Who would have thought that Christmas in the Cayman Islands
could be so fun? Most of the time when we cruise we sail on Royal Caribbean
leaving out of Florida. This year I had some time off so the group decided to
try a "Christmas in the Caymans" cruise aboard a Disney cruise liner.
My researcher hit all the travel sites and started negotiating the rooms (we
had three) and found that the last minute pricing was quite affordable. So much
so that we opted for staterooms with a balcony aboard the Disney Magic leaving
out of Galveston Texas.
What surprised me was that the best deal did not come from a
cruise discounter but from Disney itself! Disney operates its cruises a bit
differently than some of the other cruise lines. From the website we were able
to view the layout of the rooms (including SqFt.) and see their positioning in
relationship to the actual ship. ** This is important because a "room with
a view" could actually be behind a structural member of the ship! Another
surprise is on how they list the price of the cruise. On some cruise liners,
they list a per person price while Disney listed a cabin price. With our rooms
paid for and our dining arrangements pre-approved (a must if you want choices),
we took off to Galveston.
The port in Galveston is a bit odd to negotiate, but with a
couple of trips around the block, we figured it out. The secret to drop-off is
to unload everyone and everything at the dock and then drive to the terminal parking.
From there, you can take the bus back to the ship and meet up with your party. Unload
time and travel back took approximately 45 minutes. A steward will meet you at
the unloading area and check that you have attached your pre-printed luggage
tags (sent to you by Disney) to all of your baggage. Say goodbye to your
luggage because you will not see it again for up to eight hours! Wait!.... I
forgot that my passport is in my luggage! ...Stop the steward, unload the bag,
rife through it, and retrieve your passport!
When you enter the terminal, you will realize that this is a
Disney adventure by the length of the lines just to check in. With travel passes in hand, you find yourself
walking with a spring in your step up the gangplank.
 |
| Checking In |
Once you get to
the front of the line, the travel scheduler is very attentive and polite. They
will ask for your pre-printed literary paperwork, passports, and offer you an
upgraded room at a reduced rate. We opted out because the rooms were at the end
of the ship. At this time, they will issue a travel pass that works like a
credit / ID card. You can charge things on the boat (not a whole lot of cash
used on the boat), get on and off the boat at the port and open your room.
As you enter the ship you are flanked by many of the crew in
their dress white uniforms. You pause and a yeoman announces your name in a
loud voice as you enter the grand room. I am thinking that I saw that done in a
movie once and was impressed. Let me think.... oh yeah, it was Titanic! Maybe I
shouldn't think about that too much. Anyway, it was impressive. When we
scheduled the cruise, we chose the cruise leaving before Christmas because we
had established that the ship was fully decked out for Christmas ...Disney
Style!
 |
| Christmas Disney Style |
A first time cruiser would be in awe of the grandeur,
wanting to see everything all at once. A savvy traveler heads right to the ship
purser to make sure that all dinners, shows, and excursions are correct,
booked, and no surprises are expected. Really, this is the smartest thing you
can do. Visit the purser first and make sure everything is how YOU want it.
This is also the place to rent your on board radios (more on this later) before
they run out.
 |
| 18 and Older Only |
I was a little apprehensive about a Disney cruise (because
of all the young kids) until I discovered that there is a private deck
(forward) called the cove that is for adults only. Disney cruises are for
families and the kids on this cruise were well behaved and did not bother me at
all. One thing I found interesting is that on previous Royal Caribbean cruises;
alcohol is not allowed to be brought on board for the cruise. You may by it in
port; but they will keep if for you until you depart at the end of the cruise.
On this Disney cruise, they allowed you to bring alcohol on board for use in your
cabin.
 |
| The Couch in Front Converts into Bunk Beds |
As expected, the ship was immaculate and the staff was top
notch. The cabins were well laid out with the exception of power outlets. For
some reason, all the outlets were opposite of the bed and night stands. No
problem though I had brought a long enough power strip to reach across the
room. Kudos to Disney for their ample size bathrooms. On previous cruises with
other cruise lines, I had to leave the door open to sit down in the bathroom.
