Our first DVC Cruise: SSMC09

[Donald is #1]

Background:
I have been a DVC member since May '07 and have loved every minute of my membership. Well about last September, I found a thread or 2 of people discussing whether they were going to go on the 2009 DVC Member cruise. Well after reading about it and I decided that I wanted to go on the 2009 version. I spoke with both of my sisters and one of them decided that they would like to come also.

Booking the cruise:
For people not familar with the DVC member cruise, once a year, DVC charters one of the DCL ships for a 4 night cruise that is only available to DVC members and their guests. During this cruise, DVC brings on special guests and these guests provide special activities for the cruise. Unlike other DCL cruises, this cruise traditionally sells out in 1 day and must be booked through DVC Member Services. So on the opening day of reservations, everyone waits until 9 AM and then starts trying to call. It ended up taking me about 3 hours of trying to get through on the phone and then over an hour on hold before I was able to get through. Finally I was booked on the cruise! I was able to book a room with a balconny on the 7th deck. Yay! :yay:

About us: Well I suppose that I should introduce us.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/3%20Sisters%20WDW/20071011Epcot0014.jpg

In the above picture, I am in the middle and DSis#1 is on the right.
Me: Donald is #1 -> DVC Member, loves WDW, has been on 1 previous DCL cruise
DSis#1 -> Has been to WDW twice and has been on 1 previous DCL cruise. She is not as big of a Disney fan as myself or DSis#2, but decided to join me on this trip.


Previous Cruise Experience:
Both DSis#1 and I went on a 7 day Western Carribean DCL cruise back in 2004 with her son. We had a great time, but have not been on a cruise since.

Cruise Itinerary:
The DVC cruise has a special itinerary. It spends 2 days at Castaway Cay plus 1 day at sea.


The Planning:
Since we have been on the cruise previously, we are Castaway Club members and we were able to book Palos at 90 days. So as soon as the 90 day window opened, I was able to book at dinner at Palos for us: :woohoo:

Originally we had planned to fly down, but I have always wanted to try driving down. So we decided to drive for this trip. I cancelled our airfare and it was time to get started planning. Since we were driving, we decided to stop in St Augustine on the way down and spend a day there and in Savannah on the way back. Neither of us had been to St. Augustine before and I had been to Savannah once for a workshop but didn't get to see much.

The entire year leading up to the cruise was a lot of fun for me because I spent the entire time on the SSMC09 thread & through Facebook getting to know many of my fellow cruisers. This was an awesome way to get ready for the cruise!

From the thread, I signed us up for linked dining and also to be part of the Fish Extender group.

Our plan:
Day 1: Leave NH & CT, drive down to South Carolina
Day 2: Drive from South Carolina to St Augustine
Day 3: Spend the day in St Augustine
Day 4: Drive down to Port Canaveral and get on the ship! :worship:
Day 5: Castaway Cay
Day 6: At sea
Day 7: Castaway Cay
Day 8: Leave ship :sad1: and drive to Savannah
Day 9: Spend the day in Savannah
Day 10: Drive 1/2 way home
Day 11: Finish driving home



Index:
Day 1 & Part of 2 (http://www.mickeypath.com/id/1281769193.gif)
Day 2 cont. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33693845&postcount=8)
Day 3 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33736786&postcount=14)
Day 3 (cont.) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33736793&postcount=15)
Day 4 - Time for the cruise (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33841529&postcount=21)
Sunday's Navigator (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33894632&postcount=23)
Day 4 cont. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33953425&postcount=26)
Day 5 - Castaway Cay take 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34036837&postcount=32)
Day 5 - Cont (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34168827&postcount=37)
Monday's Navigator (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34168988&postcount=38)
Day 6 - Day at Sea (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34501648&postcount=41)
Tuesday's Navaigtor (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34502083&postcount=42)

[Otimon]

Looking forward to reading more.

Wondering where in NH and Ct. you folks are from. I grew up in Hamden, Ct. and lived for many years in Hooksett, NH.

