First time cruise Western Caribbean Disney Magic May 2-9 anyone have advice or going

[AdventureLover67]

Hi!

I'm brand new to both cruising and cruisecritic.com!

I've been researching things to do, cruise etiquette, ports, etc. It's both exciting and overwhelming at the same time! :)

Does anyone have any suggestions for a family of 3, all 18 and over? We are members of Disney Vacation Club and decided to use our points for a cruise May 2-9 '09. Our ports are Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and of course Castaway Cay...I've heard RAVES about this stop!

My biggest concern is my 18 year old daughter may feel a bit out of place and I hope there is at least a small group of 18-21 year olds. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! And I'd also love to hear from anyone else who is going! Thanks in advance!

[mom x4,grandma x4]

the first suggestion I have is to look on the roll call board for Disney. There is a link for it at the top of the page of this forum. Look for your cruise date and post there to meet others on your cruise.

 

That is fun and her 18 year old may find others her age on the thread. If there is no thread for your cruise, feel free to start one.

 

Once your on board the Navigator events newspaper will be waiting in your room. You will get a new one each day. Read it carefully because there is usually a special meet for 18 to 21 year old singles or singles 18 and over on the cruise so they can meet others their own age. This is usually the within the first 24 hours of the cruise.

 

Your daughter can go and enjoy all the adult shows and activities too accept of course she cant drink. The clubs have music and dancing and many CM's are there to dance with people who dont have someone to dance with if she likes to dance. She can also do all the fun family events like Trivia, crafts, go to the movies in the theater, enjoy the Art of Entertaining series. Lounge around the adult pool and hot tubs.

 

there are lots of great excusrions but I dont know what you like to do.

 

all of your ports have snorkeling. KW has some of the best in the world for snorkeling. Everything KW offers is within walking of the ship. The Southern most point is the farthest about 1 mile away.

Google Key West tourism and you'll see a list of things to do there. Besides DCL excursions. It is really easy to explore on your own there.

 

Grand Caymen has beautiful beaches. We did the island tour and saw Hell, a turtle farm, run cake factory and some old shacks that were historical houses. If you go and see the rock formations called Hell, take addresses of friends because they sell funny Post card there and a post office 50 feet away so you can send a post card and have it post marked From Hell.

Its really a cute way to send a card. It may take up to 3 weeks to receive the post cards.

Not much else there I can think of mostly beaches.

 

Cozumel, we have done a jungle hike, a jeep tour both were fun. I woudl google Cozumel tourism because several of their beaches have water toys, water trampolines, smorkeling, mini mayan ruins and things like that to see. I cant remember the name but I have friends who grabbed a taxi to that beach. They only allow 100 or 200 people there at a time,cant remember which one. But they really loved it.

 

The Mayan ruins are awesome. any of those excursions are great.

 

sorry I am not much help but I havnt been in awhile and am not good at remembering names.

 

Be sure and read the tip thread at the top of the page too, it will help yu plan your trip better for the maximum amount of fun.

[AdventureLover67]

Thank you both for your advice! I'm so excited to hear they have a special meet and greet for 18-21 year olds!!

Thank you also for the great input on Grand Caymen and Key West, and also the boards. This site is great!! :)