Paradise to the Treasure-A Polynesian/Eastern Caribbean/Spring Adventure 2025...Updated 4/23

[buzzrelly]

March 1, 2025
Time to Cruise!!


Another gorgeous morning at the Poly! I will never be able to pass this by without taking a pic

Allie and I left our luggage inside our room by the door before 7am and walked over to grab a quick breakfast at Cap'n Cooks. We split an egg wrap and some potato wedges and we enjoyed both.


Afterwards we returned to our room for our carry-on bags and then headed back to the lobby by 9 to wait for our bus. Once there, the DCL team was already waiting and got us checked in and assigned to the Snow White bus...


We were super excited and took a couple selfies while we waited. I had gotten us matching shirts for the occasion but you can't even see Allie's under her sweatshirt


By 9:30am we were officially on our way!
Honestly, taking the cruise transfers to the port was so easy and such a seamless process,
it would be hard NOT to recommend it.
Yes, it's a little but more expensive, but I think it's worth it for the convenience.
We have both driven ourselves and used a car service on past cruises and this was so much better and we would definitely do it again.
Maybe not so much for the transfer back after the cruise....that's another story that I'll get to later!


Another reason I loved the DCL transportation...



When you arrive by bus, they assign you a Boarding Group and I don't know if we were just lucky this day, but we were assigned to Boarding Group 1!
Yay! We were excited to get on the ship before most everyone else!
That will be next!
​

 

[disneyAndi14]

I am so excited to hear all about the cruise! We are planning to do 2 nights at WDW and use the cruise transportation from our resort. I’m glad it was seamless. We are going to resort hop to check out all the Christmas Decorations and do a Christmas Party. No other park touring.
How nice to get boarding group 1. Do you get lower boarding groups if you have cruised before? This will be our first Disney cruise so I think we will get a higher boarding group #.

 

[pkondz]

That looks good!

I'm surprised... I've seen wedges not cooked properly way too often. Those look good!

Once there, the DCL team was already waiting and got us checked in and assigned to the Snow White bus...

Was it a short bus?

I had gotten us matching shirts for the occasion but you can't even see Allie's under her sweatshirt

Sheesh, girl, get your act together.

Kids these days.

By 9:30am we were officially on our way!

Honestly, taking the cruise transfers to the port was so easy and such a seamless process,
it would be hard NOT to recommend it.

Noted!
Certainly would take any stress out of the equation.

Maybe not so much for the transfer back after the cruise....that's another story that I'll get to later!

Hey! That girl's shirt looks familiar.

When you arrive by bus, they assign you a Boarding Group and I don't know if we were just lucky this day, but we were assigned to Boarding Group 1!

Score!

 

[buzzrelly]

I am so excited to hear all about the cruise! We are planning to do 2 nights at WDW and use the cruise transportation from our resort.

We are going to resort hop to check out all the Christmas Decorations and do a Christmas Party. No other park touring.

That sounds amazing! Where are you staying? I barely went to the parks myself on this trip, I was just happy to explore and wander.

How nice to get boarding group 1. Do you get lower boarding groups if you have cruised before? This will be our first Disney cruise so I think we will get a higher boarding group #.

So generally yes, you get to check in sooner and choose a Port Arrival time sooner when you have cruised in the past. We are Gold CC members and our on-line check-in would be before someone who has never cruised. But honestly, I think it doesn't even matter because when you use DCL transportation you don't even choose a Port Arrival time, they just assign one to you based on what time your bus gets you from your resort. In general, I believe the busses from WDW get earlier boarding times

 

[buzzrelly]

I'm surprised... I've seen wedges not cooked properly way too often. Those look good!

They were good, actually had some seasoning on them

Was it a short bus?

Not gonna lie...that took me a minute!

 

[pkondz]

Not gonna lie...that took me a minute!

 

[disneyAndi14]

That sounds amazing! Where are you staying?

I am trying to decide. We will stay at one of the monorail resorts or Wilderness Lodge. I am going to look at prices and check out a bounce back offer when I am there in May.
Thanks for the info on the Disney Cruise Transportation this will work great for us.

 

[buzzrelly]

March 1, 2025
It Looks Like Agrabah!

Did I mention we got Boarding Group 1?! Hah!
I have to savor the moment because I'm sure it'll never happen again!



We started boarding the ship at 11:38...
Allie and I don't have the same last name so after a short discussion we decided to call ourselves
"The Daisy Family," after our dog Daisy. I'm just throwing this in because I know this announcement is something people stress over sometimes when they are traveling with parties with different last names. Our first couple cruises we were the same way but I'm here to tell you it's honestly not a big deal and nobody else is really paying attention besides your own travel party so just make something up and have fun with it!


When we walked onto the ship I looked at Allie and said,
"this looks like Agrabah!" And it did!
This ship is truly stunning and I honestly think it's even prettier than the WISH!


Normally we head straight up to the buffet but we boarded so early that it wasn't even open yet.
We spent the next 20 minutes or so just roaming around taking photos...



To be continued...​

 

[buzzrelly]

Sorry, I guess this post will be mostly a photo dump since we were just wandering, but we were loving just walking around the ship with literally nobody else on board.
This would be the only time we'd ever see the deck this empty...
​

 

[buzzrelly]

March 1, 2025
No Brunch For You​

Around 12 the buffet at Marceline's Market opened up so we headed back for some yummy lunch.

