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

[Princess Clayre]

Wonderful report. The pictures of your daughter with Mickey are beautiful, what a special memory.

We are going on this cruise in August and reading this is making me very excited. Looking forward to the rest of the report.

 

[Peppermintangel]

Thanks for taking the time to write this amazing trip report!
I'm really enjoying reading it and I'm totally jealous of the magical alone time you got with Mickey!

My husband and I are considering a Disney cruise for my 30th birthday. We love participating in onboard activities, and in most trip reports people spend the day by the pool, so your trip report is extra helpful. I was wondering if the daytime activities for the whole family are meant to be enjoyed by adults too or they're really meant more as opportunities for parents to be with their kids? Would we be the only childless couple in these activities? Are the activities actually for kids? (Trivia, dance lessons, become iron man etc...). Thanks!

Thank you

We went to various quiz sessions and whilst we went with DD, there were plenty of teams joining in made up of just adults (would recommend the Disney Tunes Trivia!) When we went to Who Wants to be a Mousekeeter - again there were a mixture of groups with children and those with just adults

OH went to a few of the 18+ events - a pub quiz and a Movie quotes quiz, both in O'Gills and enjoyed these.

We also saw a fair few adults exploring the kids clubs during open hours - especially the Avengers and Toy Story areas.

(OH did also try and go to some of the gaming activities, x box and wii, that were advertised during port days - but was the only one there so they didn't go ahead!)

We didn't manage to do even half of the things on the navigator - just looking at one now, there's a pictionary challenge, various crafts in the promenade lounge, lots of quizes in O'Gills of an evening (would have liked to try the British Music Quiz there - but just didn't have time!)

 

[Peppermintangel]

Wonderful report. The pictures of your daughter with Mickey are beautiful, what a special memory.

We are going on this cruise in August and reading this is making me very excited. Looking forward to the rest of the report.

Thank you Hoping to have it finished in the next few days - I know from our cruise that TRs are a great way of building the excitement & have really enjoyed writing it so far

Bet you can't wait!! Have an amazing time

 

[Peppermintangel]

After Mouseketeer training, we headed off for an early(ish) lunch (11.30am) and went to the buffet at Cabanas.



We had some of the ice cream from Cabanas for the first time and it was delicious - and a great selection of flavours! It was lovely to sit by the window and enjoy a leisurely lunch (and dessert) rather than rushing because we've got to be somewhere!

After lunch we went off to try the splash area with DD - this was the first and only time we went! Not because we didn't enjoy the area, simply because we always seemed to find things we'd prefer to be doing!



The pool area was still fairly busy (busier than I thought it would be if I'm honest) there were around 20 other children in the splash area with us - we didn't go in the family pool at all.

OH braved the Aquadunk (twice) but whilst I enjoy swimming, I'm not a fan of waterslides so I didn't go. He said it was good, but scary the first time you go on!

We spent around an hour in the pools then dried off on a lounger whilst watching UP

After getting dressed we decided to head out to see what we could find....our only mistake of the trip! The maps etc that I had referred to where the shuttle bus *used* to drop you off - apparently this is near a beach area. The shuttle bus now drops you off in the downtown area - we walked about 5 minutes before deciding to go back. The area we were going through wasn't clean and there were lots of street traders trying to get us to buy bits of tat. We didn't feel comfortable, especially having not researched the area and not knowing how far it would be to get to the place we wanted to.

So, we headed back to the ship - we spent a grand total of 30 minutes (including the shuttle bus there and back) in Civitavecchia, which is a shame but we found plenty to keep us busy back on the ship

 

[debsters41]

Thanks for the heads-up about the new drop off point at Civitaveccia! I never would have known this otherwise and would have felt lost!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Thanks for the heads-up about the new drop off point at Civitaveccia! I never would have known this otherwise and would have felt lost!

No problem! I think had I known it had changed (and prepared) we'd have been alright, but panicked a bit when we didn't know where we were or how to get anywhere and gave up!

 

[Peppermintangel]

After our failed attempt to see Civitavecchia, we headed back and decided to make the most of the quietness of the ship - we met Pluto and generally had a lovely afternoon - exploring the ship (mostly going between deck 4 and deck 9 )





We admired the artwork near Shutters and eventually it was time to head off for another open house session - this time we were going to try out the Piston Cup Challenge in the Oceaneers Lab

This involved carved cars out of soap, attaching wheels and then racing two at a time to find an eventual winner! We got through our first race, but then lost on the 2nd! The session was lots of fun - DD (and I!) both enjoyed making our race car and she loved joining in with the cheering during the races. As with most of the club sessions, we got a fabric sticker to show that we'd taken part



Out of the club, we met up with OH and then came across Goofy in the atrium (not a scheduled m&g) - I did find that sometimes other children would push in front of DD as she's quiet shy and every time it happened, the characters were very good at getting the attention of the CM (if they hadn't already noticed) and gesturing that it was DDs turn.

Goofy spun DD around and around which she thought was the funniest thing ever!

 

[DWGal210]

Great trip report! Your daughter is simply adorable. What a sweetie!

 

[Peppermintangel]

After bumping into Goofy, we decided to stay in the area and wait for Minnie and Tiana who both had meet & greets soon

We only had about a 5 minute wait to see Tiana - and she was lovely. She got DD to spin with her & make their dresses twirl - which DD thought was brilliant!



The m&g with Tiana was up on Deck 4 and on our way down to meet Minnie in the atrium, we bumped in to Goofy again! He (and his CM) remembered meeting DD half an hour earlier - they had a quick hug, a photo and went on their way



We then had a short queue to meet Minnie. We loved the character interactions on the ship - when I told DD we were going back again next year, she asked if Mickey and Minnie would still be there



We decided again to miss the MDR tonight and went to see the early show of Villains. I really enjoyed it (OH wasn't too keen) and DD enjoyed hearing the songs she recognised (Be Prepared is one of her favourites)!

