Hi everyone. First of all this is my first review as you can probably tell. I usually don't do review but I figured I would let you know my experience.
To begin with, we began with 5 days at WDW at BCV (our favourite resort). We took the DCL transfer from there. The night before we received info about having the luggage ready at 8am and meeting at 12:45pm (preferred about 15 min early to check in with the DCL hosts at the Solarium. The bus arrived, we walked over to the Park bus area and our DCL bus was waiting for us. We arrived approximately about 1h15 min at the port. I can't be sure exactly what time since I was busy looking at the ship from the bus. It was grand, to say the least.
We were directed through security and up to the check in areas. I was a little nervous about how busy it would be and that we would be lost in there, but we filled out the medical form at one of the little podiums, walked over to the check in line for first timers. The only issue we had here was that when we got up to the CM that was directing the lines (non-US vs US), we told her that we were Canadian citizens and she told us that we needed a Visa. I mentioned to her that we were told that we didn't and she looked at us like we were making it up.
Someone finally came up to her and gestured for us to go in the Non-US line which I already knew that we should (even though this was our first time there). After that, it was quick and easy checking in, took our photos - two in each photo. And we went to the Kid's Club desk -since there was only one other person, we decided to get the wristband there. Then we walked in, photos taken at the corner before entering the ship and then we were announced, greeted and then we headed to the room.
I know a lot of people were quite anxious about going so late and missing a big part of the day on the ship, but we were okay with it.
By the time we went to our stateroom, dropped off our things, walked up to Cabanas for lunch it was around 2:30-3pm. We ate lunch and walked around the ship and waited for the Muster Drill. Our Drill was in the WD theatre so it was nice and cool and comfortable. We also had a fun Drill captain. After that, we got back and showered and ready for early dinner.
I thought I would just give a brief description of each area of interest.
Embarkation seemed smooth and it took less time that I thought it would. I was so nervous reading on here about waiting very long and not being able to eat lunch. I even drove my husband crazy about it during our ride up on the bus. But it turned out that I didn't have to worry.
Our stateroom for the first cruise was 2014. I was nervous about it being so low on the ship. But as many have commented on here, it was very quiet. We were also Forward so it was even quieter. Almost everything was close to it except for the pools and Cabana. The room had a large porthole, but not as large as the one we got on our second cruise. It was comfortable. We had a friendly stateroom host.
Our servers were good. We ended up with the same server on our second cruise and she was great. She was very attentive and everything you can ask and more. Our assistant server on this cruise was good and far better than the one we had on the second cruise in terms of getting the drinks and requests on the table. Our head servers on both cruises were fine, nothing great. Since we didn't have any issues, he didn't spend that much time with us which is fine. Although I will admit that our first Head Server had come around to ask if everything was okay and if we needed anything which is what I think they should do. Our Head server on the second cruise on the other hand, although we exchange some pleasantries, did not ask if he can do any more for us.
Our server was fantastic. She took up the slack for the assistant server on our second cruise so I made sure I gave her a little extra tip. As a matter of fact, she mentioned that she will be there for our next cruise on the Fantasy and if I wanted I can request her for that cruise - which I will definitely do.
The shows were fun. We attended all the shows for each day on our first cruise - Golden Mickeys, Villains, and Believe - but we skipped them all on our next cruise. However, on our second cruise we did attend one that we hadn't seen - (can't remember his name but he was a Hypnotist). I think many had fun, but I didn't really enjoy that one.
They played a few movies, but we decided to watch only Cars and Pirates at the Buena Vista Theatre.
The issue with the pools are very obvious. I call these two family pools - Standing room only. My children splashed around and had a great time, but adults can barely fit. My husband and I went to the Adult pool for a bit at night while the kids were in their clubs and felt that it was fine. We enjoyed the hot tub more. We don't really spend that much time in the pools anyways so we weren't truly affected by it.
The Aquaduck was amazing. I don't really love waterslides but this was amazing and very innovative. We went a few times each day and waited about 25 min. But when we went at night on our second cruise after dinner, there were no waits - that's probably because everyone is at the show. It was fantastic.
Surprisingly, my husband and I had more fun on it that our kids. 
The last night we asked them if they wanted to go to the Aquaduck or Clubs, they both said Clubs.
I will admit that the Oceaneer's Club and Lab is amazing. My daughter had so much fun and we only left her about an hour a day. The Edge was fine for my son, but he and a few others were quite bored with it. Eventually, they just made up their own games there and just hung out.
