April 3 - 6 on the Wonder - 3-nights trip report with PICTURES [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

nzdisneymom

04-07-2008, 05:43 PM

Cast: Cindy D. (43), Gary (52), Nathan (11 3/4), and Zachary (10 1/2)
Where: Disney Wonder (Thursday through Sunday)
Why: Spring Break and celebrating Gary’s 30 year anniversary at his job

Thursday, April 3, 2008.

It’s Cruise day! Our 3-nights on the Wonder would begin today! We were looking forward to this day more than the WDW portion of our trip. Because we were driving over from Saratoga Springs, we knew we didn’t have to leave too early, so we let the kids sleep in until around 9 a.m. I woke up early and was ready to get packed up and head out. We had done most of the packing the night before, so we mostly had to get the rest of the bathroom stuff and the kitchen stuff packed up from our 4 days at WDW. I had to sort out what was going on the cruise and what was staying in the car. And then I had to figure out what needed to be in the day-bag that I would have to carry with me until we could get into our stateroom at 1:30 – yet another reason to not get to the Port too early.

We headed out around 9:40 a.m. with an ETA of 10:45. We took 535 to 536 to 417 to 528 to the Port. Traffic was light the whole way. Tolls were $1, $1, and $1.25. We arrived at the port right at 10:45, just ahead of a DCL bus. The Port personnel were efficient and informative about providing directions and instructions for getting us unloaded and the car parked. Gary dropped the boys and me off with our hand-luggage, and we gave the rest of the luggage to the porter. The porter pointed us to the terminal entrance and showed Gary where to go to park and how to get back to the terminal, and double-checked to make sure he had his photo ID. He used his Driver’s License for his photo ID so that I could take his passport in with me to go through the check-in process.

As the boys and I were in the line (there were less than 10 people ahead of us) to go through the security scanner, our fellow-DISer Deb T. came in line. She had been on the DCL bus that had been behind us. We had hoped to meet on Wednesday at Epcot but it hadn’t worked out, but she recognized me right away from a picture I had sent her previously. The boys and I went through security and were greeted by Disney CMs who made sure I had everything I needed before entering the check-in line. I asked about the Bahamas immigration form and she told me that they were not doing those any more; I had wondered when we didn’t have them in our documents packet.

Because we were returning guests, we are part of the Castaway Club which provides a separate check-in line than general check-in. We were given a boarding ticket for our family and I went right on in; there was no one else waiting, so I got to go right on up to check-in. Check-in was pretty seamless except that two of our Keys to the World cards had to be re-done because our names were wonky. The names print out based on the passport swipes, according to the CM, but ours didn’t print right so he had to override the names to get them right. Because we had done online registration, I didn’t have to change the kids’ charging privileges; the registration process had taken care of making them non-charging KTTW cards.

I finished up and found where the kids were just as Gary came in looking for us. It wasn’t busy in the terminal at all; the kids were watching t.v. Deb got done with her check-in as well so she came over and I introduced her to Gary and we started getting acquainted. She went out to watch the ship while I took the boys to get their wristbands and pager for the Oceaneer Lab. There was only one family ahead of us but by the time we were done, there was a considerable queue.

We had about 30 minutes to wait, so I turned the boys loose with my camera and asked them to get pictures. Nathan was the main one getting pictures: ship model, Minnie Mouse, the Wonder.

And then it was time to board. We were boarding with Deb in Group 2, but the queue was jammed up with Group 3 people blocking and it wasn’t very clear as to where the line was for boarding, but it was only a couple of minutes before they announced for groups 2 *and* 3 to board, so we were able to go through. We had agreed to by-pass the Embarkation photo opportunity (and every other photo opportunity this trip), so we went straight on through and crossed the gangway to have our names announced as we entered the Atrium of the Wonder!

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Dreamfinder2

04-07-2008, 05:50 PM

Hey, Cindy! Good to see you weighing in on your cruise!

Looking forward to your report as it unfolds.

Grumpymom73

04-07-2008, 06:01 PM

I can't wait to read more. We are going on the Wonder May 8. I love reading trip reports as we wait too!

Deb T.

04-07-2008, 07:05 PM

Deb T. here ~ adding to the embarkation part of nzdisneymom's TR (as promised! ;) ).

This "Cast of Characters" consisted of just me, a middle school teacher on a much needed and well deserved spring break. Why was I sailing solo? Well, as fate would have it, DH had to cancel due to work :sad1: , DS is in law school in Sacramento, and DD is a teacher in a different county and both kids had a different spring break than I did :guilty: . I could have cancelled with DH... ummmmmmm... riiiiiiiiiiiight... maybe next time dear :lmao: . Since this was my 6th DCL cruise, I'm pretty familiar with the ship and felt totally comfortable traveling alone. Yes, alone in a Cat6 cabin. No one to answer to. No one to plan around. No one to elbow when that person wakes me up snoring. Ahhhhhhh, all alone. (I highly recommend it!) :thumbsup2 Actually, I figured that the only awkward time for me would be the first night at dinner when I would have to explain why I was sailing alone, especially if I was seated at a table with a family. I had no idea exactly how awkward that first dinner would turn out to be.... but more on that later.

I arrived at MCO at 8:40am and headed straight to Disney's Magical Express counter (Side B, Level 1) to check in for my ride to the port. (Cruise guests go to a separate line at the far left side of the counter.) I happily learned I would be on the first Disney bus from the airport headed to the port :cool1: , then found a comfy chair to sit and read (and people watch) while I waited. The first bus left a little after 10am and soon we were going over that last bridge where The Wonder comes into view :goodvibes ! Oh what a beautiful sight! After we pulled up to the Disney port terminal, the driver stepped off the bus to offload luggage from under the bus while a DCL cm boarded the bus to tell us where to go and what to expect during the check-in process. I knew that Cindy and her family were planning to arrive early and expected to find them already in the terminal, so I was surprised when I saw her in the security line with her boys! As she said, I recognized her immediately from a photo she'd sent!

On my cruise last April, we received our boarding number immediately after going through the security screening at the bottom of the escalator, but this time we received them just prior to entering the check-in line. I had already printed all my cruise documents, so check-in was very quick and easy.

It was fun to finally meet Cindy and her family in person after "talking" with her for months on our cruise meets thread. :hug:

I have to be honest here and tell you that the boarding process was a complete mess on this day. :sad2: We saw the concierge guests being escorted through the big yellow Mickey ears and knew that, as Boarding Group 2, we'd soon be able to board so we headed toward the ropes. There seemed to be two huge lines and we weren't sure which one to get in, so we picked one and once it was announced that Group 2 could board, that line moved only a little bit. I realized the family in front of us was holding #3, so we moved to the other line which, unfortunately, did not move either. Our only other choice would have been to cut in front of both lines to move to the front, but that seemed rude, so we waited, wondering why none of the lines were moving. After a while, they announced that Groups 2 and 3 could board! What??? :confused: I have no idea why an effort wasn't made to make it clear that if you weren't holding the correct boarding number then you needed to move off to the side so other people could board. It was a little disappointing to have missed our golden opportunity but, in the end, we still boarded in a timely manner and were soon onboard one of the two most beautiful ships in the world! I also by-passed the photo line, but did have them announce my name as I boarded... and became teary-eyed as usual. Then I turned to clap as Cindy and her family were announced! Yea! :banana:

We had decided to head to Beach Blanket for lunch, but first I wanted to pick up a Navigator from Guest Services since I knew I wouldn't officially be getting one until my cabin was ready at 1:30pm. Cindy thought this was a good idea :idea: and picked one up, also! Then we hopped on an elevator to Deck 9! :yay:

Deb T.

04-07-2008, 10:23 PM

I'm going to jump a little ahead of Cindy's report here because I won't be able to post again until tomorrow night...

Cindy and her family were very gracious and invited me to join them for the wonderful embarkation buffet lunch! :cloud9: I enjoyed getting to know them! After lunch, Cindy and I both headed to Wavebands to ask about dining changes. Cindy wanted a different dining rotation at her early seating. I wanted to find out whether I would be dining with other single cruisers and adults or if I had been used as a "filler" at a table with a family at my late seating. Turns out the latter was the case, so Simone checked and found a spot for me at a table with two adult women who were traveling together and a family of three at the PLA 8:30pm seating. Awesome! Or so I thought...

I then went to the spa to schedule a massage. I had tried to do this online at 90 days out, but the only time slots available conflicted with other activities I wanted to participate in, specifically: the Sail-away party, the shows, the dinners, and Castaway Cay. I asked about a 10:30am massage for the next morning (Nassau day) but was told nothing was available and another time slot was suggested. When I declined and said that 10:30am was the only time I could do it, miraculously that time became available! ;) Oh I am a lucky girl! :lmao:

I wandered around the ship for a little while and also slipped into Cove Cafe to check out their little glass case full of wonderful treats. I helped myself to something chocolate and then went to wait for the "rope drop" so I could drop my day bag in my cabin. Stateroom 6598 was perfect, just as I expected! :goodvibes I looked through all the new Castaway Club goodies, verified my $100 onboard rebooking credit, and unpacked my day bag before enjoying some quiet time on my verandah. I peeked in the hallway twice before my suitcase appeared and then quickly unpacked. After putting my "valuables" in the safe (wallet and camera), I couldn't get it to lock! Oh no! :scared1: I tried my room key, my Disney VISA, and everything else in my wallet that had a magical magnetic strip! Darn! It was 3:15pm and time for our DIS meet so I grabbed the stuff out of the safe and headed up to the Mickey Pool. After the meet, I called Guest Services to report my very un-Disney-like uncooperative safe locking mechanism, only to be reminded that you have to swipe the card magnetic-side UP. Duh! :upsidedow How many DCL cruises did I say I've been on?!?!?!?!? :rotfl2:

Our DIS meet was nice even though there were only 4 DISers and their families in attendance: nzdisneymom, Ness2289, GoofyJJ, and me. It was great to put faces with DIS names. We had all hoped that the others who had posted on our meets thread (Pryncesa, Belle'sMom, Isi, and momof-4/wjruss/mommyruss) would also attend, but didn't. You know, it's amazing that there were nearly 3,000 passengers onboard and yet the four of us kept running into each other several times each day! :grouphug:

We all headed off to prepare for the 4pm lifeboat drill. Afterward, I went to the front of Deck 10 to watch us set sail. As we pulled away from the dock, I watched two dolphins off the starboard side! I stayed at the front of the ship until we were past the last buoy and officially out-to-sea. Then I headed to the Walt Disney Theater for the greatly anticipated 6:15pm showing of Toy Story! All I can say is WOW! :lovestruc I loved the whole show! Woody and Sid did a particularly AMAZING job of portraying their characters! Buzz needs a little more bent-knee bounce in his walk, but otherwise did an excellent job, too. ALL the characters were awesome! After the show, I briefly considered skipping dinner in Parrot Cay so I could watch it again. In hindsight, I should have...

nzdisneymom

04-08-2008, 06:54 AM

Because Deb and I spent some time together after embarking, bear with me for any repeats!

As Deb mentioned, we stopped at Guest Services to pick up Navigators; I’m so glad that she got them because she also got the movie schedule. I had mentioned on the Meet thread several times about wanting to be sure to see a movie in the Buena Vista Theater and she had remembered that. At first glance it looked like I would, indeed, have several opportunities to see the movies we wanted to see.

We both wanted to change some dining plans but agreed along with Gary and the boys that lunch was more important at that point than worrying about dinner! So we got on the elevator and swooshed on up to Deck 9 for our first steps outdoors on the Wonder! It was amazing! The kids were looking for both the similarities and differences between the Magic and the Wonder. They were excited to see Pinocchio’s and Pluto’s! We noticed the water-play splash zone on the port side of the Mickey Slide which is not on the Magic. It really makes good use of that space!

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nzdisneymom

04-08-2008, 06:58 AM

The boys stopped to get their lunches outdoors while the adults went in to Beach Blanket Buffet. I have to say that I like the theming of BBB better than Topsiders; it just feels more vacationy (is that a word?). We were greeted with sanitation wipes and big smiles.

The buffet lunch had the standard sailing day foods including the peel-and-eat shrimp that previous cruisers had recently tempted us with in pictures! We each got what we wanted and then found the boys had picked out a table inside (they don’t like to eat outside because of the wind) and we joined them. Deb accepted our invitation to eat lunch with us – it took a little bit of convincing to assure her that she was absolutely not intruding on our family vacation. We all love meeting new people and my boys had “taken” to her immediately. There’s just something so exciting about sail-away day that you have to share that excitement with someone!

After the boys finished eating, they took off for foosball and exploring. Deb and I went down to Wavebands to see about our dining needs. Our family had PTA rotation. Our only hope had been to NOT have Tritons on the second night because we had thought we would just have dinner at Beach Blanket Buffet that night. But I didn’t want to miss eating in Tritons either. After a short wait, I found there wasn’t availability to switch our rotation (I figured there wouldn’t be) but he did give me some options about how to switch on a daily basis, but it was too much effort.

Deb and I parted ways after getting our dining situated and I set off to explore the ship and take some pictures of the terminal, gangway, and parking lot from Deck 4.

Gary came out then so we roamed the ship for a bit, wondering where the boys had gotten off to while waiting for it to be 1:30 so we could go to the cabin. Zachary was wearing Gary’s watch so we didn’t know what time it was.

nzdisneymom

04-08-2008, 07:00 AM

We headed up to Deck 9 to get a drink (and Gary had already had an ice cream) and then wait for the room. As we were heading for the drink station, Zachary found us and told us Nathan was in the room. The boys had been going up and down the stairs waiting for the all-clear to go to the staterooms (they were just a wee bit excited). So we went to our stateroom (6116) and dropped off our day-bags.

We had spent 10 nights in stateroom 6116 on the Magic last summer. We loved the location so much that we have declared this to be “our” cabin. But when we entered, Gary remarked how small the cabin was and how he couldn’t believe we had spent 10 nights in such small space! Then he stepped out onto the verandah and he had that “aha!” moment when he realized how much space the verandah adds and how much time he spent (and would spend) out there!

We had some welcome-aboard gifts from Castaway Club and of course all the papers that are left in the stateroom when you arrive. I got out a pen and started going through the Navigator to see what I wanted to do for the afternoon. I knew we had a DIS Meet at 3:15 by Goofy’s Galley, so I needed to plan around it.

I had considered going to the Shopping Show where they tell you about the ports and give you flyers and such, but I’d never been to one and it was scheduled for 2:30 – 3:30. I thought I might go and just slip out to make it to the meet. Then there was an announcement over the speakers, including a promotion for the shopping show, and Zachary said he wanted to go. So we did.

If you’ve never been to a Shopping Show, they are actually pretty entertaining. Dustin was our Shopping Guide and he made it interesting as he told us about shopping in Nassau. And of course there was a drawing for a couple of things including a bear from the Del Sol store that a child would win. I have to tell you that the only store I wanted to shop at in Nassau was the Del Sol store. I’ve only been to one twice before – once in Huntington Beach, CA (the first one) and the other in Key West. Both times I bought t-shirts for the boys and they had outgrown them, so I wanted to get another shirt for each of them. I was hoping that the shopping show would give us a discount or a flyer for something free like a tote, but the only free thing they had was lanyards. Oh, I love that changing nail polish they have, too!

