Come Along with Bill & Mary Ann Going Full Circle on the 2015 World Cruise -114 days+

[ON cruiser]

It has been my pleasure to every few days steal a little time and read your well-written reports. They are most enjoyable and I join with those who have thanked you for doing this over the years.

 

Wishing you an easy debarkation and safe trip home, I look forward to your next trip!

[BettyPC]

Thanks for all this great info. Don't think Disney is in my future!

[bluebeachbum]

Started reading in the middle & had to go back & catch up. I really like your writing style & admire you both for all the walking you did to both keep in shape & see what you otherwise would not have seen. Thanks from one who will probably not ever go on a world cruise & who will definitely not ever be on a Disney ship! Hope to read about your next trip.

[goodroe]

Thank you for sharing your Disney "adventure". We are planning a family cruise in the near future, but with five (3 children) it's been difficult to find the right cruise line so we can be in one cabin. Finally decided to look at Disney and they certainly seem to cater to families with their cabins. The extra bathroom space is certainly a plus. Now I just have to decide if I could handle all the Disney mania and that many children.

 

Thanks again for taking us along with you. Will miss your reports with my morning coffee.

[Hflors]

Well, Bill and Marianne I see we are at the end of the 2015 World cruise and the Disney extension. The "view" count for your thread has passed 150,000! I have you both to thank for sharing such a wonderful journey. Somehow saying "thank you" doesn't seem enough. But, I will say it anyway. A very large "thank you" from just one of your loyal readers. I can only hope that you both continue to make these wonderful journeys and allow me to come along to places that I would never have the opportunity to see otherwise.

 

Helen

[WCB]

Report # 137 San Diego, California May 15, 2015 Friday Rain, yes rain & 68 degrees

 

Although it was not written in any daily program, a breakfast buffet was available at 6:30am in Beach Blanket Buffet on deck nine. Thanks to tablemate Joan, who advised us last night that it is usually open on the other Disney ships. We were up and wide awake well before 5am anyway, so if she was right, this would be perfect. And besides, they have no room service this morning, unlike HAL, who does.

 

You never sleep that good the night before going home. At least we don’t. Perhaps it is the anticipation of what can go wrong in the journey of getting home. We have experienced a little bit of everything, so nothing comes as a total surprise anymore. And it was not encouraging reading the cruise ship review on the Wonder, since they mentioned that this ship is not always efficient in their disembarkation process. No specifics were given, but honestly a lot of this process also depends on the shore side services as well. We just knew to expect delays.

 

We had been assigned to Animator’s Palate for an 8am breakfast, and told to bring our hand carrys with us. That is a ploy to get you out of your room, so they can clean it. Once you give up that room, you can no longer go back and relax there until you are called off. They want you out. Period. But where in the world would we all put our stuff, since we barely fit in the dining room without bags? Joan and Cal said don’t go there….it is a zoo. They have been there and done that. Glad we listened. We put our “privacy please” sign on our door, and were first in line at the buffet. It was only our second time in there. The first day we boarded, we ate lunch there, and now today, breakfast.

 

We found plenty of good choices for a quick and actually quiet meal. About twenty minutes later, Joan and Cal walked in. We chatted for a while, finally being able to hear each other talk…..finally, after two weeks of noisy dining. They totally agreed with us. They told us they were renting a car and heading up to Anaheim for a visit to Disneyland. They are truly Disney fans through and through. But living in the Boston area, they might as well make this trip a double whammy before they fly home. Their biggest disappointment was the weather, which hopefully will clear up later today. Two other tablemates are staying in San Diego and planning on going to the zoo today. Good luck with these downpours.

 

Speaking of rain, it wasn’t a drizzle, it was down pouring outside….cats and dogs. Rain in San Diego in May? Unheard of. Hopefully this does not affect the flights. Our son had emailed yesterday telling us we had heavy thunderstorms at home, also unusual for this time of year. This must be what we are having today in San Diego as the system moved south. Sure glad we are not on the next cruise, a three day trip to nowhere. It will be a washout for the little ones. Too bad.

 

Still having internet megabytes left, we viewed some videos sent by friends recently. The speed was very fast, and even with staying online for almost an hour, we still had time left. We found that is still depended on where we were located, and how many other folks were using the system.

 

The ship was cleared by 8:30am by the local authorities. Our grey Daisy tags were called by 9am, so we lined up on deck three to exit. At least they had two kiosks being used to scan our cards for the final time.

 

Then all we had to do was find our three bags, and take them through the customs checkpoint. The officials here in San Diego are very friendly and simply scan your passport and collect your declaration card. No problem unless you exceeded your allowance of $800 per person. We did not by a long shot. His only comment was that we must travel a lot, because we are packing two passports full of visas and stamps. Yes, we do.

 

From there, we ran for shelter under a tent to wait for the next taxi large enough to take our three bags. Within 5 minutes, we had an elderly lady driver pick us up, with our help to load the bags. We were at the airport by 9:30am….plenty early for our flight at 12:55pm.

 

This was good……we were early, but we were here. As we entered the terminal, we could busloads of people waiting for a bus to the Disney Wonder for their trip to nowhere. A Disney lady was standing near the exit door with a big white Mickey Mouse hand on her hand, waving wildly to all of those folks with the proper luggage tags. She motioned them to the bus.

 

So, wanting to get rid of the three bags, we checked in, weighed each piece (all underweight, hurray), got our boarding passes, and all seemed well. The agent did happen to say that San Francisco is notorious for slowing the planes up due to fog, rain, or high winds. So don’t be alarmed if the flight get delayed. He must have known something, but wisely said nothing more. One great piece of news was that we both got the TSA approval to go through the easy line. Must be a random thing, but it is nice not to have to take off those shoes.

 

Spending some time outside the terminal, we walked between rain showers getting some fresh air. When we ran into the smoking section outside, we ducked back inside. Time for sodas or something to stay awake, we found several places to buy them.

 

The gate was a long walk, so we went through the easy line at the security point, and checked out the times for our flight. At the gate, we were told that it had been delayed, of course. Now the flight would leave at 2:15pm. That was a bummer, because we had Ken waiting in San Francisco to pick us up around 3pm. Not going to make that time. Nothing you can do, but hope it doesn’t get worse, and they cancel it. These days you never know.

 

The Captain decided to board all of the passengers early, just in case the delay was lifted. He was wise in doing so, because the plane left by 2:05pm. A quick flight, we landed by 3:30pm, not too far off of our original time. The only hang up was waiting and waiting for our luggage. That was delayed now. Ken was there, patiently waiting outside. Luckily, his company has a job there and he wore his badge in order to keep his parking spot. Would you believe the bags did not start falling out on the turntable until 4:30pm? The other passengers were getting pretty hot with anger by then.

 

We quickly loaded up, and were heading home……slowly. It was Friday evening, and there was traffic with a capital T. Deciding on bypassing the Bay Bridge, we went the way of the San Mateo Bridge to get to the East Bay and Clayton. Yeah, it took two hours, but at least we were moving, and not bumper-to-bumper crawling.

 

Got home finally before 7pm, and it was sweet-sweet-sweet! We have our work cut out for us, since there are weeds, small tree limbs down from the recent winds, spider webs, etc., etc. etc. Well, it will give us something to do.

 

By the way, our five pieces of Fed Ex luggage was supposed to be delivered today. They did make an attempt, but left a note saying they needed to have a signature to leave them with no one home. Don’t remember that we were told that on the ship when we got our labels. Anyway, we will sign the note, and hope it gets delivered tomorrow.

 

Once we get back to real life, we shall be back with our humble comments on both cruises. It was quite a trip, and we were glad to share it with all of you. So stay tuned…….

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[WCB]

Report # 137 San Diego, California May 15, 2015 Friday Rain, yes rain & 68 degrees

 

Although it was not written in any daily program, a breakfast buffet was available at 6:30am in Beach Blanket Buffet on deck nine. Thanks to tablemate Joan, who advised us last night that it is usually open on the other Disney ships. We were up and wide awake well before 5am anyway, so if she was right, this would be perfect. And besides, they have no room service this morning, unlike HAL, who does.

 

You never sleep that good the night before going home. At least we don’t. Perhaps it is the anticipation of what can go wrong in the journey of getting home. We have experienced a little bit of everything, so nothing comes as a total surprise anymore. And it was not encouraging reading the cruise ship review on the Wonder, since they mentioned that this ship is not always efficient in their disembarkation process. No specifics were given, but honestly a lot of this process also depends on the shore side services as well. We just knew to expect delays.

 

We had been assigned to Animator’s Palate for an 8am breakfast, and told to bring our hand carrys with us. That is a ploy to get you out of your room, so they can clean it. Once you give up that room, you can no longer go back and relax there until you are called off. They want you out. Period. But where in the world would we all put our stuff, since we barely fit in the dining room without bags? Joan and Cal said don’t go there….it is a zoo. They have been there and done that. Glad we listened. We put our “privacy please” sign on our door, and were first in line at the buffet. It was only our second time in there. The first day we boarded, we ate lunch there, and now today, breakfast.

 

We found plenty of good choices for a quick and actually quiet meal. About twenty minutes later, Joan and Cal walked in. We chatted for a while, finally being able to hear each other talk…..finally, after two weeks of noisy dining. They totally agreed with us. They told us they were renting a car and heading up to Anaheim for a visit to Disneyland. They are truly Disney fans through and through. But living in the Boston area, they might as well make this trip a double whammy before they fly home. Their biggest disappointment was the weather, which hopefully will clear up later today. Two other tablemates are staying in San Diego and planning on going to the zoo today. Good luck with these downpours.

 

Speaking of rain, it wasn’t a drizzle, it was down pouring outside….cats and dogs. Rain in San Diego in May? Unheard of. Hopefully this does not affect the flights. Our son had emailed yesterday telling us we had heavy thunderstorms at home, also unusual for this time of year. This must be what we are having today in San Diego as the system moved south. Sure glad we are not on the next cruise, a three day trip to nowhere. It will be a washout for the little ones. Too bad.

 

Still having internet megabytes left, we viewed some videos sent by friends recently. The speed was very fast, and even with staying online for almost an hour, we still had time left. We found that is still depended on where we were located, and how many other folks were using the system.

 

The ship was cleared by 8:30am by the local authorities. Our grey Daisy tags were called by 9am, so we lined up on deck three to exit. At least they had two kiosks being used to scan our cards for the final time.

 

Then all we had to do was find our three bags, and take them through the customs checkpoint. The officials here in San Diego are very friendly and simply scan your passport and collect your declaration card. No problem unless you exceeded your allowance of $800 per person. We did not by a long shot. His only comment was that we must travel a lot, because we are packing two passports full of visas and stamps. Yes, we do.

 

From there, we ran for shelter under a tent to wait for the next taxi large enough to take our three bags. Within 5 minutes, we had an elderly lady driver pick us up, with our help to load the bags. We were at the airport by 9:30am….plenty early for our flight at 12:55pm.

 

This was good……we were early, but we were here. As we entered the terminal, we could busloads of people waiting for a bus to the Disney Wonder for their trip to nowhere. A Disney lady was standing near the exit door with a big white Mickey Mouse hand on her hand, waving wildly to all of those folks with the proper luggage tags. She motioned them to the bus.

 

So, wanting to get rid of the three bags, we checked in, weighed each piece (all underweight, hurray), got our boarding passes, and all seemed well. The agent did happen to say that San Francisco is notorious for slowing the planes up due to fog, rain, or high winds. So don’t be alarmed if the flight get delayed. He must have known something, but wisely said nothing more. One great piece of news was that we both got the TSA approval to go through the easy line. Must be a random thing, but it is nice not to have to take off those shoes.

 

Spending some time outside the terminal, we walked between rain showers getting some fresh air. When we ran into the smoking section outside, we ducked back inside. Time for sodas or something to stay awake, we found several places to buy them.

 

The gate was a long walk, so we went through the easy line at the security point, and checked out the times for our flight. At the gate, we were told that it had been delayed, of course. Now the flight would leave at 2:15pm. That was a bummer, because we had Ken waiting in San Francisco to pick us up around 3pm. Not going to make that time. Nothing you can do, but hope it doesn’t get worse, and they cancel it. These days you never know.

 

The Captain decided to board all of the passengers early, just in case the delay was lifted. He was wise in doing so, because the plane left by 2:05pm. A quick flight, we landed by 3:30pm, not too far off of our original time. The only hang up was waiting and waiting for our luggage. That was delayed now. Ken was there, patiently waiting outside. Luckily, his company has a job there and he wore his badge in order to keep his parking spot. Would you believe the bags did not start falling out on the turntable until 4:30pm? The other passengers were getting pretty hot with anger by then.