The Disney stateroom was spacious enough for two adults with two small
children. The beds were soft and decor was fresh. ** There is nothing like
sleeping at night with the doors to the balcony open where you can hear the
surf.
 |
| Yes, that is a bath tub |
The all ashore horn sounded which signaled that we were
about to depart ...... well sort of. As with all cruise liners, you have to
practice evacuating the boat and know your evacuation muster station before the
ship is underway. Your life vest are in your room so put on the vest and report
to your station when the announcement and alarm are sounded. This is not a time
to misplace a kid or teenager because the ship does not leave until everyone
has been counted at their CORRECT muster station.
 |
| Overlooking the party below |
 |
| Many Free video games in the game room |
Evac drill over and we are off to the top deck for a bon voyage
party! Get there early and find a spot at the outer rail to wave at the land
locked tourist as you depart the port. Plenty of mimosas and rum drinks abound
from servers as they mingle around the party. For first time cruisers, this is
where the fun starts. Just like on the love boat, each cruise has a cruise
director and plenty of staff to make sure your every waking hour is filled with
excitement! There is always a party, show, demonstration, or activity planned
while you are on board the ship. In fact, after your third cruise, you really
consider which ports you don't go ashore on because there are more things to do
on ship! If you are traveling with teens or kids make sure you visit their
activities centers first so they can plan how much time they want to spend away
from you! Seriously, the teen and adventurer centers are staffed with college
students doing internships which main duties are to entertain your kids. Make
plans early to meet your kids somewhere or use your onboard radio. ***Cruise
tip! Cheap walky-talkies don't work well on a cruise ship due to the metal
within the ship. Most cruise lines have rentable hand held radios on a first
come basis. Do not use your cell phone (in fact set it to airplane mode or off before
you get to port) unless you want to pay high rate fees to the cruise line. The
internet is available (at a cost .... by the minute or Mb) in the communication
center. WiFi ..... is expensive.
Our luggage arrived about 4pm and was promptly put up by the
cabin steward before we returned to the room. This bothered me (a little) and
was not done on other cruises. To say the least, our cabin steward was
attentive and we often found that the room had been tidied up after each time
we left. *** One note.... it is expected to tip the steward at the end of the
voyage $10 per person, per day. You can prepay it in advance or the cruise line
will place envelopes on your bed on the last day for various tips for different
crew members. While this might seem presumptuous, it is really quite reasonable
for the level of service you get from the staff on board.
 |
| Room Service is Free Also! |
Let's Eat! With the ship underway, you are now in search of
a snack before dinner! If there was only one thing cruising was noted for it
would be the availability of food, food, and food. With the exception of a few
specialty restaurants, all the food is free. There are too many snack shops,
food counters, cafeterias, and dining rooms to list. While on other ships, you
pick your dining room; on Disney, you rotate through the different themed
dining rooms during the cruise. You will normally have a table captain assigned
to you of the first night. *** Cruise tip! Get to know and befriend the table
captain (you will tip them also at the end) because they can get you just about
anything to eat. I offhandedly made the comment about pumpernickel bread on one
cruise and by the next port; the table captain had gotten off the ship and went
downtown to buy enough pumpernickel for the entire cruise! If there is
something you don't like... speak up!
 |
| The Ferry is how you transfer from ship to shore |
The ship arrived in the Cayman Islands early in the morning.
As I looked at the port I noticed that at least three other cruise ships had
also arrived. With approximately 2500 passengers on each ship that meant that
10,000 tourist had just arrived in port..... yeah! Our travel director (my
wife) had gone online and made arrangements through Acquarius tours http://www.acquarius.ky to rent a
private boat to visit Stingray City. John (the owner) met us at the pier and
drove us to his slip in the harbor. While his boat can comfortable hold 25
passengers, he normally keeps his tours to around 12. Let me jump to the end of
this excursion .... well worth the money!!! He charged about $5 per person more
than the crowded cruise line tour but delivered over and beyond an experience.
We boarded the boat with the others in our tour and made our way out towards
stingray city which is a sand bar off shore of the main island. Before we got
there, John had explained that the
cruise boat crowd normally get there at
certain times of the day and overwhelms the sand bar by the sheer number of
passengers on each boat. He suggested that we go snorkeling in a private spot
he knew of first and then time our arrival between the cruise boat tours
arrivals and departures.
We dropped anchor about a mile from the sandbar and donned
the snorkeling equipment he provided on the tour. The water was azure blue and
just the right temperature (didn't seem like December). After a short safety
briefing, everyone hit the water with John making sure everyone was in the same
area. When John entered the water he told us about a stingray that was missing
a tail that would follow him whenever he showed up. Sure enough, within about
10 minutes, the ray showed up and John and his crewmate showed us how to handle
the rays and let us swim with them. I had brought my camera but John's
underwater camera was really nice and he freely took photos of everyone that he
later posted to his website.