Pirates Night was fun, but my children didn't even want to attend it on the second cruise. I think the fireworks were great, but the show seemed lacking in my opinion. But everyone seemed to enjoy it. So, on our second cruise we did other things like the Detective Agency with barely anyone around. Great!
The crowds were heavy at times, but seemed manageable. I'm sure those who have been in the two previous ships would feel a little crowded.
Castaway Cay was great when we were able to dock. On our first cruise, the Captain had mentioned that there was too much damage so we ended up at Nassau twice. On the second cruise, we were able to dock and we had a great time. It was not too hot (exactly how I like it) so we were able to enjoy it for the whole day. Some went back to the ship because they felt that it was too cool. We spoke to many who said that it is usually unbearable hot. I guess for me, "Irene" was useful for something - kept the temp cooler. We ate at Cookies too. The food was good. There were never too long of a line. They did a great job moving people around to get the lines moving quickly. I don't like buffets, but I didn't mind this too much. The cookies and fruits were fresh. I ate the chicken and fish and they were pretty good. I didn't have any of the hamburgers or hot dogs so I don't know if they were good. My son and I went back again. This is a lot to say because we rarely would go back.
I can't say much about Nassau since we didn't leave the ship - all three times. We noticed a lot of people also stayed on the ship so I guess it was like Sea day.
I mentioned "Irene" before and the hurricane only affected our first cruise. On the first day or maybe two, it was very rocky. We didn't enjoy our first dinner and we turned it a bit early than any of the other days. Usually, I would be the only one who would feel something like that, we all felt it. We did feel disappointed when they announced that we will not be docking at Castaway Cay. I think my children more that us since we had not told them that we were doing a back to back.
We only told them that we are going on a cruise, we didn't tell them that it would be a back to back. We can rarely surprise them with anything about vacation, so we took the opportunity. Our annual vacations are set and they know where are going - so they expect 2 wks in March and 2 wks in Aug. So can't surprise them then. Anyways, we decided to tell them on the last morning of our first cruise. We sat at breakfast and asked them if they felt the cruise was short and did they wish they can stay longer. They both said yes! and then we told them. They didn't believe us at first, but eventually did when they heard us talking to our server about it.
The b2b debarkation and embarkation was a little troublesome. We didn't know what to expect since several cm were telling us different things. We ended up leaving the ship earlier that we'd like. We ended up back in the terminal at 8:30 waiting. There was no one else there. We sat and waiting until some people started showing up and we realized, we could have stayed on the ship a little longer. I assumed they wanted everyone off by 9. So eventually around 11, they opened up the Castaway Club checkin line and by that time there were at least 10-15 families. We checked in and asked where we should go and the CM told us to wait until they called boarding number 1. But, I later found out that we were suppose to go to a special area for those going b2b and walk in the side door. We sat in the terminal for 45 min before my husband finally asked another CM. This time they told us to go through the side door. And we saw many guest going there. Eventually, we boarded the ship and we asked if we can go to our room. They said we can check to see if it's ready. We slowly moved our way there and when we got there our stateroom host had asked if that was our room and that it was ready and our luggage was there and she spoke to us for a while. She was wonderful.
Our stateroom on our second cruise was 7506 which is Forward as well. The room was a bit larger with a large porthole (has a seat). My son spent a lot of time reading on that seat. Anyways, this room was a little bit more convenient to the upper decks but elevators were difficult most of the time so we did get a lot of exercise with the stairs. The only issue is not with the room, but with the room above us. They were almost always jumping and banging up there during the day. They seemed to be quiet at night by the time we got back, but if I wanted to take a little break in midday, I didn't go back to the room since it was very noisy. I just don't understand why any parent would allow their child to jump and bang around without any consideration of others underneath. I made sure my children stepped down slowly from there bunk or bed and they understood that there are others underneath us that would not appreciate all the loudness. A reminder is enough for them. They may tend to jump at home where no one lives beneath them, but when we're away in a hotel or ship, they get the reminder.
After changing we went to lunch at Cabanas and went to the pool for a bit, it was less crowded until around 2:30. Yes, we stayed at the pool for 2 hours. The kids had their best time at the pool then.
Our stateroom host for the second cruise was amazing. Our room was always ready by the time we came back from breakfast and dinner. I did end up giving her a little more tip. She greeted us each time and we spent a bit of time discussing the ship and her life at home. (As an aside, I am so heart broken when I hear about their young children at home and how I can imagine that they miss their mom or dad - I heard several of these stories...it made me a little teary.)
