Well, we've returned from our first cruise ever. So instead of waiting a few months to post my trip report like I ended up doing from our Sept WDW trip, I'm going to post it now while it's all fresh.
To give you some background, it was me and my GF (no kids), so this will be good for those wondering about couple's stuff. Also, this was both of ours first cruise (ever - Disney or not).
We booked through Tammy with Kingdom Konsultants and I can definitely say we would've been lost without her. There's a bit of a learning curve with cruises, so she was great at answering any and all questions leading up to the point and I feel like a salty veteran now ;-)
We left out of Galveston, TX (we live near Dallas) on the Disney Magic. The first two nights were at Sea. We started by walking around the ship and then immediately hitting Parrot Cay for some food. We did have to drag around our heavy carry ons (we brought all the fixins to make Margaritas and Pina Coladas), but it wasn't a big deal. We took the walking tour of the ship to help get our bearings. The "cruise staff" was great - we met a staff member named Sam and chatted with him for a bit (since we were the only ones for awhile - everyone showed up at the last min). He was quizzing me about being a former CM at WDW and I was grilling him about what all they do there. He was really entertaining and we all would stop and clap when they would introduce a new family boarding.
I can definitely say there is a TON to do on the ship. The first show was great and already had us ready to see the two comedians featured on there for their full shows. Our first dinner was at Parrot Cay as well. We sat with three other couples close to our age. Our servers - Tiago and Radu were really fun and they definitely made the trip much more enjoyable for all our dinners. We joked with Tiago a lot and he was good at messing with us back. The food was decent and the first night we went to bed stuffed and happy. The second day at sea, we started doing more - I played some Bingo, my GF started checking out the "Art of Entertainment" series (a cooking series with some of the onboard chefs) and we watched a round of Mickey Mania along with attending a session of "Tea with Alice." Everything was a lot of fun. Ron Pearson - the comedian on board put on an excellent show as well - definitely worth checking out if you've never heard of him. We got some great drinks at the Cove Cafe and spent some time at the 18 and up pool.
Day three was Castaway Cay - which to me was one of the biggest deals because I always wanted to go specifically on a Disney Cruise to check this place out ever since it was made. We pulled into port and both of us dragged our snorkel gear (we liked having our own gear) to get ready for the Stingray Encounter excursion. We had the early one. It was really neat (although the water was cooooold). We fed the Stingrays and then got to snorkel with them for awhile. The water was really calm and there were quite a few fish around as well. We then took the tram over to Serenity Bay. We then discovered the Kryptonite that is a Konk Kooler. Those things are delicious. So much for not buying any alcoholic drinks. We pulled some chairs up, put our toes in the water and chilled out for a bit. We then went to Cookie's BBQ and had lunch. I can say the steaks there are less than impressive (for a Texan at least, heh), but the hot dogs were good. We then took the tram back to Marge's Barges to do the Seahorse Catamaran and Snorkeling. I was surprised how far out they took us (its a reef that is quite a ways out from Serenity Bay), but not all that deep. The seas were a bit rough though, so it was very taxing to snorkel. The reef was really pretty (but small) and quite a few fish called it home so I got some great underwater shots. I had some sore legs the next day from all the swimming I had to do from that, though. We came back and we decided to head back to the ship (we had a couple of hours before all aboard time) so we could get some pizza from Pinocchio's Pizzeria (much better than the room service pizza) and relax for a bit. Dinner that night was Lumiere's. Food was much better there than Parrot Cay in my opinion.
Day four was Walt Disney World. Normally, I'd be really pumped up about this, but both of us found that we had a mix of exhaustion from everything we'd done up to that point as well as already having been there just a few months earlier. We mainly wanted to see the "new stuff" that wasn't done when we were there last (i.e. Little Mermaid, Test Track 2.0, etc). We went to Magic Kingdom. Did some of our favs (Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain to name a few) along with Little Mermaid and then took the monorail to Epcot to do Test Track. We officially had reservations at Biergarten, but we found ourselves wanting to go back to the ship and just relax, so we cancelled the reservations there, called it an early day (was about 4:00pm) and took the bus back to the ship to catch the early screening of Iron Man 3 (which was great since most people were still at the park). We enjoyed some Topsider's buffet and some Hot Dogs from Pluto's Dog House and just spent some time relaxing with a nearly empty ship for a few hours. We also found that they can make the Konk Koolers anywhere on the ship (not advertised, but they all know how) - needless to say, a good portion of our budget went towards those. We ate at Animator's Palate for the first time and it was a great dinner and show. It is definitely my favorite restaurant atmosphere wise, though Lumiere's definitely seems to have the better food.
