The Disney Cruise Experience 5 Nights in the Caribbean

[cathschaffstump]

Yes, cruise ships are like giant malls in the ocean. And a Disney cruise ship is like Downtown Disney in the ocean. On a Disney cruise, you can ride a water slide around the deck of a ship, even going out over the ocean. There's a few stores, and they drive you to a few more. There are three nice restaurants, two elegant restaurants, fast food establishments, and room service. You can OD on Disney movies, even though you can't seem The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes or That Darned Cat!. You know, maybe you don't want to.

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Bryon and I went on our first Disney cruise for our anniversary 3 years ago. Our original plan was to go to Paris, but that didn't work out. We could afford like 3 days, and it was a challenge to get everything to line up in a row. Our travel agent asked, "Cruise?" We were the kind of people who cram in every freaking attraction we can on our usual vacation, so we thought we'd be bored. Then we discovered on the ship that we liked relaxing. Maybe it was our middle age talking, or just the fact that we'd never been in a deck chair before, but we were sold.

This time, for my fiftieth birthday, I didn't hesitate. I was the one who bought up a cruise.

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It's not the tropics I love. Honestly, it's the ship. I love being on a floating hotel. There's a movie theater, three stage shows, a luxurious room, and cool places to just sit and be. This time around we bought all cruise passes to the rain forest room, rather than use spa treatments, so you could sit on a heated couch or in a private hot tub whenever you wanted. Very worth it.

In addition to these sorts of luxury hotel features, there's an awesome family track. While we aren't kids and can't play at some of the cooler pursuits (come on! Why wasn't there an Avengers academy when I was 12???), we could participate in some of the family oriented programming, like learning to fold towels like our housekeeping staff, and drawing Disney characters. Yes, I can make a mean towel monkey now. That's a skill I'll probably use in every day life.

I would really recommend this cruise for kids, but it's awesome for adults alone too. There's booze tasting. Sports. Cooking. Tips on buying jewelry in the Bahamas. Endless trivia. Dancing. Shuffleboard! Next time my goal is to play shuffleboard.

And here's the thing. I don't know if I will ever take a trip with another cruise line. Yes, I've heard good things about other cruise lines. But, like Disney World spoiled me for Universal, in spite of the allure of Harry Potter, the other boats look kind of dingy in comparison. So, there's that.

At any rate, I'd love to hear about your cruise experiences.

Next up: SFWA. Or how on Monday, I stopped being a puppet, and became a real writer? Or maybe how I stopped being a real writer and became a puppet? We'll see.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.