Best wishes.

[Donald is #1]

Looking forward to reading more.

Wondering where in NH and Ct. you folks are from. I grew up in Hamden, Ct. and lived for many years in Hooksett, NH.

Best wishes.


Hi! Welcome!

I'm in Merrimack NH and my sister is in Woodstock, CT.

[Donald is #1]

Well, I just started uploading pictures for Day 2. So, this update may just go until our arrival in St Augustine. But I promise, I have lots of pictures to come! :goodvibes

So, let's start with the night before. I was all packed, so when I got home from work, I ended up loading up my SUV with all of my stuff so that in the morning, all I would need to do was to get ready and feed the kitty. Don't worry about the kitty, I have a pet sitter that comes in while I am away and feeds her and plays with her.

Anyways, our plan was to get on the road early and I live about 1.5 hours from DSis (but luckily in the correct direction). So, I set my alarm for 4 AM :scared1: and off to bed it was a little earlier than normal for me.

Day 1:

Things went real well the next morning. I was up, ready and with the cat feed by 4:30. So I hit the road at 4:30 AM just like I wanted. The drive down to DSis's house was very easy at that time and I got to her house a little after 6 including a stop to top off the gas tank.

Well, we quickly had the car loaded and good byes were said. Both DSis & I took advantage of the fact that we were driving. Let's just say that the car was pretty full. :rotfl2:

Well, DSis lives in the north eastern section of CT near where MA, RI & CT all meet. So we had the full length of CT to drive. Well, despite the Garmin's recommendation, I didn't want to drive through NYC, so I modified the route to use the Tappan Zee Bridge. That added probably 30-45 minutes to the trip, but to me it was worth it. We made very good time and by noon we had reached Maryland. We stopped for lunch at a Bob Evans which was good but nothing special. OK, to be honest, my lunch was good (salad) and DSis's lunch was just ok (BLT). We were back on the road and still making very good time. We alternated drivers on each stop which was ob average every 3 hours but there were some longer legs.

By 5 PM, we entered in North Carolina and if you remember from my first post, we were planning on stopping in Florence SC for the night. Well looking at the map, it looked like Savannah was only 2.5 hours past Florence. So since we were feeling good, we decided to go all the way to Savannah, GA.

We ended up getting to a hotel at about 11:15 and we were both tired. DSis was able to sleep in the car for a couple of hours, but I wasn't. However, overall it was a great day. I was amazed at how far we had made it on the first day. :yay:

We ended up selecting a Best Western near I-95 in Savannah that night it all we can say is that it was cheap. (Less than $60) Otherwise, our room was on the first floor and it was a little musty smelling. It also seemed like the carpet had been flooded at least once.


Day 2:
We were up and ready before 7. Yes, we were definitely excited to be on the road. So we decided to skip the breakfast at the hotel and instead we loaded up the car, checked out and got breakfast at McD's. We were on the road at about 7.

Our driving luck continued today! We stopped at the FL Welcome Center for our free OJ and pulled into St. Augustine at about 10 AM! DSis and I were very happy with our drive down.

Well, my 20+ pictures for Day 2 are still up-loading. So I will end this update here and pick it up tomorrow when the pictures have up-loaded.

[BigDogHU75]

Hi Robbie! I am on board. I will be starting my TR soon. Can't wait to continue reading your TR.

[wltdsnyfan]

Robbie,

Great Start.:thumbsup2

[Donald is #1]

Hi Robbie! I am on board. I will be starting my TR soon. Can't wait to continue reading your TR.

Welcome! Please let me know when you start your trip report.

Robbie,

Great Start.:thumbsup2

Welcome!

[Donald is #1]

OK, I promised pictures so here they come!

As I mentioned, we got to St Augustine about 10 AM. So we decided to head to the Fountain of Youth first. We enjoyed our stop here. But neither one of us liked the water from the Fountain Of Youth that they gave us to drink. You know that it will taste funny, when they tell you "This is perfectly safe to drink." When you visit here, they show you the fountain and give you a small glass of the water. Then they have periodic tours of 3 of the buildings. We didn't do the tour. Instead we just wandered over the grounds and took in the scenery.

