Took our first cruise a few weeks ago...

[lilo62]

And I have to tell you all we just LOVED it! My husband and I actually met a forum member; "amymouse" and we weren't even members of the forum then. We were assigned at her table and she just told us about it and I decided to sign up!

I don't have anything bad to say about the cruise at all. We did the 4-night Bahama cruise just to test the waters (no pun intended) and then after we were in WDW for 9 days. We are DVC members as well. I was instantly sold on the cruise. Great stateroom - we were mid-ship - Cat. 6. Food, people, activities, ports of call etc. etc. simply fabulous.

We are already planning to do the 7 night next year! Was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on Eastern Vs. Western Carribean. We are leaning more towards Western.

Also, would appreciate any feedback regarding the 7-night - like the formal dinner nights etc. I do have the Passporters Field Guide which was a HUGE help and I would highly recommend it, but I also like to hear things from fellow cruisers as well.

Thanks!

 

[zeke11]

We need details! We're going on our first Disney Cruise in September and I just love to read everyone's experiences (especially the glowing ones)

Kris

 

[lilo62]

Oh man!!! We stayed in Cocoa Beach the night before our disembarkment at the Raddison (5/16). We got the "Cruise" package which allows you to park your car for free for the time of your cruise. Great hotel might I add!

Then 5/17 we boarded the ship. Checking in was totally painless. Went to our stateroom and was so psyched about it. Deck 6 - awesome! Unpacked - strolled the ship to get familiar with and where everything was. Made reservations for Palo's for that evening since other nights were already booked. We had the mandatory fire drill at 4PM which was pretty painless and didn't take long and then we headed out to sea! Took some great shots on Deck 9 leaving Port Canaveral. I DID get seasick later that night. I had the seabands on (they didn't work) and took some Dramaine (that didn't work either). I didn't throw-up - just had that queasy stomach thing going on. Needless-to-say, because of it, I couldn't enjoy Palo's as much as I would have liked. It's on Deck 10 and I felt the ship ALOT on this deck and having hte ocean as the view didn't help! Was in bed by 10PM and for the rest of the cruise was fine!!!

First Port of call- Nassau/Paradise Island. We did the Atlantis Shore Excursion which I would recommend. The tour takes about 45 min and then you are free to play in Atlantis and/or take the ferry back over to Nassau. The ferry ride is really nice as it gives some history. Beware of hawkers. Nassau reminded me of Tijuana. I mean I understand it's somewhat of a poor area and they depend on tourism. If you have street smarts you should do fine. We took the ferry back to Nassau around 3:30PM so that we could check out the sites there. Nassau shuts down at 5PM; shops, ferry's etc. You have until 10:30PM to board the ship, so I guess if you wanted to hang out on Paradise Island you could. You would need to take a cab back to the boat in that case. Atlantis in itself is gorgeous - just to see it and not nexessarily to dream about ever staying there.

We had the late night dinner time (we have no kids) and that worked out well. We ended up doing hot dogs that night and just relaxing, so that was 2 nights in a row that we didn't meet our assigned dinner friends. We played BINGO on the ship and won a decent jackpot and a gift cert for 2 for Castaway Cay for all day snorkeling, all day floats and 1 hour bike rentals

Next Port of Call - Castaway Cay - GORGEOUS and RELAXING! Went to Serenity Bay - Adult Beach so that it would be easier to meet up for the Kyack/Hiking Excursion. This part of the island is really nice - quiet. Unfortunately due to low tide and breezy conditions, our kyacking tour was cancelled. We could have just done the hiking, but we decided as a group that the kyacking part of it was the appeal and we all bagged it. My husband, who is not a beach goer unlike me was the reason for the kyacking trip, so with it being cancelled he was wondering what he was going to do. Well, we took the tram back to the family beach and he decided to use the gift cert for snorkeling while I sunbathed! he had an underwater case for his digital camera and got some great pics and had ALOT of fun. It was his first time for snorkeling and loved it. Found something new he likes to do. Had to leave the beaches by 3:30PM (they sound a horn) and headed back to the boat. Stopped at the post office to mail my postcards and get the Bahama Stamp!

Our dinner rotation that night was at Animator's Pallette and so we went to dinner and FINALLY met our fellow dinner friends. met some great people. The food was awesome, our server team was awesome and the restaraunt is too cool.

Our next day was a day at sea and we just pretty much relaxed, met everyone again at dinner at Parrot Cay which was our first assigned restaruant. Next day was disembarkment day

On our day at sea, we had gone to a disembarkment talk which was very helpful and later in the day saw a show in the Walt disney Theatre. You have to leave all luggage outside your door that your 'checking" by 11PM Just a tip....when you have to disembark, the earlier dinner seating has to eat breakfast at 6:45AM and the later dinner seating has breakfast at 8:00AM. We were glad we had the later seating!!!! Everyone has to be off the ship by 9AM.

After the cruise, going to Disney was a little anti-climatic (sad to say), we usually go 1-2 times a year (thanks DVC!) So, since we enjoyed the cruise THAT much, we would rather use our points next year to doing a 7-night cruise.

Well, hope the info was helpful. Lemme know if I can offer anything else.

Gina

 

[zeke11]

Thanks Gina -

I just loved reading about your cruise -- it sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!

Congrats on your Bingo win

Kris

 

[traycie2201]

Hi Lilo62 we're going on our first DCL in october , courtesy of DVC how i love my points we're doing a week in the boardwalk first then off on the western, we picked the western as it will be our first time visiting the carribean and we wanted more ports of call for tasters of the islands to see if we want to go back to any of them on a longer holiday, i also preffered the ports offered on western to eastern, however that said alot of people chose eastern as they want more at sea days to relax on board so it really is a personal choice, i've read great things about both on these boards which as you know are fantastic to help with planning, as is the passporter which i just love.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

Great report!! Thanks for taking the time to share it with all of us!!

 

[TheWog]

The Western has more port days than the Eastern. Eastern gives you 3 "at sea" days. Some people love the at sea days more. Great way to enjoy the ship. St. Maarten and ST. Thomas are beautiful. Western you get to stop at Key West and enjoy the sunsets. We will be trying the Western in January 2006.

Formal nights are just that... the suggested attire is suit or tux for men, evening gowns for women. Don't know if I saw that many tux's that night. You get a character breakfast on the 7 night. That is the first at sea morning after your AP dinner night. There are some themed deck parties during the 7 nights, not sure about the 4 night.

 

[sters]

Just out of curiosity, how many DVC points does it take to do a cruise? I'd heard that it wasn't really cost-effective to do it that way. Your opinion?

 

[lilo62]

I'm glad you all liked my feedback for the fellow first timers as well! Hopefully it was helpful!

And for those of you who have cruised before....thanks for your input re: Eastern vs. Western, 7-nights etc. Your info is very helpful.

 

[Tink03477]

I'm glad you had a great cruise! I'm thinking about doing the same thing next year and am wondering how many points it takes to do the 4 day cruise??
We want to visit Atlantis too.
Thanks!

 

[lilo62]

Originally posted by Tink03477
I'm glad you had a great cruise! I'm thinking about doing the same thing next year and am wondering how many points it takes to do the 4 day cruise??
We want to visit Atlantis too.
Thanks!

Of course it depends on the "season" you go and the stateroom category - ours was 364 points.

Book it!!!! It was SO much fun and great way to see if "cruising" is your thing!!!

 

[CAMICKEY]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. I have not been on the Eastern but the Western was very enjoyable. A good combination of sea and port days for us but I know others actually prefer the extra day at sea on the Eastern. IMO the Western could use this additional day at sea as well and then skip Key West (just my personal opinion and I am a big Key Lime pie fanatic). Enjoy your cruise whichever one you choose. - Mike

 

[ohiominnie]

Good to hear there is another person out there who did a first cruise and then went to WDW and was a bit disappointed. We did this last May--4 day wonder then 9 at WDW. We all were sad to leave the ship! My dd even said she would trade all NINE days at WDW for just FOUR more on the ship. WOW! That's the first time in my life I shed tears because I had to go to WDW! That was last May. We've cruised 3 times since!

 

[ohiominnie]

edited b/c it posted twice. no one needs to read that twice!

 

[lilo62]

Originally posted by ohiominnie
Good to hear there is another person out there who did a first cruise and then went to WDW and was a bit disappointed. We did this last May--4 day wonder then 9 at WDW. We all were sad to leave the ship! My dd even said she would trade all NINE days at WDW for just FOUR more on the ship. WOW! That's the first time in my life I shed tears because I had to go to WDW! That was last May. We've cruised 3 times since!

I'm glad you feel my pain!!!! And I LOVE WDW, but I guess the cruise just won us over! I wish I had forgone the 9 days at The Villas at Wildnerness Lodge and kept them the cruise next year. Guess I'll have to just borrow!

 

[jlawall]

By any chance did you happen to meet CM Ian while on the cruise?

 

[lilo62]

No, I didn't. I actually joined the board AFTER I came back from my cruise.

My joining the board was based on my seating assignment on my cruise and just happen to have someone at my table who was already on this forum. I didn't know it even existed!

 

[MarkRG]

Eastern vs Western.. hmm have done both, Eastern a lot longer ago now.

Eastern does have more sea days, and the ports involved are more.... sedate? Maybe not the right word, more family interesting? St. Thomas has more for the kids to do, and there is St. John there with its many many beaches. St. Maarten has some nice kids excursions now including a butterfly thing and I think a dolphin encounter. Didn't when we were last there, and the French side is supposed to have some excellent French dining options. Don't know personally, as it was closed for some obscure French holiday when we were there.

The Western is definitely the more late party/drinkers trip with Cozumel. That seems to be one of the primary focuses there is to drink, drink and drink some more. One of the mini golf's major points is the drinks. The goal at Carlos N Charlies is to get really drunk and act like in the teens gone wild videos. I personally am also not to keen on the shopping there with the over the top pushy sales people. None of this is as apparent at Grand Cayman, which has the huge plus point of Stingray City. Interacting with the stingrays like that is indescribable. But they have the Rum cakes everywhere as well. And Hell, while a tourist trap, is cute in it's own Wis Dells kind of way.

 

[jlawall]

I agree with the description of Cozumel, however, you can also have a nice Mexican experience there with your younger family - w/o all the partying. We did the drinking, partying thing last summer, but this summer we are going to try more tropical, beach stuff. The excursions to Excaret and Tulum are more historical and interesting (cultural.) I think there is something for everyone in Mexico. Just remember that it is always very hot there.

GC is really special with the stingrays.

I felt St. Maarten was just okay and we love St. Thomas and St. John. We've vacationed there about 4X and we love the beautiful beaches there. I think it really depends what excursions you pick.

 

[MarkRG]

Yes, I had forgotten; did read and heard some good reports on Chakanaab Park for family activities, and we did do the San Gervasio ruins tour and it was quite interesting. But yes it was VERY hot and any ruins tour is going to involve a lot of walking so keep that in mind. Bring shade/hydration/whatever you need. Also the Tulum tour has a far boat ride in a hydrofoil on the open ocean to get there(it's on the mainland), and has the potential to be VERY rough.

And I'll again say Stingray City at GC is too good to pass up at least once. I'd do it exclusively if we go there again.