Sleepyluke
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2008
- Messages
- 759
Well they kicked us off of the best ship at sea on Sunday and I have had to cook, cut, and chew my own food for a couple of days and it is not fun.
This was our 5th cruise, all on the Magic, but the first with a little one, she was 13 months. We noticed a few things this trip, great, good, not so good (very few) and just different.
Crew - Fantastic, I dont think there is a happier overall crew at sea, and I truly mean this. We never went anywhere with out noticing more smiles than we ever have. Saw old crew members that are back on the Magic and really seem to be happy. From servers to painters did not seem to matter, smiles and hellos seemed to be everywhere.
Food first the good. Food was overall good to very good. Had a great Palo brunch. Cariocaos was probably our least favorite, although I think my wife and I both had something that we really liked and something that we thought was just OK.
I know people complain about the coffee, but it was much better than in the past, at least in the dining rooms. My wife actually commented yesterday that the ship coffee was much better than the Starbuck cup she had in her hand. Which I agree, but I dont like Starbucks a ton anyway. But for a mass production keep it hot coffee service, the ship was better.
They also have added gyros to the pool side menus since our last trip, they were really good and fresh. We had several of them.
Not so good - 3 things, and I guess they are really are not that terrible- they took away the dessert buffet because people would come in and take pictures but they were throwing away 50-75% of the food. While I agree it is wasteful, that was something we enjoyed doing on the cruises.
Cabanas no line buffet is ridiculous. It was grab and cut in front of someone who is obviously about to use that spoon, and jsut go around to get in their way. Seemed more chaotic than just a straight line set up.
One breakfast I was looking forward to was Lumieres sit down and get the waffle sandwich that I had seen pictures of. Went in ordered and out comes my eggo with leche cream on it. Not even a Mickey waffle, come on, that was a disappointment. Even on disembarkation I got fresh waffles and that is supposed to be the quick get you out of there meal.
Pools with a 13 month old we never ventured into the pools, but watched a lot of cartoons on the deck, the lifeguards really have stopped the jumping on other kids heads and looked a lot more peaceful in there. We really enjoyed the nephews play area, but keep your 10 year olds out of there, they climb on the ducks and jump off until the lifeguard kicks them out and they come back at shift change. There were usually 2-8 babies crawling, toddling, walking in there.
Shows this is something we really enjoy, even the terrible Villans tonight. Yes it is corny, but it is entertaining to say the least. We actually thought that the new Dreams Go On show was the best. It was not an over the top production, but had history, great singing, and was one we really enjoyed.
Characters they were everywhere, which is why they have done away with the character breakfast. Anna and Elsa were in Animators and you have to get a ticket, but there were tons available and they spent several minutes with our little one and we appreciated that. The princesses are great as well, we ran into Cinderella several times during the trip, and she called the little one by name every time. I can remember people, but with that many kids and that little amount of time, that is something that I will remember.
Not to miss Jack Jack diaper dash. If you have never seen it, GO, it is hilarious.
There were a TON of special moments this trip that seemed to make it more memorable, both from our perspective with a kid now, but also from the crew. I can not stress how great they made it.
As for the ship itself, it is beautiful. I know people seem to like the new latest greatest, but it is in better shape than 99% of the houses that I have been in that are over 6 months old. To think that over 1,000,000 people have been through there, it is even more beautiful.
Met some great people this trip and hope to see them again.
Any questions, just ask, these are just the tip of the week.
This was our 5th cruise, all on the Magic, but the first with a little one, she was 13 months. We noticed a few things this trip, great, good, not so good (very few) and just different.
Crew - Fantastic, I dont think there is a happier overall crew at sea, and I truly mean this. We never went anywhere with out noticing more smiles than we ever have. Saw old crew members that are back on the Magic and really seem to be happy. From servers to painters did not seem to matter, smiles and hellos seemed to be everywhere.
Food first the good. Food was overall good to very good. Had a great Palo brunch. Cariocaos was probably our least favorite, although I think my wife and I both had something that we really liked and something that we thought was just OK.
I know people complain about the coffee, but it was much better than in the past, at least in the dining rooms. My wife actually commented yesterday that the ship coffee was much better than the Starbuck cup she had in her hand. Which I agree, but I dont like Starbucks a ton anyway. But for a mass production keep it hot coffee service, the ship was better.
They also have added gyros to the pool side menus since our last trip, they were really good and fresh. We had several of them.
Not so good - 3 things, and I guess they are really are not that terrible- they took away the dessert buffet because people would come in and take pictures but they were throwing away 50-75% of the food. While I agree it is wasteful, that was something we enjoyed doing on the cruises.
Cabanas no line buffet is ridiculous. It was grab and cut in front of someone who is obviously about to use that spoon, and jsut go around to get in their way. Seemed more chaotic than just a straight line set up.
One breakfast I was looking forward to was Lumieres sit down and get the waffle sandwich that I had seen pictures of. Went in ordered and out comes my eggo with leche cream on it. Not even a Mickey waffle, come on, that was a disappointment. Even on disembarkation I got fresh waffles and that is supposed to be the quick get you out of there meal.
Pools with a 13 month old we never ventured into the pools, but watched a lot of cartoons on the deck, the lifeguards really have stopped the jumping on other kids heads and looked a lot more peaceful in there. We really enjoyed the nephews play area, but keep your 10 year olds out of there, they climb on the ducks and jump off until the lifeguard kicks them out and they come back at shift change. There were usually 2-8 babies crawling, toddling, walking in there.
Shows this is something we really enjoy, even the terrible Villans tonight. Yes it is corny, but it is entertaining to say the least. We actually thought that the new Dreams Go On show was the best. It was not an over the top production, but had history, great singing, and was one we really enjoyed.
Characters they were everywhere, which is why they have done away with the character breakfast. Anna and Elsa were in Animators and you have to get a ticket, but there were tons available and they spent several minutes with our little one and we appreciated that. The princesses are great as well, we ran into Cinderella several times during the trip, and she called the little one by name every time. I can remember people, but with that many kids and that little amount of time, that is something that I will remember.
Not to miss Jack Jack diaper dash. If you have never seen it, GO, it is hilarious.
There were a TON of special moments this trip that seemed to make it more memorable, both from our perspective with a kid now, but also from the crew. I can not stress how great they made it.
As for the ship itself, it is beautiful. I know people seem to like the new latest greatest, but it is in better shape than 99% of the houses that I have been in that are over 6 months old. To think that over 1,000,000 people have been through there, it is even more beautiful.
Met some great people this trip and hope to see them again.
Any questions, just ask, these are just the tip of the week.
