Trip Report Disney Land & Sea is the place to be! COMPLETED

ScarletBegonias · Nov 4, 2015

Oh my!!! The Mickey Mouse club and Andy's room are ADORABLE! Harper would LOVE this. Not giving up on this idea! When she's a bit older, we may just need to do this!

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

From the Oceanner's Club to O'Gills Pub we go. There's a switch up! View from the coolest elevator on board.

I'll be honest, we came here for the crafts, not the beer.

That's right...it was...COASTER MAKING TIME. It was actually really fun. With a Guinness and Mai Tai (His&Hers) we worked on our coasters and here are the finished products:

I bet you can tell which one is mine. We use them at home, for real! Though when I brought mine home and looked at it under real light, three of those tiles are actually black when I thought they were purple. It drove me insane...

After that, we came back out to the deck to enjoy some sunshine as we pulled away from Key West.

But then, Natalie, our Cruise Director, came on the intercom to make an announcement. Hurricane Joaquin was not moving away from the Bahamas as we had hoped, so we would not be heading towards the Nassau and Castaway Cay. Instead, we were plunging full speed ahead towards Cozumel, Mexico. Uh, what? A few things needed to process here:

1. We're not going to Castaway at all? What about our 4th day? Would we stop by CC on the way back to Miami? Nope, Natalie said. We'd be spending a day at sea then arriving back in Miami. WHY NOT?

2. We're going to Mexico??? Uh...definitely did not plan for that and have no idea where to go, what to do, and um how to survive. And you tell us this now as we're moving away from American borders and no longer have cellular service? HELP.

3. Ok, whatever, we'll figure out Mexico. But we have to internalize the fact that we're not going to Castaway. No beautiful Serenity Bay, no Cookies BBQ, no parasailing?

Surprisingly, I got over my sadness much faster than I thought I would and I'd have to say J seemed more bummed than I was. It's a safety thing. Had it been some scheduling issue or had we been RIGHT THERE but couldn't dock for some reason...that would've killed me much more than this. Safety is important and I'm not trying to die.

4. Well then, this started as a cruise where we'd be revisiting a lot of the same places into a cruise on a different ship taking us to entirely brand new places. I can get down with that. At the end of the day, we're on a Disney Cruise and what we really want to do is relax and spend time together. And that is exactly what we shall do!

Ship pulling away from port going back out to sea means the shops are open again!

I fell in love with this hallway. The lights and carpets are like mirrored images of each other and I feel like I'm in some type of aquarium. I have weird thoughts, I know.

As it was our first real day pulling away into waters during the daytime, we became obsessed with seeing and listening to the waves and the water.

It was one of those sights that you could just go on forever and ever seeing.

We went back outside to see that the pool area was pretty empty. I guess everyone was either getting ready for the first show or first dinner seating. So we took advantage and walked onto the AquaDunk a few times. The crew member operating decided to play a little game with after a few goes. We'd hear the "3..2..1..anchors away!" but nothing would happen. Then she'd be like what's wrong with this thing? then suddenly let us drop. Har har...

Exhilarating feeling. My stomach still wouldn't get used to it. I love it!

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

We tidied up in our stateroom as we got ready for our second show of the cruise: Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story. Here's my one picture from the night:

A true musical...now this is the DCL entertainment that I remembered! It revolved around the story of Cinderella of course, but wicked Stepmother Lady Tremaine has her own wicked Fairy Godfather Franco DiFortunato...veeeery interesting. The entire cast was superb. Anastasia and Drizella were hilarious and hideous. Cinderella was so sweet and had a beautiful voice. And Prince Charming...that dude was HANDSOME. Original songs, some new ones thanks to Franco ("It's Never Too Late"), Jacques and Gus portrayed in human form, glittering ballroom sets, everything was a feast for my eyes and the new story was hilarious and still a happily ever after.

Came out to see the sun setting. It was a beautiful sight. I love seeing the orange/red reflected in the water.

When the sun actually goes down is the best, in my opinion, because it really puts emphasis on the clouds. And I like pretty clouds.

We lounged for a good, headed back indoors where I ran into Princess Belle, and then headed to our second dinner at...

YES. SO EXCITED FOR THIS. This is the one everyone talks about and is probably the best, evidence by the line of people waiting to get into the restaurant that certainly wasn't the case yesterday.

From the moment we sat down, we immediately began taking in our surroundings. We knew there was something truly magical about this and we didn't want to miss a second of it.

Everything from the checkered floors to the sketches on the walls were in a black and white pattern. Even Gede and Darko's vests had black and white sketches of Mickey on them. It was adorable. And I would stare at this paintbrush as it slowly changed colors allll night.

