Where to begin? This was our first cruise and probably will not be our last. The cast of characters is my immediate family DH and DD6, plus my parents and single 30-something brother. We all flew into Orlando the day before and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Titusville. We rented cars to take us to and from the airport and that worked fine. However, if we did this again, I would consider using Disney Transportation as long as it got us to the terminal in time.
Highlights:
We got Palo reservations for our last night and DM made her spa reservations for our day at sea during the first day reservation scramble without any problems. Note the navigator said they would take Palo reservations at 1:00 PM, but when I arrived at Wavebands at 12:55 PM, they had already begun taking reservations. DM said massage and facial were the best shes had. Palo food and service was great.
Castaway Cay was amazing. Now I can understand why people are so upset if its missed. DD got her hair braided and spent the rest of the cruise thanking me. Thought food was so-so on CC, but that wasnt the point. We plunked down in the middle of the family beach and barely moved. It was so beautiful, I cant even describe it. I am forever ruined for the beach I want CC and only CC.
Caribbean Queen snorkel excursion at Nassau turned out great. Its an afternoon excursion, so there is no need to rush off the ship in the morning. The water was clear, the reef had lots of interesting fish very enjoyable. Note, DH wears glasses and snorkeling does not work if you don't have contacts. He thought his prescription goggles would work under the mask and they didn't.
We had beautiful weather. Nassau and CC days couldn't have been better. Day at sea was a little humid and overcast, but not bad.
Plenty of Princesses we did one of the Princess Gatherings and garnered many autographs. DD wasnt too keen to stand in many lines, so we werent faced with having to have every signature. Lots of opportunity for those so inclined.
Mickey Pool with slide was a huge hit, DD spent hours there.
We had stateroom 8578 loved it! The veranda was beautiful and we got to see lots of neat things in port. It was right by the elevators and stairs, so the beverage station and Beach Blanket Buffet and all of deck 9 were extremely convenient. No noise from the elevators or stairs either.
Service was wonderful had no qualms about tips and gave small amounts above what was recommended, particularly for the server and assistant server. Felt like we were royalty whenever we stepped into the dining rooms.
We (DH, actually) left our cameras near the beverage station one morning and didnt realize it until 3 hours later. Someone had turned them into Guest Services.
This was a great way to be with different generations and keep everyone happy. DB even found a single girl his age by the end of the cruise.
Lowlights:
First night out we had some serious waves, not like the Norwegian Dawn had! but enough to make people stumble in the passageways. No one in our group got sea sick, but I was thinking that people who said you didnt feel any movement were crazy. It was much calmer after that.
DD didnt enjoy the kids clubs as much as I hoped she would. I think she found them too loud and maybe too boisterous for the size group. She also wasnt thrilled with the deck party. Some of it is that she is a calm child and it takes her a while to warm to new things. By the end of the cruise, she was coming down with a cold that had plagued me from the beginning and that put her spirits a little low. I think it was hard being the only child in our group and that would be something I would try to change if we did this again.
DD fell out of the pull down bunk. DH and I felt we were to blame for not going over safety rules - we forget she's only 6. There are no rails at either end of the bunk and the curtain made it seem like there was a "wall." Luckily she was fine.
Pirate night messed up our planned dining rotation. We were assigned PTAA which thrilled me, since dressy night was night two and we would be in Triton and I wanted to do Palo the last night. I knew Pirate night was night three our first night in Animators Palette, but I didnt realize that meant they wouldnt do the light show in AP that night. So, by going to Palo our last night, we missed the light show. I was disappointed that we missed it. Pirate night didnt wow me either.
I was a little disappointed that people didnt take the suggestion for dressy night or the dress code for Palo seriously. It was mostly men we saw without a jacket or in very casual shirts.
As a result of being under the weather, I didnt get to do as many things as I had hoped no dancing til all hours in the night clubs or checking out Nassau the first morning. However, I did rest comfortably in our stateroom, took advantage of room service, had some quiet time at the adult pool and that was all very nice.
Some of the food was so-so. I love sushi and thought the sushi at the seafood buffet was pretty pathetic. Shrimp on buffets was great however.
Things I would do again:
Over the door shoe holder worked very well.
I didnt bring a hair dryer and really didnt need one. Normally my hair is rather high maintenance, but between the humidity and the ocean breeze there was no point. The hairdryer in the room is very weak however.
Not schedule too many excursions one was plenty on this length cruise. There is so much to do and not nearly enough time to do it all.
Check shutters regularly for pictures. That definitely cut down on time when I did it. One day I forgot.
Things I wouldnt do again:
Extension cords/power strip there were 2 outlets at the desk, not behind it. Didnt use.
Bringing our own floats I forgot my Dollar Store float in the room and ended up renting 2 on CC. They were good floats and I didnt mind the money.
