Cast DH (34), DD (8), DD (4 ¾) and Me (30 something).
Reservations Dreams Unlimited was awesome (no Im not getting paid to say that). When the price of our cruise went down $1,000 we received an e-mail from DU they had already credited our account.
Arrival - Stayed the night prior at the Renaissance Airport for $45 per night through Priceline.com. We used Tiffany Town Car from the hotel to the port; they did not honor our $5.00 coupon because we were picked up from the hotel not the airport (no big deal). While waiting to board we met Tony, Nancy and Andrea from MI. Nice Midwest people we ended up running into at least 2 or 3 times a day.
Room - We were in room 8028, next to the Walt Disney Suite. I thought we would have a better room steward but he was average (Benny). Our last Disney cruise our room steward was awesome. Our room was very quite and great with the verandah. Dreams Unlimited gave us a wonderful gift crate (Thanks). I also ordered gift for the girls for www.theperfectgift.cc. After talking to Shirley I decided on a backpack, sunglasses, soda and snacks for each, swim wings for the younger one and underwater camera for the older. Shirley suggested putting on the card that it was from Mickey and Minnie and the look on their face was priceless when they read the card.
Food - I must say this has improved immensely from our last trip! Our server Emmanuel (extremely efficient and friendly) and his Asst was Johnny (okay with drinks but nice to look at). We went to Paolos for brunch and had Christian from Croatia, he had been mentioned on the boards as being excellent and he certainly was. Everything he recommended was awesome. We also joined our friends from MI at Paolos for dinner, we had a blast and one of the girls paged us just as the wine was being finished (3 hours later). Our only negative was the number of children at dinner who were tired and grumpy (early seating). You could tell these children were exhausted and the parents were stressed.
Spa My husband and I tried the Rainforest and it was awesome. We decided to purchase the weeklong $50 pass. But in hindsight we should have only purchased as we used. After being in port and in the sun all day the Sauna is not were I wanted to go. Also, I had the Ionithermie treatment. I lost inches, but next time Ill go for a massage. For an early Valentines Day gift I gave my husband a Cabana Massage, he loved it.
Kids Programs - My 8 year old simply loves the programs and there is nothing more to say. Unfortunately, my 4 year old was overwhelmed. I spoke with a counselor who said they had 300 3 to 4 year olds on this cruise. There was no question they had enough counselors it was more the shear madness of that many children. She did go when we needed her to (Paolos) but she was not impressed at all.
St. Maarten We went on the 2 Flags Tour. I dont recommend it at all. We only had 45 minutes of shopping. After returning we did some shopping but all in all I was not impressed with St. Maarten. At every turn someone was asking to braid our daughters hair our trying to get us to walk into the store. I must say this island is comparable to Nassau.
St. Thomas This was by far our best day! After going through customs (no big deal), we took a taxi to Red Hook ($32. for all). My DD really wanted to go snorkeling so I looked into charting a boat with a captain and found sail-fantasy@att.net. We rented a sailboat for the day. They provided a snack, lunch, drinks, and snorkeling gear and were simply awesome. We ended up snorkeling at Paradise Beach in St. John and spent sometime on the beach as well. Pam and Brian our captains are from the PA and NY and are very informative and extremely friendly. I highly recommend them. It was $110 per person and the boat can hold up to 6 passengers plus the crew. The girls absolutely loved snorkeling.
Castaway Cay - We bypassed the first beach entirely and went to the beach right next to the Teen Beach, which was deserted. I did not get off the boat until 11am and still got 4 chairs and an umbrella.
Next trip - We are planning to go in December and use our $99 deal with our new friends from MI.
Thank you to everyone who post on these boards I would have been lost without you!!!
I would be happy to answer any question!
Lisa
Reservations Dreams Unlimited was awesome (no Im not getting paid to say that). When the price of our cruise went down $1,000 we received an e-mail from DU they had already credited our account.
Arrival - Stayed the night prior at the Renaissance Airport for $45 per night through Priceline.com. We used Tiffany Town Car from the hotel to the port; they did not honor our $5.00 coupon because we were picked up from the hotel not the airport (no big deal). While waiting to board we met Tony, Nancy and Andrea from MI. Nice Midwest people we ended up running into at least 2 or 3 times a day.
Room - We were in room 8028, next to the Walt Disney Suite. I thought we would have a better room steward but he was average (Benny). Our last Disney cruise our room steward was awesome. Our room was very quite and great with the verandah. Dreams Unlimited gave us a wonderful gift crate (Thanks). I also ordered gift for the girls for www.theperfectgift.cc. After talking to Shirley I decided on a backpack, sunglasses, soda and snacks for each, swim wings for the younger one and underwater camera for the older. Shirley suggested putting on the card that it was from Mickey and Minnie and the look on their face was priceless when they read the card.
Food - I must say this has improved immensely from our last trip! Our server Emmanuel (extremely efficient and friendly) and his Asst was Johnny (okay with drinks but nice to look at). We went to Paolos for brunch and had Christian from Croatia, he had been mentioned on the boards as being excellent and he certainly was. Everything he recommended was awesome. We also joined our friends from MI at Paolos for dinner, we had a blast and one of the girls paged us just as the wine was being finished (3 hours later). Our only negative was the number of children at dinner who were tired and grumpy (early seating). You could tell these children were exhausted and the parents were stressed.
Spa My husband and I tried the Rainforest and it was awesome. We decided to purchase the weeklong $50 pass. But in hindsight we should have only purchased as we used. After being in port and in the sun all day the Sauna is not were I wanted to go. Also, I had the Ionithermie treatment. I lost inches, but next time Ill go for a massage. For an early Valentines Day gift I gave my husband a Cabana Massage, he loved it.
Kids Programs - My 8 year old simply loves the programs and there is nothing more to say. Unfortunately, my 4 year old was overwhelmed. I spoke with a counselor who said they had 300 3 to 4 year olds on this cruise. There was no question they had enough counselors it was more the shear madness of that many children. She did go when we needed her to (Paolos) but she was not impressed at all.
St. Maarten We went on the 2 Flags Tour. I dont recommend it at all. We only had 45 minutes of shopping. After returning we did some shopping but all in all I was not impressed with St. Maarten. At every turn someone was asking to braid our daughters hair our trying to get us to walk into the store. I must say this island is comparable to Nassau.
St. Thomas This was by far our best day! After going through customs (no big deal), we took a taxi to Red Hook ($32. for all). My DD really wanted to go snorkeling so I looked into charting a boat with a captain and found sail-fantasy@att.net. We rented a sailboat for the day. They provided a snack, lunch, drinks, and snorkeling gear and were simply awesome. We ended up snorkeling at Paradise Beach in St. John and spent sometime on the beach as well. Pam and Brian our captains are from the PA and NY and are very informative and extremely friendly. I highly recommend them. It was $110 per person and the boat can hold up to 6 passengers plus the crew. The girls absolutely loved snorkeling.
Castaway Cay - We bypassed the first beach entirely and went to the beach right next to the Teen Beach, which was deserted. I did not get off the boat until 11am and still got 4 chairs and an umbrella.
Next trip - We are planning to go in December and use our $99 deal with our new friends from MI.
Thank you to everyone who post on these boards I would have been lost without you!!!
I would be happy to answer any question!
Lisa