Zachary and I watched the time and as it got closer to 3:15 we knew we had to make a choice – miss the drawing for the bear (and there weren’t a lot of kids there) or be late for the Meet. I had Zachary run upstairs to tell Deb and whoever else made it that I was coming but was going to be late. His first trip up, no one was there yet, but he went back a few minutes later to deliver my message. We finished up with the show (and Zachary didn’t win even though several adults around us gave him their tickets) and then I went up to the meet.

It was so nice to meet the other families that we’ve been posting with for months. We had organized a fish-extender gift exchange so it was nice to have faces for when we made our deliveries later in the day. The deck was getting pretty crowded so we didn’t “meet” for very long but it was a good time to know who our fellow DISers were. As Deb mentioned, we all kept running into each other!

After the Meet, I returned to the cabin to find that four of our five bags had made it. But then I discovered that really all five had made it, but that Gary had already efficiently unpacked his bag and stowed it under the bed! He also had already had a nap! Nathan was watching t.v. and also coming in and out from the verandah.

We got ready for the lifeboat drill and went out to our familiar Assembly Station N. This was our opportunity to see that Zachary really is bigger than his older brother Nathan as we were instructed to line up smallest to largest. The drill didn’t take long and it was an overcast day so it wasn’t unbearable being outside as it has been on our previous voyages. The worst part about the lifeboat drill is getting back in and returning to your cabin; the passageways are crammed with people, and of course there are always those who insist on taking their life jackets off and dragging the straps for someone to trip on.

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We made it safely back to the cabin and I started unpacking, particularly looking for our clothes to wear to dinner. Mine needed a quick pressing, so I went off to the laundry room. There was one guy in there getting ready to do his laundry already, but he said he’d already been traveling for several days! We had, too, but we had been at Saratoga Springs and had done all of our laundry the night before! This was my only trip to the laundry room for the cruise!

Next I got Zachary to go with me to deliver our fish extender gifts. The other participants were all on the starboard side of ship and all on decks 5, 6, and 7, and all either midship or aft, so we didn’t have to run all over the ship! We had already had a delivery from a DISer and the boys had so much fun checking our “fish mail” whenever something was in there during the trip!

Then it was time for sail-away! We had opted to skip the party but wanted to be up on Deck 10 for pulling out of the port. We took a quick walk around the party and then suddenly we were on our way. We hadn’t heard the horn so I was a bit confused. But never mind, we found a spot to watch us pull away and head through the channel. As we cleared the channel, that’s when the horn played, and we were way forward so we got an earful! We took some pictures and then headed back down to get ready for dinner.

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Dreamfinder2

04-08-2008, 09:19 AM

Cindy, Dustin was the shopping guide on our cruise. While I sure as heck wasn't gonna go to any shopping presentation ;) , my girls did, and Dustin recognized them and spoke to them whenever he saw them on the ship. They enjoyed getting his recommendations and collected "freebies" while we were in port.

Looking foward to more!

Oh, yeah, Deb T. - good to see you piggybacking here. I told Amy about your son. She just rolled her eyes and grinned.

RLccweems

04-08-2008, 09:44 AM

I love your TR and all the pics. I can't wait to read more....

Deb T.

04-08-2008, 12:45 PM

scottishwee35

04-08-2008, 03:56 PM

We had a wonderful 3-night cruise on the Disney Wonder. I'm working on my trip report this week and will post along the way including pictures. I told the other DISers on-board that I would do a trip report but they had to promise to jump in and add to it, too. We all enjoyed reading Dreamfinder's report in the days before we had our WONDERful cruise and hope to "pay it forward" to someone else counting the days until their own journey.

So check back later and we'll start our adventure.

Hi Cindy

Good to heard that you all had a good times. I will reading your forum:thumbsup2

Our cruise is 28 days now and we are looking forward to Panama Canal cruise.

Take care.

Scottishwee35:thumbsup2

scottishwee35

04-08-2008, 04:08 PM

.

Next I got Zachary
ome pictures

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak2008114.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak2008097.jpg

He look grown up since I last saw him last year. I will show this photos to Keith tomorrow.

Scottishwee35:thumbsup2

nzdisneymom

04-08-2008, 04:25 PM

He look grown up since I last saw him last year. I will show this photos to Keith tomorrow.

Scottishwee35:thumbsup2

You know, he really has grown a lot in the last several months. He really doesn't look like the same kid we took to the Med.

I know you guys are looking forward to your trip - coming up real soon! Can't wait for your trip report!

nzdisneymom

04-08-2008, 04:27 PM

Here are the pictures of the terminal and the gangway. I thought I had already uploaded them when I posted before but instead of editing them into the posts, I'll just put them here. These are from Deck 4.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak2008084.jpg

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naner

04-08-2008, 06:39 PM

subscribing!

Hypermommy

04-08-2008, 07:35 PM

Great start! Can't wait to read more from all of you. When you first said something about requiring people to post my first thought was "well... do I have to be nice?" Glad to know I don't have to (post or be nice). :rotfl2:

But quite honestly... can't wait to hear more. And see more pictures!!!

nzdisneymom

04-09-2008, 06:39 AM

Thursday, Continued...

Our dining rotation was Parrot Cay, Tritons, and then Animator’s Palate. I was looking forward to Parrot Cay the most because they have my most favorite dessert – crème brulee cheesecake! Mmmmmm.

I should preface our dinner experience by saying that on our first cruise, I was all about the dining rooms, making sure we all looked our best, etc. But boys (and DHs) being boys, getting them into dress pants and dress shirts was not a pleasant part of our previous cruises, so this time I promised that I wouldn’t bug them about what they wore. I made sure to pack what they would need should they decide to eat in the dining rooms each evening. And because we were on the 3-night cruise, I knew that dress was a bit more casual than on the 7-night. But even so, I still wanted clean shirts and faces and preferred that they wear long pants. So they abided by my wishes and off we went.

We had main dining but the later of the seating times (6:00 p.m.) and were scheduled for table 74. As we were getting ready to queue for Parrot Cay, DISer Ness2289 and her daughter were just coming down, too. We compared table numbers to find that they were at our table! How cool was that? <start singing It’s a Small World after all…>

We were taken to our table where we met our server Alfredo and our assistant server Catherine. It was a 6-top, so it was going to be just the six of us for dinners. That was nice to have another DISer, and it was Ness2289’s first cruise, so I was excited to hear her perspective on things.

Dinner got started with that yummy banana bread they have in Parrot Cay, and I started with a caesar salad that was every bit as good as I had remembered. But between the salad and the entrée, I started feeling sick – as in the ship’s motion is making me nauseous. Uh-oh! Ness2289’s DD was also feeling puny and so was Nathan. Gary sweetly went upstairs to get the Dramamine (chewables, for children). Nathan took his, ate a few of his grapes, and then left to go check out the Lab. Our entrees arrived and looked delicious, but I was only able to manage a few bites before I knew I’d better not. I hated the wastefulness (but Gary was glad to have my double-baked potato!) and I took some Dramamine then, too. Time for dessert and I really considered it, but decided I had better pass because I knew I could have some tomorrow Zachary left at some point to go back to the room but I stayed until Gary was done. We found out the next day that there was a lot of room service this night due to the seas – they weren’t rough, but just enough of a difference in motion to cause folks to feel ick.

nzdisneymom

04-09-2008, 06:42 AM

After dinner, we went back up to the room. Nathan had been to the Lab but said the ship simulator wasn’t working, so he checked himself out and went back to the cabin.

Our stateroom host (Nonoy) had turned our beds down while we were at dinner and left our towel animal (swan) and arranged our soft friends that cruised with us at the foot of Nathan's bed.

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Toy Story the Musical was the show for the evening and I really wanted to see it. So I had about 1/2 hour to get myself feeling better, so I laid down for a bit while the boys watched t.v. and Gary sat on the Verandah. The Dramamine had time to kick in (next time I will know to go ahead and take it right after sail-away to give it time to work before dinner), so Zachary and I went to the Walt Disney Theater around 8 p.m.

On the Med Cruise last summer, we had decided that sitting in the front section off to the right was a good spot for watching the shows, so we headed down for our favorite row. The theater was pretty full by the time the show started. There were the usual “no flash photography, no LED screens” announcements and then Rachel came on stage. We had sailed with Rachel in Dec. 2005 for our first cruise and it was interesting to me how much her script is the same.

We had seen every show on the Magic and were wowed by many of them, but I have to say that Toy Story the Musical was my favorite WOW performance! The performers were on and energetic, the effects were fun, and the costuming was amazing. This was the only show I had planned to see and I didn’t want to miss it! Zachary and I both gave it two thumbs up and considered it a highlight of the trip!

After the show, I wandered through the gift shops for a few minutes, finding a postcard for my office door, a magnet for the refrigerator, and a Cruise Line Goofy to add to our collection of soft friends. Then back to the room to find out who wanted to go get hot chocolate with me from Deck 9.

Nathan had already had his shower, but unfortunately we didn’t have HOT water – it was barely warm. Ugh. But it was warm enough and felt refreshing after being in the heat of the day, so I didn’t call about the shower, thinking perhaps that it was due to so many other people taking showers at the same time.

We got hot chocolate from Deck 9. Speaking of the beverage station, I meant to get a picture of it to show what beverages they offer, but I didn’t get it. But I did notice that they have both regular Diet Coke and caffeine free Diet Coke. They have Sprite and Diet Sprite.

The boys went to sleep pretty quickly – Nathan on the bottom and Zachary on the top bunk. I flipped through channels while reading through the DCL book that has the room service menu in it. I came across the story of Castaway Cay (starts on page 36) and found it interesting to read the Disney tale of the beginning of CC. I made a note to have Gary and the boys read it before going to CC on Saturday as it explains why some things are named what they are (like She Sells Seashells and Everything Else – with Seashells crossed out). I watched some folks playing basketball out on the sports deck (beware of what you do on the sports deck – you never know who might be voyeuring). And then I found the Q/A channel where they have FAQs about the ship and shipboard services. This was helpful to me because I found out that once per voyage you can cash a personal check up to $100 on board and I was a little lower in cash than I wanted to be for Nassau.

Then off to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………………………..

Hypermommy

04-09-2008, 10:10 AM

Crème brulee cheesecake!!!! That just sounds soooo yummy!!! What is it -- cheesecake where the custard part would be? Or custard on top of cheesecake with that yummy glazed top? Whatever it is, I know I'll be having some.

Nice to know about the sports deck. I might just let the boys believe there are cameras everywhere. They already know they have to behave at Disney becuase there's security everywhere :-)

Oh, and thanks for the knowledge about the cashing a check. I expect we'll be able to use the credit cards in most ports but it might be helpful to know that this is an option if necessary.

nzdisneymom

04-09-2008, 10:34 AM

Crème brulee cheesecake!!!! That just sounds soooo yummy!!! What is it -- cheesecake where the custard part would be? Or custard on top of cheesecake with that yummy glazed top? Whatever it is, I know I'll be having some.

You got it... cheesecake on the bottom (but flavored with the creme brulee flavor) and the glazy stuff on top. Parrot Cay serves it on their themed night, and the nice thing is if you really like it, you can get it from the buffet (or ask your server to bring it to you) on another night.

And speaking of desserts (peeking ahead to our Saturday evening dinner in Animator's Palate), the strawberry shortcake is good, but be sure to ask for a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with it! It's more like a shortbread than a shortcake, but either way, it is a fitting end to the AP meal.

Deb T.

04-09-2008, 04:28 PM

I must agree with Cindy on it being a small world! :) Ness2289 and I were surprised to learn that we both work for the same school system! We were fortunate enough to meet and get to know each other prior to sailing and also spent quite a bit of time together during the cruise, too! :goodvibes

I wanted to mention my motion sickness preventative routine for those of you who are worried about not getting your sea legs in time for dinner the first night. First of all, let me preface this by telling you that I can't even ride as a passenger in a stick-shift car because the forward-backward motion has me urping very quickly. :sick: I used the Transderm Scop patch on my first two cruises and, although I didn't feel sick to my stomach during the cruise, I did feel ill after removing the patch once back on land, as well as having very dry eyes and extreme thirst. On my last four cruises, I've found that a combination of Bonine (generic name is meclizine) and ginger pills is very effective, with no side effects! I take one Bonine tablet and two ginger pills every 12 hours, beginning the night before the cruise and feel totally fine the entire time! :thumbsup2

While Cindy and Zachary were watching Toy Story, I was at dinner. I had late seating (8:30pm) and was on the same dining rotation that Cindy and Ness2289 had at 6:00: PLA. We've always been lucky enough to be assigned with wonderful dinner tablemates, so I was really looking forward to meeting new people tonight, especially since I was cruising alone this trip. As mentioned previously, I even changed my dining assignment because I had originally been placed as a "filler" at a table with one family and I didn't want them to wonder why this random person was sitting with them. So, with great anticipation, I arrived at Parrot Cay and was led to Table 78, which was beautifully set for six people. No one else had been seated there yet, so I sat and waited as all the tables around me began to fill up and the servers and assistant servers tended to those guests. And I waited. And I waited. And no one else ever came. Boy did I feel awkward, and embarrassed, and ALONE! :guilty: Realizing eventually that no one else was coming, the assistant server finally took my drink order while I told him how I was feeling. I told the server, too. And the head server, Ali. I told all three of them multiple times that I was feeling very out-of-place and sad and uncomfortable, and all three really couldn't have cared less. :sad2: It was very disconcerting and I had a difficult time even eating because of how alone I was feeling. :sad1: Several tables around me had empty places that I could have easily joined for just that one night if my head server would have allowed me to do so, but evidently he did not consider that an option, which ended up making me as mad as I was sad. There would definitely be no tip for Ali on Saturday night!!! As I was leaving the restaurant, I passed by Simone (the head waiter in another section who had helped me change my dining earlier that day ~ in hindsight, be careful what you wish for, right?!?!) and he asked how everything turned out. When I told him I had to eat alone tonight, he was VERY apologetic and said he wish he'd known because he would have moved me to another table. Darn that Ali - I KNEW he could have moved me if he'd wanted to!!!! Simone immediately wanted to change my seating assignment again, but I told him that I was still hoping my tablemates would show up the next night and not to change anything until then. Definitely a tip was in Simone's future, just for caring! :goodvibes By the way, the banana bread is absolutely delicious!!! The Caesar salad was good, the beef tenderloin I had was dry and tasteless (and I don't think it was entirely due to my feeling awkward), the green beans were excellent, and the double baked potato was small but good. If you like Lemon Meringue pie, ask for two, or better yet ask for three because it is teeny tiny!!! I'd be willing to bet there's less than 2T of filling in it. It's tasty, but only three bites and you're done!

