My thoughts so far…

So I thought I would share my thoughts on what we’ve done so far, this being my first Disney cruise and first time in the Mediterranean. We have enjoyed all aspects of this cruise, including our inside cabin. We have a “sideways” cabin on deck 6 and it’s great. I like it much better than the lengthwise one. My daughters wish is that we have more sea days. 3 are not enough according to her. I’m glad we weren’t on the 10 day. I have enjoyed our excursions, but my 9 year old has not. She always says she’s glad she went but really, she would have preferred to stay on board. I won’t let her as this is her first time also and I don’t know when/if we’ll get back here.
The on our own excursions we did in Palermo and a Naples were fine. We had plenty of time to run around. I felt that we saw the important things and the literature provided by the churches and historical sights was informative. Disney also provides bus and train schedules and ferry schedules which really help out a lot!
For Olbia, its beauty surpassed the excursion. In hindsight, I realized I paid way too much for “day at sea” but being my first time, I would say it was worth it. If you do your research you should be able to find a gorgeous beach on your own and spend about 20-40 euros (total). If that’s what you’re looking for!
For Rome, again, I felt that I paid too much for the “Jumping Back” excursion. Although, the extra 20? Dollars to take the train was WELL worth it! Our group was a slow one, which was fine with me, but there were 7 bus loads of people on this excursion and I heard from more than one person on different busses that they were being rushed and “herded”. We were not, which I am sure frustrated our guides as people were always disappearing. Our penance was a smaller amount of time at the Vatican. On the other hand, our guide was not as informative as I would have liked. She couldn’t answer “historical” based questions on the landmarks we were seeing. She’d give us the overview in broken English and sent us around on our own. She apologized a lot for this and stated many times, that she was a “guide to take us to the places” but not an expert on each place. For the amount of money this excursion was, I expected someone to know more. Especially since I didn’t know much either. At then end of the day, I spoke with Sandy and she did the whole Rome on your own (taking the train on her own) and saw all the same places I did and had a much more interesting time. She was able to spend more time at each location. I know Disney provides a lunch, but it is a 1-2 hour stop, which really cuts into your time to explore. Additionally, since we were on a Private train, this excursion could have given us an additional hour at the Vatican. Again, this being my first time, I did enjoy it but those little touches would have added so much more.

Also, it’s been HOT. I have quite a nice tan going. Be prepared for the heat as they have said it’s just going to get worse over the summer. It’s a wet hot too, very humid. Bring sunscreen and either a case of water with you or buy the water package on board.

I have been to the spa several times (too many) but it’s been good. The employees are friendly and good at their services. I highly recommend.

We have Philip as our room steward, he’s excellent. Can’t say more or I might get him into trouble, but he has gotten me everything that Taylor and I have wanted!

We have Louise and Delroy as our servers and they are spot on! Bringing you more that what you asked for and never judging!


I’ll sum up the second half at the end.