Lastly, the restaurants....I didn't much care for Cabanas. I found it a little chaotic and since there are no lines, some people still look at you badly if you walk into an empty space and quickly pick up some food. The CM were great there however. We were asked a few times if we wanted to get the water or alcohol package, but other than that, they didn't seem to push it. As for EE, RG and AP, the atmosphere on all were great. I think they did a great job with the theming. However, I do feel that for AP when it's interactive, if you are not sitting beside the screen, you feel like Crush will never interact with your kids. As for the food in the Main Dining rooms, we were fine with all that we ordered. I don't think they were extraordinary, but they were good. I had no complaints. I did end up ordering the Sweet Temptations (trio of desserts)
on every meal because I just love the idea of getting samples of each without ordering full size ones.
We had early dining on both cruises and I thought it would be too early. But we found that it worked well for us. We always had a sit down breakfast and snacked at lunch and was hungry by 5:45. It gave us time after dinner to see the shows or do other things.
I do want to say a bit of the DVC interactions we had. When we arrived at our stateroom on BOTH of our cruises, we didn't receive the gift from them. So we went and told them about it and they gave us a few things. We were told that now that they know we were missed, we are written on their list and we should receive a gift that night. Nope. The next day, we told them and they gave us a couple of things again. On our second cruise, we had time to attend the DVC presentation and we had mentioned at the entrance that we didn't receive anything again for our second cruise. It was a little frustrating when they reassure us that they have us on the list but that doesn't seem to matter.
And upon entering our stateroom on our second cruise, we notice that we didn't receive the Castaway Club gift they had mentioned. So my husband called GS and just mentioned it. When we got back from dinner, we received two gifts from Castaway Club, one was for the cruise and the other was for taking a b2b. We thought that that was nice and thoughtful.
At the end of the second cruise, there were some hugs for our servers (my husband was quite surprise with me since I don't tend to hug strangers, but they felt like family). When we got off the ship, we took the DCL back to BCV for another couple days. We arrived at the resort around 9:30-10am.
If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. I'm sure I've missed quite a few things. But, all in all we had a great time.
To begin with, we began with 5 days at WDW at BCV (our favourite resort). We took the DCL transfer from there. The night before we received info about having the luggage ready at 8am and meeting at 12:45pm (preferred about 15 min early to check in with the DCL hosts at the Solarium. The bus arrived, we walked over to the Park bus area and our DCL bus was waiting for us. We arrived approximately about 1h15 min at the port. I can't be sure exactly what time since I was busy looking at the ship from the bus. It was grand, to say the least.
We were directed through security and up to the check in areas. I was a little nervous about how busy it would be and that we would be lost in there, but we filled out the medical form at one of the little podiums, walked over to the check in line for first timers. The only issue we had here was that when we got up to the CM that was directing the lines (non-US vs US), we told her that we were Canadian citizens and she told us that we needed a Visa. I mentioned to her that we were told that we didn't and she looked at us like we were making it up.
Someone finally came up to her and gestured for us to go in the Non-US line which I already knew that we should (even though this was our first time there). After that, it was quick and easy checking in, took our photos - two in each photo. And we went to the Kid's Club desk -since there was only one other person, we decided to get the wristband there. Then we walked in, photos taken at the corner before entering the ship and then we were announced, greeted and then we headed to the room.I know a lot of people were quite anxious about going so late and missing a big part of the day on the ship, but we were okay with it.
By the time we went to our stateroom, dropped off our things, walked up to Cabanas for lunch it was around 2:30-3pm. We ate lunch and walked around the ship and waited for the Muster Drill. Our Drill was in the WD theatre so it was nice and cool and comfortable. We also had a fun Drill captain. After that, we got back and showered and ready for early dinner.
I thought I would just give a brief description of each area of interest.
Embarkation seemed smooth and it took less time that I thought it would. I was so nervous reading on here about waiting very long and not being able to eat lunch. I even drove my husband crazy about it during our ride up on the bus. But it turned out that I didn't have to worry.
Our stateroom for the first cruise was 2014. I was nervous about it being so low on the ship. But as many have commented on here, it was very quiet. We were also Forward so it was even quieter. Almost everything was close to it except for the pools and Cabana. The room had a large porthole, but not as large as the one we got on our second cruise. It was comfortable. We had a friendly stateroom host.
