Joy2theWorld
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2008
- Messages
- 458
We got off the first Southern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Magic Saturday. Overall, we had a great time! We still prefer the classic ships for a number of reasons, so, we were glad to be back on the first ship we sailed.
Like many onboard, we picked this itinerary for the new ports. All the stops were new for us. It was a good way to get a taste of some of the islands. Some we will definitely go back to like Barbados, but some, we've seen more than enough of like Grenada.
We had great service and food on the ship, but ran into a few issues with a few port adventures. The first one was the Best of Grenada all day tour. The tour advertised learning about making rum, chocolate, spices, etc We checked in and were told we would be back onboard at 4:50 PM. Funny.. Ship was supposed to leave at 4:45. So, they went back and double checked and announced to everyone that they made a mistake and we would be back by 3:50. Well, let's just say the first time was more accurate. We were definitely late getting back to the boat. I wasn't worried though because there were over 100 of us on this tour and we knew Disney wouldn't leave. However, I for one, was very anxious to get back on the ship. This tour was almost unbearably long. Of the nearly 9 hours (if not a little longer) that we were on this adventure, we were on a mini bus for probably almost 6 of those hours. The chocolate tour was completely non existent. They took us to a nice lunch where there used to be a chocolate factory and there was a little chocolate store, but there was no information given about chocolate production, cacao harvesting, etc They had some cacao out that you could see, but that was it. This was the same thing for the spice stop. They literally had about five tables out in an old spice factory and on each table was some nutmeg, cacao, mace, etc Again, no talk about the spices. No tour. You could buy some spices and that was it. For those who took just the chocolate or spice tour, I hope they got more of a tour than we did.
The other port we had a bad experience with an excursion was St. Kitts. We did the 4x4 safari and beach adventure. We've done open air vehicles before and usually have fun with them, but this was a rainy day and the exhaust from the vehicle we were in was so strong it made me sick. I kept thinking it would be worth it though because the beach was coming at the end of this tour and I was looking forward to the beach even if it was rainy. There's nothing wrong with a little rain when you are going to get wet anyhow. Well, we arrived at the beach for an hour stop at the end. I honestly could not call this stop a beach. The tour owner kept talking about wanting to exceed our expectations. I would have been happy if he even semi met our expectations. The so called "beach" was less than 10 feet wide and you had to either climb rocks or go down rocky stairs to even get into the water. If you didn't have water shoes, you ended up with cuts on the bottom of your feet. The little bit of sand that was there wasn't soft or pretty sand and it was pretty much just a sand walkway between the rocky ledge of the water and the bar/hotel that was behind It was a shabby spot to say the least. Being this was our last stop for the beach, it was really quite sad. I would say of the people on our tour, only about 10% even got in the water. Most grabbed their own lounge chair and sat on the concrete pad right behind the "beach." I don't think I have ever posted pictures on here, but will if I can figure it out.
Like many onboard, we picked this itinerary for the new ports. All the stops were new for us. It was a good way to get a taste of some of the islands. Some we will definitely go back to like Barbados, but some, we've seen more than enough of like Grenada.
We had great service and food on the ship, but ran into a few issues with a few port adventures. The first one was the Best of Grenada all day tour. The tour advertised learning about making rum, chocolate, spices, etc We checked in and were told we would be back onboard at 4:50 PM. Funny.. Ship was supposed to leave at 4:45. So, they went back and double checked and announced to everyone that they made a mistake and we would be back by 3:50. Well, let's just say the first time was more accurate. We were definitely late getting back to the boat. I wasn't worried though because there were over 100 of us on this tour and we knew Disney wouldn't leave. However, I for one, was very anxious to get back on the ship. This tour was almost unbearably long. Of the nearly 9 hours (if not a little longer) that we were on this adventure, we were on a mini bus for probably almost 6 of those hours. The chocolate tour was completely non existent. They took us to a nice lunch where there used to be a chocolate factory and there was a little chocolate store, but there was no information given about chocolate production, cacao harvesting, etc They had some cacao out that you could see, but that was it. This was the same thing for the spice stop. They literally had about five tables out in an old spice factory and on each table was some nutmeg, cacao, mace, etc Again, no talk about the spices. No tour. You could buy some spices and that was it. For those who took just the chocolate or spice tour, I hope they got more of a tour than we did.
The other port we had a bad experience with an excursion was St. Kitts. We did the 4x4 safari and beach adventure. We've done open air vehicles before and usually have fun with them, but this was a rainy day and the exhaust from the vehicle we were in was so strong it made me sick. I kept thinking it would be worth it though because the beach was coming at the end of this tour and I was looking forward to the beach even if it was rainy. There's nothing wrong with a little rain when you are going to get wet anyhow. Well, we arrived at the beach for an hour stop at the end. I honestly could not call this stop a beach. The tour owner kept talking about wanting to exceed our expectations. I would have been happy if he even semi met our expectations. The so called "beach" was less than 10 feet wide and you had to either climb rocks or go down rocky stairs to even get into the water. If you didn't have water shoes, you ended up with cuts on the bottom of your feet. The little bit of sand that was there wasn't soft or pretty sand and it was pretty much just a sand walkway between the rocky ledge of the water and the bar/hotel that was behind It was a shabby spot to say the least. Being this was our last stop for the beach, it was really quite sad. I would say of the people on our tour, only about 10% even got in the water. Most grabbed their own lounge chair and sat on the concrete pad right behind the "beach." I don't think I have ever posted pictures on here, but will if I can figure it out.