After dinner, I headed to Wavebands to see what WonderQuest was all about and to watch Match Your Mate, which is always hilarious! When I got to the doorway, David (in entertainment and the host of the shows tonight) politely asked about dinner. Poor guy, he had no idea what a loaded question that was! ;) I demurely told him about my lonely experience and he genuinely felt bad. We joked about it a little, and he asked my name and said he'd be my friend this cruise. And what a friend he was - calling my name out every opportunity he had during WonderQuest! :laughing: Really - I'm a fairly shy and quiet gal, so this was not exactly what I'd had in mind! I ended up winning this crazy, silly game where he called out various items that participants had to find and show to him, such as a sock with a hole in it, a straw, an ice cube, something red-white-blue, false teeth, a drink menu, etc. And, before you think I won because I had a hole in my sock and false teeth (because I didn't and I don't!), let me say that I am a "think out of the box" type of person AND I had a little help from Joseph the waiter. I won't spoil it with answers here but, if you're dying to know what items qualify, send me a PM and I'll clue you in. ;)

Match Your Mate, once again, did not disappoint! :lmao: It is a game based on the old Newlywed Show, but DCL chooses the most recently married couple, the longest married couple, and then a random enthusiastic couple. All three couples were treated to free drinks during their respective "sequestered" time in Diversions. As usually happens, the longest married couple won and the couple married the shortest length of time came in last (and hopefully they're still married despite the DH's answers!). The winning couple received a free Exotic Rasual spa treatment and the other couples received a free shore excursion on Castaway Cay just for participating!

After Match Your Mate is music and dancing so I headed up a deck to do a little shopping. I wanted to buy scrapbooking kits for a couple of friends who will be sailing soon. Start saving ladies, because there are four different packages to choose from (just pages and stickers, no album) and each was $15: a general 2008 DCL kit, a DCL kit that included stickers for all the ports the two ships visit (Eastern, Western, and Bahamas), a Pirates in the Caribbean kit, and a WDW 4-park kit. I also bought a $7 "fish" keychain for myself because I just couldn't resist! It's a tiny replica of the metal fish message-holder outside each cabin door. :goodvibes

I headed back to my stateroom where Willie had left me a beautiful swan towel animal (just like Cindy's), the next day's Navigator, and two chocolates. :lovestruc I took a long, hot shower (no water temperature issues in my cabin) and finally crawled into bed around 1am.

nzdisneymom

04-09-2008, 08:23 PM

Before I went to sleep on Thursday, I looked through the Navigator and made a list of what I wanted to do on Friday.

1. Breakfast
2. Excursion (City Tour of Nassau through DCL)
3. Lunch at Triton's
4. Shopping (Del Sol)
5. Movie (College Road Trip)
6. Castaway Club meeting
7. Dinner at Triton's
8. Movie (Enchanted)
9. Pirate Party / Fireworks / Dessert Buffet

Friday morning I woke up at 6:30 and got up to take a peek outside to see where we were. The sun had not yet risen but was on its way. I went back to bed for about 1/2 hour and then decided to go ahead and get up. I got dressed quietly and then decided to go to Guest Services to cash a check so I wouldn't have to use my credit card for any shopping I planned to do (at Del Sol). I hadn't given a lot of thought ahead of time to how much cash I might actually want for Nassau beyond what I knew I'd want for tips for the excursion and some trinkets from the markets.

Cashing a check at Guest Services is pretty easy. You need your photo id (Driver's License) and your check. You make it out for the amount you want to get in cash (you can cash one personal check per cruise up to $100, so if you are planning to cash a check, you might as well do it for the entire $100), and then the CM will have to call to get it approved. I'm not sure who they call, but they read your routing number, account number and check number and get an approval number. Then you make out the check to Disney Cruise Line and they give you the cash in whatever way you want it.

When I returned to our cabin, Gary was up and ready to go for a run around Deck 4. Zachary was waking up and wanting to get ready for breakfast while Nathan pulled the covers up over his head for more zzzz's.

Zachary and I went up to Beach Blanket Buffet for breakfast. I had some fresh pineapple and then I was excited to see that they had grits on the hot line. I've often been through a buffet and thought they had grits only to find that it was cream of wheat. So seeing grits was like :banana: for me! I added a bowl of grits to my tray, and then moved on to eggs, bacon, and croissants. I also had a Mickey waffle. Zachary had a Mickey waffle, eggs, ham, and some other things. We found a place to sit that wasn't in the sun and enjoyed our breakfast together.

We walked around Deck 9, grabbed some Froot Loops for Nathan, and got a "breakfast soda" from the beverage station. (If you watched Biggest Loser this season, you'll get the breakfast-soda reference.) There was starting to be more people coming out for breakfast, so we headed back to the room. Nathan was just getting up and wanted to go to breakfast, so Zachary and I went back up with him so he wouldn't have to eat by himself. Gary got back from running and took a cool shower at some point, and then went to breakfast by himself. I used the time to work on my trip report from WDW and to download photos and charge the camera battery so we'd be ready for arrival into Nassau.

As we started pulling into Nassau, here's what we saw:
Port side:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak2008116.jpg

Starboard side:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak2008131.jpg

solgent

04-09-2008, 08:52 PM

I'm really enjoying the double trip report!

Just curious, why did you skip the embarkation photo?

nzdisneymom

04-10-2008, 06:37 AM

I'm really enjoying the double trip report!

Just curious, why did you skip the embarkation photo?

thanks for reading!

We skipped the embarkation photo because we knew we weren't going to buy it, and my guys really don't enjoy getting their photos made like that - AND the line was pretty long waiting for photos. We did one on our first cruise but after that experience agreed as a family that we just didn't want to do them.

Deb T.

04-10-2008, 07:30 AM

I'm really enjoying the double trip report!

:goodvibes

I'm trying to keep my perspective of the trip in alignment with Cindy's. :) So, here's my Nassau morning! I slept in a little - as much as the creaking in my cabin would allow. Of the six cabins we've been in, this one has the loudest and most persistant creaking! In other cabins, I've been able to wedge a piece of folded cardboard into the offending crevices, but that did not work in this cabin. Thank goodness I travel with earplugs, or this light sleeper would not have had a wink of sleep during the night.

I headed off to Beach Blanket for the morning buffet. I'd taken the Nassau navigator to read through while eating alone, but it turns out that wasn't necessary because I ran into Ness2289 and her DD already seated and eating their breakfast. They graciously allowed me to joint them with my ham steak, bacon, fried potatoes, fresh pineapple, and watermelon. :goodvibes It was fun to hear all about their first day's experience on the ship since this was their very first cruise. This is also when I learned that she had been randomly assigned to the same early dining table as Cindy and her family. Wow! Talk about good luck! :)

After breakfast, Ness2289 and her DD headed off for a boat tour around Nassau and I headed to the spa for a Well-being massage, compliments of my absent DH. :lovestruc I arrived about ten minutes early and had to fill out a basic health concern questionnaire, then was led to the ladies' locker room to slip into a robe and slippers. (You are given a locker and key to keep your clothing and valuables in during your treatment.) I was soon called by the massage therapist and led to one of the couples' Alone Time rooms. I'd done that massage last July on the Magic's Mediterranean cruise so I was familiar with the room and balcony and it was nice to see it again. :) However, it was a bit sad since it's clearly a room for two which again highlighted the fact that I was sailing solo. I was asked what type of massage I wanted and told her that I usually opted for deep tissue at home. She left the room while I crawled under the heavy warm towels in anticipation. For such a small girl, she sure had FIRM pressure, so I was a bit jumpy at first (especially when she pushed down quick and hard several times to make my bones crack!) and after a couple of minutes politely told her that she could ease up just a little and maybe make this more of a relaxation massage! :rotfl: She complied and the rest of the 50 minues were pure heaven. :cloud9: Afterward, I asked about using the Rainforest Room for the day and was told there'd be a $9 charge. I was surprised because I'd always heard that the Rainforest Room was complimentary on the day of a massage. Oh well. I headed back to the locker room to change, but at the last minute decided to grab a large towel nearby and try out one of the showers we hear so often about on the DIS. There were two in the locker room: the one on the right looked like it was a waterfall-type spigot and the one on the left had a huge multi-spray nozzle. I'll take door number two, Monty! ;) The spray did not disappoint and the shampoo, conditioner, and body soap in the dispenser were all just fine. The only thing missing was a washcloth, but that really wasn't needed since I was there really to just experience the shower. I headed back to where my locker of clothes were, changed, and then meandered to Cove Cafe to pull a little treat out of their glass case before heading down to my cabin to relax on the verandah, where I promply fell asleep for a little while! :love:

Dreamfinder2

04-10-2008, 08:53 AM

Deb T.

04-10-2008, 09:18 AM

Deb, I kinda hate hearing about your Parrot Cay experience. After the first night, we were alone at a six-top the other two nights, which wasn't too bad, since there were three of us. But I can imagine you felt lost, planted at that big ol' table by yourself.

Guess I'll wait to see how the other evenings went, huh?

Thanks for your empathy. You are very kind! :goodvibes If DH had been along on the cruise, it wouldn't have bothered me in the least. But, I just felt so insignificant and awkward sitting there for nearly two hours all by myself, especially when I felt strongly that alternate arrangements could have been made for me by the head waiter (Ali) for just that one night. I won't spoil the upcoming TR installments, but I can tell you that the other two nights were great, but not for the reasons you might anticipate... ;)

mkmommy

04-10-2008, 09:45 AM

nzdisneymom

04-10-2008, 09:55 AM

While we had read that many folks either do Nassau on their own or skip the town altogether, this was Gary and the boys' first visit to Nassau, so Gary wanted to see the area, and obviously we were not going to allow the boys to miss the opportunity to see a new place. I have to preface our excursion by saying that when we cruised the Med last summer, we did excursions every day, often with early departure times. The kids were troopers but wer exhausted, so the mention of an excursion was met with some hesitancy on their part. Also Nathan is a bit of a worrier, so whenever we book excursions, we always do them through the cruise line because of the guarantee that they will "hold the ship" for us if we were back late from an excursion.

Of course doing a mid-morning 2-hour excursion in Nassau, we didn't have to worry about getting back late but it's a comfort thing for Nathan, so that's just what we do. When I had sailed on a different cruise line in late 2006 to Nassau, my SIL and I just did a taxi-tour from one of the licensed guys at the end of the pier.

So we opted for the City Historical tour that would take us to Fort Fincastle, the Queen's Staircase, and Fort Charlotte, as well as a bit of a driving tour around Nassau. Our meeting time was 9:45 in the Promenade Lounge. It seemed that many excursions were leaving from there as we arrived early and one group was heading out.

While we were waiting for our time to check in, we had another 'It's a Small World' moment. Gary saw a family and said he thought he recognized the man as one of our former neighbors. I wasn't sure as they had moved a few years ago, but when I saw the woman, I thought it might be them, so I went over to talk to them -- and sure enough, it was! And not only that, they had just moved a couple of streets over and their DD is in Zachary's grade in the same school. They had gone to preschool together which I had forgotten. It was their first Disney cruise (maybe even their first cruise) and they were having a great time. We spent a little time catching up before we got checked in.

Having had a lot of excursions previously, we found the check-in process to be easy as well as the disembarking process. While we were going to Deck 1 to exit the ship, there was a family ahead of us with a son about Nathan's age who was complaining about his wristband from the Lab. Nathan hates wearing one and generally removes his after a day and just gets a new one if he decides to go back to the Lab. The kid was really bothered by it and the dad was telling him to pretty much deal with it... I quietly mentioned to him that if his son took it off, the Lab would just give him a new one later and that's what we do. The dad didn't say anything, but about 5 minutes later, I noticed that the son didn't have his wristband any more. I do know that the Lab doesn't like to have to do it, but if it's really annoying, then I say do whatever to make your kid more comfortable. As for Zachary, he wore his wristband from the Med for about 6 weeks after we got back, and he's still wearing his wristband from last week now.

So our coordinator took us to the end of the pier and walked us through the Terminal and out to meet the drivers.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082001.jpg

We went in a nice air conditioned van that seated 12, but we had 13 passengers because one family's children were really small. It was us four, two ladies together, and then the family of seven. It was a great group because everyone was attentive to the time.

Our driver took us through the town and over to Fort Fincastle where we stopped for about 20 minutes.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082025.jpg

We got some pictures from the fort of the Wonder and of the Water Tower.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082050.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082099.jpg

There was another couple on the top of the fort that asked if I would take their picture for them, and in return, they took a family picture for us.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082032.jpg

There was a guide at the Fort who talked about the area and provided information about what we saw as well as the history of the fort. Because I had been before, I knew to take some dollars to tip the guy at the fort, but most people didn't.

Deb T.

04-10-2008, 09:56 AM

I am enjoying you report. I am doing a solo cruise in December so it is interesting to read about one, I have gotten late dining so I am thinking of skipping the dining rooms as I would hate to be at a table in the dining room all alone.

Hi mkmommy - based on my experience, I would highly encourage you to just show up at the dining room a little late, that way you could see who's sitting at your table and then decide whether or not to eat there. I don't know if you've cruised DCL before, but the dining rooms are gorgeous and the food is great, so I'd hate for you to completely miss out on that part of the cruise experience. You especially don't want to miss Animator's Palette! I think that next time, knowing now that I really COULD have been moved, I would be more assertive and actually demand to be moved to another table with the understanding that it would be just for that one night.

nzdisneymom

04-10-2008, 03:45 PM

Around Fort Fincastle, you'll find several booths set up by locals selling their wares - plenty of souvenirs similar to what you will find at the straw market. If you aren't planning to go to the Straw Market or you want to do a little shopping without the craziness, there is enough of a selection here to at least get your basic Bahamian souvenirs.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082064.jpg

Right in the same area of Fort Fincastle is the Queen's Staircase. There are 65 (used to be 66) hand-carved steps cut from the limestone by slaves. You may enter at the top or bottom, although most people come in from the top and then meet their tour guide at the bottom.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082113.jpg

The steps are narrow and steep but there are handrails to help you walk safely down. It is cool and there is a waterfall in the canyon. Here we are on our way down.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082116.jpg

And looking back up:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082140.jpg

There are restrooms at the top and at the bottom of the Queen's Staircase, and there are a couple of tables of souvenirs at the bottom in case you missed something you wanted at the top.

Our tour guide drove to the bottom to pick us up:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082143.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 07:16 AM

From Fort Fincastle, our driver took us through some residential areas of Nassau while explaining that the Bahamas are made of over 700 islands and have just over 300,000 residents, with 200,000 of them living in Nassau. We passed several schools along the way and he was telling us about how the students wear uniforms.

Our next destination was Fort Charlotte which is really three forts altogether.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082175.jpg

As we arrived, we noticed there were a lot of school groups there so we got to see some of the various uniforms.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20082169.jpg

It was Heritage Days in Nassau for the weekend (April 4 - 6) so we had to go into the Fort a different way than the tour guides usually take their groups. There were school bands performing in the Fort as part of the festival.

As we had found at Fort Fincastle, there was a Guide for Fort Charlotte who worked for tips. He was very entertaining and informative.

Following our tour of Fort Charlotte, we headed back for the pier, stopping along the way at a beach area for some photos. We drove through the shopping area so I was able to get my bearings for our afternoon shopping adventure.

We returned to the pier right at noon. It was busy at the terminal with other ships' passengers making their way into Nassau after a later arrival than the Wonder. There were women along the way chatting up women (and particularly moms) for hair braiding.

The boys were ready to get back on the ship, and Gary and I were ready for a rest, so we boarded and headed for lunch. We told the boys we would meet them in the cabin after we had lunch at Triton's. They went up to Deck 9 and then back to the cabin for their lunch while we had a quiet, peaceful lunch.