We started 3 appetizers, the first was J's favorite, Smoke Salmon Tartar. Delish, as long as I got a piece that wasn't touching a cucumber. Urgh.

My pick was the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes which the moment Gede put it on the table, I realized I got when we were at the *other* Animator's Palate restaurant on the Dream. Haha, at least I'm consistent! It's yummy, by the way.

Rounding out the appetizers was Sliced Serrano Ham with cheese and olive bread. YUM.

All three were great. If you're wondering what we left off, it was the Tomato Tarte because who needs vegetables?

MotherofaPrincessLover · Nov 4, 2015

That show sounds really fun. I can't wait to see a couple of shows I've never seen before on our next cruise.

ScarletBegonias · Nov 4, 2015

No Castaway Cay!? Oh goodness! What a bummer! It's interesting that the cruise line already had another location in mind... does this cruise ever normally go to Mexico? Can't wait to hear about it!

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

Our lack of vegetable intake was further evidenced by the fact that we chose the two soups on the menu and left off the salads...when on vacay...

My Creamy Butternut Squash Soup. Butternut Squash is somewhat of a recent revelation for me. IT'S SO GOOD. It's like sweet, but a bit spicy, and I never want to stop eating it.

J's Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. Bacon bits and cheese...can't really go wrong.

I got the Grilled Tuna Steak. Not as flavorful as I would have liked, but by all means, not bad at all. All the garnishes and dipping sauce helped out.

J's Ginger-Teriyaki Dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin. A hunky piece of meat, in a delicious red wine sauce, ohhh and there are the vegetables! Good stuff.

As we ate, Animator's Palate transformed from black and white to all sorts of colors. It took my breath away. I really felt all the moments.

The "Animation Magic" as they call it, brought those black and white sketches on the walls to life. Colored in, then animated. It was pure magic.

Of course, this is Disney so nothing spectacular ever happens without the absence of a heart-pounding soundtrack to go along with it. Oh my god, the tears, I feel them now.

As the show ended, all the serving staff came out parade-style, and their vests had also changed from black and white to color. It was positively one of the cutest moments ever that they got to be a part of the show.

Dessert...yusss! Slobbered all over this White Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake.

J got the Crunchy Walnut Cake, which kinda looked like a sandwich. That's one heavenly sandwich then!

I couldn't believe this meal was over...but the good news was...we were returning tomorrow.

For Pirate Night. I wonder what they will have in store for us then!

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

MotherofaPrincessLover said:
That show sounds really fun. I can't wait to see a couple of shows I've never seen before on our next cruise.

It was a great show! I loved every second of it. And yeah, no repeat shows this trip! According to my research, we were supposed to have a repeat of Villain's Tonight this trip, but that didn't happen, so everything was a brand new experience. :happy:

ScarletBegonias said:
No Castaway Cay!? Oh goodness! What a bummer! It's interesting that the cruise line already had another location in mind... does this cruise ever normally go to Mexico? Can't wait to hear about it!

No CC...it was definitely a bummer as we had some of the best times there the last go-round, but we rolled with the punches. And if I'm thinking correctly, Mexico ports of call are generally considered Caribbean cruises instead of Bahamian, so no, I don't think most 4-nighters would go to Mexico. I'm sure they always have a contingency plan, which at first was shuffling our itinerary around, but when that didn't work, they decided to go full speed ahead to Mexico so we could at least visit somewhere exotic. Nice of them and I understand why it happened. No hard feelings.

ScarletBegonias · Nov 4, 2015

Its worth it for safety for sure! The hurricane down there was pretty bad, so definitely for the best!

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

ScarletBegonias said:
Its worth it for safety for sure! The hurricane down there was pretty bad, so definitely for the best!

Yeah it was a good thing definitely! We heard that a small vessel had disappeared in the Bahamas while we were on board...

Also that's the risk you take when cruising during hurricane season. It was pretty affordable though.

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

A nighttime stroll along our favorite deck...playing a game of shuffleboard...that game is hard. I also feel like an immense idiot when I get a running heads start that doesn't even seem to help.

Another drop inside the shops and had to take a picture of how cute these pins are. So glad I'm not addicting to pin trading...that'd be real bad.

We popped back into our stateroom so I could change my shoes (lol) and were surprised with this lovely arrangement! Happy Honeymoon from Disney Cruise Line!

However, we weren't ready to call it a night yet. We walked back outside to the top deck and walked all the way to the front of the ship, where though you could see absolutely nothing, you could feel everything.

The wind was unbelievably strong. I suppose they were gunning it to Mexico. J had to hold my hand for fear that I would blow away, I almost had a runaway flip flop, and we tried to take a useless selfie that turned out hilariously/horrendously bad as our hair were hot messes.

