There are only a handful of places on earth where millions of people plan for years to come and spend a week, and the Magic Kingdom is one of them. You would think that a simple amusement park wouldn’t hold so many in awe, but people come to see it, and come back again and again. It’s not just marketing either. For many people, it’s been a life long relationship. Walt Disney set out the rules for making an amusement park that everyone could enjoy over 60 years ago, and that foundation holds true today. After all it’s still the “happiest place on earth”.
Downtown Disney is in full construction mode these days. It’s rare to walk through and not see something new from the day before. It’s getting exciting because new businesses are starting to open, parking areas are in full construction mode, and things are just changing on a daily basis. Here are a few images of some of the newest developments at Downtown Disney.
It’s always fun to cruise on a new ship, and in a lot of ways, even more fun to cruise on a new cruise line. This time we boarded the Celebrity Silhouette in Miami for a seven night trip around the eastern Caribbean. Silhouette is owned by Royal Caribbean, so were we Wowed? Was it better, the same, or a disappointment from our former experiences? Take a look at what we found:
The Boarding Process
One of the things that instantly impressed us was the fact that, since we have a certain status aboard Royal Caribbean, and since Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity, our status was transferred over to Celebrity. For us, we didn’t get much out of the deal, but then again, our status isn’t all that impressive to begin with. But it was fun to be able to board a little early. For some of our cruising friends out there, this could be important since the higher you go, the more you’re recognized. Unfortunately, our stay aboard the Celebrity ship did not increase our status with Royal Caribbean, but did count toward Celebrity. Confusing right?
What We Found
The Hideaway is a quiet spot to relax. If you need a book, there’s a wide selection to choose from. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
We’re used to big ships. If you’ve read any of our other posts, you might remember that we go in for the Wow factor of the Royal Caribbean Oasis, Anthem, and Freedom class ships. We like the big interior promenade.
The Celebrity Silhouette is much smaller. Instead of up to 6,000 guests like some of the monster sized boats, Silhouette carries something closer to 2700. Not small by any reasonable standard, but still much smaller than the huge new ships from Royal Caribbean.
We found the Silhouette to be a classy, well maintained and modern ship with all the amenities we needed. Our room was as big and comfortable as most ships we’ve been on, and even better than some. There were adequate power plugs in the room and we were able to spread out and get things put away the way we like with ample stowage and storage. We were not able to score a kettle for heating water like we usually do on Royal Caribbean, but we were able to use the TV to watch our shows that we brought along on our hard drive.
The ship is reasonably new too. First cruise was in 2012 and she continues to be in good repair and modern in design. We especially liked the design of the buffet restaurant, the Oceanview Café, but more on that later.
Dining
The two deck Grand Cuvee Dining Room. Photo by Donald Fink.
Celebrity uses a dining plan similar to most other cruise ships. You can elect to have an assigned dining table at a specific time each night, or you can reserve a time, even different each night if you want. You can also just walk in to the dining room and get the first available table. You set these options up when you lock in your cruise reservations.
In the classic dining plan, you are assigned a table, along with other cruisers. You may or may not know these folks, depending on your circumstance.
Excursions
As you enter the harbor in San Juan, Puerto Rico, you’ll see the famous fort, Castillo San Felipe del Morro on your left. If you’re on a cruise and happen to stop in Puerto Rico, this is a must-see shore excursion. Photo by Donald Fink.
At the risk of sounding a bit jaded, we usually don’t go on shore excursions when we’re in the Caribbean. It’s not that we have anything against the Caribbean, it’s just that we’ve been travelling in the region for literally decades. There aren’t many things we haven’t seen.
The exception is that when there’s an excuse to scuba dive, we’re there. On this trip we made a shore excursion in St. Thomas to dive a local spot, and while the area has recently been through a major hurricane, we found it to be a good choice. The dive operators were professional and attentive and provided a good diving experience.
This cruise stopped in San Juan, Puerto Rico. One of the classic day tours for this stop is the fort, Castillo San Felipe del Morro. This is an interesting stop, and it’s also a National Park under the US Park Service, so things are a bit familiar in terms of signage, rules, and so forth. It’s also rumored that this fort served as an inspiration for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney.
In this video you can enjoy a few minutes of our impression of the Celebrity Silhouette. Video and Stills by Don and Bonnie Fink.
As we mentioned before, this was our first time cruising aboard a ship from the Celebrity fleet. We have seen the ships many times before as they docked in ports next to other cruises we were on, but we’d never been aboard one.
In a lot of ways, the experience was what we expected because, while cruise lines differ, they are really more alike than they are different. The room was the high quality we expect for a cruise line of this type, the food was better than most, and the amenities aboard the ship seems to be comparable to any modern ship of this size. If this one ship is any judge of the total Celebrity line, they are staying relevant in the 21st century of cruising.
