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Old 22 May 16, 09:57 PM  
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Scruffette
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Toarin' - August 2015 - Cruise summary

I’m almost done with my trip reporting of last year’s Florida trip (finally!) which included a Disney Cruise. I thought I’d do a little summary of our thoughts on this portion of the trip. The cruise definitely deserves its own special post.

We sailed on the Disney Dream for 3 nights from 21st August with stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay. It was our first cruise. (but not the last…)

Stateroom

We were in a category 7A with a navigator’s verandah. For us this was the perfect compromise. The obstruction on our verandah was so minor and I didn’t really notice it at all.



The stateroom itself was spacious with lots of little Disney touches.





Dining

We like our food

We only ate at Cabanas for lunch on embarkation day. It was busy, as expected. We avoided the hustle and bustle on the other days and chose the sit down options instead. However, I was impressed with the variety of choice in Cabanas. The food was being replenished frequently and you could tell it was fresh.



We had dinners at Royal Palace and Animator’s Pallette. AP was a highlight with Crush and I loved the theming.





We did breakfasts in Enchanted Garden (buffet) and Royal Palace (sit down). We wanted to try all the options!



Lunches were a sit down at Royal Palace and the adult’s bbq on Castaway Cay.





We dined at Palo on our last night, which was a lovely experience and felt very special. That chocolate soufflé - one of the best desserts ever.



That being said, on our cruise this summer we’re planning on Palo brunch instead of dinner.

Room service was also sampled each night. This felt very decadent



Service - I think we all have high expectations of Disney service!

The highlight of this was when we had the mixology class mix up. As well as being given two free cocktails, we also received a private champagne cocktail tasting class.



Our serving team at dinner were efficient, if a little disapproving of our choices sometimes! I had read how outstanding the service was at dinner. Don’t get me wrong, it was very good. I would just say it was comparable to normal restaurant service we had whilst out in Florida.

The towel animals left every night by our stateroom host were a lovely touch.



Nassau
What people say about Nassau is pretty much accurate. We had a wander round for about an hour, the highlight was taking pictures of the ship!



If visiting again, I would probably stay on board. On a side note, I had read that the ship would be a lot quieter this day as people would be ashore. Not the case – the queue for the aquaduck in the morning was an hour and a half!

Castaway Cay

This truly is paradise. We spent a fair amount of time on the adult’s only beach which was so peaceful and tranquil. Even the rainstorm at the end of the day didn’t ruin it. I hope one day I get to return.



Shows

We are big musical fans, so the shows were a highlight for us.



The cast are clearly very talented. The shows had all of my favourite Disney songs and a few originals as well. I found Villain’s tonight a bit odd in places and thought Believe was the highlight.

Ship –

The ship itself if beautiful and there is so much attention to detail throughout. The Art of the Theme Ship tour helped to point out a few more details to us.









I’d read a lot how big the ships were, but I thought it was very easy to move about. However, it felt very spacious considering you’re on a boat!

Disney transfers

We booked the Disney transfers both ways between the resort and Port Canaveral. For us this was a simple way of doing things. As there were only two of us, it was cheaper than any other transfer service I could find. We were both under 25 at the time, so renting a car would prove quite expensive as well.

My biggest complaint about the transfer to the port was that we weren’t picked up from the resort until 12.30pm, meaning that with stops we didn’t make it to Port Canaveral until gone 2pm. On a 3 night cruise, every hour on the ship counts! I just kept thinking about all the people on board already having fun. This did make our first few hours seem a bit rushed, trying to eat, land in our stateroom and sort out a few things all before the lifeboat drill. The only advantage of arriving at the port later is that there is no queue to check in and no wait to board the ship, meaning that process was quick and easy.



On the way back, we were directed to a specific coach when asked our resort. I assumed this would mean that the coach would make a few drop offs, mainly at nearby resort. The coach in fact made a large number of drop offs, and at most stops only 1 or 2 families got off. We were one of the final stops, which I suppose was just bad luck on the day.