 

We quickly loaded up, and were heading home……slowly. It was Friday evening, and there was traffic with a capital T. Deciding on bypassing the Bay Bridge, we went the way of the San Mateo Bridge to get to the East Bay and Clayton. Yeah, it took two hours, but at least we were moving, and not bumper-to-bumper crawling.

 

Got home finally before 7pm, and it was sweet-sweet-sweet! We have our work cut out for us, since there are weeds, small tree limbs down from the recent winds, spider webs, etc., etc. etc. Well, it will give us something to do.

 

By the way, our five pieces of Fed Ex luggage was supposed to be delivered today. They did make an attempt, but left a note saying they needed to have a signature to leave them with no one home. Don’t remember that we were told that on the ship when we got our labels. Anyway, we will sign the note, and hope it gets delivered tomorrow.

 

Once we get back to real life, we shall be back with our humble comments on both cruises. It was quite a trip, and we were glad to share it with all of you. So stay tuned…….

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[regnig]

It had to be good to sleep in your own bed after such a long day. I look forward to reading your summary of both cruises.

[whogo]

Your regular reports have been a joy these many months. Thanks.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I am sure you are glad to be home. Thanks so much for informing all of us of your travels. Each day I look forward to reading about your adventures. When will we hear from you again? I believe I saw WCB on the roll call for the fall Amsterdam South Pacific cruise. Is that correct?

[ger_77]

Welcome Home! I'm sure you enjoyed your travels, but coming back to the familiarity of your house and yard must give you a good feeling. Thank you again for your generosity of time and talent, bringing us along with you through your writing.

 

Till next time . . . .

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[Fred321]

Bill and Mary Ann ,thanks for all the time you spend on these postings. It was great seeing you again on this year's World Cruise and then following your comments on the second cruise home. Hope we have the chance to travel with you again. We can always use a reliable pizza scout.

 

Rich and Peg

[Oahucruiser]

Sensational reporting all the way through. Love that you take the time each year to give so much detail. Can't wait for your next one! Thank you, thank you!

[scopewest]

I have enjoyed your reports, and thanks for reporting on your Disney cruise through the canal. From your reports we will be looking at taking a cruise on one of their ships in the future. Amazing how people can read the same review and decide yes, it's for me or no, I won't go. Looking forward to your next trip reviews.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Your daily reports have been wonderful as usual. Thanks for the considerable work it must have required. You have helped me through a period when I could only be an armchair traveler. Now its time for my own adventures again but now solo and sadly since my wife has passed on.

[josumello]

More thanks for sharing your adventures with us. I will miss my daily fix!! Look forward to your next years report.

Welcome home....

 

Sue

[p0240]

Thank you so much, have really enjoyed reading your travels and helpful hints as I plan a cruise for next year.

Enjoy the comforts of your home as you also plan your next adventure.

take care always

Pat:):)

[Folk Singer]

Thank you so very much.

[Traveling Dot]

Thank you for taking us along on your World Cruise. I look forward to reading each and every post you make. Reading them helps me get through the winter, can't wait for our next adventure.:)

[WCB]

Report # 138 Final thoughts on the 2015 Grand World Voyage & The Disney Wonder Panama Canal Sailing May 21, 2015 Thursday

 

Well, here we are, almost home a week, and will probably never be through putting stuff away at the rate we’re going. Most everything survived the shipping home, except for one wheel torn off a brand new duffel bag. HAL has graciously promised to replace the bag with a check in the mail. Perhaps taking out the extra $25. fee for additional insurance did help with that instant decision on their part. One small detail we might have missed was that our shipped bags had to have a signature to be delivered, although we had been told they did not need one. So the day we got home, May 15th, a note from Fed Ex was on our door, saying to sign it, and they would return the next day to deliver all 5 bags. Luckily, as we may have already mentioned, we came home just as the driver was about to leave with our stuff still in the truck. All is well that ends well………..with our help, they got our rather large bags off, and they were happily on their way.

 

This was a cruise to remember for many positive reasons. Finally reaching the exclusive membership in the President’s Club was a thrill, since it seemed to be forever in arriving…..that magic number of 1400 pure sea days. Believe us, it is well worth striving for, since the recognition goes well-rewarded. We doubt we will be looking at different cruise lines to spend our days sailing in the future. In hind sight, especially Disney. Not that it was bad, it was different. But more about that later.

 

For better or worse, we kept a list of changes that HAL has made over the last five to ten years. We don’t like change, but this is how we see it. And not only us, but many of our friends who are seasoned travelers.