The final question is, will we cruise on Celebrity again? The simple answer is, of course we will. When we find a cruise that goes where we want, when we want, and it happens to be a Celebrity line ship, we won’t hesitate.
What’s the difference between a cruise and an all-inclusive resort? That could be a question that has a great deal of importance for some of us, so we checked out an all-inclusive Sandals Resort and Spa on the island of Antigua.
Sandals, as you may know, is a relatively well known and popular destination resort that owns and manages resorts all over the Caribbean and even into the Mediterranean. They feature all-inclusive destination stays in a luxury style that can only be approached by luxury cruise ships. Let’s see what they have to offer:
What are the Rooms Like?
The rooms are comfortable at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa. Photo by Donald Fink.
There are several kinds of rooms at the Sandals Grande Antigua. Our room was called a Caribbean Honeymoon Premium, but you could get others with a variety of features. There was a tower that provided more hotel-like rooms, but there were also beach front rooms called Mediterranean one bedroom butler villas that featured their own private plunge pools and butlers. Pretty much any level of comfort was available.
Our room was a single room with a patio overlooking a garden view. It included a king size bed, a fridge stocked with drinks, and a coffee maker as well as a kettle for heating water. There was an air conditioner and a fan, so controlling the temperature was not a problem.
It was central to the amenities, about a minute’s walk to the lobby and even closer to the beach. There was a covered porch too. Overall it was roomy and comfortable.
If absolute luxury is on your mind, there are rooms available that include a bedroom, living area, private plunge pool, private spa, and a butler. The butler seems to do all kinds of things, including serve drinks and meals, and making reservations at restaurants, or securing lounge chairs at the beach. The experience is of course more expensive, but the treatment appears to be world class. And if you don’t mind being pampered, why not?
What’s Included?
Guests enjoy breakfast in the open air Bayside Restaurant; a comfortable covered setting with the waves lapping at the beach as you enjoy your meal. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Pretty much everything is included. At Sandals Grand Antigua, there are over 10 restaurants, and all of them are included in the price. Actually, they mention 11 restaurants, but one of them is a hot dog stand near the main pool. But if you like hot dogs, that should count too, right?
All drinks at the resort are included. Yes. All of them, and that’s where Sandals seems to get really competitive with cruising in terms of price. An average drink package on a cruise ship can cost $55.00 US per day per person. At Sandals, that’s part of the experience. And while we don’t have firsthand experience with the quality of the alcohol, the people in our group didn’t appear to be complaining. Beer was mostly local, but many of the wines were from the Napa Valley in California, and the hard liquor seemed to be labels we recognized. Coffee and tea was available too.
Our room had both a coffee pot and a kettle for heating water, as well as a completely stocked fridge with water, soft drinks, and juices. Some of the rooms had a mini bar included too.
Are There Beaches?
At Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and spa, the white sand beaches stretched the length of the resort. Beaches here are public, but Sandals provides chairs and umbrellas exclusively for Sandals guests. Photo by Donald Fink.
There are indeed beaches. The Grande Antigua Resort is situated on a white sand beach overlooking the Caribbean Sea. As you sit on the beach in the included Sandals lounge chairs, you’re either in the sun or under a grass shade. The choice is yours.
Off shore, there’s a small barrier reef that seems to help keep the beach quiet most of the time. We noticed the reef as we were headed out for some diving. You can see the waves breaking on the reef, making the waters calm closer to shore.
How’s the Food?
When we travel, we judge the food we encounter based on the food we see on cruise ships, and the food at Sandals is very similar to some of the better offerings we see. If we had to name a brand, we might say that the meals at Sandals was in line with the quality we expect on Royal Caribbean, maybe a little better.
Our main, go-to restaurant for this visit was called Bayside Restaurant. It is a buffet style offering for breakfast and lunch, but converts over to table service for dinner.
The wait staff is good here in that they are friendly and competent, but the service was less formal, even in the specialty settings. In other words, while the food was really good, no one came around and removed the crumbs from your table between courses. And most meals were three courses, with appetizer, main course, and dessert.
It should be mentioned that not all restaurants are open all the time. At Grand Antigua, for example, there’s a restaurant called The OK Corral that features Tex-Mex, but was only open a couple of times in the week we were there. There’s another Italian styled restaurant called Mario’s that was open every night. And another British Pub called the Drunken duck that was open too. We enjoyed a couple of seriously good hamburgers there, by the way.
On Wednesday nights, there’s a beach bar-b-que that probably goes down as one of the included restaurants. It looked like a fun meal.
Another restaurant down by the main pool is called Barefoot by the Sea. This open-air restaurant is nearly on the beach, with rustic tables, comfortable chairs, and sand on your feet. They’re open every day for lunch and most nights for dinner.
