JCDarzi
06-05-2010, 01:32 PM
Hi All,
This is my first trip report on Intercot but I thought I would share a few things we learned on our first Disney Cruise - May 30th, Disney Wonder, 5-Day Double Dip to Castaway Cay. I hope that some of the things we learned and enjoyed will help someone else plan their trip. On this trip was me, DH, DD7 & DS4.
Pre Cruise - 2 Days at WDW, MK & EP with Lodging at Wilderness Lodge. We loved WL but really wish we hadn't added the two days of WDW. We've gone to WDW a lot in the past and these two days ended up being “forgotten” in the excitement of the cruise. In hindsight, I wish we would have done the Hyatt at MCO the night before and then car service to Port Canaveral.
Day 1 - Getting Onboard
Had car service to Port Canaveral. Arrived @ 9:30 AM. Was probably around 10th in line to get into port. Opened around 10:00 AM.
Important tip: Don't know how we missed this but apparently porters take your luggage into the terminal for you. We missed this and arrived at the security point with all our luggage. The port employees were very accommodating and allowed my DH to separate from us and get the luggage to the proper place. We were in a hurry because we were wanting to be first in for a port upgrade.
We were among the very first to check in (there was a longer line for Castaway Club than for first timers). We didn't wait at all. Then we went straight to the concierge desk for port upgrade (we were hoping for a verandah). Even though two Disney employees said that port upgrades were available as we were checking in, and I believe we were the first to inquire about a port upgrade, there were none available to us (the sign was not put up until much later stating no port upgrades).
Oddly enough, we ended up loving our room. The kids treated the porthole area like their little clubhouse. In hindsight, we wouldn't have upgraded at all. We also liked Deck 2 (room 2508) and though we were under Route 66, we never thought there was noise from above.
They started boarding around 1:00 pm. Before that, my DH waiting in a very long line to get beepers and tags for the kids club (you can also do this on board the ship). That was fine because there really wasn't much else to do during this time.
Would we have arrived so early even without the possibility of a port upgrade? Absolutely, this allowed us to be among the first on the ship (We were boarding group 2, just after concierge group) and we were able to book Palos (we couldn't online) in guest services once it was open (at 3:30 pm)
Important tip - Even though most of the spa and Palo times were filled online prior to our cruise, there were plenty of times available on the cruise. Don't think you can't get a spa treatment or Palos. I can't say for certain about Palos but at the spa they said that they leave about 50% of the appts. open for those who book on the cruise.
Nice Disney Touch - We went to Beach Blanket Buffet for our lunch and had wait staff to immediately offer to hold our carry on luggage as we were going through the buffet line. She anticipated our need before we even knew that with the two kids and luggage, we would have a problem. Very good service!
Sail Away Party was fun
Golden Mickeys was the show for the evening - very good.
Our dinner was at Parrot Cay which was very good, but not our favorite.
Day 2 - Castaway Cay
We were off the ship fairly early (around 9AM) and beat most of the crowd. Beach was wonderful, couldn't have asked for anything better. Plenty of chairs & umbrellas. Food at Cookies was rotisserie chicken, salmon, hot dogs & hamburgers.
We also purchased the 6 pack of Evian water for $17 + tip in a DCL cooler with ice. It was very hot and this seemed like a bargain :-)
We went back to the ship early because I had a pedicure scheduled at the spa. Treatment was very good and Callean was my technician. She was very nice. It was one of my better spa pedicure experiences.
Show was "Once Upon a Song" . We didn't attend because we had dinner at Palos.
Palos was outstanding. We both had the beef tenderloin. I had the chocolate souffle for dessert. Can't say enough about how wonderful this meal was. Definitely a can't miss.
Day 3 - Nassau
Even though a lot of people recommended staying on the boat at Nassau, we decided to do the Blue Lagoon Beach Day. This was an excellent excursion. We wanted to do the dolphin encounter but it was full. We really enjoyed our time at the beach. It included lunch (hot dogs & hamburgers), non-alcoholic drinks, and non-premium floats (tubes, mats & noodles). The island was clean and while not Castaway Cay standards, it was close.
