November 8 - 16, 2002

by Tim Larison, CLIA Master Cruise Counsellor (MCC)

Can two adults enjoy a 7 Night Disney Cruise without their kids? This is the question my wife Anne and I set out to find the answer to when we took the 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Magic from November 9th through November 16th, 2002.

We had taken the Disney Cruise before, a 3 night Disney Magic Cruise in May 2000, with our twin sons (they were 6 years old in 2000). This time we were interested to see how the longer 7 night cruise would compare to the short 3 night cruise, and what activities were available exclusively for adults.

Below I will give the highlights of our trip, day by day. I have included some recommendations (preceded by the words "TIP") throughout the report.

Friday, November 8th

We flew in to Orlando one night early and used our Disney World Annual Passes for one night at Epcot.  We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside - one of the resorts that has transportation to the port through the Disney Cruise Line.

Saturday, November 9th

Our bus from Port Orleans Riverside to the cruise terminal did not leave until 12:30 pm, so this allowed us a leisurely breakfast at Boatwrights and a couple of hours in the parks. 

We took in a couple of attractions at the Animal Kingdom this morning (the Safari ride and Tough To Be A Bug) before returning to our resort at 11:30 am. 

Disney makes transfers from Disney World to the cruise terminal very convenient. There is a cruise desk in the checkin area of Port Orleans Riverside which had a couple of Cruise Line reps there from 9 am. When we checked in on Friday night we were instructed to have our bags packed and ready to go by 8 am for the cruise. Our bags were picked up from our room shortly after 8 am and we did not see them again until we were on the ship.

The cruise bus pulled up right on schedule at 12:30 pm. The Disney Cruise bus is no ordinary bus - it has large seats, video monitors, a restroom onboard, and it is air conditioned. On the ride to Port Canaveral they show you a video of what to expect on the cruise. We were very excited as we approached the port after watching the video and seeing the Disney Magic in the distance. TIP: If you are not in a rush to get to the port, the Disney transportation is great. It is hassle free - we were dropped off right at the cruise terminal and checkin was fast and easy. We soon found ourselves walking into the Disney Magic!   If you want to be one of the first onboard, though, I recommend making other arrangements as we arrived at the port about an hour and a half after boarding had begun.

We quickly went to our stateroom - 2008 on deck 2 in the front part of the ship. There waiting for us was our luggage - we later found out it was transported separately for us from our Disney World resort to the ship earlier that morning. Our stateroom was good sized and had a porthole (a category 9) - we stayed in the same size stateroom on our 2000 cruise but somehow it seemed bigger without two six year olds with us :-) We particularly like the split bathroom available in this category of stateroom (and most other categories except for cats 11 and 12). The bathroom is split into two small rooms. Each has its own door. One room has a shower and a sink; the second room has the toilet and another sink. The two sinks in separate rooms allowed my wife and I to get ready at the same time in the morning.

TIP: Don't worry if your stateroom is on deck 1 or 2 on the cruise. There are some locations you want to avoid (like below Rockin Bar D) but most are ok. You aren't at the very bottom, as there are 4 Disney service decks below the passenger decks. This was the first first time I had stayed on deck 2 for the cruise. It was fine. We were underneath the Walt Disney Theatre but we heard no noise at all from above during the week. Our porthole window gave us a good view - we were 30 to 40 feet above the water line.

We remembered a very good opening buffet at Parrot Cay on our cruise in 2000 so we were looking forward to this buffet again today. We were disappointed we had arrived too late to eat at Parrot Cay, but we discovered the Topsiders Buffet had the same food and this also was excellent. It also gave us a chance to checkout Topsiders - a buffet on the 10th deck that we did not eat at during our 3 night cruise. The peel and eat shrimp were particularly good at this buffet. 

TIP: After you board the Disney Cruise if you want to eat at Palo make your dining reservations right away. On our cruise the Palo reservations were taken at Rockin Bar D in the afternoon, and at Palo after 5 pm. We talked to a couple who tried to make Palo reservations at 4:30 pm today, and they were told the restaurant was booked for the week. "High Tea" reservations particularly go fast as there are only 60 spots available.