 

The biggest deletion we noticed was dropping the “complimentary” airfare for the 2010 Grand Voyages, and every year since then. That was big. We had hoped the cruise fare would have reflected this by a lower price, but they didn’t.

 

On a much smaller scale, we all got reduced-sized facial tissues, very cheap TP, and no more glycerin soap bars. Can’t figure out the savings for HAL, since it takes double of the products to equal the normal size tissues and TP. The regular soap is still there.

 

This year, the jam, jelly, and honey jars were gone for the dining room breakfast. Only the folks on deck seven still get those on the starboard side of the lower dining room at breakfast time. We get the sticky foil packets. However, Pandi did give those of us who mentioned it, several jars on our tables daily.

 

We heard more complaints about the tea bags in the dining room and the Lido. They switched to a different brand, and most everyone reported using two bags instead of one. Even then, it tasted bad. Many of our friends bought tea in the ports along the way.

 

There were definitely fewer formal nights. We have gotten mixed feelings about that from everyone. Some like it more casual, others like the way it used to be. That is, on a 100 day cruise, there would be 25 formal nights, 25 semi-formal nights, and the rest casual or theme nights. Semi-formal bit the dust a long time ago, using the excuse that people did not want to pack that many suitcases, due to flying restrictions. We are afraid that formal may be a thing of the past, and we would be disappointed to see that happen. It has set HAL apart from the way-too-casual atmosphere on many lines nowadays.

 

The dining room decorations for the formal evenings really took a downfall this year. The biggest holiday that was missed was Chinese New Year. That was always a special night in the dining room, with it decorated to the hilt. This year, they chose to put the Chinese lanterns in the Lido, where you had to bend over to avoid getting hit in the head by them. The only place to get Chinese food that night was in the Lido. They did eventually have an Oriental night with minimal decorations, but they missed the correct date. As for the other theme nights, decorations at times resembled flags you would see flying at a gas station grand opening. No kidding. Of course, one thing for sure…….few people took these decorations this year, like they have in previous years. The helium balloons disappeared with the guests, but that did the waiters a favor, since they have to pop each one to throw them away.

 

We got fewer gifts. Maybe that is a good thing. Better to have quality than quantity, as we have been told. It just seemed like we always could expect a little something special on every formal night, but they did not come that way this year. It was hit and miss. One nice thing for us, being new President’s Club members, we did get several complimentary photos of special occasions held for our group.

 

Beginning evening activities during our dinnertime (8pm), was annoying. We have noticed this happening a little at a time a few years ago, but now it is blatant, with balls starting at 9:30pm. No way are we ever out of the dining room that early. Those of our tablemates that skipped dessert to go, found that if they came even a little late, all of the champagne was gone, or a drawing was held already. Not fair.

 

Some other activities began at 9:15pm, such as in the Piano Bar with music trivia. If they were giving out Dam Dollars, or whatever it is called now, many folks left their dinner mates early to go play. This happened about every other night. Sure, that was their decision to make, but it disrupted the entire table. We suggested that this activity should begin during the middle of the early seating, and see how those folks liked it. When we inquired about changing the time to make it better for everyone, we were told it could not be done. The early diners out-numbered the late diners, so therefore, the majority ruled. Bad answer we thought.

 

This followed in the same line as the buy-one-get one-for $1 drinks in a few of the bars at night. To provide that offer for the early seating guests only, in our opinion, was discrimination. Everyone fought that one, and eventually, a second seating offer for the drink special was instated from 6 to 7pm. At least that way, people could go at 6:50pm for instance, and order their two drinks before the time ended. Hurray, score one for us late seaters. We figured that if it generated more customers for the ship, then they might make a better profit anyway. Isn’t that what it is about? Making money? We don’t fault them for that, just make it fair for everyone.

 

Parties in the Crow’s Nest from 9 to 11pm. If you got there late, due to eating dinner at our 8pm time slot, you missed out on the free stuff once again. If you had a table for two, then perhaps you could make it on time to these events.

 

Keeping a detailed diary, we discovered that the TV movies were re-run about every three weeks. It is not set up for a grand voyage of 115 days. Getting into the details of how these movies are purchased for viewing on the ship, we found out that all of it has to be paid for by the company. So that tells us, instead of providing a program that would not repeat itself, it would cost more money. Other ships do have better programming, where you can bring up over 200 movies on demand, no charge. They can be viewed when you want, any time of day you choose. But that would cost money to introduce this system. Maybe someday, or perhaps on their new ships?