Good Tip for Blue Lagoon - We were concerned that our DD7 might be too scared for the dolphin encounter (back when there were spaces available). We found that once we arrived at the Blue Lagoon, you could see the dolphins (but not touch them) as well as the people who paid for the dolphin encounter. There was also a "Dolphin Kiss" photo available for $19 at 12:00 & 3:00 pm. We weren't able to do this but it would have been an inexpensive way of getting a good dolphin picture (the dolphin kisses the person on the cheek) without doing the Dolphin encounter. Beach Day was $69/$55, lunch included (adult/child) vs. Dolphin Encounter $125/$110, no lunch included ($12.95 ea.)
Only complaint I had about Nassau was that I thought it would have been easy to get separated from your group while walking to get to the boat for Blue Lagoon. There were lots of people trying to sell tours, rent scooters, and taxi rides while in route. It would be easy to get separated in the crowd of people getting off the ship + those selling their wares and services.
We didn't walk around Nassau other than the Blue Lagoon excursion.
Dinner was at Tritons and we had the Pirates in the Carribean party. Lots of fun but had a threat of rain. Later we found out that the captain had been moving the ship around to avoid the rain. Had a few sprinkles but nothing to dampen the party.
Day 4 - At Sea.
Lots of activities but it seemed the ones I wanted to do were always at the same times. We will have to do another cruise just so we can do what we missed.
This was the first day that we saw crowds on decks and elevators. It was a little harder to get around but not too bad.
We saw Toy Story the Musical. It was very good. Our kids enjoyed it very much. It was formal night (many degrees of dress from very casual to very formal). We ate at Animator's Palette. Good meal, my only complaint was that between the wall color changes (very neat) and the very loud diner noise (maybe the acoustics?), we couldn't hear the music soundtrack or carry on much of a conversation with our table mates. Very distracting.
Day 5 - Castaway Cay
Great day, stayed nearly the entire day. Lunch was mahi mahi, hot dogs & hamburgers. DH had a cabana massage. He enjoyed it but has had better. He said the spa technician had a fairly heavy elbow. It wasn't as relaxing as he would have wanted and the cabana was shared with a 3/4 wall between the two sides.
Show was Disney Dreams. This is by far the best show on the cruise and the best I've seen even in the parks. We all loved this show.
We had a brand new menu at Parrot Cay (we took pictures if someone wants to see them), "til we meet again" . This was probably our favorite meal other than Palos.
Day 6 - Going home.
Getting off the ship was very smooth and quick. For us, it was too quick. We had car service scheduled for 9:00 but due to my husband's concern of making that time, we were off the ship and to the curb by 7:30 am.
Important tip - Don't get off the ship until close to your pick-up time. It didn't take us 15 minutes to get our luggage, go through customs and get to the curb. If you are as early as us, there's no place to stay. You are put on the roadside curb to wait. I would give yourself about 30-40 minutes to leave ship and get outside to meet shuttle/car service. We waited with our kids for 1.5 hours on roadside with the threat of rain, sitting on our luggage. Can't blame Disney for that but it wasn't fun.
We traveled to MCO and got a day room (10AM-6PM) at the Hyatt in the airport. It was $89 but was well worth it. Our flight didn't leave until 8:45 pm and it was nice to have a place to rest until time to go. We were able to shop at MCO’s wide array of stores before the security checkpoint and put any liquids in our luggage before the flight.
Only other thing I would mention that the kids menus didn't always suit my very picky kids. PB&J sandwiches were only on the room service menu and we never thought to pre order them for our meals in the dining room. Our kids ate cheese pizza or mac & cheese at every meal. They will only eat chicken nuggets and not chicken strips. DCL only had strips, so that was one eating option out.
One other bit of Disney magic...my husband asked the Goofy Galley server if he could get a PB&J for our DD. The server was from Japan and didn't seem to understand the request. A crew member heard what was going on and said he thought he could get one. They were supposed to deliver it to my husband on Deck 9 near the Goofy Galley. Instead, this crew member personally brought it to DD literally on a silver platter. Very nice touch.