There’s a dress code for the restaurants at Sandals. The two designations are Evening Attire, and Resort Casual Attire. As you might guess, Resort Casual Attire means, “come as you are.” And Evening Attire means long pants for men with no T-shirts. Shoes or elegant sandals are required. For the ladies, the expected dress is evening pants, skirts, elegant top, sundress, with sandals or shoes. And to be clear, the above description is not verbatim from the Sandals guide. Be sure to check the dress codes directly with sandals before you pack for the trip.
What Else Is There to Do?
There’s a pool behind the dive shop that’s dedicated to scuba instruction and “check-out” dives. Here, Don is entering the water to prove he still remembers how to dive. Divers are required to demonstrate basic skills if they don’t have signed log books indicating recent dives. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Aside from the pool time, the walks on the beach, and lazing away the day watching the waves patter on the sand, what else can you do at Sandals?
This particular Sandals had an active scuba dive program with dives nearly every day. There were mostly single tank trips, but a couple of two tank trips were also thrown in, presumably when the dive site was close by. All dive equipment is included. You can see a quick video of one of the dives below, where we went to a site called Billy’s Reef.
Snorkeling was available every day. They discourage snorkeling directly off the beach because of the amount of boat traffic, but dive boats left daily to other destinations where you could get your snorkel fill. All equipment is included.
Sail boats are available on the beach. To take one out, you simply walk over to the dive shop, get a life jacket, and grab a boat. We noticed four or five small catamaran sail boats available. Those things are fast, by the way, but easy to sail.
There are jet skis available too, but at an extra cost. We noticed two jet skis on the beach, but with all the included activities, we didn’t have the time to take one out.
Horseback riding is available at an extra cost too. Not being avid riders, and with so much else to do anyway, we didn’t take a ride.
There’s an area marked out for general swimming in case you felt the need to cool off.
Final Thoughts
We’re mostly cruising people, so we naturally want to compare this new all-inclusive resort idea with our cruising experiences. What we came away with is that the cost versus benefit was very close. The Sandals stay was a bit more expensive than a typical Caribbean cruise for the same period of time, but you need to factor in the free alcohol, free snorkeling and Scuba Diving, and an impressive beach-front.
Would we stay at a Sandals again? Sure, we would definitely return. But more likely, we’d visit one of their many other resorts in the Caribbean or even in the Mediterranean.
The question we asked at the beginning of this post was, is a stay at a Sandals Resort as good as a cruise on a luxury cruise liner? For many people, the answer has to be, “Yes, a stay at a Sandals Resort is as good or even better than a luxury cruise.” The high-quality restaurants, the included drinks, and the many recreational activities that are already included is a powerful draw. Did we mention the included drinks? And yes, we mean the alcoholic drinks, the soft drinks, and coffee and tea. Just to be clear.
Still, for us, we’re drawn to the ship where we wake up in a different place every morning, but we see the advantages of Sandals too. Everyone is different, so we encourage you to take a look for yourself.
Not long ago we ventured out on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas for a seven-night tour of the Western Caribbean. We made only three stops along the way at Labadee in Haiti, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico.
An Oasis Class ship is huge. It can accommodate 6,780 guests. But the funny thing is, you really don’t feel crowded. We’ve read countless posts from potential cruisers saying that they absolutely hate sailing on these “monster” sized ships, citing long lines and big wait times because of the overcrowding. Truthfully, we don’t see it. A ship like the Oasis of the seas has 24 guest elevators, 9 complimentary restaurants and 8 specialty restaurants. There are 11 bars and lounges on board, many of which have entertainment at night or even in the afternoon. When you think about it, a town that size wouldn’t have all of these services. There are even 3 doctors and 5 nurses aboard.
Service is generally good aboard this and other Oasis class ships, and the entertainment is what we consider to be above average in the cruise business. The great thing about Royal Caribbean is that they have so many ships, they employ a large number of entertainers. If you make several voyages, you’re likely to see different shows each time. With the exception of the main stage shows and ice performances, you’ll even see different performers each time you sail on the same ship since they tend to rotate through the fleet. The ice performances and main stage shows, of course, are often specific to one particular ship because the sets are complex.
So, what makes an Oasis class ship so much more than other ships? Let’s take a look:
Royal Promenade
The Royal Promenade aboard the Oasis of the Seas is located on Deck 5. It’s the central part of the ship where you find many of the shops, pubs, and cafés. Photo by Donald Fink.
When you enter the Oasis of the seas for the first time, you enter on deck five and are presented with the Royal promenade. This is like the Freedom class ships in that it’s a central area designed to look like a street; maybe a typical small town in western Europe, or so it seems to us. There are shops and cafes, bars, just about everything you could need if you were visiting a small town on vacation.
