How I revealed our Christmas Cruise...on the way to airport...It Worked!! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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How I revealed our Christmas Cruise...on the way to airport...It Worked!!
I thought I would share my brief story of revealing the DCL cruise to my kids. We did our first DCl on Dec 22, 2011. I really thought 13yo DD was onto me....not guessing a cruise, but I thought she suspected something was up. hee hee hee.....she never suspected, as it turns out! She is more of an introvert, so a big response was never going to happen.
We put a note in the advent calendar directing the kids to look for a note in the tree. When they found the note, it said "You will not be going to school today, but you will go somewhere with mom and dad." At this point they were thinkin Zoo or Museum Center or Aquarium (a half day experience, typically).
We drove to the long term lot at the airport. My 5 yoDD is just going with flow, my 13yo DD say "umm....why are we here?" So a conversation ensues about travelling and trying to guess where we would be going....we load our suitcases into the shuttle and continue the conversation. She is trying to hide her interest, but is guessing Chicago, beach in Maryland (where we go most summers but would never want to be in Dec), Florida (Universal Studios)...etc.
Here's where our Disney inexperience shows up. I tell her to look at the luggage there is a clue (we have disney Magical express tags on the luggage which have the Mickey icon on them). She say "I can't read it from here" I tell her to just look at them, there is a picture clue on them. She looks again and doesn't say anything for a minute, then says "Umm......a....bunny?" No, I did not laugh out loud, but it does make me chuckle every time I remember her face as she was saying it. I said "Well, maybe you can't see it so well from where you are sitting, but it is really iconic...." At this point, she adjusts her angle and then says "Oh, Mickey Mouse....we're going to Florida?"
Once at the Disney resort we went to the Flying Fish cafe for dinner (very good) and then gave them a little booklet I had quickly put together to reveal the cruise the next day. Both girls were all smiles at this point!
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Thanks for thh good wishes. The cruise was really fun, and being over the holidays, it was really packed - sold-out I think. The Dream is big, beautiful and clean. So much to look at and to see. Unfortunately, so much to see that as I was walking down the stairs early the first morning, I stepped a bit too far while looking at something on the wall and rolled my ankle really terribly. I fell - ouch- and noone was around (it was 5am). I had to get myself back up, hobble to a chair on deck to sit for a bit. On the plus side, nothing snapped or cracked (and the x-ray after the trip confirmed no break). Also, the customer service desk was helpful for the remainder of the cruise providing me with ice packs, ace wraps and ibuprofen (as I quickly went through my personal supply I brought with me). It was amazing the colors my foot and ankle turned over the next few days.
We loved the weather, even getting rained on for 20 minutes while bike riding on Castaway Cay. We walked around Nassau for a bit, then returned to the ship. Our 5yo visited the kids club at open house and one other day, and enjoyed it. The 13yo took every opportunity to go to the kids club, where we were not allowed.
The Food: Overall, great. I have to eat gluten-free, but the rest of the family is fine with everything. I had the best experience at Cabanas and the pizza and quick serve on the pool deck. The dining room left many things to be desired, but i think this was partly due to the packed ship - a few too many people for the staff to serve well. We had 2nd seating, which was fine with the kids, but 5yo was asleep 2 nights by the time dinner ended. My GF eating experience was made so-so by the head server who was interested in only serving me what was easy (think chicken breast and steamed veggies) and actually served me the exact same dessert every single night, but gave it a new name - I did not eat it the last couple of nights as it was good, but not great, and a bit boring 4 nights in a row.
Pictures and stuff: glad we stood in several lines that moved quickly. The pictures that shutters took turned out great. The Princess meet and greet was unique and worth the wait - each person gets to go up to 6 different princesses on their own, talk with them and get pictures. My 5yo talked with all of them and they were all "in character" with their gestures and what they talked about. DD had a lengthy conversation with Ariel about the bunk beds in the cabins and Ariel explained all about sleeping in clam shells at the bottom of the ocean, while Tiana and DD discussed Christmas and the tree decorations and Belle asked DD all about her time on the ship, and all about Christmas. The princesses were very sweet to all the little girls. We did pass a Marine in his dress uniform going to get his pictures with the princesses - he said that was what his mom requested for Christmas - I'm sure he looked handsome with all of them.
Cast Members: Main dining room servers were ok. I think a bit inexperienced coupled with a packed ship made for a less than typical experience. Room steward: Nice and friendly, and did a good job, but nothing extra. Disney has high standards, so I am not complaining, and the room was really very nice (regular family room with balcony, not the extended room, but we were mid ship 8th deck). Guest Services: excellent, what can I say? they supplied me with the basics for an injured ankle and I was very appreciative, and they answered all my other questions with a smile and courtesy. around the ship CM's: we met two in particular and saw them a few times. They were so enthusiastic each time they saw us and 5yo DD. We ended up sending them a thank you card via the guest services desk on the last night. They sent us autographed pictures of all the princesses and the classic characters with a nice note - Wow! that was very sweet and a nice surprise! Other CM's we met here and there were very courteous.
Tipping, for those interested. While we didn't think the dining servers lived up to all of our expectations, we did tip everyone the expected amount plus 15-25% extra. Our last night was Christmas Day, so we were not going to be anything but generous. Also, we tipped in cash and used the envelopes they provided. I did write the wrong names on two envelopes, so if it happens to you...they have extras near the Guest Services desk.
Overall, I would rather try out a 7-day cruise as there was waaaay too much to do in 4 days. I did book another cruise (a 7-day) for 2013, but will likely change it to another date.
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