 

And the last thing we need are movies with subtitles. We would have a hard time seeing the words on the big screen in the Wajang or the Queens Lounge, let alone the small TV’s in our rooms. If a movie happened to be good with subtitles, we resorted to standing two feet away from the screen in our room to read it.

 

They do have a large number of DVD’s to borrow from the front desk. However, when was the last time these dated movies were checked? Yes, some of the movies are classics, but some are just plain outdated, and need to be removed. The one movie we asked for did not come back to them for two months. We understand that many of the movies are damaged and even stolen, so you can’t order them.

 

One huge disappointment for us was the Microsoft classes offered. The line to get into these classes was unreal. We heard that folks would go 1 to 2 hours early, and sit in chairs down past the library to get into the class. Many of those who did get in, did not have a computer, and were forced to stand on the side lines. We also heard that the same folks went day after day, although these classes repeated themselves. Guess it became a place to sit and talk while waiting in line….. a social meeting place for the lonely (not our words). For that reason, we never were able to participate.

 

On another note, the fairly new Guide to the Destinations booklet is a nice replacement for the single port paper we used to get. However, sometimes the information printed is outdated, or the recommended restaurants have closed or are only opened for dinner. In one port, we found all three restaurants were opened for dinner only at 5pm, when we were leaving at 3pm. Or even more annoying, numbers marked for places to see or eat were not even on the map.

 

We have always said it would be a big help knowing if a port will have a complimentary shuttle to town or to a mall. It would make a difference in whether or not we book a tour. Barbara H has always been as helpful as she can be with going over the entire list of ports with us for an upcoming cruise. As port lecturer, she always seems to know where the taxi unions are fierce, not allowing buses. Most times, we will not know for sure if there is a free transfer until the morning of the port. If it doesn’t pay to take a taxi for a simple lunch, for instance, we will stay onboard, as many of our friends do.

 

Our biggest observation this year, was the cancellation of the 48 hour serving rule, where you cannot touch anything yourself or serve yourself anything in the way of food. We feel this was a huge mistake, because eventually, we ended up with a month of sickness throughout the ship’s population…….guests and crew. You would not believe how many things we saw that was disgusting as far as what folks do without thinking. Personal habits that you may have at home, are not appropriate on a ship. All it takes is a few people to spread the dreaded Noro virus, and lots of folks had it. For over a month. In this case, we feel that HAL has to re-instate the 48 hour serving rule, because they ended up working ten times harder to control the virus. Never, ever, have we seen the crew working overtime, trying to eradicate this bug from every crevice on the ship. Also, using the anti-viral lotion should not be by one’s personal choice. Everyone should be made to use it….no exceptions.

 

We think these are suggestions worth mentioning, and can be remedied if the right people are listening. Eventually, we all win.

 

Are you ready for the Disney review? Ready or not, here it is.

 

Disney has a wonderful product, but in our humble opinion, it is targeted to a specific group of young families with young children. That is the way it should be. It was interesting, sometimes fun, but not exactly a fit for us. There were many pluses, compared to being on an HAL ship, but most of these things were due to the ship’s updated systems.

 

First thing we noticed was at the muster drill, where we were logged in on a handheld computer. Using our room card, our boat commander tapped the card, and we were logged in. We do have to add that these don’t always work according to a comment made by one of the staff members. One good thing, is that no one can hide and not attend the drill, as each card has to be scanned.

 

The room TV had many channels, although some were strictly Disney cartoons and sitcoms. Some were in Spanish as well, but still, we had plenty to choose from. All in all, there were over 50 channels.

 

In an outside room with four beds (one a couch, and one a bunk in the ceiling), we had plenty of drawer space. The desk had two banks of drawers (5 in all), and one shallow drawer in the middle. We had a refrigerator called a beverage cooler, which kept the temperature of 42 degrees. We happened to have a thermometer with us. There was a three shelf cabinet above the refrigerator and TV.

 

The wooden coffee table was well built and heavy….no chance of tipping over. We had another bank of drawers near the closet….5 in total. On each side of the bed were very tiny shelves with a small drawer. They were not night stands as they did not reach the floor. But they had plugs on the wall for charging phones, ipads, or good for our projection clock.