After about 30 minutes or so it was time to eat lunch
(provided by John) and pack up to head over to the sandbar. As we approached,
you could see the cruise boat excursions loaded with wall to wall people
leaving the area. We anchored on the edge of the sandbar and after another
briefing on how to walk around the rays and what not to touch, he chummed the
area and the rays started to show up.
 |
| 100 at a time? |
Growing up in Florida I have seen Sting
Rays off and on but these weren't the small Florida rays.... these were RAYS!
All of a sudden, there were rays everywhere. You are in knee to waist deep
water and these wild rays are all over the place (rubbing you as they pass and
coming within hands touch). John and his crewmate made sure that everyone was
given the opportunity to have a Sea Ray back rub and insure their good luck for
the coming year by kissing the ray. The brave adventures were given the chance
to feed the rays and everyone had a great time.
.jpg) |
| Manta Ray back rub! |
It was getting late and John was well aware of when we
needed to get back to the ship. As we made our way back to the dock I kept
noticing the crewmate looking over the side in the water. This went on for
about 10 minutes until he just leap off the boat and dove under water. We
quickly brought the boat around and by the time he surfaced he had one of the
largest Star Fish I have ever seen. The group gathered around and John
explained about the Starfish and its habitat. After a short lesson, the Star
Fish was released and we made it back to the dock and port in time to board the
ship.
 |
| Tours are kept small and personal |
Would I take this excursion again.... in a heartbeat. The
tour was professional, the equipment top notch, and the experience worthwhile.
If you are going to the Cayman Islands then make sure you talk to Acquarius tours and make your arrangement by email before you
set sail.
 |
| Black shadows in the water are rays! |
 |
| Capt. John |
.jpg)
Back on ship, we showered and enjoyed getting the saltwater
off us. We ate another great meal (formal night) and enjoyed a show before
hitting one of the many dance clubs onboard. In the morning, we awoke to choppy
water and a storm on the horizon. For those of you how believe that you will
get seasick, let me assure you that on a ship this size, this is not the case.
The wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to walk on the top deck.
Inside the ship however, unless you looked outside a port window, you could not
tell that we were in any rough water.
 |
| Returning to the docks |
We arrived back in
Galveston with a slight drizzle. Disembarking a ship is an exercise in gaming.
First, they pick up your luggage the night before. ** Don't forget your
passport again. In the morning you are given muster times to depart. For your
last few hours on the ship make sure you visit as many eateries as you can!
When your time is called, you report to the gangplank and disembark. When you
arrive at the port, you will see approximately 5,000 bags of luggage. Most of
these will look just like yours. Hopefully you put two identifying ribbons (
you really did not think somebody else didn't think of this before) on your
luggage so you can pick up the right case. After you have gathered your bags
(did I bring three bags of four) you will go through customs. Have all of your
paper s in hand and look for the shortest line (that is the preferred traveler
line); you're in the wrong line; so you get to go stand in the right line again
and wait your turn. Flash the customs agent a smile, show them your papers, and
make sure you have the same number of kids you had when you left. You can now
decide to try a load up in a crowded port or just have everyone jump on the bus
and be transported back to your car and repack at your leisure.
Rating the trip on a scale from 1 to 10 with
10 being the best......
Cruise Ship Disney Magic......... 7 (when compared to Mega
class ships)
Cruise Ship Staff ....................... 8
Destination Ports ...................... 7 (I really liked
the Caymans but could care less about Cozumel)
Staterooms ................................ 9 (When compared
to Mega class and other ships)
Food and Dining ...................... 7 (The food was good but the dining experience
was less than Mega class ships).
Value for the Vacation ............... 8 (I would have given
it a 9 but Cozumel is too much of a tourist trap).
 |
| One of the many Disney pools |
 |
| Art abound throughout the ship |
 |
| This is Disney's version of cafeteria food! |
 |
| Keep in mind that this is all you can eat |
 |
| Prime Rib |
 |
| You eat like this every night! |
 |
| Don't forget desert! |
 |
| Pin trading is a popular way to meet the crew |
 |
| First run movies, plays, and entertainers fill your nights with adventure |
.jpg)
