“Worth Every Penny” – A Young Couple’s take on the Eastern Magic!

[DeloreanGirl]

Pre-Planing Stage!

Hi everybody! :wave2:

After 10 looooong months of officially being addicted to this very website, I am excited to write my very first Trip Report! I’ve decided to write this report the same way I am remembering it in my head. I’ve also decided to add a little tidbit here and there called the “IMHO” tidbit. This, of course, means “in my humble opinion”. This tidbit will explain how I felt about a particular thing whether it was positive or negative. Oh, and I have Eastern Navigators if anyone needs them. Just send me a P.M.

On with the show!

A very small cast:
Me (Emily) = 25 years old
DH (Mike) = 33 years old

Yep, that’s it. Sans children. Mike and I are that weird couple that everyone has in their lifetime that answers the “when are you guys having kids?” question with the :eek: :scared: face. Yep, that’s us. It’s not that we don’t LIKE children. We just prefer to put that idea on the backburner forever. Okay, maybe not forever. I have a small clan that has put down money that I will change my mind “when I’m 30”. But enough of that! Let’s turn the pages back to the days when this trip was budding (because I know y’all want to know…)

Okay, everyone in the room, raise your hands if you became aware or interested in Disney Cruise Line because of the Travel Channel shows that aired in the past?
…….See? I knew it wasn’t just us!
Just as our 2006 cruise to Alaska was formed, we found ourselves watching the Disney Cruise Line episode on the Travel Channel endlessly (that channel sure does it's job!). I don’t quite know how it happened, but somehow we took the dream seriously and thought that maybe "in a few years” we would actually make it happen. When our 1-year anniversary rolled around, we did the Alaska cruise. Honestly, I was already eyeing the DCL information before we even sailed north, but I figured that we were lucky enough to see such a beautiful state that I should just shut my trap. While gathering my luggage tags and boarding passes from my travel agent [IMHO: Travel Agents are great, and yes I would use one if you’re new to cruising], I quickly blurted out while walking to my car, “So…. you do Disney Cruises too right?” She said yes, and that was the beginning of it all. Literally, the month after we got back from Alaska I started poking around the internet trying to learn about the Disney Cruise Line. I fumbled through Amazon.com and stumbled across some largely popular, incredibly high rated leather book called the “PassPorter”.

Oh yes, you know where I’m going with this one. Wait for it……wait for it!

Anyway, I decided to order it to see what the hubbub was about. On a hot, miserable, California summer Saturday, we had new carpeting installed in our house (and you know how fun sitting out in your backyard for 7 hours is….) I went to the mailbox and there it was! The Amazon.com box with the much-raved-about PassPorter guide inside! I spent the rest of the day thumbing through the endless pages of infinite Disney Cruise Line knowledge. I couldn’t fathom that there were people out there just like me who were obsessive-compulsive when it came to vacation planning. Honest folks, you know you are! But isn’t it nice to know that there are hundreds out there just like you?! :thumbsup2

So to make my already-long story short, the PassPorter did its job. It successfully turned me into a zombie over the next few months as I studied every word, diagram, floorplan and menu. In the website section, it listed the DISboards, and from there, it was all downhill. In June of 2006 I logged onto the DIS to find people just like myself who were asking the same redundant silly questions that I was about to ask. I became addicted. Badly! I first read VerandahMan's report, then FatherForce, then Zweihund (my personal fav) as well as SleepyDog and Ashman. These great folks showed me what a great and crazy time you can have on a boat!

Ten months have gone by since then and I’ve been completely in awe of how informative these boards are. The trip reports are always so fun and it’s a blast to look at other people’s photos (c’mon, admit it.) That’s why I promise you all that I am going to include a bunch of photos in this report, because I know how badly I wanted to see them in others!

So without further ado, here is our FABULOUS Disney Cruise adventure on the Eastern Caribbean through the eyes of a young couple….popcorn::

[mormadsmom]

oooohhh! This is going to be good!

I remember seeing quite a few couples without children. I know it's got to be a little irritating for someone to always ask the "when are you having kids thing". Kind of like our "so when are you having a boy" after having 2 girls thing. 2 is enough. WE ARE DONE!

Can't wait for the photos! I know I will say, oh I've seen them before!

[grumpymakesmehappy]

Yep, DH and I are just like ya'll. We dated all thru high school and college and were finally married 2 years ago in June and nope we're not planning on kids anytime soon. So I know where you're coming from... can't wait to read your report!!!!

[DeloreanGirl]

CHAPTER 2: More pre-planning. Will this vacation ever start? :hourglass

When we last left off, I was a zombie reading through my PassPorter. As the months went by, I became more antsy and demanded that there must be more DCL information out there (as if the PassPorter wasn’t enough? Sheesh!). I bought the Birnbaum’s Guide to DCL, both 2006 and 2007 versions (because you know a whopping 5-page difference means a lot to a DIS addict!) I also recorded the Travel Channel’s 3-year old DCL show and watched it like a kid glued to an Elmo-a-thon. The free DCL DVD also helped, in small amounts, and I also later recorded the updated 2007 Travel Channel DCL show.

The date had to be in April, because May was the beginning of the Disney Channel Games which Mike would be pulling all-nighters with (he works for the Disney Channel, which helped in my cruise-selling speech). I knew that we did not want the Western Caribbean because we had previously sailed the Mexican Riviera on Princess. We had been to Nassau for our honeymoon and really liked that type of feel, so we opted for the Eastern Caribbean. We decided on April 28th and my eyes lit up with glee as the paperwork started coming in with our names in print! It was finally happening! Disney does a great job of sending you your information in those cute little brown vintage booklets. Very nice, I must say.

I lurked quite a bit on the DIS through winter and into spring, but literally the questions that I would have asked…had been asked already! I felt more prepared than ever and sure that this would be the best cruise yet. I know how hard it is to build your ticker and say to yourself, “Oh my gosh, it is sooooo far awaaaaaay….” I know how you feel. I almost felt bad that I tried to rush through the holidays just so the year 2007 would finally be here. But rest assured ye’ who shall sail soon, your time will come! And as many DIS’ers have said – it is true, planning really is half the fun!

I should also add that I decorated both of my corkboards at work with various color photos of the ship. I even downloaded the DCL screensaver and had it on for a good 7 months or so. I made everyone in the office aware that I was sailing with Mickey! It helped that my boss went on the 4-night Wonder in 2004 and came back with beyond-fantastic reviews. Also residing on my desk was my vacation countdown clock. I remember when it said “346 days”. Now it was in the teens! As the days went by, everyone wished me well. When the two-week mark hit, I started to get cold feet. I told Mike, “Here I am, planning this giant vacation for the past half-year….and now I actually have to GO on it…”. Luckily, the cold feet subsided. I should also add that I hate flying. So, as my subject line says, there was 2,520 miles between smoggy Van Nuys, California and beautiful Orlando, Florida.

Before I knew it, the days ticked away and our vacation was about to really happen. I left work at 4pm to drop our dog off at the boarding facility and drove home in a blur. Luckily, we had packed the night before [I’ll get to my packing tips later] and waited for Mike to get home so that we could drive off into the sunset. Or….east, which would be away from the sunset. Hmph. We drove to my parents house that night to spend the night since they live next to the airport that we were departing from. [IMHO: We reeeeeally try to avoid LAX. It’s a nightmare and very stressful to depart from, especially for me since I hate the whole flying procedure. So we flew out of Ontario, CA which has a beautiful, bright, empty airport which is a dream to fly out of.]

Part II: Not too excited to sleep?

As we unloaded our stuff at my parents and ate a meal that only Mom can make, it was time to head off to bed. I was wondering if I would be “too excited to sleep”! But, sadly, I was excited…..yet also very sleepy. So I konked out pretty hard that night in my old bedroom.

The next day was the big journey! We ate breakfast and drove to the airport. LAX’s parking is $32 a day, and Ontario’s was only $6. Boy do I love ONT. Anyhoo, I was strangely calm and not nervous which was great. Since I feared taking a direct flight from CA to FL and being miserably bored for 5 hours on a plane, I decided to literally cut the flight in half by adding a stop in Dallas/Fort Worth when I booked the tickets. We flew on American for a few reasons. One, because it was the only flight that stopped in DFW, and second, because I buy a toy airplane model from every airline that I successfully make a flight on – and I didn’t have an American Airlines plane to add to my fleet! [IMHO: I used a really cool website to get amazing airfare, which I'd like to write about, but the DIS guidlines say that there is no advertising. So I'll just say that it starts with a "K", and resembles a plastic pointy flotation device down the rapids.] :rolleyes1
http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/3918/2749303370033203785S200x200Q85.jpg
Our plane was an S80 which is smaller than the large jets that usually fly longer distances. What I loved about American is that you could pick your seats, and the way it was layed out was two seats on one side and three on the other. This meant that Mike and I could sit together without being squished next to a stranger. Plus, the headrests bent inward so that I didn’t have to bring my funny-looking neck pillow. We had a layover at DFW that was 3 hours which was perfect. I could eat and rest and buy a magnet for my magnet collection (similar to the planes, but with states, ya know?). I ate at a place called Au Bon Pan which was “alright” but made me queasy later. I ended up calling it “Au Bon Pain”. The second leg of the trip was great because all I wanted to do was to get to Orlando! I had never been to Florida before. Everyone says it’s “muggy”. We touched down at 11pm and I was excited as ever to be in a new state. We headed downstairs to get our baggage and take the shuttle to our hotel. As we walked out into the night air – I learned at that very moment why people said Florida was muggy. HOLY COW was it ever! It was everywhere! My face, arms, hands, places that it couldn’t touch! How is this possible? How do you all live in it?! Aaaaahh!

Anyhoo…..

We waited for quite some time for our shuttle. You see, we booked a room at the Hilton Gardens Inn, a mile from the airport. [IMHO: This hotel was fantastic. I found it online by doing a search on hotels 1 mile from MCO that were under $100. It was beautiful, clean, had very large rooms and a great hot buffet breakfast. We were amazed! I would highly recommend this hotel!]
http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/3083/2323700520033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
Apparently the shuttle didn’t just “hang out” at MCO at midnight (and I guess I don’t blame them), so I ended up calling them on my cell and they were there within 15 minutes. As I stated above, the hotel was beautiful and I was in shock that it was only about $90 or so. It was located away from the airport in a nice little complex of other nice hotels which included tennis courts, grassy yards and our personal favorite, a Denny’s, at the end of the road. We ditched our bags, hit the restroom, and decided that the only way to feed our starving selves was to high tail it down the road to the Denny’s.

See, I’m from California, and out here you don’t just take a leisurely stroll at midnight in a strange city on a dark street. But hey! We were on vacation! And nobody gets mugged in Mickey’s city! It was a peaceful and quiet walk about a quarter mile down the road. Our body clocks were only at 8:30pm, so dinner was on our minds. We both had club sandwiches, and the waitress was the nicest ever! We took showers later on and went to sleep. And as much as I hate to say it again - I was excited, don’t get me wrong, but not too excited to sleep. We were out cold!

Next up: The day of our cruise. No really, I mean it!

[Babs417]

What a great report keep it comming, your doing a great job:thumbsup2 :goodvibes ;) :) :cutie:

[dreamcometrue]

can't wait to read more! :thumbsup2 We will fly out of LAX since none of the other airports offer direct flight and that's what we want! I dread it, but it's a redeye flight, so hopefully the airport won't be TOO bad!

[DeloreanGirl]

can't wait to read more! :thumbsup2 We will fly out of LAX since none of the other airports offer direct flight and that's what we want! I dread it, but it's a redeye flight, so hopefully the airport won't be TOO bad!

Hi Dreamcometrue,

If I could do it over again, I would book a redeye nonstop! It seems like the most comfortable way to get there ASAP! Good choice :thumbsup2

[mormadsmom]

Now, how did you make the direct link to your TR? I want to do that.

[DeloreanGirl]

Now, how did you make the direct link to your TR? I want to do that.

I highlighted and copied the http address at the top of my browser screen.
It will ususally look like this: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18595337
In the User CP section of the DIS boards where you do your signature, I wrote "my trip report....." then highlighted the "trip report" part of the sentence and clicked on the link icon (the world with the chain logo) and pasted my URL address there. It's a neat feature!

[mormadsmom]

My Trip Reporthttp://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1444963

Let's see if it works!

[vpalmer]

What a great start. I can't wait to read more! popcorn::

[lunsusie]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Looking forward to your next installment.

[abbs25]

Your trip report is great. I am really looking forward to hearing more. :banana:

[lvstitch]

Yep, that’s it. Sans children. Mike and I are that weird couple that everyone has in their lifetime that answers the “when are you guys having kids?” question with the face. Yep, that’s us. It’s not that we don’t LIKE children. We just prefer to put that idea on the backburner forever. Okay, maybe not forever. I have a small clan that has put down money that I will change my mind “when I’m 30”. But enough of that! Let’s turn the pages back to the days when this trip was budding (because I know y’all want to know…)



:) I'm you only 9 years older:scared: The question only gets worse the longer you are married. I have been married for almost 13 years and love Disney (will be in Disneyland in 2 weeks). When I tell people I'm going on a Disney cruise, they think I am crazy. Personally, I think kids would just spoil it for us, we are so used to doing whatever we want, whenever we want...I don't know what I will do if we ever have kids.

Great start, can't wait to read more.

[MagicMe]

I love your trip report so far :coffee:
but I can't wait for your impressions of the MAGIC!!!pixiedust:

Don't make us wait too long.....please....

[flower91882]

I love that there are other young couples without kids that love Disney and Disney Cruises. My DH and I are almost 25 and don't plan on ever having kids (everyone says that will change, but knowing my DH I doubt it), but I always plan on taking Disney vacations. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of your TR. It's always nice to hear reports from people similar to us.

[Babs417]

Your not finished are you>:confused3 :flower3:

[Leash]

My mother in law actually had the nerve to yel to us across the room at our wedding reception "when are you going to give me grandbabies" and no she was not kidding. My hubby and I are young as well (will be 29 and 26 respectivley next month) and though we will have kids someday it will not be for several years. So in the meantime we travel as much as possible while it's just us and easy going. Of course almost every vacation is Disney so then by the time the kiddos come along we will be experts and turn them into as big of Disney freaks as DH and I are.
I'm really enjoying your trip report since it is gives us a chance to see what we can expect on a kid free cruise. Keep it coming.

