- Traveling to Galveston was trickier than it needed to be. We opted to rent a car because I had trouble finding car service that was more affordable, plus we had the car seat for Kennedy. I wish Disney would offer transfers the night before. If were to travel to Galveston again, we'd probably opt to do it the same way again but bring less luggage!!!
- The Comfort Suites in Galveston was AWESOME! Clean, quiet, easy to find and only about 15 minutes to the port. They offered a shuttle for just $20 per room (up to 4 people) and had a great breakfast.
- The Check-in process at the port was easy enough. One point I'll make is that we were traveling with our Enhanced Drivers Licences. These licences are used instead of passports for Canada, Mexico and some places in the Bahamas. I brought our Birth Certificates with us just in case, but wasn't asked for them. When we returned to Texas, customs insisted on seeing them. I didn't argue although I know this is an unnecessary step....thankful that I brought them anyway!
- We had a Category 5b, Verandah room, midship on Deck 7. This is probably my favorite stateroom and location. We didn't use the Verandah this time because of the baby BUT I did like having the space to separate her from us. I also love being midship and near the elevators. We didn't find it to be noisey at all and were the perfect location for shows, bars, dinner, the pools....you name it!! Unfortunately for our next cruise we will be staying inside but I really love this room type!
- I must have missed it in my daily blogs, but we did have the opportunity to go to Palo for both brunch and dinner. They were both AMAZING! We aren't big sea food fans so there was less to eat at Brunch but still awesome. Dinner was wonderful. We requested the same server for dinner as we had for brunch, Nicolo. He was AMAZING and told how he'd been with Disney for years and worked his way up to be one of the NINE servers in Palo. He was also engaged to another cast member on the ship. He charming and attentive, but left us alone to have our date night. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
- If you and/or your kids love to meet with the Characters, there is no better place than on a Disney Cruise. There were a few times the lines got a little long, but over the 7 night we had AMPLE time to meet anyone we wanted. Often with little or no wait. One of my favorite moments came when we were waiting for my parents outside of Animators Palette when Chip and Dale came up the stairs. The spent 10 minutes just playing with Kennedy and she LOVED It!! They really made some awesome memories for us!
- The photo's on board the ship are expensive, but for us there were a few really great ones we couldn't pass up. We spent $150 for 10 digital photos that we can print at home.
(See all 10 photos here) - BINGO!! This was one thing we didn't expect to love and I wish I had budget more for it. We had a great time playing BINGO and plan to play even more on our next cruise. It can get pricey, so save your pennies
Things I wish we had done
- Spa!! I didn't take any time this trip to schedule at the spa. I wish I had done at least a pedicure!
- More time for the nightlife! Unfortunately the nursery closes at 11 p.m. and the adult stuff doesn't get going until 10:15/10:45. We had some great nights at Sessions listening to the piano player/singer but we didn't get to do much more than that.
- Go in the ocean! I'm still upset about this one, but with the baby I still don't have an answer. We didn't feel comfortable taking a random taxi and none of Disney's excursions would allow us to take her.
Disappointments
- There were moments where I felt like because it was just the 2 of us and a baby, that we slipped through the cracks. Many of the family events were for older kids, and the adult only stuff was at night when we couldn't go. They had a baby event everyday at 9 in one of the lounges, but the Cast Member literally dumped out a bag of toys and let them have at it. It was good for her to interact and play with other babies, but it wasn't something we all could do.
- Halloween...I'm still a bit upset about this. We got an email from Disney weeks before our trip listing events like a Halloween party, Trick-or-Treating, and a Costume Contest! The Halloween party happened too early for us to get back from our excursion and the Costume Contest was for adults only at 10:15 at night (we weren't nominated).
- Our last cruise was on the Disney Fantasy in March. I remember leaving that ship thinking how amazing the food was. This trip we didn't have the same opinion. The food was ok, but nothing was amazing (besides the Chocolate Chip Cookies from Room Service!!). I was hoping for better but it just didn't happen.
Even with the VERY few disappointments we had, we LOVED this cruise and will continue to cruise with Disney. For our 2013 Alaskan cruise, we knew there were "cheaper" options but the bottom line is Disney does it the best. The number one comment I hear from my husband regarding our cruises, is he gets treated like a King!!
The Cast Members go above and beyond and we felt like we were spending a week with family. From our servers (Andrea and Julia) to the front Desk to the nursery staff....they were all amazing! By the end of the week, everyone knew Kennedy and would say hello to her in the halls. We were even given a "I lost My First Tooth" button...for someday :) At the airport, we ran into a Cast Member who came up and hugged Kennedy like they were life long friends. At Topsiders, when it was just Kennedy and I, cast members were falling over themselves to grab my tray, get us a table and a high chair. At dinner, Andre would actually cut up Kennedy's food and learned what she loved and didn't love. They played games with her, hugged and kissed her.
Honestly the list is endless!! We loved EVERYONE on board the ship and wouldn't hesitate to sail again in a heartbeat. The experience is like nothing you get anywhere else and we'll continue to sail with Disney for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment