Cruising this Saturday

[vickych]

Hi, I've been lurking for some time gathering valuable info for my upcoming cruise. I have a few questions and would appreciate any help.

When we go on shore excursions, does Disney allow us to bring their towels for the beach. I hate to think I have to use valuable suitcase space for towels.

I have small children who like to have beach toys when playing in the sand. I have some but again would rather not pack them. Some hotels we've stayed at have toys to borrow. Does Disney or some of the beaches have these things? We are going to beaches in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

Last, I have been doing this great diet that I want to continue (sort-of) while cruising. One key ingredient is pure, unsweetened cranberry juice. I plan to bring some, 52 oz. Will I be allowed to board with this? I'm thinking of putting it in my own water bottles.

Thanks in advance.
VC

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Yes, you can take a towel from the ship for shore excursions, or if you're just going to the beach on your own. When you book an excursion with the cruise line, there will be a meeting place on board, usually a club or restaurant, where they will hand out towels. If you're on your own, you can just grab some from deck 9, or sometimes they have a stack of them on deck 1 near where you get off the ship. There will be a bin in the elevator lobby on deck 1 where you can dump them when you get back on board.

I'm not sure about this, since my son is only 2 months old and we haven't cruised with him, but I don't think they have sand toys to rent/borrow. They do have them for sale on Castaway Cay, and possibly in the on-board store, Mickey's Mates. Again, I am unsure about this, but I think that you'll want to pack these or be prepared to buy them.

Yes, you'll be allowed to board with cranberry juice. I would pack it in a carry-on, since the checked luggage tends to get tossed around a bit. It wouldn't do to have your whole bag stained with cranberry juice.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kajohn]

Sand toys,

They do have them for sale on Castaway cay, but they are very expensive. I have heard some people say they borrowed toys from Scuttle Cove on Castaway Cay then returned them when they were done, but we didnt try this.

We wanted to go to the beach at every port, not just Castaway Cay, so we stopped at target near the port and bought sand toys and a bag to hold them in. We spent about $10. We used them at each port, and then on the last night, gave them to our cabin steward and asked him to pass them on to a family on the next cruise. I hope he did!

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi VC.

I have small children who like to have beach toys when playing in the sand. I have some but again would rather not pack them.

Beach toys are for children of all ages (at least in our family)...

Your best option, in my opinion, is to contact Shirley at The Perfect Gift. She can have delivered to your stateroom a basket of treasures for the kids. I arranged this prior to our first cruise last August and will do so again for our upcoming vacation. The basket included such items as sand toys, sunscreen, Safe Sea, a DCL towel, goggles, a pair of kids' binoculars and so on. You can request other/additional items or just ask Shirley for recommendations. It saves you the inconvenience of schlepping all those items to the ship...

 

[Verandah Man]

schlepping

Yea, I would hate to see poor BD "schlepping" around the ship, especially when there is shrimp to be eaten!!!

 

[nannbird]

Vicki,

We're cruising this Saturday (June 7), too! It's our first 7-day cruise, although we went on a 3-day cruise on the Magic a few years ago that was great! Maybe we'll see you there.

Cindy

 

[antmaril]

I'm curious about the diet and the cranberry juice. Care to share some details?

 

[carole88]

I am also curious about the diet!


Have a great cruise!

 

[vickych]

Thanks for all the info. Cindy, we have 2 girls, 5 and 3. Our dinner seating is at 8:30, although I would like to change this. Hope to run into you.

The diet is the fat flush plan. I"ve been doing it for 5 weeks and have liked the results. You can find info on ivillage but if you decide to do it you'll need the book. The first week I followed exactly and lost 8 pounds the 2nd and 3rd week, I blew it and gained back 5. These last 2 weeks I lost 10 pounds for a total of 13 pounds. This diet works great, I wish I would not have cheated, just think where I could be on the scale!! I want to enjoy the cruise so I'm planning on gaining 3 to 5 pounds. I won't try to, but won't be upset with myself if I do.

VC

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Keep on, VC! It sounds like you're really happy with your results so far! Good for you!

Originally posted by vickych
The diet is the fat flush plan. I"ve been doing it for 5 weeks and have liked the results. You can find info on ivillage but if you decide to do it you'll need the book. The first week I followed exactly and lost 8 pounds the 2nd and 3rd week, I blew it and gained back 5. These last 2 weeks I lost 10 pounds for a total of 13 pounds. This diet works great, I wish I would not have cheated, just think where I could be on the scale!! I want to enjoy the cruise so I'm planning on gaining 3 to 5 pounds. I won't try to, but won't be upset with myself if I do.

VC