Soon it was time to meet our sailing companions for the week - other travel agents with my company (Cruising Co Etc). We had an opening cocktail party in Sessions. Many of the other agents I had never met, and we were so caught up with talking to everyone that we didn't even notice that the ship had pulled away from the port at 5 pm. Suddenly we looked outside and we were moving. 

We could feel the boat move but it wasn't too bad - no need for the "bonine" sea sickness pills that I had brought along just in case. One member of the crew told me that the first night and the last night is usually where the ship feels the most movement, so if you get through the first night you should be fine. This was generally true, though we did have one night of rough seas that I will get to later.

We had the "late" dinner seating this cruise. At first we wondered how that would work for us (back home I eat dinner around 5 pm), but it worked great!

TIP: The late dinner seating has its advantages. You can go to the early show at 6:30 pm in your casual clothes and still have one hour to get ready for your dinner seating. There are fewer children at the 8:30 pm seating. There is no rush to finish your meal - no need to vacate the restaurant to get ready for the next seating like you have with the early seating. 

TIP: If you get hungry in the early evening, you can always get a snack on deck 9 (fruits, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc). There is also a free drink station on deck 9 with unlimited servings of ice tea, lemonade, hot chocolate, and coffee. 

This first night we ate at Lumiere's. In my opinion this is the best of the three "dining rotation" restaurants. We were fortunate to eat at Lumiere's on the first night as this meant we would again have this restaurant on the 4th night and on the 7th night.

After dinner we visited the Internet Cafe next to the Promenade Lounge on deck 3. TIP: If you want to keep in touch with those back home, pay the $89.99 for a week's worth of unlimited internet access on the cruise. The 75 cents/minute charge is pretty steep and I would have gone way past $90 had I paid for the time by the minute. You charge the internet time to your shipboard account when you first login - instructions are on the screen. There is no way to connect to a laptop or upload files to the internet - but at least you have web access and email access. I recommend forwarding your home email account to a free yahoo mail account before you leave home - I was able to easily access yahoo mail on the cruise. There also is a direct link to email from these providers: juno, earthlink, compuserve, netzero, msn hotmail, and Bell South.

For me the week's internet access was worth it to keep in touch with my clients, to check up on  the news, and to communicate with family members on how our boys were doing back home.

At the Promenade Lounge in the evening there is a singer in the evening - she was very good. On certain nights they also had appetizers in the Lounge - one evening I had a nice snack of yummy chicken legs around 5 pm which helped hold me over until dinner that night.

On this first night my wife and I skipped the opening night variety show. Several others in our traveling party saw it and said the show was very good.

Sunday, November 10th

We started the day with a very good breakfast at Lumiere's.

TIP: If you have some time in the morning, the breakfast at Lumiere's is much better than what is offered at Topsiders buffet or room service. We ate breakfast here 6 of the 7 days of the cruise. We had french toast, omelets, scrambled eggs, waffles, and other breakfast goodies. Other than the blueberry pancakes everything we ate was excellent! My wife and I were also seated with other people each breakfast, and it was interesting to meet other cruisers from around the country and around the world. 

In addition Lumiere's is the best choice for lunch if your schedule allows it - we ate lunch there several times during the week on days we weren't off doing shore excursions during the lunch hour. The lunchtime offerings were as good as what I had for dinner on some days, plus you get dessert!

We docked at Key West today - it was very hot and humid! Just 11 days earlier I took my kids out for Halloween in 18 degree weather in Colorado, so maybe the temperatures seemed hotter to me. But I have been to Disney World in May and I thought the weather at Key West was hotter than Disney World May temperatures.

I am a history buff so when I visit a new place I look for tours to learn about the destination. My wife and I booked the Conch (pronounced "conk") train tour. This was a very good tour, about 1 hour and 15 minutes, where you are driven in an open air "train" (a motorized tram) and given a narration of the different island sights by the driver.

TIP: If you do the Conch Train Tour, pick the Conch Train and not the Trolley. You'll be given a choice of either. The Trolley is enclosed and I saw several people waiving fans to keep themselves cool in the Trolley. It was warm on the Conch Train, too, but not as hot as in the Trolley.

