May 5 - 8, 2000

by Tim Larison, CLIA Master Cruise Counsellor (MCC)

Editor's note: This is a review of my family's first Disney Cruise and first cruise ever that I wrote in 2000 before I was a travel agent.  This trip got us hooked on cruises and we have taken many since then!

Friday, May 5th

Today was a day we had looked forward to for months - the day we boarded the Disney Magic for the Disney Cruise!

We left Disney's Old Key West resort early to drive to Port Canaveral (around 10 a.m.).  Good thing because we took a wrong turn on the way and ended up at Kennedy Space Center.  We wanted to see Kennedy Space Center, but not until Monday!  This only caused us a 15 minute delay, and we still arrived at the port in plenty of time to board the ship.

We pulled into the parking lot right next to the ship - the Disney Magic was huge!  We paid $21 in cash for the three days of parking.  Dad had concerns beforehand about leaving some luggage in the rental car while on the cruise, but after seeing the secured parking lot he was no longer
concerned.  There was a guard at the entrance to the lot and it was a very safe place to park.

We entered the Disney Cruise terminal and checked in with no wait.  The checkin process was very smooth, and we soon found ourselves on a line at the end of the Cruise Terminal to board the ship.

We boarded the ship around 12:30 pm.  As we walked into the ship into an impressive lobby our name was announced, "The Disney Cruise Line welcomes the Larison family from Colorado!" 

Lunch was being served in the Parrot Cay Restaurant.  It was a good buffet - especially the peel and eat shrimp!  We sat next to an older couple from Daytona Beach at lunch.  They told us they had received a very good rate for the cruise through a Florida Resident discount.  We were to meet several Florida residents who were cruising under this discounted rate during the cruise.  Early May isn't the busiest time for cruising, so Disney discounted lots of cabins for local residents in the last month to fill the ship.
 
After lunch we checked out our cabin - a deluxe inside stateroom on deck 5
(cabin 5022).  This was one of only six "inside" cabins that actually had
a window.  Disney sells these cabins as inside cabins because the window
view is obstructed, but we were to find that the view from our cabin was
hardly obstructed at all (just a small platform below the window and a couple
of ropes to support the platform).  We were very glad to have the window
during the cruise as we had some spectacular views in the early morning.
We really liked the deck 5 location - we were on the same deck as the kids
club and the movie theatre (places we were to visit often), and we only had
a short walk down the stairs to the restaurants and Disney Theatre on deck 4.
We were also only a few steps away from an elevator to get to the other decks
on the ship.

We were used to all the space of our one bedroom condo at OKW, so it
did take some getting used to our small ship cabin.  Dad read that
the Disney cabins are larger than those on most cruise lines,
and that may very well be, but still the space seemed smaller than
a Motel 6 room.  We didn't spend that much time in the room during our
Cruise, so the small living quarters didn't present a problem.

Josh had to go to the bathroom shortly after we entered our stateroom.
Upon flushing the toilet, Josh looked like he had seen a ghost!  The
toilet flushing noise sounded more like a cannon than a flush - it
was very loud!  Josh didn't flush the toilet again for the entire
cruise (don't worry - we flushed it for him).

We then registered the boys at the Oceaneers Club.  We were given a beeper
where the counselors at the Club could get in contact with us if needed.
The club was quite large with lots of activities for the kids.

Dad then went to make a reservation for "Palos" - a small "adults only" Italian
restaurant on the top deck of the ship.  The restaurant was much smaller than
Dad expected - good thing he was on time to make the reservations because there
wasn't enough room for everyone on the ship to eat there during the 3 nights
of the cruise.  Originally we had wanted to eat at Palos at 6 pm on Friday
night, but we found the kids club did not open until 7 pm.  So Dad made the
reservation for 7:30 p.m.

At 4 pm we went to the top deck to watch the ship leave port.  There we were
greeted with lots of cigarette smoke.  We must have been unlucky to be around
alot of smokers, because we didn't see many smokers for the rest of the cruise.
For the sail away from Cape Canaveral, though, it seemed like everyone was
on the top deck and the smoke was a little irritating.

It was fun to see the ship leave port.  The ship horn blasted a very loud
"When You Wish Upon A Star" tune as the ship pulled out of the dock.  We
waived to those on shore as we headed out for our 3 day ocean journey.

We got the boys pizza and hamburgers at 6 pm at Pinnochio's - this cruise
featured all the "free" pizza and hamburgers you can eat.  Josh, our little
hamburger lover, appreciated that!  The boys wolfed down their dinner, then
we checked them into the kids club at 7 p.m.   Mom and Dad arrived at Palos
at 7:15 am and were seated promptly.

