Cruising

We went on our first cruise last week.

I'd heard from friends about how amazing cruise vacations are, but never took the ummm...plunge.

Aaron Jackson of Dreams Fulfilled Travel helped us plan the trip and he coordinated the details and was a great source of information. We chose the Disney Treasure, a ship that is just 5 months old and is based out of Cape Canaveral in Florida. It cost about $1.5 billion to build, which is mind boggling but it's also an example of what you can accomplish when money is apparently no object.

Here are a few of my observations.

The ship is huge. Like stunningly big. It's 1,119 feet long, stands (floats?) 221 feet tall, and draws 27' of water. That's almost four football fields long and 22 stories high. It looks it should tip over because it reaches out of the water so high but it boasts the latest technology that automatically stabilizes the ship even in the highest seas.

It is also incredibly designed and so well thought out. There are thousands of tiny details that would impress even the most avid Disney fans. I'm not a true Disney aficionado but it's easy to see that they thought everything through and analyzed every detail with a nod to Disney history and traditions.

It's easy to forget you are on a ship, and sometimes I just stood and admired the construction and reminded myself that I was in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. The restaurants, coffee shops, lobbies, pools, elevators, stages, sound, lighting, everything was just incredible.

The Disney Theater on board is state of the art and better than any Broadway theater I have been in. The quality of the production is also on par with, or better than, Broadway. We saw Moana and Beauty and the Beast. Just stunning.

If you have ever been to Disney World or Disney Land, you know about the Disney Experience. Disney Cruise Lines takes that to the next level. I honestly can't imagine how they could be more courteous, helpful, attentive, or just plain nice. It may not be the real world, but it sure paints a picture of what it would be like if we all had a positive attitude and lived to serve and help each other.

One thing I noticed as soon as we walked on was the distinctive Disney scent. We used to stay at the Yacht Club for an annual conference, and the smell aboard the Treasure is very similar, if not identical. It brought back great memories. Julie bought a diffuser from the gift shop that is supposed to bring that scent into our home. I can't wait to try it out.

The food on a Disney Cruise is almost endless and way better than I expected. The Marceline Market has just about any type of breakfast or lunch food you can think of. And there's the Festival of Foods with BBQ, a grill, Mexican, pizza, ice cream and more. There are 5 restaurants. 3 are included in the base fare and are amazing. Then there are two upscale restaurants that you can visit for an additional fee. We tried Palo, the steakhouse, and we felt like we were in an upscale restaurant with the best views in the world.

I wake up early and sometimes it's hard to find a decent cup of coffee in even the nicest hotels. Not a problem on a Disney cruise. I found good coffee, almost around the clock, at the Festival of Foods, and there are plenty of coffee shops all over the ship if you want lattes, espressos, or foo foo drinks.

Our cruise was 7 nights with stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth Jamaica, and Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas. We did excursions at the first three stops and our favorite was the trip to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We all climbed up the falls with a guide and it was a blast. The tour company isn't operated by Disney, and they were disorganized, but it was still worth it.

Our stateroom was small for four people (Mary brought a friend) but functional. One thing we liked was the split bathrooms. One had a toilet and sink, the other a shower and a sink, so it made getting ready in the morning and at night much easier. We also spent extra to get a balcony, and I highly recommend that. It was a great place to sit and read or just stare at the ocean, and we left the sliding door open at night to enjoy the sound of the water as we fell asleep. The beds and pillows are first class.

Room service is included in the price, and the girls took advantage of it. The service and food was great.

Disney has something called rotational dining. You are assigned a different restaurant each night, from the three main dining areas. The wait staff goes with you, so by the second or third night they know your names and you develop a friendly relationship with them. I loved that concept. Our servers were just fantastic.

The toilets in the staterooms are LOUD. Like airplane bathroom loud, only there's no airplane engine noise to help drown out the sound. Middle of the night flushes are likely to wake everybody in your stateroom.

The water was the most beautiful I have ever seen. I'm colorblind but I could appreciate the blue water in the Caribbean. We went snorkeling in Grand Cayman, and we got to see colorful fish up close, and we snorkeled over a ship wreck. The water was warm and very salty.

Castaway Cay is Disney's private 1,000 acre island in the Bahamas's and I think it may be the closest thing to paradise you will find in this part of the world. Pristine water, white sand beaches, and Disney's magic made it my favorite stop. We spent most of the day at the much quieter adults only beach called Serenity Bay. The kids had their own beaches with water slides and toys.

I was wondering if going on a Disney cruise during spring break was a bad idea, but it wasn't. The ship holds 4000 guests and 1500 crew. I don't like crowds, and especially loud rowdy ones. It wasn't an issue. The ship is designed so well that you don't feel like it is crowded, except for the launch party and pirate night and fireworks display on the main deck. Even then it wasn't terrible.

Some people don't like Disney cruises because there aren't any casinos, or all-you-can drink packages. But that was actually a selling point for us. There are plenty of bars and lounges, even one based around the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World, and you can buy into bingo with cash prizes...but if gambling and drinking are important to you, you probably don't want a Disney cruise.

I was very concerned about motion sickness, since I get it easily. My doctor prescribed a patch that goes behind the ear, and I also took along Bonine tablets and the wrist pressure bands just in case. The patch made me sleepy, which is apparently normal. I ended up mostly using Bonine and I felt great the entire cruise.

Even though I didn't get sea sick, the motion apparently played with my brain. I still have the sensation of swaying and it is so weird. It's called land sickness and is apparently normal and will go away after a few days. Even as I type this I feel like I am swaying side to side.

They call getting on the ship “embarkation”. Getting off is “disembarking” but sometimes they referred to it as “debarking”. That always struck me as something I'd like to do to our dog when somebody rings the doorbell.

There are plenty of Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, and plenty of opportunities for the kids to meet them. They have special kid zones for children of any age. Mary and her friend at 17 and they felt kind of without a home for some parts of the cruise. They were too old for the kids and teens stuff, and too young for the adults only parts. We enjoyed an adults only magic show, which was still rated G but it was nice not having lots of kids-energy in the room. There were also separate deck areas just for adults who wanted quiet spaces.

Bottom line: It was the trip of a lifetime and probably the best vacation I have ever had. You can be as busy or as chill as you want to be. The biggest decisions you have to make every day are which bathing suit to wear, and what to order for dinner. Disney thinks of EVERYTHING, and they do it all with their trademark exceptionalism. It's not cheap and not something we can do frequently, but I look forward to going back again when we can.