Trip Report 10/23 Magic - Part 1

[oybolshoi]

The cast - DH (34) and me (35) celebrating (belatedly) our 5th wedding anniversary.

Before taking our very first Disney Cruise we spent 10/19 - 10/22 at the Beach Club Villas at WDW. We had a blast going to EPCOT, MGM, and The Magic Kingdom; we watched the Cardinals squash the Astros at the ESPN Club during the last two games of the NLCS; we ate and drank our way around the Food and Wine Festival; and we trick or treated our way through Mickey's Halloween party. And - we had Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian with a pre-ordered Cinderella's Slipper dessert. It was fabulous!! I thought it was going to be one of those things you order for the presentation more than anything else, but it was super tasty. I highly recommend getting one if you have the chance.

On to the cruise......

We arranged transportation to and from airport, resort, port with FL Tours. They were wonderful - prompt, polite, and helpful with very clean cars - and we would definitely use them again. We arrived at the terminal by 10:30 Saturday morning because I wanted plenty of time to check-in and gawk before standing in line to board the ship. What a lovely terminal the cruise line has!

We waited in line a little over an hour and were allowed to board around 12:15. The first thing we did was head over to Rockin' D Bar to verify our Palo reservations. We had the REAS package and I had booked dinner, brunch, and tea in advance but I'm anal and I wanted to be sure that everything was as it should be. It was (whew!) so we proceeded to Parrot Cay for some lunch.

An interesting restaurant very loud (noise and colors!) - at first glance I wasn't sure if I liked it or not but it grew on me as the days passed. The food was surprisingly good, especially the shrimp!

Next stop - the spa for reservations. I love spa treatments and I was planning on the big splurge for this trip. I couldn't believe how long the line was for reservations, but we got everything we wanted and left very happy.

Final stop - stateroom 6586. What a lovely room! We adored the verandah and in addition to our romance basket we also had a bottle of Fairy Tale Cuvee chilling along with some tasty desserts (my parents sent us a stateroom anniversary gift, wasn't that sweet?). So we lounged on our verandah sipping champagne and munching mini cheescakes while the luggage arrived one piece at a time. I felt so decadent - it was great!

Some general observations:

The ship is beautiful - took our breath away. I guess we thought that we were going to be awash in Disney but it was actually quite subtle and very tastefully done.

Overall the food was good - I'm a pretty picky eater so I never expect to be completely happy with my food. The exception to this was Palo which was superb. The people here at DIS are 100% correct - order the souffle for dessert!!! We went to brunch, tea, and dinner at Palo on different days - tea is the only one that I wouldn't bother with a second time.

Our weather was great - warm, but not excessively so, nice breezes (except for Thursday - I think those winds just about blew us off the ship), and minimal rain.

I'll provide more specific information in another post, but I wanted to get something started so that I didn't forget to do it. I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has.

More to come....

 

[daisy112878]

Hey,
I know you have just done part 1 but in your other part(s) can you tell about all the spa treatments you had. I'm really interested in the Spa treatments.

And how did you like all the things that came with the REAS package?

 

[klynch]

Did you stop at Grand Cayman island on this Western tour? I'm going on 11/20 and we're told G.C. is back on the tour.

 

[bratray]

great details!! enjoying your trip report

i too would be interested to hear more about REAS & the spa- courious as to why you had to go to the spa when the reservations are made beforehand with REAS

thanks for taking the time to post

 

[oybolshoi]

I'll try to answer your questions briefly right now, and then I will post the second part of the trip report later with more detail.

Daisy - DH and I bought a week long pass to the Rainforest - it was bliss. I want one in my house... now.

We also did the Rasul, or what we like to call the naughty mud treatment for two. This was wonderful - a "do not miss" for couples.

I also went in on formal night and had someone in the salon give me an "up-do." I just wanted to look extra nice for a change - it turned out great. I think my first response was, "That can't be my hair!"

As part of our REAS package we did the spa taster - a 25 minute massage and a 25 minute facial. Loved it!!

In reference to the REAS package itself - we really thought it was a great value. We loved the romantic turndown (our cabin steward left us a three tiered towel wedding cake and two towel doves sprinkled with rose petals, as well as rose petals scattered around the cabin) and the breakfast in bed was very tasty - you can choose a ton of food if you want (I know we definitely had more than enough for two people). Making the Palo reservations in advance was more than enough benefit for adding this package, but we really enjoyed all the benefits that came with it. We even took our bottle of champagne to dinner one night and shared it with our table mates.


klynch - our cruise stopped in Key West, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Castaway Cay.


bratray - See my response to Daisy for REAS details. As for the spa reservations - the only one you can make in advance with the REAS package is the couples massage / spa taster. Any other reservations for other treatments are taken on a first come, first serve basis at the Spa on embarkation day. That's why we had to wait in line - I really wanted to try the naughty mud treatment - .

 

[bratray]

hmmm...naughty mudd treatment- i may have to ponder that for a while

thanks for the quick answers

 

[jlawall]

Your "land" portion sounded great! We stayed at the Beach Club Villas this summer and we loved them!

I also had an updo before formal night, it was fun!

 

[oybolshoi]

we've stayed at the Beach Club Villas for the last two years and we love it - you can't beat the location, especially if you spend a lot of time at EPCOT (which we do during the F/W Festival).

And the up-do at the spa was a blast - I felt so pampered and elegant, as opposed to my normal look which is more along the lines of ragged and rumpled!

 

[TSirgey]

I did a search for our stateroom to get some feedback since we are new to cruising. We were just recently assigned 6586 for our anniversary cruise 5/13. I saw a little bit online that said it was close to the laundry room. Was this a problem for you? I personally wouldn't mind being close as long as it isn't too noisy. Is is across the hall and down a bit or directly across from the room. You can't tell from any of the maps I checked.

I am sooooo excited!!

 

[oybolshoi]

we loved this room - it is situated diagonally, one door down, from the laundry room entrance on deck 6. The location is mid-ship so you'll be conveniently located to whichever area you want to go to.

We didn't notice any additional noise or heat or even traffic from people using the facilities in the laundry room.

I hope you enjoy this room as much as we did!!