Tag Archives: Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line’s Castaway Club Review

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Disney Cruise Line ShipThe more you cruise, the better the perks!  Disney Cruise Line’s Castaway Club is a pretty sweet deal for people like us – we love Disney cruises and plan on taking many, many more.  If you’ve not yet taken that first Disney cruise and you’re wondering how to become a member of this particular club, it’s easy!  Simply take one Disney cruise and you’re in!  No application necessary.  The more you cruise, the better the perks of membership.  Membership levels determine the benefits.

After the first cruise, Silver level membership benefits apply.  After five cruises, Gold level is earned and after the tenth Disney sailing, cruisers reach the highly coveted Platinum level.  A helpful chart for all Castaway Club benefits can be found here.

Here’s what we’ve enjoyed most about our Castaway Club membership IMG_1853

Our first cruise (December 2006) was only three days long and boom!  We were in the club.  As we arrived for our second cruise (New Year’s week 2008), we were ushered into the special check-in line for members and were given our Castaway Club lanyards and, once we reached our stateroom, our Castaway Club gift.  Over the years, the gifts have varied, but are usually tote bags or backpacks of some sort, which come in handy right away for shore excursions.  Silver level’s good, but Gold is much better!Magic-Smoke-Stack

When sailing on popular itineraries, the ability to book activities earlier than the general public is very helpful!  Gold level membership allows booking 105 days before sailing (Silver can book at 90 days, Platinum at 120).  I’ll use our Norway cruise on the Disney Magic (June 2015) as an example – we did extensive research and knew exactly what excursions and specialty dining options we wanted.  At precisely 105 days pre-cruise, we booked exactly what we wanted excursion-wise without issue.  When it came to the Palo brunch and dinner we wanted, we did get reservations, but not at the exact times we’d hoped for.  As it turns out, we were told at the Gold and Platinum member reception (another awesome perk!) on the cruise that there were hundreds of Platinum members on board (it was the inaugural sailing in Norway).  Platinum is where we want to be!Magic-on-Deck

On the way to Platinum, every cruise counts regardless of length.  3 and 4-day voyages count just as much as the longer, more exotic cruises.  Our dream is to someday enjoy Platinum membership, but it’s going to take a while to get there since we’ve got to get our Walt Disney World regular fixes and are planning to visit Disney’s Hawaiian resort, Aulani, late next year (if possible).  Magic-on-Deck2

Disney Cruises are a great way to see the world while remaining in the Disney Bubble!  With two more ships to be added to the fleet in 2021 and 2023, we’re looking forward to letting Disney take us to many, many more places!

Where we’ve been:

  • 2006 – Bahamas (3-night)
  • 2008 – Western Caribbean  (7-night)
  • 2010 – Bahamas (5-night Castaway Cay Double Dip)
  • 2011 – Alaska (7-night)
  • 2013 – Mediterranean (7-night)
  • 2015 – Fjords of Norway (7-night)
  • 2016 – Bahamas (4-night)

While on our last cruise, we booked a place-holder for the next one.  We have 24 months sail away on a new adventure.  I have no idea where we’ll go!  Any suggestions?

 

 

5 Reasons to take a Disney Cruise Vacation

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Mickey and Minnie Mouse, DCLRecently a couple of friends mentioned that they’d been thinking about taking a Disney cruise.  Those TV ads make the experience look amazing, but having never cruised before, the idea seemed a little scary.  We’ve all heard horror stories of extreme seasickness, severe weather, and people falling overboard while on a cruise ship.  We’ve also listened to other people who, like our family, have had some of the best vacation experiences on a Disney cruise.

