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[Mileto]

Oh, such a story, such places! Thank you, never2old!

May I ask about the extra payments - do you pay for drinks in the ship? Do you pay extra for these excursions? As I understand - all the food (3 meals) are included in the price?

[never2old]

Oh, such a story, such places! Thank you, never2old!

May I ask about the extra payments - do you pay for drinks in the ship? Do you pay extra for these excursions? As I understand - all the food (3 meals) are included in the price?

Thanks Mileto

Extra payments... Yep, lot of those!! All meals (and it's not just breakfast, lunch and dinner, the fast food places in deck 9) are all included. There's also room service, and that's also included. Meals in the adult's only restaurant Palo (brunch on sea days, dinner every night) have a supplement (I think it's 25 USD per person, but didn't do it so I cannot be sure). Soft drinks in restaurants, or from the drinks station, are also included. You need to pay extra for alcoholic drinks, or coffees in Cove Cafe. Oh, and snacks outside the theatre (popcorn, and pre-packaged things like chocolate bars) also come for an extra charge.

You also need to pay for the excursions (the Port Adventures, as Disney calls them), and prices can vary a lot from one excursion to another. Prices in Norway went from 50 USD (for a walking tour around Stavanger) up to 350 USD I think it was (for the Elsa and Anna one in Alesund) - per person!! So you really need to budget these...

You book them in advance (and many sell out), so you can budget for them before you go.

[never2old]

Final update for our day in Bergen!

Back in the ship, it was Freezing the Night Away theme night. Frozen night!! Everything was ready for the evening







While Alicia played in the club (she told us later than Olaf went to see them there), we went to Cove Cafe for a coffee (and some yummy cakes), and relaxed for a bit in the deck chairs around the adults only area. It was really lovely up there!! (though the blankets provided were welcome....). Our time in Norway was almost up, and we only had one day left in the ship. My mom and I were feeling a bit sad about it, and were thinking of possible dates for future cruises... My husband and I had already been to the desk where you can book another cruise to ask about prices (we hadn't booked it yet), but it was pretty clear to all of us that this was not going to be our only Disney cruise....

A bit later, it was time for the show, so after picking up Alicia we went to the theatre







The show tonight was Walt Disney: The Dream Goes On. It's about Disney himself, and his work of course. There were some songs from his films; my favourite bit however was the one about Disneyland, they had songs about different areas (Main Street, Frontierland, Adventureland...) Including the Tikki Room song! They were showing photos of the Disney parks (and included a few of our little DLP). I really liked it!

After the show we went to the Atrium, for the Maypole Dance!

Not surprisingly, there was a high number of Elsa's and Anna's around today... And not only among the children!! I saw quite a few women dressed up as well, some looking particularly good!! I asked a couple of them who'd done the dresses themselves, I was seriously impressed. All I had was an Elsa t-shirt... 

To explain the maypole celebrationl we had a couple of Oaken's cousins (who arrived calling out 'Yoo-hoo!'). They were quite fun. Yah? Apparently we were all family now so when we saw each other we had to say to each other 'Yoo-hoo!! Family'!!



First we tried to find Arandelle on the map (we couldn't, but apparently it's not far from Norway)



In Arendelle (like in Norway) they celebrate the arrival of spring with a maypole dance. First it was the children's turn



(the lights around some of the children's necks were given out during dinner, they were snow flakes, we got ours later!)









After the children, it was the turn of the adults. They did a more complex dance, with beautiful results!!







Here's a quick video. Yah?

https://youtu.be/mSCCFwnUaS8

In the meantime, the ship was sailing back to Copenhagen, leaving Norway behind...



Our diner rotation was in Lumiere's tonight. All the waiters were dressed following the Frozen theme (I should really have taken lots more pictures!!). The menu also had a Frozen theme



Not sure you can read the print, but we had things like the Duke of Weselton's Favourites or Elsa's Coronation Scallops (Appetizers), Sven's Carrot Soup or Oaken's Red and Yellow Beetroot Salad (Soups & Salads), Anna's Honey Mustard Marinated Salmon or Kristoff's Rosemary Marinated Striploin (Main Courses).