Our favorite haunt was the Café Promenade. It’s a small café centrally located in the Royal Promenade that we used for our daily “people watching.” We would usually head down to the Café Promenade in the mornings after breakfast for another cup of coffee and a bran muffin. They serve up complimentary muffins and pastries, with sandwiches at lunch and dinner. Coffee and tea are also on the house, but you can buy specialty coffee drinks too. It made for some good competition for the local Starbucks that was located towards the forward end of the Royal Promenade.
Boardwalk
Closeup of one of the horses on the Boardwalk Carousel. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Johnny Rockets is a hamburger chain that also has restaurants aboard the Oasis class and Freedom class ships. There’s an extra fee for lunch or dinner here, but aboard the Oasis of the Seas, breakfast is complimentary. We recommend Johnny Rockets if you’re looking for a burger that takes you back to mid-twentieth century America. They’re pretty close to the real deal as we remember them. Try the Peanut Butter Milkshake. If it’s not on the menu, ask for it anyway.
At the very back of the ship is the Aquatheatre. This is a pool that is close to thirty feet deep. You can take SCUBA lessons in this pool, and yes, there’s a five-star PADI dive center aboard the ship for this purpose. But the real reason for the Aquatheatre is for the show.
The Aquatheater presents one of those kinds of shows that you should plan to see early in your cruise, because you’re probably going to want to see it again. It’s hard to categorize, but the show you’ll see here involves water, high-divers, acrobats, and arial performances. Think of a circus-like stage show with a large swimming pool that is sometimes a pool and sometimes a stage, and even both. The stage raises above the water to provide dry land for performers, then lowers into the water for swimmers and divers.
There are also two rock climbing walls aboard the Oasis of the Seas, and they’re located at the Boardwalk.
Central Park
You can find several very quiet and private areas to sit at Central Park, on Deck 8. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Up on deck 8 is Central Park. This area is also open to the outside, but is located in the central part of the ship. In other words, it’s open to the sky with stateroom balconies along each side, but the front and back are closed. The unique thing about Central Park is that it’s what you might expect by the name. it’s a park, complete with lush greenery and trees with walkways. And yes, the plants are real. Along the walkways, you can encounter a number of shops and restaurants, including the Royal Caribbean signature steakhouse, Chops Grille. There is also a restaurant called 150 Central Park that is elevated even above Chops Grille. For a complimentary lunch or dinner, there’s the Park Café, which is very popular.
There are three and a half bars in Central Park. We say three and a half because the rising Tide Bar is on a hydraulic platform. Part of the time it’s in Central Park on Deck 8, and part of the time it’s on the Royal Promenade on Deck 5. When it’s in the Central Park location, there are fountains below it in the Royal Promenade.
Deck 15 and 16
Looking down on the swimming pools and 4 of the hot tubs on Deck 15. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Decks 15 and 16 are where you might expect all the regular outdoor activities to be on a cruise ship. The pools, golf course, zip line, and the two Flowriders for our surfer friends are located up top. There are four pools and six whirlpools aboard this ship.
There’s one pool designed primarily for the youngsters with bright colors and water features, but there’s also an area set aside for the more mature crowd, meaning guests sixteen and older. This is called the solarium and is located in the front of the ship on Decks 15 and 16. There’s a couple of whirlpools, a café, bar, and plenty of areas for sunbathing and relaxing. It’s a quite oasis on an otherwise lively ship.
Deck 16 is also where the main buffet style dining area is located. It’s called the Windjammer Marketplace and it’s located towards the aft part of the ship, with views of either side of the ship, the basketball court and golf course and the zip line that spans the Boardwalk below.
Normally, Decks 15 and 16 would be the main attraction on a smaller ship. And if this was a normal ship except with over 6,000 guests, this would be an overcrowding situation without a doubt. What makes the Oasis class ships different is the other areas mentioned above. The Promenade, Boardwalk, and Central Park and significant areas of interest by themselves, and they certainly draw a large number of guests away from the usual sun-bathing by the swimming pool activity that seems to be the standard on smaller ships. The existence of these other areas is how we can justify saying that crowds are not really an issue aboard these massive ships.
Studio B
Several times during your cruise the show Frozen in Time will be offered in Studio B, Deck 4. Photo by Donald Fink.
The Oasis Class and Freedom Class ships have an ice rink. It’s called Studio B. This is another of those shows that you’ll want to see early on in the cruise if at all possible, because each time we’ve seen the show, we wanted to see it again.
If you want to try your hand on the ice while at sea, there are times when guests can take to the rink too. On our last cruise, there were two distinctive times for skating; one set aside for skaters who needed skates, and one for guests who brought their own ice skates onboard with them. Normally we’d think that bringing ice skates along on a Caribbean cruise might be a classic case for overpacking, but not aboard the Oasis of the Seas.