Our servers were good. We ended up with the same server on our second cruise and she was great. She was very attentive and everything you can ask and more. Our assistant server on this cruise was good and far better than the one we had on the second cruise in terms of getting the drinks and requests on the table. Our head servers on both cruises were fine, nothing great. Since we didn't have any issues, he didn't spend that much time with us which is fine. Although I will admit that our first Head Server had come around to ask if everything was okay and if we needed anything which is what I think they should do. Our Head server on the second cruise on the other hand, although we exchange some pleasantries, did not ask if he can do any more for us.
Our server was fantastic. She took up the slack for the assistant server on our second cruise so I made sure I gave her a little extra tip. As a matter of fact, she mentioned that she will be there for our next cruise on the Fantasy and if I wanted I can request her for that cruise - which I will definitely do.
The shows were fun. We attended all the shows for each day on our first cruise - Golden Mickeys, Villains, and Believe - but we skipped them all on our next cruise. However, on our second cruise we did attend one that we hadn't seen - (can't remember his name but he was a Hypnotist). I think many had fun, but I didn't really enjoy that one.
They played a few movies, but we decided to watch only Cars and Pirates at the Buena Vista Theatre.
The issue with the pools are very obvious. I call these two family pools - Standing room only. My children splashed around and had a great time, but adults can barely fit. My husband and I went to the Adult pool for a bit at night while the kids were in their clubs and felt that it was fine. We enjoyed the hot tub more. We don't really spend that much time in the pools anyways so we weren't truly affected by it.
The Aquaduck was amazing. I don't really love waterslides but this was amazing and very innovative. We went a few times each day and waited about 25 min. But when we went at night on our second cruise after dinner, there were no waits - that's probably because everyone is at the show. It was fantastic.
Surprisingly, my husband and I had more fun on it that our kids. The last night we asked them if they wanted to go to the Aquaduck or Clubs, they both said Clubs. I will admit that the Oceaneer's Club and Lab is amazing. My daughter had so much fun and we only left her about an hour a day. The Edge was fine for my son, but he and a few others were quite bored with it. Eventually, they just made up their own games there and just hung out.
Pirates Night was fun, but my children didn't even want to attend it on the second cruise. I think the fireworks were great, but the show seemed lacking in my opinion. But everyone seemed to enjoy it. So, on our second cruise we did other things like the Detective Agency with barely anyone around. Great!
The crowds were heavy at times, but seemed manageable. I'm sure those who have been in the two previous ships would feel a little crowded.
Castaway Cay was great when we were able to dock. On our first cruise, the Captain had mentioned that there was too much damage so we ended up at Nassau twice. On the second cruise, we were able to dock and we had a great time. It was not too hot (exactly how I like it) so we were able to enjoy it for the whole day. Some went back to the ship because they felt that it was too cool. We spoke to many who said that it is usually unbearable hot. I guess for me, "Irene" was useful for something - kept the temp cooler. We ate at Cookies too. The food was good. There were never too long of a line. They did a great job moving people around to get the lines moving quickly. I don't like buffets, but I didn't mind this too much. The cookies and fruits were fresh. I ate the chicken and fish and they were pretty good. I didn't have any of the hamburgers or hot dogs so I don't know if they were good. My son and I went back again. This is a lot to say because we rarely would go back.
I can't say much about Nassau since we didn't leave the ship - all three times. We noticed a lot of people also stayed on the ship so I guess it was like Sea day.
I mentioned "Irene" before and the hurricane only affected our first cruise. On the first day or maybe two, it was very rocky. We didn't enjoy our first dinner and we turned it a bit early than any of the other days. Usually, I would be the only one who would feel something like that, we all felt it. We did feel disappointed when they announced that we will not be docking at Castaway Cay. I think my children more that us since we had not told them that we were doing a back to back.
We only told them that we are going on a cruise, we didn't tell them that it would be a back to back. We can rarely surprise them with anything about vacation, so we took the opportunity. Our annual vacations are set and they know where are going - so they expect 2 wks in March and 2 wks in Aug. So can't surprise them then. Anyways, we decided to tell them on the last morning of our first cruise. We sat at breakfast and asked them if they felt the cruise was short and did they wish they can stay longer. They both said yes! and then we told them. They didn't believe us at first, but eventually did when they heard us talking to our server about it.