DSis at the Fountain of Youth
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_FountainOfYouth_0002.jpg

Grounds at the Fountain of Youth
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Me at the Fountain of Youth
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_FountainOfYouth_0020.jpg

There were lots of peacocks and peahens on the grounds also:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_FountainOfYouth_0034.jpg

After spending about an hour here, we headed towards the center of town. I wanted to go to the Castillo De San Marco. Because we were off season, the parking lot next to it was 1/2 empty. So instead of doing a trolley tour, we were able to park here and later, we were able to walk from our B&B. Well the Castillo is right in the historic district, so DSis decided that she was going to wander around town while I was at the Castillo. The Castillo was pretty neat (though it looks much like any other historic fort). My first stop of course was to get the stamp for my National Park Passport.

Here are some pictures of the Castillo:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_CastillodeSanMarcos_0001.jpg

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http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_CastillodeSanMarcos_0023.jpg

While I was there, there was a firing of the cannon which was neat to watch. Plus the guy narrating it was pretty funny.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_CastillodeSanMarcos_0012.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_CastillodeSanMarcos_0031.jpg

After spending some time at the Castillo, I decided to head out and look around the town.

I should probably mention that it was pretty hot & muggy this day. (This will be a trend)

The town itself is very neat. Most of the historic district is a mixture of shops, restaurant, and museum/historic sites.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_StAugustine_0003.jpg

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I was posting our status on Facebook through our drive and it ends up that one of my friends from DVCNews, jiggerj, just moved to St. Augustine. We did try to meet up over the next day, but between her moving related activities and our sightseeing, we just never connected. However, it was great talking to her and she suggested a great place to eat. So DSis and I decided to go there for lunch. We meet up about 12:30 and we were both hungry. Originally, we planned on moving the car over near the restuarant, but as we were walking around, we realized that the restaurant was actually close to our car. So off we walked to Scarlett O'Haras for lunch:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_StAugustine_0018.jpg

This was a great lunch! I ended up having fried chicken and DSis got a BLT. Well the fried chicken ended up being 1/2 a chicken for I think less than $10! DSis actually helped me eat it because the lunch was just too big for me to finish.

Now that we were replenished, we walked around a bit more and then headed back towards the car.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_StAugustine_0017.jpg

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BY this time, we were getting pretty hot. It was still too early to check into our B&B. So we decided to head back to the car and drive around a bit. We decided to head north on A1A for a little while. The AAA showed the road as scenic. However, the dunes & brush along the sides of the road were too high for us to see anything. There were some parking areas, but to be honest, it was too hot for us to park our car and walk over the dunes.

Soon, however, it was time for us to check into our B&B. DSis did a lot fo research and found/booked our B&B's in St. Augustine and Savannah (for later in the trip). Well, in St. Augustine, we stayed in Casa De Solana. This was our first time staying in a B&B and we loved it!

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_StAugustine_0024.jpg

The street that our B&B was on:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090911_StAugustine_0027.jpg

This B&B had 3 parking spots in a lot about 3 blocks away and we were lucky enough to get one of those spots.

Our room was very cool. I think that I have a few pictures for my next post. We had a 2 room suite with a living room with fireplace and sofa bed and a bedroom. It was really adorable.

After relaxing for a little while, we decided to go back out and walk around the town for a bit. We then went to a Mexican Restaurant that over looked the castillo for dinner. We were seated on a second floor balcony so that we could people watch. The food here was good and after dinner we slowly made our way back to our B&B for the night.


Unfortunately, the drama of our trip started this night. At about 10:30 in the evening, DSis' phone rings. It is the assisted living facility telling her that our mother was being sent back to the hospital!

Now what do we do? We are 1400 miles away! Luckily, our youngest sister (she is actually in the picture in my first post) is home and lives near where the hospital is. But, we are about to go on a 4 night cruise.... Decisions, decisions!

