After lunch it was almost 2:00 so we headed to our stateroom. The ship has elevators and stairs on both sides of the ship – we were on the forward part, in fact our stateroom faced the front and we were able to see straight ahead, looking down we could see the bow of the ship. Our stateroom was really large, I was so surprised! Very comfortable bed too. Because we faced the front, part of the roof was slanted, as was the large window. Our luggage had not arrived yet, but I was told it would be there by 6 pm at the latest (it was).
The ship was slated to leave about 4:45 pm. Each family is assigned a dinner time and we had the early time at 5:45 for which I was extremely grateful. Each night we were in a different restaurant but we sat with the same five person family each night – they were very nice – and also had the same waitstaff each night which was really special. I was impressed by the detail in all the restaurants. The first one was the Avengers themed restaurant, the second one was the Frozen themed one (Arendelle) which we were at twice, and the third one was the 1923 themed restaurant called Roy Disney. One night was dress up night but we didn’t bring the clothes for that, one night was pirate night and then when you go to the 1923 one you are supposed to dress for the time period. Of course, we didn’t know any of this before we boarded so we weren’t prepared, but it was fine anyway. We enjoyed every second of our meals, I will tell you. Fine dining in fine restaurants with great service. Great food and excellent desserts. Everything we tried we liked, and Baby Girl discovered that she actually likes macaroni and cheese and LAMB. I tried the lamb as well but didn’t appreciate it. Tony ate beef or seafood every night and I had salmon or chicken. You can get whatever you want, even if it’s not on the menu! Baby Girl ordered pizza with no sauce one night and it was delivered. She was also given a house salad with extra cucumbers and ranch; the servers really strived to know what you wanted and give it to you! They were truly excellent.
Now, about tips. You can pay your tips ahead of time if you like. I did not know that so I didn’t do it. BUT, you don’t have to tip anyone on the boat at any time. It will be added automatically to your bill at the end of the trip. They give you vouchers to give your waitstaff and housekeeper that has the amount of the tip you are giving. You have no control over how much it is, but it is reasonable and easy to do. I appreciated not having to think about tips or to have cash on hand. The only person I tipped with cash was the bus driver who handled our luggage to and from the resort/ship. Also, anything you buy goes directly to the card you have connected to your “Key to the world” card that you have to keep with you at all times. If you have a Disney Visa or Mastercard you get 10% off in all the shops. The “key to the world” card also opens your stateroom door so it’s important to keep it with you – you can buy really cool lanyards in Mickey’s Mainsail – the shop that has the most stuff for sale (Deck 5). Let’s just say I really enjoyed my time in that shop, as well as Dory’s Forgetmenots on the 11th deck.
We quickly figured out the layout of the ship, although I had trouble remembering what was forward and what was aft! Which was where, and what was what. All the free food and ice cream you could want was on Deck 11, with the small swimming pools and the large movie screen. There are about five pools but they are all small and crowded, not what I was expecting. The deck was nice, though, with chairs for you to sit in to watch the movies on the big screen while you were letting your kid swim. Once I figured out how small the pools were I had no desire to swim at all. But after dinner each night Tony and I would chill and let Baby Girl swim. There’s a bar on almost every deck. Drinks are not free. Tony had a couple of double Bailey’s and I think I had two glasses of wine the entire trip. Wasn’t really into paying the prices of the drinks! I could get all the Diet Coke I wanted if I trekked up to the 11th deck and filled my cup that I bought at Luna’s Libation on the fourth level. It’s a really nice cup and souvenir and wasn’t that expensive. But I also got canned Diet Cokes delivered to my room for the fridge, which I had to pay for. Luna’s Libations also had the popcorn. Pay for a bucket of popcorn the first day then you can refill it for only $1.50 each time. That was great, because on the day at sea we watched a lot of Disney Plus in our room. More on that later.
The housekeeping was terrific. They put down Baby Girl’s bed each evening and put it away in the mornings, they made our bed and did towel animals, to include what I thought was a rotisserie chicken but Tony thought was a monkey! Chocolate on the pillows and all that.
Kid’s Club. Baby Girl refused. We went down on the first day and got her bracelet checked in but after that she would. not. do. it. Finally on Wednesday night she went in for about thirty minutes but that was it. On Thursday she stayed long enough for Tony and I to grab a drink at the Bayou Bar which was really nice to have some time just for the two of us. We talked about going on another cruise – would really like to do an Alaskan one – just for us. I mentioned that Disney goes to Alaska and Tony looked at me like WHY? Why would he want to go on a Disney cruise without the kid? Ha ha. I said because this ship is super nice! At any rate, Baby Girl finally acknowledged that she had fun in the kid’s club and that if we ever went on another cruise she would definitely do it more. Tony and I rolled our eyes! If she had had a friend with her then I think she would have been more inclined but she absolutely didn’t want to go in by herself the first time. I actually think she was really brave to do it because I know she was very unsure about it. I’m glad she discovered that it was fun and she could do things alone. Speaking of alone, I did feel safe with her on the ship. I let her run down the stairs while I took the elevator, I never felt like anything would happen to her on the ship. Other parents may not agree but I felt like she was safe and I like her to experience some independence from me!
There were, of course, all the characters on the ship. All the Disney Princesses including Rapunzel, Cinderella, Belle, Moana, and more. Baby Girl had no interest in anyone but Moana whom we got a picture with. We also got pictures with Minnie, Spiderman, and Pirate Donald. I got pictures of all the Frozen cast when they did their show at dinner on the second night. You could sign up to get pictures and autographs with all princesses ahead of time by using the Disney Cruise app if you wanted to, but we didn’t bother to do that since she wasn’t really interested. You could also visit the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique to get made up and dressed up like a princess. It was fun to see all the little girls running around looking like princesses. Again, Baby Girl had no interest. She’s really a tomboy at heart and just into wearing shorts and tee shirts with no dresses and no fancy hair-do’s for sure. I couldn’t even get her to get her hair braided when we were at the beach! Something that would’ve looked sooo cute on her. They also had Chip and Dale, Daisy, Mickey of course, Goofy and Pluto. On the Disney Cruise ship app you could see the times that each character would be available for pictures and autographs. Of course you have to wait in line for these, but it didn’t take long.
The Disney Cruise app was amazing. It told you about all the excursions you could take, your plans and dinner times, menus, and the activities available on the ship, including movie times. There are three movie theaters on the ship showing the latest Avengers movie and the newest The Little Mermaid. We never did go to see one of the movies – Baby Girl would rather stay in the room and watch the movies she wanted to see on the TV in there. Tony and I would have liked to go check it out but of course since she wouldn’t do the kids’ club, we never had the chance.
While we were on the ship we could not use our data – I did not know that I could call AT&T ahead of time and get a cruise package in which I would be able to text and use data. As it was we had our phones on airplane mode the whole time and somehow I still used enough international data to be charged over $100 and have AT&T turn my data use off entirely. I had to call them when we were at the port in Florida to have it turned back on and thankfully they also reversed some of the charges. So I wasn’t able to use Facebook or check emails while I was gone. Next time I will definitely call them ahead of time to get things figured out so I can use my phone! It was surreal to be on a boat in the ocean, and to be in the Bahamas, and not be able to really do anything on my phone for three days. Felt like I was on another planet!
Stay tuned for excursions and getting off the ship … next installment.
