs be)

 

[Peppermintangel]

Monday 2nd June....

We got on a tender pretty quickly and were soon back onboard



Here's todays navigator btw:



OH and DD went back to the room for a little while, whilst I took the opportunity to have a wander of decks 9 and 10 and take a few photos of Villefranche from the ship





I then went back to the room to collect DD and we decided to go out on to deck 4 for a run around, as soon as we opened the doors to go out on to the deck - we spotted Mickey and his CM with no one else around - DD was in heaven!

He spent 5 minute sitting with DD and getting her to pose for different photos - he then took her hand and walked down the length of deck 4 with her The CM started singing Disney songs as they walked and it was just a magical moment

 

[Peppermintangel]

After meeting Mickey (one of DDs highlights!), we had a wander around deck 3 and the atrium and bumped into Minnie about 20 minutes later (with the same CM who remember Matilda from outside)





Another special moment, and an idea of how magical the character interactions on the ship are

As we were there and there was very little queuing, we met Pluto in the Atrium before going off upstairs to the Oceaneers Lab to join in with Super Sloppy Science (Open House)

There were maybe 20 or so children in there with parents and we got to make Flubber with Professor Make-O-Mess This was great fun and I was really pleased to find various things during the week that me and DD could go and enjoy together

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

Monday 2nd June.... We got on a tender pretty quickly and were soon back onboard http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/TR14_zpsbdd20693.jpg.html Here's todays navigator btw: http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/Nav3_zps6da6731d.jpg.html OH and DD went back to the room for a little while, whilst I took the opportunity to have a wander of decks 9 and 10 and take a few photos of Villefranche from the ship http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/TR16_zpsa315f9fc.jpg.html http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/TR15_zps3532ca74.jpg.html I then went back to the room to collect DD and we decided to go out on to deck 4 for a run around, as soon as we opened the doors to go out on to the deck - we spotted Mickey and his CM with no one else around - DD was in heaven! He spent 5 minute sitting with DD and getting her to pose for different photos - he then took her hand and walked down the length of deck 4 with her The CM started singing Disney songs as they walked and it was just a magical moment http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/TR18_zpsd288e250.jpg.html http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/Tr19_zpsbc776f70.jpg.html http://s5.photobucket.com/user/dobeedoo/media/TR17_zpsf93d8c22.jpg.html

Those Mickey pics are precious!!!!

 

[mattykin]

We booked the cruise through a UK travel agent and I had asked them to request we had our own table - I don't know if they did or not, but we ended up with a family of 5 on a table of 8. The family were very pleasant and perfectly nice, but English wasn't their native language and it did feel a little like we were intruding on their family dinner - we decided to eat only did the first three nights in the MDR (so we could experience each dining room once). Don't get me wrong, it worked out well for us in that we had a dinner from either Cabanas (which had buffet service a couple of nights and waiter service on the others) or the fast food place and then went to see the early show. This meant we were getting DD to bed by 8.30pm (expect for Pirate Night and the last night) and we had a slightly less grumpy 4 year old during the days!

We had the Let the Magic Begin menu and I went for Prosciutto, Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta and then Mesquite grilled chicken breast - both of which were delicious!







OH is a plain eater, so didn't go for a starter and had steak and some sort of potato (I don't remember!) which, again, was really tasty.

DD had soup and then Mac & Cheese which was all eaten up, so I presume that was good too!



Again, the MDR let us down a little as, though our servers were really nice, there was none of the special treatment I'd read about on the boards - no cutting up of DD's food, we didn't see any magic tricks/any form of entertainment for the children. Possibly a time when lots of research didn't do any favours, as if I hadn't read about the cutting of the kids meals etc then I wouldn't have noticed it not happening!

(Again, I want to point out that none of this in any way ruined our DCL experience - in fact it was the only thing that wasn't perfectly magical, and in 7 days, that's not bad at all!)

We were finished in about 90 minutes and had time to head off and see the end of Mickey Mania in the D Lounge....

Great trip report, question, who did you have as a serving team?