Charlies_Mommy
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2017
Hi! This group helped me, thought I would pay it back. We just got off a 7-day Western Merry Time Cruise on the Fantasy. Happy to answer any questions that I can. Will try to check this board several times today. Our *honest* thoughts from two seasoned cruisers on our first ever Disney cruise. Not sure I will cover everything. Off the top of my head!
- Service was good, not great. Honestly, it was *no* different than service we have gotten on every other cruiseline. We had one amazing experience staff-wise on Palo and one really bad one in Cabana's. But overall, just good.
- Cabin was one of the best we have stayed in and very good design for families.
- Disembarkation was the BEST we have ever done. So easy. Wow.
- Food was bad. I am being honest. So bad my hubby won't talk about going back. With two exceptions-Palo and Castaway Cay.
- Character interaction was amazing. Don't waste time standing in lines. The various dance parties are great. My daughter danced with Ariel, Mickey, and Minnie. Goofy took her hand and skipped around an entire floor!
- Castaway Cay is indeed as wonderful as they say. Seriously, perfection!
- Activities were fun and family-minded. We appreciated that. Made for fun nights.
- The shows were good. I was expecting a little more. My daughter loved them. Again, liked how we could go as a family.
- Pool area is as bad as everyone says. We avoided it on sea days and stayed on the ship in Cozumel. That was worth it.
- Finally, kids club was kind of a let down. My daughter is 4.5 and goes to daycare. She is confident and at ease with other kids. Problem was, kids club is simply over-run. The noise and pure number of kids was too much for her. Getting her in was a struggle and she called to be picked up within 1 hr. Every time we came to get her, she was sitting alone and watching TV. There were structured activities, but she never engaged. Counselors were great, but it was really more open play, with stuff going on to the side IF your kids engaged. I will say one day we told them we had Palo and they kept her there the whole time (which was nice). First cruise with kids, so not sure what to expect. But we did NOT get the alone time we thought we would. I expected her to love it (we really talked it up). But, now, I see how for my kid's temperament-it just didn't work.
- All in all, lovely time. Lots of special moments. And we learned that we love cruising together. BUT, I am not sure if I can support another one at the increased fare. I already started researching kids club on Celebrity, which our line of choice. Need to do some HW and thinking on this.