We have been back from our cruise for a little while now so I thought it was time to write this blog.
We went on a seven night Disney cruise to Norway. Overall we had an amazing time but as with everything we do it wasn’t without drama. So without further ado the good, the bad and the will it ever end?
The good
We loved the whole cruising experience and to be honest we can’t wait to do it again. The food was for it’s most part amazing, we did struggle with the odd meal. The variety and being able to try new foods with no fear of cost was wonderful. Both of the children tried several new dishes as did the adults, most were liked, a few were not but you never feared about going hungry as the staff were always willing to provide alternatives.
Our room was comfortable and for a cruise a reasonable size. There was certainly enough room for all of us to be in there and move around (Richard, Riley and I in one room, Samantha and Lela in another). The beds, including pillow and duvet were amazing, so comfy, so soft and you just melted into it at the end of the day.
We met some amazing staff members and other guests. One of the ‘will it ever end?’ moments, Riley got very seasick and the way the cruise community came together was phenomenal. People (guests and staff) were offering us advice, we were given rehydration salts, food gels, people were leaving stuff outside of our door that they thought might be helpful, which they were. The whole cruising community really got to us and it is one of the reasons we are already looking at taking another.
One of the things we really loved about cruising was seeing snap shots of the country.
We managed to travel around a very expensive country, experiencing an area for a day and then moving on. No worry about finding transport, hotels or food off the ship unless there was something we really wanted. We would wake up from an amazingly restful sleep and be in a new town. It was wonderful.
We paid out for the photo package (all photos taken on board in digital format). Now I’m not going to lie, this was insanely expensive, however the photos we received were phenomenal and the photography staff were amazing. They really took their time with you regardless of their queue. They engaged the children and were beyond professional.
Kids clubs and cocktails. The children really enjoyed their time in the kids club and would usually spend an hour or so in them after returning from port or before the evening show. This allowed the adults to find a little corner of the bar and have the cocktail of the day. It just allowed us adults to decompress and watch the ocean sail by knowing that the children were safe and having fun.
Riley deciding every troll he came across must have it’s nose booped. Although there were times it was a little annoying, having to go from one side road to the other and back again, repeatedly. It brought unending joy to him and as a result to us.
We really enjoyed decorating our door with magnets and having a selection of worry worms and nervous jellies (jellyfish) for people to take. We would also take a walk around other state rooms after lunch (to let lunch settle before moving on to the next activity) looking at other people’s door decorations and dropping worms off at doors we really liked. Although simple it created a lot of memories for us and something we all mention when looking back at the cruise.
The bad
The stay at premier inn (overall not bad but they surcharge pricing on cruise days) and our meal at beefeater. We had booked the meal deal with the hotel for the beefeater attached, which included an adult meal, dessert and drink and breakfast the next day (This was around £25 per adult). We wouldn’t do it again. The place didn’t seem overly busy but the staff couldn’t cope. Food came out long before we had our drinks, which were wrong and I had to sort myself. The food was not good quality nor was it hot but there was no one to complain to as the staff never came over again after dropping the food off. They then proceeded to overcharge me and when questioned argued greatly that I was wrong and educated me on how the system worked. One manager later, who didn’t come over to talk to us directly and suddenly it was all the computers fault, but you know it is sorted now. Overall we marked it down as an experience and one we wouldn’t do again.
One of the things we had heard about a lot when researching Disney cruises was the attentiveness and professionalism of the staff on board, especially the dining teams and room hosts. We however did not find this. Our room host although friendly and did his job to a good level (clean rooms) he spoke very little english, so unfortunately when either us or the children tried to speak to him there was a serious lack of understanding and although this did not affect him doing his job, it did affect the rapport we had with him.
The dining crew we really did struggle with. We had meals that turned up wrong with no apology. We had no extra interaction that the other tables received and we had heard about (magic tricks, puzzles etc) until the night the tip envelopes were given out.
They didn’t explain anything, barely gave recommendations and when they asked us a question were clearly not bothered by the answers, as generally they would cut us off halfway through a short answer and walk away. This did impact our cruise experience as we had continually heard such wonderful things about the dining staff and service we should expect to receive.
Merchandise or should I say serious lack of. We had all seen things on vlogs pre cruise we wanted to purchase, however none of these were on board. Both Lela and I wanted cruise spirit jerseys however all the ones we wanted were only available in XL and if I’m being honest most of the clothing items were only available in this size. I understand that everywhere is struggling with stock issues but again it did impact our cruise experience.
Check in was horrendous. At the time of cruising (September 2022) vaccination proof was still required. We had everything up on our phones, we walked into the terminal and the whole app went down. After checking in at one desk in an area that was too tight so we had people constantly bumping us (the children were not coping well with this), we were unable to show our vaccine proof which meant going over to another desk to have that manually checked and adjusted for each person. Now although stressful for all of us this in itself wouldn’t have been a deal breaker but every person we came across, 3 separate checkpoints, wanted to see the same information on an app that just wasn’t working, regardless of having the bands that were provided by Disney check in to show we were cleared to sail. It was extremely stressful especially after the parking problem (explained below). Luckily once on the ship this stress quickly melted away.
Unfortunately even with all the testing and vaccination mandates, we all contracted Covid on the cruise all succumbing to it within 24-48 hours of being home. It was wretched but expected. Luckily this time wasn’t as bad for us all as the last bout and we have no regrets.
The will it ever end?
Parking at Dover port, wow never again. We had a port arrival time (pat) of 11.30, we arrived almost dead on and were told to join the other row of cars (about 5 deep) to wait for clearance. This took two hours! Now I fully understand there was a medical emergency (someone had a panic attack and needed to be removed from the ship, so we were told) but in reality they only had space to unload five cars at a time, which then had to be removed before the next five were sent through. Sitting in a car as a disabled person in a lot of pain for that length of time (I did get out and stretch) was not a great start to the holiday. Not to mention being stuck with the ship in reach with two autistic children who were close to losing their sh…, minds (thank goodness for a secret stash of pokemon magazines). It was hell, badly handled and if Disney ever went from Dover again (their current plans are to sail from Southampton) we would never do port parking again.
Day one at sea, Riley woke up vomiting and this continued most of the day. He was horrendously seasick. To be fair to him it was some of the worst seas even the cast members had seen and the ship was banking from side to side. You couldn’t walk down the corridor without bouncing off the walls. The patches didn’t work, Kwells tablets didn’t work and in the end we had to give him Dramamine, which knocked him out for the rest of the day. The world finally calmed down around 9pm but we really weren’t sure it was ever going to end.
Overall thoughts
We loved the cruise, we loved the atmosphere, we loved being at sea, we just loved the whole cruising lifestyle and were very sad when it all came to an end. Yes there were bits that could have ruined the holiday if we had let it but we are generally good at having a quick strop, adjusting and moving on. We are very much looking forward to our next, which is not a matter of if, but when.
