Best/Worst Jan 18-25

[diathoney]

These are some of my observations from our January cruise.

Walt would be proud!

Palo. I didn’t believe it could be as good as the hype but it was. Our waiters Lorenzo and Marco are dolls. The food was the best!

Vista Spa. I know this isn’t run by Disney, but my experience with the spa was excellent. The therapist were pleasant and competent, it was very clean and well run.

Desserts! Some of the best were in Palo, but the German Chocolate cake in Topsiders was incredible. So was the Praline Cheesecake on Master Chef’s night. And then there was the Cappuchino Cheesecake in Topsiders, the blueberry cheesecake. Did I mention the Tiramisu?

Pool areas. The pool areas were nicely kept and fresh water! My kids enjoyed the slide. We never had a problem finding a place to sit. The hot tubs were actually hot!

Embarkation and Disembarkation – Wow! Why haven’t other cruise line figured this out yet? I have been on many cruises, and many cruise lines but never experienced and easier time getting on or especially off a ship. Bravo Disney.

Entertainment. The shows were great. Plenty of seats and good clean fun. I didn't have to "distract" the kids once all week!

Come on, Mickey!

Pinocchio’s Pizza. Palo has amazing pizza. Can’t the chef give Pinnochio some pointers?

Overbearing Dining room Head Steward. Interrupting conversations and not going away is not the way to win guests over.

The rows of drinks sitting in the sun for Mexicalifragalistic. I know they didn’t have ice or liquor in them but Ew! No way would I touch a drink that had been sitting on a table for over an hour. It was mid 80s in Mexico, seen like that’s a hygiene issue.

Cleaning in the middle of the night. OK, it was early morning. But what Bozo (oops, wrong company) starts scraping railings at 6AM?? I almost did a “spider man” down the side of the side so I could “talk” some sense into that crew! I wish DCL would remember the GUESTS that pay to come on the ship are on vacation and would like to sleep!

The TV. Disney owns ABC, Dreamworks and what else? Can’t we get a little more variety in movies & cartoons? It seemed like the same 5 movies rotated all week – wait, they did! Boo Disney. Some people LIKE to hang out in the room and watch TV.

The movies in the theater were pretty out of date too. They were all either already out on video or due out any day.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We were on the same cruise, and I have to agree about the cleaning. Most mornings I was awakened early to the sounds of thumping and bumping, I never found out exactly what the cause was but we did see they were scraping paint/cleaning, etc. two floors below us so I figured that was what it was. Way too early to start that each morning, I agree!!!

Embarkation, though, I have to disagree with. We took a 4-day Carnival Fantasy cruise the week before our Magic cruise and I felt their embarkation process was better than Disney's in one particular way....Carnival had rows of chairs to sit in, rather than just having to stand in line for over an hour on Disney. With Carnival, once you finished your paperwork process at the counter they directed you to the rows of chairs. Much nicer to sit and wait, rather than stand and wait!!!

Sorry you felt Beata was too overbearing as a head server in the dining room. We felt just the opposite. Sometimes head servers are nowhere to be found, until the last night when they stand by the door to accept their tip envelopes. We were pleased that Beata was so visible each night, helping other servers, stopping by our table each night to see how dinner was going, etc. We tipped her (as we did with the others) above the recommended amount as we felt she did a great job all week!

 

[MickeyB426]

You posted a wonderful plus / minus, we should see more of these!

What I CAN tell is that there's a reason there aren't more TV channel choices...

...they don't want you to stay in the room. They want you out on the boat somewhere, possibly spending more money.

It's the reason you get a sub-ESPN channel in your room, but not regular ESPN, which is available in the ESPN Skybox, where there's a bar, naturally.

Ka-ching !!!

 

[mmouse37]

Just a note...Dreamworks .....ONE OF DISNEY'S MAJOR COMPETITORS!!!!

I agree though, more variety is needed in in-room TV.

MJ

 

[diathoney]

Chattyholic - We didn't have Beata. We had a gentleman with a scottish accent. I can't remember his name. He interrupted conversations several times. I understand he was trying to be friendly, but I guess I prefer a more "understated" approach.

 

[4cruisin]

diathoney,

Not to totally disagree with you but we had John on the 1/25 cruise and we loved him. Found him to be very attentive and charming. If anyone should be unhappy with him, it's me. He stopped by our table to check in with us one evening and then left (or so I thought). He had gone around another table, circled back, snuck up behind me and whispered in my ear. I had NO idea he was coming up behind me and actually screamed. I am very jumpy but after I caught my breathe, I, along with my entire group thought it was hysterically funny. Rest assured that I ALWAYS knew where John was in the diningroom during the rest of our cruise. Our assistant server left a lot to be desired. He was nice enough but definetly not very good at his job, but John really tried to make up for the assistant's lack of effort.

I guess the saying "different strokes for different folks" holds true everywhere.