Finding Nemo on TV to end the night.

Wendy Pleakley · Nov 4, 2015

The Cinderella show sounds really good. On my last Disney cruise, on the Fantasy, the shows were good but mostly just a simple plot used an an excuse to do Disney's Greatest Hits. They also had Aladdin but it wasn't very exciting having seen the DCA version. This Cinderella show sounds really good, familiar but also original and different.

Animator's Palette is neat on all the ships, but I did prefer the version on the newer ones.

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

Wendy Plealey said:
The Cinderella show sounds really good. On my last Disney cruise, on the Fantasy, the shows were good but mostly just a simple plot used an an excuse to do Disney's Greatest Hits. They also had Aladdin but it wasn't very exciting having seen the DCA version. This Cinderella show sounds really good, familiar but also original and different.

Animator's Palette is neat on all the ships, but I did prefer the version on the newer ones.

You're right about the 'Greatest Hits' route but I found those fun too (Golden Mickey's on the Dream). I like a good variety. But yes, it was nice to see something truly different. Aladdin sounds like fun but I just saw it on Broadway so might need to give that time to go away. I can still see it when I close my eyes...ANYWAYS!

Animator's Palate on the Dream was nice as well. I like the interactiveness of it. It was just nice to see it in both ways!

bee · Nov 4, 2015

belledream said:
Aladdin sounds like fun but I just saw it on Broadway so might need to give that time to go away. I can still see it when I close my eyes...

My wife and I just saw Aladdin on Broadway in September and LOVED it!

I've only been on one cruise, with my parents, when I was 17, and it's never really sounded that appealing to me. But once again your photos and descriptions and giving me that cruise itch!

belledream · Nov 4, 2015

b33b33 said:
My wife and I just saw Aladdin on Broadway in September and LOVED it!

I've only been on one cruise, with my parents, when I was 17, and it's never really sounded that appealing to me. But once again your photos and descriptions and giving me that cruise itch!

Awesome!! Wasn't it amazing? I loved the new characters and songs. Usually it takes me a while to warm up to the idea of things like that, but I was instantly a fan. Everything was so sparkly...!

I would say cruising isn't for everyone. We did a Carnival cruise with fam and the only real fun thing about it was that we were with fam...haha. DCL is different for us not just for the quality but purely for the theme. We can't get enough of Disney. In fact, it's weird if I go on a vacation and don't have a dose of Disney (aka going to New York and seeing Aladdin). It's also situational. A 4-night cruise on it's own...probably wouldn't be enough for us anymore. But after a whirlwind of a week at Disney World? It was the perfect ending.

ScarletBegonias · Nov 4, 2015

belledream said:
Awesome!! Wasn't it amazing? I loved the new characters and songs. Usually it takes me a while to warm up to the idea of things like that, but I was instantly a fan. Everything was so sparkly...!

I would say cruising isn't for everyone. We did a Carnival cruise with fam and the only real fun thing about it was that we were with fam...haha. DCL is different for us not just for the quality but purely for the theme. We can't get enough of Disney. In fact, it's weird if I go on a vacation and don't have a dose of Disney (aka going to New York and seeing Aladdin). It's also situational. A 4-night cruise on it's own...probably wouldn't be enough for us anymore. But after a whirlwind of a week at Disney World? It was the perfect ending.

That's my only worry with a cruise! I'd worry that I wouldn't have much to do, but then again, that's why I love being at the beach. Just laying around. I think exploring the ship, and getting to go to cool places would be totally worth it. Not sure how long would be ideal though.

Wendy Pleakley · Nov 4, 2015

ScarletBegonias said:
That's my only worry with a cruise! I'd worry that I wouldn't have much to do, but then again, that's why I love being at the beach. Just laying around. I think exploring the ship, and getting to go to cool places would be totally worth it. Not sure how long would be ideal though.

No need to worry about a lack of things to do. There are activities all day, every day. If you get really bored you can watch a movie (I never do, because I can do that at home).

Half the days, if not more, will be in port with plenty to see and do off ship as well.

I'd recommend a cruise in the 7-day range if possible. On a 4-day cruise you feel like you barely got onboard when you're getting off. A week allows you to really settle in, relax, and enjoy all aspects of the trip.

ScarletBegonias · Nov 5, 2015

Wendy Plealey said:
No need to worry about a lack of things to do. There are activities all day, every day. If you get really bored you can watch a movie (I never do, because I can do that at home).

Half the days, if not more, will be in port with plenty to see and do off ship as well.

I'd recommend a cruise in the 7-day range if possible. On a 4-day cruise you feel like you barely got onboard when you're getting off. A week allows you to really settle in, relax, and enjoy all aspects of the trip.