 

The closet had two wooden sliding doors, which unless were velcroed, slid back and forth with the ship’s movement. There were three shelves on one side with a 4 number coded safe on one of the shelves. A shelf ran across the top, which held four lifejackets. We placed these under the bed, to make more room for our stuff.

 

The bed (king ) was high enough to easily put our luggage underneath it. Also, the comfort of the bed was excellent. We had a duvet as well as a blanket. The pillows (4 ), were also new.

 

There was a wall hair dryer in the bathroom with the toilet. This is the kind that gets really hot in your hand after a couple of minutes. We asked for a hand held one, and our room steward kindly brought us a good one. Speaking of the bathroom, we have mixed comments on that. It is separated by a wall. One bathroom has a sink and a toilet, while the other has a sink and a tub/shower. Nice idea, but these rooms are tiny. There was a plug in each one for a razor, or in our case, a night light. The light only worked in the tub/shower room.

 

You would have to look really hard to find any rust on this ship. There were small groups of crew working here and there, but never enough to be disruptive. The ship was extremely well-maintained.

 

The same goes for the constant crew cleaning the outdoor food venues…..the pizza, hot dog, hamburger, ice cream, and fruit outlets. The beverage service area was kept clean as they could keep it with some of the little kids sticking their fingers in the spickets. Speaking of beverage service, we were happy to find juice, soda, water and coffee available 24 hours on deck nine. The water puddles around all of the pools were constantly being mopped or vacuumed, to keep the floors from being slippery.

 

There were mostly new movies shown in the Buena Vista Theater. We counted a total of 22 movies shown in 2 weeks.

 

A huge plus was the photo gallery. All of the pictures could be accessed by computers….many of them. All you had to do was tap your room card, and your photos would pop up on the screen. But only if you had taken a photo posing with the dozen or so of Disney characters for instance. We noticed that everyone that waited in line for pictures had given their room card to the photographer. We figured that these folks were paying for the photos, sight unseen. No, it was simply for the quick ID to find your photos. It was unbelievable how many photos were sold on this trip. Cheap? They were not, but for all the revenue missed without a casino, they made up for it here. So far, it was the best run photo shop we have ever seen. And no wasted printed photos had to be dumped or incinerated.

 

The laundry room washers and dryers were operated by your room card too. Taking your time reading directions, the detergent and the dryer sheets could be purchased for one dollar each. The washer and dryer were each one dollar as well. These charges went directly to your shipboard account. Easy. They were also opened 24 hours, although not all of the machines were working all of the time.

 

Now, here is where we were on the fence with some things. The number one comment we have concerns the stateroom bathrooms, at least in the outside rooms. The split bathrooms are a fine idea with folks with kids. But they are extremely tight. You had to go all the way in, to close the door. And don’t drop anything on the floor, as you will have a hard time finding it. The tub was about the same size as the Amsterdam’s, but it was shallow. Set up mostly for little kids in mind we think. And for water pressure? There was none, but we did have a broken nozzle. Our nice room steward ordered a new one, and it was done in one hour. The pressure was better, but still not great.

 

Even though the space was tight in the bathrooms, there was plenty of space for our toiletries. There was a narrow glass shelf over the sinks, one corner unit with triangular shelves in one bathroom, and plenty of under-the-sink space in both. Could not hang an over-the-door hook on either bathroom door, as the doors would not close.

 

There was no casino on this ship. We did not miss it, because we never gamble, although many people do enjoy it.

 

As for the TV movies, there were six non-Disney movies. They were repeated daily for the two week cruise. If this trip had been a seven day cruise, you would have had plenty to watch.

 

Finally, the minuses.

 

Checking in at the Miami terminal was a long affair. It seemed like hours before our group was called to board. Oh wait, it was. It was obvious that if you had booked a suite or veranda, you would have gotten priority boarding. And of course, if you were long time Disney clients, you had a nicer place to wait. Only fair.

 

We like music, but not everywhere. No matter where you go……the hallways, the lobby, the outside decks….you have music. All different, and sometimes quite loud. We liked it while on deck ten, sitting in the sun. But not everywhere, all day long.

 

Don’t bother with over-the-door hooks as they do not work on these doors. But, then, if you are not a long trip, you probably don’t need them. Would have been nice to hang a small jewelry bag though.