Whilst I wouldn't advise anyone to miss it if they haven't seen it - now that I've watched it once, I probably won't go and see it next time, just because I'm sure we'll have plenty to try and fit in

 

[pascalstongue]

Sounds like you had some great character interactions. Really hope we have something similar.

 

[serendipity50]

Those photos of your Daughter with the Mickey etc are so magical...such lovely memories.

 

[mummy lee]

I have enjoyed reading this trip report as we are doing this cruise in August, but we are also doing the Dover to Barcelona cruise next year

We too are from the UK and have booked independently x

 

[Peppermintangel]

Whoops...it's been a few days since I last updated, but here we go again....

So, we went off to Cabanas for our evening meal (which was a buffet this evening) and sat outside, watching the sailaway from Civitavecchia



We couldn't resist another meet and greet, so queued up to meet Pluto before having a quick runabout on deck 4.



We were participating in the Fish Extender exchange (really loved this - enjoyed making our FE gifts in the run up to the cruise and DD loved all her gifts from our wonderful group) and chose tonight to deliver our FE gifts before bedtime



Gifts delivered and a fun day onboard had by all, we put DD to bed. OH went out a bit later on to see the variety act (Danny Buckler) in Fathoms whilst it was my turn to babysit He said he was enjoyable (not as good as Kyle Knight and Mistie - but worth going to see)

And with that, we went to sleep - ready for our visit to Capri the next day!

 

[Peppermintangel]

I have enjoyed reading this trip report as we are doing this cruise in August, but we are also doing the Dover to Barcelona cruise next year

We too are from the UK and have booked independently x

Thank you We're on the Dover - Barcelona cruise next year too (can't remember if I've mentioned that already!) Can't wait!

You'll have a fab time - let me know if you've got any questions and I'll try to answer what I can!

 

[Bettyscruise]

Great report. Very entertaining and informative.

 

[Stinkerbell1973]

Charlotte, it's both torture and purely awesome to read this TR again and relive this incredible trip. I sit here and type with tears streaming down my face. Matilda is simply a doll. What a sweet, sweet child who is just beautiful. Your pictures of her in these unbelievable places, and with the characters are so awesome. You truly captured some very magical moments and she will always have the pictures to remind her.
Maddie continues to talk about Matilda. She remembers her so fondly.

Ok...off to somehow refocus and get these tears to stop flowing from my eyeballs!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Charlotte, it's both torture and purely awesome to read this TR again and relive this incredible trip. I sit here and type with tears streaming down my face. Matilda is simply a doll. What a sweet, sweet child who is just beautiful. Your pictures of her in these unbelievable places, and with the characters are so awesome. You truly captured some very magical moments and she will always have the pictures to remind her.
Maddie continues to talk about Matilda. She remembers her so fondly.

Ok...off to somehow refocus and get these tears to stop flowing from my eyeballs!

Awww thank you You've spurred me on to get it finished! And thank you for the photos you sent - Matilda has loved looking at them & has been chattering away about Maddie and the 'Disney Boat'. She can't wait to go back, over a month on and she still talks about the holiday every day! We think it'll probably end up being one of her first memories when she's older - and what amazing memories to have!

Here's hoping that our next cruises have a group of people even half as amazing as our wonderful Ohana x

 

[Peppermintangel]

Thursday 5th June: Naples/Capri

Capri was our plan for the day - we got up around 8.30am and headed off the ship to the ferry port which was about a 5 minute walk, very easy to get the tickets, didn't have to queue at all (though this could be different if you were going in July/August!)

We were the hydrofoil around 9am (a quick note here, both OH and I felt pretty queasy on the journey across and we don't normally get travel sick, if you're prone to it then I'd recommend going for the slower ferry just in case!)



The boat journey was around 45 minutes and we were soon arriving in Capri. We didn't really have any plans for our time on the island and we found a small stony beach near the ferry dock and DD had a play in the sea for a few minutes....





The weather was perfect (especially as we'd been checking the forecasts in the weeks before we went and they all said rain!). The beach was lovely and quiet - very stony though, we had to keep our shoes on when paddling

 

[Peppermintangel]

After playing at the beach for a while, we went to the funicular station which was just across the road. This was a relatively cheap way of getting up to Capri Town and the views on the way up (and down again) were fantastic!



Leaving the station in Capri Town, there's a viewing area over the island and the views are just breathtaking!



It was getting pretty warm now and we fancied stopping somewhere for a drink - now here's my warning about Capri. DON'T stop anywhere without a menu and prices. We went to a cafe in the main square (again, look for somewhere a little bit further away from the main tourist areas) and for two cokes, an orange juice and one bowl of ice cream we were charged 25 euros and because we weren't expecting it, it took a big chunk of our budget for the day!



I'm sure there are plenty of lovely places to stop that are more reasonably priced but we hadn't researched and went to the first place we saw & don't want others to make this mistake!

After our cafe stop, we had a walk around the town and did a lot of window shopping!

 

[Peppermintangel]

Capri was very pretty and we enjoyed exploring the town, but after a while it was fairly same-y and we decided that it was about time to start heading back, so we went to the funicular station and took the train back down to the harbour



We had another stop at the beach (I think this was DDs favourite part of Capri!)



And off we went, back on the hydrofoil to Naples. We spent around 4 hours in Capri and really enjoyed it. However, to us, it seemed to be one of those "been there, done that" type of places and now that we've been once, I don't know if we'd go again