MO64RN
I never repeat gossip. So listen carefully.
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2000
This was the 4th Disney Cruise for me, DH, DS14, and DD11. It was in celebration of my 40th Birthday 
which fell on our last day at Castaway Cay.
We arrived at port fairly early and had to wait in the parking lot across from the terminal until they started to let us in about 10:30 am. We were about the 4th car to get into the terminal area in what seemed like an eternity because only one person was checking IDs against the manifest. Meanwhile, I saw a DCL bus drop off a bunch of passengers. We managed to check our luggage and while DH parked I went though security and secured my position as being first in line to board the ship. That is of course after Concierge level and the disabled boarded. I inquired about an upgrade at check in and from a Cat 9 to Cat 6 with Verandah for our family of 4 would have been $300. Not bad but DH did not want to. We didnt spend much time in the room any way.
We boarded at 11:55 am. took our embarkation photo which came out great. I might add that there is a new background since our last cruise. We went to lunch at the Beach Blanket which was much better than last year. After lunch we made our Spa ressies and wandered around the ship a little. I was pleased to find out that our request for first dinner seating was honored and we were on the T-A-P rotation. This was different for us as we have always started in Parrott Cay.
At 1:30 pm we checked out our room on Deck 2 (2132-this room needs to be added to the noisy list). Upon arrival there were the Birthday Celebration decorations and cake my DH ordered. This was a very nice touch. The luggage arrived pretty early and I was able to have everything unpacked before I went the shopping presentation at 2:30.
The sail away party was great and the weather was perfect. I had my usual Bonvoyage drink which gave me a slight buzz. I made a big mistake in taking a Bonine and mixing it with the drink as later that evening I was extremely tired and ended up going to bed fairly early. I was also a littlle groggy the next morning. The seas were extremely calm. In fact, much calmer than any cruise Ive ever been on. I never even felt the motion of the boat.
We had dinner at Tritons. Our servers were great. I ordered the steak which was a mistake. It was not very tender. I really wasnt very hungry though. My son had the Rigatoni which was very good. We skipped Herculess (weve seen it 3x) and went to see Raising Helen as a family.
Friday morning we arrived in Nassau. We did a little shopping but didnt make any major purchases. We spent most of the day on the ship taking advantage of the pools and hot tubs, gym etc. We ate dinner in Animators Palate. We saw Golden Mickeys which was excellent and later saw the Dueling Pianos show which was very entertaining. We also attended Match Your Mate which was also very entertaining. I wont go into details for fear I might embarrass the winners which we kept seeing the remainder of our cruise.
Saturday (my birthday) we arrived Castaway Cay. I had an 8:00 am appt. for Ladies morning out which consisted of a massage, facial, scalp massage, hand massage, foot massage, and afterwards champagne and chocolates(it was actually petite fours) in the Rainforest. Well worth the $125. The therapist recommended some products but was not pushy at all. We then proceeded to the island where we relaxed, snorkeled, swam, biked and ate. At night we had dinner in Parrott Cay which is my favorite restaurant. I had the ribs and they were awesome. Our servers also presented me with a birthday cake
and pin. It was very nice. That evening we went to the family dueling pianos, Disney Dreams, adult Dueling pianos then the 70s party. At 11pm up on Deck 10 I saw the Magic passing in the other direction all lit up. It was beautiful.
In Summary our trip was fantastic but way to short. My DS enjoyed the common grounds which made me very happy. The new enhanced drink stations had pretty long lines at certain times especially at Castaway Cay. The soda was also flat at CC. Our room had noisy vibrations especially early in the morning coming back to Port Canaveral. It was so noisy it woke us up and I am a pretty sound sleeper.
When we disembarked we had the porter assist us with our luggage and breezed though customs. I might also mention there is now a full breakfast at the Beach Blanket on Disembarkation so we didnt get up super early for our breakfast in Parrott Cay.
After getting off the ship the Wonder was parked right next to RCCL Mariner of the Seas. It was great seeing it since we will cruising on that in Oct. It was huge. It gives us something to look forward to after having such a WONDER FULL time. It made being 40 a lot easier.