Excellent vacation, can't wait to go again!
This is my first trip report on Intercot but I thought I would share a few things we learned on our first Disney Cruise - May 30th, Disney Wonder, 5-Day Double Dip to Castaway Cay. I hope that some of the things we learned and enjoyed will help someone else plan their trip. On this trip was me, DH, DD7 & DS4.
Pre Cruise - 2 Days at WDW, MK & EP with Lodging at Wilderness Lodge. We loved WL but really wish we hadn't added the two days of WDW. We've gone to WDW a lot in the past and these two days ended up being “forgotten” in the excitement of the cruise. In hindsight, I wish we would have done the Hyatt at MCO the night before and then car service to Port Canaveral.
Day 1 - Getting Onboard
Had car service to Port Canaveral. Arrived @ 9:30 AM. Was probably around 10th in line to get into port. Opened around 10:00 AM.
Important tip: Don't know how we missed this but apparently porters take your luggage into the terminal for you. We missed this and arrived at the security point with all our luggage. The port employees were very accommodating and allowed my DH to separate from us and get the luggage to the proper place. We were in a hurry because we were wanting to be first in for a port upgrade.
We were among the very first to check in (there was a longer line for Castaway Club than for first timers). We didn't wait at all. Then we went straight to the concierge desk for port upgrade (we were hoping for a verandah). Even though two Disney employees said that port upgrades were available as we were checking in, and I believe we were the first to inquire about a port upgrade, there were none available to us (the sign was not put up until much later stating no port upgrades).
Oddly enough, we ended up loving our room. The kids treated the porthole area like their little clubhouse. In hindsight, we wouldn't have upgraded at all. We also liked Deck 2 (room 2508) and though we were under Route 66, we never thought there was noise from above.
They started boarding around 1:00 pm. Before that, my DH waiting in a very long line to get beepers and tags for the kids club (you can also do this on board the ship). That was fine because there really wasn't much else to do during this time.
Would we have arrived so early even without the possibility of a port upgrade? Absolutely, this allowed us to be among the first on the ship (We were boarding group 2, just after concierge group) and we were able to book Palos (we couldn't online) in guest services once it was open (at 3:30 pm)
Important tip - Even though most of the spa and Palo times were filled online prior to our cruise, there were plenty of times available on the cruise. Don't think you can't get a spa treatment or Palos. I can't say for certain about Palos but at the spa they said that they leave about 50% of the appts. open for those who book on the cruise.
Nice Disney Touch - We went to Beach Blanket Buffet for our lunch and had wait staff to immediately offer to hold our carry on luggage as we were going through the buffet line. She anticipated our need before we even knew that with the two kids and luggage, we would have a problem. Very good service!
Sail Away Party was fun
Golden Mickeys was the show for the evening - very good.
Our dinner was at Parrot Cay which was very good, but not our favorite.
Day 2 - Castaway Cay
We were off the ship fairly early (around 9AM) and beat most of the crowd. Beach was wonderful, couldn't have asked for anything better. Plenty of chairs & umbrellas. Food at Cookies was rotisserie chicken, salmon, hot dogs & hamburgers.
We also purchased the 6 pack of Evian water for $17 + tip in a DCL cooler with ice. It was very hot and this seemed like a bargain :-)
We went back to the ship early because I had a pedicure scheduled at the spa. Treatment was very good and Callean was my technician. She was very nice. It was one of my better spa pedicure experiences.
Show was "Once Upon a Song" . We didn't attend because we had dinner at Palos.
Palos was outstanding. We both had the beef tenderloin. I had the chocolate souffle for dessert. Can't say enough about how wonderful this meal was. Definitely a can't miss.
Day 3 - Nassau
Even though a lot of people recommended staying on the boat at Nassau, we decided to do the Blue Lagoon Beach Day. This was an excellent excursion. We wanted to do the dolphin encounter but it was full. We really enjoyed our time at the beach. It included lunch (hot dogs & hamburgers), non-alcoholic drinks, and non-premium floats (tubes, mats & noodles). The island was clean and while not Castaway Cay standards, it was close.