I enjoy having lunch at Lumieres/Tritons because it feels elegant. We ended up both ordering the same thing (chips and salsa for appetizer and the meatloaf for our entree), and our waiter commented that the couple sitting next to us had done the same thing (both ordered the same, although not the same as we ordered). I had thought about getting the hamburger as I knew it would be good, but I decided to try the meatloaf which ended up being the better choice as it was plentiful but didn't leave me feeling heavy. Of course since I had pretty much not eaten dinner the night before, I felt like it would be ok anyway. It was meatloaf, smashed potatoes, and vegetables (green beans and carrots). The chips and salsa came out with sour cream and guacamole, too.

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 07:27 AM

When we had returned to the ship, our cabin had not yet been cleaned, so we told the boys that if Nonoy came to take care of the cabin that they needed to clear out.

After lunch, I wanted to go shopping, particularly to the Del Sol store to get t-shirts for the boys. I had bought them shirts twice before at Del Sol - once in Huntington Beach, CA, and the other time in Key West. They have outgrown those (funny thing about kids, eh?) so I wanted to get new shirts for them. The quality of the t-shirts has been excellent as well as the color-changing has lasted as advertised.

So Gary and I trekked back through the terminal, past the hair braiders, and up a block to the shopping street. Del Sol was easy to find; the hard part was deciding which shirts to get the children. We wanted ones that said Nassau on them which most did. Zachary was pretty easy because he likes dolphins, but Nathan was a bit harder. We found a nice pirate shirt that had a bit of a pirate on the front and then the big "picture" was on the back. We ended up getting adult size small t-shirts rather than children's x-large because they are so close in size. I got some color-changing nail polish for me, and Gary found a shirt for him. I was glad I had cashed that check earlier in the morning because we spent most of it at Del Sol. The t-shirts were $25 each.

From Del Sol, we headed down toward the Straw Market. I hadn't planned to buy anything - I just wanted to look. But Nathan collects thimbles, so I thought if I found one, I would get it for him. So we entered and weaved our way through the booths. We didn't find the sellers to be pushy; if anything, they were non-attentive compared to what I had read before.

Anyway, at one point I did find some thimbles and as I stopped to look, the woman said $5 but I can let you have it for $4. So I looked at them, decided which one I wanted and offered $3 which she accepted and was within the range of what Nathan usually pays for his thimbles (between $3 - $6). I had not explained to Gary on the way in that it was "like Mexico" for bargaining so he was wondering what I was doing. :confused3

We made it through the rest of the Straw Market without buying anything and came out on the pier side by Senor Frogs. We had a leisurely stroll back to the ship in time for ice cream and a rest. The boys were gone when we got back because Nonoy had come in and cleaned the room. It was immaculate - he did a great job! I saw him later in the week in another room and he was out on the verandah wiping down the verandah floor with a towel.

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 07:40 AM

Ok, let's check the list.

Breakfast - done
Excursion - done
Lunch at Tritons - done
Shopping at Del Sol - done...

What's next? Oh yes, the movie! College Road Trip was showing at 3 p.m. and the boys and I wanted to see it. I had not yet been to a movie in the Buena Vista Theater on our previous cruises so this was my NEW thing for the day. And the boys had wanted to see the movie, so we figured we saved about $30 by seeing it on the ship and bringing our own snacks :laughing: Speaking of snacks, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Pluto's had bags of regular Lay's potato chips up on the counter to just get, so we each got a bag of chips and a drink from Deck 9 for the movie.

We enjoyed the movie although Nathan had a bad headache come on him so I ended up missing the last couple of minutes to take him back to the cabin for some tylenol, but that's ok because Zachary filled me in on what I missed (which wasn't much). It was nice having the boys of an age and familiarity with the ship that we could let them have some freedom.

After the movie was the Castaway Club meeting. We were early but that's ok because we got our pens and entry forms for the drawings. Zachary came with us while Nathan rested. They had a pretty good spread of snacks - cookies and my favorite - Rice Krispie treats shaped like Mickey -- both plain and chocolate-dipped. I don't care for the chocolate dipped ones, but I made sure to get a couple of the plain ones to "take back for Nathan" (ok, really for me!). And they had bottles of Evian water as well, so I had one to drink then and one for later.

Rachel hosted the party and got us 'mingling.' Gary didn't want to stay for it, so after he had his snacks, he left, but as he was leaving, Deb T. was coming in, so she sat with me and Zachary. One of the ships' officers came over (Cheri) and asked Zachary if he would like to be one of the kids who helped with the drawings for the prizes, so he agreed.

While we were waiting for the video clips and drawings, Deb and I were talking and I found out about her awful dinner experience. I told her how Ness and her DD were sitting with us and then had a brilliant idea --- I knew that Gary and Nathan were not planning to join us for dinner because they neither one wanted to get "dressed" to go to Tritons, so I suggested that Deb join us as there would be room at the table. I figured it didn't matter because with Gary and Nathan gone, there would be two empty seats so she could take one of theirs. And since Ness and her DD were at our same table, it just made perfect sense to me! So after multiple assurances that it was absolutely fine and I was absolutely sure that Gary and Nathan would not change their minds about dinner, I wrote down our time and table number for her.

Then it was time for prize drawings. Zachary, little stinker, didn't pull his mother's name nor his new friend Deb's name... but he got a cool little beach hat from the Oceaneer's Club (Oh the horrors for a 10 year old -- but we passed it on to GoofyJJ's 7 y.o. son by way of their fish extender and he was delighted).

The CC party ended about 5:30, just in time to go get ready for our Triton's dinner. Zachary was going to come with me, so we went to get changed. It was Pirate night, so I let him wear his khaki shorts with his pirate t-shirt to dinner. Gary and Nathan got their own dinner and enjoyed the quiet and watching the folks come back on board. They also took a ton of pictures from Deck 10 (which I haven't yet uploaded to photobucket so I guess that means I stop here for now!).

DisneyCrazyMom22

04-11-2008, 10:18 AM

I must agree with Cindy on it being a small world! :)
After dinner, I headed to Wavebands to see what WonderQuest was all about and to watch Match Your Mate, which is always hilarious! When I got to the doorway, David (in entertainment and the host of the shows tonight) politely asked about dinner. Poor guy, he had no idea what a loaded question that was! ;) I demurely told him about my lonely experience and he genuinely felt bad. We joked about it a little, and he asked my name and said he'd be my friend this cruise. And what a friend he was - calling my name out every opportunity he had during WonderQuest! :laughing: Really - I'm a fairly shy and quiet gal, so this was not exactly what I'd had in mind! I ended up winning this crazy, silly game where he called out various items that participants had to find and show to him, such as a sock with a hole in it, a straw, an ice cube, something red-white-blue, false teeth, a drink menu, etc. And, before you think I won because I had a hole in my sock and false teeth (because I didn't and I don't!), let me say that I am a "think out of the box" type of person AND I had a little help from Joseph the waiter. I won't spoil it with answers here but, if you're dying to know what items qualify, send me a PM and I'll clue you in. ;)

Match Your Mate, once again, did not disappoint! :lmao: It is a game based on the old Newlywed Show, but DCL chooses the most recently married couple, the longest married couple, and then a random enthusiastic couple. All three couples were treated to free drinks during their respective "sequestered" time in Diversions. As usually happens, the longest married couple won and the couple married the shortest length of time came in last (and hopefully they're still married despite the DH's answers!). The winning couple received a free Exotic Rasual spa treatment and the other couples received a free shore excursion on Castaway Cay just for participating!

After Match Your Mate is music and dancing so I headed up a deck to do a little shopping. I wanted to buy scrapbooking kits for a couple of friends who will be sailing soon. Start saving ladies, because there are four different packages to choose from (just pages and stickers, no album) and each was $15: a general 2008 DCL kit, a DCL kit that included stickers for all the ports the two ships visit (Eastern, Western, and Bahamas), a Pirates in the Caribbean kit, and a WDW 4-park kit. I also bought a $7 "fish" keychain for myself because I just couldn't resist! It's a tiny replica of the metal fish message-holder outside each cabin door. :goodvibes

I headed back to my stateroom where Willie had left me a beautiful swan towel animal (just like Cindy's), the next day's Navigator, and two chocolates. :lovestruc I took a long, hot shower (no water temperature issues in my cabin) and finally crawled into bed around 1am.

Ok, it's time for me to chime in with "It's a Small World......"! My family was also on your cruise--Me, DH, DS8, DS11. I'm so sorry I did not participate in the meets. Deb T invited me, but it was close to sail time and I was so overwhelmed by everything as it was our first cruise ever!:cloud9:

Now for my small world moment. :wizard: My husband and I were also at WonderQuest and Match Your Mate the first night! We saw DebT win! DH and I were sitting front and center. The couple sitting right behind us was the last couple in MYM. Those poor newlyweds--I hope they were able to enjoy the rest of the cruise after those answers!:eek:

Deb T.

04-11-2008, 11:47 AM

Ok, it's time for me to chime in with "It's a Small World......"! My family was also on your cruise--Me, DH, DS8, DS11. I'm so sorry I did not participate in the meets. Deb T invited me, but it was close to sail time and I was so overwhelmed by everything as it was our first cruise ever!:cloud9:

Now for my small world moment. :wizard: My husband and I were also at WonderQuest and Match Your Mate the first night! We saw DebT win! DH and I were sitting front and center. The couple sitting right behind us was the last couple in MYM. Those poor newlyweds--I hope they were able to enjoy the rest of the cruise after those answers!:eek:

That is so cool, DisneyCrazyMom22! I sure wish you'd caught me and introduced yourselves! I would have loved to meet you! :)

Deb T.

04-11-2008, 12:05 PM

Deb T.'s Day 2 continued...

After my short nap on my verandah :cool2: , I headed back up to Beach Blanket for the lunch buffet. I ate outside near the railing with a great view of the island. :thumbsup2 I had already decided pre-cruise that I wasn't going to get off the ship today since this was my 5th time at Nassau. Been there, done that. ;)

I thought I might join in on the Art of the Theme Show Ship Tour that was meeting outside of Palo at 1:45pm, but then decided not to. Instead, I sat outside of Beach Blanket and continued to relax... until I finally got bored :rolleyes1 and went to check out the Pirate Trivia game pirate: in the Promenade Lounge at 2:00pm. You know my theme of this cruise experience, right? A-l-o-n-e. Well, it was just my luck that I was the only one who showed up to play this game. :confused3 The host, Neville (from entertainment and was the sound person for David's games the night before), recognized me from winning WonderQuest! :worship: How do these guys remember people and names when the Wonder turns over 3,000 guests every 3&4 days?!?!?! So, I joked with him that I won the Pirate Trivia by default! Just as we were beginning to play anyway, up walked two familiar faces: Cindy's boys! :) They were passing by and saw me sitting there, so they stopped to see what was going on. I learned that their parents had gone back into Nassau to shop, so I encouraged them to stay and join me in playing the game, which they did, and we had a fun time making fun of the easy questions :laughing: and stressing over the difficult ones :scared: . The questions and answer choices were shown on a large TV screen, and we marked our answers on a blank sheet of paper. I offered to help the boys with answers I was sure of, but they wanted to guess their answers on their own, fair and square. Those two are really sweet and all about honesty! :) Around question number 16 (out of 25), people began arriving to check in for an afternoon excursion, so Neville invited more and more to join in on the trivia game, already in progress, just to help pass the time. After all the questions were answered, we were told to switch papers in order to fairly grade them. Well, wasn't it amazing that, after Neville determined I had the high score of 18, a lady and a man who said they didn't know each other prior to the game and who arrived in the Promenade Lounge after question number 16, announced they worked as a team for the trivia game and had 20 questions correct! :confused: Things that make you go, hmmmmmmm? It takes all kinds, doesn't it! The boys and I had a quizzical conversation that went something like, "Wait. What? How did? They got HOW many right?" and then laughter. :rotfl:

After the trivia game, the boys asked what was I going to do next. Awwww. See, I DID have friends on the ship after all! ;) Like I said earlier, they are really sweet! I told them I'd actually planned to head back to my cabin for a little while so we parted ways... for now.

DVC members on the cruise typically receive a welcome gift (currently it's a journal titled "Captain's Log", a really big and really cool "Welcome Home" magnet, and an invitation to the Member's Only gathering) in their cabin on the first day. You don't even have to book with points to get the gifts! :) We've only received DVC gifts automatically once out of six cruises even though we've been DVC members since 1995. So, each cruise, including this one, I usually have to remind the DVC staff several times to include us in on the goodies and member invitation. At least they're usually fun to talk with. :) I'd been assured the evening before to expect everything delivered to my cabin last night, and it wasn't, so I decided to stop by the 4pm general DVC information session in Diversions to remind them again. The DVC reps invited me to stay in case I could add an owner's perspective to their spiel, so I did. I have to admit that I was also tempted by the chance to win $300 in a drawing of everyone in attendance. The presentation was very informative and I was called upon several times to expand on a topic. That night, I received a phone call from one of the DVC reps thanking me for staying and letting me know how helpful I'd been. :)

As soon as it was over, I scooted next door to Wavebands for the Castaway Club reception, already in progress (4:45-5:30pm). On the way in, I ran into Cindy's husband who was on the way out, but first he pointed me in the direction of where Cindy and her youngest were sitting and invited me to take his spot. Cindy and I caught each other up on our respective morning activities and what we had planned for the rest of the day, and I also told her about my sad solo dining experience the night before. When she told me her DH and older son were not coming to dinner that night and invited me to come and eat with her and Ness2289 at the early seating I was, at first, hesitant because I didn't want to intrude on the possibility that her guys would change their minds and decide they wanted to come to dinner after all. I would have felt terrible if I ended up keeping them from eating together as a family. But, she assured me it would be fine and so obviously I was thrilled! I had still been hanging on to hope that the others at my table would show up, but I definitely would much rather eat with all my new friends! I am truly forever indebted to Cindy for her thoughtfulness!

After quickly changing clothes for dinner, I caught up with Cindy, her youngest son, Ness2289, and her DD at 6pm in line for dinner at Triton's. Ness2289 spotted Pryncesa and so we all had the opportunity to meet her and her two handsome boys! :) After we were seated, their server (Alfredo) seemed a bit uncomfortable that I had randomly shown up and, even though Cindy assured him that the two guys would be absent from that table tonight, he wanted to get it cleared with the head waiter - who of course happened to be Ali for their section. :scared1: Darn! I asked, pleaded, implored, and begged him to instead check with Simone because I knew HE would okay the situation for tonight. Well, Simone did one better... he said he'd turn that table for six into a table for seven the next night so that I could eat there again, too! Yea Simone! :goodvibes You can bet I wrote a nice note about Simone on the comment card... and a not-so-nice comment about Ali. Dinner was awesome - and I truly had a wonderful time talking with Ness2289 and Cindy and their children. I don't even remember what I ordered because I was enjoying everyone's company so much! Cindy had a fun dessert experience that I'll let her tell you about first. ;)

Cindy had mentioned earlier that she and her boys were skipping The Golden Mickeys to watch Enchanted in the Buena Vista Theatre at 8:30pm, which sounded like another great idea to me so we did that together, too! The movie ended just in time to head up to Deck 10 to watch the best parts of the Pirates in the Caribbean Party: Mickey rappelling down from the aft smokestack and the fireworks! Decks 9 & 10 were packed with people yet, without any preplanning, Cindy and her DH showed up exactly where I'd gone to watch the show! As soon as the fireworks were over, all three of us headed to check out the dessert buffet! Yum! We saw Ness2289 and her DD in the opposite line and also ran into GoofyJJ and his DS. All the tables by the Mickey pool were empty, so Cindy, Gary, and I sat there and enjoyed great conversation until after midnight! Then I headed to the Internet Cafe to briefly touch base with my landlocked family (which I'd also done the night before). I returned to my cabin and was greeted by a monkey towel animal, two pirate chocolate coins, the next day's Navigator, and the "recommended tips" information sheet. Another long hot shower and then it was off to dreamland.