View of the Aquatheater and back of the ship. This is also the view you have if you have a boardwalk balcany. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
This is not close to a complete guide to all the Oasis of the Seas has to offer. We didn’t mention the theater, the gym, the great walk and running path on Deck 5, or even the three level main dining facility.
There’s no question that one of our favorite cruise lines is Royal Caribbean, and it’s no secret that of their massive fleet of ships, our favorite class of ship so far is the Oasis class. We’ve been sailing on Royal Caribbean since the 1990’s and they’ve always presented interesting ships with the “right” design. We must be in the middle of their target demographics, because they always have just the right amount of bling, the right amount of opulence, with surroundings that both wow us yet make us feel comfortable while we’re on-board.
During one of our last visits to Europe, we were fortunate enough to make a British Isles cruise. We were aboard the Caribbean Princess, a Princess Ship that we’ve sailed before, surprisingly, in the Caribbean. This time the ship was the same, but the setting was different.
One of our stops along this cruise was in Glasgow, where we jumped off the ship and boarded a bus for a day out in the Scottish countryside. We made a couple of quick stops along the way, but ended up at the Culzean Castle (pronounced Kul-LAYN) around noon.
This is one of those kinds of ship tours we like, where we get basic transportation to and from a place with some explanation along the way. Once we get there, we’re turned loose to find our own way, which is what we did here.
History
The gardens in front of Culzean Castle. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Culzean Castle was built in the late 18th century, between 1777 and 1792, by the then 10th Earl of Cassillis. The Earl was the head of the Clan Kennedy, and the castle remained in the Kennedy family until 1945, when it was turned over to the National Trust for Scotland in order to avoid inheritance taxes. There was one stipulation when the property was turned over, and that was that the uppermost floor was to be held for the use of General Dwight D. Eisenhower for as long as he wanted to use it, in recognition of his contribution to the efforts of World War II. And indeed, General Eisenhower, and later President Eisenhower, visited the apartment four times, beginning in 1946.
Local folk lore says that there are at least seven ghosts present in the castle. One of which is a servant girl who has been seen on the grand staircase, and another is a piper, who has been heard playing his instrument in the caves along the cliff walls beneath the castle.
Hotel Eisenhower
Something we don’t get to enjoy from a ship’s tour are some of the more exclusive things that come with a place like Culzean Castle. There’s a hotel located on the top floor, which are the rooms of General Eisenhower’s apartment. After President Eisenhower’s death, the apartment was converted into the Hotel Eisenhower, a small hotel capable of accommodating up to 20 guests.
There is a restaurant that serves an upscale dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, and breakfast is served daily.
Prices to stay at the Hotel Eisenhower are surprisingly moderate, considering the exclusive and luxurious nature of the surrounding. Of course, the definition of our use of the term “moderate” may not be the same as another’s idea. For some it might be out of the question and for others, the price might be trivial. Only you can decide if it’s right for you. Reviews of the hotel seem to indicate that most folks regard it as a good value.
Deer Park
There’s a deer park on the Culzean Castle grounds. There are several deer and llamas as well as other animals. This is, of course, one of the Llamas on the castle grounds, and the annoying little insects flying around. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Across the main parking lot from Culzean Castle there’s a large fenced area where you can view several different species of animals. There were various deer herds, llamas, a few goats, and so on. But one of the most interesting animals we found was the pheasant we found walking in the grass among all the ungulates. The bird was certainly a wild animal since he was clearly capable of flight, but probably learned to hang with the Deer Park animals, mainly for the food.
The purpose of the Deer Park at one time might have been to demonstrate some of the animals that might have been hunted on the property back in the last part of the 18th century, when the Castle was new. That is, of course, until the Llamas showed up. And there might actually be a purpose for the Llamas that we’re missing, so we can leave it at that.
The Deer Park wouldn’t be a reason to come to Culzean Castle in and of itself, but it was fun to watch the animals as they went about their business, mostly ignoring the tourists.
How to get there
Culzean Castle is on the coast of Scotland overlooking the Firth of Clyde, which is a body of water between Scotland and Northern Ireland. It’s about 50 miles southwest of Glasgow, and 430 miles north of London. The two ways that make sense to us for visiting is either from a British Isles Cruise like we did aboard the Caribbean Princess, or from a plain ol’ road trip. We flew into London and rented a car a couple of years ago and drove up into northern Scotland for a little over a week. We had a great time visiting the sights. Culzean Castle could have easily been on the list had we known about it at the time. Actually, we would have strongly considered spending the night, had we known about it at the time.
