SimplyMagical
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2001
- Messages
- 398
Just got through shoveling the driveway, it's so good to be back in the northeast. 
This is our first ever cruise, my wife and I and our 2 dd's, 13 and 15.
We started our trip on Wednesday, we flew out of Albany on the 7pm flight and arrived at Wilderness Lodge just before 11pm. We spent Thursday and Friday relaxing at the Villas. We used Tiffany Towncar to get to port. We arrived around 10am and were able to enter the terminal immediately. We received a 2 for our boarding group. We were able to board around 12:30 or so and immediately went to Rocking Bar D to make our Palo ressie. We then went up to Topsiders for lunch. We wandered around the ship until 1:30 or so when our room was ready. We stayed in a Cat 9 Ocean View, 2024 deck 2. We had a large porthole window. Our first impression was that the room was so small but after we put all of our clothes away and put the suitcases away the room seemed to get bigger. We found it to be roomy enough for the four of us as long as we made sure we kept it neat and orderly. We then proceeded to Walt Disney Theater for our life vest drill, boy did our 2 dd's hate that. After the drill we headed back up top for the sail away party. It was amazing to actually be moving on the water! We then headed back to our room to shower and dress for dinner, we had the late seating but wanted to be dressed and explore more. Our first night we ate in Lumiere's and met our servers, Teresa from Hungary and Sumi from India. They were both great. We ended up heading back to our stateroom after dinner and relaxing for the night, it was a long first day with a lot of excitement.
The next two days at sea were great, the weather was warm and sunny and the ocean was calm. We were able to spend a lot of time on deck 9 and 10 relaxing in the sun. Sunday my wife and I enjoyed a couple's massage, our first, and it was very relaxing. That night we ate in Animator's Palate, very good show.
Monday night we ate at Palo while our 2 dd's went to Parrot Cay. We told our servers the night before and they said they would make sure they took good care of them. Our dinner was perfect and the chocolate souffle was the best. Our server was Kristian from Croatia, he was very good. Our dinner was at 6:15 so we were able to go down after and peek into Parrot Cay and see our 2 dd's at our table. They didn't know we were there, they looked so cute all dressed for dinner by themselves. Afterwards they were more excited to tell us about their dinner as we were about ours.
Tuesday we arrived at St. Maarten, it was beautiful. We reserved the 2 flags excursion. It was enjoyable. We were able to see both sides of the island, Dutch and French. It was not too long and our driver was very knowledgable and interesting. Afterward we did some shopping near port and returned to the ship. We went to a 2:30pm showing onboard of 8 Downunder, the movie about the sled dogs. It was good but also sad at the same time. Tuesday night was Pirate night at Lumiere's for us. Dinner was fun and afterward there was a party on deck 9 with fireworks. I was told Disney is the only cruiseline to use foreworks at sea.
Wednesday was St. Thpmas. It started out very early, we had to be in Walt Disney Theater at 6:30 for Customs Inspection, then off to our excursion, Maagen's Bay for a day at the beach. The beach was beautiful and the water was too. The ride to the beach was almost as good as the beach. They take you in open sided truck taxi's through the town, up the mountain and back down the other side. What a wild ride! That night back to Animator's Palate for dinner. After we caught Rich Pupura's comedy show, it was hilarious. We found St. Thomas to be far more beautiful than St. Maarten, much less visable poverty.
Thursday was another beautiful day at sea, once again warm and sunny and calm sea. We ate dinner at Parrot Cay, our first since we missed it the first time due to Palo. It was very good.
Friday was in our opinion the best of all, Castaway Cay. We found this to be the most beautiful of our ports. The beach was beautiful. We actually had our first bad weather, it poured for about 10 minutes and then the sun was back out for the rest of the day. We rented floats and spent most of the day floating in the water. We all got burns. We ate lunch and did a little shopping and headed back to the ship around 3pm. We headed up to the top to relax around the pool. We ate our last dinner at Lumiere's, it was sad.
Earlier we had filled out our tip form and we presented our servers with their envelopes. After dinner we packed our suitcases and put them outside our door. We also presented our stateroom host, Orlando, with his envelope. We were very impressed with Orlando. After the first night meeting him at our room for about 3 minutes, the next time he saw each of us, he knew our first names. Friday night the wind picked up overnight and the sea was the roughest of the trip, but we slept through it fine.
Saturday morning we had to be at Lumiere's for breakfast at 8:15am, one last time to eat and see our servers. We were off the ship before 9am with our luggage to meet our driver from Tiffany Towncar for our ride to the airport. It was over before we knew it.
Most mornings we ate breakfast and lunch at Topsiders buffet, we liked it very much. It always had a great selection, and you could eat outdoors.
Overall it was the best vacation we ever had, we loved it so much we booked an April 07 while onboard. The best tips we used from these boards were the over the door shoe holders for shoes and bathroom supplies. We also brought a duffle bag filled with beer and water onboard. We saved lots of money and had an extra duffle to pack for the return trip home. An extension cord is also a must.
