Month: June 2018

As a travel enthusiast and travel planner I’ve done travel in a number of different ways. I would say my favorite mode of travel is definitely cruising. The price you pay for the cruise is almost completely inclusive, and you get to sit back, relax, and cruise around the ocean to fabulous locations.

Note from Amber: This is the first of three posts I’ll do on Disney Cruise Line. Next week, part 2 will cover Cast Away Cay and part 3 will cover Remy and Palo.

The majority of my cruising experiences (although not all) have been with Disney Cruise Line. I have had the opportunity to go on a total of 7 cruises and 5 of those were with Disney Cruise Line. Of those 5 cruises, 4 of them were without kids.

When I tell people that the majority of the cruises I’ve been on have been Disney Cruises, I often get comments about “too many” children or Disney characters being around or not enough adult activities. While I understand this sentiment, I have to say that I feel that it is a misconception that the amount of children and characters present somehow encroaches on the ability of adult passengers to enjoy a Disney Cruise.

Therefore, I wanted to try to dispel this misconception and highlight some of the ways that adult travelers can enjoy a Disney Cruise. In my opinion, Disney does a really fantastic job of not only making their cruises tolerable for those who want to have an adult get away, but they actually do a really great job of catering to adult travelers and creating spaces tailor-made for adults. Plus, as with other Disney destinations ,you can rest assured that the vacation you get will be a high quality one.

Too many Disney Characters?

Obviously, with a Disney Cruise you will expect to see a good number of kids and Disney characters. There are definitely opportunities to do meet and greets with a variety of characters from princesses to Mickey and Minnie to Jack Sparrow. However, these are done at very specific times in very specific areas of the ship. You won’t be relaxing by the pool or hanging out at the beach and have Goofy come up followed by a crowd kids wanting to take a picture with him. (My sister and I did, however, have an experience at the adult beach at Cast Away Cay where Jack Sparrow passed our cabana. He waved at us as he stumbled past, seemingly having had a bit too much rum. But that’s a story for another post) Most of the character meet and greets are scheduled around the two dinner times. So, you will see an increased number of characters then.

The majority of the main shows do have Disney Characters in them as do the ship deck shows, for example, the deck show on pirate night includes pirates and Mickey Mouse.

However, it also includes a pretty great fireworks show. Disney was the first in the industry to do a fireworks show at sea. If you don’t want to participate in the shows with Disney Characters, you can choose to have a massage at the Senses Spa or have pre-dinner cocktails at one of the bars or hang out by Quiet Cove pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, what exactly is there for adults to do?

I’m glad you asked that! This is where I really want to spend most of my time for this blog post. Disney Cruise Line has done a really great job of providing experiences that are tailor-made for adult travelers.

On board there are numerous bars and lounges. This can be the Champagne bar Pink, or the Pub 687 on the Disney Dream.

The Disney Magic has Keys, a piano bar. The D Lounge is available on all 4 Disney ships. They have all sorts of activities at these bars and lounges. My husband I went to a whiskey tasting at the Meridian Lounge on the Disney Dream.

They also have cocktail making classes at Skyline Lounge on the Disney Dream and Fantasy. In addition, there are night time shows that go on just for adults at places like Evolution on the Disney Dream and the Cadillac Lounge on the Disney Wonder. These shows range from magic shows, to a version of the newlywed game, to dancing.

There’s also Quiet Cove pool. This is an adult only pool where you can go to relax. There are food and drink options there, as well as a swim up bar on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.

Then there’s Senses Spa. If there is a place on a cruise where I want to spend most of my time, it’s at the spa. They have anything from traditional massages and facials, to a rain forest room, to manicures and pedicures.

There’s also a juice bar at the spa and a fitness center (if you’re one to work out on vacation). And they have a variety of other services like morning yoga classes and foot print analysis. On the day that you have spa services, you can use the rain forest room, lounge and whirlpool for the duration of that day.

You can even have a massage at the adult end of the beach on Cast Away Cay but we’ll save that for next week.

Next week, I’ll get into more details about Cast Away Cay, which deserves its own post. And then the following week we’ll devote entirely to the two adult only dining options-Remy and Palo.

Stay tuned!

What in the world does it mean to be a present traveler?

This week, the community I live in was completely rocked by the sudden passing of a 14 year old girl, named Alivea. To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. There are never words to describe tragedies such as this.

In many ways, things seem like business as usual. They still aren’t finished with the building of the hotel down the street. There’s still a sign up on Interstate 95 that says that Highway 21 is closed due to a recent plane crash. Nice, older ladies, who seem like they have probably lived a hard life are still working at the local Waffle House, and people are posting on Facebook about the vacations they are taking, since it’s summertime.

Yet, things are definitely NOT business as usual, and things are not right with the world. Even though things “look” the same, internally, there is a bit of constant sadness that prevails over each day. It colors even the most mundane activities and places. Which, honestly, I believe is as it should be. We should be deeply affected when a tragedy hits close to home.

Despite the obvious pain of the passing of this little girl, there have already been a couple of really good things that have come from this difficult time. It’s been amazing to see how our community has come together to support the family of the girl, and in a very short period of time. But the biggest thing that has stood out to me is the number of people who have posted their stories about how much the girl affected them, personally, or about how she sought to impact the world. These stories have been numerous. These range from encouraging her teacher to wanting to adopt children from other countries. It’s obvious she had an impact on many people and both her wisdom and passion for life seem to have far exceeded her 14 years on earth.

But what do we do with all of that?

At the very least, we should take note and say, “How do I ensure these events do not become merely a blip on the timeline of my life with no long-term impact? How should I be different in response to what has happened?”

In a lot of ways, for me, the answer to those questions is the very reason why I started doing this blog, in the first place. And it’s the very reason it’s called, “The Present Traveler.” I want to be the kind of person whose legacy is the impact that I have on the world and how I lived my life to the fullest. I want others to see how I have gone through life not as an absent traveler, but as a present one. Not to bring glory or recognition to myself but to inspire others to do the same. Through this blog, I want to encourage others to be a present traveler, whether that be through serving others, experiencing a relationship with God, working at a job or going to school or even how a person experiences travel. Most of the time we have such a tendency to get caught up in all of the things in life that really don’t matter and then it’s not until tragedy hits that we are reminded of the things that are most important. I want to strive to be a person who is fully present in my life each day, not just when something bad happens and I’m reminded of it. I hope this blog will serve to do the same for others.

Thanks to Alivea for reminding us how important it is to live life to the fullest and work hard to have an impact on the word. Thanks for showing us what it means to be a present traveler.