Sigh.... we're home

[BitsnBearsMom]

had a GREAT non-disney trip/cruise and I will definatly want to visit some of those islands again. Loved Old San Juan and swimming with the sea turtles - we didn't get to do our pirate cruise as it wasn't being offered on our trip.... kids were sad but we did a dolphin and whale watch cruise instead.... thought it was a bust when we didn't see anything for the first 2.5 hrs then in the last 30 mins we came across a huge pod of dolphins and they kept us there for a long time just watching them.

Now I get to look forward to mountains of laundry that are sitting waiting for me!! Love the trip but it's terrible coming home!

 

[Hoogy]

Glad to hear you had a good time! Sometimes a little break from Disney is ok......GASP! I know what you mean about the laundry though.....I hate coming home for that reason too! It seems to take a while to get caught up on everything....

 

[mkmommy]

I know how you feel returning to real life is hard, and my laundry pile is not getting any smaller. Did you have problems getting out and how was the cruise, you were doing a lot of ports? My kids loved the Disney Magic cruising is the perfect vaction for them, and the wish they were there now.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We flew out Friday afternoon so we missed all the snow.... I was sitting at the pool replying to my email reports from friends as to how bad the storm was!
The cruise was great - we spent a few days in San Juan and the cruise went to St Thomas, Dominica (not dominican), Barbado's, St Lucia, Antigua and St Kitts - next time I will make sure we have at least 1 sea day because it was an exhausting trip with a different port every day!
As soon as the plane landed in Detroit both of my guys were asking if they could turn it around.... cruising really is a great vacation!!
Did your flight get out ok??

 

[laura001]

Glad to hear that you had a good time! Have you cruised with Disney before, if so, how did it compare to Disney?

 

[tinkerbeth]

Welcome back!

I can't wait until my kids are a bit older and then I will somehow convince dh to go on the disney cruise. I might have to work summer school for a couple of years to pay for it first...

Here's what I always wonder - when I look up carnival cruises, they are about half as much as disney...do you think it's worth twice as much?

Have a great day!

Beth

 

[mkmommy]

Dianna we flew down on Thursday so we missed the storm. We ended up sitting with a family from Ontario at dinner on the Cruise and they left Saturday morning and it sounded like a real mess ,I think they held the boat for them and a few other families.

We just got off the Disney Magic on Saturday so we are still on a Disney high and I have never cruised on any other ship before, but I can say that it was worth the money, and that is saying a lot. I have worked in the hotel industry for ever and for me to pay more $75 a night for accommodation is hard as that is what type of discounts we get. When I first looked at Disney accommodations I thought I cannot pay this much, but I now feel the value is there.

On the Disney Magic it was the attention to the little things that impressed me and the service. On the first night my daughters wanted ketchup, they did not bring a bottle of ketchup like most places, the server created this beautiful Mickey Head out of ketchup, and I thought, wow what kind of training is that. Another time I insisted my youngest go to the kids club alone so I could spend some time with my 7 year old, she was a little leery about this as she was used to having her sister in the clubs, the staff saw she was a little upset and whisked her away to play with some of them. When I picked her up she did not want to leave as she had a great time. When we got back to the room there was an award from that staff member for my youngest for being the bravest limbo dancer , and that pin is a prize memento of the trip.

The kids loves cruising and it was a great vacation, especially my youngest who loved all the characters. I am sure I will try other cruise lines, especially when the kids are older as Disney is not the cheapest but for us the value is there.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We have only done 2 cruises and both were with Carnival - Really there is absolutly nothing wrong with Carnival as long as you go at the right time - cruising from florida during any spring break week you are bound to run into the unruly college students that are there for a good (drunk) time. We cruised from San Juan and had no problems.... but then it's more expensive for flights to SJU then Florida and hotels are more expensive.
Our room steward was great and really listened to the kids and made great towel animals that he knew they would like...... one morning he heard us calling our 8yo ds a monkey on the way out and that night we had a hanging monkey towel animal that was wearing his hat. The kids club is apparently very good too - my kids aren't kids club kids so they don't typically go to them.
We do want to try a different cruise line next time just so we can see the difference - my brother says there's not THAT much of a difference between them. Cabins are basically all the same - small - and service really depends on the crew!