monty913

Monty so are we! Reveal to my son in an hour after he gets home from

School!

So fun!! See you Saturday!!!

We use the DCL transport. It just seems to be the easiest option for us. But there is only 2 of us so $140 round trip doesn't sound so bad compared to a larger family.

We don't have kids and we are doing our 3rd Disney cruise this weekend.

We love it.

Just from the vending machines - soda, chips, candy, etc.

 

That's at Port Canaveral.

 

It can differ in different ports. In Barcelona, there were a couple of small shops selling wine and souvenirs.

And correct me if I am wrong here Shmoo, but I thought someone told me you could use your KTTW card to purchase those items at Port Canaveral.

I have used the DCL transport from a Disney resort and arrived around 1pm. There was no line at all, we walked right on and our room was ready. We did not get the same amount of time on board as some people, but we were glad we didn't have to wait around the terminal all morning.

We sailed in mid September 2013-7 nights. I did not think the ship was overrun with kids. I do remember a lot of smaller kids-not school age yet. It was very easy to avoid the kids.

On a 4 night in December there were a lot more school age kids. I was very frustrated at them traipsing through the adult area.

My husband insisted on bringing our passports to Nassau to get them stamped. It made me beyond nervous. The customs building was very sketchy and I could not wait to get out. I would never take my passport ashore again.

We got off the ship in Nassau last year, shopped around in the port for maybe 2 hours. I had never been so happy to be back on board. I wouldn't get off the ship again in Nassau.

We don't have kids and we are doing our 3rd Disney cruise in two weeks.

Everyone always asks me "oh a Disney cruise, isn't there too many kids?"

We spend most of our time on the adult decks.There were days that we barely saw children. We also enjoy that there is adult areas, but there isn't a wild party scene.

There are definitely lots of ways to enjoy a Disney cruise as an adult.

Just a couple comments to the above--it is rare to have only one ship in on a given day. Normally there will be multiple ships but each will have a specific area of the beach.

 

In 2014' date=' the water taxi was $7 per person one way. I was quite shocked as on our previous visit it had been $3 one way or $5 all day (I think). In any event, I know it was $7 in 2014. You can google for current info. You can also walk back from the shopping area--it takes maybe 20 minutes.[/quote']

 

I was surprised we were the only ship. :)

Good to know about the water taxi-there is no way it was $7 when we went. I remember thinking "oh wow only $3".

Has anyone been on this excursion? We are considering it for our cruise in Dec. your suggestions are greatly appreciated. Pros and cons. Thanks.

I know this thread took a different turn, but I just wanted to comment on the original post. We did the beach rendezvous in Sept 2013. We really enjoyed it. We booked directly trough Disney as we were new to cruising and weren't too sure about venturing on our own. We met in the morning in the Buena Vista theater and were escorted off the ship to our tour bus. The ride was maybe 20-30 minutes and the tour guide gave us some island info along the way.

The beach was beautiful and clean. We each got a cushioned lounge chair and you could pay for an umbrella-which they set up for you. On this day the Disney Fantasy was the only ship docked so everyone on the excursion was from the Fantasy-the beach was not crowded. The water was very calm and so so so clear blue. Lunch was ok-I had chicken and my husband had ribs I think. Bathrooms were clean and there was a full bar for an additional price. Next to the beach was also an area that you could pay a fee and do some water activities-jetski, parasail etc. I cant speak to how these activities are or how much they cost as we didn't do them, but we were told they were there.

In the afternoon we got back on a bus. The driver stopped in the downtown shopping area. You could get off there and take your own transport back to the ship, or stay on the bus and go straight back to the ship. We chose to get off and shop as the all aboard time was not for a few hours. We were able to take the water taxi back the ship (I want to say it was $2-$3 per person?).

Pros:

-Clear blue water

-clean beach

-decent lunch

-tour guides were friendly and accommodating

-clean bathrooms

-full bar

Cons:

-not enough time at the beach

-some vendors do come down the beach selling you items-a polite "no thank you" will move them along if you aren't interested.

-it rained for a bout 10 min in the afternoon (obviously not DCL fault)

Again, this was almost 2 years ago so I don't know if anything has changed. But we overall enjoyed this excursion and would do it again. :)

We usually stand on deck 12 starboard and wave to the people on shore. You can hear the sail away party but aren't all in the action. Also, tell you friends at home there is a camera they can watch you sailaway! In 2013 my parents saw us and screenshotted it, kinda fun!

I cruised in December 2014-4 night Bahama on the Dream

The ship is decorated for the holidays. There is a large tree in the atrium. There are several holiday activities-gingerbread houses-story time-santa. There is also a "party" in the atrium where it snows.

The weather for our cruise (Dec 8-12) was not that great. I am from the North East, so it was very cold back at home. It was 65-75 all 4 days and mostly cloudy. The sun did come out for a while the day we were in Nassau. We also had some very rough seas the first night on board.

We attempted to dock at Castaway Cay 3 times one day and were unsuccessful. The captain explained it was too windy and the conditions wouldn't allow us to dock. We were bummed, but they added new activities and we still had fun.

They still did a pirate night and the weather was good enough to do the fireworks.

I have heard that we just weren't lucky and other people have had great weather in December.

I had goofy call my husband last year before the cruise. I thought he would think it was cheesy, but he actually thought it was really fun. He had a long day at work and it put a smile on his face.

I got a little card on my door on the second day of the cruise that had the OBC amount. We had booked onboard the year before.

We love second seating!

The only small issue is that sometimes my husband gets a little hungry around 5pm. He usually just swings by Flos café and grabs a slice of pizza or Panini to hold him over til dinner.

I have stayed on deck 6 (midship/starboard). We really enjoyed it. It was very quiet. We are staying on deck 6 again this year. Be aware that the lifeboats are directly below your balcony. See photo. This did not bother us at all, but some people do complain about the lifeboat being right there.

I have never been on the Magic, but I love the Fantasy. Can't wait to be back on in 67 days!!

I decorated our stateroom for my husbands bday last year. All the walls and ceiling in the cabin are magnetic. I went to the dollar store and bought decorations and magnets. I did not want to pay the $50+ to have DCL do it for me. They also sang happy birthday at dinner and gave him a pin.

I was going to say the Meet Your Match game. The host has some innuendoes, but the guests will say anything. I am by no means a prude, but some one the things they admit are very personal.

I have also been to the illusionist/magicians. The family show was much different than the adult. There was no swearing, but lots of metaphors.

I remember there was a video with a quote from Ellen, something about her "coming out". That quote was removed from the family show video.

Even if you switched to the cruise before that, Sept 5-12, it would be a Halloween cruise too. I am on it-I think its the first one of the season.

I have been on a Halloween cruise as well, I did not feel like it was in your face Halloween the whole time.

I have used the DCL transport twice from a WDW resort.

Both times I did select a PAT. I had read that busses start picking up a little later so I chose a later PAT.

Both times my bus did not pick me up until around noon.

I did not get to port until around 1pm. I actually don't mind this. The port is not that busy at this time and we have been able to board right away. Yes, we miss out on some time on board in the early afternoon, but the bus transfer has just been the best option for us.

We have only done the Dream and the Fantasy so I am not sure how much they differ foodwise, but our favorites are listed below:

Gran marnier soufflé

Chocolate soufflé (palo)

Mickey Pretzels

Strawberry Banana Softserve

Baked potato cheddar soup (Animators)

My husband also loves the paninis from Flo's Cafe (Goofy's Galley on the Wonder)

I had never even thought about all the time changes! I get messed up just twice a year with the one hour change, I cant imagine that many in that short a time. :confused:

I have only cruised Disney, so I cant compare. But I do love Disney and I am not sure I will ever cruise anyone else.

The ships are beautiful and well maintained.

I really love the shows. I would consider them Broadway style and very entertaining. My husband doesn't love shows, but he enjoys the DCL ones.

We really enjoy the food. I wouldn't consider us "foodies" or anything, but we have always had a good experience in the main dining rooms. They get to know you and what you like.

I have found service to be prompt in the dining rooms. We usually sit back and enjoy ourselves.

I have only seen carts a few times in the hallways, but they weren't an inconvenience.

People do leave room service plates in the halls, but I have never seen an abundant amount. I did see several when we had a rough sea night. I assume people didn't go to dinner due to sea sickness and just ordered room service.

I have seen vacuums in the hall. I only remember this because I said to my husband "wow that's a dyson. that's a nice vacuum." haha

But with seeing the carts and vacuums, I never though it was an issue and they never seemed to be in the way.

We like that there is no casino and we like that there isn't really a party scene. Even at night in the adult bar areas, it isn't wild and crazy. We enjoy being able to just sit and have a few drinks.

I had no issues either. I was only in my cabin and I was just sending email. I did not watch any videos or anything. I used my laptop and tablet.

Check on the first day for a free 50MB of internet. It will say it in your navigator, you just need to register by midnight. :)