Palos was a very classy restaurant.  The trip literature recommended
jackets for men.  Dad didn't want to pack a jacket, so he wore a short
sleeve shirt and tie instead.  While most of the men had jackets, there
were a few that didn't, so Dad did not feel out of place.

We watched the sunset as we had an excellent Italian meal.  Dad rated this
as the best meal he had on the ship.  That night Palos had a special of
"veal lasagne" - it was one of the best portions of lasagne that Dad had
ever tasted.  If you are taking the cruise, I highly recommend eating
at Palos one night!

Dinner at Palos was very relaxing.  We finished after 9 p.m. and got the
boys out of the kids club.  We returned to our cabin to find a queen
sized bed for Mom and Dad, and two bunk beds for the boys.  One of the
bunk beds was about 8 feet off the ground - suspended from the ceiling.
Both boys had a tendency to fall out of bed at home, so Dad volunteered
to sleep on the lower bunk bed for the rest of the cruise, while the boys
slept with Mom in the queen sized bed.

We went to bed early, anxious for tomorrow and a full day to explore the
ship!

Saturday, May 6th

Today the ship was docked at Nassau in the Bahamas.  We had decided
before the trip that we were going to stay on the boat today, and
not do any of the shore excursions in Nassau.  Perhaps next trip
we'll explore Nassau some, but since we were only on a three day
cruise we wanted to make sure we took advantage of all the activities
on the Disney Magic.

We ate breakfast at Lumiere's, one of the formal restaurants on board,
and it was excellent.  There was also a breakfast buffet offered
on board (Topsiders), but Lumiere's was so good for breakfast (the food
was made to order) that we never ate at the buffet the whole cruise.

Most of today was spent relaxing on board.  The boys and Anne really
enjoyed the pools.  Both Andrew and Josh went on the pool slide.  Josh
particularly enjoyed it and went down the slide at least six times.
Dad and Mom enjoyed playing ping pong on deck.  Dad and Mom are not
only well matched in marriage, but also as ping pong competitors.  We
played a number of games and it seemed Dad won about half of them
and Mom won about half, with the difference in points being less
than five for each game.

In the late morning we saw the Tigger Movie in the theatre on the fifth
deck.  Josh didn't like the movie too much while the rest of us enjoyed
it.  The theatre was excellent - a good sound system and large screen.
We were to take advantage of the free movies a couple of more times
while on the cruise.

For lunch we again ate at Lumiere's, and again the food was very good.

In the afternoon it was more lounging by the pool, ping pong, and Dad
watching sports at the ESPN Club (the Kentucky Derby was on).

For dinner we ate at Lumiere's for the third time in a row!  This time
we had a more formal meal, and once more the food was excellent.  We
almost skipped Lumeieres to eat at Palo's one night - we were sure glad
we decided to skip Parrot Cay instead.  Mom rated the Lumeieres meal
as the best one she had on the trip.

After dinner we put the boys in the Oceaneers Club.  Mom and Dad went
to see "Keeping The Faith" - a free movie playing in the 5th deck theatre.
Back home Mom and Dad often watched a movie on Saturday night after
the boys were in bed - so we kept this tradition going on the cruise.

The movie ended around 10:30 pm.  We picked the boys up from the Oceaneer's
Club - on the same deck and only a short walk from the movie theatre.  We
had another short walk back to our cabin.  The boys quickly went to sleep
after an energetic day swimming and playing in the kids club.

Sunday, May 7th

A loud rumbling noise awoke Dad out of his sleep this morning.  It was
the big ship's engines slowing down to dock at Disney's private island,
Castaway Cay!  Dad looked out the cabin window to see one of the most
beautiful sights he had ever laid eyes on - the sun rising over the
Atlantic Ocean with the tiny Disney island in view.  Dad raced to the top
deck to get a picture.

We got an early start and headed towards our favorite breakfast
spot - Lumiere's - where we had another excellent meal.  We got
our "beach gear" and we were one of the first off the ship at
Castaway Cay around 8:45 a.m.

Even though we were one of the first off the ship, Dad just missed getting
the last beach hammock on the family beach.  Not to worry, as we were
able to secure a nice, shady umbrella with several lounge chairs.

The setting was absolutely perfect.  The weather was sunny, but not too hot
because of a cool Bahamian breeze blowing across the island.  The family
beach was in a big cove - there were no waves and hardly any bugs on
the beach.

We built sand castles, played in the ocean, and relaxed on the beach most
of the morning.  A Disney band was playing music on a bandstand
nearby.  Disney had thought of everything.  Before the cruise Dad had
read of many people raving about Castaway Cay, and they were right!

We had lunch at Cookies Barbeque on the island.  Dad recognized one of the
servers as one of the waitresses at Palo's.  The food here was plentiful
and very good for a buffet.

