Jedi Jason

Day four brought us the Grand Cayman which is a port that you tender into since their is not a pier that can accommodate the cruise ships due to shallow water or a reef that prevents the ships from getting to the island. Disney partners with a local company that provides the tendering service which has dedicated tender boats specifically for Disney guests and not the other ships also. There are boats that take a few or several hundred people at a time ashore. There were some windy conditions that caused our ship to arrive about an hour or more later than scheduled with an already mid to late morning scheduled time. This resulted in everyone trying to exit the ship at the same time and wait times of up to an hour. This impacted our plans for the day. Earlier in the morning we had a scheduled and reserved princess meet and greet with Cinderella, Belle Ariel and Tiana. Between my wife’s headache and the late arrival time we canceled our planned outing. We had not booked an excursion but planned on getting a taxi and going to the Turtle farm attraction. So, instead I took the kids ashore and we wandered around a little and found some souvenirs. We made it back in time for a late lunch being careful to not eat too much because my wife and I had a reservation at Remy which is the premier specialty dining option.

Dinner was at the third restaurant in our rotation, Enchanted Garden. I liked the theming the best in this restaurant as it had a great garden feel including a fountain in the center of the dining room and Lightbulb flowers that opened up after sunset which was during our main seating time. There were some cool looking booths for small parties. I thought the menu was a little more mainstream in this venue compared to the Royal court which was more French gourmet. Apparently there is Pirate themed menus but because we had a Star Wars Day at sea we had a themed dinner that night instead. Pirate’s Night encourages you to explore the Pirates life. Pirate bandannas were provided to each guest and you were encouraged to wear pirate themed clothing or full pirate costumes that evening around the ship including to dinner. There was an evening show up on the pool deck after both dinner seatings. They are able to cover the pools providing more deck space to gather for the festivities. There are some pirate songs and Captain Jack Sparrow makes an appearance. Fireworks complete the pirate themed activities. We skipped the evening entertainment which was an illusionist with some comedy. I had a chance to see a preview of his show on the first night during the evening entertainment. He was good but we took time to get photos in our costumes instead.

Our first port was Cozumel and we had booked day passes for El Cozumeleno resort. Breakfast was available at the resort so we opted to leave the ship as early as we were cleared which was around 8:30 to be at the resort around 9:00 for breakfast. The Disney ships go to a pier much closer than other lines like Royal Caribbean and within easy walking distance of the main shopping area. The most annoying thing is being forced to walk through the entire shopping area at the port due to an escalator that would’ve avoided all of it was not working and it was barricaded preventing you from walking down it. The kids got the obligatory picture in front of the Cozumel sign. The taxi fare to get to the resort was $16 each way. We checked in for our day and got our day pass armbands. We enjoyed breakfast in the restaurant just off the lobby. We ordered off a menu and there were a few buffet items as well. In retrospect we should have claimed a spot first and then had breakfast. Chair hogs on the ship had nothing on the resort guests and it was 10:00 by the time we finished breakfast. We managed to find a couple of loungers but they were in full sun so we eventually moved them when the cloud cover disappeared. My wife and daughter enjoyed the from shore snorkeling that was included. They saw quite a few fish and rays. The mini golf course carpet was being replaced and some of holes were near impossible especially on concrete. They did enjoy the giant chessboard with the pieces on wheels. Overall, the kids complained about the resort. Maybe it was the food not being especially kid friendly or what they were familiar with. There is a lack of a sandy beach here too with much of it being shelly except for the areas with chairs which was towards one end and crowded. We went into the more casual restaurant for Lunch and got some food from the menu and the buffet. I enjoyed the Mexican cuisine but the kids weren’t thrilled again with the more familiar food like cheese pizza. in summary of the resort it was just OK due to my kids not being happy with it. I think I will probably try something with a better and larger beach area or a reserved area for each family like Maya Chan in Costa Maya. Does anyone know if Nachi Cocum fit that description? We left a little earlier then needed to get back in time for Pirate night and to get ready for dinner. The struggles of having your kids in another room were trying to get them showered and dressed for dinner. Their room was in the same deck and side of the ship but about half the ship away. They stayed with our niece in an inside room with a virtual port hole. We were in a balcony room that adjoined to my wife’s sister and husband. Dinner was in Enchanted Garden. More about dinner and Pirate night in another post.

The next morning we had a sea day so we decided to stay on the ship. Exploring the rest of the ship was one of the things we did today. We had a late morning character breakfast in Animators Palate which is one of the main dining venues for dinner. They have quite a few video screens and various colors of lighting that can really change the venue’s appearance. The breakfast had a Disney Junior theme to it with appearances by Vamperina, Fancy Nancy, Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse. They made rounds to each of the tables stopping for autographs and picture opportunities. The food was mostly kid friendly but there were some things for adults or kids at heart. We made it out to the pools since the kids wanted to go on the aquaduck water slide. It’s a two person innertube slide that is mostly a clear tube with two spots in which you are propelled up an incline by rushing water and rollers. It was still not that warm outside due to the cool Florida weather and a steady strong breeze which caused them to restrict any single riders from using the slide. The kids briefly went in the pools too. They have a toddler friendly Mickey Mouse shaped pool which was fairly shallow and a deeper Donald Duck regular shaped pool. Later, we found ourselves back in the same restaurant for a character meet and greet that required reservations. We got to meet Anna and Elsa from the Frozen movie. We ended up here a third time today for our first dinner in Animators Palate and it was a Nemo themed with Crush going around to the different monitors to interact with the guests. We weren’t seated close to any of them so we didn’t get any interaction but you could see and hear others experience. Nearly all tables were clearly intended to be oriented towards one of the monitors. I’ll include some menu photos. By the way, Mickey premium Ice Cream Bars were on the kids menu for dessert but were a We skipped the evening entertainment which was apparently a regular on the Fantasy. I don’t recall his name but it was part comedy but mostly singing. I’d seen a preview during the first night’s show and it was enjoyable but we had planned a full day at a resort in Cozumel the next day and wanted to get the kids to bed a little earlier.

The sail away party was in typical Disney style, family friendly with the classic characters leading the fun including a count down to sail away and the unique horn song “When You Wish Upon a Star”. Disney uses rotational dining for dinner in the main dining room. That involves going to one of three different restaurants in which you are assigned to go to a specific restaurant each night and your same wait staff accompanies you each night at the same table number in each of the restaurants. Each restaurant has a unique theme and our first night we went to Royal Court. It was supposed to be like eating in the palace of one of the Disney princess dining hall. There was some mosaics of different princess stories on the walls including Cinderella and Belle. The bread baskets were a royal carriage. The cake was purchased in advance and they brought it out for his Birthday and sang Happy Birthday and served it for us. I don’t have many pictures of this dining room because another large party was seated adjacent to us which blocked the ideal photo area and my wife and I went to a specialty restaurant on the other night we were assigned to go here. The evening entertainment was a good introduction to DCL and a preview of the week to come and part entertainment including the characters and some of the singers and dancers and guest entertainment from the shows. It doesn’t have a high repeat value. Our cruise director, Lesley Dallas was a refreshing change to have a female CD but she liked to promote what seemed like nearly activity happening which made for some tremendously long post show and overhead announcements. it was a very exciting first day. We finally got a chance to experience our first day on DCL and it did not disappoint. I plan to post more as I can.

I really enjoyed our 14 night Mediterranean cruise round trip from Barcelona. It had stops mostly in Italy including overnights at Rome and Venice. It was on Brilliance of the Seas. My wife and I took this trip before having kids. We were seated with two other couples at dinner. One couple was from The Uk and the other from Spain. We even coordinated our trips to specialty restaurants together.

Boarding day especially on a new ship is typically full of exploration and this day was no exception since it was both a new cruise line and a new ship for us. We boarded the ship with them announcing our family name with crew members applauding as we boarded the ship on deck 3 which is one of the main levels and you step into a three level atrium. Since this cruise had Star Wars day at sea theming there were some related photo opportunities immediately after boarding. So what’s another line or two since it’s the Disney way. We are very familiar with being in a queue since we are annual passholders. So we did some exploring mostly indoors because the weather was the coolest I have ever experienced on a cruise day in Florida. The morning low was in the lower 40s and it was only in the lower 50s by now. One of our first stops was guest services to get registered for character meet and greets we weren’t able to secure a nonconflicting time. It wasn’t too long and we found ourselves at Cabanas, the buffet restaurant. The welcoming lunch was perhaps the best buffet meal of the week. More about the buffet later. Then we went to the kids club which they call oceaneers club to have them registered for the week. I will describe it in more detail in a later post including the various hours and activities. They give them Magic bands which they secure it so it can’t be removed. There is a charge for the band but it is credited back to you if you return it by midnight of the last night. We found time for some Goofy golf (mini golf) nine hole course up on the sports deck. It wasn’t long until it was time for the muster drill. Some of us were lucky enough to be seated in the main theater for the drill. After the drill we rushed to the pool deck for the sail away party.

Sorry for the gap in the cruise review but let's get back to it since we all need something other than corona virus news. It has been announced that they have a big construction plan for the Disney terminal at Port Canaveral. When we left the ship our porter was telling us about it starting in June. I hope they have plans to make it a more seamless boarding process with less lines. He did mention that the preferred parking would not be available during the construction but I don't know much about the details of the new terminal. I did find an article that lacked details on the construction enhancements but it did indicate that Disney would be using terminal 10 instead of 8 during the months of construction. The link below is to an article about the proposed renovations. I copied and pasted the highlighted changes. https://insidethemagic.net/2019/12/disney-cruise-line-port-canaveral-ba1/ The Project will include construction, renovation and equipping of Cruise Terminal 8 and Cruise Terminal 10, including terminal and berth improvements and a new passenger boarding bridge. The Terminal improvements include a new luggage screening building, renovation of the first and second floor, reconfiguring seating area and check-in counters, and site, access, IT and electrical enhancements. The berth improvements include structural and deck enhancements and mooring fixtures

I'd be most interested in a Celebrity cruise. They tend to offer a little more variety of ports and length of cruises than the big 3 lines. I would be open to trying a new line as well. I don't have anything on the books yet for 2021 just saying.

Well I guess it's best to start at the beginning, embarkation day or maybe even before that in the pre cruise booking of character meet and greets and shore excursions. So, Disney does things a little different as you would expect. Sometimes it's better and sometimes not so much. They don't allow you to book any excursions through them or make any reservations for any onboard activities such as character meet and greets until after final payment. When you can book them is dependent on your loyalty status with the cruise line. We were first timers so we had the lowest priority which means about 75 days prior to the cruise that we were able to make reservations. We made those reservations just after midnight of the first day possible. We got everything we wanted except one character meet and greet. We were able to secure that last reservation on the ship immediately once we boarded. They apparently hold back some of the reservations until cruise day. I found this to be a bit annoying that you can't book these further ahead especially the shore excursions. You also can select your check in time at the port during your online check in. We were able to get a 10:45 time because we were driving to the port. We arrived around that time or maybe closer to 11:00. Upon arriving at the correct terminal there was a bit of a slow moving line. Once we got to the front of the line we were sent to a specific spot where a curb side agent verified our arrival and gave some instructions. Next, we pulled up to the bag drop area where a porter took our luggage and advised us of the parking options, preferred (closer but more expensive) and the garage not much further, cheaper and covered unlike preferred. We found a spot on the third floor which is the floor you enter the terminal. There was another agent that verified our room number again and then there was a security screening. We entered the terminal and we were greeted with a typical Disney queue to check in at a counter. The wait was not too very long but at this point we were in our fifth line already so I was really appreciating Royal Caribbean's expedited arrival and seamless check in process. We were given a boarding group number at the check in counter which had already been called at this point. There was yet another line to meet a Disney character but we were tired of lines and ready to be on the ship so we got in the line to get on the ship. We waited in a line to scan our Key to the World Card and then another line to actually step onto the ship. So, after seven or eight lines I was more than ready to finally step foot onto the ship. This was perhaps Disney's biggest opportunity for improvement. The one thing they do extremely well is make you feel special: They announce your family name as you walk onto the ship and applaud as your step foot onto the ship thus the reason for the last line. I will post more as I have time including plenty of pictures.