Oh - and I ran into David (from entertainment) two times during the day and both times he greeted me with a cheery, "Hi Deb!" Again, how in the world do they remember so many names???? Amazing!

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 12:12 PM

Ok, it's time for me to chime in with "It's a Small World......"! My family was also on your cruise--Me, DH, DS8, DS11. I'm so sorry I did not participate in the meets. Deb T invited me, but it was close to sail time and I was so overwhelmed by everything as it was our first cruise ever!:cloud9:

Now for my small world moment. :wizard: My husband and I were also at WonderQuest and Match Your Mate the first night! We saw DebT win! DH and I were sitting front and center. The couple sitting right behind us was the last couple in MYM. Those poor newlyweds--I hope they were able to enjoy the rest of the cruise after those answers!:eek:

Ok, since you weren't able to participate in the meets, you HAVE to participate in the trip report!!! Please add your experiences and your pictures with as much or little detail as you want, especially as a first-time cruiser!!!!!!!!

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 12:24 PM

Just as we were beginning to play anyway, up walked two familiar faces: Cindy's boys! :) They were passing by and saw me sitting there, so they stopped to see what was going on. I learned that their parents had gone back into Nassau to shop, so I encouraged them to stay and join me in playing the game, which they did, and we had a fun time making fun of the easy questions :laughing: and stressing over the difficult ones :scared: .

I had forgotten that's what the boys were up to while Nonoy was cleaning our room! And thanks to Deb playing Pirate Trivia with them, that kept them from "riding the midship elevators" for thirty-minutes while they were cleared out of the room! I was afraid that Deb was going to end up being their playmate by default and certainly didn't want them to intrude on her time. The boys enjoyed her company, particularly Zachary, and it was nice to know that they had a "familiar faced adult" that they might run into from time to time.

I am truly forever indebted to Cindy for her thoughtfulness!

:lovestruc We were so glad to have you join us! I think one of the best parts of a DCL cruise is meeting other DISers and making new friends! We enjoy meeting new people, and having spent a few months on the board getting to know you ahead of time, I felt like I was meeting an old friend. We have made DISer friends on each of our cruises that we still keep in touch with!

Oh - and I ran into David (from entertainment) two times during the day and both times he greeted me with a cheery, "Hi Deb!" Again, how in the world do they remember so many names???? Amazing!

It really is amazing how they remember names and faces -- and I was there one of the times when David saw Deb and he was very interested to see how she was doing and make sure she was enjoying herself. It's nice to see CMs connect with guests and go out of their way to make sure they are having a good time.

Deb T.

04-11-2008, 02:00 PM

I had forgotten that's what the boys were up to while Nonoy was cleaning our room! And thanks to Deb playing Pirate Trivia with them, that kept them from "riding the midship elevators" for thirty-minutes while they were cleared out of the room! I was afraid that Deb was going to end up being their playmate by default and certainly didn't want them to intrude on her time. The boys enjoyed her company, particularly Zachary, and it was nice to know that they had a "familiar faced adult" that they might run into from time to time.

Hehe - yup, your boys were with me! ;) They did not intrude on my time at all! :) They're polite and inquisitive and I enjoyed spending time with them and with Ness2289's adorable DD during the cruise! :) I love hearing things about the cruise from a child's point of view!

:lovestruc We were so glad to have you join us! I think one of the best parts of a DCL cruise is meeting other DISers and making new friends! We enjoy meeting new people, and having spent a few months on the board getting to know you ahead of time, I felt like I was meeting an old friend. We have made DISer friends on each of our cruises that we still keep in touch with!

I also felt like you'd been a forever friend! :goodvibes We also still keep in touch with our tablemates from the Med cruise last summer and hope to get together again with them this summer! :)

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 08:55 PM

Here are a few of the parting photos from Nassau taken by Nathan:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083030.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083003.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083009.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083017.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083018.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083012.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak20083022.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-11-2008, 09:27 PM

While Gary and Nathan enjoyed a quick dinner and evening stroll, Zachary and I headed down for dinner at Tritons. We were early, so we stopped to listen to the performers in the Promenade Lounge (whose names escape me now - it was a man and a woman). I had passed through there on Thursday night and they were singing but there was no one in the lounge and I felt sad for them... although they didn't seemed bothered in the least. So since we were about 15 miinutes early for dinner, Zachary and I sat down and listened to a couple of songs.

As we headed to find the line to go into Triton's, we saw Deb T. and then we saw Ness2289 and her DD. We were excited to share the news that Deb was going to join us for dinner, and Ness2289 was glad to have her join us!

There was a lengthy queue building up but it turned out it was for photos rather than for dinner, so we found the dinner line. As we were getting in, Ness2289 pointed out DISer Pryncesa and her family, so we were introduced all around. They had the same rotation as us and were at a nearby table.

It was Pirate night so our table was set with bandanas, but no special pirate menu since it was just a 3-night cruise. I was bummed from having pretty much skipped dinner the night before, but nothing on the menu really appealed to me, so I opted to skip appetizer and salad and just have an entree from the lighter fare. I chose the grilled steak with white rice and vegetables. Zachary had the chicken, but he ended up not staying very long - he pretty much ate and dashed, although he did have me tie his bandana on his head (after Ness2289 instructed me on how to do it).

The Pirate bandanas were different - they were specifically for the Pirate party rather than the black and white ones that they have had in the past, so they make a nice keepsake. A group of four pirates were seated next to us in full pirate regalia. I had a moment where I questioned our safety (:rotfl2: ) in sitting next to them.

Alfredo and Catherine, our serving team, were very gracious about having a different person at our table and I kept assuring Alfredo that my husband was NOT coming to dinner, no offense but he just didn't want to come to dinner. I didn't want Alfredo to take it personally, especially since I had had a not-so-great experience in Parrot Cay (although not due to anything from DCL but just from myself and the sea). We got all adjusted and situated and settled in to hear about each other's day. Again, I was interested to hear what Ness2289 and DD had been up to as first time cruisers. Her DD had been a bit leary of the Lab the first night but found plenty to do on Friday!

Zachary finished dinner and left before my entree had even arrived, so he left me sitting on one side of the table by myself... I kiddingly said "you may wonder why I've called you all here tonight...." We looked a bit unbalanced, but it was a very enjoyable dinner.

In reviewing my dinner, the steak had good flavor but it had a lot of fat on it and it was not as tender as I would have liked it to be, but I managed to work around it. They had good bread, too, and then came the best part -- dessert! As Deb mentioned, Alfredo didn't even let me tell him what I wanted for dessert -- he brought the creme brulee cheesecake over from Parrot Cay. I didn't mind having him fetch it for me since Parrot Cay and Triton's share a galley area, and I really really wanted to have some! It was every bit as good as I had remembered.

While we were having dinner, Ali our head server came over to apologize to Deb about the last evening's dinner. He said a lot of folks didn't make the late seating and there was a lot of room service that had to be taken care of. He also made an off-hand remark about some of us "cheating" on the dining room by having our dessert delivered in from Parrot Cay. Deb and I had both commented on our plates being obviously NOT from Tritons.

After dinner, Deb and I wandered over to the gift shop for a look, and then parted ways to freshen up before going to see Enchanted at the Buena Vista Theater. The boys had seen it with me locally. Zachary had enjoyed it, but 11 1/2 y.o. boy Nathan didn't like it so much. They both said they did not want to see it again. The Golden Mickeys was the evening's show in the Walt Disney Theater, but neither wanted to see that either. But as it turned out, when I went back to the room before going to the movies, Nathan decided to go with me because "I've got nothing better to do." Zachary also decided to join us, I think mostly because he heard that Mrs. Deb was going as well!

The movie was every bit as good as I remembered, and it was fun to see some aspects that I missed the first time. The boys stayed for the movie and enjoyed it in spite of it being more for "girls."

After the movie, Gary and I went up to Deck 10 for the fireworks. Nathan was going to see what was going on in the Lab and Zachary was just going to hang out in the room. The fireworks were scheduled for 10:25, so we made it up (although we took the long way - we went up to Deck 10 via the Aft elevator only to be turned away because it was blocked off, so we went down to 9 and then back up the outside steps to where we could watch from near where they shoot them off). As Deb mentioned, we found her in a PRIME SPOT for fireworks viewing AND for seeing Mickey fly through the air.

As soon as the fireworks were over, we made our way down to Deck 9 and looped around to queue for the dessert buffet. We noticed there were no handwipes, so Deb asked one of the servers about it, so he went to check. It was the first "lax" thing I saw on the ship. We joked that the trip was nearly over anyway, so they didn't care if we all got sick.

The dessert buffet was beautiful and had loads and loads of desserts. But I found my favorite on the other side where the hot food was -- and that was the fresh strawberry crepes with ice cream! Mmmmmmm..... next time I'll skip the dessert side and just head straight for the crepes!

They had turkey drumsticks and fajitas and several other foods. If it wasn't nearly 11 p.m. and if I hadn't had a good dinner, it would've been delicious! As it was, the crepe was a perfect ending to the day's food!

We got drinks and found a place to sit by the Mickey pool where we chatted until very late. We saw Rachel go by in her Pirate dress which was pretty fun. Gary and I got back to the room after midnight to find Zachary had already had his shower and gone to sleep and Nathan was just waiting up for us but was ready to sleep as well.

We had cool showers again, but they felt good, and off to zzzzzzz........... Castaway Cay is tomorrow!

ibouncetoo

04-11-2008, 09:49 PM

I'm really enjoying this 'double' trip report. It's great fun! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventures.

I am enjoying you report. I am doing a solo cruise in December so it is interesting to read about one, I have gotten late dining so I am thinking of skipping the dining rooms as I would hate to be at a table in the dining room all alone.

My first cruise (4 days on the Wonder) was solo also. I HIGHLY recommend going to the meets section and getting to know other DISers on your cruise. If you feel a connection with anyone, post (or PM) that you'd like to link dining. I've eaten with DISers on every cruise (even when brining my own family with me) and it makes for a great experience.

.

wonderapril2007

04-12-2008, 04:41 AM

Love the dual TR.

kellykell9

04-12-2008, 09:56 AM

Great TR!!! Getting me really geared up to book my first Disney cruise!
Kelly

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 10:03 AM

As Deb mentioned, Alfredo didn't even let me tell him what I wanted for dessert -- he brought the creme brulee cheesecake over from Parrot Cay. I didn't mind having him fetch it for me since Parrot Cay and Triton's share a galley area, and I really really wanted to have some! It was every bit as good as I had remembered.

Cindy ~ I need to apologize... I did have it in my earlier post, but then I almost immediately edited it out after I'd realized I'd jumped ahead of your story. I figured you might want to build upon the suspense of not being able to eat your very favorite, much anticipated, coveted dessert the night before. :guilty: After all, you'd been excited for months just knowing that you were going to be able to eat that specific dessert! So, for those who didn't read it before I yanked it, here's what I'd originally written:

"Cindy didn't even have to tell Alfredo that she'd love to have a creme brulee dessert (that was only offered in Parrot Cay)! When she started to ask, he interrupted her with great flourish and announced that he knew exactly what she would like for dessert! :) Soooo funny! And since he was going to be headed that way, I asked for lemon meringue pie, too!"

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 10:22 AM

While we were having dinner, Ali our head server came over to apologize to Deb about the last evening's dinner. He said a lot of folks didn't make the late seating and there was a lot of room service that had to be taken care of. He also made an off-hand remark about some of us "cheating" on the dining room by having our dessert delivered in from Parrot Cay. Deb and I had both commented on our plates being obviously NOT from Tritons.

Hmmmmmmpf. :mad: Excuses, excuses, excuses. Too little, too late, IMHO. Especially when he added the snide comment about our desserts!! Come on now, really?!?! People ask for special requests all the time! Seriously, folks, at this point he knew I was not pleased with him, so he was "all show" for the others at the table and STILL couldn't be completely nice! :sad2:

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 10:36 AM

Deb T. - good to see you piggybacking here.

Great start! Can't wait to read more from all of you. When you first said something about requiring people to post my first thought was "well... do I have to be nice?" Glad to know I don't have to (post or be nice). :rotfl2:

But quite honestly... can't wait to hear more. And see more pictures!!!

I'm really enjoying the double trip report!

I'm really enjoying this 'double' trip report. It's great fun! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventures.

Love the dual TR.

Great TR!!! Getting me really geared up to book my first Disney cruise!
Kelly

THANKS :flower3: everyone, for all of your kind comments! :goodvibes I'm quite enjoying the double TR, too, because Cindy is doing an excellent job of reminding me of several things I'd already forgotten about the trip! :thumbsup2 This will definitely end up being a great keepsake for me! :)

I had a GREAT time hanging out with her and all the other DISers on our cruise! I highly recommend starting a Meets Thread for your particular cruise so you can get to know everyone before sailing. Then be sure to set up a DIS Meet once onboard the ship! It's awesome to put faces to names. And, you really will be surprised how many times you'll run into each other during the cruise! :goodvibes It truly enhances the trip!

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 12:34 PM

I slept in a little again this morning. (Between staying up late not wanting to miss a minute of the fun, and my creaky cabin, I wasn't getting much sleep. ;) ) But, knowing we were docked at CC was enough to get me out of that comfy bed! ::yes:: So, up I went to Beach Blanket for another buffet breakfast. And, lo and behold, there was Ness2289 and her DD again! :) So, I had another wonderful breakfast with them!

I headed back to my cabin to slather on sunscreen. Folks, PLEASE, this is the Bahamas and the sun is strong :sunny: so DO use sunscreen! I've been to CC 5 times now and each time I've seen plenty of lobsters at the end of the day! Save yourselves the discomfort, pain, and potential carcinogens by wearing sunscreen. And, don't forget to put some on the tops of your feet and even dab a little on your hairline. :cool2:

I put a bottle of water, extra sunscreen, my newly acquired DVC hat, a book, and cash for CC postcard stamps in my new Castaway Club Welcome Gift mesh bag and headed to Deck 1 aft to disembark.

Here's a little known hint for navigating through the hallways onboard the ship: The carpet has a pattern that includes a red and a blue anchor in a circle.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/hackets/MedMisc001.jpg
The RED anchor always points AFT (toward the back of the ship) and the BLUE anchor points FORWARD.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/hackets/Anchorhall.jpg
The trick I use to remember this is there are 3 letters in red and 3 letters in aft! I enjoyed sharing this little bit of trivia at dinner the night before. :)

CC's post office is small and cute. For regular (small) postcards, you can use 50-cent stamps. For anything larger, you have to use 65-cent stamps. Go early because they do run out of stamps! There is also a clue outside of the post office for the Pirate Treasure Hunt. I didn't play it this time, but have on previous cruises. It's fun, and it gets you to areas of the island that you might not have seen otherwise.

I had decided to get my exercise in by walking to the adult beach this morning. However, when I got to the second tram stop and the Serenity Bay tram was just getting ready to leave, I changed my mind and hopped onboard for the long ride down the abandoned air strip. :cool:

I chose a lounge chair just a few umbrellas down from the entrance to SB. Last time I was here, I'd hogged a hammock all day so I decided to let someone else have them this time. ;) I dragged the chair from under the umbrella so I could lay in the warm sun for a little while. I was too sleepy to read, so I was just laying there relaxing when I heard a familiar voice whisper, "Deb? Are you awake?" Ness2289 had successfully checked her DD into Castaway Cay's Children's Programming and had just arrived to enjoy the perfect tranquility the AB has to offer! She was looking forward to a quiet stroll along the beach, so I suggested she drop her bag under my umbrella and then join me when she was done. We enjoyed resting and chatting for about an hour before we decided to check out our lunch options.

We looked over the adult offerings and then decided to check out Cookie's BBQ. The main difference I noticed was Cookie's has corn-on-the-cob (one of my favorite foods) whereas SB does not. Also, at SB, fresh fruit is offered right there on their little buffet line but at Cookie's it's all spread out on a table away from the main food lines. We found a nice quiet picnic table toward the back where we sat and ate and chatted until 2pm! :goodvibes Since we work for the same school system, we have a LOT in common! ;)

We parted ways so she could pick up her DD and look for postcards. I decided to look in the gift shop to see what was new and decided to treat myself to a cute CC sweatshirt. And, I ran into Ness2289 in there, too! "Long time, no see!" :rotfl:

I'd planned to be back on the ship in time to shower and attend DVC's Member Celebration in Diversions at 4pm, so I knew I didn't have time to go all the way back to Serenity Bay. I strolled along the family beach for a little while and then casually made my way back to the ship. I had a marvelous view of the island from my verandah, so I sat out there for a while and enjoyed the view and watching the various watercraft zipping around.

It felt odd not running into Cindy or any of her family on CC all day since we seemed to always be running into each other on the ship. I was really looking forward to hearing what all they'd done during the day! :goodvibes

more later...

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 04:17 PM

Cindy ~ I need to apologize... I did have it in my earlier post, but then I almost immediately edited it out after I'd realized I'd jumped ahead of your story. I figured you might want to build upon the suspense of not being able to eat your very favorite, much anticipated, coveted dessert the night before. :guilty: After all, you'd been excited for months just knowing that you were going to be able to eat that specific dessert!

Oh Deb - that's too funny - I had read your post shortly after you posted and didn't know you had editted it out. Please don't worry about posting something before me -- I, too, am loving this dual trip report because you are also reminding me of things I have forgotten.

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 04:22 PM

Hmmmmmmpf. :mad: Excuses, excuses, excuses. Too little, too late, IMHO. Especially when he added the snide comment about our desserts!! Come on now, really?!?! People ask for special requests all the time! Seriously, folks, at this point he knew I was not pleased with him, so he was "all show" for the others at the table and STILL couldn't be completely nice! :sad2:

That's so true. I would have to say that I wasn't impressed with Ali even before I learned about Deb's experiences... and knowing what happened, I felt like he was trying too hard. I will say that while I'm sorry things worked out so poorly for Deb with her first dinner, I'm glad the turn of events ended up with her joining us at our table!

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 05:09 PM

Saturday morning, I wake up about 6:30, just like every other day of our vacation. But today I was excited because it was Castaway Cay day and I didn't want to waste a moment of it. Gary and the boys were still zzzz'ing, so I quietly got dressed, grabbed the camera and our gratuity form and headed out for the quiet of the morning.

I went to Guest Services to take care of our gratuities before there was a line, so it only took a few minutes to get everything squared away. We got our ticket stubs to put into the envelopes so we'd be all set for later in the day. I noticed that our cabin steward's name wasn't the same as what we had seen on his name badge and on the ice-request form, so when I saw him later in the morning, I double checked to make sure it was printed for the right person (it was). Because if for some reason it was mixed up, I wanted to have time to straighten it out.

Gary got up and went for a run around Deck 4 rather than waiting to run on Castaway Cay. The boys were still sleeping, so I told him we would wait for him to come back and shower and then we could all eat breakfast together. While waiting for the kids to get up, I got the pictures downloaded off the camera and charged up the battery, and then went out on the verandah to watch the activity of the CMs getting ready for our day at Castaway Cay.

Gary got back, the kids were up, and we went up to BBB for breakfast. It was nice to have a family breakfast since we weren't having family dinners :) After breakfast, we got ready to head out to CC, waiting for the "ok, you can go now" call over the speakers. We had our verandah door open and enjoyed listening to the "beach tunes" coming in from the pier.

We applied sunscreen to our faces, but I was irresponsible with it and didn't insist on sunscreen to other body parts. In hindsight, I should've - Nathan and I both got sunburned on our shoulders. Next time we'll be sure to apply it everywhere, including our ears! We grabbed our red DVC hats because we knew Terry the DVC guy was going to be out looking for the caps to hand out DVC pins. We had a DVC day-bag that we filled with what we needed for the day and headed off board.

We had just gotten off the ship when I realized that I had left our camera in the room. Oh well, no one wanted to go back to get it so we just figured we'd be pictureless for the day.

The one thing Gary and Nathan wanted to do was paddle-boat, so we hiked down to where the rentals are and talked to the CM about it. We decided to wait til later in the day because it was pretty windy in the morning and the water was a bit cooler than comfortable. We thought conditions would improve later and agreed to come back to see later in the day.

We went over to the family beach and found some chairs and an umbrella, but then realized we had a bit of a hike to the water's edge at that point - we had originally set up by the snorkeling area. So the boys and I walked down the family beach while Gary went back to fetch our things.

We found a good spot for the boys to have space on the beach to play as well as there being some chairs and shade. We were near the last lifeguard stand on the family beach and as it happened, it was also near the walk-through to the paved path that is right by the hairbraiding, so that made it easier when we needed to walk back to the middle of the activity and for lunch. I love that CC has the short chairs in addition to the sunloungers, so I took two of the chairs down toward the water's edge so I could sit comfortably to actively watch the boys as they played.

After Gary got back with our stuff, he and Zachary swam out to the dock where kids 14 and under were allowed to jump off and do the ropes until the tide went out too far. Nathan spent most of his time digging on the beach in the sand, but he did get in the water some with Gary and Zachary. Gary went back to lay on the sunlounger in the shade and nap while I stayed nearby to watch the boys. We saw several families with the big floats and decided that next time we'll rent them because they looked like fun. We had talked about how later in the day, you could sometimes find the floats abandoned later in the day. But we didn't stay that long.

It started getting busy around where we were, so we decided to go get some lunch at Cookies BBQ. I had a burger (first one on the cruise) and corn. We got some BBQ chips to save for later in the day if we wanted them since we'd only been able to get the plain ones onboard. We thought we'd get ice cream later, but they didn't have flavors that we wanted.

We walked over to the Bahamian shops which I didn't remember being there before until Gary reminded me of looking through them with one of our fellow-passengers in 2005. We didn't find anything we liked but they did have thimbles for $7 so I felt like we got a good deal at the Straw Market the day before.

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 06:15 PM

Oh yeah, while I was down at the water's edge, Terry the DVC guy came by and gave me a pin! Then as we were heading up to lunch, he saw Gary and the boys with their caps on, so they got their pins then, too!

And one other thing about the morning -- while playing in the water, Zachary ended up getting a scrape on his hand. It was bleeding, so I hiked him up to First Aid. The last time we were at CC, he had a fall on his bike and scraped his knee up pretty badly, so he had to go to First Aid then, too, but it was a further walk from bike trail than from the family beach. The First Aid center is near the gift shop just past the Gazebo, so we went to get it cleaned and make sure it was ok. He got a big universal (no, not universal studios) bandaid for it. It was fine but I just wanted to make sure he kept it clean. it was a good time for me to go up that way since I needed to use the restroom anyway :)

So after lunch and checking out the shop, the boys wanted to see about paddle-boating. Zachary had decided he, too, wanted to join the fun, so we briefly went through the main gift shop (didn't find anything we couldn't live without) and then went to rent a paddle-boat. They got a 4-seater since it was the three of them, and the lifeguard / CM said I could just sit on one of the ones that wasn't going out so I could observe. It's $10 for 30 minutes but as they said, they are on Bahamian time which basically means as long as there isn't anyone waiting for it and it's not time to get back on the ship, stay out as long as you like.

So Gary got on the back while the boys began pedaling. They switched places a few times and went out nearly to the ropes that mark the boating area. They got close to the Flying Dutchman. While they were out, one person on a sail boat thing ended up flipping himself over as his sail got caught and ripped on something, so Gary and the boys helped wave to get a CM to come out to help him. I saw them waving and my heart stopped for a moment until I realized they were helping the other guy. I couldn't see as far as they were out and for all I knew, something happened to Gary and the boys needed help getting their dad back to shore (ok, over-worry-er, over-active-imagination here). Thankfully all was well.

When they got back to shore, the boys wanted to go back out but it was well after 1 p.m. and both Gary and I were ready to head in after being in the sun for so long. So we strolled back to the ship talking about the things we would do differently the next time we go to Castaway Cay (which will be in December but the boys don't know about that trip yet - and if I can keep my mouth shut and keep them from reading this trip report, I might actually keep it a secret til we leave!).

Back on board, they headed for ice cream while I headed for the shower. Still no hot water but it was actually a perfect temperature for a mid-afternoon-wash-off-the sand and sea shower. I felt greatly refreshed. We had the verandah opened again and I enjoyed listening to more of the beach-tunes while beginning the chore of packing.

There was a DVC members party scheduled for 4 p.m. that I wanted to be sure to go to, so I wanted to get all the packing done ahead of time and still have time to roam about the ship. And I did! The nice thing about a 3-night cruise is that there really isn't a whole lot of packing to do :) And since we were driving and not flying, I could pack a bit differently and not worry about what all I would end up hand-carrying off the ship.

While I was packing, the boys set off to tour the ship with our camera. I just today, a week later, got a chance to look at the pictures and will share some of them later in this trip report. It's interesting to see the ship through the eyes of tween boys!

Here's a tip -- if you don't bring your own hairdryer and don't like the one in the stateroom, you can always open both your verandah door and your stateroom door at the same time and create a wind-tunnel that will give you a nice blow-dry!

One of my favorite things about DCL is the lotion that you get in your stateroom. When we sailed last, we got a new set of lotion and shampoo, etc. every day, so I came home with lots of lotion. I was hoping to replenish my supply with a few more lotions this trip, but we only got the original set that was in our stateroom when we checked in. So when I saw Nonoy in the hallway, I asked him if I could have an extra lotion. He said he'd take care of me and gave me two more sets of lotion, shampoo, and conditioner. That was really nice and I really appreciated it! If anyone ever sails and doesn't want their lotion, you can send it to me (LOL).

It's nearly 4 p.m. and time for the DVC meeting. Zachary wanted to go, so he met me and Gary down in Diversions a few minutes before. There were not a lot of members there which I was glad about because I thought it might increase my chances of winning one of the cool prizes (like the DVC pillow I was coveting on the last cruise). They had cookies and coffee, so I split a cookie with Zachary. Deb T. came in and joined us. She had been to Pluto's for a snack -- I'll let her tell you about it, but let me just say that it made Gary's dinner decision for him!

Kathy and Terry got the meeting underway and it was great to see and hear about some of the things that are upcoming. And the trivia questions are always fun and they always make sure everyone whose name is drawn gets a prize. I won a little day bag like the ones we had gotten as give-aways on the Med (and I used that day on Castaway Cay) for being enthusiastic. And then later they drew our name for a question. I didn't know the answer (how many points can a person own at any one DVC property?) but Deb T. did, so I used my "Ask a Neighbor" option to say 2,000 (???? who knew?????) and got to pick my prize -- guess what I picked? Yep, the DVC pillow.

They kept calling names and awarding prizes until there couldn't have been anyone's slip left in the bag except Deb's :( , and then they were done except for the grand prize. They put everyone's name back in the bag and had a kid come up to do the drawing for the big beach bag -- and he ended up pulling out his own family's name! how funny was that?

After the meeting, it was time to go up to Deck 10 to watch us pull out of Castaway Cay. It was such an absolutely beautiful day - great temperature, great weather, great family time. We watched the final preparations for us to leave from Castaway Cay with a bit of sorrow but also much thankfulness for such a beautiful place and a wonderful time there.

After we were on our way, we went down to get ready for dinner. It was dress-up night but I was pretty much all packed and decided to just wear jeans. We had Animator's Palate for dinner and I noticed in the queue that there were a lot of people really dressed up, some casually dressed, some in jeans, and some even in shorts (nice ones, though). It truly was a mix of dress. Gary had decided to go to Pluto's to get taco's for dinner, so we had picked those up on our way back to the room after sailing away from CC. Nathan decided he wanted to go see College Road Trip again, so Gary went with him to see it while Zachary and I went to dinner.

Googelibear

04-12-2008, 06:33 PM

Marvelous, simply marvelous. I am enjoying this trip report so much!

I can't wait to read more. This "Duett Trip Report" is really fantastic.

Thank you!:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 06:39 PM

On the way to dinner, we had a few errands to do, including picking up the D Sea U t-shirts for the boys and turning in the pager, and checking Shutters to see the pictures that were taken at CC that morning. We didn't like any of the pictures, so we put them in the unwanted picture box, and then we took our shirts back upstairs along with the graduation caps.

When we went back downstairs for dinner, there was a big jam of people already waiting. So we just hung around til the line started to move. Deb came down and then when Ness2289 and her DD came along, we just jumped in the line with them since we were all going to the same table. Our table was set for seven, but as Nathan and Gary were not joining us, we had two empty seats, but it was nice that the dining staff had made the adjustment to our table.

Zachary took a lot of pictures at dinner of the restaurant and food. I ordered the caesar salad (that was no longer on the printed menu but very delicious anyway) and the filet mignon. It was very good. We caught up with everyone about their day. We had two big topics of conversation -- one was the limited amount of time for character pictures during the dinner time and how you had to cut dinner short to get the pictures that you wanted, and the other was the whole neighbors smoking on the verandah thing. Gary had said there were a few times he had to come in because of the smoking (although some of it was coming up from Deck 4 which is just a hazard of having a verandah on the port side of the ship), and Ness2289 said that her neighbor must've been on the same schedule as she was because whenever she went out, they went out. We were talking about how at WDW the rules are now no smoking on the balconies of the rooms and wondered if DCL will ever implement that for verandahs. When we got back and I was reading the boards this week, I saw a couple of threads voicing those same thoughts.

It was fun to watch Animator's Palate through the eyes of first-time cruisers, and I noticed a lot more of the detail of the show because Deb was making sure to draw our attention to the more subtle aspects of the show. I think our table location was much better than our previous cruises, too, in terms of being able to see the show and notice the changes.

For dessert, Zachary and I chose the strawberry shortcake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. It was delicious. This was also the first dinner that Zachary had stayed the entire time for. We handed out our gratuity envelopes but basically had to chase down Ali so we could go. He never even came to our table and if I hadn't already charged the gratuity to our room, I might would've reconsidered leaving something for him. But we did have the 7th place set at our table.

Oh yeah -- I forgot an important part of the afternoon -- we had not ordered any Mickey Ice Cream Bars from room service the whole trip so we had to make sure to order them during the afternoon.... it would not have seemed like a DCL adventure without doing that!

After dinner, Gary and Nathan had already made it back from the movie, our bed had been turned down, and we had our comment card. I filled out the card and on it I put that we had only had warm water in the shower (but it was hot in the sinks in both bathrooms) and marked the rest of the card appropriately.

Zachary wanted to see Disney Dreams although I wasn't crazy about seeing it as I had seen it before. It's a good show but I was aware of the limited amount of time we still had on the ship, but since he wanted to do it and I knew Gary didn't want to go, I certainly didn't want the child to have to go by himself (although he would have gone and been fine). I also wanted to drop by the Shopping Desk to enter the sweepstakes from my Nassau shopping, so Zachary and I took off early to do that and drop off the comment card. We were at the show about 1/2 hour early so we were able to get our favorite seats.

The show was really good and it was fun to see the actors and figure out which parts they had played in Toy Story the Musical. It reminded me that the performers have more than one show that they do. The girl who played Annie also played Andy in Toy Story. And the woman who was the Blue Fairy played Bo Peep. The others moved in and out so quickly that I was never quite sure who was who which is exactly what you want in a performer... to not be identified as "Andy who is playing Annie."

After the show, I took another walk through the shops and still came up with nothing I had to have. I stopped to talk to the rebooking lady to get a quote for next year (and found out that once Nathan turns 13, his cost is going up) but we didn't rebook. I went back upstairs to see how things were going and make sure our luggage was out before going back down for the Til We Meet Again show that I have missed on our other two trips (because I was packing).

Nathan and Gary had both had their showers. Nathan's was barely warm, but Gary said when he turned on the water for his shower, it went clunk, glunk, and nothing. He turned it off, turned it on again, and a bunch of silt and gunk came out... followed by a lot of lovely hot water! He asked me if I had called and I said no, I had just put it on my comment card that I left in the box before 8 p.m. He said he was getting his shower about 8:45 p.m. We don't think it was coincidence!

It also triggered something in my memory from a conversation I had with a CM on the Med cruise... that the "plumbing" is handled from a central place and they can fix anything without having to come into your room. If we had just called and reported it on the first night, they could've mashed a button and fixed it. I had made sure to put it on the comment card so that the next guests would have hot water. Anyway, I will definitely call the first moment next time (if there is a next time).

We had everything out in the hall that needed to go, so I went to find a good spot for the Til We Meet Again show, and who do I run into but Deb! She had a good spot at the mid-ship elevator balcony, so I slipped in by her. It was so cool to see all the characters. I made a video clip of the last part and if I can figure out how to upload it and link it here, I will.

Not only was it a bit sad to say goodbye to the characters, it was sad to say "so long" to our new friends. GoofyJJ and his son were in the balcony where we were for a little while, and then Ness2289 and her DD joined us. It was an unplanned DIS meet and a chance for final hugs and "safe travels."

After the show, I went up to get hot chocolate for me and Gary, only to find that he had already gone to bed. Oh well. I had thought about sitting out on the verandah for a while but knew I needed to get to sleep because we had an early day and a bit of a drive the next morning.

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 06:56 PM

We had main seating (6 p.m.) for dinner so that meant our breakfast time was 6:30 (I think - I didn't pay much attention to the breakfast speech from Alfredo if he even gave it to us -- I'm pretty sure he did, though). But because I'm an avid reader of the DIS, I knew we had another option and that was BBB (or the Cove Cafe or maybe even Goofy's Galley, although I didn't check). So I asked Mickey for a 7:15 wake-up call thinking we could be ready for breakfast by 7:45, eat and still have time to come back and clear out of our stateroom without holding Nonoy up too long.

I woke up again at 6:30. I peeked out and sure enough, we were docked at Port Canaveral. Such a sorry sight... 3-nights is definitely not enough! I got dressed quietly, grabbed the camera and my KTTW Card, and headed up to Deck 9 to scope out breakfast. Sure enough, breakfast was available and would be for a while, so I strolled in the early morning, pre-sunrise light for some final views and thoughts of our vacation. There were a few other ships in port, too.

I went back to the cabin around 7 a.m. Gary was getting up and the boys were rousing. Everyone got dressed and Mickey called and we went up to BBB for breakfast - another family breakfast! It was so nice to not have to schlepp our hand-luggage with us to breakfast nor to trip over others' luggage! We didn't rush, but we didn't dawdle over breakfast either.

After breakfast, we went back to the cabin to get the last of the things situated and head out. We went down the Aft stairs and found a long line of people queuing for the 2nd seating breakfast with all their bags at their feet. We wound our way through the Promenade Lounge to get to midship where we peeked in Tritons and saw the same sort of thing. But we weren't needing breakfast, so we said see ya real soon to the Wonder and headed down the gangway. It was 7:50 a.m.

At the bottom of the escalator, a porter was waiting so we said yes, we needed one. He got our stateroom number and took Gary and the boys to get the bags while I got a place in line for going through customs. They easily located the bags and joined me in line and then whoosh, we were through customs, out of the terminal, across the street, and at the car in no time flat. We were pulling out of the parking lot at 8:12 a.m. and that's only because I took a few extra minutes in the parking lot to readjust some things we had in our hand-luggage.

And that's that! We drove home via I-95 and stopped at the Character Premier outlet shop at St. Augustine for a final Disney moment for our week of Disney vacationing, and then back home to reality.

I'll post some pictures later that go with Saturday as well as some in general from around the ship, and I'll try to figure out how to upload and share some of the video.

And I'm sure I've forgotten things I wanted to share or will have some other random thoughts for later.

Thanks so much for reading and commenting and sharing our memories! I'm always glad to answer any questions and read any comments or suggestions for things to do (or not do) so fire away!

Ricky's Girl

04-12-2008, 07:11 PM

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 07:34 PM

I am really enjoying this trip report! We've just booked our first cruise on the Wonder for next March so I really appreciate all of the information and tips you've shared.

A couple of questions if you don't mind. When you're at CC can you make charges on your KTTW card or should we take some cash? Also in Nassau should we use cash or cc? Thanks for the tip about having some cash to tip the guides at the Forts.

The only thing you need cash for on Castaway Cay is the post office; everything else takes your KTTW Card -- the gift shop, the Bahamian shop, the bars, the recreational rentals.

As for Nassau, I think it's a matter of personal preference regarding using credit cards in the shops. Some places, like the straw market and shops like we found at the forts, only take cash. We opted to use cash at Del Sol because I had enough and because I had not called our bank to let them know we would be out of the country. I guess it really depends on how much you plan to spend.

I also wanted to say that it really is a nice gesture to tip your tour guides - the ones who drive you around and narrate for you, especially, even when you're already paying for the excursion... so plan for a few dollars for that in addition to the guides at the forts.

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 08:33 PM

I showered, threw on some comfy casual clothes, then stopped by the drink station and Pluto's before heading down to Diversions for the 4pm DVC Member Celebration. I love to snack, and I was craving nachos, but they are non-existent on the Disney ships... almost. ;) There are a couple of strategies you can do to create your own nacho magic. :lovestruc First of all, Pluto's has melted cheddar cheese readily available and they also offer tacos on the menu. Perfect! Go to the condiment bar next to Pluto's and pick up a small cup (like the little ice cream cups). Then get in line and, when it's your turn, ask them to fill the cup with cheese. Tell them you also want a plain taco shell (if you want just chips & cheese) or if you want nachos w/beef you can also ask for a regular taco (or two, or three... the sky's the limit! ). Then go back to the condiment bar and get tomatoes and lettuce to add to your concoction. Unfortunately, their taco shells are not light and crispy, but they're fine enough to satisfy a nacho craving. Plan B is to stop by Diversions before going to Pluto's because they sometimes have regular nacho chips, but not the melted cheese.

I strolled into Diversions and immediately saw Cindy and her family! :goodvibes And they'd even saved a seat for me! I was honored that Zachary switched seats to sit beside me and so I chatted with my young friend about his day at CC. :) Cindy's DH was surprised to see my nachos and inquired about where I found them. Seems he REALLY likes nachos and tacos too, as was evident in Cindy's TR. ;)

On my past cruises, DVC used to freely hand out special collector pins, luggage tags, and other little surprises when you entered Diversions, plus they always had enough of the nicer prizes to give to each family in attendance during a trivia game. This time, there weren't any little "welcome to the celebration" gifts but that could be because most DVC members had already received a bag hanging from their Fish Extender upon embarkation with hats, the Captain's Log, and a Welcome Home magnet. So, we all entered the drawing where you answered DVC trivia questions for prizes. It's a friendly game where anyone and everyone can help you with the answer so, as long as your name is drawn, you are guaranteed to win an awesome prize! Cindy had her eye on a soft beach pillow that she had wanted for quite some time and I would have loved one of the beach towels! Sure enough, Cindy's name was drawn and she was thrilled that a pillow was still available! Yea! My own little cheering section continued to hope my name would be drawn in time to snag a towel, but my name never ended up being drawn at all. In fact, after looking around the room, we all concluded that I was the only one who was leaving without a prize! :guilty: We shrugged it off as my continued bad luck "alone" theme of this cruise. Oh well, at least I was going to have dinner with all my new friends to look forward to!!! Believe me, that was a treat enough in itself! :)

I headed up to my cabin and spent about an hour on my verandah watching as we sadly sailed away from CC. Let me say here that I did not have any issues with smokers near my verandah, thank goodness! But I felt really bad for Cindy and Ness2289 because they both did, which is REALLY unfortunate because unwanted cigarette smoke would definitely ruin any enjoyment out there. With that said, I can't even begin to express how relaxing and peaceful it was to just sit on the verandah, listening as the waves lap softly up against the ship. The view of nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see is an awe-inspiring sight. I stepped back into the cabin long enough to grab a pillow out of the cabinet above the television and call for a wake-up time for 5:30pm because I knew as soon as I settled down in a lounge chair back outside on my verandah, the gentle rocking of the ship was going to lull me into a nice little nap... and it did!! :cloud9:

I left the sliding door open just a crack so I'd hear the wake-up phone call. Time to get ready for dinner! Even though it was "dress up" night, Cindy and I had talked earlier about just going casually, which I much prefer anyway. However, after a quick inventory of my limited clean wardrobe, I realized I had to stick with my original "dressier" clothing for the evening since I'd packed very lightly for the trip and we were down to the last night of the cruise. Darn!

Dinner tonight was in Animator's Palette. Upon entering, I sought out my new favorite head waiter, Simone, to give him a very nice tip even though he was not the head waiter assigned to our area. It would be safe to say that Simone reaped the benefits of Ali's tips, too. ;) Both Cindy and I were eager to watch Ness2289 and her DD's reactions to Animator's Palette's awesome "show"! Cindy made sure they were seated in the optimal spot at our table for the best view since her own little prince already knew what to expect. It was fun for all of us as the little princess of our table frequently called out the changes in the pictures on the walls. So cute!!! The meal was good - all three of us ladies ordered the exact same entree - the filet minion! Nothing on the dessert menu tempted me, so I gave nice tips to my new server, Alfredo, and assistant server, Catherine, and excused myself to try my unlucky hand at Jackpot Bingo.

I should have known bingo was going to be a waste of $50, but I thought it would at least be fun. And, a gal's luck is bound to change sometime, huh? So, here's my first tip about playing bingo... bring someone to help punch your cards!!!! The first 3 games were easy enough because you only had to look over 6 (or 3) cards at a time. I'd opted for six because it was a better "value". But, on the last game - the one for all the marbles - I'd also purchased the extra "bargain set" of three cards for "more chances to win". Honestly, for this game, I could not keep up! :crazy2: They kept calling the numbers out in rapid-fire succession and to win you had to cover your entire card. I was really scrambling and finally had to swallow my pride to ask if they could slow down just a little bit, much to the evident chagrin of everyone else in the room. So, they started doing a few Q&A's between every few numbers which helped tremendously. Of course, I didn't win, but thank goodness it wasn't because I'd missed a number or two along the way.

After ceremoniously filing my used bingo cards in the closest circular file, I quickly headed to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch Disney Dreams. If you've read Dreamfinder2's TR, then you know how sentimental a person can get watching this show. I've seen it six times... and I've cried all six times. Well, technically, I've cried 7 times because I cried TWICE this night. Tell me THAT's not embarrassing for a lady sitting all by herself in a packed theater! Of course, good 'ole Tinkerbell literally sets the stage by flitting all around the curtain and the front of the theater while you're waiting for the show to start. We've all just spent a long glorious day on, indisputably, paradise on earth. And it can't be ignored any longer that this is the last night of an amazing vacation (even if you've embarked all alone). Mix all of those emotions in with this great show and you've got one emotional evening, folks! I strategically sat toward the center of the second level, in the second row right behind a little girl dressed in a princess outfit (complete with wand) who's parents sat on either side of her, giving me a clear and unobstructed view of the entire stage. The show starts and I'm immediately immersed in the fantasy, as usual. However, I find I'm slightly distracted several times as I notice that the little girl's very big and muscular father keeps looking down at his little princess to savor her reaction at all the right moments. The little one is totally enrapt, leaning way forward in her seat, and not missing a single minute of the show, and the father is obviously in tune enough to recognize all the scenes that his daughter would love. About half-way through, the tiny tot begins to get sleepy and crawls onto her mother's lap, but the father continues to be getting as much out of her enjoyment as he is from watching the show himself. But then, when the first rendition of "When You Wish Upon A Star" started, the loving father and kind husband reached over across his daughter's empty seat to gently rub his wife's arm, to which she responded by reaching out to grasp his hand - and they stayed like this, hands clasped with arms stretched across the seat in front of me, for the rest of the show. And I thought to myself, "THIS is what Disney is all about!" And of course, I cried. As if that and the pixie dusting of the ship isn't enough, I also always cry when Mickey and Minnie come out to thunderous applause. Yup, the main mouse gets me every time!

Isi

04-12-2008, 08:36 PM

We also did that trip, I remember seeing your son on the ship..It was such a nice cruise can't wait till next year to do it all over again.

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 09:11 PM

We also did that trip, I remember seeing your son on the ship..It was such a nice cruise can't wait till next year to do it all over again.

That's so cool. I hope he wasn't doing anything embarrassing...............

Feel free to add your own trip report to this thread. I love reading others' adventures on the same cruise -- I think it is helpful to future cruisers to see how varied a single cruise can be in terms of things to do and experiences to be had! And depending on your travel party.