They also had a special drink, the Ice Palace (non alcoholic), that came in a souvenir glass (which I had to get!!). It's a tall plastic glass, with Olaf, and it says Disney Magic. Of course I had to get it!!

We also got our snowflake necklaces (that lit up). I still have them, and they still work!!

Dinner was very good (as usual on this trip). And afterwards, it was time to head up to the top decks for the Freezing the Night Away deck party!!

We got there a bit before it started, and it was already 0quite busy (particularly on deck 9 - there were still plenty of good spots in deck 10). We were looking for a place when a cast member came and asked us and Alicia if she wanted to be in the show. Of course she did!! So she went to an area reserved for the children participating in the show (to a side of the scene), and we found places close to it (where we could keep an eye on her)





Behind us (this was around 22:10... to give you an idea of the light!!)



My souvenir glass!



Our hosts tonight were more of Oaken's cousins (yoo-hoo!!!!)



First onstage where the children





They were soon joined by Kristoff





Once the children left (and went back to their reserved area, where they could stay for the rest of the show), Oaken's cousins and Kristoff continued with the show, dancing to various song (not all from Frozen)



before being joined by Anna (who was very excited after finding chocolate ice cream!)







Sven was also there... On the screen at least





Queen Elsa joined the party



And of course we all sang Let it go!!





Elsa, I have to say, had a beautiful voice!! And yes, she made it snow!! It was a really good moment.

I made a very short (and very bad) video with my phone, to be honest I was too busy singing like a 5 year old to think about filming the moment for posterity My parents where up on deck 10 and apparently filmed more of it (I haven't seen it yet though....). But in case anyone's interested in seeing Elsa in action...

https://youtu.be/fFsu-MNuzOg

The sisters left, but soon we had one last guest... Olaf! Again on the screen only (a shame, particularly since the character was onboard!)



We all sang along with Olaf to In Summer (the lyrics were appearing in the screen), it was really good fun.

And at the end of it all, it snowed once more... Not sure it comes out very well in the picture, but it was snowing on deck 9 of the Disney Magic





Truly a magical end to a brilliant day!!

Our towel for the night... My daughter loved it so much that she slept with it!! (and it survived the night, I'm happy to say)



Next: our last day onboard

[BlackPearl]

What a beautiful report and so stunning, amazing pictures.
Your daughter is just adorable, bet she will become a Disney-princess at DLP one day 

[never2old]

What a beautiful report and so stunning, amazing pictures.
Your daughter is just adorable, bet she will become a Disney-princess at DLP one day 

Thanks BlackPearl I'm sure she would love that!! She's already mastering the art of posing for pictures like a princess...

Next (and final) update coming very very soon!!

[never2old]

Apologies for the delay, I've had a very busy few days!

Friday was our last full day on board, and a sea day. Sea days are brilliant. You have all day to enjoy the ship, and so many activities to choose from!! You have to forget about fitting everything in, it's impossible.

We took it easy that morning, and slept a bit later than usual. We then decided to go to Lumiere's for breakfast (so a-la-carte instead of a buffet). We were on our way passing the Atrium and saw that the Princess Gathering was taking place (that's a ticketed event, we'd already had ours at the start of the cruise), but there was no one waiting; Belle and Cinderella were still busy with a couple of families, but Rapunzel was all alone. I went to ask the CM checking the tickets if it was OK if Alicia said hello to Rapunzel, since no one was waiting, and she let hadn't finished saying yes that Rapunzel was already coming towards Alicia, and giving her a big hug



Have I mentioned how much I love DCL??

After our delicious breakfast we went back to the room, and found a present from Anna waiting on our bed; it was the reward for the scavenger hunt 



I have to confess, I don't usually like rice cakes, but these had lots of chocolate, and were delicious!!

Alicia wanted to go and play in the the kids club, and after dropping her off we had a quick look outside... It was an absolutely gorgeous day!





