It’s finally time for part 5 of our coverage of our 7-night Caribbean Cruise aboard the Disney Treasure. In this pretty chill report, we talk awkward moments, a throwback to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, pretentious travel topics (Have you been to Falmouth? Well, we “have”?), and more!

Day 5 Aboard the Disney Treasure, Recapped

The fitness center opened on time today, and during my post-run exploration of the ship, I enjoyed the fact that we were already at port (Falmouth, Jamaica), and I could get a good sense of the immediate area right from the ship.

Walking around the ship I was reminded of some of the shortcomings of the Wish-class design. I checked on the promenade to make sure it hadn’t magically found a way around the ship. Indeed, still U-shaped with stairs from 4 to 5 to 6.

Hey You! Yea you, down there! What do you think of the spa?

On the Deck 6 portion of the promenade—which wraps around the front of the ship—I was reminded that you can actually see into the Senses Spa from up here.

It was before opening time, so I didn’t feel awkward taking a photo, but…I dunno…I can’t be the only one who finds this odd. The Deck 6 promenade doesn’t get much traffic, to be sure, but I’m not sure an overhead viewing platform gives “spa” vibes.

The bell on Deck 6 doesn’t have the “PLEASE DO NOT RING BELL” sign found on the Wish. I still did not ring the bell.

The activities in the Oceaneer Club started pretty early, with “Ninja” at 8AM. Since we couldn’t possibly deny Zoe the chance to do “Ninja”, we wound up with a bit of a wonky schedule going back and forth between Marceline Market and Deck 3 in the morning.

The group in the Oceaneer Club was really small, just a handful of kids, and while it sounds like they didn’t actually do “Ninja”, Zoe was so into whatever activity was going on that Emily and I wound up with some alone time after breakfast to wander the ship together. Plenty of the ship is just stunning…

Zoe’s feelings about the Oceaneer Club this morning hearken back to that first trip on the Disney Wonder, where crowds were lower than aboard the larger, Florida-based Wish-class ships.

It’s easy to say “oh, some kids don’t like crowds”, but since Zoe does fine living in New York and vacationing in Walt Disney World, I think the “crowds” problem on the cruise ships is more than just “vibes.”

Simpler times in the Oceaneer Club aboard the Disney Wonder

There’s definitely a practical cost to crowds, where group activities lose a little bit of their organization and individual activities like the simulators etc. suffer from surplus demand.

It was just before 10AM when we finally got off the ship to spend some time “in” Falmouth.

You Haven’t Really Been to a Place Until the Most Pretentious Person You Know Agrees You’ve Been To The Place

So, let’s divert a bit. We’re the sort of people who keep track of what states, countries, and National Parks we’ve been to (I honestly can’t figure out whether it would be less pretentious to have to say “I don’t keep track of those things”).

For states, I have a rule of “one minor activity plus a night, or one major activity” before I count the state. I don’t really have a rule for countries. I wouldn’t count a layover, or even an overnight one where I didn’t leave the airport, but I’ll count most anything else.

The reason I’m a little more loose with counting countries than counting states is practical—it’s a real hassle to get back to countries. And it’s not like I’m on an uncontrolled hunt to check boxes off—this is exactly why I didn’t get off the ship in Cozumel.

I have bigger hopes for Mexico, so I don’t see the point in checking off a box just by spending a few minutes at the cruise port. Relatedly, I’ve skipped plenty of day-trips in Europe and Asia that would have checked boxes.

At 5 years old, the excursion options for Zoe in Falmouth weren’t particularly appealing. And from our research, there wasn’t much we wanted to do in the immediate area, either.

Were we not vegetarians, I would have loved a meal (vegetarian tale as old as time). So we were basically left with the question of whether we wanted to just “explore” the port area or not.

While I think way too much is made about whether a given city or resort is the “Real” part of any country, I can concede that a port area that is basically an outdoor shopping mall is pushing the boundaries of what I’d call “visiting” a country.

The immediate area at the Falmouth port is really nice, but most of the stores are selling the same touristy merchandise, and even the market portion that presents itself as more authentic feels a bit hollow.

But the truth is that while I know there’s plenty to see and experience in Jamaica, if I came back it was probably going to be on another cruise or to visit a resort. The world is a big place, and we have a long list of adventure travel goals outside Jamaica. Jamaica is well-suited for a weekend resort getaway from New York, though, so if I were to return I’d expect it to be such a trip.

And so we decided to visit the port area, make some purchases, and add the flag to our list (if I’m ever called upon to provide the list, you can be sure the last few will be prefaced with “and some we just visited on cruises…”). We did make one small goal for ourselves—to give Zoe a quick lesson in haggling.

If At First You Don’t Succee—Oh, Okay, You Succeeded

We’re by no means experts in haggling, but we’ve done plenty during our travels. For merchandise, my standard approach is to find the price at a store where there won’t be much haggling. Then I have some reasonable expectation for the price I need to beat negotiating with a street vendor.

After visiting a few stores, Zoe settled on wanting a hacky sack. The store we visited quoted us something like 2 for $10, which seemed pretty high. Of course, we looked the way we look when we’re on a Disney Cruise, and we were literally at the port where the Disney Cruise ship was docked, so I’m not surprised.

With that figure in mind we discussed a reasonable target for Zoe and settled on $3. We headed to the market area that presents itself as more authentic and found a stall with the hacky sack. After a bit of instruction, we sent Zoe over there.

