Hi Everyone! I’m also sad the cruise is over, it flew by way too fast! My parents and I had a wonderful time. It was my dad’s first cruise and now he is hooked to
DCL, he can’t wait to sail again and has agreed to join me on the 12 night Eastern Mediterranean cruise on the Magic next summer! My mom, who sailed only once in 2004 on the Wonder, said she enjoyed this cruise much more than her first. We both agreed the food has improved DRAMATICALLY on DCL since our first cruise in ’04, I remember not liking anything but the fast food options on that cruise, and now I love everything from the chicken fingers to the Chilean sea bass to the desserts! She was a bit weary of doing a 5 nighter but liked it so much she has agreed to do a 7 day in 2014. I’m so glad because I don’t think I can do anything less than 7 again. The 7+ day cruises are just so much more relaxing, more time to do things, and more offerings like the classes, tastings, tours, etc, plus the real formal night is one of my highlights.
Overall we got pretty lucky with the weather IMO. I’m so glad we got away from that tropical storm near Florida the day we sailed out, made it out just in time and got the sailaway party in, which really kicks off the experience. I would have been crushed if it had been rained out. The Castaway first day and sea day were absolutely gorgeous; the Nassau and 2nd CC day could have been a bit sunnier/drier but overall not too bad and we still got in a good amount of pool/beach time both days, so we can’t complain.
Our servers, Vijay and Gusti, were 2 of the best I’ve ever had. My parents and I enjoyed sharing stories with them nightly. We did do Palo and Remy and missed them as our servers those nights. Palo was terrific as usual and this was our first time at Remy and we are hooked. We have done Victoria and Alberts at Grand Floridian twice and we all agreed Remy is way better. The view was priceless, each course better than the previous, it was just over the top amazing. I will undoubtedly do Remy on all of my cruises on the Dream/Fantasy going forward. Our room steward Badrud was the best I ever had. I left him a note the first day asking for ice in our rolling cooler twice daily, 3 extra shampoo & 3 conditioners daily and he did exactly as I asked every day, as well as being so nice and checking on us throughout the cruise. This was a relief because in my February cruise on the Dream my room steward was horrible, she left dirty glasses all the time, and I had to ask for new shampoo and conditioner all the time, and get my own ice upstairs. She definitely didn’t live up to the DCL standards I was used to so I was glad to have Badrud and the amazing service I’m accustomed to on this cruise.
We spent 3 days post cruise at the Yacht Club in WDW. Friday was mostly a rainy washout which bummed us since 3 days in WDW is already short, but luckily our room was ready when we arrived at 10:30 so we had lunch and napped all afternoon which was a much needed break after the cruise. We loved the cruise but there was just so much to do every day it was exhausting- up at 7:00 am to workout, then out and about all day, then dinners and adult entertainment in the clubs afterwards, it was a lot. This is why we are looking forward to 7+ day cruises from now on so we have some more downtime. We enjoyed our stay at the Yacht Club, its our only hotel we stay at for 16 years since our first visit in 1996. However, I must say that after the superior service you receive EVERYWHERE on the ship, the service from cast members in WDW felt really lacking. Still good, but nowhere near the friendliness and eagerness to please on the cruise. Especially the housekeeping—they were borderline rude to us. On the first day, I noticed there was shampoo and shower gel in the room but no conditioner. A housekeeper was in the hall so I asked for 2 conditioners and she says “you just checked in and you already want extra conditioner?” I was shocked! I replied, um yea, I did just check in but there is no conditioner at all in our room, so yes I would like 2 of them. it was very uncomfortable especially after having such amazing service by our steward on the cruise. Bottom line, I’ll always love WDW, the parks, the Yacht Club, and my favorite restaurants there but I genuinely feel that nowhere else on earth can match the service I receive on DCL.
Lastly, thank you to all for the FE gifts. This was a really awesome group. I’ve participated in the 4 times now and this was by far the most creative group. It was really fun to come back to such great treats each day!