[Floridagram]

Gosh, Emily, we "shared" another trip. DH and I went to Canada in March and flew AA via Dallas. I loved the 2 seats together that we didn't have to share and I ate at Au Bon although I didn't have any pain! :yay:

I can't wait to hear more about your trip since I didn't see you that much even though we were 2 doors down! It is definitely a different trip with grandkids and I enjoyed getting to see them every day and see the world throught their innocent eyes.

You have plenty of time to think about kids. I just met a women who is my age and has 2 kids 13 and 10. (My kids are 29 and 32) Enjoy your youth and your husband. Kids are great and I don't know anyone who would give them back, but you can never be just a couple again after you have them.

Vicki

[DeloreanGirl]

Wow everyone, thank you all so much for you replies! You're never too old to not go on a Disney vacation! There's something special about putting on those ears and roaming around the parks. It's great!

I'll whip up the next chapter right now.

The reason it's taking so long? Because I'm in a Communications course right now in college and I'm writing a paper on "something that shares information to the masses". Can you guess what I'm doing my paper on?::yes::

[anewmac]

CHAPTER 2: More pre-planning. Will this vacation ever start? :hourglass

[COLOR=black]When we last left off, I was a zombie reading through my PassPorter. As the months went by, I became more antsy and demanded that there must be more DCL information out there (as if the PassPorter wasn’t enough? Sheesh!).

iM SO GLAD TO HEAR IM not the only one obessed. I cant wait to read more!
'Oh and i knw how you feel about people asking you when your going to have kids. We have 2 boys and people keep asking when we are going to try for a girl.. UM were not.. so stop asking people LOL

[DeloreanGirl]

Mike and I woke up at our hotel and made our way to the non-continental continental breakfast. We had to fuel up for our journey to the ship! The food was great and I said, “This is the last meal we’ll have to pay for until Saturday!”. That’s a great feeling :thumbsup2 . After breakfast we changed into our matching outfits – the baby blue sundress and polo from disneyshopping.com. I bought them in January when they were $12.99! I later saw them priced down to $9.99! I wonder if they have gone up in price now that summer is coming? Mike’s shirt felt a bit scratchy, but my polo dress was cotton and fit perfectly. Phew! The hotel shuttle just happened to be waiting outside and we were off to the airport to catch the DCL bus! Our shuttle driver managed to load our bags, drive to the airport, get stuck in a entry gate, reverse, then drive through another gate, unpack our luggage and wish us well – all while on his cell phone! [/COLOR]

It was exciting seeing all of the old and new buses lined up. By old, I mean the vintage design and by new I mean the new porthole design. The Magical Express buses were there too, but ya gotta admit the DCL buses put them to shame! We walked inside and found the Disney “area” which had no line. The folks there were nice and checked our luggage. At least I think they did. Do they? I don’t remember. I was in such a blur that I would have easily walked off without my luggage – I was so excited to be there! They ran our boarding information through their computers but apparently one of the computers had a glitch. The last thing a DIS’er wants to hear is “They’re not in the system?”. :eek: The lady next to her figured it out, and we were good to go. I looked over and noticed a good 200 people or so in a queue line. “Oh crap, this is going to take forever”. They directed us to Line #10. Apparently there were numerous lines that all looked like one. And they were all going onto different buses and theme parks. Phew! Our line moved quickly and as soon as we got up to the front, the nice lady hooked the rope and said, “Sorry, you’ll be on the next bus”. The couple in front of us was bummed, and without skipping a beat Mike said, “But hey, we get to pick any seat we want!” That cheered them up. And cheered me up. Because any DISer knows that you have to be on the left side to see the smokestacks first! :laughing: I was kinda bummed that all the new porthole-designed buses left, and heaven forbid we were actually going to have to ride in one of the original ones. But the first wave of pixie dust sprinkled down, and in came a brand stinkin’ new DCL bus with the round windows! Woohoo! We marched right onto it.
http://inlinethumb34.webshots.com/3681/2370451810033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
[The above photo was taken by another member and posted on the boards.]
Let me tell you, they are beautiful! No, I didn’t smell the “new car smell” you all were smelling. But the seats were great and reclined, they had footrests, the flatscreen monitors were cool and the fact that it had a restroom was pretty neato as well. As soon as everyone was on board and the luggage was loaded, we were on our way! Mike broke in the new camcorder by filming all of this.

What was REALLY awesome is that the video shown to you in the bus is “timed” with the ride, so that it starts as you pull away and ends 45 minutes later as you see the Magic. I thought that was very clever. The ride to the port is pretty uninteresting. It’s literally a straight shot through the everglades (or whatever that area is called, I just like the word everlgades!) The bus driver tried to get us to look out the right window to see a crocodile head in the water, but I must have missed it. I filled out my Bahamas customs form which took the first 15 minutes of the ride. Honestly, the bus ride FLIES by and you are there before you know it. Just as we rolled over the second bridge, the driver announced that the smokestacks would be visible 6 miles into the horizon. Everyone in the bus started talking and pointing. Finally I saw them! The moment had come! :hyper: I didn’t get the single tear down my cheek like I was imagining, but I was reeeeeeeally excited! I captured it all on film. Ah, the memories.

As we drew closer to the port, the driver started giving numerous tidbits, like where to eat and to look for dolphins, don’t use your cell phone after leaving port, to look for NASA, etc. It’s almost as if he had visited these boards! :scratchin

We pulled into the beautiful terminal. I really is as amazing as the photos show. It made the Carnival terminal look pretty bland (although the local artwork on the side was nice!). After getting off the bus, we proceeded into the bottom part of the terminal where the line is forked into two to have your carry-on’s checked through the x-rays. It was cold in there! After that, it was up the escalator and into the beautiful blue terminal! The pictures did it justice. It felt like I had been there a hundred times before. The first thing you run into are round tables that have the Bahamas forms on them (yes, the same one I had on the bus). Apparently I filled them out horribly wrong! [IMHO: Just wait until you get to the terminal to fill it out. The bottom half of it can be confusing and it’s just safer to ask a Cast Member.] Mike walked around and filmed Mickey and the huge model of the ship. When I was done, we took our first of many photos!
http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/3886/2087526950033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
Mike then got in the line on the left side of the terminal. I was actually surprised by how slow it moved for having about 25 agent windows open! It took about 20-30 minutes to finally get to the window, but we weren’t upset, this was our Disney Cruise vacation! [After going on RCCL and being shoved into a cavernous bland warehouse-type building in Seattle, this was amazing]. The check-in lady was adorable. She asked if we had been sick in the last 72 hours, to which we replied, “No way! We’ve been washing our hands all the time and using sanitation gel all month!” I think she was glad to hear this, as it saved her the next 3 minute speech. She also noticed my PassPorter on the counter with all my paperwork. She admitted that she too had the PassPorter when she sailed on the Magic and used it so many times she said it looked “so worn out as if I had it for 20 years!”. I thought that was cool! Viva la PassPorter! :cheer2: I forgot to mention that somehow, although I am shocked to admit it, beyond all of my months of uber over-planning, I had forgotton a certain printout from the website check-in that listed both of our names under one KTTW account. I did have a paper that Mike signed, but a Cast Member had to get me a little index card from the tables that we had to re-fill out. I was so embarrassed! How dare I not have the correct paperwork all that time! :guilty: Anyway, we finally got our KTTW cards (Do they all have Donald? Or was that just our category?) and tried to take one last glimpse around the terminal. It was 1:50pm by now and there were no boarding passes (our fault for being too late, I know) and there was no line to get on the ship. We headed over to the large Mickey-eared enterance where we would take our silly-but-fun embarkation photo!
http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/2742/2227652560033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

NEXT CHAPTER: 20 feet from the boat!

[DeloreanGirl]

CHAPTER FOUR: I can't believe we're actually here!

After the photo, Mike got the camcorder all fired up because our big announcement was next! Like clockwork, we walked over the gangway and onto the ship where the nice lady asked our last name and where we were from. We said “Hanley, from Los Angeles.” and she proceeded to announce, “All the way from Los Angeles, it’s the Hanley Family!” As predicted, five people applauded and an officer of sorts (or at least an overly-cheery guy in an officer-looking uniform) instantly attached himself to us as we walked down the atrium and guided us to Topsiders for breakfast. I know, I know, you’re supposed to go to Parrot Cay, but it closed at 2pm and at the moment it was 2pm. I also remember tripping on the carpet in the atrium. This would be one of MANY times I would trip on the boat. Weird, eh? The atrium was a teeny bit smaller than I pictured, but I think everything is when you see it in real life (including celebrities!). This would later come about as other things on the boat were smaller.

Wait for it…….wait for it!

We found the elevators and headed up to our room, 7612, a Category 5 on Deck 7. It was a little bit smaller than I had imagined, but nonetheless beautiful! We had the Peter Pan lyrics above our bed and other nice décor to look at. Our verandah was great too. We love verandas! After dropping off our bags, we proceeded to Topsiders for lunch. I had a jumbled mix of salad, some sort of beef, mashed potatoes and fruit. It was good. I mean, it’s a buffet, it’s not going to be excellent. But I thought it was all really good. They have great desserts. I got a cheesecake. [I found that through the cruise, the cheesecakes had an interesting texture, almost frothy instead of sharp and creamy.] It was pretty toasty and humid outside but the wind helped. Pieces of my salad were flying off, and I was wondering how windy it would be up here while sailing!

After eating, we explored our room some more and I read diligently through the introduction navigator. We then took a quick tour of the ship. And by quick, I mean maybe a deck or two, because that baby is huge! We were docked next to the S.S. Booze N’ Gamble:
http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/3689/2988547880033203785S200x200Q85.jpg
(Disclaimer: This reference to the above referenced cruise line was invented by SleepyDog and shall not be flamed against myself in any way shape or form.) Anyway! Things looked pretty humdrum over there, while our ship was rockin with the party starting up top! Soon enough, it was time for the muster drill!
http://inlinethumb26.webshots.com/4121/2203206090033203785S425x425Q85.jpghttp://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/3674/2203649860033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
I checked out the back of our stateroom door to see where we were. All it showed was a green blob and the word “S”. “Wait a minute, I think we might actually be in a restaurant!” And yes, we were one of the lucky few that had our Muster Drill in Animator's Palate! Score!! No hot sun and humidity for us, no sir! They do a very good job of getting you in and out as quickly as possible. As soon as I found our station, I was greeted by my first DIS member, FloridaGram! Hi!! :wave2: She was calling out to me and I was looking at her like a deer in headlights. How did she know who I was? What I looked like? Sure I had a door sign up for a whopping 10 minutes by then, but it didn’t have photos of me on there. The lady was a psychic! It was exciting to finally meet DIS people. It’s funny how the DIS is mostly made up of wives, and the husbands grudgingly roll their eyes. At least the husbands had the same [I]“My wife is on there chatting with your wife every night…” conversation to share! After hearding us like cattle with their megaphones and a few quick speeches, the drill was over. Having your room number on your life vests really makes it easy for them. They pretty much just check you off on their clipboards. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. Our cruise director was Rachel, whose voice would almost put me to sleep on a daily basis (and I mean that in a compliment form, not sarcastic!). If I could just pay that woman to read any random novel to me every night it would be great.

After the drill was the infamos Sail-Away party! I made Mike wear his itchy lime green lei and met up with FloridaGram in the halls as her family made their way up to Deck 10. It’s kinda crazy getting almost the entire boat crowded into one area on two decks. The scary part is, I’ve watched the sailaway party dance so many times on YouTube that I fear I almost knew all the steps! They did the same hands in the air, hips in a circle and marching steps that I had been studying for weeks! Mike had scampered off somehow to get a fruity drink. I was happy he did, because nothing made the party more fun that by being on a deck of folks in lime green wearing silly lei's and drinking slushy drinks! I had the camcorder revved up and all too soon the countdown started! The cast members were in place with their confetti shooters and I grabbed a good spot on the port side of deck ten. With the straw in my mouth and the camcorder in full swing, I counted down in the loudest, happiest voice I could shout. Five! Four! Three! Two! One! And then IT played. The awesome, incredible, magnificent, magical, bring-a-tear-to-your-eye horn. It was amazing! I was soooooooo in heaven at that point. And on que, the band started up with “Celebration” as the characters filed off the stage one by one. [IMHO: Has anybody noticed this or is it just me: Is the band from Germany? Sweeden? Russia? They sound interesting when they sing, and I was giggling at their versions of our American songs. It was cute.]

We hung out at the party for a few more minutes waiting for the boat to pull away. It was approximately 10 minutes after 5pm when the starboard thrusters pushed us away from the dock. I made sure to grab a good railing spot so that I could film the cast members wave to us with their gloves as we sailed away!
http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/2847/2948144060033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
They really are troopers, the cast members. I mean, 4 times a week they stand out there for a good 15 minutes or so and wave….and wave…..and wave. Gotta love ‘em. We headed out to the open sea and waved goodbye to all the folks fishing on land. Apparently there were a lot of little boats in the channel in front of us. The Magic sounded 5 short blasts. I’m assuming it was some sort of “Get the $(#*%& out of the way!” signal. They still didn’t move. We were drawing closer to them. She sounded her horn again. Suddenly, the harbor patrol boat zoomed by us and must have read them some sort of riot act because they all parted! We sailed smoothly into the open sea, which would be a sight we would have to get used to for the next 2 days!
http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/2984/2034032080033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

We had the late seating at 8:30pm for the rotation of Lumiere’s/Animators/Parrot Cay. [IMIHO: This was the time we normally eat at home after work, but while in vacation-mode, it was WAY too late! We found ourselves getting hungry after the lunch options closed at 2pm. The rotation was alright, and I learned that when adults travel solo they always put them in this rotation. It was weird to be in a fancy French restaurant on Pirate night, and to be in Animator's on formal night which is the most simple of the restaurants.] This was our first time sitting with a group at dinner. On Princess and Royal Caribbean we asked to be seated alone. Don’t get us wrong, we like other humans, but I guess we eat too fast to sit and socialize. On this cruise, I decided, “What the hey, let’s try it.” We were seated at a table of eight of all adults. We learned that it was an anniversary table! An older couple from Britain had celebrated their 25th anniversary last year on the Magic and loved it so much they came back this year. Another couple from Ohio was celebrating their 20th anniversary, and there was a third couple that had just gotten married at WDW the day before and this was to be their honeymoon. Mike and I were celebrating our 2nd anniversary early. The two older couples got along because they both had an interest in European sports. The honeymooner couple missed this night’s dinner. We didn’t know why, but when our server announced that it was their honeymoon, we all started ooh’ing and giggling. Turns out they were at Palo!

