the REAL scoop on the 7 day cruise

[Lisa F]

I don't know why I used that subject, just kind of tongue in cheek about all of those people who post with a subject like that and then say how terrible the cruise was.

In actuality, the real scoop from the point of view of two adults with no kids who took the Jan 5th 7 day magic cruise is that it was hands down the most fabulous vacation that we have ever taken.

It was our first cruise ever and I had a lot of anxiety over taking the cruise. It was all for nothing. We had the best time EVER. I'll be working on a trip report, but for right now here are some tips from a first timer's point of view.

1) Don't worry. I was SO burned out by the time we took this trip from 100 hour work weeks that i had no time or energy to plan anything on this trip. All I knew was "go to palo's first for reservations" and I'm glad I did. After that we just kind of let it ride and figured out what we wanted to do about 5 minutes before we did it. Unlike at WDW where if you don't plan you have a good chance of having a miserable time, we actually had a fabulous time even though I am a complete type A control freak. Most afternoons we just napped out on deck.

2) Don't worry. Our ship was completely booked according to many crew we talked to. The first time I heard this my heart sank. This was our big trip and I thought everything would be packed. Capacity on the Disney magic doesn't mean anything is packed! We still had a great time and didn't experience crowding anywhere except the last day getting off and the first day getting on. These ships are designed to take maximum capacity very very very COMFORTABLY.

3) Don't worry. I agonized about room location. We were on deck 7 almost completely forward. It was a great location, but I have to tell you, the boat was a lot smaller than I thought it would be and it took no time at all to get anywhere on the ship we wanted to be. I'm sure people have their favorite location for various reasons but I have to tell you I don't think it would've made a difference in our enjoyment of the cruise.

There are tons of other tips, of course, but I think most of them I've seen mentioned over and over by those more experienced than I am. I just wanted to list a few things that we found on the disney magic (and of course YMMV) from the point of view of a first timer that I don't recall ever reading about (though that doesn't mean they weren't posted, just means I never found them!)

Lisa

 

[Michelle]

Thank you, Lisa, for the REAL scoop.

I'm so glad you had a great time and you learned quickly that "hakuna matata" is a great motto to have when cruising!

 

[Mickey4Me]

Don't worry. I was SO burned out by the time we took this trip from 100 hour work weeks that i had no time or energy to plan anything on this trip

Thanks Lisa, you've eased my mind considerably! I'm the family trip planner and with my horrendous work schedule for the next 6mos, I was afraid we'd miss out due to lack of planning. I think I'll take a page from your book and just "go with the flow" and try not to obsess too much. Looking forward to your trip report....

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Lisa, you <i><b>got</b></i> me with your tongue-in-cheek thread title. Glad you had a good trip.

 

[natsmom125]

Lisa...we missed you on the 1-5 cruise.

So glad that you had a good time....so did we and the rest of
the gang from the DIS group.

You are absolutely right....the only thing we rushed for was to
see who could get to the Spa and the Rainforest first...me or
dh.......lol

Sorry we missed you
Phyllis

 

[stormkrow]

Originally posted by Lisa F
Don't worry. I agonized about room location. We were on deck 7 almost completely forward. It was a great location
Lisa

Curious - what room were you in? For our July 6th cruise, we're scheduled to be in room 7510 fairly close to the front of the ship. Did you feel the motion of the ship? Was there much noise from the elevators or people waiting for the elevator?

Thanks!

 

[Casey's mom]

Glad you had a great trip! Can't wait to read your trip report! We have cruised twice before on DCL, and I did not enjoy the first few hours -- until the ressie/kids club signup was over with. After that -- VERY relaxing and enjoyable.

 

[Lisa F]

dave, sorry, I couldn't resist. After reading certain reviews I was concerned about the food, about how easy it would be to get the elevators, about people reserving lounge chairs, and a ton of other little things that I was sure would ruin my trip in some of my more anxious moments. Not only did our cruise quell my fears early on, but it actually surpassed even my already high expectations of disney.

phyllis, i was only able to check the boards sporadically before the cruise so I didn't really keep up with what others were doing! When I said I was burned out I meant it, I'm lucky I had the energy to pack let alone coordinate anything!

stormkrow, we were in room 7002. I just finished saying not to worry, hehe, but I'll give you my opinion about that particular location anyway (though it really didn't seem like it was too different from any other room locations).

As far as how much the boat rocked, we experienced much more side to side motion than we expected and not any front to back motion at all. I personally do not get seasick and part of the reason the cruise was so relaxing for me is that if i was in any sort of a comfortable reclining position and the boat was rocking at all, I was soon dozing. I'm not really sure if it rocked more forward than it did aft, but every time we were in the walt disney theater I seemed to notice the rocking more than other times (i'm not sure why) and that is all the way forward. I also remember feeling pretty bad rocking in parrot cay one evening and I believe that is all the way aft (I have zero-zip-zilch sense of direction though so I may be wrong!) and also bad rocking in lumiere's (which is mid ship) so I honestly couldn't tell you how one area compares to the other. If you are expecting that it's a big cruise ship (like we did) and it won't rock or that it will only rock a lot in bad weather and high waves then I think you may be in for a surprise! I don't know if what we experienced was normal or more than normal rocking but I do know that lots of people were getting sick (but it rocked me to sleep every night).

As far as noise from the elevators, this is something that I really had no concept of until I got on the ship. The elevator lobbies feel completely separate from the hallways that connect all of the rooms. Even when I was in the elevator lobbies I didn't hear too much noise. The elevators themselves run very quietly and people for the most part seemed to be fairly respectful of their voice levels in public places. My honest opinion is that unless there is a feature of the room that you like (like metal aft verandahs) or a noise issue from what might be above/below or next to your room I personally do not see any difference in where you are on the ship... everything felt really close by and we were pretty close to being at an extreme on the ship both in height and in length. I think proximity (or lack of) to the elevators is really overemphasized!

Hope that helps!

Lisa

 

[stormkrow]

Thanks, Lisa, for your prompt response. I am surprised that you felt as much motion as you mentioned. I do get sea sick and will make sure I have my medicine handy.

Thanks again.

 

[Juliet25]

Great review!! I, too, can't wait for your trip report. I spent so many months planning my last WDW vacation that I just can't do anything more for this trip!! I'm so glad a laissez-faire attitude will work out!

 

[howardk613]

Lisa,
I couldn't agree more with your 1st thoughts about the cruise and all the "warnings" that you got from this board. I love this board and all the posters but we are ALL a little neurotic about the DCL. We obsess about the little things and sometimes forget how terrific the overall experience is. You can always find fault with even the finest and most expensive restaurant, hotel etc
but I my opinion, the DCL is the finest cruise line at sea. The crew is wonderful, the ship is amazing and the service is beyond terrific.
I'm glad that you enjoyed your cruise, I know that I loved the 2 that we were on and can't wait for 11/2/2002 (285 days and counting) when we will return to heaven on the Disney Magic.

 

[Lisa F]

Well I tend to disregard the extremes in any situation so anyone who comes on the boards and writes a completely miserable review I will ignore. I figure if someone has a terrible time with disney in general that they are the exception and not the rule (I'm not saying that it's not possible to have a terrible time and I'm sure it does happen, but I just don't think it happens often enough for it to be a concern to me).

On the other hand if you read long enough and each person has one little thing to say (and I'm sure in my trip report I will have a few of those!), by the time you read 100 posts you have a 100 item list in your head of things to worry about!

I am completely type A and it is normally impossible for me to relax. I can watch tv but only if I am doing something else at the same time. I always felt like I needed to go go go on vacations in order to not be bored. This is the first time in my life when I have actually felt relaxed enough to just take a nap in the afternoon if I wanted to and still felt like I was getting my money's worth... I just went up on deck grabbed a lounge and realized that even if I didn't do an activity I was still experiencing something I couldn't experience elsewhere... a wonderful nap out in the middle of the ocean! My husband has been teasing mercilessly that the sea is the only thing that relaxes me and because of that we have to buy a houseboat instead of a house!

Anyway, back to writing this trip report. It will be a long one!

Lisa