Good Tip for Blue Lagoon - We were concerned that our DD7 might be too scared for the dolphin encounter (back when there were spaces available). We found that once we arrived at the Blue Lagoon, you could see the dolphins (but not touch them) as well as the people who paid for the dolphin encounter. There was also a "Dolphin Kiss" photo available for $19 at 12:00 & 3:00 pm. We weren't able to do this but it would have been an inexpensive way of getting a good dolphin picture (the dolphin kisses the person on the cheek) without doing the Dolphin encounter. Beach Day was $69/$55, lunch included (adult/child) vs. Dolphin Encounter $125/$110, no lunch included ($12.95 ea.)
Only complaint I had about Nassau was that I thought it would have been easy to get separated from your group while walking to get to the boat for Blue Lagoon. There were lots of people trying to sell tours, rent scooters, and taxi rides while in route. It would be easy to get separated in the crowd of people getting off the ship + those selling their wares and services.
We didn't walk around Nassau other than the Blue Lagoon excursion.
Dinner was at Tritons and we had the Pirates in the Carribean party. Lots of fun but had a threat of rain. Later we found out that the captain had been moving the ship around to avoid the rain. Had a few sprinkles but nothing to dampen the party.
Day 4 - At Sea.
Lots of activities but it seemed the ones I wanted to do were always at the same times. We will have to do another cruise just so we can do what we missed.
This was the first day that we saw crowds on decks and elevators. It was a little harder to get around but not too bad.
We saw Toy Story the Musical. It was very good. Our kids enjoyed it very much. It was formal night (many degrees of dress from very casual to very formal). We ate at Animator's Palette. Good meal, my only complaint was that between the wall color changes (very neat) and the very loud diner noise (maybe the acoustics?), we couldn't hear the music soundtrack or carry on much of a conversation with our table mates. Very distracting.
Day 5 - Castaway Cay
Great day, stayed nearly the entire day. Lunch was mahi mahi, hot dogs & hamburgers. DH had a cabana massage. He enjoyed it but has had better. He said the spa technician had a fairly heavy elbow. It wasn't as relaxing as he would have wanted and the cabana was shared with a 3/4 wall between the two sides.
Show was Disney Dreams. This is by far the best show on the cruise and the best I've seen even in the parks. We all loved this show.
We had a brand new menu at Parrot Cay (we took pictures if someone wants to see them), "til we meet again" . This was probably our favorite meal other than Palos.
Day 6 - Going home.
Getting off the ship was very smooth and quick. For us, it was too quick. We had car service scheduled for 9:00 but due to my husband's concern of making that time, we were off the ship and to the curb by 7:30 am.
Important tip - Don't get off the ship until close to your pick-up time. It didn't take us 15 minutes to get our luggage, go through customs and get to the curb. If you are as early as us, there's no place to stay. You are put on the roadside curb to wait. I would give yourself about 30-40 minutes to leave ship and get outside to meet shuttle/car service. We waited with our kids for 1.5 hours on roadside with the threat of rain, sitting on our luggage. Can't blame Disney for that but it wasn't fun.
We traveled to MCO and got a day room (10AM-6PM) at the Hyatt in the airport. It was $89 but was well worth it. Our flight didn't leave until 8:45 pm and it was nice to have a place to rest until time to go. We were able to shop at MCO’s wide array of stores before the security checkpoint and put any liquids in our luggage before the flight.
Only other thing I would mention that the kids menus didn't always suit my very picky kids. PB&J sandwiches were only on the room service menu and we never thought to pre order them for our meals in the dining room. Our kids ate cheese pizza or mac & cheese at every meal. They will only eat chicken nuggets and not chicken strips. DCL only had strips, so that was one eating option out.
One other bit of Disney magic...my husband asked the Goofy Galley server if he could get a PB&J for our DD. The server was from Japan and didn't seem to understand the request. A crew member heard what was going on and said he thought he could get one. They were supposed to deliver it to my husband on Deck 9 near the Goofy Galley. Instead, this crew member personally brought it to DD literally on a silver platter. Very nice touch.
Excellent vacation, can't wait to go again!