I just got off the cruise ship today and it was an amazing experience. I can't wait to share it all with you. Since it was all of our first time on DCL and we had the Star Wars Day at Sea, we chose some different experiences and activities around the ship. We were also traveling with my kids so I spent most of time doing what they wanted instead of what I wanted and as a result I may not have been able to get as many photos and experience as many adult oriented activities but I will do my best to recap the trip. I will probably just go day by day and also give some overall thoughts and observations. My free time is limited between unpacking and work the first part of the week but I will work on eventually sharing my experience.

First of all thanks to @CruiseHabit Bill for the nice compliment during his recent live broadcasts of my Celebrity Equinox Live blog post on the RCB message board. That compliment inspired a cruise recap for this Disney cruise. We booked this cruise over one year ago. The motivation was a few factors. It was originally scheduled to be on my kids Spring Break which has since been pushed back a week from the prior school year so they will miss a week of school and after returning have another week off school for their actual Spring Break. Another reason for picking this was it included a themed sea day with Star Wars activities. Additionally we had a desire to try out a Disney Cruise since we live in the Orlando area and are Disney World passholders, despite the cost of the cruise. My son's Birthday, February 29 was a great excuse to select this cruise since this will be his second legitimate birthday even though he will be eight years old. Since all of this is new I will take lots of pictures and do a recap after I return. There is not an onboard internet plan that is unlimited unless you stay in a suite (concierge class) room. You must purchase a plan with different amounts of data with larger packages being cheaper by the MB but it's a use it or lose it plan and the prices are not good and there are rumors of poor internet speeds. My Equinox blog was all done via my iPhone 7 so hopefully I will do as good or better since I recently upgraded to the iPhone 11. I look forward to sharing it with all of you. The itinerary is a Western Caribbean cruise out of Port Canaveral. It visits Cozumel, Mexico, George Town, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Jamaica and Castaway Cay which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas with the ports in that order. We have plans to go to El Cozumeleno resort for the day in Cozumel. In George Town we are going to the Turtle Farm. In Jamaica we have an excursion to take a raft down the Martha Brae River. No plans at Castaway Cay other than the 5K race and enjoying the island. We booked a verandah room. My Niece who is in her mid 20s and didn't pay for the cruise is with my kids ages 8 on cruise day and 10 for my daughter in a large interior room with a virtual porthole. Her parents (my brother in law and sister in law) are in a verandah that adjoins to our room. We originally booked specific rooms but a month before the final payment deadline a verandah guarantee with restrictions became available that saved almost $1000 for each of the verandah rooms. We got our room assignments about 10 days before the cruise and we got rooms comparable to what we originally booked. Originally we did not have adjoining rooms but we were assigned a room on the same deck as the inside room with my niece and kids that was not too far away. If you have any questions before I go I can try to find out onboard and report back. The only day I expect to have internet is the Cozumel day but I probably won't post much until I get back.

I did a 14 night Mediterranean cruise in the early 2000s so the luggage was included on international flights at that time. I did repeat a lot of my clothes for the dining room. You may want to consider another option which is using the laundry service option on the ship. It's as many clothes as you can fit in the bag for a set price and you get your clothes washed and folded for a price of around $20-30. They also typically run a special on this especially on longer cruises like yours. You may also be able to wear some of your clothes from the daytime to dinner as well since you will be dressing for not the warmest weather.

Thanks for starting this Bill. I hope we get some good Celebrity Cruise discussion going. I enjoy Royal Caribbean for family cruises but my wife and have discovered that we really enjoy cruising Celebrity as a couple.