 

There was not one dinner that we found not to be noisy. Even in three different dining rooms, it never got better. Getting to know our tablemates (all nice folks) was almost impossible. If you had hearing problems, forget about it. The dining rooms are set up for large families or group up to twelve. Too many banquet tables made the rooms look like a huge cafeteria.

 

Our waiters were great, but did things differently than we are used to. For instance, our plates were removed too quickly. The bread bowl, butter, and our small plates were taken away mid meal. Most days, our knives and forks were taken off of our salad plates, and put on our bread plate for the following course……soiled. We have never seen this done on any ship before. No, we did not suffer because of it, just thought it was tacky. A pattern began to appear every night, where the ceiling lights flashed or dimmed, to signal something to the waiters. We figured it was time to begin clearing plates, and hand out the dessert menu. On a few occasions, there was a parade or Mickey was coming to visit, where they needed to rush us through dinner to make time for the event.

 

There were three banks of elevators, which were all under-sized. Saying they would hold 12 or more people was a stretch of the imagination. Twelve little kids maybe……not the typical-sized passengers on this cruise. The mid ship elevators took the longest to arrive, since many kids were playing in them without their parents around. One day, a group of pre-teens were laying in the elevator blocking anyone from using it. Kids will be kids, especially when there is no supervision.

 

The room stewards still work off of carts in the hallway. HAL has discontinued this many years ago. If people left trays of room service food in the hallway, it became difficult to walk back and forth to your room. Don’t know what the policy is for room service trays, but putting it in the hallway is not the best idea. We never ordered any food in our room on this trip.

 

We inquired about getting a portable fan for our room, but were told that they do not have them. If we had an odor problem, we could have gotten an air freshener unit. By the way, there is no smoking allowed in the rooms or on the verandas.

 

There is no library, and no DVD players in the rooms. And naturally, there are no DVD loaner movies.

 

During the movies shown in the Buena Vista Theater, there is no free popcorn. You have to buy it at a snack shop outside the theater. Bags of cheddar cheese or caramel popcorn are sold in the shops starting at $4.95 a bag.

 

There is no free access to the Disney website onboard. You cannot access future cruises or any Disney information, unless you go online and pay for it.

 

So that’s about it. As always, the trip went by quickly, and enjoy it as we did, it is always great to be back home. We shall have tons to talk about until the next one…….God-willing, in late September.

 

Until then, thanks for coming along with us. It’s been fun…………….

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[KNOT2L82SAIL]

Bill and Mary Ann...

Thank you so much for all of the time and effort you put into this blog.

I so wish someday I could do this, but that is not going to happen. SO instead, I live vicariously through you.

And welcome home.

[Ineke]

Thank you so much for all your faithful keeping up with your daily posts. Reading them became a daily pleasure to look forward to after getting home from work. It is truly appreciated!

[theloo]

Thank you very much for you review. It's sort of a long-term dream to do an entire world cruise. Maybe someday.

[brownblonde]

I have been following your blogs for several years now, have enjoyed them and asked questions at times and did get some answers.

I think last year when your son posted the pictures it added so much more to your blogs. I know that was work for him, but can you do it yourself as you post?

I felt bad as I had computer connection problems this winter while spending 3 months there so did miss some writings and not reading on a regular basis it just isn't the same for me to go back and then also try to read the present postings.

Thank you and I to feel like you so many things are changing in the cruising program. I look for the formal nites to go, I think that is part of cruising. We are Elite with Princess and will be cruising to the South Pacific in Oct. and I bet we will see changes, our last was 2012. Been doing Royal Caribbean for several cruises and do like some of their ways. They all seem to do the same just a little bit different. Like cleaning the hands,they stand outside the Lido or dining rooms and squirt it on for you.

They don't do the cleaning carts in the hallways either. What upsets me the most is in cabin dining why do you have to set dirty trays and dishes in the hall. They will come in and clean it up. Seems sometimes it sits overnite or all afternoon till they make up the rooms at nite.

 

All the changes one thing the price like anything you get less and pay more.

 

Don't work to hard and hope you enjoy planning the next cruise.

[durangoscots]

Re shipping luggage home. I too was told that no signature was required and I had to detour to California to pick up my dogs and then drive back to Colorado. The luggage beat me home (and that was with me asking for a shipping delay) but fortunately for me my neighbors spotted the second delivery attempt and they signed for it and then got my keys from another neighbor and dragged the luggage into the condo. Will have to keep all this in mind next time.

 

Susan