Our server was Annie-Marie from South Africa. She was an adorable very bubbly blonde-haired woman. Our assistant server was Bulehmani who was also from South Africa. I ordered the “simple fare” that night which was chicken. It was honestly one of the best breasts of chicken I’ve had in a long time! Or maybe I was just really excited to be there. [IMHO: The meals take a loooooong time. I was getting antsy, and I can't even imagine how kids sit through it!] The dinners are four courses and take 1 ½ to 2 hours. Honestly! You think to yourself, “Oh sure, it took 2 hours for THEM, but when I go on my cruise, I’ll just eat fast and we’ll just zip on outta there…”. No, no folks. It’s a process. A show. An event. You're locked in. Unless you get seasick I would guess.

Our server was amazing. She honestly could talk to us about everything on the menu, what it was made of, what she recommended, and what the specials were. I’m sure after living on a ship for four years and reciting it every week you’d get it down, but still, I was amazed. They give you bread first. Clean your tablecloth. Then give you your appetizer. Then clean your table. Then give you your soup/salad. Then clean your table again. Finally the main course comes out! You are pretty starving by then. The dinners are fancy (or at least in my book they were). Fancy = small portions, so don’t fret about eating 4 small meals. I had the crème brulee that night which was great. It really tasted better than I imagined on land. Or maybe, again, I was just happy to be there!

After dinner Mike and I strolled along Deck 4. I made an effort to sit in the padded lounge chairs as I had read that they were amazing. Sure enough, we loved them. Mike has a fascination and hobby with ships. He’s a Titanic freak/expert and we have a den in our house devoted to Titanic and all things nautical, right down to the red an green port & starboard lamps. Mike was truly impressed by how elegant the ship was. He really appreciated them putting the padded deck chairs out there just like the classic liners. They were a bit tinier than I had imagined, but still great to lay out on, especially at night with the warm air. Mike noted that this was the most beautiful and cleanest ship he’d ever been on. [The crew literally cleans the ship, day and night. They will be out there polishing, welding, painting or sanding something….all day. It’s insane.]. We proceeded back to our stateroom and dressed down. We were able to take showers and finally relax! [IMHO: The dual-bathroom idea is brilliant. I mean, we could’ve survived nicely with one, but I can see how families can really benefit from them. The “shub” reminded me of SleepyDog and Ashman.] This was my first time washing my hair with the new H20 products as well. We watched a little tv and found our first towel animal, a lobster! (I swore it was frog, oh well.)
http://inlinethumb46.webshots.com/5677/2375874080033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/4723/2036090260033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
The bed was very comfortable! And, oh my gosh! The pillows! They were to die for! Call me crazy but I somehow LOVED the pillows. I wish I could’ve swiped my KTTW card and bought them right then and there. They were a perfect combination of down and firmness. I later found two more in the cabinets, so we had a total of five! Also that night, we hung up all of our clothes instantly. [IMHO: I should have packed my Downey Wrinkle Release. I also packed plastic hangers and never ended up needing them, DCL provided enough!] Aside from the closet, there was more than adequate space in the drawers and cabinets all over the room. The steamer trunk held our foldable clothes, and the drawers across from the bathroom/mirror held our socks and pajamas. I remembered reading on here that the closet had a Velcro strip, and sure enough, there it was. I also learned from the DIS to pack a pop-up portable laundry bag. I did, and here it is. Best tip ever! It worked great!
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/3300/2995640800033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

I’m pretty sure Mike and I fell asleep fast, because I don’t remember much. :faint: We kept saying to ourselves, [I]“I can’t believe we’re actually here.” throughout the day. It really is surreal. You plan and obsess and stare at photos for so long that it’s such a blur to really be there. Try your best to take it all in! :cloud9:

Up Next: Day 2: Sunday, at Sea.

[Tink rules]

Sounds good!!!

Keep it coming - thinking of the Eastern myself!!! popcorn:: popcorn::

[LITTLEKID58]

Awesome....TFS

[Ski-and-Sea]

Excellent TR.

We, too, have had the same dinner rotation where we had formal night in AP and pirate night in Lumiere's. And we have kids - go figure.

I'm with you....that towel animal is a frog.

[CRSNDSNY]

Subscribing!

We've cruised DCL 4 times before kids (including our honeymoon)...this December will be our first with our kids!

[dreamcometrue]

awesome!! More, more!! :thumbsup2

[Babs417]

Your report is so good thank you:thumbsup2 :goodvibes :cutie:

[Jennifer48]

I'm really enjoying your trip report. This will be my second DCL cruise with my DBF and we do not have children. I love reading other adults trippies sans children.

I love your enthusiasm about his cruise and your embarkation photo is awesome! :thumbsup2

Keep it coming! :goodvibes

Btw, everytime I read your husbands name Mike and how he works at the Disney Channel, I sing in my head "Mike's Super Short Show!" :rotfl:

[flower91882]

Btw, everytime I read your husbands name Mike and how he works at the Disney Channel, I sing in my head "Mike's Super Short Show!" :rotfl:

:rotfl: I didn't even think of that, but now I'm going to do the same thing! Too funny!

[Stripes]

Hi DeloreanGirl

Your trip report is great! We missed meeting you on the cruise. We did meet Floridagram and FaithandHope. Really nice people.

Your writings are funny and boy I can relate. The anticipation, the excitement, the MAGIC.

Looking forward to reading more segments.

Kathy

[DeloreanGirl]

Btw, everytime I read your husbands name Mike and how he works at the Disney Channel, I sing in my head "Mike's Super Short Show!" :rotfl:

Yes, Mike did work on "Mikes Super Short Show". He was the editor for it for a few years. They just had their farewell party a few months ago
http://inlinethumb54.webshots.com/5941/2030168930033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/75234508KmrsQS. They were getting "too old"! Now it's replaced with Really Short Report. It's super-cheesy, but it puts food on the table!

[Mom24Princesses]

Joining for the fun. We were on the 4/1/06 Magic Eastern and I wrote daily reports but did not link them.

AND FYI DH and I married out of college and planned to have two kiddos 5 or so years later. (He said we'd only have boys:confused3 ) You did notice my "name"?

WE HAD 4 when I was 29, 31, 35 & 38!! Just last night a bumped into a co-worker I have not known long or well and she asked my about my "grand-daughter" (my youngest was with me, she has just turned 7!).

[DeloreanGirl]

A little geek tidbit:

If your computer has lately asked you to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, I would do it. It comes with a new "ClearType" feature where it makes fonts on the internet easier to read. I tried it and it really works. I can scan through these pages with less strain on my eyes. It's neat. :thumbsup2

[THUNDERMOUNTAINMOMMA]

I'm onboard your TR. Sounds like you had a blast, and we're only on day 1!:cool1:

[DeloreanGirl]

CHAPTER 5: Sunday, at sea

Yep, I’m thinking right about now that I should have brought a notepad with me to jot down what the heck we did this day. [IMHO: Trip Reporters, bring notepads!]. I believe Mike and I woke up at a decent hour (our body clocks were still on California/Pacific time). We headed down to Lumiere’s for breakfast. At least, I think it was Lumiere’s. Darnit I should’ve brought a notepad! Anyway, we’ll just assume it was Lumiere’s because I remember the service being horrendously slow. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t their fault. Well, maybe it was. I’m not sure. I just remember that I could’ve gone up to Topsiders, gotten breakfast, eaten it, gotten seconds, then headed back to our room by the time it took us just to get our order taken at the sit-down version of breakfast. Anyhoo, it did take awhile, but we finally had a new server stop by and hand out menus. It was the fanciest little menu for such a simple meal which I thought was cute. I ordered the basic type of breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausage and a muffin. The eggs were frothy and displayed in some sort of ice cream scooped ball, the bacon was great and the sausages were really plump and very good. It’s not their fault, but scrambled eggs on our last three cruises have been nasty. Don’t get me wrong, I still eat them, I’m not a picky person. I just don’t think they do eggs normally on cruise ships.

Honest to goodness, I don’t remember exactly what we did this day, but let me just say that Disney provides a ridiculous amounts of activities to do! On prior cruises, it was a toss-up between the Cigar Club and Needlepoint – seriously! On our Alaska cruise, I swear they had Will Making. Disney did a fabulous job of providing activities for all ages that were laid out pretty well in the Navigator. [Tip: Yes, you will need highlighters. I didn’t pack one because I thought “oh, we don’t have kids, we won’t need it….” but by golly we sure did!] Mike and I must have walked around the ship and explored. I remember walking on the jogging track on Deck 4. When you got to the bow section, it went inside and you could see all the rigging! Mike thought it was nifty and took this photo:
http://inlinethumb54.webshots.com/5685/2277322800033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

Oh wait a minute, I have all the Navigators here in front of me. A-ha! This may remind me of what we did. I’ll be right back……
<insert cheesy elevator music here>
Ohhhhhhh that’s right. We played Bingo. :rolleyes2 Mike and I played Bingo on our last cruise and had a pretty good time. It’s clean, wholesome fun if you don’t mind dropping $70 a day. :scared1: . We decided to try it out and bought two of the $35 pack of cards which was good for six games. It is here that we would meet PIKEY. I put his name in all caps so that I could get your attention, ha! [IMHO: Okay, here’s my take on Pikey: Yes, I can understand why you all love him because he’s a super-energized OCD hyper little English boy. But yes, I can also understand why a small number of you thought he was cocky and annoying. Honestly, I saw both sides of him. He’s great for the cruise line and generally does a great job of stirring up energy.] He was obsessed with bringing back the whooping arm-movement cheer. I had no idea he was that young and that bouncy. I thought he was supposed to be some sort of hunky director that all the DIS women swooned over. [We’ll get to my “hunky” section in just a few days…] Bingo was alright. The first 10 times of saying “Come on Pickles!” got pretty annoying, but it was nice to see that the kiddos liked it. The cards were the same type we used on previous cruise lines. They’re alright, but you have to physically un-punch them and re-set them game after game. The last few games I played, my numbers were so bent and mangled that I couldn’t tell what was popped out and what was bent in. It’s hard to explain, but when you cruise you’ll see! We didn’t win at Bingo but it’s fun to play it just once. Unfortunately, I missed the final Jackpot Bingo which everyone said to play or at least attend.

Mike and I also checked out the two gift stores, “Treasure Ketch” and “Mickey’s Mates”.
http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/5809/2889281790033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
They were both very cute, although I was bummed that they didn’t have a good selection of young women’s clothing. They had a few glitzy shirts and some polo shirts, but nothing young and trendy. Perhaps it was just the time we sailed because I’ve seen photos from other sources that showed neat tank tops inside. I knew that I would eventually build a scrapbook when I got home, so I bought one of the 2007 scrapbook kits. When I went across the hall to Mickey’s Mates, I found that they had FIVE different kinds of scrapbooking kits! Apparently I bought the blue one; but there was also a red one, a vintage/Hawaiian-themed Castaway Cay version, and some more. I ended up also buying the vintage-looking Castaway Cay pack because I love that particular look. The gift shops are very cute and worth taking a stroll through. [IMHO: Do NOT go to the gift store at the times that shows in the theater are letting out. Holy moly it is a madhouse. The best time to go is late at night.] I’m assuming at this point Mike and I got lunch. I’m not sure where it was, but I’m positive that it was yummy!

Tonight was formal night, and I was quite surprised that they chose it to be this early in the cruise. I forgot to mention that the day we boarded, I got two of Mike’s shirts out to be sent to be dry cleaned but didn’t know if I had to call someplace or just leave them in the room. I ended up filling out the little dry cleaning form and ran off somewhere. When we got back to our cabin, the shirts disappeared. Apparently, our room steward saw them and turned them in for us. :wizard: Yay! Mike and I dressed up and got ready for the pre-dinner show of The Golden Mickey’s. The red carpet paparazzi was a nice touch!
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/6007/2173760500033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
Let me tell you that the shows on the ship are FANTASTIC and not to be missed. They honestly are Broadway quality and I would gladly pay a hefty fee to see them. I’ve seen pricey froofy events around Los Angeles that didn’t hold a candle to how great these were. Don’t expect La Boheme or anything, but do remember that these performances go on twice a night on a moving ship! The costumes are great, pyrotechnics and wirework are wonderful and the ability to change sets backstage and under the ground is very impressive. And yes, as many DIS’ers state, I did have a tear in my eye as they relived Walt Disney’s achievements in this particular show. The man rocks.
http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/5666/2061151270033203785S425x425Q85.jpg


After the show, we had some time to take formal pictures. We ended up not buying them because my hair was crazy and Mike was choking in his stuffy formal shirt. Dinner was in Animator’s Palate.
http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/5634/2042377860033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/5858/2545120370033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
It was kinda weird being all dressed up in such an informal looking restaurant! [IMHO: Okay, here’s my take on the whole Formal Night dressing up debacle: I saw a small handful of men in tux’s, quite a few in slacks with jackets, most with slacks a shirt and a nice tie, and honest-to-goodness some in Hawaiian shirts. So don’t fret about what to pack because it’s truly a mixed bag.] Mike hates wearing a sport coat and I thought it would bulk up our luggage space and might have been too hot for him to wear so I never packed it. He was worried about being underdressed, but once we walked through the restaurant and saw some kids in t-shirts, we were at ease!

So, when I obsessed and watched my Travel Channel DCL DVD’s endlessly, I got the feeling that when you dined in Animator’s Palate, that the colors changed gradually as the music was cued to your dinner. Apparently not so. [Spoiler Alert!] I guess only one framed picture turns into instant color as the song is played overhead, then it goes off, and another picture somewhere else in the restaurant goes on. You continue eating your dinner, which is fabulous and drool-worthy by the way, and they eventually all start to turn on and the bigscreen TV’s change what character is on them as well. It’s kind of sad, because our tablemates were more obsessed with watching the room carefully like maniacs than conversing with each other! Finally, your’e done with dinner, and you’re like, “Where’s the wall color?”. It is then that the servers disappear and change their vests (or are they reversible?) There’s some fake lightning and a quick 5-minute video on the screens of Disney characters evil and good before the rainbow effect starts. The servers then come out in a clapping parade (note to self: Disney loves clapping-parade dinners) with their new vests on and Sorcerer Mickey appears from some random galley door which brings excitement. It is now that the walls turn on into full color. It’s a little weird, but it does the job. I don’t quite know where the millions of dollars went in that restaurant, but I had a fun time and enjoyed it.

