we had a great week! and the FE thing was so much fun for my DD (and us!) she was thrilled to check out all the goodies when we returned to our stateroom. the christmas ornaments will make their way onto our tree when it goes up today. the coloring books got a workout at dinner each night while DD waiting between courses and for the adults to finish up.
We did have a great week but I think both DH and I have concluded that we just are not "cruisers" for a variety of reasons. 1) the size of the staterooms is really somewhat clausterphobic for me (esp after staying in DVC villas in the parks). even thought we werent in the room much when we were there it seemed we were always in each others way... 2) Both Jeff and Kendall got seasick the first 2 full days at sea. not fun. 3) i just felt a tad bit overscheduled with the set seating time for dinner if we wanted a sit down meal (I dont do buffets...) and the show time etc. there was one night I wold have skipped the formal sit down dinner but it was our night in animators palate for the whole color changing thing (we were there earlier in the week for formal night when it didnt change) and I wanted DD to be able to see that.
We may check out the Disney Dream or fantsay at some point in the future but for now we are back to the parks!
A couple of random thoughts--we loved the catamaran snorkling adventure in st. maarten. the dolphin encounter on tortola was fun to see DD's reaction but we were herded like cattle and there were so many of us in the water that it was a little disappointing for us adults who knew what it cost...
Castaway Cay was my favorite part of the week--wish we could have stayed there longer. the shows were fantastic. we missed most of the post show entertainment as DD most nights barely made it through the show so we were back in the stateroom and asleep by 10:30 most nights. We even missed the fireworks because she called it a night at 9:45 at the pirate party. I probably had the only kid on the ship who didnt like the kids club. she spent exactly 1 hour there all week. she might have warmed up if she had a friend with her. but by herself she was a bit intimidated by the entire experience. the food was great but the desserts were spectacular! the football on the big screen with the grilled corn and hot wings on Thursday was a fun touch.
I thought the fitness center was nice. I managed to get in on one spinning class and did an outside run along the deck one day and an inside treadmill run and a morning stretch as well as the castaway cay 5k. i am happy to report I gained no weight all week even with ordering 2 desserts most nights!
I would have liked early morning yoga out on a deck some days. but it was all good.
Disney did an excellent job pairing us up with 2 other families for our dinner seating. 2 single moms with 3 young boys my DD's age. they were best buds by the end of the week. very cute.
thats all. now to sort thought my 600 digital pictures....
one last question--I am guessing that once you leave the ship there is no way to purchase any more of the photos from shutters? there is one image I am regretting not getting . it is too bad they dont give you 30 days like they do in WDW with photopass.
happy sailing!
Renee