Day five was another day at sea along with the Pirate Party. I got into my infamous pirate costume (there's a pic somewhere on this board of me in it - I'll post a pic later on this thread from the cruise). We went to dinner and enjoyed the pirate menu (and the server helped us smuggle out a dessert menu for our own keeping). He quizzed me about how they were able to do the fireworks at sea without it being dangerous to the ship (since he knew I did pyrotechnics for Disney). I quizzed him about other cruise lines (he had spent 10 years working for Royal Caribbean before Disney). We both learned a lot. The Pirate dinner was appropriately enough for us in Parrot Cay. There was a big "conga style" line and we all got up and danced around the room. Afterwards, "Jack Sparrow" had cleared out, but the backdrop was still there. I went to take some pics in front of it and immediately was approached by others about getting pics with them (I have a slight resemblance to Jack in my costume although it was intentionally designed NOT to look like his). I took a few with people, but quickly rushed off knowing how Disney is about guests "thinking" someone is a character. My GF got a kick out of it, though. We went to the Pirate Party on deck and enjoyed the show. The fireworks were "ok" for me, but keep in mind I've done professional fireworks shows for 13 years including working on Wishes, so I'm not easily impressed by fireworks these days. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy them.
Day six was Key West. At first we almost were tempted to not do our excursion because technically we only had roughly a half day there. Our excursion was the Kayak/Dolphin Watching/Snorkel one and it was going to take up 90% of the time we had there. We already had paid for it, so we figured we should go. I'm really glad we did. They took us waaaaay out to another island in the Keys. It was amazing how shallow the water is the entire way there. I talked to our guide and he explained the "gate system" they have so boats and ships could navigate because it's so shallow and even showed me a map that shows all the sand bars and everything they have to navigate through. We were quite a ways from the island when he got us all in our Kayaks, but when we tested the depth with our oars, it was maybe 4 feet deep and quickly went to maybe 9" deep closer to the island. We kayaked through and around the island and saw a bit of wildlife although they said normally there is much more there. We then returned to the boat and did some snorkeling. The water was about 4-6 feet deep. Visibility wasn't as good as Castaway, but you could still see ok. No reef, but there were a ton of Sea Sponges as well as fish there. The water was calmer than the Seahorse snorkeling at Castaway, though. After that we got back onboard, the guide made us some rum punch and we went looking for dolphins. We sailed all around the main island and finally tracked one down really close to the Disney Magic. We snapped a few shots and returned back. We had about an hour left, but the line to the bus was so long, we decided to go ahead and make our way back to the ship. We relaxed and got ready for our night at Palo. The dinner there was amazing. The food was excellent and the Chocolate Souffle dessert was to die for. Definitely worth the extra money to dine there.
The rest of our journey back was at sea till Galveston. We did quite a bit more activities, but also did quite a bit more of just relaxing. We definitely tired ourselves out with our excursions so we wanted to take it easy the last few days. It was all relaxing on the deck or in our room and just enjoying the meals. I'll post another review of the room a bit later to add to the Stateroom reviews.
I can definitely say we really enjoyed the experience and can see why cruises are so addicting. The excursions were a blast and of course the Disney service was how I remembered Disney service was supposed to be, not like it has been at WDW as of late. Everyone there was having fun, but always quick to take care of you. It's sad that they won't be leaving out of Galveston after this year (and maybe never again), but I can see making the extra journey to another port just to take another Disney Cruise. For those couples worrying about too much "Disney" or kids, it's a non-issue (unless you are just totally anti-Disney - the Mouse IS there, but not jammed down your throat). We spent a lot of time doing the adult only shows and activities and spent time in the Quiet Cove pool with probably more separation from children than a lot of cruises would provide. I can't remember which night it was, but by far the "Villains Tonight" show was our favorite. It was really funny. We can't wait for our next cruise.