Nancy

 

[Hopkins]

I wish the pizza at Pinnochio's was better, too. I love all kinds of pizza and try to see the best in everything, but it needs some work. I much prefer some of these new frozen fresh rise pizzas you find in the grocery stores over Disney's.

One the positive side, I love your hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken fingers (yummy!).

Sorry DCL
Tina

 

[diathoney]

The hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken fingers from Pluto's were a big hit with my family too!

 

[sjm]

We were on the 1/25 cruise also.

Palos - brunch exceeded our expectations, we almost did it a second time, but just could not eat that much again. Dinner was also excellent, but not as good as we expected.

Disembarkation - This was our 11th cruise, 1st one on Disney. We were totaly AMAZED by the disembarkation procedure. We were meet at the bottom of the escalator by a porter, who asked our color and cabin number. He took us to our luggage, put it on his cart and took us to our airline. We never touched our luggage from the time we put it outside our cabin, untill we had to claim it at our home airport. The other cruise lines have a lot to learn from Disney, about disembarkation procedures!!

Our waiter was Zoltan and his assistant was Tiago, don't remember the name of our head waiter. Our head waiter came around every night, not only to talk to us, but to make sure our service was excellent. Zoltan and Tiago, were also excellent and took very good care of us. If there was a dish we didn't like, they would replace it right away. We also had a table mate who required special attention. They got her whatever she wanted to eat, from the regular menu, the childrens menu and even from room service. We were lucky to have such an excellent team, that worked together so well.

sue

 

[GoBlueGuy]

Originally posted by sjm
We were on the 1/25 cruise also.

Palos - brunch exceeded our expectations, we almost did it a second time, but just could not eat that much again. Dinner was also excellent, but not as good as we expected.

Musta been the company you keep!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

The pizza at Pinocchios was terrible!
BUT, at Pluto's Dog House, they actually went out of their way to find me a veggie burger this last time. Strangely, on our cruise in Dec. 2001, they had the veggie burgers right there, but this time they had to go and specially get me one --- WHICH, I must say, they personally delivered to me at the adult pool. I thought that was nice.

 

[sjm]

Originally posted by GoBlueGuy
Musta been the company you keep!

Does Tracy really let you on the disboards? I don't let kevin anywhere near it(grin).

The company sure was excellent and we hope to see you guys, when we take a trip to FW.

sue

 

[tezb]

My teens/kids love the pizza at Pinocchios. I didn't find it that bad either. Maybe it's just geared more towards what kids like since most of them can eat it 24/7!

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

GBG: Did you find a new person to stalk? Please say you haven't forgotten me!

 

[GoBlueGuy]

Yes, I've found another! But you'll ALWAYS be my first! (Stalkee that is!)

Nice hearing from you again. We're scheduled for 9/6 with the parents again. Hope they'll make it this time!

BTW Over the holidays, we did the "tour de Grandma" again (FL, AZ, and added a stop in LA.) On the way back, we drove I-15 to I-70. OMG! That was some of the MOST beautiful country I've ever seen! We didn't get a chance to see Bryce Canyon (were running late) But it's definitely on the list of things "to do."

GBG

 

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by diathoney
I almost did a “spider man” down the side of the side so I could “talk” some sense into that crew!

LOL!

>>^..^<<

 

[taswira]

My favorite Server told me that if he (or any other Server) is doing his job well, you should never see the Head Server except when he introduces himself on the first evening and says goodbye on the last evening (or debarkation morning), and <I>maybe</I> in the doorway when you enter the restaurant each time. The exception is when special celebrations (birthday or anniversary cakes, etc.) are arranged, which are usually done through the Head Server. I (and my tablemates) actually had to give the Head Server's tip envelope to our Server to deliver to him on my most recent cruise, as he was nowhere in sight. We would not have known him if we saw him. But we never needed him, because our Server was superb, as was his Assistant.

 

[diathoney]

taswira -
That's the way I like my head server! Our server was good - not great, but good. We didn't have any complaints. I think our head server just liked to work the room.

 

[tlgoblue]

Sue,
It was Gary on the boards first, then me. Now he's sorry!

My favorite thing was port days on the ship! Very relaxing, and we were taken care of by Ojack and Amanda! They were awsome! Very friendly, and could keep us busy just talking about their homelands. (Indonesia, and Australia, respectively.) It is my favorite thing getting to know a little bit about the people that do so much for so little. I hope that Ojack will be there in September. Amanda said she's leaving (as of last week) and will be going to London. She'll be missed.

Tracy

 

[sjm]

Originally posted by tlgoblue
Sue,
It was Gary on the boards first, then me. Now he's sorry!
Tracy

Well I am the only the boards and newsgroup person in our family. There is the disboards and two major newsgroups that I participate in, on a daily basis. Kevin tells me I spend to much time on the computer, but is always glad to get the information that I pass on to him(grin). MEN!!

Port days on a ship can be very relaxing, but in most ports there is so much to see. When you are in Grand Cayman in sept, you have to go swiming with the stingrays. We did it last western trip and I want to do it again.

sue