After you are stuffed to the gills, the servers believe that this is the best time to surprise you with your wedding/anniversary/birthday celebration cake.
http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/6142/2988824210033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
They came out with the little square white thing right after we had our desserts! Our server took a piece of the cake and bopped me on the nose with the frosting on purpose. Har har. Our cruise fell a few weeks after our birthdays and a few weeks before our 2nd anniversary, so I just picked a random occasion when I filled out the paperwork a year prior.

Mike was counting down the seconds until he could get out of his formal clothes, so we rushed back to our room and put on the comfy cruise wear. We walked around the deck, which at 10pm was still nice an humid/warm outside. The view of the huge red smokestack with low clouds rolling by was such an awesome sight. They looked like the clouds in the POTC ride at Disneyland! Let me also say that I thought the idea of the ArielVision screen is brilliant. What could be more fun than swimming and watching a movie, or laying out in the warm night air on a lounger watching a movie? It was too cool for words!
http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/5288/2837737020033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

I assume we went back to our room, watched a little television and hit the hay. Our first full day was a success! :thumbsup2

[chepic]

Great TR......I am cutting and pasteing tips left and right....:thumbsup2

keep it coming.

che

[lawhit88]

I am enjoying your TR!!

[CRSNDSNY]

:woohoo:
I'm really enjoying your TR!

[Jennifer48]

Thanks for the highlighter tip. I wasn't going to bring one because I figured with just the two of us adults, I wouldn't need it. Guess I'll be packing one! :thumbsup2 :goodvibes

[funnybunny921]

I remembered reading on here that the closet had a Velcro strip, and sure enough, there it was. I also learned from the DIS to pack a pop-up portable laundry bag. I did, and here it is. Best tip ever! It worked great!

what pray tell is the velcro strip and what is it used for?

my dh and i are going on our first cruise to the med this summer.... just the two of us both 25 and both wondering why i am so crazy about the mouse :D

[YenSid1222]

what pray tell is the velcro strip and what is it used for?

my dh and i are going on our first cruise to the med this summer.... just the two of us both 25 and both wondering why i am so crazy about the mouse :D


The edge of the closet door has a velcro stip so that it wont slide open and closed if the ship is rocking. I believe the suggestion is to use that velcro to your advantage by hanging stuff that will stick to it.

[DeloreanGirl]

what pray tell is the velcro strip and what is it used for?

my dh and i are going on our first cruise to the med this summer.... just the two of us both 25 and both wondering why i am so crazy about the mouse :D

Hi Funnybunny,

There's a small strip up in the top corner of the edge of the closet doors. It touches the opposite strip on the edge of the closet. I'm assuming it's so the doors can't slide open if there were rough seas. I noted it on the first day, but never had to worry about it since our seas were as smooth as glass. :wizard:

The hamper tip is completely separate. It has nothing to do with the velcro, lol.

[Eeyore3838]

great TR so far! :thumbsup2. My DH and I got married at WDW and honymooned on DCL (7 night western) in Jan. No kids either, and we are 25 and 24. We LOVE sailing with the mouse by ourselves and are going back next year!:boat:

[funnybunny921]

Hi Funnybunny,

There's a small strip up in the top corner of the edge of the closet doors. It touches the opposite strip on the edge of the closet. I'm assuming it's so the doors can't slide open if there were rough seas. I noted it on the first day, but never had to worry about it since our seas were as smooth as glass. :wizard:

The hamper tip is completely separate. It has nothing to do with the velcro, lol.

thanks... makes sense, i hope we won't need to use it, though i don't know if the folks on the transatlantic have been so lucky...

Where did you get the pop-up hamper, how big was it? I wasn't planning on getting one b/c the suitcase space is precious going over to europe, but it seems like such a good idea.... both DH and I have old laundry sacks and I was thinking of taking one of them but the pop-up fits so nicely in the closet.

Another question... I am thinking of using the pressing/laundry/dryclean service... can they just press something that is already clean? And is there a price difference between that and the dry cleaning?:laundy:

Thanks so much!:yay:

[DeloreanGirl]

thanks... makes sense, i hope we won't need to use it, though i don't know if the folks on the transatlantic have been so lucky...

Where did you get the pop-up hamper, how big was it? I wasn't planning on getting one b/c the suitcase space is precious going over to europe, but it seems like such a good idea.... both DH and I have old laundry sacks and I was thinking of taking one of them but the pop-up fits so nicely in the closet.

Another question... I am thinking of using the pressing/laundry/dryclean service... can they just press something that is already clean? And is there a price difference between that and the dry cleaning?:laundy:

Thanks so much!:yay:

Hi there,

I got the pop-up hamper for $5.00 at Rite-Aid and it wasn't that big, probably only 2 1/2 feet tall. It held enough for 6 days worth of lite laundry for 2 people, but not much more. I'm still glad I brought it.

Yes, they have both pressing and drycleaning on the ship. I'm not sure of the exact price, probably a few dollars. It was very reasonable. For DH to have his 2 long-sleeved shirts done it was $7 I believe. Laundry machines and dryers are on Deck 7 and run by quarters I think. They also have the detergent there to buy.

[JDBlair]

Totally subscribing to this one. Great job so far. I'm hooked!!! :thumbsup2

[disneypoor]

I am thoroughly enjoying your TR.:thumbsup2 We cruised on the eastern in March, and this is bringing back some pretty "Magic"al memories.:cloud9: I also took the pop up hamper and was so glad that I did! Keep the TR coming--I only have 7 more days of teaching and I'm on summer break!:cool1: :cool1: I need some good reading!

[DeloreanGirl]

Thanks for all the nice replies everyone! :grouphug:

It seems like only yesterday that I was the one hooked on TR's and not the one writing one!

I'll start Chapter 6 tonight. I need something to get my mind off of American Idol's results shocker! :scared1:

~Emily

[DeloreanGirl]

CHAPTER 6: Monday, at sea again!

Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to tell you all about the “water incident”. Okay, rewind to the first day as Mike and I are eating outside at Topsiders in the wind before setting sail. Some sort of salesman/server guys scour the decks asking people if they would like to buy the beverage packages. I inform Mike that I want to buy that $9.00 water package that folks on the DIS boards were talking about. It’s a total ripoff, I know, but I figured that $9.00 was a steal compared to how much the cruise itself cost and that we would have fresh water to take off the ship with us. So the guy comes around with his little pad and paper and asks if we’re interested. I say (with a mouthful of salad), “Yeah, I’d like to get the $9.00 package.” He then says to me, “We don’t do that anymore.” :eek: I thought it was odd that just a few weeks prior, folks on these boards were talking about it. Turns out later that night I find the Navigator insert, flip it over to the back page and, sure enough, there it is: “Package 5 – Six Evian Waters for $9.00”. I thought that maybe it was a misprint so I called Guest Services. Guest services answers and says that Room Service takes care of that (did I detect a laugh in the background?) They transfer me over and Room Service picks up right away. I ask them about the package, and they reply with, [I]“Sure thing, we’ll be right up.” :wizard: We must have left our room and done something, because when we returned there was a bucket full of ice and six nicely sized Evian’s. A-HAH!

Son of a gun, I also forgot to cover the photo packages! Alright, so it’s day one again and we’re up in Shutters checking out our terminal and embarkation photos. [First, I don’t know why some people say it’s stuffy in there, because I guess all the times that we went it was just fine. But it is COLD!] I go to one of the two checkout desks to inquire about these new fangled take-out-a-second-mortgage photo packages. I really wanted the $80-something pack that was supposed to be a handful of 6x8’s (yes, the sizes are skewed like that). There are signs everywhere announcing the packages. I kid you not, with my hand to the sky, they start at... $169.00. :eek: :scared: Whoever is out there with the knowledge of the mysterious $80-something package, I should have called you! So, the photos are $20 a pop if it’s an 8x10 and some other smaller price for the wacky 6x8 size. I purposely saved up cash in a jar just for photos and knew that we wanted to take a lot. We ended up closing our eyes and handing over our KTTW card to purchase the $169 highway rob…..I mean package. The “good” part is that if you don’t get the eight 8x10’s and five 6x8’s, they’ll “refund” the difference. But by the end of the cruise they know you’ll have spent so much money on liquor, Bingo, internet and tipping that you won’t care at that point. [By the way, the next package up was $239 and the third was $299. It’s okay, you can pick your jaw up now.] Mike and I promised ourselves that we would go to every photo-op that is available (minus the boring ones) and try to get as much bang for our buck as possible.

Fast forward to Monday, our second day at sea. The night before, we received a cute formal-looking envelope invitation which would announce the show of the night, Twice Charmed. I really like Disney’s detail when it comes to things like this. Today was another lazy day of eating and discovering the ship. First, I never ate a lot on our last two cruises because of how dizzy I was from the motion. On this cruise I constantly was craving food throughout the day. Not crazy, fatty food - just small portions every few hours. We did a lot of walking which was good. I must add that Mike forced me to take the stairs, EVERYWHERE (our scale at home would later thank him for this):cheer2: . I thought being on Deck 7 was cool because we’d be closer to the upper decks, but we realized that everything is on Deck 3 & 4 so we were definitely hoofing it up and down. Did you see the slow couple that was winded and bickering? Yeah, that was us.

We played trivia again today in Diversions. I don’t know if I mentioned it in my last report, but on Sunday we played Pop Culture Trivia and somehow won second place after being in dead fourth. They gave us really neat metal DCL keychains. Today was Adult Disney Trivia. It turns out that the questions were super hard. Luckily, a nice couple was added to our team and they did great. The questions were nuts, and a lot of people didn’t know the answers. Luckily we went from dead last, again, to second by our teammates answering a Mulan question. Then it was the final round and we decided to bet all our points, or a huge amount from what I remember. The last question was, “What does Scuttle call a fork in The Little Mermaid?” This was an easy one! We slapped down our buzzer as hard as we could and all yelled, “A Dinglehopper!” Luckily we bet enough points that it put us into first, and we all got red, white & blue necklaces with a gold medal that said “I’m A Winner” with a DCL logo on the back. Quite nifty. The host of all of the quizzes was Andy, and although he had an incredibly slow, dry sense of humor, he made it fun.

On our last two cruises, I never had a chance to swim in any of the pools. I kick myself for that all the time because I absolutely love swimming and don’t get a lot of chances to do it at home. This time I swore I would go in the adult pool even if Mike wouldn’t go with me. Luckily, he agreed to go (AND take his shirt off and get a tan, which is rare) so we headed up to Deck 9. The Adult Pool was wonderful and they serve the best drinks. We learned that we both loved Pina Coladas and would have many throughout the cruise. However, the drink of the day this day was the “Yellow Bird”. Mike decided to try it as I splashed around. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t enjoying it. I took a sip of it and my face squirmed up really tight. We agreed that it was a mixture of orange juice and gasoline. No more Yellow Bird’s for us!

Cruise Director Rachel’s ultra-soothing voice came on the loudspeaker and announced that they would be sounding the ships horn soon. It was a good millisecond after she said the word “…soon” That the eight notes of the horn blasted at full volume a mere 40 feet above our heads! But I love that darn horn, so I wasn’t upset. [Note to self: Plug ears immediately when horn announcement begins.]
http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/6101/2632073100033203785S200x200Q85.jpg
I frolicked in the pool some more and actually was able to snag a lounge chair! [Yes, it really IS that hard to get one, and yes, people leave towels on them even though it is printed ON the chair not to.] I basked in my luck of finding two empty chairs and we attempted to lie out as long as we could. They were starting to set up for the High Frequency band to come and play (it wouldn’t be such a Quiet Cove after all….) so we decided to leave.

We had lunch in Parrot Cay and it was gooooooooooooood. [IMHO: What’s the big hubbub about folks not liking Parrot Cay? I purposely scheduled our Palo dinner for Thursday evening because everyone said to reserve it for the Parrot Cay night since that restaurant was boring. It turned out to be my favorite restaurant! Out of the three, Lumiere’s was my least favorite. Go figure!] I was excited to eat here since the atmosphere was so lively and casual. I had a salad and ribs and some other mixed and mangled concotion of food. It didn’t matter. It was delicious!
http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/937/2084928230033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

Mike and I learned that we would get horribly tired in the middle of the day and take these insane, deep 1-2 hour naps. It was weird, I know, but it really felt great and we were energized for the rest of the day. I’m sure our room steward hated us for having the “Do Not Disturb” sign up at odd hours. [We never saw or met our room host for the first few days, which was interesting since people on the boards rave about how amazing they are and how they’re always around.] But he left great towel animals each night!

Dinner that night was in Parrot Cay. I loved the room décor and I loved the fun tropical and Jimmy Buffet music. The servers have the cutest outfits on too. Sorry, I can’t remember what I ordered, but I’m sure it was amazing!
http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/4994/2061336550033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/6011/2345843860033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
Love that ceiling!


Mike and I didn’t feel up for seeing Twice Charmed. I felt guilty, but we were tired and there must have been something else that came up because I remember that we filled most of our evening time up pretty well. I think we roamed around the Beat Street area. I assured him that we’d watch it on tv. Well, the night came and went and by the time we got back to our room, all the viewings on the tv stations were over. Oh well. I’m sure it was great! We were excited to wake up to land the next morning, as it was our first stop in St. Maarten!


Next up: Chapter 7: The stickiest I've ever been in my life! :scared:

[nenner1]

Great Report!
Hopping on board!

TFS!:banana:

[manntra]

Love your TR!! My niece and I are going on our first cruise in August, and I am so much like you were----Passporters, Disboards, the DCL recorded on my tv, etc. Yeah, you could say "slightly" OCD about DCL and Disney! :goodvibes Hmmmm...well I am going in August and I already have a room in my house set aside for the trip with things to take----laundry thing, highlighters, door room ideas!! Thanks for such a great trip report!! Also, I think your towel animal was a frog not a lobster!!

[lvstitch]

Parrot Cay is my favorite too. I love the chicken wings and ribs. Yummmmmm:tongue:

[branv]

Great trip reports! I snorted when I just read your post about taking really deep 1-2 hour naps. DH and I did the same thing on our Wonder trip. We felt drugged; I dunno what it is. It would have been great -- considering how deeply we slept -- except for everything we kept missing. That and the one or two times we showed up at dinner with pillow creases still on our faces. We're taking another DCL cruise in May '08, and we've sworn to not nap unless it's an emergency. ;) We figure the only way to do this is to ban all access to the cabin during the day -- which means you can find us by looking for the 2 snoring lobsters around the adult pool.

Can't wait to read the rest of your report! :thumbsup2

[mormadsmom]

Hi,

I looked at your photos on your link and I know we were on the same cruise, but I have so many of almost identical photos. Even the ones sailing away from St. Thomas through the rainbow. What were you, deck 7 midship too? I am going to have to post those on my TR. That is too funny!

Michelle (mormadsmom)

[DeloreanGirl]

Great trip reports! I snorted when I just read your post about taking really deep 1-2 hour naps. DH and I did the same thing on our Wonder trip. We felt drugged; I dunno what it is. It would have been great -- considering how deeply we slept -- except for everything we kept missing. That and the one or two times we showed up at dinner with pillow creases still on our faces. We're taking another DCL cruise in May '08, and we've sworn to not nap unless it's an emergency. ;) We figure the only way to do this is to ban all access to the cabin during the day -- which means you can find us by looking for the 2 snoring lobsters around the adult pool.

Can't wait to read the rest of your report! :thumbsup2

I almost didn't mention the naps because I thought people would think I was crazy. But thank you for stepping forward and admitting it! I don't know what it was either - the rocking of the boat, climbing up and down the stairs, or just being so excited! It was the wierdest thing, taking naps at 3pm. I guess we needed it? :confused3 :thumbsup2

[DeloreanGirl]

Hi,

I looked at your photos on your link and I know we were on the same cruise, but I have so many of almost identical photos. Even the ones sailing away from St. Thomas through the rainbow. What were you, deck 7 midship too? I am going to have to post those on my TR. That is too funny!

Michelle (mormadsmom)

Michelle,

That's too funny because before sailling I SWORE that I would take "new and different" photos of the ship.

Nope! Still the same as everyone else's!

I was on Deck 7 just a few doors behind the aft elevators. Whenever I browse through my photos I say, "Dangit, my photos look like the rest of the thousands!" :laughing:

[DeloreanGirl]

CHAPTER 7: We’re on land!

On prior cruises, there was something about the motion of the ship slowing down and docking that would always make me wake up at 4-5am. Not this time! I was one happy cruiser and could easily have slept in until 10am. :goodvibes So today, instead of opening the verandah curtains and seeing an endless blue sea, there were green hills and a city!

We were in St. Maarten!

So, a few weeks prior to the cruise, my husband and I have this bizarre fascination with watching vacation-related movies. This time we chose “Speed 2: Cruise Control”. It’s laughable, but the funny part is that the cruise ship crashes into the dock of St. Martin. What are the odds? I was secretly hoping we’d be on the same side as the film set, but I’m thinking that it was the French side.

The crazed seagulls were in full annoyance mode (Mine! Mine-mine, mine, mine!) and swarmed the lightposts of the dock. Through our binoculars, I could see everything that I had been viewing in photos online; the hot pink lettering, the St. Maarten sign, the checkerboard flooring and the tiny dockside shops. Mike and I threw on our lightest clothes and walking shoes and went to breakfast. We then lathered up the sunscreen and headed down to Deck 1 to leave the ship. It was pretty windy, as you can tell:
http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/5406/2337742440033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
Ports are always weird, because you’ll see photos and read reports about the city itself, but then you dock there on your vacation and you’re like, “Oh…the city is…way over there….” (and I don't mean for that to come across in a William Shatner tone...) So I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to walk it, or take a cab? I do remember the information about the water taxi so we chose to pay the $5.00 p/p fare to ride it back and forth all day (as if someone would do that!) The water taxi’s were cute and played fun Caribbean music. The waters of the sea were turquoise and perfect and the sailboats were all in their picturesque positions. We docked at a small pier near the busy part of the maine beach. The shops looked cute and welcoming. We started walking down the main street which paralleled the beach and the first row of buildings. I wanted so badly to just throw down a towel and run into the aqua waters – until we found out that it came with a hefty fee. Apparently it was $10 just to sit in a lounge chair and use their ocean. *Sigh* Only 15 minutes off the ferry, we noticed that the heat and humidity was a killer. It must be a California thing, because we were not used to how much energy it drains out of you! Mike and I walked up and down the streets and into a few shops. On the bright side, the St. Maarten locals do not haggle with you such as the Mexican locals did. We REALLY appreciated that. Sure, they would say, “Come in for 80% off….” but they never ever followed or harassed us as in other ports. I ended up buying a cute brown St. Maarten shirt, a magnet for our collection, and a small, dorky trinket for our travel curio cabinet back home. I had tentatively booked a 2pm horseback riding excursion, but Mike and I agreed that it probably wasn’t going to happen due to our fatigue, the heat and the humidity. After another hour of pacing up and down the town’s streets, we decided that we had seen and done St. Maarten.
http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/3347/2507493600033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

We were the ONLY cruise ship in port that day! I heard rumors that we were the last ship of "the season"? What? How is there a season? What about summer!!
http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/2556/2142033490033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

This is my artsy shot of the palm trees. I love how the colors change with height:
http://inlinethumb48.webshots.com/5103/2553507130033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

This is me, desperately seeking shade. At least it's pretty shade!
http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/3611/2159698540033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

[IMHO: If I had to do it again, I would rent a car and go see the sights on my own with a little A/C. I’d like to see the French side which some say is prettier, otherwise we were too out of it to walk any further. Maho Beach was tempting!] It was also their Labor Day that very day, so the town supposedly closed down at 2pm and there was some sort of crazy Carnivale parade. The thought of free soft-serve, a room with A/C and a pool beckoned us, and we hopped on the first ferry back to the ship.

http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/6004/2633439300033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

On a funny note, before we turned on the engines and pulled away from St. Maarten, there was a guy in a forklift that was driving around the dock like mad, gathering up the bars for the gangplank. He was driving rather fast back and forth and in the middle of the dock were lines of payphones. Mike chuckled, "That would be funny if he took out a payphone." Sure enough, Mr. Zippy Forklift comes zooming down the dock with the metal bars hanging off his forklift like a highwire balance support and whacks a few payphones so hard that the phones themselves come flying off the bases and dangle at the bottom. Sheesh.

Back on the ship, I should also note that our room was never “cold”. I wanted to call Guest Services but I never did. I suppose I thought that the temperature on max cool was what it was supposed to feel like, or maybe we were just hot all the time. Looking back, I should have called. When we got back to the room, we threw down our bags and flopped down on the bed, winded. Were we really that out of shape? Or was it just the humidity? We took another zombie nap just in time to get ready for our Pirate Night dinner!

Mike and I checked out the Navigator to see if there was anything fun going on between the afternoon and dinner time (remember, we had the super-late dinner that took forever to get to!). I browsed over to the Adult Exclusive Entertainment section of the Navigator and stumbled across an event that literally made me laugh out loud. It was “TV Fan Club”, and the part that got me howling was the description that read, “Gather with other TV fans and discuss the latest ABC television shows.” Honestly? Really? Just gather and talk about them? And just ABC only! Yes I know they’re owned by Disney, but the fact that this was considered an activity made me giggle. Whenever Mike and I were looking for something to do, we’d always joke that we could go down to Diversions and “discuss” our favorite ABC shows. I thought it was cute.

Later that evening I unpacked the pirate outfits from last Halloween. Mike was less than thrilled to wear them, but I swore that he’d thank me after he saw how cool the photos would turn out. It took us a good twenty minutes or so to perfect the bandanas, boots and vests, but I thought we looked darn nifty. We first headed down to the Disney theater area where none other than Captain Jack Sparrow was doing photos with a nice backdrop. The line was long and swerved around the gift shops and past the snack stand, but he was worth it of course! Captain Jack did a good job and everyone loved him. He messed with my pirate hat and mumbled something about his ship. We ended up with this nice print:
http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/4623/2169068420033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

We later wandered around the atrium and noticed that a good amount of people were dressed up. Mind you, it wasn’t in full leather pirate gear, but I was happy that about 70% of folks had some sort of shirt or hint of pirate stuff on them. Despite not liking the white background, there was no line for the freestyle portraits so I drug Mike to take a few. We ended up loving them…
http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/5531/2750293950033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/3050/2957369380033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

After the photos we were starving and headed for the oh-so-classy Lumiere's to have our Pirate dinner. The servers had adorable pirate outfits on, and I really liked the head server’s giant fluffy pirate hat. It was awesome that we got to keep the pirate map menu which I added to my already growing scrapbook pile. The dinner was very good and everything had silly pirate names added to it. During the last portion of the dinner, the lights went off and there was some flashes. The servers had pirate flags and loud pirate music cued up and a parade followed!
(See, I told you Disney liked dinner parades!) The song that was blared over the restaurant speakers was some form of “techno” version of the POTC ride song. As if the POTC ride theme wasn’t catchy enough, I would soon have this new techno version in my head for days. “Yo hooooooo. Yo hooooooo.” <boom, tsssh, booom, boom, boom, tsssh, boom, tsssh> If I could type what techno sounded like, that would be it. The servers started a conga line and the conga pole was right down the classy marble entry way. It was too funny rip-roarin’ it up in such a nice French restaurant! This was the night that I had a migraine too, and this bumpin’ music didn’t help. But I was having a a great time! I managed to grab my camcorder off our table during the conga line and filmed a good portion of the silly dance.

Everyone with the late dinner seating was in quite a rush to high-tail it outta there since the huge Pirate Party up top was starting instantly. As soon as the conga-techno-party was over, the restaurant cleared out fast! I honestly thought that the food portions during dinner this night would be “smaller” since there would be a gorging buffet feast just a few decks up. But no, I was wrong. The portions were the same and our server had no sympathy that we would soon be stretching our guts with turkey legs and chocolate-covered strawberries just minutes after finishing a four-course meal.

Mike and I stumbled up the stairs to Deck 9 where it was something short of a madhouse at the Goofy Pool. We somehow found a spot miraculously on Deck 10. The music was in full swing, lights off, party lights on and pirate-themed characters dancing. I was uncomfortably full and didn’t feel like jumping up and down like Mickey asked. All I could do was hold my camcorder over my head and film what was going on onstage with the viewfinder screen pointed down so that I could see what was happening! Every few minutes, a character would say, “You know what we really need?” and I was hoping that would segway into Mickey ziplinging and the fireworks. But no! It would just be an intro to another 70’s song. Song after song after song played. Cast Members were as hyper as ever. Kids were jumping. It was like Studio 54, but very G-rated. It went on and on. Finally the excitement built up and the lights grew dim. The skull appeared on the screen and “bad pirates” started dropping from ropes. I was waiting for a great duel, but in true Disney mode, the pirates landed on the stage and couldn’t think of anything better to do than – dance! I just about did a spit-take when I witnessed right before my eyes, Mr. Smee doing “The Safety Dance”. I never knew Smee was an 80’s child! They followed with some more random 80’s songs and a Dixie Chicks country song. Bizarre? Instead of watching the dancing, I was mesmerized by the hidden crew members in both smokestacks with tiny flashlights preparing the zip line. Yep, I’m a tech geek, can you tell? I’m assuming they were “preparing” Mickey for his intro. Mike and I still ponder if his head goes on before he climbs up there, or after. And how tight is it snapped in? Anyway… Mickey quietly emerged in the dark on the aft smokestack as Captain Hook and Smee were probably doing some sort of crazy Mr. Roboto dance. Folks caught on and soon enough half the ship was pointing and saying, “Mickey! Mickey!”. He did his best to shush us, but Captain Hook saw him and the show began. The spotlights flooded on and Mickey did his best to zipline from stack to stack to “save” the ship (all to the great song of “Hero” from the Shrek flick). Mickey then announced that instead of a party, he was going to give us a party….in the sky! Like clockwork, Mike and I turned to our right and there being launched off the forward pool deck was a great 5-10 minute fireworks show! And no folks, it wasn’t a few cheesy backyard illegal poppers, it was the real deal. Disney completely rocks for having been able to do that at sea. I believed we were stopped or going incredibly slow at the time. Through the booms and bangs, Mike yelled to me, “Carnival can kiss it. This cruise just paid for itself!” A single tear welled up. I love that man.

After the finale in the sky, we headed down to Deck 9 where there was none other than the famous Pirate Buffet. We joked with some fellow passengers about how many pounds we gained. “I’m totally gaining ten pounds.” “Ten? I’ve already gained twenty!”. The buffet was cool looking, but I would’ve lost my cookies if I were to push down a 9-inch long turkey leg and an Oreo cheesecake. Honestly people. :crazy2:
http://inlinethumb48.webshots.com/3503/2028402320033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

We got back to the room and ripped off our itchy Pirate outfits. They did the job and we probably wouldn’t need them anymore. Plus, it was more room for souveniers! Mike and I were so full from the dinner that we couldn’t sleep. We ended up staying up until 1am watching that soccer documentary on Mia Hamm. :happytv:

Next Up: So that’s what a sunburn feels like!

[CRSNDSNY]

Love your pirate garb! Very festive!

[Floridagram]

I almost didn't mention the naps because I thought people would think I was crazy. But thank you for stepping forward and admitting it! I don't know what it was either - the rocking of the boat, climbing up and down the stairs, or just being so excited! It was the wierdest thing, taking naps at 3pm. I guess we needed it? :confused3 :thumbsup2

Let me tell you how smart you were to be taking naps. I am embarassed to tell you that I fell asleep during the Robinsons so I went back to the room to bed. I woke up right about 10 so I hurried up to the pirate party and could not find the family. I totally forgot about Capt. Jack and Mickey and went back to the room and watched the fireworks from our balcony. (Yes I know they leave you a letter saying not to be on your balcony, but we all know Disney is over cautious.:) ) Come to find out our little pirates were on the front row, right by the rope, and had a great time. I never looked for them there, I was looking in the crowd! The girls had the same pirate outfits you did and one stayed on daddy's shoulders the whole time.

So this could have been my one and only disney cruise and I missed the pirate party because of no naps! As a side note, there were some sparks that appeared to come close to the balcony, believe me I was watching them.
But it didn't seem to me that you would see them very well if you stayed inside the cabin because the ovehang of the balcony would have been in the way. It was a great fireworks display, better than I expected.

[CRSNDSNY]

We're mid-day nappers, too. Although the pace of the cruise is slower to us, I think it's all the eating and sea air that takes it out of you! I cannot make it through dinner without a nap midday!

And I'd have to agree with you about Parrot Cay! That's my favorite restaurant, too...I like it definitely better than Animator's because the menu always seems to be better. The atmosphere is great, too!

Can't wait for more!

[branv]

and you’re like, “Oh…the city is…way over there….” (and I don't mean for that to come across in a William Shatner tone...)

BWAHAHAHAH!! :lmao: Brilliant!

[sherrie]

Thank you so much for the wonderful report, Just off the magic/western and am looking into the eastern for 2008

[DeloreanGirl]

Thank you so much for the wonderful report, Just off the magic/western and am looking into the eastern for 2008

Perhaps we'll swap on over to the Western in the future -- then I'll PM you!

[sherrie]

i will be glad to help anyway i can but swimming with the Dolphins was the highlight. Please tell me more, TIA

[DeloreanGirl]

CHAPTER 8: Wednesday on St. Thomas!

We started out our day by eating a late breakfast at Parrot Cay. From what I saw through the portholes on the ship, St. Thomas looked beautiful! I really liked Parrot Cay’s selection of breakfast items. It was sort of like a half-buffet and half-sit down, since the servers would walk you to your table and get you drinks, but you physically went up to the food island to get everything. I mostly got fruit, bacon & eggs and some sort of pancake or waffle. The Mickey waffles are very cute, however I have no idea what any of the waffles or pancakes were made out of. They were very chewy! :confused3 Having a good breakfast gave us the energy we needed everyday to tackle the ship and the ports, so I highly recommend it! And, c’mon, it’s free. :thumbsup2

After breakfast, Mike and I did a few laps around Deck 4’s walking track. We saw another white ship pull in next to us. It turned out to be a cruise line that I’ve never heard of. MCO? Haven’t the foggiest. I learned my lesson from St. Maarten that the air was mildly hot but rather extremely humid, so I tried to find an outfit that would touch my skin the least amount of places possible. [Tip: Remember that packing hint about reducing your clothes by 50%? THAT’S NUTS! I packed 100% of what I thought I needed and I still DID NOT have enough day clothes! Pack everything, people! It’s better to have too much than not enough, I promise.]

We got off the ship and I immediately knew that I liked St. Thomas more than St. Maarten. I heard a rumor that Disney can afford better "berths" so they usually get better docking spaces when pulling into port. We were right alongside the town which was great.
http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/4693/2582908290033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
I don’t know what it was; perhaps the greener hills, more palm trees, a better looking city. The K-Mart and Wendys? I’m kidding. Really though, I liked that all the vendors’ stores were in paralleled indoor “malls” with AIR CONDITIONING! I didn’t care how much something would cost. If it’s in a store with A/C, I’ll go in!
http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/2791/2301765240033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
Mike and I made our way up and down the outsides of all the shops. Nobody haggled us at all, it was great. I ended up going inside a very American looking surf store (think Ron Jon or Pac Sun) and bought a sufer-looking St. Thomas t-shirt that was made from the Billabong company. It’s cute. We also found shops that had cute trinkets inside and got our magnet and cheesy curio cabinet souvenier. I saw a really awesome pirate photo frame that had dark wood, swords and pirate accents for $14.00. About five stores down, I saw the same frame for $8.00! I bought it and we now have our Pirate Night professional photo in it.

About a quarter mile down the road was the Paradise Point tram ride. I really wanted to go on this since I chickened out on the skyway tram in Palm Springs and Alaska! I really owed it to Mike. There were no lines at all. You simply buy the $18 ticket [no need to do it as an “excursion” through Disney] and have the cute little cable car take you up to the top. It’s a very peaceful 7-minute ride.
http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/6230/2679979620033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
At the top, they have a restaurant, gift shop and some sort of nature trail. The captain from the weird MCO ship was up there [clearly tipsy, in my humble opinion] with his arms around two giggly women. Interesting! They took this photo for us:
http://inlinethumb14.webshots.com/4557/2403530940033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

The view from the top really is amazing. It was at this very moment that I finally felt like I was in the Caribbean. The green hills and turquoise waters completely matched the postcards and screensavers I had!
http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/5447/2146853850033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
The drink that they are famous for is called the Bushwacker. It tasted like a Mudslide, but with a little more bite. I was excited to order it because the website said that they came in these funny little souvenir mugs that were shaped like the trams. When we ordered them, the nice waitress lady said that they were all out of them which really bummed me out. She did say that if we both ordered the drink, we would get collectable tram flutes. Sure enough, tightly packed in a box were similarly cheesy tram champagne flutes. E-bay anyone? The drinks were poured pretty high and there was no way I was going to finish an entire cup of the Bushwacker, but I did enjoy it, as seen here:
http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/3980/2516819720033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

The views from the restaurant weren’t that bad either:
http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/4108/2351133750033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

We took a short walk around the trail and got some good footage on the camcorder. We then decided it was too miserably hot to go on the “hike” and started our decent. Even the local schoolchildren were moaning, “Eeet izz so hot, I am burning!” Great….

The walk back to the boat flew by since we didn’t zigzag through the shops again. As we were walking towards the ship, Pikey and dry-humor Diversions host Andy were getting off the ship to have some fun on land. Boy are they pretty when they were in their hip and trendy street clothes!

Back on the ship, we huffed and puffed our way up to the room and laid on the bed until the still-questionable temperature in the stateroom cooled us off. I then noticed in the hall mirror how sunburnt I was. Yikes! My fault. I now had a nice white tank top strap to deal with on my shoulders. We took showers and cleaned up for lunch. This time it was from Goofy’s Galley. They have great wraps and Panini’s and fruit. Perfect! Departure time was 4pm from the island and I think we even sounded our horn. On the way out to sea, a nice rainbow followed us. I swore it was just more Disney magic. :wizard:
http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/3577/2003826050033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

Although we were really exhausted, we decided to still go to dinner. I felt like if we missed a night we would be scolded (which later in the cruise kind of happened!). Dinner was in Animator’s Palate and even though it wasn’t a “show” night, I liked the fact that the walls stayed lit up in color the whole time. It was so much better that way! Both ourselves and anther couple announced that we would be at Palo the next night, so it looked like our server would have it pretty easy!

We left dinner a tiny bit early to catch the 80’s Time Warp Party. Let me tell you, I saw the footage of this party on YouTube and it looked awesome!!! We got there at 10pm and comedian/performer Jeff Civillico was performing. [Okay ladies, for all of you out there who thought Pikey was good looking or any other officer on the ship – you clearly didn’t get to meet Jeff Civillico. He was very easy on the eyes!!! :cutie: Just my opinion though!] He looked like he was in his 30’s but after slightly stalking him online lately I found that he’s my age, crikey! He was a great entertainer (and it takes a lot to get a good laugh out of me) and I really enjoyed his stunts. And his tight black t-shirt. No really, it was the stunts. I promise! :rolleyes1

http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/5174/2115208040033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
After Jeff was done, it was time for the 80’s party and boy did they do a great job! They must hire dancers (separate from the theater shows) to do these club gigs. The lights went out and the big screen tv’s came on with a countdown. The opening song was “Footloose” and the dancers came out jumping and doing backflips. They did a great Lindy-Hop dance to Footloose using the moves from the movie. After that, the entertainment staff did some trivia and picked out the people who they would later embarrass as the Go-Go’s vs. Bon Jovi skit. I knew the Michael Jackson dance was coming up so I got a good seat and got the camcorder fired up. Sure enough, after a trivia question about the King of Pop, they segwayed (is that a word?) into another perfectly choreographed dance. The dancers did Beat It, Billie Jean and Thriller all PERFECTLY. I mean, the Thriller dance is incredibly hard to learn, but they pulled it off. The outfits were perfect, the zombie moves were perfect. I was blown away! My hat is off to the DCL dancers, really. More 80’s dancing went on into the night. We made a quick stop to the internet café to check on our dog (her boarding facility had cameras!). She was sound asleep in California on her little doggie bed. And soon enough, so were we.

Next up: It can't rain in May!

[DeloreanGirl]

Chapter 9: A drizzly Thursday at sea.

Yep, the title says it all. Thursday, our at-sea day between the USVI and Castaway Cay was very dreary. Although, when you think about it, it couldn't have happened on a more perfect day. Everyone was hot and sunburnt from the prior two days on the islands, so a little drizzle and some indoor activities were probably perfect!

Truthfully, I can't really remember much about this day. I do know that we played a horribly boring trivia game in Preludes. It was called "Cruisin' For Trivia", so naturally we thought it was trivia about cruising, or cruise ships, or anything nautical for that reason! Mike and I felt confident that we would take first place again. We got there early and grabbed a pad and pencil from one of the entertainment staff. This was the same British girl that had just learned that "West Consin" wasn't a U.S. state, on Day 1's Bingo round. :sad2:

People filed in one by one and we had a good sized crowd. When the trivia started, Mike and I realized that it was general knowledge trivia and from then on were miserably bored. What's the capital of New Mexico? What is the Hunchback's real name? How many strings does a uklealie have? :eek: :faint: The trivia would have been SOMEWHAT amusing had the family behind us not said the answers OUT LOUD the entire time! :furious: I normally don't give the woman-look-of-death, but I must admit that I turned around a few times to see if I could make eye contact and let them know that there were pads of paper and pencils to be used. Sheesh!

The highlight of Thursday was Palo! Yes, I was the geek that waited up until midnight 90 days out to get my reservation. Apparently, it really IS that hard to get into. On the bus ride to the ship from the airport, the folks in front of us were talking about how they couldn't even get a spot in the place. Wow. So Mike and I dressed back up in our formal outfits (See? Two uses! :idea: ) and headed up to Deck 10 aft at exactly 6:30pm. [Tip from Mike: Men, wear khaki's with the elastic waistband!] We were very happy to have a 6:30pm dinner for once and not 10pm like the past few nights! In short, Palo was AMAZING.
http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/4116/2692931680033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
Yes, the restaurant really is that beautiful. Heck, the entrance from Deck 10 inside the place was superb.
http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/3751/2109610850033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
It's kinda Star-Trek looking....

Our waiter was from India and he was extremely nice. It's true, if you want anything...ANYTHING...they will give it to you. Two lobsters? Done. Two entree's? Done. And no, I didn't see anyone in a tux. The men all wore long sleeved shirts and ties. I only saw two suit jackets - for dinner! Again, do not worry about being underdressed. You'll be surprised.
http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/4906/2922764800033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

I ordered the lamb and Mike had the lobster. He knew about the "anything you want" rumor, so he also wanted to try the crabmeat stuffed pasta. He said it was amazing. He said the lobster was good, but it was some sort of "other" lobster that had a different taste. Different ocean? Rock Lobster!? His folks are from Maine, so he's a bit spoiled when it comes to that. Everyone kept raving about the pizza, which I thought was silly, but we ordered it for an appetizer anyway. It was good. I mean, it wasn't incredible, but it was very tasty thin pizza.
http://inlinethumb38.webshots.com/3941/2322146360033203785S425x425Q85.jpg

The food was extremely good - just as everyone says it is. I remembered how many trip reports I read where people left Palo sick from how much they tried to cram down. This is why I purposely did not order an appetizer (I think I surprised the server) and I simply shared a bite of Mike's thin pizza. This way I could enjoy my meal without being sick and full. Apparently there is a "hidden Mickey" in the plates. It's a speck, but sure enough it's there. Our server also said that any unused food on the ship gets smushed up and fed to the fishes. So don't feel bad about leaving food on your plate. Neat, eh? Our main dining server also said that it is a treat for them to get pizza, so any unserved pizza goes to them.

After our superbly delicious dinner, it was time to order dessert. This was a no-brainer. Everyone said that the chocolate souffle was "to die for". Literally. In those words. The DIS folks said it over and over, and even our tablemates who went to Palo on the first night of the cruise said it was to die for. So, what did we do? Yep. We ordered the souffle's.
http://inlinethumb09.webshots.com/5960/2450846050033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

So.... I watched the delecate preparation of the souffle and how they gave you your choice of chocolate or vanilla sauce to pour in. I went to take a bite out of it to see what the hysterics were about. Mike and I both looked at each other and said....

"I don't get it?"

What's the big deal?! It's just a souffle! It wasn't bad, it was just....well... a soggy brownie? So yes, flame me forever, but I will go down in history as the girl who thought chocolate souffle was "just okay". I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

On a side note, our server brought us some Flan-tasting dessert (Mike says it's Marscaponi?) that was good. And...umm... the ice cream was good?

Bottom line: PALO ROCKS. And yes, it's worth staying up until midnight or 3am if you really want a magical, QUIET evening. I also appreciated how quickly it went. After 2-hours of loud meals in the bigger rooms, it was nice to have a 2-person table enjoying a meal that only took an hour tops.

Mike, as he always gets, was incredibly stuffed and just wanted to moan and pat his belly for the rest of the night. Luckily with my smart pacing and intake of the dinner, I went to bed happy as a clam. Peter Pan was on television which set the mood for the magical day we would have at Castway Cay the next day!!!

Up next: The Incredible Castway Cay!

[susanjc]

Hi,

I love your trip report. We were in Palo the same time you all were (our dinner started at 6:00 pm) and we were sitting in the middle of the restaurant at the window. We're fast eaters also! I wish I had known you could get the lobster and the lamb. We also missed the tram because we didn't know where it was until we got back and it was already 3 pm.

[CRSNDSNY]

Bravo!

[vpalmer]

Great report! I am enjoying all the details and tips. We did the Western last fall and your trip report is getting me ready for our Eastern this fall. :cool1:

[JDBlair]

Still loving the report. Thanks for the tip about Palo and what to wear for the men. DH doesn't have a jacket and certainly doesn't want to buy one to wear once (or twice) on the cruise! :thumbsup2

[branv]

I'm in awe of all the dance types you can identify. I didn't even know there actually WAS a Safety Dance.

I didn't get the souffle-oomph either. But then I don't get molten lava cakes. If you're wondering about the dessert you did like, it was panna cotta :) I really enjoyed it too, though I've tried it twice on land since then and did NOT (I think it's b/c DCL just seems denser and creamier, as though they use less gelatin...I have enough jiggle to last me a life time thankyouverymuch).

Looking forward to reading about your CC day!

[DeloreanGirl]

Chapter 9: Castway Cay is finally here!

Going to Castaway Cay truly is about as exciting as going on the cruise as a whole. I agree with the others that the day should be longer, but I know that it takes that extra time to sail back to Florida. Our tv station noted that we would be getting in at 9:15am and leaving at 5:00pm. For some reason I thought it was 7am to 4pm?

I dialed in a wakeup request from Mickey [they are cute, you should try it sometime, preferably on Immigration morning] to be woken up at 8am, just in time to eat a hearty breakfast and run off the ship with the other loony folks. What really ended up happening was that I woke up BEFORE Mickey called and watched out on our verandah as we gently glided towards the island. I was VERY excited! :banana:

We ate breakfast at Parrot Cay again and watched as crew members had meetings alongside the ship in a very military type fashion. It looked like they were transporting food. The cool part was that they all had their own segways! [So THAT'S where the old segway rentals all went!] Workers pressure-hosed down the windows and even re-painted the hull. I swear, if one barnacle touches the ship, they will scrape it off and repaint it. They're crazy like that.

We brought a slightly bigger tote bag on land with us since it would carry our snorkeling supplies, loose clothes and cameras. They did a great job of making the island very "vintage" like, with old gas pumps and signs. I really love that look. We walked over to the Flying Dutchman and took photos. Captain Jack Sparrow stumbled out [right on time, every character we saw was always on time] and did autographs and photos in front of the ship.
http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/5188/2882012800033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/5716/2025977520033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/3338/2609285870033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/5435/2956267940033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

The island was gorgeous. They planted every tree and bush in just the right place. Mike and I headed through the "main" area which had the Conched Out bar, Cookies BBQ and other activites humming. [I even saw comedien Jeff Civellico jogging in his off time....*sigh*....] We decided to hit the adult beach first since people raved about it. For some bizarre reason, we must have missed the tram stop. We took some back road through the brush and ended up on the runway! It didn't "look" like a long walk, but it really was and I would not recommend anyone walking to the Adult Beach! :sad2: Along the runway there was construction. Could they possibly be building some sort of new enhancement? A lazy river water park area?
http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/5726/2873266900033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

The adult beach was great. It was very quiet which we appreciated. The water was calm and very clear. Mike, who hates to swim, found himself loving it and even found a huge starfish. He learned how to use his snorkel and fell in love with snorkeling that very moment.
http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/4822/2710109120033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

We rented a raft and a float tube which were great, but I would only recommend it if you're going to stay there for awhile because it seemed like we only used them for 30 minutes then had to turn them back in. Can you carry them around with you from beach to beach?? The Adult Beach was wonderful after an hour or so but, believe it or not, we were ready to get back where the action was! Since Mike had found a new hobby (snorkeling), I wanted to try the snorkeling lagoon. [We bought snorkel sets at CVS for $9.99, which was completely better than the used sets on CC for $25!] I completely forgot that there was supposed to be some sort of "map" of the lagoon. We just grabbed some vests and ran into the water blindly! [Inflate your vest. The water gets deep and you will get exhausted immediatly and need the buoyancy!] The lagoon was awesome and Mike was having the time of his life looking at all the "sunken" treasures. The man hates to swim, and now he was out-swimming me! :laughing:
http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/4090/2211337540033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/6198/2454999070033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb57.webshots.com/2936/2003205470033203785S500x500Q85.jpg

We must have snorkeled for a good two hours! And all I have to say is...
WHERE IS THE HIDDEN MICKEY?!?!?! :scared1:
We looked everywhere, I swear!!! He's under a white buoy? Please! I was dying out there!

I forgot to mention that before we snorkeled, we ate at Cookies BBQ. YUM YUM! That place is great! :thumbsup2 Every part about it was excellent! The cookie dough ice cream was to die for, even if it had to be served by a Cast Member and was only 2 inches high. I could have had seconds and thirds. We then headed over to the bar and ordered the infamos Konk Kooler drink. Mike took one sip and his face completely wrinkled up. It was AWFUL! :scared: Poor Mike knows a lot about bartending and mixed drinks but I've never seen him hate a drink. I don't know what it was, but he said that it tasted like Pepto Bismol and gasoline. Yikes!

We were pooped after all that walking and swimming! I was able to meet PlutoNme who was very nice! I was bummed that we didn't meet more DIS'ers. Oh well, it just means we'll have to go again! I really wish we had more energy to do a few more laps around Castaway, but we were wiped out. As we walked back, we took a few more parting shots.
http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/5572/2726305980033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
Mt. Rustmore is ten times smaller looking in real life. However, it dwarfs Mike, so I guess it's bigger when you're up against them. They only looked 3-feet tall to me as I walked by!

http://inlinethumb64.webshots.com/2815/2327888710033203785S500x500Q85.jpg
Hey look, there's a new angle! Oh wait no, everyone takes this same photo. :rolleyes:

http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/5731/2618574300033203785S425x425Q85.jpg
Goodbye Castaway :sad1: , we will miss you!

We stumbled back to the ship and realized that we were horribly sunburnt. I forgot to mention that most of the men that were on the ship (and by the pools) were BEYOND sunburnt every single day. Honestly, I saw men with their shirts off that were literally lobster red. Skin cancer red. It was scary.

We took a nap in our room. The snorkeling took it out of us! Finally, on the 6th day of the cruise I had managed to find the spa! I swear, I was on the darn boat for a week and JUST THEN found the spa! I made an appointment for Mike to get a haircut and a scalp massage for myself that night. However, due to the sunburn and godawful Konk Kooler, Mike was very ill and I had to cancel his haircut. We felt pretty bad so we decided to skip on dinner that night. We just didn't have the strength to sit and converse with strangers for two whole hours in a loud restaurant. Plus, we were in Lumiere's for the THIRD time.

This was the night that we were supposed to give out tips. [You can chose to do cash, or use the pre-paid system where they just charge your room and give you ticket stubs] Since we decided to do dinner on our own, I had no idea how we were going to get our tip envelope to our server. Guest Services to the rescue! I was too embarassed to tell them that we didn't want to go to dinner, so I sent Mike up there. He explained the situation and they had no problem taking the little envelopes there and distributing them to our servers. Phew!

My spa appointment was at 7:30 for the Frangipini Scalp Massage. I'm the type of person who doesn't care about back, foot and neck -- but if you touch my scalp, I'm a goner! I chickened out on the last two cruises, so this time I was going to do it!

The Vista Spa is beyond beautiful. :cloud9: I can't even find a word to describe how gorgeous it is in there! The scalp massage was only $26 and they did a neck and shoulder massage as well! They gave me a locker key and I was to change into a robe and slippers. [DIS'ers, you are right! The slippers really ARE a size 4, and my big feet couldn't fit in them AT ALL. They are ridiculous!] After I got changed into my robe, I completely blanked and wasn't sure what I was supposed to do next. Was I supposed to wait in there? Would someone get me? I couldn't simply walk back out into the public area in my robe?! So what did I do? I walked back out into the public area in my robe, passing folks in the workout room and a couple personal trainers. Luckily, that's what I was supposed to do, and they introduced me to my masseuse lady. I completely forgot her name, but all I know is that she was from Australia and I wanted to take her home. The massage was incredible, and I highly recommend it. They put this amazing smelling milk bath stuff into your dry hair. They don't scratch your scalp, rather, they do all sorts of crazy hand movements and hair pulling that massages different parts of your head. It's hard to explain but it's sooooooooo cool. Then they put this oil on your neck and shoulderblades. The second she touched my shoulderblades, all sorts of bumps and pops came about! She asked if I had a desk job. How did she know!? It was the longest 25 minutes ever, and worth every cent.

I completely forgot to write down "no sales pitch" on my form so I did get a very teeny tiny pitch at the end. Stupid me opened my big yap and aked, "How much is the milk bath stuff?" She said, "It's $62, and......" before she could finish I thought "no way!!" I put my dress back on and headed down a few flights to our room. Mike felt better. But I felt the best! The Vista Spa is not to be missed! :thumbsup2

We decided that since we missed dinner, we should order room service. It was the only part of the cruise that we hadn't yet experienced (well, except for the water package). I believe we both ordered sandwiches on foccatia as well as some fruit. I made sure to order the chocolate cookies since everyone said they were great. It all came within 10-15 minutes and it was all delicious! When I saw the cookies, they looked a little dark and I thought they might be crunchy, but they were chewy and thick and very, very good! If they had a *drool* smiley, I would add it here.

After dinner we decided to do one last walk around the ship to breathe in as many memories as we could. Our uber late-night neverending dinner in Lumiere's was still in full swing in the dining room, so we quickly ran past the doors hoping that nobody at our table would see us! This was the first cruise where I honestly did NOT want it to be over. :sad1: On our other two, I was ready to go home by day 3. But Disney truly does have a magical charm and our experience was great. As we walked around the decks, I noticed that we were very close to land. I also saw another white cruise ship parked. We must have been going up the coast of Miami.

Mike and I are super-packers so we didn't have much of a mess to clean up in our room. We threw out most of our stuff (old shoes, the pirate gear, etc.) and made room for our souveniers in our third suitcase. Having the clothes hamper really helped and we simply tumbled all the dirty clothes into another suitcase. We made SURE to have clothes out for the next day and set our bags outside the hall. It was tough going to sleep that night, knowing that this magical vacation that I had planned for so long would soon be over.

Next up: Debarkation Day. Booo!!!!!!:mad:

[DeloreanGirl]

I'm in awe of all the dance types you can identify. I didn't even know there actually WAS a Safety Dance.

I didn't get the souffle-oomph either. But then I don't get molten lava cakes. If you're wondering about the dessert you did like, it was panna cotta :) I really enjoyed it too, though I've tried it twice on land since then and did NOT (I think it's b/c DCL just seems denser and creamier, as though they use less gelatin...I have enough jiggle to last me a life time thankyouverymuch).

Looking forward to reading about your CC day!


I'm not sure if there was a true Safety Dance, but I know that the song was called "Safety Dance" and Hook & Smee were doing the robot to it. I was born in the 80's so I'm vaguely familiar with the rock bands of that era. I thought it was Devo that did Safety Dance. Regardless, the music choices on the ship were great. A little something for the kids, and a little something for the parents. Where else can you find a Pirate Party that plays the Dixie Chicks "Sin Wagon"? :laughing:

[JDBlair]

I'm not sure if there was a true Safety Dance, but I know that the song was called "Safety Dance" and Hook & Smee were doing the robot to it. I was born in the 80's so I'm vaguely familiar with the rock bands of that era. I thought it was Devo that did Safety Dance. Regardless, the music choices on the ship were great. A little something for the kids, and a little something for the parents. Where else can you find a Pirate Party that plays the Dixie Chicks "Sin Wagon"? :laughing:

It's actually Men Without Hats that sing the "Safety Dance" and my DH requested it at a wedding a couple weeks ago. If there isn't a dance to it, you'd have fooled me because many of us were recreating the video right there on the dance floor! :woohoo:

[CRSNDSNY]

:goodvibes Love it!

[Stripes]

Great TR.
Brings back such wonderful memories!

[DeloreanGirl]

It's actually Men Without Hats that sing the "Safety Dance" and my DH requested it at a wedding a couple weeks ago. If there isn't a dance to it, you'd have fooled me because many of us were recreating the video right there on the dance floor! :woohoo:

Men Without Hats!! Thank you! :idea:

Does anybody know the name of the country song they play on Castaway Cay with all the characters? It was fast and sort of techno-ish, but still twangy. It was cute.

[JDBlair]

Men Without Hats!! Thank you! :idea:

Does anybody know the name of the country song they play on Castaway Cay with all the characters? It was fast and sort of techno-ish, but still twangy. It was cute.

I can't take all the credit - I just Google'd it! Anything you ever want to know - GOOGLE!!! :hippie:

[jmb910]

We were so disappointed when we weren't able to meet you at the Sail Away Party. Well, after seeing your embarkation photo, we realized that we did meet you! We are the couple that won the Adult Disney Trivia Contest with you guys! How funny that we didn't even know who you were at the time. :rotfl2:

Yay, Team 2!!!!

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x247/jord5074/DisneyTriviaWinners.jpg

[DeloreanGirl]

We were so disappointed when we weren't able to meet you at the Sail Away Party. Well, after seeing your embarkation photo, we realized that we did meet you! We are the couple that won the Adult Disney Trivia Contest with you guys! How funny that we didn't even know who you were at the time. :rotfl2:

Yay, Team 2!!!!

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x247/jord5074/DisneyTriviaWinners.jpg

OH MY GOSH! YOU're JMB910! HOLY COW, totally didn't know! Thank you for sending across that picture, I'll have to add it to my collection. You guys rocked and sent us to 1st with those amazing last-second questions! :cheer2:

[DeloreanGirl]

Great trip reports! I snorted when I just read your post about taking really deep 1-2 hour naps. DH and I did the same thing on our Wonder trip. We felt drugged; I dunno what it is. It would have been great -- considering how deeply we slept -- except for everything we kept missing. That and the one or two times we showed up at dinner with pillow creases still on our faces. We're taking another DCL cruise in May '08, and we've sworn to not nap unless it's an emergency. ;) We figure the only way to do this is to ban all access to the cabin during the day -- which means you can find us by looking for the 2 snoring lobsters around the adult pool.

Can't wait to read the rest of your report! :thumbsup2

I completely concur! :lmao:

[dreamcometrue]

http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/4116/2692931680033203785S500x500Q85.jpg


are you tall or are the ceilings there really low? Or maybe it was just taken at a weird angle? :confused3

Love your TR! :banana:

[DeloreanGirl]

are you tall or are the ceilings there really low? Or maybe it was just taken at a weird angle? :confused3

Love your TR! :banana:

I think it's just the angle, because I never felt claustrophobic anywhere on the boat. That area is curved and the photo was taken from 20 feet away. The carpet is really busy-looking so that might have something to do with it too. Now that I think about it, I never really looked "up" to notice any ceilings on the ship!