The b2b debarkation and embarkation was a little troublesome. We didn't know what to expect since several cm were telling us different things. We ended up leaving the ship earlier that we'd like. We ended up back in the terminal at 8:30 waiting. There was no one else there. We sat and waiting until some people started showing up and we realized, we could have stayed on the ship a little longer. I assumed they wanted everyone off by 9. So eventually around 11, they opened up the Castaway Club checkin line and by that time there were at least 10-15 families. We checked in and asked where we should go and the CM told us to wait until they called boarding number 1. But, I later found out that we were suppose to go to a special area for those going b2b and walk in the side door. We sat in the terminal for 45 min before my husband finally asked another CM. This time they told us to go through the side door. And we saw many guest going there. Eventually, we boarded the ship and we asked if we can go to our room. They said we can check to see if it's ready. We slowly moved our way there and when we got there our stateroom host had asked if that was our room and that it was ready and our luggage was there and she spoke to us for a while. She was wonderful.
Our stateroom on our second cruise was 7506 which is Forward as well. The room was a bit larger with a large porthole (has a seat). My son spent a lot of time reading on that seat. Anyways, this room was a little bit more convenient to the upper decks but elevators were difficult most of the time so we did get a lot of exercise with the stairs. The only issue is not with the room, but with the room above us. They were almost always jumping and banging up there during the day. They seemed to be quiet at night by the time we got back, but if I wanted to take a little break in midday, I didn't go back to the room since it was very noisy. I just don't understand why any parent would allow their child to jump and bang around without any consideration of others underneath. I made sure my children stepped down slowly from there bunk or bed and they understood that there are others underneath us that would not appreciate all the loudness. A reminder is enough for them. They may tend to jump at home where no one lives beneath them, but when we're away in a hotel or ship, they get the reminder.
After changing we went to lunch at Cabanas and went to the pool for a bit, it was less crowded until around 2:30. Yes, we stayed at the pool for 2 hours. The kids had their best time at the pool then.
Our stateroom host for the second cruise was amazing. Our room was always ready by the time we came back from breakfast and dinner. I did end up giving her a little more tip. She greeted us each time and we spent a bit of time discussing the ship and her life at home. (As an aside, I am so heart broken when I hear about their young children at home and how I can imagine that they miss their mom or dad - I heard several of these stories...it made me a little teary.)
Lastly, the restaurants....I didn't much care for Cabanas. I found it a little chaotic and since there are no lines, some people still look at you badly if you walk into an empty space and quickly pick up some food. The CM were great there however. We were asked a few times if we wanted to get the water or alcohol package, but other than that, they didn't seem to push it. As for EE, RG and AP, the atmosphere on all were great. I think they did a great job with the theming. However, I do feel that for AP when it's interactive, if you are not sitting beside the screen, you feel like Crush will never interact with your kids. As for the food in the Main Dining rooms, we were fine with all that we ordered. I don't think they were extraordinary, but they were good. I had no complaints. I did end up ordering the Sweet Temptations (trio of desserts)
on every meal because I just love the idea of getting samples of each without ordering full size ones.We had early dining on both cruises and I thought it would be too early. But we found that it worked well for us. We always had a sit down breakfast and snacked at lunch and was hungry by 5:45. It gave us time after dinner to see the shows or do other things.
I do want to say a bit of the DVC interactions we had. When we arrived at our stateroom on BOTH of our cruises, we didn't receive the gift from them. So we went and told them about it and they gave us a few things. We were told that now that they know we were missed, we are written on their list and we should receive a gift that night. Nope. The next day, we told them and they gave us a couple of things again. On our second cruise, we had time to attend the DVC presentation and we had mentioned at the entrance that we didn't receive anything again for our second cruise. It was a little frustrating when they reassure us that they have us on the list but that doesn't seem to matter.
And upon entering our stateroom on our second cruise, we notice that we didn't receive the Castaway Club gift they had mentioned. So my husband called GS and just mentioned it. When we got back from dinner, we received two gifts from Castaway Club, one was for the cruise and the other was for taking a b2b. We thought that that was nice and thoughtful.
At the end of the second cruise, there were some hugs for our servers (my husband was quite surprise with me since I don't tend to hug strangers, but they felt like family). When we got off the ship, we took the DCL back to BCV for another couple days. We arrived at the resort around 9:30-10am.
If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. I'm sure I've missed quite a few things. But, all in all we had a great time.