Another way to visit Culzean Castle is to consider a train to Glasgow, then use a tour company from town to get out into the countryside. We’ve found these advertised at modest prices.
We’ll no doubt make another road trip into northern Scotland at some point in the future, and Culzean Castle will be on the list. We would like to spend more time there, perhaps staying the night and walking the beaches below the Castle along the cliffs. Who knows, we might find the ghost of the piper.
However you may prefer to travel, if you find yourself in Scotland, this is a place to see. In the meantime, here are a few of our images:
There are plenty of ways to enjoy a Disney vacation if you live in the U.S. There’s the classic Disneyland Anaheim that many of us grew up with, the occasional trip to Walt Disney World that newer, younger folks on the east coast are used to, and there’s of course the large and growing group of people who simply migrate to Florida to enjoy Disney full time, like we have.
Not that we’re bored with Disney, but when something new comes along, you grab it. And that’s just what happened on a recent trip to Europe.
We were on an extended stay in Germany for the summer and wanted to visit Disneyland Paris, so we finally made it happen.
We leased a car in Frankfurt, Germany, for our stay in Germany, but we built in some extra time at the end, so we could hop a train and head over to Paris. We were actually combining adventures. We’ve never taken advantage of Europe’s famous train transportation system, we’d never been to Belgium, and of course, there was the prize at the end of the train ride, Disneyland Paris.
This is the train that was blazing along at 185MPH between Frankfurt and Brussels. We’re in the train station beneath a terminal at the Frankfurt Airport. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
It was good to start a train ride from Germany. Since we had been in the country for a few weeks, we were getting used to hearing the language and reading the signs, so when the completely foreign concept of riding a train, negotiating the ticket buying process, finding the boarding platforms, and so on were at hand, we weren’t completely lost.
Our first train riding day was just a couple of hours over to Brussels, Belgium. We read that the trains that go long distances were reasonably fast, but we had no idea. The speed indicator in the cabin of the train showed that we were travelling at 300 Kph, which works out to slightly over 186 Mph. And sure enough, when we held our GPS equipped phone up to the window to receive a good signal, the driving app showed right around 185 mph. Didn’t take long at all to get from Frankfurt to Brussels.
As an American who’s ridden a train in the US (a long, long time ago), we thought the ride at that kind of speed would have been reasonably rough. In fact, we would worry that a train traveling at that speed on most US tracks would simply jump off the tracks. In fairness, the ride to Brussels was a bit too rough to use the computer to write, or the Kindle to read, and it was a bit of a challenge to move around the cabin, but considering the speed, it wasn’t bad. On the ride from Brussels to Paris, the track was considerably smoother.
We spent two nights in Brussels, which gave us a full day to explore the city.
Brussels
The Grand Place is the central Square in Brussels. Once the center of government in Belgium, the square was destroyed by the French in 1695. Surprisingly, it took only four years to re-build by the city’s guilds. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Brussels is a city to come back to. We’ll put up a post about Brussels, with pictures, in short order. We spent two nights at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place which was located downtown in the City Center, near all the city’s tourist activities.
As you may know, Brussels is the capital of the European Union, and as such it’s a vibrant place. It also has extremely heavy security all around. In this case, it made us feel reasonably safe.
Being typical tourists, we concentrated our efforts in Brussels exploring the sights in the city, and of course, sampling the chocolate, and a Belgium waffle here and there. Believe it or not, the Belgium waffle was a bit different than what we’re used to in the US, and for the better. As for the chocolate? We run into some pretty good chocolate in our ramblings around Walt Disney World so it’s hard to compete with our reasonably picky chocolate pallets, but Brussels did a good job. Let’s put it this way: On our trip back through Brussels from Paris to Frankfurt, we had just enough time between connections in Brussels that we set out in the train station looking for more chocolate to take back to Frankfurt.
On to Disneyland Paris
The train station at Disneyland Paris is literally at Disneyland Paris. There’s a station that lets you off right at the entrance to the parks. It’s also the entrance to Disney Village, which is the Disneyland Paris version of Disney Springs, or Downtown Disney in Anaheim. A quick walk through Disney Village and we arrived at our hotel, which was Disney’s Newport Bay Club.
We arrived mid-day, and our room wasn’t ready, so we checked our bags and headed over to a park. An interesting side note about the room not being ready was that it seemed to us that the room wasn’t ready mostly because it wasn’t 3:00 pm. We didn’t notice any effort to determine if our room was available. It just wasn’t. Fortunately, the kind of reservations Bonnie had made included the room and the park tickets, and the tickets were good for the day of arrival and the day of departure. It was absolutely no big deal to simply drop off our bags and head over to Disneyland for an afternoon of fun while we waited for our room to be ready, or for 3:00 pm to come around, whatever the reason was.