:thewave:
which fell on our last day at Castaway Cay.We arrived at port fairly early and had to wait in the parking lot across from the terminal until they started to let us in about 10:30 am. We were about the 4th car to get into the terminal area in what seemed like an eternity because only one person was checking IDs against the manifest. Meanwhile, I saw a DCL bus drop off a bunch of passengers. We managed to check our luggage and while DH parked I went though security and secured my position as being first in line to board the ship. That is of course after Concierge level and the disabled boarded. I inquired about an upgrade at check in and from a Cat 9 to Cat 6 with Verandah for our family of 4 would have been $300. Not bad but DH did not want to. We didnt spend much time in the room any way.
We boarded at 11:55 am. took our embarkation photo which came out great. I might add that there is a new background since our last cruise. We went to lunch at the Beach Blanket which was much better than last year. After lunch we made our Spa ressies and wandered around the ship a little. I was pleased to find out that our request for first dinner seating was honored and we were on the T-A-P rotation. This was different for us as we have always started in Parrott Cay.
At 1:30 pm we checked out our room on Deck 2 (2132-this room needs to be added to the noisy list). Upon arrival there were the Birthday Celebration decorations and cake my DH ordered. This was a very nice touch. The luggage arrived pretty early and I was able to have everything unpacked before I went the shopping presentation at 2:30.
The sail away party was great and the weather was perfect. I had my usual Bonvoyage drink which gave me a slight buzz. I made a big mistake in taking a Bonine and mixing it with the drink as later that evening I was extremely tired and ended up going to bed fairly early. I was also a littlle groggy the next morning. The seas were extremely calm. In fact, much calmer than any cruise Ive ever been on. I never even felt the motion of the boat.
We had dinner at Tritons. Our servers were great. I ordered the steak which was a mistake. It was not very tender. I really wasnt very hungry though. My son had the Rigatoni which was very good. We skipped Herculess (weve seen it 3x) and went to see Raising Helen as a family.
Friday morning we arrived in Nassau. We did a little shopping but didnt make any major purchases. We spent most of the day on the ship taking advantage of the pools and hot tubs, gym etc. We ate dinner in Animators Palate. We saw Golden Mickeys which was excellent and later saw the Dueling Pianos show which was very entertaining. We also attended Match Your Mate which was also very entertaining. I wont go into details for fear I might embarrass the winners which we kept seeing the remainder of our cruise.
Saturday (my birthday) we arrived Castaway Cay. I had an 8:00 am appt. for Ladies morning out which consisted of a massage, facial, scalp massage, hand massage, foot massage, and afterwards champagne and chocolates(it was actually petite fours) in the Rainforest. Well worth the $125. The therapist recommended some products but was not pushy at all. We then proceeded to the island where we relaxed, snorkeled, swam, biked and ate. At night we had dinner in Parrott Cay which is my favorite restaurant. I had the ribs and they were awesome. Our servers also presented me with a birthday cake
and pin. It was very nice. That evening we went to the family dueling pianos, Disney Dreams, adult Dueling pianos then the 70s party. At 11pm up on Deck 10 I saw the Magic passing in the other direction all lit up. It was beautiful.In Summary our trip was fantastic but way to short. My DS enjoyed the common grounds which made me very happy. The new enhanced drink stations had pretty long lines at certain times especially at Castaway Cay. The soda was also flat at CC. Our room had noisy vibrations especially early in the morning coming back to Port Canaveral. It was so noisy it woke us up and I am a pretty sound sleeper.
When we disembarked we had the porter assist us with our luggage and breezed though customs. I might also mention there is now a full breakfast at the Beach Blanket on Disembarkation so we didnt get up super early for our breakfast in Parrott Cay.
After getting off the ship the Wonder was parked right next to RCCL Mariner of the Seas. It was great seeing it since we will cruising on that in Oct. It was huge. It gives us something to look forward to after having such a WONDER FULL time. It made being 40 a lot easier.
:thewave:
