First time Disney Cruise..

[sassy~one]

PC May 6th Miami - LA

 

2 'Mature' ladies. : )

 

What is not to be missed?

Will there be a ton of kids?

 

We booked a Guar/with restrictions. Its an OV. Could we get an upgrade?

How is the food?

 

How are the pools?

Are there any 'secrets' that you can share with me.

 

Thanks

[sassy~one]

Also, Miami Hotel? thanks

[Shmoo here]

PC May 6th Miami - LA

 

2 'Mature' ladies. : )

 

What is not to be missed?

Will there be a ton of kids?

 

We booked a Guar/with restrictions. Its an OV. Could we get an upgrade?

How is the food?

 

How are the pools?

Are there any 'secrets' that you can share with me.

 

Thanks

 

Personally, I recommend the Palo brunch. It's only served on sea days, and don't eat breakfast beforehand.

 

Since the cruise is during schooltime, the kid count will be low. When we did the PC in 2008, I think there were only abou 600 kids onboard.

 

Booking a OGT mean that DCL can assign you to any oceanview room. It's possible that you may get a verandah, but most likely will be an oceanview.

 

Food is quite subjective on all cruiselines. I think, considering that they are basically preparing banquet-style food, the food onboard is quite good. However, there are some misses. If you don't like what you ordered, ask for something else, the servers love to bring out more food!

 

As with most cruiselines, the pools onboard are small. There is an adult-only pools (Quiet Cove). And the adult only venues are policed well.

 

My #1 tip for cruising DCL is "don't try to do everything, you can't". Seriously, there are tons of things to do onboard. We've done 67 nights on our various DCL cruises, and still haven't done everything.

 

I guess you'll have to update your signature if you're doing the PC in May on DCL.

 

:)

[rcheltrvel]

Just wanted to give some advice. Just got back today from a week on the Fantasy. It was amazing. My husband and I were talking about how we would go back on this ship by ourselves (in theory anyway, our daughter would never allow it). Here are my thoughts, tips, etc...

 

STAY AWAY FROM THE KIDS POOL AREAS. It's loud and horribly crowded and we went jan 12th - 19th and I honestly have no idea how all these parents are able to take their kids out of school. It was jammed with kids. The kid pool area, main part of deck 11, I would just avoid at all costs and you will be great.

 

Buy the passes to the Rainforest, totally worth it. Go there everyday just to relax, it's beautiful and really peaceful.

 

The lounge chairs upstairs in the adult area of the deck have cushions, the others don't so just stay in that area.

 

The indoor coffee bar by the adult pool/bar is great. Good place to go online as well, I heard that have great special coffee drinks as well.

 

Eat at Palo and Remy and do a brunch as well. All great, Remy is AMAZINg and worth the extra $75.

 

Have a drink at Ooh La La, it's so beautiful.

 

Listen to great live music in the Le Piazza.

 

Play Bingo. We didn't do the wine tastings or the mixology class, heard they were great but they were all sold out.

 

Go to all the fun game shows for adults in the Tube, they are SO fun!

 

Do a detective mission, they are really fun for anyone.

 

If you want to miss shows, I would not miss Aladdin, Believe and wishes. The 1st night and last night were just typical cruise type performances. The other three I mentioned are incredible, like seeing real Disney broadway shows. Buckets and Boards was slightly entertaining but they weren't my favorite.

 

If there is a comedian/magician on the ship called 'magic Dave' go see every single show he does or is involved in, he is hysterical! The adult show he does one night is probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen. He is the BEST!

 

Rent a bike on Castaway Cay. Also, go to the adult only beach on Castaway. The ice cream is also better on Castaway then on the ship, don't miss it. The ribs on the island buffet are also the best. The BBQ chicken is also very good.

[rcheltrvel]

Overall, the food is excellent. i have been pn many different lines and like Disney the best so far for food. Stay away from the bacon, it's microwaved. Go for the sausage links, much better. Also, on the night they have the cookie Sunday for the kids, get it yourself, it is so good.

 

See a movie, it's a real theater, they were even playing Current adult movies.

 

Don't waste your time looking at photos of yourself everyday that they take, just swipe your card at the kiosk on the last day and look through them all and buy from there, so much easier.

 

Free Internet in Starbucks in San Jan old city. Also, in St. Thomas, within walking distance of the port there is a great organic type coffee bar with great sandwiches and salads and unlimited Internet for $5 if you are eating. The food is excellent.

 

Surprisingly the nightlife on this ship is better then many other cruise ships I have been on. I have been on Royal, Costa, Norweigan, Princess, and Carnival. Take Carnival out of the mix and this was the best cruise for adult nightlife. Not crazy but a lot of fun. Way more drinkers then I expected with the amount of kids on the boat. But I think the kids club has a lot to do with that. Parents kind of come to also be able to do their own thing while their children are safe and being babysat till midnight.

[Modern_Viking]

Since your cruise is on the Disney Wonder, many of these suggestions are not relevant to you since they are only on the Disney Fantasy (or sometimes on the Disney Dream as well):

 

The following may be relevant to you:

 

The indoor coffee bar by the adult pool/bar is great. Good place to go online as well, I heard that have great special coffee drinks as well.

 

Eat at Palo [dinner and/or sea day brunch].

 

Play Bingo. We didn't do the wine tastings or the mixology class, heard they were great but they were all sold out.

 

Go to all the fun game shows for adults in [WaveBands], they are SO fun!

 

[Disney evening shows are Toy Story, The Golden Mickeys, and Disney Dreams.]

 

If there is a comedian/magician on the ship called 'magic Dave' go see every single show he does or is involved in, he is hysterical! The adult show he does one night is probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen. He is the BEST!

 

See a movie, it's a real theater, they were even playing Current adult movies.

 

Rent a bike on Castaway Cay. Also, go to the adult only beach on Castaway. The ice cream is also better on Castaway then on the ship, don't miss it. The ribs on the island buffet are also the best. The BBQ chicken is also very good.

 

not relevant to you:

STAY AWAY FROM THE KIDS POOL AREAS. It's loud and horribly crowded and we went jan 12th - 19th and I honestly have no idea how all these parents are able to take their kids out of school. It was jammed with kids. The kid pool area, main part of deck 11, I would just avoid at all costs and you will be great.

 

Buy the passes to the Rainforest, totally worth it. Go there everyday just to relax, it's beautiful and really peaceful.

 

The lounge chairs upstairs in the adult area of the deck have cushions, the others don't so just stay in that area.

 

Eat at Remy and do a brunch as well. All great, Remy is AMAZINg and worth the extra $75.

 

Have a drink at Ooh La La, it's so beautiful.

 

Listen to great live music in the Le Piazza.

 

Do a detective mission, they are really fun for anyone.

 

If you want to miss shows, I would not miss Aladdin, Believe and wishes. The other three I mentioned are incredible, like seeing real Disney broadway shows. Buckets and Boards was slightly entertaining but they weren't my favorite.

 

Free Internet in Starbucks in San Jan old city. Also, in St. Thomas, within walking distance of the port there is a great organic type coffee bar with great sandwiches and salads and unlimited Internet for $5 if you are eating. The food is excellent.

 

[sassy~one]

Thanks so much. IM excited

[Shmoo here]

A little more info. The shows on the Wonder are The Golden Mickeys, Toy Story, and Disney's Dreams. Since you're a first time DCL cruiser, I'd suggest seeing them all. As with the Fantasy the Welcome Aboard Show (1st night) and the Remember the Magic (last night) are DCL themed shows. They both do a little story (Welcome Aboard - what's fun you're going to have; and Remember the Magic - what fun you had while onboard) with a little break showcasing one or two of the individual performers onboard.

 

There isn't a library onboard, so if reading is important to you, you should bring along what you're interested in. The Cove Cafe does have some newspapers and magazines (mostly left by previous cruisers) and and few books. The snacks in the Cove Cafe are included in the cruise fare, but coffee/drinks you pay for.

 

There's a 24/7 drink station located on the pool deck. They have coke products and Hi-C Fruit Punch & Lemonade. And coffee, tea (assorted hot & cold), hot chocolate, water is also available there.

 

All the above drinks are included in your cruisefare from the drink station, and at meals. Sodas from poolside servers, lounges, outside theatres, and room service have a charge.

 

If you are interested in the tastings (varies - beer, wine, champagne, mohitos, and more), you should check into those fairly quickly once onboard at Guest Services.

 

:)

[Casey12]

We have booked our first cruise with Disney also. Excited.

[bethc1952]

My husband and I were on the PC LA-Miami last month, and had a wonderful time. There weren't many kids on board,and they were kept busy in their own areas.

 

We completely enjoyed the pre-canal talks each sea day, and they really helped with appreciating the canal transit. It was so much more interesting than we had expected.

 

The Cove Cafe at the adult pool, and the Outlook above it are wonderful places to relax on those very hot, tropical afternoons.

 

Each night's menu was different, and the food was quite good.

 

You'll have a wonderful and very memorable vacation.

 

Beth

[cyclenut]

My wife and I were on the Wonder in September by ourselves and really enjoyed the upper level of the Cove Cafe. Great views of the ocean and the adult pool below. Very quiet.

 

I know it may sound a little strange to spend time at the movies during a cruise but it really is nice to go to the theater and see a good movie without having to shell out a bundle of extra money.

 

Kids were in school at that time and we were surprised at how many there were, but it was clearly less than during the summer months. Still, we were surprised.

 

The shows on Disney are good, but when we were on the Wonder in Alaska our entire family hurried to watch Toy Story and were hugely disappointed. During our September cruise this year we skipped most of the shows but still watched Dreams. I expected more from Disney than what we saw. Good show but having just been on the Freedom in June the live orchestra was noticeable absent. Some of the vocals during Dreams were obviously using a sweetener track, which surprised me. I know it goes on, but I was surprised at how obvious it was. Wife and daughter just got back from the Dream to the Bahamas a few days ago and they told me the shows there were much better than on the Wonder. Still worth going to though.

 

In all I think you will find plenty to do as adults on the Disney cruise as long as you remember that the line is geared toward families and as such a good portion of the ship and the shows are also geared toward families.

[Musclengrace]

How do I update my signature?

[Shmoo here]

How do I update my signature?

 

At the top of the page on the far left side "User CP"

 

:)

[theotherchad]

I'm tagging along on this thread, but am a soon to be first time Disney cruiser along with my wife, who loves Mickey and the gang way more than a grown woman should. :):D

Thanks to all for the answers to the same questions I had. We're hoping the dance club nightlife will be bumpin' as we've been a bit disappointed on some of the 7 night cruises we've taken where the club was almost empty unless we rounded up a bunch of people and took them down there.

I'm counting on the conventional wisdom that the shorter the cruise, the younger the average age onboard, and thus, the more dancing going on. We're in our late forties, but we don't act it. We like to shut down the club every night! :)