Everyone who cruises has their favorite cruise line. And now apparently so do we even though my husband and I are only on our second cruise. With such limited cruising under our travel belt, why would I take this topic on? Because we have learned that cruising is not as expensive as other modes of vacation travel. And I am hoping to convince you to give it a try!
And just like all my posts for Blue Collar Travel Adventures, for young and old! this post does not have affiliate links...
It was a Disney cruise and it was great fun. A little loud for some of us, some of the time, but trust me there are plenty of getaway places on every cruise ship to get away for a bit more quiet than the current activity offers. It was very fun to see our young grandson meet the Disney characters as they roamed the ship. Plus the Disney Magic is beautiful, and well worth a walk about.
The staff were accommodating, the evening's entertainment enjoyable and the food, all of it was so good! And while it might seem I am only praising the food because I also happen to write a food blog in addition to this one. That is not the case. When we travel we look to eat fresh, delicious, well made food that is similar to what we enjoy at home. And Disney offered just that. You are assigned your dinner restaurant each night rotating between those on the ship. Plus the serving staff follow the same pattern. So you get to know your servers and they get to know you. Each Restaurant has a different theme and the dinner in some small way offers a Disney inspired activity. It is quite fun, but can get in the way of a quiet dinner atmosphere for those times, when quiet is what you need. They also have specialty restaurants to visit that are an add-on to your bill. As do all cruise lines...
We did book an excursion through the cruise line, to the Mayan Ruins. While private tours are available, the site was a 2+ hour bus ride to get there. Then the tour, and the same route home. But when you book through the cruise line, they don't take off without you....they routinely work with the touring companies. No doubt any and all problems are relayed to the vessel. In our humble opinion unless we are within walking distance to the ship, we would probably book through the customer service desk on the ship.
Our second cruise was on MSC, and I have to say, (so far) we are sold on MSC!
Both Disney and MSC offer cruise opportunities out of the Galveston Port here in Texas and it is soooo convenient to only have to drive a couple of hours to hop on a cruise. But for our dollar, MSC simply offers more for our family. Our cruise on MSC was longer than the cruise on Disney yet it cost less, yep, less. We cruised on the MSC Seascape, which is a much larger vessel, than the Disney Magic. Size makes no difference to me, as I do not suffer from seasickness. But other's do in the family. However a larger ship does smooth out the choppy ride that you can get from a smaller ship. And in our group, my Son in Law and grandson, do get seasick. However on the larger Seascape, this was not an issue.
The cabins are just as large, the staff just as accommodating, the evening's entertainment superb, but the children's play area is exactly what we needed for our now older grandson! Plus the kid's club takes those children on field trips about the vessel to participate in activities that are appropriate for their age or have been set up in that area. Making their time just as special!
We did independently book an excursion to a privately run wildlife park, where you are placed with a trained tour guide who helps you enjoy visiting with and petting the animals, as allowed by law. This was not through the cruise line, because we felt we would be on time returning to the ship. The Island of Roatan is only 6 miles wide and it took us all of 10 minutes to get there by taxi. The driver gave us an extended tour of the island on the way back to the vessel. And that was quite fun!
But let's talk about the food, if we could...
On the Seascape there is a world class buffet offering food of just about every kind! Including gluten free, some vegan, a kid's only buffet, regional favorites, as well as food honoring various countries. Artisanal Pizza, burgers, you name it. The buffet is open for breakfast lunch and dinner. You may go to the restaurant for dinner, or simply drop by the buffet. For dining in the restaurant you do need to follow the assigned time. For us dinner was at 5:00pm. And each guest has an assigned dining table number. That way, there is no problem with being seated and served in the restaurant. Needless to say the buffet is the best part about cruising with young ones! There is something they will want to eat! And yes, MSC Seascape has additional restaurants that are offered as a fee add on. Or if you want, you may go restaurant style all he way and use the assigned restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner completely eliminating the buffet. Leaving the buffet for snacks and beverages between meals.
Honestly I could have posted about 50 photos of the buffet alone. It is that expansive with each section well staffed, as are all the restaurants. Not only did we eat very well, but the variety of food offered allowed everyone to continue eating a healthy diet (even if just a little bit more than usual....) during our vacation.
So....we have been talking about a short cruise on another cruise line. Currently four leave from Port Galveston. So look for an update to this information!
Do you have plans to take a cruise? But better than that, if you were not a cruiser before, have you thought that maybe you might need to check into it a bit more? If so, great, I sure hope you do. We cannot wait to go again...
Pluses for cruising vs a road trip:
You do not do the driving.
You are not paying more for food, it is included.
You do not have to stop for the night.
You have swimming pools at your fingertips. Some motels do not.
Evening entertainment without having to drive anywhere.
Perfect walking environment.
Plus you get to meet new friends, which is one of our favorite parts!
And with that...
Thank you so much for dropping by Blue Collar Travel Adventures! We hope to see you often, and if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line.
PS: You may also know us through Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household, because when we are not out traveling, we live on our shared homestead property in rural East Texas. Cooking from scratch, planting a garden, tending to the chickens and enjoying life, while we plan the next adventure!
I have not heard of MSC. We never did a Disney cruise because my boys were never interested in taking a cruise and now it feels odd to me to go with just my husband and I. We tend to stick to the smaller ships and I always look for a cruise line that has a separate "adults only" pool so it's not so loud or crowded. It sounds like you had a really lovely time!
ReplyDeleteJoanne, we really enjoyed this cruise. MSC is new to the cruise industry. They are the same folks who own and operate Mediterranean Shipping Company. They are an Italian company and not with a board of directors, but a single owner. They currently cruise out of Texas and Florida. Some of the newer and larger ships port in Florida.
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