Staying Onboard??

[hopelea]

I am working on my budget for travel expenses. I am not sure if we are going to take excursions or not. My dh wants to stay onboard this trip. He said we didn't get to enjoy the ship on the last trip because we were running all the time.

My question is, for those of you that stayed onboard, did you enjoy it? Did you find enough to occupy your time?

We will get off in Key West. Didn't explore enough last time. I really don't want to get off in Cozumel. Did the Beach Break last time.

Any opinions??

 

[mkymouse4ever]

So far I have only done the wonder, waiting till March for our "magic". BUT we did not get off in Naussau. The ship was 80% empty, had the pools with maybe 5 other people (at adult pool). Noticed only a handful of people at the family pool & kids pool. The ship itself was very empty. You could roam around and explore everything we wanted. I was very glad we decided to stay on board. It was relaxing, and quiet. That night at dinner after talking with the other people who all went into the city, it was clear we had made the right choice.

Good luck, MKY

 

[LuvTravelToo]

For what it's worth...

We just sailed on the 9/11 Magic and had severe itinerary changes. All the research and excursions we were looking forward to in Key West, Cozumel, and Grand Caymans were for naught. We went to Puerto Rico and had an excursion in the rain forest that turned out to be a bust (partly because Jeanne was just spinning up and dumped a lot of rain on our rain forest excursion) --- we would have much rather just stayed on the ship. In Nassau we went ashore briefly for a quick walk through the stores near the port and headed back to the ship after about an hour (Del Sol was the most interesting). We were glad we returned to the ship because we found plenty to do. Of course the pools (especially the Mickey pool) were much less crowded and more enjoyable for the kids. That same day we attended the matinee show which allowed time in the evening to take advantage of some of the alternative family events/activities. What I'd suggest is to not go on an excursion just to go on an excursion---make sure that it's something you really want to do. Otherwise just take advantage of less crowds and enjoy the ship!

 

[travellady]

Haven't taken a DCL cruise yet but I can tell you when we cruised to Canada this summer on 5 day Voyager of the Seas, we didn't see any excursions that appealed to us. So, in Saint Johns we walked around the city for just over an hour and then came back to an fairly empty ship. It was nice and quiet, my husband and I sat in the lounge and played cards while my son went to the kids club.

As I plan future cruises, I'll probably do only those excursions I really want to do and spend plenty of time on the ship. Nothing like being at a resort on the water.

 

[disneyholic family]

we stayed on board in nassau and also had a day at sea....
of course, i'm referring to the wonder, so it might be very different on the magic, but in my opinion there was not enough to do on board....especially on the day at sea, where there was little of an 'organized' nature to do....
everyone just sat around sunning....not at all what i like to do...
i was expecting more of a club med/resort type atmosphere on the day at sea.....but i was wrong....
guess i picked the wrong cruise lines....(probably carnival or rccl are better for the at sea activities)...

my son, who was in the teen club activities, had a great time as they had non-stop activities throughout the cruise (including nassau day and the day at sea)....
but for us old geezers (plus my 20 year old daughter) it was about as boring as watching grass grow....

i'll probably be flamed, but that was our experience on the wonder..
we did have one exciting bit....on our day at sea, some poor unfortunate 12 year old girl had an appendicitis attack.....we were coasting along slowly at sea, when all of sudden the ship started going full throttle....we all knew something was up, especially as we approached palm beach....and especially as we saw the coast guard ship with all the rescue people on board came along side waiting to offload the girl and her family....
you can tell it was rather boring on ship, when the most fun thing was watching someone being take off ship to be rushed to the hospital.....i sure hope she recovered completely....

we're planning on switching cruise lines for our next cruise......hopefully, to one with more shipboard activities....

 

[markºoº]

In looking back at the Navigators from our 8/28 Magic cruise, there really is not a lot of organized activities during the morning and early afternoon when the ship is in port. Activities seem to start later in the afternoon.

That said, there are always options on board.
The pools are not crowded.
Enjoy a movie in the afternoon.
Have a nice relaxing sit down lunch.
Stay up late the night before and sleep in.
Take a walking tour of the ship (you can get a self guided tour booklet).
Go to Diversions and play some games.
The spa usually has discounted specials on port days.
Adults can relax in the Cove Cafe.

I would suggest you get off and walk around in Cozumel. The ship docks so you can walk right off. There is a lot of shopping right by the dock. Take an hour or 2 to walk around, have a drink, and then head back to the ship.