5 Reasons to take a Disney Cruise Vacation

  1. You already love Disney vacations – While Disney parks offer much different experiences than Disney cruise ships, the food, the excellent Cast Members, the lovable Disney Characters, and the entertainment are all exactly as a Disney park fan would expect (and maybe even better).The View from Deck, Disney Cruise Line in Alaska
  2. You want to visit new places – There’s a world to explore out there beyond the parks, but once addicted to the Disney Bubble, it’s hard to break free and visit a new location.  Disney cruise ships still allow you into the Bubble while moving you around to see and experience new places.  If you book Disney excursions, you can be assured you’ll be as well taken care of off the ship as you are on board.RM-Disney-Magic-Norway-Fjords
  3. You’re on a fixed budget – Sure, there are plenty of expenses on a Disney cruise, just as there are at Disney parks and resorts.  What’s great about cruising is that you can pre-calculate nearly every single expense – unless of course you want to consume copious amounts of adult beverages on your cruise.  The cruise price includes food, so all you have to calculate is excursion costs, any upcharge for specialty dining (if you elect to experience one of the adults-only restaurants) and Cast Member tips before you go – this gives you a great idea how much you’ll really be spending.  Again, adult beverages are extra and can be expensive.Disney's Castaway Cay
  4. You’d like vacation activities suitable for a variety of ages – So much less walking required on a cruise ship than in a theme park!  From toddlers to grandparents, Disney Cruise Line excels at making sure there are interesting and entertaining activities for everyone.  We love the onboard movie theater, the evening shows, the cooking demonstrations, the fitness center, and when our children were young, they loved the kids club areas.Family Beach on Castaway Cay
  5. You need a relaxing vacation – A Disney cruise, depending on the itinerary, can be just as exhausting as Walt Disney World after a week of non-stop touring.  The right itinerary, though, can serve up an incredibly tranquil and relaxing getaway.  Short cruises in the Bahamas spent enjoying the sun, sea and gorgeous weather are perfect for recharging your battery while escaping winter weather at home.  Castaway Cay, Disney’s very own island paradise, is a port of call on most Bahamian itineraries.  It’s the perfect place to kick back amid palm trees, sand and sea and let go of stress.

“When life gets rough I like to hold on to my dream

of relaxing in the summer sun just lettin’ off steam!” – Olaf

Have you taken a Disney cruise?  What did you think?  Would you recommend it to fellow Disney fans?

Disney Dream – Midship Detective Agency

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Midship DetectivesIf you’re sailing on the Disney Dream (or Fantasy) and you want to explore the ship and have fun at the same time, you cannot beat the Midship Detective Agency for providing you with an amazingly cool way to see the beauty of the newest Disney Cruise Line ships while sharpening your sleuthing skills.  This activity is fun for the whole family…or two grownups even or one grownup and her semi-reluctant co-detective husband.  I loved this activity!  Raymond….well, he was supportive if a bit unenthusiastic.  There is quite a bit of detecting involved.  (Recommended for guests ages 9 and above.)

Disney Dream – Midship Detective Agency

The adventure begins at Headquarters where you start your self-guided adventure by picking up your badge and selecting the case you’d like to solve.  Midship Detective BadgeWe chose a crime involving the Muppets and some missing show props.  Clues are located all over the ship and, by using your badge to unlock them, you’ll gather the information needed to solve the crime.  Midship Detective Agency Muppet CrimeThis is not an activity for wimps!  Use your clue map to gather details related to the crime, take notes and carefully eliminate suspects from the list provided – Logic, cunning, and analytical thinking will all be involved in exposing the true culprit. Midship Detective Agency Clue MapMidship Detective DirectionsMidship Detective Agency - Walt PictureMidship Detective Agency Missing Items

We took the stairs in the beginning, but after a while, if the number of decks between us and the next clue was more than four, we’d take an elevator.  If we’d been on a cruise longer than four nights, we  probably would have attempted solving more than one mystery (I’m using “we” liberally here – I’d have been solo on any subsequent sleuthing to be honest, but that’s not important now, is it).  Midship Detective Agency Door Clues Midship Detective Agency Muppet Mystery Midship Detective Agency Crime NotesAll of our efforts (and believe me when I say this took a lot of effort) paid off and we were successful in solving the crime and nabbing our bad guy!  I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment.  Raymond felt like a beer.  We celebrated our victory over the forces of evil by toasting our brilliance at the Bon Voyage bar.Midship Detective Agency Gonzo Midship Detective Agency Clues

The Midship Detective Agency is a very cool interactive activity with some pretty amazing technology – I highly recommend it for great exercise, ship exploration, and good family fun!

Have you solved a crime on the Disney Dream or Fantasy?  What did you think of the experience?  Yea or Nay?