[DeloreanGirl]

I can't take all the credit - I just Google'd it! Anything you ever want to know - GOOGLE!!! :hippie:

Amen sister!:surfweb:

[Tink rules]

OH MY GOSH! YOU're JMB910! HOLY COW, totally didn't know! Thank you for sending across that picture, I'll have to add it to my collection. You guys rocked and sent us to 1st with those amazing last-second questions! :cheer2:

SOOOOOOOOOOOO....

What'd you win???????????????

& how much studying do I really have to do to win the whole thing????

[DeloreanGirl]

SOOOOOOOOOOOO....

What'd you win???????????????

& how much studying do I really have to do to win the whole thing????

Hi Tink

We won the medals that we're wearing in the photo (above). The other trivia game gave out metal DCL keychains. Those were the only two prizes I saw. No spa stuff or a free cruise...:guilty: :laughing:

[Babs417]

Great pics of the 4 of you:thumbsup2

[DeloreanGirl]

Debarkation Day :sad1: :guilty:

Yes, Debarkation Day really is the saddest part of the cruise. The atmosphere is different and everyone is in a daze. The first part of the ugliness is that you have to wake up so early. Then you have to make sure you picked up everything out of your room and head downstairs to your restaurant with the tablemates that you may never see again. Our server wasn't as cheery as she normally was, but I don't blame her. She asked if all of us were ready to go home. We replied, "NO!!!". Someone asked her if she was ready to go home. She said, "Are you kidding? I'm going to Europe!" meaning the Med cruises that would be sailing a week after us.

The breakfast was pretty boring. I didn't want to eat a huge meal since I knew the day would be hectic. Honestly, all I wanted was cereal and a muffin. Our server looked surprised when this was all I ordered. Mike's pancakes were literally just that....pancakes. I guess he thought something else came on the side. We took our luggage and placed our comment card in the box next to the two Cast Members waving goodbye with their Mickey hands. I left great comments all around. :thumbsup2

I LOVE Disney's way of debarking. No numbers, no colors or groups, and no waiting for two hours in lounges sleeping. You simply finish eating and get off the boat. We found our luggage in the terminal in the appropriate color-coded area. The line to turn in your immigration card wasn't long, and it only took us about 10 minutes to get everything and get outside to the buses. The creation over the past few years of the airlines teaming up with the cruise lines to get your tickets is BRILLIANT. We used it in Alaska for RCCL and we were fortunate to be flying a participating airline (American) from Orlando, so we were presented with our boarding passes right then and there! It's a great feature. They took our luggage at that moment and we wouldn't have to see them until 12 hours later in California. :woohoo:

The ride back on the bus was quiet and uneventful, as most people have described. They play a DVC advertisement - as if we haven't been pushed on the DVC idea on our stateroom tv's all week long! Our driver was a bit rude. He had a Jersey accent and seemed bitter. He even barked at one guy for bringing a carry-on piece of luggage on the bus instead of underneath. Sheesh. No tip for him. :snooty:

We got to the airport at 11am, and our flight didn't leave until 4:50pm!!! We toyed with the idea of a day room at the Hyatt, but after spending so much on the cruise, I wanted to save every dollar at that point. At least we didn't have three suitcases to lug around MCO! We took our time walking through the gift shops. We went through NASA's Kennedy Space Center shop, the Universal Studios Orlando shop, and the Walt Disney World shop. There were tons of cute items, but again, we were too out of it to buy things. We plopped down in the atrium for about an hour. Then we ate an early lunch at Chili's. Somehow, the time flew, and we went through security to the American branch and waited in a very dismal boarding area for the next 2 hours. We even thought about getting an earlier flight, but families on the bus ride to the airport were already on their cell phones trying the same idea, and it looked like we would all be put on standby, and who knows if our seats would even be together. So Mike and I stuck it out.

When 4pm rolled around, it was announced that our flight was delayed. Luckily it was only 20 minutes or so, but I noticed that the plane that came it was a 757 and not the S80, which meant that half of the long trip back would result in one of us squished next to a stranger. Sure enough, we boarded and the guy sitting in our row declined my offer to take the window seat, so I was stuck against the window and Mike was in the middle. They played "Charlotte's Web" on the old tv screens and offered free sodas (all other candy and bars had to be purchased! What happened to the snack basket and peanuts? :sad2: ) The flight back was longer than the flight out, I'm assuming because of the wind speed. I realized that having our flight bumped meant that we would now have only 25 minutes to get off that plane and run as fast as we could to the next gate in Dallas/Fort Worth to catch our second leg. Dallas is layed out kind of weird, and you'd better pray that you're in the same concourse or else you have to take the tram to three other lettered areas. Mike was in a tizzy the entire flight assuring me that we would miss the next flight. At the end of our current flight, the flight attendant read off the connecting gates, and luckily ours was one of the very few that connected in the same concourse! Mike breathed a sigh of relief. We were only 6 gates away!

We landed in Dallas and checked the tv screens. Our plane, out of all of them, was the only one delayed going home! Normally this is bad news, but for us it was a miracle! :wizard: We now had an hour to get food and go to the bathroom! We finally borded the second plane and were happy to land on California soil. It's amazing how only being gone a week is enough for you to say, "Yep, I've had it. I'm done. I'm ready to go home now!" Granted, I loved the Magic, I just should have done the air travel different. Our flight to California was a half-hour longer than the flight out and there were high winds. The last 20 minutes of the flight felt like a boat being stuck in a storm. The pilots faught the turbulence the best they could. We were descending, which was good, I just wanted to be on the ground! :scared1: The last ten minutes were very bumpy and I kept thinking how annoying it would be if I didn't make it home. At least I can die saying I went on my Disney Cruise! :cloud9: Luckily it was a bumpy but successful landing. I was so happy to be back on the ground, back in my state, and back to thin un-humid air!

Mike and I were starving at that point and drove to an Applebee's in my old hometown. We were in a complete daze. We had breakfast in Florida, lunch in Texas, and dinner in California. We still had an hour's drive home after that, which was spent in silence with the occasional moan of sleepyness here and there. It was great to pull into our driveway and see our house still standing. No mail overflowing, everything looked peaceful. You always miss the smell of your house, it's funny. We unpacked our toiletries and went to bed. I had one of those moments where I was too tired to sleep. Physically I was exhausted, but I'm sure mentally my mind was racing. Plus, I knew I had 5 loads of laundry coming up! :laundy:

Like clockwork, the Mal de debarquement (dizzyness) set in. You know, the motion of the ocean....minus the ocean. I got it on the last two cruises, but this one wasn't as bad. Maybe because I knew it was coming.

So, like my title says, our Disney cruise was magical, fun, amazing, worth every penny, and definitely set the cruising bar very high. I don't have to try to sell you all on it, because cleary by these boards there's no other fan club for a cruise line quite like this one. We are already looking into a future Double-Dip on the Wonder. But we'll be buying our first house next year so it looks like it might be '09 or '10. Who knows, maybe we'll wait for the new ships to come our way.

So to those reading, thank you. And to those sailing, you will have a GREAT time. Just remember that the cruise ship does all it can for you. It is up to you to decide whether or not to participate in the activities. If you sit in your room and don't engage in the dinners and shows, you may end up disliking the experience. However, if you do your best to go to the activities and make the best of it, you'll have a great time. Cruising is not for everyone, I totally understand that. But Disney does a really superb job of making your vacation as unique and enjoyable as they can.

And they did! :grouphug:

[JDBlair]

Bravo! :thumbsup2 Great report. :thumbsup2 Really enjoyed it. :thumbsup2 Sad it's over. :sad1: But definitely makes me look forward to my upcoming cruise!! :thumbsup2

[Jennifer48]

Yey! Great ending to a faboulous trip report! :thumbsup2 Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

If you don't mind me asking, did you get any type of discount since Mike works for the Disney Channel?

Thanks again!:goodvibes

[DeloreanGirl]

Yey! Great ending to a faboulous trip report! :thumbsup2 Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

If you don't mind me asking, did you get any type of discount since Mike works for the Disney Channel?

Thanks again!:goodvibes

Hi Jennifer48,

Shockingly, we got NO discounts from working for the Disney channel! As a matter of fact, they don't even give out free tickets to Disneyland either, which would've been neat. What's $72 when you make millions! :laughing: They do give out free DVD's around Christmastime, like Cinderella III and Sky High and Herbie. An annual pass would've been awesome:cloud9: .

[amyamya]

[QUOTE=DeloreanGirl;18724008]Mickey then announced that instead of a party, he was going to give us a party….in the sky! Like clockwork, Mike and I turned to our right and there being launched off the forward pool deck was a great 5-10 minute fireworks show! And no folks, it wasn’t a few cheesy backyard illegal poppers, it was the real deal. Disney completely rocks for having been able to do that at sea. I believed we were stopped or going incredibly slow at the time. Through the booms and bangs, Mike yelled to me, “Carnival can kiss it. This cruise just paid for itself!”


I read this part really fast and thought it was Mickey who yelled "Carnival can kiss it!" when the fireworks were going off!!! :rotfl: How cool would that be, tho?

Really great TR and great pics. You look like Pam from The Office. In my mind I call you Pam. I was thinking the other day, I wonder if Pam has updated her TR? Ooops, that show is not on ABC!!!

[DeloreanGirl]

[QUOTE=DeloreanGirl;18724008]Mickey then announced that instead of a party, he was going to give us a party….in the sky! Like clockwork, Mike and I turned to our right and there being launched off the forward pool deck was a great 5-10 minute fireworks show! And no folks, it wasn’t a few cheesy backyard illegal poppers, it was the real deal. Disney completely rocks for having been able to do that at sea. I believed we were stopped or going incredibly slow at the time. Through the booms and bangs, Mike yelled to me, “Carnival can kiss it. This cruise just paid for itself!”


I read this part really fast and thought it was Mickey who yelled "Carnival can kiss it!" when the fireworks were going off!!! :rotfl: How cool would that be, tho?

Really great TR and great pics. You look like Pam from The Office. In my mind I call you Pam. I was thinking the other day, I wonder if Pam has updated her TR? Ooops, that show is not on ABC!!!

LOL Amy.... :lmao:

Your post had me laughing. That would be hillarious if Mickey said that. And thank you for the Pam comment. I Google'd some pictures of her and you're very close with that prediction! :)

[mormadsmom]

was it cotton eyed joe? I think that is the name of the song played at CC. "where did you come from, where did you go, cotten eyed joe" Now I have the tune in my head and I wanna clog or something. hee hee-

[DeloreanGirl]

was it cotton eyed joe? I think that is the name of the song played at CC. "where did you come from, where did you go, cotten eyed joe" Now I have the tune in my head and I wanna clog or something. hee hee-

LOL, no it wasn't that one. But that one DOES get caught in my head a lot. I think it was by a girl. They played it while the characters were dancing. The "Reach For The Stars" song was cute too. Your trip report is dead on when you describe the humidity. Wet towel indeed! :eek: :)

[tfc3rid]

Emily...

I love your trip report. My DGF and I have been on 2 cruises thus far and are taking the September 29th Eastern this year... We love cruising with Disney, even with all the kids, etc. on board... It's a great expereience... I loved your trip report and your pics and can't wait to start my own!!!

[LindaBabe]

Terrific trip report! We too, napped deeply every afternoon. In fact, I have photos of all 4 of us (two 50-something couples) on our first cruise sleeping on deck 10, deck 4, by the pool, on castaway cay, etc. Just like the dad in the commercial. Oh yes! I have lots to do. lol

I love that there are other young couples without kids that love Disney and Disney Cruises. My DH and I are almost 25 and don't plan on ever having kids (everyone says that will change, but knowing my DH I doubt it), but I always plan on taking Disney vacations. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of your TR. It's always nice to hear reports from people similar to us.


I'm you girls - only 30 odd years older at 59. It's now, in the autumn of my life that I wish I'd had children. Our friends are all busy with grandkids sporting events and every holiday is spent with one or more of their extended families. We have none. My husband got hurt and was in a cast for a couple months and there was no one to call - which kinda brought it home to me that as we move into old age, it will be he and I. and eventually one of us alone. Just something to think about.

[THUNDERMOUNTAINMOMMA]

Men Without Hats!! Thank you! :idea:

Does anybody know the name of the country song they play on Castaway Cay with all the characters? It was fast and sort of techno-ish, but still twangy. It was cute.

I think you might be talking about the Cotten Eye Joe. Not sure who recorded it, though.:confused3

[BCV2002]

Subscribing. This is great. My DH and I's next cruise is going to be the Eastern, we're really excited to hear about it.

[Babs417]

I just read your report again. It wasjust as good the second time around thanks:thumbsup2 :goodvibes ;) :)

[mruhaak]

I just read your entire report! It was great! :thumbsup2 Thanks for sharing.

I learned a few things in preparation for our Eastern Magic Cruise in Novemer.

I remember trips without kids. (Sigh.)

By the way- I didn't have kids until really late in life and struggled to have them for many years so I hated that "When are you having kids?" question for that reason. It was really painful and hurt when people would say it! I'd recommend no one ever asks that question. It's really only your business anyway!!

[DeloreanGirl]

I just read your report again. It wasjust as good the second time around thanks:thumbsup2 :goodvibes ;) :)

Thanks Babs! I obsessed over our cruise for SO LONG, and now it's almost July and I haven't even started my scrapbook yet! What's wrong with me?!?! :eek:

[DeloreanGirl]

By the way- I didn't have kids until really late in life and struggled to have them for many years so I hated that "When are you having kids?" question for that reason. It was really painful and hurt when people would say it! I'd recommend no one ever asks that question. It's really only your business anyway!!

I agree! ;)

All of our friends are 10 years older than me and having them, so I'll see how we do around their babies. Maybe a switch will go off in another 5 years or so. :rolleyes1

[rikimuk]

[QUOTE=DeloreanGirl;18588355]Pre-Planing Stage!
[Yep, that’s it. Sans children. Mike and I are that weird couple that everyone has in their lifetime that answers the “when are you guys having kids?” question with the :eek: :scared: face. Yep, that’s us. It’s not that we don’t LIKE children. We just prefer to put that idea on the backburner forever. Okay, maybe not forever. I have a small clan that has put down money that I will change my mind “when I’m 30”.

Hey me and my husband are just the same and I turned 30 last september and still dont want them no no not for me lol!!!!

Lindsay