Awesome! My husband and I are talking seriously about doing one in a few years. Right now our daughter is only 16 months old, and not yet potty trained, so I want to make sure we are pretty secure in that before we'd do it. It gives us a few years to save, too! You're right. I think 4 nights may be too short, if that's all we are doing.

belledream · Nov 5, 2015

ScarletBegonias said:
That's my only worry with a cruise! I'd worry that I wouldn't have much to do, but then again, that's why I love being at the beach. Just laying around. I think exploring the ship, and getting to go to cool places would be totally worth it. Not sure how long would be ideal though.

I always thought of cruising as the lazy man's way to see new places. Just get off the boat and explore, get back on, go to sleep, wake up in a new place the next day.

Sure there were down moments where we were like, 'what should we do?' but it is essentially chillin on the beach, except on a pretty boat with Disney everywhere.

Wendy Plealey said:
No need to worry about a lack of things to do. There are activities all day, every day. If you get really bored you can watch a movie (I never do, because I can do that at home).

Half the days, if not more, will be in port with plenty to see and do off ship as well.

I'd recommend a cruise in the 7-day range if possible. On a 4-day cruise you feel like you barely got onboard when you're getting off. A week allows you to really settle in, relax, and enjoy all aspects of the trip.

7-nights definitely sounds like fun, with the extra shows and character meals...it's on the list!

belledream · Nov 5, 2015

Goooood morning! Can't tell you how awesome it is to open your eyes and see this view from the bed. We were moving really fast too. Still not at Mexico yet I suppose.

Our shore time was at 11 AM so we had some time to kill this morning.

To Cabanas to breakfast we go!

What's cool about Cabanas is that the dining room servers all have other shifts besides the dining rooms themselves. So we saw Gede here and because he was less busy at this time, we got to spend some quality time chatting with him. A little about crew life and a little about uh..what to do in Cozumel. It was nice!

Morning stroll around the deck after breakfast...and look at the Mickey!

We checked the Personal Navigator and decided to head to Disney Trivia in the Promenade Lounge. Thought we'd give it a shot!

Oh the surprises you see in the elevator. Magic is everywhere.

So we sat down to participate in trivia with a few other parties. The questions were all over the place, ranging from "How many sisters does Ariel have?" to "How many animals are on the Tree of Life in Disney's Animal Kingdom?" to "How much does the anchor on the Disney Magic weigh?" (There's a hallway on board that has a bunch of artwork displaying all these Disney Magic fun facts that we had walked through earlier...argh! Can't...remember...what it said!)

Some answers were like DUH or I know I'm the only one here who knows this, others were like...uhh are you kidding me? But in the end...

We won! With a ripe score of 13/20, we were the winners of Disney Trivia and our mystery prize was this shiny keychain. Wooohoooo!

From there, we headed to the D-Lounge to partake in some Animation Class.

Drawing Goofy! Not sure the crew member running this was as great of an animator/teacher as the ones in Animation Courtyard at Hollywood Studios, but it was still fun to follow along. And I really can't blame her for my slightly-crazy looking Goofy on the right.

But hey, it's all is good onboard fun!

belledream · Nov 5, 2015

A look outside our stateroom porthole and we could see...the water was getting bluer.

Went outside to say, "Hola Mexico!"

Not gonna lie, I felt pretty intimidated by this sight. The huge Mexican flag, the architecture that we're just not used to seeing, and just the general feeling that we weren't really prepared to explore this place.

Yet we got off the ship with a bunch of other tourists so that helped put our minds at ease.

Man, the water is really pretty though.

We ended up following the crowd right in this outdoor mall. The merchandise that was being sold wasn't anything like the merchandise being sold in the Mexico Pavilion in EPCOT. :hilarious:

Also, there were so many 'free' things. Free cigars, free shots of tequila...LOL.

Pirate ship...actually looks pretty good, like something straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean.

A deck with a nice view of our beautiful ship. Saw some other cruise line ships around and was like mehheheh ours is so much better.

Not sure what this place is but I liked the rock against the wall and the water action.

Once we did a round trip of the mall, the crowds started to dissipate and I got nervous again as we ended up on what can only be described as a tourist trap street with lots of people that made me feel uncomfortable. What's unfortunate about Cozumel is that there are no public beaches within walking distance. What up with that? We considered going back to the ship and calling it a day, but that is lame! We decided, we're already here. Let's just bite the bullet, take a cab to the nearest public beach, and enjoy some sun and sand for a bit.

Trip Report Disney Land & Sea is the place to be! *COMPLETED*

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Trip Report Disney Land & Sea is the place to be! COMPLETED