After lunch we explored the island some more, before heading back to the
ship around 3 p.m.  Dad saw another movie in the Disney theatre at 3:30 pm
(Mission to Mars) while Mom and the boys had ice cream and played at
the pool.

We pulled away from Castaway Cay around 5 p.m., saying goodbye to the
Disney Island we will never forget.

For dinner that night we ate at Animator's Palette.  This was a restaurant
we had heard great reviews of, and it was OK, but it was probably our
least favorite of the three dinners we had.  The food wasn't quite as
good as what we had at Palo's and Lumieres.  The room did change colors
with each course of the meal, but it wasn't quite as impressive as it
had looked in the pictures. 

After dinner we went to the only stage show we saw on the whole cruise -
Disney Dreams.  If you only can see one stage show and you are a Disney
fan, this is the one to see!  There were several songs and recreations
from the classic Disney stories in the show - it was very well done.
The theatre gets very packed for this show, so arrive early if you want
a good seat!

The boys were very tired after Disney Dreams, so we returned to our
stateroom and put the boys to bed.  We went to sleep that night sad
that our cruise would be ending the next day, but with a bunch of
wonderful memories from our three days at sea.

Day 9 - Monday, May 8th

We had an EARLY breakfast today, 6:45 a.m., as Disney wanted to get
everyone off the boat so that they could prepare for the next cruise.  We
ate at the restaurant we had dinner at the night before, Animator's Palette.
The breakfast was good but not quite as good as the breakfasts we had
at Lumieres the two previous days.

We had to put our luggage out the night before, so we took our carryon bags
to breakfast, and after breakfast we were off the boat by 8 a.m.

One thing Dad overlooked was the US Customs form that EVERYBODY has to
fill out before being let out of the ship terminal.  Dad figured he
didn't have to fill one out since we didn't buy anything, but the customs
officer asked for the form (even if we had nothing to declare).  Dad
quickly filled out the form at the cruise terminal and we were on our way.

The Disney Cruise overall met and exceeded our expectations, and we certainly
would do the cruise again.  Some highlights:

1.  The food overall was excellent.  Dad had read that the food on the Disney
    ships didn't quite measure up to that of other Cruise lines, but we
    thought the food was very good (better than what we usually get at
    Disneyworld).

2.  Castaway Cay was as good as people described it to be.  The stop here
    was the highlight of the cruise - it was beautiful.

3.  We got a great deal on our stateroom - paying an "inside stateroom" price
    for a room that had a window.  We certainly would ask for this cabin
    again (5022) as we had great views and it was centrally located to get
    to all areas of the ship.

4.  While we didn't use the kids clubs as much as some people on board, it
    was still a nice option to have when Mom and Dad wanted some alone time.
    The boys had fun at the club - Andrew learned how to draw Mickey Mouse!

5.  Of all the restaurants, Palos in particular was a memorable meal and it
    is worth the extra effort to eat there one night of your cruise.

6.  The free movies!  We saw three first run movies on board.

7.  The slide at the kids pool.  The "adult" slides at the dvc resorts
    (boardwalk villas, vero beach) aren't really suited for little kids.  This
    slide was perfect for our little guys as it emptied into just a few inches
    of water.

8.  The views from the ship.  From the top deck it was very relaxing just to
    look over the rails at the wide expanse of ocean all around.

9.  The weather was perfect!  May must be a good time to go cruising, as we
    found the weather sunny each day but not too hot (there were enough
    ocean breezes to cool things off).

10. The ship photographers took a nice photo of us at Castaway Cay that we
    bought.  The ship photographers provided a good service and weren't too
    pushy. 

We didn't even do many of the activities on the ship (we only saw one of the
three shows, never made it to any of the clubs in the entertainment district
or the on deck parties).  There certainly would be plenty of new
things to do if we ever took the cruise again.

Things on the cruise that could be better:

1.  A clearly designated smoking area on the top deck.  There are some smoking
    areas, but it seems like they were spread all around that top deck.  If
    there must be smoking on board limit it to one area.

2.  The pools got to be very crowded given the size of the pools and the
    number of people on board.  Not much Disney can do about this, but
    future cruisers should try to hit the pools when others are off the
    ship (like on Nassau day).

3.  The staterooms were small.  Disney says their staterooms are larger than
    other cruise lines, but it was still hard to get used to the cramped
    space after staying in a one bedroom at OKW earlier in the week.  The
    small staterooms are probably on every cruise line, so again there's not
    much Disney can do about this.

4.  Open the kids clubs earlier on the first night.  A 7 pm opening prevents
    early Palo diners from seeing the late show at the Disney
    Theatre (at 8:30 pm) unless they rush through their meal (no kids are
    allowed at Palos so the kids have to be in the kids club if you want to eat
    there).

Overall, though, the cruise was a memorable experience and one that we will
talk about for months.
 

Tim Larison