[geeman]

I'm writing this as I'm battling a bad cold I got once I arrived back home. At least I didn't get sick on or before the trip, but getting sick after is no picnic, either. Being able to write about the trip, though is making me feel better by the minute.

One thing to add about the Hercules, show, and indeed the other programs aboard- the performers are all quite good and talented. The shows themselves could use a little refreshing, that's about it.

Grand Cayman-
I'd heard the Cayman Islands commercial jingle so many times as a kid ("just a few know of us, but those who know us, love us.."), but never imagined I'd actually be there! The town we pulled into was lovely - the water was an amazing blue! This was the day for our big Stingray City Sail and Snorkel Tour. Within minutes, were were aboard an open catamaran with various families, sailing along the gorgeous waters of 7 mile beach. We had mistakenly thought that this excursion would take us to both snorkel for corals AND snorkel for Stingrays, and there was no indication anywhere as to what exactly this was or wasn't supposed to be. Before long, we were donning lifejackets and snorkel gear. Amneris got to see tons of fish swimming by a coral (we're crossing our fingers that the pictures came out). To the side of our boat, the crewmen fed live Stingrays. It was an amazing event, highly recommended. There were a few kids - probably about 7 or 8 years old - on the boat as well. Strong swimming was the only prerequisite (so I caught a tan on the boat, filming the whole thing). On the way back to the ship, the catamaran did not want to start up! The engines were not turning! We tried to ignore this alarming fact, since were were miles away from the Disney ship. But eventually, it turned and on we we went for a glorious sail across the blue, blue waters. And Amneris was beaming, since she'd been snorkeling with the fish in Grand Cayman!

We were present at the Who Wants to be A Mouseketeer show, where a member of another Disney cruise forum actually WON a 7 day cruise for two!!! We were informed that over 800 of the guests on board were REPEAT Disney Cruisers!!! Says quite a lot!!!!!!

On Wednesday, we headed to Cozumel Mexico. I had awoken early due to the time change, and was on deck at sunrise. I'll never forget the foreboding feeling of Mexico being out there somewhere in the darkness. I snapped some more cool shots of the sunrise this time.

Our Mexican excursion did not offer us much chance to eat breakfast - even though we'd planned on it, we had to meet in the auditorium by 9:30. We grabbed some granola bars we'd brought with us instead. We planned to visit the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum (similar to the town seen in the Dreamworks movie, The Road To El Dorado). Doing this required riding a wavy, fast boat across the even bluer Mexican sea. We then walked briefly through a village and headed onto a bus for an hour and a half. A friendly tour guide offered interesting commentary, but did not explain fully that the ruins and the beach were in the same location. We'd left our towels on board thanks to his advice, and were quite annoyed to find there was no way to retrieve them once we entered the ruins area.

The ruins were amazing. Small children might be bored. Some adults weren't impressed much, either. But Amneris and I loved it. The beach was luscious. With only 15 minutes to enjoy it before catching the tram back to the bus, there was not enough time to really get enough of it. But the waters were warm, crystal clear and absolutely enthralling.When we got back to the ship, we refreshed then headed back out for an evening of shopping in Punta Langosta. Back when we had first met, we had dreamed of visiting places like Mexico. Years later, here we were enjoying a night in that country, with the Disney ship, our home in site.

We skipped the Mexicalitropicaliexpialidocious (try typing that three times fast!) party - somehow the idea of more food after having food was not a good thing to do. I think we squeezed in a quick swim in there someplace, and really just relaxed the rest of the evening.

Our last Day at Sea, Thursday, went by rather quickly. We repacked the unnecessary items and then enjoyed the day kicking back on the ship. At night, the DISNEY DREAMS show, which featured most of our favorite Disney songs in it, was a wonderful capper to the week.

When we awoke Friday, we were already at Castaway Cay. The lovely private island Disney took over reminded me at first of a realistic "Typhoon Lagoon". The island was gorgeous, and we spent the day relaxing and resting away at the Adult beach, where there was a huge stretch of QUIET beach -- all to ourselves. The only unsettling thing here showed up when we attempted to swim the waters. The water was warm, inviting, crystal blue, and no deeper than maybe 4 feet -- however, humans were not the only ones visiting that day. Moments after I turned away from Amneris, I noticed a Stingray swimming by! Others spotted this too throughout the afternoon. Since we'd learned that Stingrays were not too harmful back at Stingray City, we weren't afraid until someone spotted a "Baracuda"! At that point, we stayed at the shallower end.

We spent our final dining experience at the much talked about adults only, reservation required restaurant, Palo. While elegant, tasteful, quiet and quite nice, our NY'er instincts returned. We live in a city known for great food, so eating here was not as big a deal for us as it must be for others. I highly recommend the chocolate suffle, which was recommended to us. I can STILL taste it!

Disembarkation was smooth, but early (eveyone off at 9am). We capped off the weekend with a stay again at CBR, this time taking a dip or two in the pool. Since the temperature had dropped a bit, I think THIS is where I caught my present cold!
:-(


Some downs:
Since the ship was undergoing a refit prior to our cruise, I expected things to be shiny clean, and almost new. Not quite the case (though there were constantly people painting and cleaning). The aroma of fresh paint occassionally filled the air, as did the smoke from smokers, who could smoke on certain decks.
The SODA PACKAGE- Didn't need it--I was able to manage quite fine without needing soda until mealtime. This is a great time to get your kids (big and small) hooked on the free drinks instead (lemonade, water, coffee, tea, iced tea). They give you MORE than enough to drink at your table.

No, the safe was never repaired, despite our notifying guest services at least twice. The raisin bran stayed in the fridge. We celebrated my birthday a little early last week while on the ship- and they bring out a HUGE cake -- AFTER you've already had your desert! The cake stayed uneaten all week. :-(

If you're not fond of elevators (like us city dwellers), the treck up and down the staircases can leave you quite winded (though it's a good way to work off all the food you've eaten).

Room service-- Well, we decided to have some Turkey sandwiches delivered to our room, along with a cheese platter and a fruit salad . What we GOT was two TUNA sandwiches (quite good when you're hungry, btw), cheese without crackers, and a fruit BOWL. While we made most of this last through the week, it was actually sad that they'd gotten it so wrong. The turkey sandwiches were great.

Excursions- we booked ours directly through the cruiseline - expecting we'd have a great idea of what to expect. The descriptions are vague, and once again, like our beach trip in Mexico, if we hadn't been paying attention, we'd have been quite annoyed.

No Golden Mickeys... Yet. Was looking forward to this, but alas. Maybe next time. I would definitely cruise Disney again. And Amneris, who was kind of reluctant at first, has already booked a return trip with her folks for late next year!!!! Isn't that wonderful? We plan to take the Eastern Carribean route next time ourselves.

So, now I'm an "experienced" Disney Cruiser, so if you have any more questions or need more of a scoop, let me know! Hope you enjoyed our tale.:)