Once I get a chance to get all the pics organized, I'll post a few snaps on this thread.
To give you some background, it was me and my GF (no kids), so this will be good for those wondering about couple's stuff. Also, this was both of ours first cruise (ever - Disney or not).
We booked through Tammy with Kingdom Konsultants and I can definitely say we would've been lost without her. There's a bit of a learning curve with cruises, so she was great at answering any and all questions leading up to the point and I feel like a salty veteran now ;-)
We left out of Galveston, TX (we live near Dallas) on the Disney Magic. The first two nights were at Sea. We started by walking around the ship and then immediately hitting Parrot Cay for some food. We did have to drag around our heavy carry ons (we brought all the fixins to make Margaritas and Pina Coladas), but it wasn't a big deal. We took the walking tour of the ship to help get our bearings. The "cruise staff" was great - we met a staff member named Sam and chatted with him for a bit (since we were the only ones for awhile - everyone showed up at the last min). He was quizzing me about being a former CM at WDW and I was grilling him about what all they do there. He was really entertaining and we all would stop and clap when they would introduce a new family boarding.
I can definitely say there is a TON to do on the ship. The first show was great and already had us ready to see the two comedians featured on there for their full shows. Our first dinner was at Parrot Cay as well. We sat with three other couples close to our age. Our servers - Tiago and Radu were really fun and they definitely made the trip much more enjoyable for all our dinners. We joked with Tiago a lot and he was good at messing with us back. The food was decent and the first night we went to bed stuffed and happy. The second day at sea, we started doing more - I played some Bingo, my GF started checking out the "Art of Entertainment" series (a cooking series with some of the onboard chefs) and we watched a round of Mickey Mania along with attending a session of "Tea with Alice." Everything was a lot of fun. Ron Pearson - the comedian on board put on an excellent show as well - definitely worth checking out if you've never heard of him. We got some great drinks at the Cove Cafe and spent some time at the 18 and up pool.
Day three was Castaway Cay - which to me was one of the biggest deals because I always wanted to go specifically on a Disney Cruise to check this place out ever since it was made. We pulled into port and both of us dragged our snorkel gear (we liked having our own gear) to get ready for the Stingray Encounter excursion. We had the early one. It was really neat (although the water was cooooold). We fed the Stingrays and then got to snorkel with them for awhile. The water was really calm and there were quite a few fish around as well. We then took the tram over to Serenity Bay. We then discovered the Kryptonite that is a Konk Kooler. Those things are delicious. So much for not buying any alcoholic drinks. We pulled some chairs up, put our toes in the water and chilled out for a bit. We then went to Cookie's BBQ and had lunch. I can say the steaks there are less than impressive (for a Texan at least, heh), but the hot dogs were good. We then took the tram back to Marge's Barges to do the Seahorse Catamaran and Snorkeling. I was surprised how far out they took us (its a reef that is quite a ways out from Serenity Bay), but not all that deep. The seas were a bit rough though, so it was very taxing to snorkel. The reef was really pretty (but small) and quite a few fish called it home so I got some great underwater shots. I had some sore legs the next day from all the swimming I had to do from that, though. We came back and we decided to head back to the ship (we had a couple of hours before all aboard time) so we could get some pizza from Pinocchio's Pizzeria (much better than the room service pizza) and relax for a bit. Dinner that night was Lumiere's. Food was much better there than Parrot Cay in my opinion.
Day four was Walt Disney World. Normally, I'd be really pumped up about this, but both of us found that we had a mix of exhaustion from everything we'd done up to that point as well as already having been there just a few months earlier. We mainly wanted to see the "new stuff" that wasn't done when we were there last (i.e. Little Mermaid, Test Track 2.0, etc). We went to Magic Kingdom. Did some of our favs (Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain to name a few) along with Little Mermaid and then took the monorail to Epcot to do Test Track. We officially had reservations at Biergarten, but we found ourselves wanting to go back to the ship and just relax, so we cancelled the reservations there, called it an early day (was about 4:00pm) and took the bus back to the ship to catch the early screening of Iron Man 3 (which was great since most people were still at the park). We enjoyed some Topsider's buffet and some Hot Dogs from Pluto's Dog House and just spent some time relaxing with a nearly empty ship for a few hours. We also found that they can make the Konk Koolers anywhere on the ship (not advertised, but they all know how) - needless to say, a good portion of our budget went towards those. We ate at Animator's Palate for the first time and it was a great dinner and show. It is definitely my favorite restaurant atmosphere wise, though Lumiere's definitely seems to have the better food.
