Trip Report
First, let me tell you that we had an excellent time. This was by far, one of the most excellent vacation experiences my family and I have ever had. To the DIS Board members that also were in attendance (Yay KKer's!) I say it was truly a pleasure sailing with you! Our servers, Dante' and Gladys were absolutely wonderful and our Steward, Darwin took great care of us. If you guys read this let me say that I cannot say enough good about you. But as the cruise went, I had a number of thoughts that would cross my mind. I would then whip out my handheld and jot them down. By the end of the cruise I had a respectable cruise report. Mostly things that may help you plan your cruise or even temper your expectations.
1. Buying Disney Transportation: I probably spent too much. The add-on for air, 1 night at the Hyatt and transport was $2000. I think I could have done better. Besides, Disney booked us with a 37 min. Layover at Atlanta on Delta. This would have been fine if we had older children. As it was, we were racing from concourse A to concourse B with two small children in tow. I tried to fix this with my travel agent but she was not much help. On our return, we were booked with a return departure of 11:45. This meant a very early morning. In the future I will be handling my travel myself.
2. Staying at the Hyatt: This is a beautiful hotel. It was a lovely bit of luxury after a long cross-country flight. The room was very nice and the balcony was a pleasant surprise. Take advantage of the luggage pick up service. I simply presented my luggage claim tags to a bellman and he had them in my room within 20 minutes. Very nice! I tipped him handsomely as I had ignored most everyone’s suggestion and over packed. At checkout time the rule is to leave your luggage at your door for pickup. For me it was a scary thought having that entire luggage unattended. I told bell service about them and they picked them up early. Very nice! We ate at Chili's in the airport and won't make that mistake again. Poor service!
3. Disney Bus Service: If you are staying at the Hyatt then you are instructed to meet in The Hyatt Lobby at 9am. Now, I know that the first bus out is at approximately 9 am. I really didn't like the idea of missing it. I went to the Disney Magical Express desk to inquire about this myself. I got essentially the same story. Here's my hope: Since many local hotels come to the Orlando Airport for their Disney transportation, it seemed likely that Disney may reward those who purchased an entire package through them, with an ability to board first. If so, then the Hyatt lobby would be the place to be. Arrived at the Hyatt lobby at 0800 and found a few already lined up. At 0840 they began check-in. We were then ushered into a room with a video playing. The Incredibles. We were led to the bus at 0930, A little later than I wanted, but it was the first bus. Even though we came upon a crowded port terminal, we ended up with boarding pass #5 not too bad.
4. Boarding the Disney Ships: For the uninitiated, check-in and boarding is a confusing thing. Disney seems to make it easy though. After entry you only need to veer to the left and send only 1 person/family for US citizens. The following is needed at the desk: passports, Bahamas customs forms, and the check-in form for the website. While in line you will get a boarding pass. The number that you get will be the group that you board with. After checking in you can sign your children up with the kids clubs. This is a long line. Do it at home, online. Once your boarding pass number is called you head through the Mickey head and you're in! (Update: Boarding is now no longer first come first serve but on an appointment basis.)
5. Scheduling yourself for the first day: Here's my scenario-We had early dining with an Animators’ Pallet-Parrot Cay-Lumiere’s (APL) rotation. We boarded early, which was in our benefit. You cannot go to your room until 1:30pm so we decided to have lunch then let the kids swim. Here's where we erred. We let the kids swim too long. The lifeboat drill starts at 3:45pm so we start down to our cabin at about 3:30pm after meeting our DIS friends at 3pm. Now, during the lifeboat drill I realize that we've got 6 pieces of luggage all over our room the Adventures Away party starts at 4:30 and at 5:30pm we're to be at dinner. I figure that we will need to leave the party early to dress and be at dinner. Also, our steward informs us that he turns down the beds while we are at dinner. Crud! that means that we need to get that luggage cleaned up before dinner. We have no time! So, my wife and I panic and as fast as we can unpack the luggage and get out the dinner clothing for the family in time to attend the party at 5:00pm. Guess what. Party's over! Bummer! We spend the next half hour walking about the ship exploring. All the while I was thinking man, if I would have known it was only 30 minutes we would have gone to the party then unpacked. Rats! There's my tip for the first day. Unpack either right at 1:30 or wait until after the Adventures Away party.