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 09:14 PM

Some photos of Castaway Cay from the Wonder:

Flying Dutchman:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084028.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084008.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084129.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084166.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084186.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 09:15 PM

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084193.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084190.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084200.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084198.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084191.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 09:17 PM

And some shots from around the ship:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084235.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084142.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084150.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084151.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084152.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084153.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084157.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 09:19 PM

And my favorite piece of art on the ship:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084119.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-12-2008, 09:25 PM

The little one is totally enrapt, leaning way forward in her seat, and not missing a single minute of the show, and the father is obviously in tune enough to recognize all the scenes that his daughter would love. About half-way through, the tiny tot begins to get sleepy and crawls onto her mother's lap, but the father continues to be getting as much out of her enjoyment as he is from watching the show himself. But then, when the first rendition of "When You Wish Upon A Star" started, the loving father and kind husband reached over across his daughter's empty seat to gently rub his wife's arm, to which she responded by reaching out to grasp his hand - and they stayed like this, hands clasped with arms stretched across the seat in front of me, for the rest of the show. And I thought to myself, "THIS is what Disney is all about!" And of course, I cried. As if that and the pixie dusting of the ship isn't enough, I also always cry when Mickey and Minnie come out to thunderous applause. Yup, the main mouse gets me every time!

Oh man, I'm all teary-eyed just reading this! how very very sweet!

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 10:44 PM

After my boo-hoo-fest at Disney Dreams, I headed to a little balcony area on the 4th floor (above the atrium and across from the stairs) because I thought it'd be a good, uncrowded vantage point for the 'Til We Meet Again show. Um, wrong - it soon became elbow to elbow as everyone jostled and squeezed in to see. Turned out it was really a little too high to be a good vantage point. It was fun, once again, to spot familiar faces in the crowd - first Ness2289 and her DD, then Cindy and Zachary, and then GoffyJJ and his DS! As Cindy said, it was a nice time to say "goodbye" to all our new DIS friends and thank each other for all the goodies from our little Fish Extender Gift Exchange. :goodvibes The show was just - eh - tonight. I expected to be a little more sad about the cast saying goodbye to us. Maybe it was because it was now 11pm and I hadn't packed for my flight home yet??? ;)

So, we all bid each other a final adieu. :grouphug: I think Ness2289 was headed for one last look through Shutters. I had planned to catch WonderQuest2, but decided instead to search out a little cheese & crackers snack to take back to my cabin to munch on while packing. popcorn:: I turned on Bee Movie and watched the last 2/3s as I organized (more like squashed!) everything into a roll-aboard suitcase and my new Castaway Club tote bag. Getting my luggage out into the hallway by 11pm wasn't a big concern of mine (obviously since it was now well after that time!) because I knew I could just easily roll my bags to breakfast and then right off the ship. But, if I had made the 11pm deadline, I definitely would have sent the bag out to wait for me at the port!

I showered, climbed in bed, wished my cabin wasn't so creaky :headache: , and briefly considered sleeping on the verandah that night. Good thing I didn't because I woke up around 2am to thunder and lightening out there! Now wouldn't that have been a fitting end to my bad luck cruise! :rotfl:

By the way, our weather was perfect the entire cruise! Temps were in the mid-80's each day with full sunshine! :sunny: Absolutely gorgeous! It felt great to soak up the warmth!

Mickey's wake-up call came much too early for this sleepyhead. I had to force myself to get up out of bed, and not because I was tired. It's just so SAD and depressing to know the cruise is over and you must debark very soon. :sad1: You can't help but be envious of all the guests who are en route to board the ship... my ship!... and stay in my cabin... and sit out on my verandah... and have a perfectly wonderful time as I just did. Even after 11 nights on the Magic in the Mediterranean last July, not one of us (me, DH, DD25, DS24) was ready to step foot off the ship on the last day! The whole experience is just so MAGICAL!

I reluctantly dressed, packed those last few items, took one last look at my stateroom, and then headed down to Animator's Palette for breakfast. Fortunately for me, my good head server friend Simone had told me the night before that I did not have to arrive for the earliest breakfast, but could come at any time and he would find a spot for me. This was his one last act of kindness to help make up for my first night's dinner experience, and I really appreciated it! I was seated with a nice little family of three - the little boy was about 4 years old - and we chatted about our trip while we ate. After breakfast I made that long, dreaded walk through the atrium and out the door to the port terminal building. :sad: There was a bit of a line for customs, but it moved very quickly. I was one of the last persons herded onto an airport-bound bus, so nearly every seat was already taken. I was ushered to sit next to a teenage boy. Sorry kid. He kept to himself with his iPod headphones and slept against the window as I stayed in my own space in the aisle seat. As soon as I settled in, I heard a familiar voice calling my name again! Ness2289! :yay: She and her DD were across the aisle and one row back! In all the confusion of searching for empty seats, I hadn't even noticed who was sitting in the occupied ones! It was great to see them again! :)

I was booked on a 4pm flight out of MCO, but knew the next earliest flight was at 10:35am and was hoping to make that one on standby. So, when the bus driver pulled up to the airport, I bolted for the door. He wanted to keep me inside until he offloaded all the luggage from under the bus, but I firmly explained that I had to hurry to make the earlier flight. He wasn't happy with me at all, but obliged, and soon I was running for the check-in kiosks. I printed a boarding pass and rushed to the security lines. Even with the new lines for "Families with Children", "Casual Travelers", and "Experienced Travelers," all the lines were long and mixed up. The process was the worst I've ever seen there, and it was made even worse by a short, loud TSA agent who insisted in funneling everyone into the far lane even though we were all at a bottlenecked standstill. It was frustrating, she was annoying in her incompetence, and all I wanted to do was reach the gate in time to make that flight! After a good ten minutes, we were finally inching forward! Yea! I breezed through security, gathered my belongings, caught the next shuttle, ran to the gate, was told there were six people on the standby list ahead of me, and then waited to see if I'd get lucky. And I did! I was the last one to board the flight! Hooray! :)

Deb T.

04-12-2008, 11:04 PM

First of all, I miss ALL my new friends!

It definitely helps the post-cruise blues to know you have another DCL adventure scheduled! I had the excitement of making the final payment on our Mexican Riviera cruise just a few days after returning from this one! Tomorrow night at midnight I can book our excursions! :)

And yes, I did re-book an additional cruise onboard! Another 3-night spring break cruise for DH and me next year! And I hope this time he can come along!!! ;)

I tried to file a stateroom report but had some technical difficulties, so as soon as those are resolved I'll have it posted there.

I only took four pictures during the trip - two with my tablemates (and now good friends) on our last night at dinner and two during the 'Til We Meet Again show. The red/blue anchor pics were actually from our Med cruise. Fortunately, though, Cindy and her boys are prolific photographers and managed to capture awesome pics of our trip! Thanks, Cindy, for uploading them on this TR! :worship:

Thanks for reading! :flower3: I'll be happy to answer any questions!

Hypermommy

04-13-2008, 08:38 AM

nzdisneymom

04-13-2008, 01:38 PM

Thanks for such a great TR!!!! I had a lot of fun reading it.

I've got a couple of last minute questions.... is 95 faster than taking 75 and the Turnpike to Orlando and then just heading over to the port? I hadn't even though about that. But it's about 3 hours over to Jax to pick up 95. So how long did the drive take anyway?

I can't wait to read yours when you all get back!

As for the best way to go (95 vs 75) it really depends on the day of the week and the time of day that you're going. If you go 75, then you have the tolls on the turnpike and 528, so you slow down for those and it costs you $$, but if you go 95, you might run into more traffic.

The GPS says go 75 to the turnpike, so it's likely shorter in terms of miles. But we like going 10 to 95 and down (well, actually, that's how we've always come home from over there because we like to stop at the outlet stores in St. Augustine).

You guys are going down on Friday, right? Depending on what time you leave, you might want to just avoid JAX, but coming back home on Saturday, you could do fine either way.

(p.s. do you want to try to have lunch this week? PM me if you do).

Dreamfinder2

04-13-2008, 02:49 PM

After ceremoniously filing my used bingo cards in the closest circular file, I quickly headed to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch Disney Dreams. If you've read Dreamfinder2's TR, then you know how sentimental a person can get watching this show. I've seen it six times... and I've cried all six times. Well, technically, I've cried 7 times because I cried TWICE this night. Tell me THAT's not embarrassing for a lady sitting all by herself in a packed theater! Of course, good 'ole Tinkerbell literally sets the stage by flitting all around the curtain and the front of the theater while you're waiting for the show to start. We've all just spent a long glorious day on, indisputably, paradise on earth. And it can't be ignored any longer that this is the last night of an amazing vacation (even if you've embarked all alone). Mix all of those emotions in with this great show and you've got one emotional evening, folks! I strategically sat toward the center of the second level, in the second row right behind a little girl dressed in a princess outfit (complete with wand) who's parents sat on either side of her, giving me a clear and unobstructed view of the entire stage. The show starts and I'm immediately immersed in the fantasy, as usual. However, I find I'm slightly distracted several times as I notice that the little girl's very big and muscular father keeps looking down at his little princess to savor her reaction at all the right moments. The little one is totally enrapt, leaning way forward in her seat, and not missing a single minute of the show, and the father is obviously in tune enough to recognize all the scenes that his daughter would love. About half-way through, the tiny tot begins to get sleepy and crawls onto her mother's lap, but the father continues to be getting as much out of her enjoyment as he is from watching the show himself. But then, when the first rendition of "When You Wish Upon A Star" started, the loving father and kind husband reached over across his daughter's empty seat to gently rub his wife's arm, to which she responded by reaching out to grasp his hand - and they stayed like this, hands clasped with arms stretched across the seat in front of me, for the rest of the show. And I thought to myself, "THIS is what Disney is all about!" And of course, I cried. As if that and the pixie dusting of the ship isn't enough, I also always cry when Mickey and Minnie come out to thunderous applause. Yup, the main mouse gets me every time!

Oh, yeah. HECK, yeah.

Right there with ya, pal.

nzdisneymom

04-13-2008, 06:00 PM

I only took four pictures during the trip - two with my tablemates (and now good friends) on our last night at dinner and two during the 'Til We Meet Again show. The red/blue anchor pics were actually from our Med cruise. Fortunately, though, Cindy and her boys are prolific photographers and managed to capture awesome pics of our trip! Thanks, Cindy, for uploading them on this TR! :worship:

Unfortunately our pictures of our DIS friends did NOT turn out :( But it was so much fun to turn the boys loose with the camera -- I saw parts of the ship through their eyes that I hadn't seen before. Including this one:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/springbreak20084082.jpg

nzdisneymom

04-13-2008, 06:35 PM

And if this works, this is the video of the last part of the til we meet again thing.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/th_springbreak20084320.jpg (http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/?action=view&current=springbreak20084320.flv)

LindseyLou2222

04-13-2008, 09:54 PM

A great TR!!! Thank you so much for sharing! :hug:

MODisneyfan

04-13-2008, 10:21 PM

I loved your Tr.. And that video,, I cried..

grahamgallagher

04-14-2008, 05:16 AM

Fantastic post, brilliant read.

Disney owl

04-14-2008, 06:53 AM

thanks for sharing

nzdisneymom

04-14-2008, 01:22 PM

It's hard to believe we've been back a week already. I was going through pictures and re-reading our trip report and had a few other thoughts to share (ok, maybe more than a few). Some are things that we observed; some are things that we found worked well for us; some are just things I meant to write about and forgot.

First of all, the DIS tip about having one person have all th passports and the driver just keep his driver's license for photo id to get back into the terminal is an AWESOME time-saving tip! Because I had all the passports, I was able to get the check-in done while DH was parking the car. Even though the terminal wasn't busy when we arrived, I can see how this would save a considerable amount of time later in the day.

The Castaway Club provided lanyards for returning guests to be able to keep your KTTW card in. We had gotten these before, but the holder was "open" and we were always watching to make sure that our KTTW cards didn't slip out. They have improved them and now they have the "lock" on them like this:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nzmommy/dcl%20spring%2008/springbreak2008099.jpg

This was especially good for the kids, but also for us in making sure we had our photo id with us for boarding at the terminal - one less thing to juggle. We also kept our photo id in with our KTTW card when we went off ship (and stowed them in our daybag). It was really windy up on Deck 10, so it was nice to have the lock on the badge-holder. We noticed that the DVC lanyards that we received also had this (new to us) feature.

I'm not sure I mentioned how fun it was to participate in the Fish Extender gift exchange organized by Deb T. on our Meet list. Some of us had one delivery, while others spaced theirs out throughout the cruise. We did a one-time-delivery, but I think for future cruises, we'll spread ours out because of how much enjoyment our kids got in checking the fish extender and finding treats.

I had thought the Goofy pool was closed on the first afternoon because of the Adventures Away party; I was surprised to see it open for swimming upon embarkation. I guess they close it up and put the floor on just before or after the Life Boat dril.

Here's a tip - if your child doesn't like all the melons and such that come in the "fruit cup", you can ask for a bowl of whatever fruit they like - like grapes. A much nicer option for a hungry child and not as much waste.

Don't overlook the salad bar in BBB on the first day (it's where the omelet station will be for breakfast).

Dreamfinder2

04-14-2008, 01:30 PM

Ditto on the salad bar at BBB. I remember some chicken salad being exceptionally good. On our first Disney cruise, I wasn't aware that lunch was available, and we stopped at McDonald's before boarding:confused3 . That didn't keep me away from the buffet, however ... I just didn't fill up like I would have normally.

Thanks, ladies, for this CR! It blessed my heart.

Ricky's Girl

04-14-2008, 06:09 PM

Deb T.

04-14-2008, 06:25 PM

Thanks to both of you for this very enjoyable and informative trip report.

A couple of more questions if you please.

Cindy: Everyone mentions the stamps on CC. Are they special or is that the only place you can find them? Also, I wanted to comment that your boys sound like a couple of real treasures. Sounds like mom and dad are doing a great job! Kuddos to you!

Deb: I'd like to surprise my dh with a massage on our cruise. Could you tell me the approximate cost and do you tip the massuse? Also what is the Rainforest Room?

Thanks again to you both!

In order to mail anything directly from Castaway Cay (with their postmark), you can only use stamps purchased from the little post office on the island. There's nothing really special about the stamps at all, but a lot of people enjoy sending postcards from there even though they take forever to arrive!

Cindy's boys are awesome! Smart, fun, polite, and very well behaved! I enjoyed hanging out with them and Ness2289's DD. :)

The Well Being Massage was $109 and I tipped $20. You can go to DCL's website www.disneycruise.com to see all the different massage options offered. If you're wanting to surprise your DH, I'd suggest the "Couples Alone Time". There are two massage beds in the room and then a whirlpool tub and double chaise lounge on the verandah! You begin with a foot scrub on the verandah, then some time to relax in the whirlpool before your massages. Afterward, they give you time to just relax on the chaise with tea and chocolates. It's pricey, but a welcome retreat from the real world. Try to schedule it on a sea day if possible so your view is not of another ship in port.

The Rainforest Room is indoors and a part of the spa. The main room is all tiled, including tiled lounge chairs, with a fountain in the center of the room. Around the room are various steam and sauna rooms, as well as a couple of showers. It's a very quiet and peaceful retreat from the real world.