Before going back to the room though, we decided to stop by the future bookings desk... There was no one waiting, and we finally got our next cruise booked: 7 nights in the Mediterranean, August 2017  Cruise companies usually offer you good deals if you book another cruise onboard. With Disney, you get a 10% discount on the current cruise prices, you only need to put down a 10% deposit (instead of 20%), and you get 200 USD onboard credit for your next cruise (for 7 nights or longer cruises). Which overall it's a pretty good deal. And as we saw later on the day, judging by the long queue of people waiting, a very popular one!

We also went to guest services to adjust some of the tips. For those interested, DCL calculate (per cabin) how much to tip your 2 waiters, the head waiter and the stateroom hostess. They give you envelops with the amounts that you can then give personally to each person. And you can also change the amounts. We had really had an amazing service from both our waiters, so we wanted to give them a bit more. You can give them cash, or you can go to Guest Services and they will adjust the amount (charged at the end to your room).

And we went to Shutters (the photography shop) to look at all our pictures they'd taken throughout the cruise - and there were loads of them!! You can see them on a computer screen, but they also have printed copies of most of them - you need to look for your folder (they keep one folder per room!) and there you have lots and lots of beautiful photos!! And I have to say, the pictures are incredibly expensive. I think it was about 20 USD per photo (printed), and no discounts for buying multiple photos. I think you can buy packages for a number of pictures (or even for all the pictures) in advance and it's cheaper, but in any case it really adds up. At the end we decided to do a photo book with a few of our pictures (160 USD plus postage), and got a couple of pictures to frame at home. Next time I'll try to purchase a package in advance....

Back in the room and after getting most of the packing done, I could start to relax a bit more. I don't know about you guys but I really hate packing!!  As I said there were lots of things to do onboard: games for whole family, films in the cinema, character meetings, drink tastings (for the adults only).  We had decided to keep it relaxed, and to go to the character dance party, something that Alicia would really enjoy. We went to pick her up from the club (she took some convincing to leave, she was having too much of a good time!) and went to the Atrium to wait for the party to start.







As you can see, it wasn't particularly crowded...





(my husband went up to deck 4 to take pictures)

After a short introduction and some dance moves, the stars of the show joined the party





Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale, they were all there!! (no Daisy though)

They took turns dancing one by one (or two by two for Chip and Dale) dancing on the stage, while the rest joined the crowd to dance with the children.



Alicia had a great time dancing with Minnie, Mickey (she even had Mickey all to herself for a bit), and finally Donald











Finally everyone got back on the stage, for a final goodbye.





It was a fun little party!! And great way of interacting with the characters

We had lunch in Cabana's, could even sit outside on the deck, it was really lovely. We finally met with my parents (they'd seen Cinderella in the cinema) and had lunch together.

After lunch it was time for a little nap (well, my husband and Alicia went for a nap, I went to do lots of shopping  )

Once everyone was awake, we decided to take Alicia to the children pool. It was a really lovely day, and all the pools were all quite busy!









I left them there and went to O'Gills, for a presentation about Disney's innovations in theme park. The Irish pub was quite full, but I managed to find a place by the bar. The presentation was very interesting, they presented the top 10 innovations introduced (or improved) by Disney to the theme parks. Some I knew about (animatronics), some I had never thought of before (like having a single entrance to the park).

After it finished I met with my family in the room; we finished packing the bags, and got ready for the evening.

Tonight's show was Dreams: An Enchanted Classic. And it was the best show of all, by far (and all the others had been really good!!). The story was good, the sets and effects were excellent, lots of Disney songs... They'd changed it recently to include Frozen (of course). When Elsa comes on and sings Let it Go... She turns half the theatre into an ice palace! It was really an amazing show (it's won a few awards, apparently). My mom and I were seriously considering skipping dinner and going to see it a second time!! I can't wait to see it again next year 

After the show and before dinner we had some time to meet more characters...





My dad and my husband







And time for dinner! Our last dinner onboard was on Animator's Palate, and tonight we were all to become animators!



My chocolate dessert...