Zoe: “How much is this?”
Vendor: $5
Zoe: I only have $3
*Vendor talks to someone else*
Vendor: Okay
Zoe: Thank you!

I guess we didn’t aim low enough. In my demented-parent brain I wish Zoe had to deal with some amount of rejection and practice persistence, but also look at how happy this kid is to have a hacky sack!

So, Zoe learned the tiniest bit about haggling, and we considered this a successful visit.

We also paid a visit to Deaf Can Coffee, a coffee shop run by Deaf people. It was great, though maybe I should have told Emily I knew it was run by Deaf people before we got there.

Peak Millennial Cringe Is Having to Blog About It

Back aboard the ship, we swung by Minnie’s Delights, where the ice cream flavor of the day was Banana.

Just after 11AM, we swung by the Edge Open House, which was scheduled from 10AM to 11:30AM. This got real awkward real fast.

When we got there, the door was closed, which was a hint we should have taken, as the doors are typically opened during Open House hours. A Crew Member on her way in let us in, but the Crew Member inside gave a sort of puzzled look and friendly Disney “is there…something…I can help you with?”

We said no and just sort of explored—ya know, “like we owned the place”—to the clear bewilderment of the teenagers lounging around, before he made the announcement “Edge—the open house actually goes until 11:30.”

So, apparently he and all the teens inside were at first under the impression that we were just some unwelcome family barging in and wandering around before he consulted his schedule and made his announcement (presumably correcting an earlier announcement).

This is of course only a small awkwardness, but in case you’ve forgotten one theme of this trip report I started back in August—it’s just another drop in the awkward Disney Treasure bucket.

We sort of just left in shame because, all things considered, it was still more “their” space. The teens who were wrongly informed they’d have their space shouldn’t be subjected to our (albeit authorized) intrusion, IMO.

I guess the real Treasure was the bead bracelets our kids made along the way

Happily, there was an 11:15AM craft going on in Skipper Society, so we swung by there. It was bracelet-making, which feels both timeless and timely. From various trips over the years, I actually have a healthy collection of Zoe-made bracelets, two of which I always wear (including, upon inspection, the one from the Treasure).

With about two hours before our next appointment, we indulged in some pool time and the 12PM showing of “Lightyear”, with lunch from the Festival of Foods stands.

After the movie, we got changed and headed to the big thing for the day—Adventure Tea with Royalty. My original plan was to just briefly discuss that experience—which we did not enjoy—here. But I reached over 1000 words on that “brief” coverage and decided it’ll go in its own separate review. Keep your eyes open for that.

Adventure Tea ran from 2:45PM to about 4PM. When we popped out, there happened to be some Live Music Trivia going on in the atrium, which we took some time to enjoy.

Even Chapek Knew Better Than to Cut “A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas”

At 5PM we popped into Sarabi for something that looked pretty cool—Villains Game Night. This is a 30-minute trivia-style tic-tac-toe game where each of the nine squares is occupied by a live-action portrayal of a Disney Villain.

It’s overall a cool gag, and I think it’s especially fun to see all the live-action portrayals. The problem is that the timing of the host talking to the (pre-recorded) characters isn’t always perfect. The audio was broken when we arrived, and when it started after about a five-minute delay, it took the Crew Member a moment to “sync up” with the villains.

This makes it awkward, and I think the ambition of the live-action portrayals adds to that. If they were cartoons, I think we’d more easily look past any awkwardness. For a 30-minute show, this was a good use of time.

We spent about 30 minutes after the show in Haunted Mansion Parlor before heading to the Walt Disney Theater for a performance by The Collective 5ive.

That’s right—THAT The Collective 5ive.

I’m sorry, you don’t remember The Collective 5ive? Well, back in the day, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party had a very excellent show called “A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas.” That was cut beginning in 2023, and replaced by a boy band—The Collective 5ive!

The Collective 5ive perform in Tomorrowland during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

While I mourned the loss of A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas (and still do, every year), I was a fan of The Collective 5ive and made sure to fit their shows into my party visits.

Then, in 2024, the accountants came for them, too. Now, the Tomorrowland stage hosts a dance party during the Christmas party. Dance parties are fun, but there’s also another dance party inside Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, so this is a bit redundant.

In summary, owing to my love of A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas, I feel a special kinship with The Collective 5ive, fellow victims of the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party devolution.

Emily points out perhaps this was a promotion for them, though. Either way, happy to see them thriving! The performance was a lot of fun and had a good amount of audience involvement.

Before dinner, we opted for the family-friendly Disney Trivia in Skipper Society. I specify “family-friendly” because the one thing I wanted to do this cruise but didn’t fit in was the adult-only combination of “Sarabi Supper Club” and “Choose Wisely! An Indiana Jones Comedy Adventure.”

From what I saw, this was the most innovative transformation of Sarabi. Having already mentioned Villains Game Night and A Pirate’s Life for Me, I find Disney does a good job of really using this flex space for all it’s worth. I was happy to see Sarabi Supper Club elevate that. They don’t just let it slide by as a simple event space.

Our dinner was back in Plaza De Coco, where we were reunited with our original server. The second meal at Plaza De Coco is themed to Dia de los Muertos.

I’m not sure there’s any piece of news the servers love giving more than “tomorrow morning there will be churro waffles in Marceline Market!”, but there’s not much food news I enjoy hearing more.

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