Day five was another day at sea along with the Pirate Party. I got into my infamous pirate costume (there's a pic somewhere on this board of me in it - I'll post a pic later on this thread from the cruise). We went to dinner and enjoyed the pirate menu (and the server helped us smuggle out a dessert menu for our own keeping). He quizzed me about how they were able to do the fireworks at sea without it being dangerous to the ship (since he knew I did pyrotechnics for Disney). I quizzed him about other cruise lines (he had spent 10 years working for Royal Caribbean before Disney). We both learned a lot. The Pirate dinner was appropriately enough for us in Parrot Cay. There was a big "conga style" line and we all got up and danced around the room. Afterwards, "Jack Sparrow" had cleared out, but the backdrop was still there. I went to take some pics in front of it and immediately was approached by others about getting pics with them (I have a slight resemblance to Jack in my costume although it was intentionally designed NOT to look like his). I took a few with people, but quickly rushed off knowing how Disney is about guests "thinking" someone is a character. My GF got a kick out of it, though. We went to the Pirate Party on deck and enjoyed the show. The fireworks were "ok" for me, but keep in mind I've done professional fireworks shows for 13 years including working on Wishes, so I'm not easily impressed by fireworks these days. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy them.
Day six was Key West. At first we almost were tempted to not do our excursion because technically we only had roughly a half day there. Our excursion was the Kayak/Dolphin Watching/Snorkel one and it was going to take up 90% of the time we had there. We already had paid for it, so we figured we should go. I'm really glad we did. They took us waaaaay out to another island in the Keys. It was amazing how shallow the water is the entire way there. I talked to our guide and he explained the "gate system" they have so boats and ships could navigate because it's so shallow and even showed me a map that shows all the sand bars and everything they have to navigate through. We were quite a ways from the island when he got us all in our Kayaks, but when we tested the depth with our oars, it was maybe 4 feet deep and quickly went to maybe 9" deep closer to the island. We kayaked through and around the island and saw a bit of wildlife although they said normally there is much more there. We then returned to the boat and did some snorkeling. The water was about 4-6 feet deep. Visibility wasn't as good as Castaway, but you could still see ok. No reef, but there were a ton of Sea Sponges as well as fish there. The water was calmer than the Seahorse snorkeling at Castaway, though. After that we got back onboard, the guide made us some rum punch and we went looking for dolphins. We sailed all around the main island and finally tracked one down really close to the Disney Magic. We snapped a few shots and returned back. We had about an hour left, but the line to the bus was so long, we decided to go ahead and make our way back to the ship. We relaxed and got ready for our night at Palo. The dinner there was amazing. The food was excellent and the Chocolate Souffle dessert was to die for. Definitely worth the extra money to dine there.
The rest of our journey back was at sea till Galveston. We did quite a bit more activities, but also did quite a bit more of just relaxing. We definitely tired ourselves out with our excursions so we wanted to take it easy the last few days. It was all relaxing on the deck or in our room and just enjoying the meals. I'll post another review of the room a bit later to add to the Stateroom reviews.
I can definitely say we really enjoyed the experience and can see why cruises are so addicting. The excursions were a blast and of course the Disney service was how I remembered Disney service was supposed to be, not like it has been at WDW as of late. Everyone there was having fun, but always quick to take care of you. It's sad that they won't be leaving out of Galveston after this year (and maybe never again), but I can see making the extra journey to another port just to take another Disney Cruise. For those couples worrying about too much "Disney" or kids, it's a non-issue (unless you are just totally anti-Disney - the Mouse IS there, but not jammed down your throat). We spent a lot of time doing the adult only shows and activities and spent time in the Quiet Cove pool with probably more separation from children than a lot of cruises would provide. I can't remember which night it was, but by far the "Villains Tonight" show was our favorite. It was really funny. We can't wait for our next cruise.
Once I get a chance to get all the pics organized, I'll post a few snaps on this thread.