On our table we all had a place mat in which to draw a character; then they took all our works of art away... While we were eating our dessert, all our drawings came to life in the screens around us! First it was just our drawings, all walking and dancing. And later our drawings were added to Disney films, so our characters were dancing together with Pinocchio, Mickey.... It was pretty cool



Guest Animators



Our final activity for the evening was 'Til we meet again', back on the Atrium. Basically it's a last chance to meet plenty of characters, and to meet the cast of the shows.

For Alicia, it was a chance to show her new Simba to all her 'friends'....

















She also met Chip and Dale and Pluto (but not sure what's happened to those pictures, they must be in my husband's camera)

At the end all the characters and cast members got back to the stage (and staircase) to say goodbye to us all  ... Until we meet again



















A bit sad if I'm totally honest!!

It was almost 11pm so my husband went ahead with our daughter to the room, and I stayed to take some final pictures outside in deck 4. I really didn't want this day to end!!







After a pretty relaxed but magical day we all slept quite well... The next morning we woke up in Copenhagen. They have a great system in DCL where they collect your bags (you have to leave them outside your cabins by 10pm on your last night), so all you need to worry about on your last few hours on board is a carry-on bag. As you can imagine they have a few hours to get everyone off the ship and prepare for the next set of guests, but they're really well organised and you don't really feel like you're being kicked out... We had to be out of the rooms by 8am, and we had breakfast at 8:15 back in Animator's Palate (the restaurant of our last dinner rotation). And this was a proper breakfast, with a menu to choose from, very relaxed, very enjoyable!





Our waiters Vildon and Joao were there, and we had a delicious breakfast. And then it was time to say goodbye to the family that had shared the table with us every evening, and to our waiters. After a week we were really sad to have to say goodbye to them (I hope to see them again next year!), they had really made us feel at home.

Some final photos before leaving...





And then it was time to leave the ship







Back in the port we found our bags, and joined the quite long queue of people getting out and waiting for taxis. Because we wanted a big taxi for all of us (the hotel we were staying in was quite far from the port and so the journey wasn't cheap) we ended up waiting for quite some time (and the queue of people behind us was still quite long!!)

Driving through Copenhagen, we felt like it had been a lifetime ago since we'd been there last. We were all (particularly my mom, my daughter and me) quite sad about the cruise being over. We spent so long waiting for it, and then it was really over in a flash. But it was a really unique, wonderful holiday, and one that we all enjoyed very very much.

That day we went for a walk around the center of Copenhagen, it was again a beautiful sunny day. We did one of the boat tours, had lunch in a terrace, went to the Disney Store (where I saw quite a few people from our ship!!). On Sunday before flying back home we went to visit the Aquarium (Blue Planet), very enjoyable too (our daughter loved it). And then it was time to fly back home, and start planning our next cruise....

And a big thank you to you all for coming along

[daddyof2]

That's a strong contender for best trip report ever I think, thank you

[twentythingamabobs]

Thank you SO much Never2Old! This is hands down the best trip report I've ever read, I feel like I was there with you all and experienced it myself! So many beautiful pictures of your lovely family looking like they're having the time of their lives. Absolutely loved it, didn't want it to end! 

[DisneyRon]

Agreeing with the others here. This was a great trip report Never2old.

Consider a Disney Cruise added to my own future Disney holidays... You were very convincing.

[never2old]

Thank you all so much!

Got a final video for you, of the characters dance party. To give you an idea of what it was really like!

https://youtu.be/umMuXYEFDkw

I'm so glad you enjoyed my report, your comments mean a lot to me.

I promise to do another one next year

[justlikewedreamedit-xo]

thank you for sharing such a wonderful report, your holiday looked absolutely fantastic! Such wonderful photos, I really enjoyed your updates

[sophstar007]

Absolutely magical. My husband wants to go to Norway and I cannot fly far...so I am considering in the future booking the DCL to Norway. So amazing to read your experience!!!

[never2old]

Absolutely magical. My husband wants to go to Norway and I cannot fly far...so I am considering in the future booking the DCL to Norway. So amazing to read your experience!!!

Thanks It was a very magical experience. Hope you do get to cruise the fjords with Disney soon!!