Bean-
We went on a handful of excursions, some of which were better than others. Some were promoted by Disney, some were not. You don't really save any money by using Disney, though you have the artificial reassurance that they'll take care of you if something goes wrong with the tour.
On Key West, we did the trolley ride. Gave a nice, leisurely tour of the "tourist" part of the island. Also did a windjammer cruise to see the sunset (THAT one was DEFINITELY worth it and I can get you the name of the one we went on, if you'd like).
On Grand Cayman, we did the half-submerged submarine (who cut our 60 min. tour down to 45 min. because Disney was late in getting us off the ship...Disney was supposed to refund us 25% of our money but never did...my husband plans on pursuiting that) and then a bus tour (OK host, some sites were pretty, I got to buy rum cake and I can say I've been to Hell and back ) (Hell is a town on Grand Cayman).
In Cozumel, we did the Mayan Tulin Ruins tour. Not that I'm INTO Mayan ruins, but I don't think they gave us enough time there.
We were somewhat limited in what tours we could do because my in-laws were also on the trip and my MIL has rheumatoid arthritis and uses a wheelchair for any walking over 100 feet or so. And forget about more than a few steps, bumpy sidewalks, etc. (she stayed on the ship in Cozumel ).
We had 2 days at sea (Mon. and Thur.) and that's when I was miserable. "Who Wants To Be a Mouseketeer" was cute (ship version of WWTBAM, but with WAY easy questions...guy won a cruise when we saw it) and I enjoyed playing Bingo ($35 for 5 games?!?!?!), but a LOT of the other activities were boring or not planned well, IMHO.
We went snorkeling at Castaway Cay. That was nice (first time I had tried snorkeling since having a bad experience in the shark tank in Typhoon Lagoon in 1992). Also took up MUCH more time than anticipated and we were exhausted by the time we had our fill, so went back to the ship after (nasty, horrible) lunch.
Add all that to that the fact that I'm not a beach person, not a pool person, don't like to overstuff my face (the food WAS fabulous), and, well, thank God for unlimited Internet for $89.99 for the week .
Overall, the food was AWESOME. And yes, Palo is worth the extra $5 if you like to be treated super-special. The food and decor remind me of California Grill or Flying Fish, but the attention of the wait staff reminds me of Victoria & Albert's.
BTW, Comedy Warehouse is ONLY reserved for when the Adventurers Club has a delayed opening because of a banquet .
Sorry for the multiple off-topicness, everybody!
-Sharon-