TIP: The Conch Train Tour really isn't the best one for little kids. During the 75 minute ride there are no stops, no bathroom breaks, and little ones would not find the historical narration as interesting as adults. I saw a few restless kids on our tour.

TIP: If you want to do the glass bottom boat tour at Key West, book it BEFORE your cruise. I tried to book this a couple of weeks before our cruise and it was sold out.

TIP: The evening schooner sail looked like a fun excursion that we missed out on. It ran from 5 to 8 pm on our cruise so people were back in time for the late dinner seating. At other times during the year you might miss dinner if you take this cruise but the spectacular sunsets at Key West make this a worthwhile attraction.

After the Conch Train Tour we did some shopping in Mallory Square. My wife rated it as "fair" - there were lots of tshirts and shells for sale. If you are a person looking for souvenirs you'll find something. There were also plenty of bars in Key West.

We returned to the ship after an afternoon in Key West and went to the "Morty the Magician" show at 6:30 pm. This is considered the weakest of the three Disney stage shows on board and some in our traveling party didn't care for it. My wife and I found it entertaining and we enjoyed it. Not too much magic in the show - it was a combination of singing and some magic. Magician Mickey makes an appearance for the kids.

We ate dinner at Animator's Palate. This is a fun restaurant with the restaurant changing colors with each course.

Monday, November 11th

Today was our first "day at sea". As part of the travel agent group I was with I attended classes from 8 to 11 am. My wife took this opportunity to visit the Tropical Rain Forest spa. She reports that she had a choice of a mild, medium, or hot sauna. She did all 3. The cost was $15 a session, 3 days for $30, or 7 days for $50. TIP: The 3 day rate was not offered when we first boarded, but it was offered later in the cruise. So if you don't want to go for the full 7 days but want more than a one day visit to the spa, wait a day and the 3 day pass may be offered.

My wife thought the hot sauna was too hot - she only stayed a couple of minutes in there. She said the medium was the best. The mild was good for relaxing - you could bring a book into this sauna.

We had lunch at Lumiere's today - did I mention that we ate well on this cruise? :-)

In the afternoon we laid on the deck chairs on deck 4. TIP: the deck chairs on deck 4 are padded and very comfortable. Unlike the deck chairs on the top deck (which aren't padded), many of these are in the shade. It is very easy to doze off laying in one of these chairs and staring out over miles and miles of deep blue ocean.

TIP: If you want to work off all that extra food you are eating on the cruise, there is a nice walking/jogging course on deck 4 that circles the whole ship. It is recommended you go in a counter-clockwise direction. My wife and I often took a few laps on this course (especially on the "at sea" days). Most of the course is walking on the deck - at the front end of the ship you go by the area where the anchor ropes are stored.

At 3:30 pm this afternoon we went to the movie theatre on deck 5 to see "Sweet Home Alabama". TIP: If you go to a late afternoon movie on an "at sea" day, be sure to arrive a few minutes early to get a seat! Every chair in the theatre was filled and some people were sitting in the aisles - no doubt some late comers missed out on the movie.

After the movie we attended the Hercules Show in the Walt Disney Theatre. We liked this show the best of the three Disney shows offered (Disney Dreams is the favorite of most people - that show is also very good). The Hercules show had good singing and comedy. Hades was very amusing as the actor played the role more like a stand up comic.

One advantage of the late dinner seating is that you have plenty of time to get dressed for dinner after the evening show. We needed that extra time tonight! Tonight was "Formal Night". We got dressed and decided to leave early to get our picture taken. TIP: on formal night allow plenty of time for lines at the photographers. We arrived at 7:50 pm and finally got our picture taken at 8:30 pm (a 40 minute wait) - had we arrived later we would have been late for our 8:30 dinner seating. TIP: if you have kids the photographers will take many different poses of your family. With parents and kids, with parents only, with kids only, etc. This is another good reason to allow plenty of time for the photos.

Our formal dinner was at Parrot Cay. The food was good but not as goodas what we had the two nights prior (at Lumiere's and Animators Palate). The restaurant was loud and it was hard to hear dinner conversation at times. TIP: if you have to skip one restaurant to eat at Palo, I recommend skipping Parrot Cay. Check your dining rotation when you board the ship to find out which night you eat at Parrot Cay, and then make your reservations for Palo.

After dinner we checked out the ESPN club. My team (the Denver Broncos) weren't doing too well this night on Monday Night Football (against our arch rivals - the Oakland Raiders). The reception was spotty and the announcers were broadcasting the game in Spanish. I gave up watching the game after a few minutes.

Tuesday, November 12th

We awoke at 6 am this morning to the sound of the anchor being lowered - it was pretty loud from our deck 2 stateroom towards the front of the ship. We had arrived at Grand Cayman! We looked forward to the two shore excursions we had booked for this day.

This was the only port we stopped at where the ship dropped anchor in the harbor. We took small boats ashore from the ship (called "tenders"). The tenders left from the front and back of the ship. There were several small tenders and a couple of larger ones (the large ones had two decks). 

TIP: I asked the tender driver if the large tender could handle wheel chairs and he said it could. If you have a wheel chair traveler with you you may have to wait for the "right" tender to arrive(the large one) but that shouldn't stop you from going ashore. 

The tender boat ride was about 15 to 20 minutes to the shore. The sight of the Disney Magic anchored in the harbor was particularly impressive from the tender boat.

TIP: If you are prone to seasickness you may want to take your medication on this day as the ride on a tender boat can be more rocky than on the big ship.

The first shore excursion we did today was the Nautilus Undersea Tour. This was a part boat/part submarine that had windows in the bottom of the boat for you to see the underwater wonders. The boat does not completely go under the water like a submarine. My wife and I rated this tour as "fair". We saw lots of tropical fish underwater and a couple of shipwrecks. At one point in the tour a diver feeds the fish right outside your window.

The tour drew a few families with young children - we found ourselves with lots of loud, screaming kids in a small enclosed area. Kind of like being an underwater Oceaneer's Club with no escape :-) This tour would be good for a family who wants to give their kids a taste of the underwater scenes. If we had to do it over again we probably would have spent more for the Atlantis Submarine (which goes down 100 feet in the water for more spectacular ocean views).

The most popular tour at this stop among our traveling group was the Stingray City tour. The idea of being in the water with a bunch of stingrays isn't my idea of fun, but many said this was one of the best experiences of the whole cruise for them. The shore tour manager did say there is an option where you can visit Stingray City without actually going in the water - that's the one I'll pick next time.

After the Nautilus Tour we went back to the ship for lunch, and then in the afternoon we did the Grand Cayman Island Tour. This was an excellent tour - even better than the Conch Train tour we had taken at Key West. Our driver was very friendly. He drove us in an air conditioned van to 7 mile beach - this was one of the nicest beaches I saw all week.

TIP: if you are interested in a day at the beach you don't have to book a shore tour. Simply get off the boat and pay for a taxi to take you over there. The beach is very close to the port.

Another stop we made on the Island Tour was at the Turtle Farm. Being from Colorado and seeing turtles about the size of my thumbnail in my home state, it was a treat to see dozens and dozens of large ocean turtles and get a chance to hold one. This stop also was very popular with the youngsters.

The final stop on the tour was "Hell" - a bar and souvenir shop that overlooked an unusual rock formation. While the tour overall was good, I wish we had avoided "hell" and spent more time on the beach! This stop was nothing special.

Between stops our driver drove us around to different parts of the Island and told us of the history of the Island.

The people of Grand Cayman were very friendly. It was unusual to see cars driving on the left side of the road. Of the three ports of call (not counting Castaway Cay) I liked this one the best. I can see why many celebrities own homes in Grand Cayman (like Michael Jordan). It's a friendly island with low crime and beautiful beaches.

For dinner tonight we had the Master Chef Series, featuring the best of the Walt Disney World restaurants. I thought this was the best dinner of the week.

My wife and I didn't visit the adult clubs much during the week (we were usually too tired after dinner finished up at 10:30 pm), but tonight was one night where we did visit the Rockin Bar D Club after dinner.  Tonight was a show by Rich Purpua - a comedian and magician. 

TIP: If Rich Purpura is entertaining on your cruise, don't miss his show!  This guy is FUNNY - better than many comedians I have seen on tv. He has a show for families early and an "adults only" show later. We saw the adults only show and it was great! 

Before going to sleep tonight we were instructed to set our clocks back one hour. Our next destination, Cozumel, is on Central Time. This gave us an extra hour's sleep after our late evening at the comedy club.

Wednesday, November 13th

We arrived in Cozumel only to be greeted by some very rough seas. At Cozumel we docked (some other ships dropped anchor in the harbor).

Today we had planned the Atlantis Submarine tour. We really looked forward to it since the sub was to go much deeper in the water (100 feet) than the Nautilus tour we had taken at Grand Cayman).

Unfortunately the waves got higher and higher as the day proceeded. I decided to take a seasickness pill (Bonine) because I thought the sub ride could be rough. At around 1 pm all of the shore excursions were canceled for the rest of the day (our sub ride was scheduled for 2:30 pm). My wife did some shopping at a mall adjacent to the port. She said there was a nice mall up an escalator by the port. She said other shopping by the port was not as nice. For me, the Bonine pill made me very sleepy and I ended up taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. So I do not have much to report on the sights of Cozumel.

In talking to others, the most popular tour was the Xcaret Eco Archeological Park - I will want to visit there next time. I talked to a couple at breakfast the next day who were disappointed with their Tropical Jeep Safari Tour - they said they couldn't see much on the tour since the jeep was so close to the trees much of the time. The Tulum Ruins is another tour I may like to try on a future trip. The Tulum Tour is a long one (over 7 hours) but I talked to one person who thought it was worthwhile.

The rough water kind of put a damper on the day at Cozumel. While the Bonine pill I took made me sleepy, later I was glad I had taken it. That night was the roughest ride we had for the entire cruise. I felt fine, but my wife, who is not prone to motion sickness, did feel ill in the morning. 

This evening we went to a "PremEAR at Sea" - Santa Claus 2. This movie was shown in the big Walt Disney World Theatre on deck 4 (not in the ship's regular movie theatre). TIP: If you go to a "premEar" at sea,after you walk into the theatre check one of the side screens and catch a glimpse of yourself walking into the theatre. There's a close circuit television feed of people walking into the theatre, and there are usually Disney Cast members doing some form of entertainment in the lobby (on this night they were singing Christmas Carols). At first we thought the movie might be shown on these side screens, too, but instead at show time the curtain raised and the movie was shown on the big screen in the center of the theatre. Try to sit in the middle section for the best view.

We thought Santa Claus 2 was OK, but not as good as the original. The best movie we saw on the ship was "Tuck Everlasting" (a recently released Disney film).

After the movie we went to dinner at Animator's Palate. Tonight was Mexico night and the waiters entertained us with a "limbo" dance.

Thursday, November 14th

Today was another "day at sea". In the morning I attended a 3 hour class with the travel agent group I was with. 

My wife played Bingo at Rockin Bar D - she didn't win anything but said the Bingo was fun. Bingo was offered on every day of the cruise. 1 card for bingo costs $10, 3 cards are $20, and 6 cards are $35.

My wife also attended the "Navigator Series" in the morning with the ship's captain and crew answering questions from people in the audience. The captain was coy when asked if there would be a third ship - he did say he would like to see an Alaska itinerary.

After class we had lunch with Greg Faulkner and his wife. Greg is better known as "mad4wdw" on the dvctalk mailing list I run. It was fun to meet someone from my mailing list in person. We talked about the dvc resorts and our experiences on the cruise. 

In the afternoon on this "day at sea" we did more walking on deck 4 to work off all the wonderful food we were eating. We relaxed on the deck 4 chairs and enjoyed the ocean view.

This evening was our one and only meal at Palo. The food was very good and I always recommend to people to try to eat there at least once on their cruise. The show tonight was "Disney Dreams" - we had seen the show on our cruise two years ago so we decided to skip it go to a movie instead.

Friday, November 15th

Castaway Cay day! A visit to this Disney Island paradise was the highlight of our 3 night cruise in 2000, and today the Island was to reveal more of its treasures to us.

We first discovered that the ship arrives at Castaway Cay later on the 7 night cruise than it did on our 3 night cruise - we docked around 9 am. On our 3 night cruise in 2000 we arrived at the Island at 5 am.

We were one of the first off the boat. My wife wanted to try snorkeling for the first time so she rented snorkel equipment for the day for $25. She found the snorkeling at the family beach was not so great close to the beach. Others reported that the snorkeling at the family beach was better the farther you got away from the shore.

We decided to go to the adult beach - a part of the island we did not see on our visit in 2000 with our kids. We thought the adult beach was wonderful! It was not as crowded as the family beach and my wife reports that the snorkeling was MUCH better here.

TIP: If you have kids but still want to try out the adult beach, you can leave your kids in the kids program at the island. The counselors at Scuttle's Cove will give you a communication device so that they can be in touch with you if necessary. I asked specifically about this because if we ever return with our kids, I want to visit the adult beach again!

TIP: For lunch there is a barbeque at the family beach and at the adult beach. The Adult beach's barbeque is better! (for adults only of course) I had grilled lobster - this was not offered at the family beach. Be sure to eat lunch early - the lobster was not available near closing time at the adult barbeque. The barbeque area isn't that big and got very crowded during the prime lunch hours. The lobster I had at the adult beach was just as good as the lobster I had at Palo the night before.

TIP: If you take the tram over to the adult beach, try walking instead of taking the tram back to the family beach. We did this and we discovered new parts to the island, including a recreation area (Grouper) that had numerous ping pong and billiard tables. It also had a basketball court and a football toss area. We spent some time here playing different games - it was not crowded at all. Also if you walk you'll have a chance at some great photo opportunities.

Overall the weather at Castaway Cay was beautiful - not too hot with a cool breeze. Just like our visit to the Island in May 2000. Our stay on Castaway Cay seemed too short - we had to be back on the boat by 4:30 pm and the ship sailed away at 5 pm.

Our group had a wonderful deck party on the Sports Deck as we sailed away from Castaway Cay - the sunset on this night is a sight I will long remember.

Tomorrow would be the end of our 7 night cruise. We had to have our luggage ready between 9 and 11 pm to be taken off the ship in the night.

TIP: The cruise staff will tell you not to miss the disembarkation talk in the Walt Disney Theatre at 4:30 pm. If you are one of the late arrivals from Castaway Cay and you miss this talk, you can catch it on the television in your stateroom later that evening. We used this time to get a start on packing, and we watched the talk later that night.

TIP: Listen carefully on how to fill out the Customs Form. In the disembarkation talk they will tell you how to fill out certain parts of the form. We filled ours out incorrectly the first time before we listened to the talk. If you make a mistake there are more copies of the form by Guest Services (you don't have to wait in line - the forms are at a table next to Guest Services) 

We attended the Farewell Variety Show which was good. We enjoyed seeing the comedian Rich Purpura again. We had our final evening meal at Lumiere's.

Saturday, November 16th

This morning we realized another benefit of having a late seating time - you don't have to go to breakfast until 8 am! The early seating guests had to be at breakfast at 6:45 am. I didn't want to leave the ship any sooner than I had too!

We had a good breakfast at Lumiere's (you eat at the restaurant that you dined at the evening before) and said our final goodbyes to our travel agent group. Getting off the ship, through Customs, claiming our bags, and getting on our bus to the airport all was very smooth.

Disney had told us not to schedule a flight back before 1 pm. We arrived at the airport at 10 am and our scheduled flight wasn't until 5 pm that evening. We were lucky to get on an earlier flight (11:45 am) and we were home 5 hours earlier than originally planned.

Summary

Can two adults enjoy a 7 Night Disney Cruise without their kids? The answer is YES! We had a great time on the cruise, and we enjoyed the extra 4 nights on the cruise this time that we didn't have on our 3 night cruise in 2000. We definitely would like to do the longer 7 night cruise in the future (maybe to the Eastern Itinerary). Though I am not a swimmer, there was still plenty for me to do on the cruise. There were so many activities and things to see that we could easily do the cruise again and have an entirely different experience.

Tim Larison