Sailing with the Mouse

We were not the pristine Disney family (as you will see), but I'd still recommend going on a cruise. We had a good time irregardless.

Our dining room servers, Deneval and Jonathan, were fantastic. They have worked together for a long time and complement each other well. They also brought us our dinner to our stateroom the nights we left early. We tried a lunch seafood buffet in Parrot Cay. Oh my gosh - the sushi & sashimi were fantastic.

We dined at Palo one night for dinner as the brunch and tea reservations were already filled by the time we could book on-line. The sun sets early, so it was dark by our dinner's 6:30 pm reservation. The food was good. The server (Cecilia from Argentina) was terrific.

My DS(7) was horribly seasick. Christian (who I later found was Asst Cruise Director) was a huge help showing us where the Health Center was, handing us the free Meclazine (please note our first visit was after hours). He quickly got us an elevator and sent ginger ale from room service after DS(7) vomited in the hall. Tim, the Health Center's nurse, was a big reassurance and instructor about meclazine doses as well as sea-sickness. He also opened 15 minutes early upon our second visit. I also think our stateroom hostess (Rosa) went above and beyond the call of duty due to DS(7)'s seasickness. She was gracious every time. I know if I was her, I would have been happy to see us jump ship.

Key West was ok. It was the first time we've been there. DS(7) enjoyed the maritime museum. DS(3) arrived later in the day as I made him take some "chill time" in our room. We (DS-3 & myself) were victims of a typical Key West joke. When I asked some natives where the museum was (so we could meet the rest of our group), they sent us back to the Pier and around the ocean side (later it turned out we were less than one block south of it when we originally asked these people directions). It made for one tired little boy later. DS(7) enjoyed reading some of the signs to us. We also picked up some extras we'd left at home at the Key West CVS.

The DCL officials were really good about dealing with bad weather in Grand Cayman. Many excursions were cancelled and the ship had to dock on another side of the island because of the ocean currents. People who didn't have excursions were told to meet in the Buena Vista theater. It took some time for the tenders to go back and forth from ship to shore; thus the tender wait was a little long (note the tenders held about 80 people). One passenger in particular was rather nasty about it. The rest of us were like, what kind of example are you showing your child?

We took the boys into the town and stopped at a little shop to purchase something we missed 17 years ago on our honeymoon. The shop was still there. Since it was windy and we obviously weren't going to have 7-mile Beach time, we returned to the ship. Frankly, we would have liked more days at sea. There are so many things to do on ship. Don't make yourself crazy doing all of them.

The kids loved the Mickey pool with its slide. Speaking of which, someone told me you have to be age 4 to go down the slide. I am only aware of height requirement, which is shown on the bottom stair leading up to the slide. My DS(3) met the minimum height requirement by a few inches. He's also used to swimming pool water slides and swims (with proper supervision).

In Cozumel our group took two taxis to Chukanaab ($15). It was really nice. There was a protected beach area for the kids next to a playset and a restaurant. We go to Mexico fairly regularly. The restaurant's prices were tourist-oriented (steep for Mexico), but the food was fine. The cerviche had too much lime, but the guacamole was fantastic. We also walked around the little park later on. From our beach area, we could watch the dolphins jumping as well as see all the groups going to swim with them.

We missed our Pirate Dinner because DS(7) threw up in the dining room. Yes, we shocked everyone around us. I quickly left with him. HazMat arrived quickly to clean and quizzed the rest of our party about his behavior. I realize they have to look out for everyone in case of that nasty flu virus, so I don't blame them. I learned the next day from Nurse Tim that Meclazine, once it is given, should be given on a continuous basis until you're off the ship. Our servers brought us our dinner in our stateroom that night.

My SIL was disappointed that by the time we were able to see the movie, "Morning Light," it was scheduled at the same time as the book signing by Roy Disney and the other two producers. It was a very inspiring movie. It would have been nice to visit with them about the film.

We figured out that DS(7), once on a scheduled Meclazine dose, seemed to do well going to early dinner with Kids Camp (Oceaneer Lab). Its mid-ship location didn't bother his sea-sickness. They also reassured me they gather all the kids for group activities instead of letting them play computer games the whole time. DS(3) was another story. I will preface by stating he is not an angel, but his behavior rather upset me. By the end of the week, one person (I think it was Donna, who seemed to be in charge) told me they were having problems with him hitting other children. When they were at Castaway Cay, she told me he got together with another little boy whom they had problems with all week and both little boys were hitting each other. When we dropped him off before dinner on the last night, I told them to page me should there be any problems. He had dinner at 5:30 with the club, then the staff paged us at 8 pm. We brought him down for dinner with us and he ate everything rather ravenously. I wish they had paged me earlier in the week. I also am going to check to see if he's hypoglycemic at his 4-year medical check-up. Speaking of paging, I saw one woman on the ship early in the week telling a DCL employee she was tired of her children paging her because they were bored. Just remember to be flexible for the kids camps: it might work for some children and it might not work for other children. I was actually sorry to see the kids picking Oceaneer's Club over spending time with us, but it worked out just fine.

One of our favorite spots on ship was the Sessions bar. It's a quiet spot for a pre-dinner drink. The piano player is really good and has a great voice. Ylena, the bartender (who also bartends in the Cove pool), has a great sarcastic wit.

Castaway Cay was fabulous. Disney sprinkled some pixie dust that day: the sun shined and it was the warmest day. What a beautiful island. After playing with us on the beach and in the water, the boys asked to go to lunch and stay in kids camp for the rest of their island time. Oceaneer's Lab sends a page notifying you they will close by 3 pm on Castaway Cay.

Right now other details escape me. It's your family memories that stay with you. DS(7) sang his first karaoake. "It's easy mom. They had a tv with the words on it." DS(3) patiently waited in line to see Peter Pan & Wendy. One of our kids' favorite things (especially since we spent time in our stateroom) was to get in pajamas, climb into bed (alternating who slept in the top bunk) and watch classic Disney cartoons. DS(7) saw "Pinocchio" and "Mulan" for the first time.