Pack a bit less, but we werent too overloaded.
All in all, truly a Wonderful and magical time.
Laurie
Highlights:
We got Palo reservations for our last night and DM made her spa reservations for our day at sea during the first day reservation scramble without any problems. Note the navigator said they would take Palo reservations at 1:00 PM, but when I arrived at Wavebands at 12:55 PM, they had already begun taking reservations. DM said massage and facial were the best shes had. Palo food and service was great.
Castaway Cay was amazing. Now I can understand why people are so upset if its missed. DD got her hair braided and spent the rest of the cruise thanking me. Thought food was so-so on CC, but that wasnt the point. We plunked down in the middle of the family beach and barely moved. It was so beautiful, I cant even describe it. I am forever ruined for the beach I want CC and only CC.
Caribbean Queen snorkel excursion at Nassau turned out great. Its an afternoon excursion, so there is no need to rush off the ship in the morning. The water was clear, the reef had lots of interesting fish very enjoyable. Note, DH wears glasses and snorkeling does not work if you don't have contacts. He thought his prescription goggles would work under the mask and they didn't.
We had beautiful weather. Nassau and CC days couldn't have been better. Day at sea was a little humid and overcast, but not bad.
Plenty of Princesses we did one of the Princess Gatherings and garnered many autographs. DD wasnt too keen to stand in many lines, so we werent faced with having to have every signature. Lots of opportunity for those so inclined.
Mickey Pool with slide was a huge hit, DD spent hours there.
We had stateroom 8578 loved it! The veranda was beautiful and we got to see lots of neat things in port. It was right by the elevators and stairs, so the beverage station and Beach Blanket Buffet and all of deck 9 were extremely convenient. No noise from the elevators or stairs either.
Service was wonderful had no qualms about tips and gave small amounts above what was recommended, particularly for the server and assistant server. Felt like we were royalty whenever we stepped into the dining rooms.
We (DH, actually) left our cameras near the beverage station one morning and didnt realize it until 3 hours later. Someone had turned them into Guest Services.
This was a great way to be with different generations and keep everyone happy. DB even found a single girl his age by the end of the cruise.
Lowlights:
First night out we had some serious waves, not like the Norwegian Dawn had! but enough to make people stumble in the passageways. No one in our group got sea sick, but I was thinking that people who said you didnt feel any movement were crazy. It was much calmer after that.
DD didnt enjoy the kids clubs as much as I hoped she would. I think she found them too loud and maybe too boisterous for the size group. She also wasnt thrilled with the deck party. Some of it is that she is a calm child and it takes her a while to warm to new things. By the end of the cruise, she was coming down with a cold that had plagued me from the beginning and that put her spirits a little low. I think it was hard being the only child in our group and that would be something I would try to change if we did this again.
DD fell out of the pull down bunk. DH and I felt we were to blame for not going over safety rules - we forget she's only 6. There are no rails at either end of the bunk and the curtain made it seem like there was a "wall." Luckily she was fine.
Pirate night messed up our planned dining rotation. We were assigned PTAA which thrilled me, since dressy night was night two and we would be in Triton and I wanted to do Palo the last night. I knew Pirate night was night three our first night in Animators Palette, but I didnt realize that meant they wouldnt do the light show in AP that night. So, by going to Palo our last night, we missed the light show. I was disappointed that we missed it. Pirate night didnt wow me either.
I was a little disappointed that people didnt take the suggestion for dressy night or the dress code for Palo seriously. It was mostly men we saw without a jacket or in very casual shirts.
As a result of being under the weather, I didnt get to do as many things as I had hoped no dancing til all hours in the night clubs or checking out Nassau the first morning. However, I did rest comfortably in our stateroom, took advantage of room service, had some quiet time at the adult pool and that was all very nice.
Some of the food was so-so. I love sushi and thought the sushi at the seafood buffet was pretty pathetic. Shrimp on buffets was great however.
Things I would do again:
Over the door shoe holder worked very well.
I didnt bring a hair dryer and really didnt need one. Normally my hair is rather high maintenance, but between the humidity and the ocean breeze there was no point. The hairdryer in the room is very weak however.
Not schedule too many excursions one was plenty on this length cruise. There is so much to do and not nearly enough time to do it all.
Check shutters regularly for pictures. That definitely cut down on time when I did it. One day I forgot.
Things I wouldnt do again:
Extension cords/power strip there were 2 outlets at the desk, not behind it. Didnt use.
Bringing our own floats I forgot my Dollar Store float in the room and ended up renting 2 on CC. They were good floats and I didnt mind the money.
Pack a bit less, but we werent too overloaded.
All in all, truly a Wonderful and magical time.
Laurie