We had heard stories that the French (or more accurately the Europeans) didn’t queue well in lines, particularly when getting on a ride, entering a bus, or seeing a character. We didn’t ride a bus during this visit, but we actually took time to see how folks were behaving here in Europe, and truthfully, we didn’t notice anything significantly different from anything we see on a regular basis at Walt Disney World in Florida.
The cast members were polite in a Disney kind of way, but the magic wasn’t quite there as it is in Florida. An example to illustrate what we mean is, have you ever watched the cast members in Florida when they’re setting up for a parade? They are usually interacting with the guests, dancing, and singing to the music in the background. It’s a delightful thing to watch, and you simply can’t make employees behave in this kind of over-the-top, friendly and enthusiastically way. At Walt Disney World, it’s obvious that the cast members are there because they want to be there. At Disneyland Paris, the cast members were polite and competent, but the magic wasn’t quite as evident. It was more of a job. Or so it seemed to us. We were watching a Main Street band (the equivalent of the Main Street Orchestra at the Magic Kingdom) play a few tunes, and many of the musicians were reading their music as they played. We’ve never seen the band play at Walt Disney World where they even had their music with them. Their parts had long been committed to memory. At Disneyland Paris, we saw a band playing tunes. At the Magic Kingdom in Florida, we typically see the Main Street Orchestra, but it’s not a band playing, it’s a performance.
Does this mean we won’t come back to Disneyland Paris? Of course not. If it wasn’t for the fact that we spend a tremendous amount of time in Walt Disney World in Florida, we probably wouldn’t have noticed the difference. We’re jaded in that way. And as it was, the experience at Disneyland Paris was absolutely a positive one. We just like “our Disney” better.
Walt Disney Studios
The Earffel Tower is still present at Walt Disney Studios. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
We should talk about Walt Disney Studios first because it was our least favorite. That way we can end the article on a high note.
Walt Disney Studios is probably the equivalent to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. It houses the Tower of Terror Ride, a land called Toy Story and a few other twists not present in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Florida. Truthfully, it wasn’t a “full day” park in our opinions. The Toy Story Land was cool, but it’s designed for the very young people, and as such the rides were of the more subdued variety. With a heavy presence of Buddy and a slightly disturbing French speaking Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, and various other characters, it’s certainly worth a stop if you have youngins with you.
If this is what Toy Story Land is going to look like at the Hollywood Studios in Florida, there will be some happy youngsters. It was fun place for them.
Disneyland
Disneyland Paris Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Photo by Donald Fink.
Disneyland at Disneyland Paris is interesting. First, it’s a “full day” park as much as any other Disney park we’ve ever encountered. It’s well maintained, well groomed, and except for the absence of the “magic” from the cast members we mentioned before, it’s every bit as much of a Disneyland as any other Disneyland we’ve visited.
The colors are different. Take a look at the pictures to see what we mean. Rather than being a duplicate of Main Street USA in either Anaheim or Florida, for example, it’s as if it was a brand-new creation. The street is brick instead of pavement.
The buildings, while the same in terms of late 19th century or early 20th century architecture, are completely different in their colors from the other parks. There’s a square at the head of Main Street USA, but instead of a massive flag pole, there’s a gazebo like you would see in many typical small towns in the USA. Casey’s is on the corner where it belongs, but there was no piano player. The ice cream shop was across the street, and while looking similar, it was selling Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. Ben and Jerry’s is an ice cream company headquartered in Vermont, but it seems to be really big here in Europe. Oh, and to underscore the fact that it was indeed Mainstreet U.S.A., many of the buildings did indeed have the Stars and Stripes flying overhead, even though the main flagpole was missing.
Phantom Manor can be found in Frontierland at Disneyland Paris. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Frontierland was huge; at least twice as big as it is in the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Or so it seemed. There was the Haunted Mansion—called Phantom Manor—that was nearly the same as The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World. The queue was a bit better designed here, and some of the features, while nearly the same, seemed a bit more up-to-date in terms of their technology. They were more believable. Even though the dialog was in French, it was still scary.
Of course, there was Big Thunder Mountain. We didn’t ride, but it appeared to be the same as Walt Disney World’s version. Of course, the setting was a bit different because there’s a “river” next to the ride, separating it from Phantom Manor, and providing a place for the riverboat.
What we did not see was the Country Bear Jamboree or Splash Mountain. We can see why Splash Mountain is left out. After all, it actually snows at Disneyland Paris, and since Splash Mountain is a wet ride, it wouldn’t be all that popular in the winter. No idea about Country Bear Jamboree. Maybe the French aren’t as fascinated with singing bears as we are.