I thind that's it, if anyone has any questions I will be glad to answer,
This is our first ever cruise, my wife and I and our 2 dd's, 13 and 15.
We started our trip on Wednesday, we flew out of Albany on the 7pm flight and arrived at Wilderness Lodge just before 11pm. We spent Thursday and Friday relaxing at the Villas. We used Tiffany Towncar to get to port. We arrived around 10am and were able to enter the terminal immediately. We received a 2 for our boarding group. We were able to board around 12:30 or so and immediately went to Rocking Bar D to make our Palo ressie. We then went up to Topsiders for lunch. We wandered around the ship until 1:30 or so when our room was ready. We stayed in a Cat 9 Ocean View, 2024 deck 2. We had a large porthole window. Our first impression was that the room was so small but after we put all of our clothes away and put the suitcases away the room seemed to get bigger. We found it to be roomy enough for the four of us as long as we made sure we kept it neat and orderly. We then proceeded to Walt Disney Theater for our life vest drill, boy did our 2 dd's hate that. After the drill we headed back up top for the sail away party. It was amazing to actually be moving on the water! We then headed back to our room to shower and dress for dinner, we had the late seating but wanted to be dressed and explore more. Our first night we ate in Lumiere's and met our servers, Teresa from Hungary and Sumi from India. They were both great. We ended up heading back to our stateroom after dinner and relaxing for the night, it was a long first day with a lot of excitement.
The next two days at sea were great, the weather was warm and sunny and the ocean was calm. We were able to spend a lot of time on deck 9 and 10 relaxing in the sun. Sunday my wife and I enjoyed a couple's massage, our first, and it was very relaxing. That night we ate in Animator's Palate, very good show.
Monday night we ate at Palo while our 2 dd's went to Parrot Cay. We told our servers the night before and they said they would make sure they took good care of them. Our dinner was perfect and the chocolate souffle was the best. Our server was Kristian from Croatia, he was very good. Our dinner was at 6:15 so we were able to go down after and peek into Parrot Cay and see our 2 dd's at our table. They didn't know we were there, they looked so cute all dressed for dinner by themselves. Afterwards they were more excited to tell us about their dinner as we were about ours.
Tuesday we arrived at St. Maarten, it was beautiful. We reserved the 2 flags excursion. It was enjoyable. We were able to see both sides of the island, Dutch and French. It was not too long and our driver was very knowledgable and interesting. Afterward we did some shopping near port and returned to the ship. We went to a 2:30pm showing onboard of 8 Downunder, the movie about the sled dogs. It was good but also sad at the same time. Tuesday night was Pirate night at Lumiere's for us. Dinner was fun and afterward there was a party on deck 9 with fireworks. I was told Disney is the only cruiseline to use foreworks at sea.
Wednesday was St. Thpmas. It started out very early, we had to be in Walt Disney Theater at 6:30 for Customs Inspection, then off to our excursion, Maagen's Bay for a day at the beach. The beach was beautiful and the water was too. The ride to the beach was almost as good as the beach. They take you in open sided truck taxi's through the town, up the mountain and back down the other side. What a wild ride! That night back to Animator's Palate for dinner. After we caught Rich Pupura's comedy show, it was hilarious. We found St. Thomas to be far more beautiful than St. Maarten, much less visable poverty.
Thursday was another beautiful day at sea, once again warm and sunny and calm sea. We ate dinner at Parrot Cay, our first since we missed it the first time due to Palo. It was very good.
Friday was in our opinion the best of all, Castaway Cay. We found this to be the most beautiful of our ports. The beach was beautiful. We actually had our first bad weather, it poured for about 10 minutes and then the sun was back out for the rest of the day. We rented floats and spent most of the day floating in the water. We all got burns. We ate lunch and did a little shopping and headed back to the ship around 3pm. We headed up to the top to relax around the pool. We ate our last dinner at Lumiere's, it was sad.
Earlier we had filled out our tip form and we presented our servers with their envelopes. After dinner we packed our suitcases and put them outside our door. We also presented our stateroom host, Orlando, with his envelope. We were very impressed with Orlando. After the first night meeting him at our room for about 3 minutes, the next time he saw each of us, he knew our first names. Friday night the wind picked up overnight and the sea was the roughest of the trip, but we slept through it fine.
Saturday morning we had to be at Lumiere's for breakfast at 8:15am, one last time to eat and see our servers. We were off the ship before 9am with our luggage to meet our driver from Tiffany Towncar for our ride to the airport. It was over before we knew it.
Most mornings we ate breakfast and lunch at Topsiders buffet, we liked it very much. It always had a great selection, and you could eat outdoors.
Overall it was the best vacation we ever had, we loved it so much we booked an April 07 while onboard. The best tips we used from these boards were the over the door shoe holders for shoes and bathroom supplies. We also brought a duffle bag filled with beer and water onboard. We saved lots of money and had an extra duffle to pack for the return trip home. An extension cord is also a must.
I thind that's it, if anyone has any questions I will be glad to answer,
Welcome to the group!! 