6. Animator's Palette: We had the APL rotation which I have been told is generally given to families with young children. Imagine, if you will, a hundred small children in a confined space and you can imagine what Animators’ Palette was like that first night. I couldn't make out a bit of the music that comprises the show. Now, it may be that every seating has the same problem or it was just my aging hearing. Either way I would suggest that if this show is important to you then you may want a different rotation.
7. Mickey's Island Jam: This replaced the Character Breakfast. Anyone who has read any of my posts on the subject knows that I've never been very impressed with Character Breakfast's in general. Usually the food is mediocre and the character interaction is minimal. This one, while renamed is no exception to the rule. Food wasn't even mediocre it rated poor. (Now, let me tell you that overall, I rate the food on this cruise as excellent. For some reason this particular breakfast had a pre-cooked cafeteria feel to it.) Character interaction was better than the traditional CB's. My kids had a blast. But, it wasn't one on one for the kids as a Character Breakfast should be. But, again, my kids had a blast. So take that for what it is worth. For the parents wishing to get a good picture it was a nightmare kids and staff everywhere. I didn't get one usable pic of my kids with a character at all. But, then again, my kids had a blast.
8. Kids club/lab: I was surprised at the efficient coordination of the clubs staff. Being a nervous father I worried most about this. I needn't. The staff did their job beautifully. Even when it appeared that they had far too many kids for staff, they performed admirably. When I asked my kids who were their favorites, they both stated "all of them." Don't worry too much about your kids, here.
9. Pools: I've been told they were crowded but I had no idea! Best days of swimming onboard were when the ship was at port. We stayed aboard and enjoyed a near empty ship. My kids loved the Mickey Pool particularly and we never ventured far from it.
10. Bathrooms: What possessed Disney to place bathrooms so far away from the dining rooms on ships that cater to small children? What a hassle!
11. Rebooking onboard: We were offered 10% off 3,4 and 7 day cruises with $100 on board credit for 3 and 4 day cruises and $200 on board credit for 7-day cruises. That's a deal! We plan on returning Feb '10, but can only book out to Dec. '08. I'll be moving my date once or twice before then. Even if I change my mind and cancel my booking, I get my $500 back. I figure the offer will be worth between $600-800 to me. If you think that you will be back on this ship at all, then do this!
12. Tipping: I tipped over the minimum but only by about 20%. If I was budgeting again I would have allotted a lot more. The service was superb! I actually felt guilty that I didn't have more to give.
13. Disembarkation: Very smooth! Ate Breakfast at our allotted time of 6:30 And then gathered our baggage. Once off the ship we were ushered into a large room with neatly arranged luggage. A porter picked up the bags and shuttled them for us to an appropriate airline check-in desk. That's right I said airline check-in desk. There you check your luggage and receive your boarding passes all before you board that DCL bus to the airport. (I don't know if it works that way if you didn't purchase Disney transport.) Very spiffy!
14. Final Thoughts: (for now) If you decide to have Disney arrange everything you're in for a pretty smooth ride. But you'll pay for that privilege. It's cheaper to book everything yourself but you'll have to do much more planning. About the verandah, we were upgraded for free to a Category 5 room. It was very nice, but I thought that it was mostly a luxury not so much a necessity especially with kids. Just myself and my wife would have been grand, but with the kids it was not nearly as romantic. We were part of a large and lively group of DIS members. It was a blast. It was nice to have people that you have already gotten to know to hang around with or if you choose, periodically "bump" into and share a conversation. We unfortunately did not have the luxury of planning much with others, Our children are young and we couldn't bear spending too much time away from them. But the interaction that we did have, added a level of enjoyment to our vacation that couldn’t be beat. Don't lurk! Get to know those who are going with you. You won't regret it. Be aware that post-cruise depression may very well result in major meltdowns in your children. Be prepared.
If you have any questions or comments about what I have noted, please feel free to ask.