Adventureland has a ride called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, or Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril. It’s a small roller coaster ride in a mine car through what looks like an archaeological dig. It’s the only ride we’re aware of in a Magic Kingdom Park that goes upside down. By upside down, we mean that it does a quick inside loop, but it happens so fast, and it’s so tight, that you have to pay attention to notice it. We were shooting with our GoPro when the loop occurred, and the extra G force caused Don’s hand to move down slightly and the upside down part was completely missed in the video.
For the “It’s a Small World” fans around, the ride seems to be brighter, happier (if that’s possible), and with better audio. The GoPro had no trouble capturing the whole thing, and it usually struggles with the ambient light in the ride at Walt Disney World.
Final Thoughts
When we were doing our research about Disneyland Paris, we read several stories about the place being run down, rude cast members, out of control crowds, and so on. When got there, none of it was true. The parks were actually in good shape in terms of repair, paint, and so on. Disneyland itself was pristine. Walt Disney Studios seemed to lack a bit of focus for us, but maybe we were having an off day. It was very cold the day we were there. Maybe we were grumpy.
The hotel was odd in its layout, but otherwise a fine hotel that reminded us of The Yacht and Beach Club at Epcot. Its level of repair was not quite up to Disney standards in Florida, but remember the harsh weather in France. It might just be enough to make the difference. The hotel was great in all ways that matter.
Take a six minute ride in PanoraMagique. Photo by Donald Fink.
The one area that needs improvement in our view was Disney Village. From an appearance point of view, it seems a bit run down. Even accounting for the harsh weather, it needs work. On the plus side, there was a Starbucks, an Earl of Sandwich, a MacDonald’s, and a Five Guys Burger, as well as other great places to eat. Shopping seemed adequate too.
Safety should not be a problem at Disneyland Paris. Every entrance was covered with security, including all entrances to Disney Village. We make it our practice to not go into the specifics of exactly what the security was like, but security was there, and it seemed to be effective.
So, will we go back to Disneyland Paris? The answer to that is absolutely. Probably, the next time we come to Europe, we’ll figure a way to make our way to Paris and spend a few days at Disney. Actually, what we would like to do is stay at a Disney hotel, most likely the Disneyland Hotel at the very entrance to Disneyland, and visit the parks from there. We could build in a couple of extra days to the trip and use the train station to make our way into Paris City Center to visit Paris too.
We’ve talked about Schwerin before, and we’ve mentioned the iconic Schwerin Palace, but we’ve never given the Palace the attention it deserves. After all, it was Schwerin Palace that originally drew us to this northern German town in the first place.
Schwerin Palace sits on a small island in Lake Schwerin. It is, of course, near the town of Schwerin in northern Germany near the Baltic Sea. Our first visit here was during a Baltic Sea cruise aboard a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship. We stopped in Warnemünde for a day and caught a bus into Schwerin. Our first stop was the Palace where we did a walk through its interior and the grounds.
Like so many other buildings in Europe, Schwerin Palace has a rich and interesting history. While people have been living in the area for many thousands of years, the generally accepted year that the palace was established is 1160, when a famous medieval lord Henriech der Löwe (Henry the Lion), Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, conquered a group of Slavic tribes who had occupied the fortress of Schwerin since 960. As it is, Schwerin is one of the last true residence palaces to be built in Germany.
From 1945 through 1989 it was used as Mecklenburg’s parliamentary seat, an educational college, a museum of prehistory and early history, and a polytechnic museum. In 1990, after the reunification of East and West Germany, Schwerin Palace became the seat of the regional parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, one of sixteen federal states in Germany. Extensive restoration work also began and continues to some extent today.
For us, as tourists, there’s a large area of the palace that’s open for tours. You can see re-created rooms as they probably were in the 15th century when royalty lived here. You can also see a regional parliament in action if they’re in session, but you’ll of course want to brush up on your German.
The ghost of Schwerin Castle, named Petermännchen, is said to be no more than four feet tall. One legend says that this little guy is a spirit servant of a pagan god. When the pagan god was driven out of Schwerin by Christianity, Petermännchen remained behind, refusing to leave his post.
There’s a ghost at Schwerin Palace called Petermännchen, or, Little Peterman. This good-natured spirit is said to be only about four feet tall. There’s a statue of him at the Palace. He’s described in a couple of ways. One is that he’s occasionally seen wandering the vaults and tunnels under the castle. He carries keys, unlocking doors as he goes along. Another legend says that he patrols the grounds with a lantern and a small sword or dagger, guarding the Palace against thieves. He rewards good behavior and plays pranks and tricks on others. He makes banging noises at night, and has been known to awaken sleeping guards to keep them from being punished.
In our wanderings around Germany, we’ve now made two stops at Schwerin Palace. Below you can see some of the images we brought back. You can also see an article we recently posted about Schwerin here along with a post about our favorite hotel in Schwerin, the Weinhaus Uhle.