Being adults on a Disney cruise –

Yes, a Disney cruise is going to have a lot of kids on board. Just like when you go to Disney World, there are going to be a lot of kids. Particularly true as we travelled in August. However, there will also be people without kids. There were plenty young couples without kids like us. (Although, we did get asked at least 4 times by CMs if we were on honeymoon)

The kids clubs are great (we had a good look around them) and most of the kids seem to spend a lot of time in there.

There is an adult’s only pool deck which is very calm, although you do get a small number of kids passing through. There are adult only areas with entertainment. The Mrs and Mrs style ‘Match your Mate’ show was hilarious. However, in the evening the nightclub and bar areas were very quiet with few people in there.

On Castaway Cay we spent some time on the family beach but were glad of the respite of Serenity bay in the afternoon.

At dinner, we were at our own table. There were plenty of kids in the restaurant, but you wouldn’t really notice anyone on a different table anyway.

I wouldn’t let be adults without children put you off a Disney Cruise. The cruise also managed to do what Disney does best – make us all feel like big kids!

Overall, we loved our cruise experience. Within a week of getting back we’d already booked a 7 night Mediterranean cruise on the Disney Magic this summer. A pre-trip for this adventure will be appearing shortly
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Old 23 May 16, 01:47 PM  
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DisneyDreamer81
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So glad you did this post! We're booked on the 4 night Bahamian at the end of our trip next year and it's made me even more excited! x
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Old 25 May 16, 06:58 PM  
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stecee
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It looks like the cruising bug has bitten
It sounds like you had a great time, the ship looks lovely.
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Old 8 Jun 16, 07:40 PM  
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Scruffette
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Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81 View Post
So glad you did this post! We're booked on the 4 night Bahamian at the end of our trip next year and it's made me even more excited! x
I so wish we did a 3 night instead of a 4! You'll have a fab time

Originally Posted by stecee View Post
It looks like the cruising bug has bitten
It sounds like you had a great time, the ship looks lovely.
Definitely - what everyone says is true! I love this ship
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Old 9 Jun 16, 10:16 PM  
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yatomi
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Great read, making me so excited for our cruise in October!
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Old 10 Jun 16, 06:56 PM  
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Scruffette
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Originally Posted by yatomi View Post
Great read, making me so excited for our cruise in October!
It may become the start of a cruising habbit! Have an amazing time, it will be here before you know it!
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Old 19 Jun 16, 10:48 PM  
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I can't wait to do a Disney cruise. One day!
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Old 26 Jun 16, 07:57 PM  
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Originally Posted by helenlovesdestr View Post
I can't wait to do a Disney cruise. One day!
Go for it! Thanks for reading
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Old 3 Jul 16, 09:33 AM  
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Great that you enjoyed your time onboard ... albeit that it was short, we always recommend people to book as long as possible onboard! Pleased to see that you booked a 7 night in the Med. The difference in your servers should be noticeable as they can get to you know you a little more.
The issue with the very short cruises is that the servers are so rushed in getting everything out, that they have no time to actually get to you know what you like and dislike. Ordering strange combinations or extras on a longer cruise is never a bother, but it's sometimes a little difficult on the shorter ones.

You'll find on the Med cruises that you'll have more Spanish families onboard. This is great if you want to learn Spanish, but be aware that the Spanish don't like to obey the rules .. they make up their own and this can be very frustrating. Children in the adult only area, talking through the theatre shows etc etc .. speak to the CMs if it affects you. You'll be onboard the Magic, so if you're on the deck sunbathing and see Jermaine (Jamaica), Luis (Peru) or JoJo (Phillipines), just let them know what the issue is and they'll speak to their supervisor. Great guys!
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Edited at 09:34 AM.
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Old 3 Jul 16, 10:29 AM  
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Hi Bats, I can see you are an avid Disney fan but have you ever cruised with anyone else or have knowledge of the other CL`s? Loved being on the Fantasy but struggling with the cost for next August. I don`t want anything too posh, no tuxedo rules etc - just not mine or the kids scene! Saw Carnival out of PC 29/7/17? Kids will be 12 and 14. Cheers
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