 

Disney Dream – Dinner at Remy

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Remy-TableOne of the best things aboard a Disney Cruise is the opportunity to enjoy adults-only dining.  I am not ashamed to say – dining without children around is sometimes a rare treat on a Disney vacation…One we’re inclined to take full advantage of!  When sailing on the Magic and the Wonder, our choice for this was Palo – which we have loved every single time we’ve been there.  On the Dream, we had two choices for grown-up dining and opted to try them both.  Palo as a tried and true favorite and Remy as a new and highly anticipated experience – so much so, we booked both brunch and dinner.  For today, let’s just focus on one particular meal…

Disney Dream – Dinner at Remy

If you’re interested in a night out sans little ones, Remy is an excellent choice.  We were delighted with our meal, in fact, and I have only glowing, positive things to say about it.  So, in the manner I so often employ, let me give you FIVE good reasons to enjoy a dinner at Remy.Remy-chair

  1. The atmosphere – I’ll do my best to describe the setting, but Remy’s ambiance will need to be experienced in order to truly appreciate every detail.  The restaurant is named for the famous chef from Ratatouille and there is no shortage of Remy references and tributes throughout the dining room.  The  hostess, Maître D’, and servers are French and their pride in the restaurant and the service delivered is obvious from the moment of arrival until the final au revoir.  Remy-displayThe tables, chairs, lighting, windows…so much attention to detail is incredible.  There are even little padded footstools near each table in case a guest should need a place to set down a handbag.
  2. You like a culinary adventure – Remy boasts two world-class chefs – one French and one American – Chef Arnaud Lallement of L’Assiette Champenoise restaurant (two-Michelin-stars) located near Reims, France and Chef Scott Hunnel from Walt Disney World’s Victoria & Albert’s.  The two chefs present two different six-course meals and guests may choose one of those to enjoy OR meals can be built of separate, individual menu offerings.  Remy-menuI chose the six courses presented by Chef Hunnel and Raymond preferred to build his own meal from the a la carte menu options.  Both meals are accompanied by “surprises” (amuse-bouche) from the kitchen sent out by the chefs during the meal.  Remy-amuse-boucheOur first surprise was a tiny brown ball that looked rather like a small hush-puppy, but was instead a delicately wrapped “bite” of tomato soup!  The second offering was a foie gras foam with macadamia nuts topping a bit of salted caramel.  Remy-foie-gras-foamThis sounded so ridiculous, but was, in fact, absolutely wonderful.  The rest of the courses would take many hundreds of words more to describe (ask me if you have any questions), but included things like shrimp, duck, sablefish (personally my favorite part of this meal), Kobe steak, pork tenderloin, chicken, and more.  Dessert for both of us included a lot of chocolate.Remy-plate Remy-sablefish Remy-duck Remy-presentation Remy-dessert Remy-dessert2
  3. The exquisite service – Alexia was amazing!  Remy-AlexiaShe helped us through all our food selections (with her gorgeous French accent) and as our courses kept being presented and we gradually got fuller and fuller – we were confronted with a real dilemma – the cheese course.  Had this surprise on a cart arrived bearing anything other than cheese, we could have resisted, but it was full of CHEESE!  Remy-cheese-cartAlexia understood that we were quickly running out of intestinal real estate but wanted to taste all the cheeses, so she prepared tiny samples of 12 different cheeses with their dried fruits and honeycomb accompaniments for us to try.  Remy-cheesesShe placed the cheeses on the plate in a particular, circular order and explained their presentation from hard and mild to softer, to the most strongly flavored.  We were even presented with a list of the cheeses to take with us!  Remy-cheese-listIf you love cheese like we do, this alone was worth the price of admission (see #5).
  4. Romance – There’s a dress code at Remy.  There’s candlelight and lovely china and table linens.  We like dressing up from time to time and acting like mature human beings, plus, we enjoy each other’s company.  26 years of marriage is not something that happens by accident.  Remy was the perfect combination of delicious dining in a romantic setting – exactly right for spending the evening with your favorite person in the world.
  5. You have an extra $400 lying around.  The up-charge to dine at Remy is $85 per person.  If you don’t want to pay for water with your meal (there are a staggering number of pricy options), specify TAP WATER.  If you opt for the wine pairing offered with each course, add $105 per person.  We (having learned our lesson about wine-pairing-perils at Jiko) opted for a single bottle of wine – one of the more economical offerings – with help from the sommelier for $187.  Remy-wineOnce gratuity was added…well, we’d spent much more on this meal than we’d intended.  Was it worth it?  YES!  Raymond and I both gave this experience a resounding two thumbs up, but for sure it needs to be accurately budgeted!

What about you?  Have you dined at Remy?  What did you think about the experience?  If you’re planning a Disney cruise in the future, is this something you’d splurge on?