Bill's Disney Magic Western Caribbean Cruise April 5-12, 2008 
Ok, I might have been one who'd prefer the Spring Break in Ft
Lauderdale, but my wife would remind me that I only would have fit
in there 30 years ago.
On the other hand, the cruise was a good second choice and my kids
loved it.
Now for the positives:
Louis & Putu in the dining rooms were fabulous, friendly, made the
whole family feel great even when we went to the wrong place one day
and ended up arriving late by 30 minutes,
Christy, James, Shelby, Jordan, and Evan - the family that dined
with us were wonderful ... I, personlly, would NEVER want to dine
with just our family since I think that's the best opportunity to
get to know new people. I'm don't recall if we requested to dine
with others, but I suspect there was something in the paperwork that
had a prompting question.
Grand Cayman. We own a timeshare at Morritts Tortuga on the East
End so we KNOW the island. On the other hand, we'd not been there
since Hurricaine Ivan. The NEW Turtle Farm is beautiful (about $11
adult, $8 child 11 and under). They no longer tell you not to
handle the turtles (people didn't listen anyway). The also have a
new snorkling area stocked with sharks and more (we didn't spring
for the extra charge, but wish we had after we got inside - a
security guard gently ushers you away from the "blue wrist band"
area). Instead, we snorkled 7-mile beach after sharing cab fare (we
got much better deals by teaming up with other families for a
van ... DON'T pay their asking $6/person fare - we paid $3/person,
but paid more, $20, to get our 5-person family from the dock to
the "farm"). Make sure to ask a local where to snorkle (just ask
the snorkle gear rental people that dot the beach) ... they pointed
us "up" the beach to a reef where we saw hundreds of beautiful fish,
urchins (don't step on them or you'll be sorry), and more. I
suggest taking your own snorkle gear - it's much cheaper.
Room Service. Boy, we used it a lot. Our server never waited for a
tip. Yes, most everything was free (we liked the cheese/cracker
plate, chocolate milk, tea service). Alcohol and soft drinks were
extra charges ($14/glass for red wine, $9/glass white - it certainly
depends on the brand - I suggest take a couple bottles of your own).
Final Four - they played the last 2 mens' and womens' playoff games
on the HUGE screen on the smokestack (I suspect it's about 20' by
10', but it might be larger). You can view/hear it in the center
pool or from either the top (10th level) or 9th deck level. Since
ESPN broadcast the last game, the program even mentioned all the
shipboard passengers on the Disney Cruise Line watching the game
(ESPN is ALSO the NEGATIVE reason that "One Shining Moment", the
spectacular season video synopsis, wasn't played (likely the rights
are owned by CBS).
Comedy - wonderful, talented people. It's refreshing to hear comedy
that doesn't have to be "adult" language to be entertaining.
Food - the wraps, fresh fruit, and ice cream bar were very good,
constantly stocked. The breakfast bar was clearly the highlight of
my day (heck, I'm a breakfast person) and I LOVED coffee on the deck
(it wasn't that the coffee was good, though - it was just ok). My
wife and 14 year old found that they'd stir fry a chinese dish for
you at lunch though I never got to enjoy that part. I suspect the
coffee served after dinner must be different than the rest - it IS
fabulous.
Teak chairs - lounge around on the 4th level on these traditional
lounge chairs. The blue pads are just so warm and comfortable ...
it's a very quiet place to take in the sounds of the waves and a
good book (note: I spent a grand total of about 30 minutes there,
but wish I'd spent a day or two).
The Cast Off Party on the main deck shouldn't be missed. It's we'll
planned and the one time you'll see most of the passengers in one
place during the cruise. My 9-year old daughter enjoyed watching
the boat leave from the bow while my boys (12 and 14) immediately
started playing basketball on the sports deck (by the way, there's a
net that keeps the ball from going overboard, but it's placed too
low to allow many shots).
Negatives
Food - I do not think that the formal dining room food was that
great (Lobster was fabulous, however) and meals toward the end of
the cruise seemed better than those earlier. Tacos from Plutos (?)
had shells that tasted stale, but I enjoyed them anyway.
Music - some was great, but others seemed like "play anything"
musicians where everything seems to have the same sound. I don't
know that you can ever get away from that except by hiring bands for
single cruises.
Castaway Cay - Disney doesn't need to nickel and dime everything.
They partitian off the stingray lagoon (51 de-barbed stingrays, 48
females and 3 males) and the "experience" sold out so we couldn't go
if we wanted, but we snorkled adjacent to their "pen" and easily
came within inches of these animals. They should just make the area
a bit bigger and allow more people to enjoy their presence. For the
amount that's paid for a Disney cruise, I think it's things like
this that need to be free.
Photo pricing - Disney doesn't fail to leave you with less money
than you came with. This is the best example as 10 photos cost
about $175 ... I can't believe my wife bought them, but she did -
they were very good photos (make sure to get your photos done with
the "white" backdrop - I just think it looks so cool). They showed
some of these during the final Disney Theater program.
Future cruise booking - always busy toward the middle to end of the
cruise so I could NEVER get pricing or ask questions. I suspect if
you think you MIGHT want to go on another, book a time to meet with
them early on so you don't waste time when the "excitement" is high
toward the end of the cruise.
Neutrals - Too many list. We did what we could, but didn't spend nearly
as much time in so many places.
Ok, so that's my 2-cents worth on our most recent cruise.
Yours,
Bill Martin, Realtor/Broker/ MBA
Accredited Buyer's Representative
Prudential Carolinas Realty
http://www.rlstate.
com
http://www.CharlotteForeclosureExpert.com