After lunch I wanted to go see about getting a reservation for PALO brunch.
I had been unsuccessful in obtaining that ahead of time which had kind of surprised me since we are Gold Castaway Club. When we got to the lounge where they were making dining changes, the line was pretty long. Allie was like, 'forget it," but I didn't think it would take that long and I really wanted brunch.
We ended up waiting over an hour and you might have already guessed,
of course there were no more brunch reservations
We waited all that time to just get our name on a waiting list.
Now, I realize I had free will and chose to stand in that line, but the crew that was monitoring the line could have saved us all a lot of time by just announcing that there were no more reservations. That was a little disappointing. Also, spoiler alert, they did end up calling to see if we wanted a reservation but it was on a port day and we had plans to get off the ship so we couldn't. We would just have to be content with the dinner reservation we had. One final note about this...yes, I was disappointed at the time but in the end we didn't miss it so for all the people out there who are bummed about not getting this reservation just know, you can still have a great cruise
Later on in the cruise someone told me that there were so many Platinum members on the cruise because it's still the Inaugural year and that's why things were so hard to book
which makes sense to me now.

The good news was that by the time all that nonsense was behind us,
our stateroom was ready so we headed there...Hello Tiana and Prince Naveen ​

​

We were in Stateroom 9618 which was a Deluxe Family Oceanview with a Verandah...

Now, I cannot remember why I booked such a large room for just the two of us but it was actually kind of nice. Later on I'll post pics of all the beds opened up. Also, I pretty much always book Deck 9 towards Aft but not super Aft, because we like the location and like being able to run up a couple flights to the food and coffee.

Our Castaway Club gift was waiting for us but we noticed they have us the wrong color lanyards so later on we would go exchange them for the Gold lanyards at Gues Services.​

After all the stress of waiting in line, it was finally time to relax, starting with what else?? ​

Ahhh...this was the circle chair Allie had eyed earlier. We just sat here a bit and relaxed until muster.​

After muster we headed back up for the Sail Away party...
​

WhooHoo! Bon Voyage!!​

 

[Chuck96]

Thank you so much for the comprehensive report. Feelsl like it funhouse mirrors my trips in 2025. I took my 21 year old son to Disney for a near week in January (sans DW), and I am taking a Treasure Cruise (Eastern) this Halloween (Oct 25-Nov 1). Can't wait to read about the cruise! Thank you for sharing!

 

[pkondz]

Did I mention we got Boarding Group 1?! Hah!
I have to savor the moment because I'm sure it'll never happen again!

Sooo... you're saying you were boarding group 1? Not quite sure...

Hey! Did you know you were boarding group 1?

I'm just throwing this in because I know this announcement is something people stress over sometimes when they are traveling with parties with different last names.

Never thought that might be stressful. But... yeah... no one cares except yourselves, I'd think.

See the woman in blue? She didn't think of a boarding announcement name and now she's fleeing in terror.

When we walked onto the ship I looked at Allie and said,
"this looks like Agrabah!" And it did!

Normally we head straight up to the buffet but we boarded so early that it wasn't even open yet.

Ah ha! A chink in the armor!
People in the last boarding groups are all "Who wants to be on early? The buffet isn't even open yet!"

Really love this B&W setting.

Whoa... the place really was empty. It's almost like you had boarding group 1 or something!

This would be the only time we'd ever see the deck this empty...

I have no doubt.

Looks fairly happy.

And so do you!

I see I'm not the only one with a love of shrimp and cocktail sauce. Yum!

We ended up waiting over an hour and you might have already guessed,
of course there were no more brunch reservations

Well, shoot! That's too bad.

Now, I realize I had free will and chose to stand in that line, but the crew that was monitoring the line could have saved us all a lot of time by just announcing that there were no more reservations.

Very good point. I remember a long time ago standing in a line to see a movie. A manager came out, obviously counting the line. A few people beyond us, he said. "This is all we have room for." or something like that. Saved the people beyond that point from wasting their time.

Later on in the cruise someone told me that there were so many Platinum members on the cruise because it's still the Inaugural year and that's why things were so hard to book
which makes sense to me now.

ohhhhhhh...

our stateroom was ready so we headed there...Hello Tiana and Prince Naveen

Wow! Royalty for stewards. Impressive what Gold status gets you.

we noticed they have us the wrong color lanyards so later on we would go exchange them for the Gold lanyards at Gues Services.

Was that for Silver guests? Or just a generic?

[]After all the stress of waiting in line, it was finally time to relax, starting with what else?? [/]

But of course!

Well don't you two look content.
Bon Voyage!

 

[disneyAndi14]

We were in Stateroom 9618 which was a Deluxe Family Oceanview with a Verandah...

OMG this is the room we have booked! I am really excited to see all the beds out. There is a Murphy bed in the wall I believe. There will be 3 of us and we each want a bed so I hope it works out for us!
The ship looks beautiful! I really want a Palo Brunch but I am sure we won’t be able to get one.

 

[Mollydolly334]

Reading this is making me SO excited for our very first cruise next week! The Treasure looks STUNNING!!!

 

[vamassey1]

Congrats on Boarding group 1!

I've never done a cruise so I'm enjoying all the details. You're such an expert.