[dvc4life]

Robbie - Great report so far. It looks like your vacation started off great! I love all of the historical stuff like the forts you are showing in your photos. Keep them coming! :thumbsup2

I'm glad we were able to visit for a few minutes before the CC party on the ship.

I am so looking forward to the rest of your report. Hope your mom was OK after your last post. :)

[wltdsnyfan]

Robbie,

The pics are great. That town looked cool.

How is your mom doing?

take care
flo
:surfweb:

[epfootballcutie04]

Hi there! Just subscribing since i was on the members cruise too!!! Your TR is off to a great start :) I can't wait to see more of those pictures!!

[Donald is #1]

Robbie - Great report so far. It looks like your vacation started off great! I love all of the historical stuff like the forts you are showing in your photos. Keep them coming! :thumbsup2

I'm glad we were able to visit for a few minutes before the CC party on the ship.

I am so looking forward to the rest of your report. Hope your mom was OK after your last post. :)

Thanks! I was so ahppy to meet you in person. I think that one of my favorite parts of the cruise was meeting up with everyone that I have been interacting with on FB and the cruise thread.


Robbie,

The pics are great. That town looked cool.

How is your mom doing?

take care
flo
:surfweb:

Thanks! My Mom is doing better. I should be heading down sometime this weekend to visit her.

Hi there! Just subscribing since i was on the members cruise too!!! Your TR is off to a great start :) I can't wait to see more of those pictures!!

Welcome aboard!

[dvc4life]

More, please......

[Donald is #1]

The first thing that we did when we got up was that DSis called the hospital to get an update on our Mother. She was still at the ER and it took a couple of times, for DSis to get through. She also talked to DSis#2. DSis#2 as I mentioned earlier didn't come with us. So that means that she was stuck dealing with the latest medical crisis. Well, at this point, they really didn't know too much. They were still checking our Mother out. So we went off to breakfast and my what a great breakfast it was. I believe that this morning was French Toast and it was awesome! While we were at breakfast, we talked to some of the other guests. One of the guests was a serviceman who was temporarily stationed in St. Augustine. So he was staying in St. Augustine for a few months. He gave us some excellent meal suggestions that we would use today!

The weather today wasn't that great. There was a 300 mile front coming through and when you see my pictures, you will see lots of clouds.

I wanted to go check out another fort and the lighthouse while DSis wanted to go looking through more of the shops. Since our B&B was right in the middle of everything, it was easy for us to split up for the morning. I took the car to head towards the fort while DSis planned to walk around town.

My first stop for the day was Fort Matanzas. This fort is another National Park site and I was able to get there just as it opened. It actually took me longer than I thought that it would because, the fort is over on an island and the way that the park is set up, the visitor center and the parking lot are right off route A1A. About every hour, a boat runs between the visitor center and the fort. So you are at the fort for about 45 minutes. I was lucky to get there about 10 minutes before the first boat left, so I didn't have long to wait. The fort itself is very small and was an output for the Castillo. The sky looked very ominous, but luckily for me, there wasn't any rain yet. The fort itself was nice but the winner here was the scenery!


Fort Matanzas

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090912_FortMatanzas_0002.jpg

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Area surrounding Fort Matanzas

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090912_FortMatanzas_0001.jpg

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After leaving the fort, I headed over to the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The Lighthouse includes a musuem. Since it was too hot & muggy for me to climb the stairs up to the top of the lighthouse, I decided to not go inside the grounds and I just took some pictures of it from basically the parking lot.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090912_StAugustineLighthouse_0002.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090912_StAugustineLighthouse_0009.jpg

As I was heading back to town, I called DSis to see where she was. Apparently, it rained in St Augustine while I was gone so she had just started out. I believe that she also worked on our Fish Extender gifts for the cruise also that morning. I parked the car and met up with her over on St George St. We wandered around looking at the shops for a while and then decided that to get some lunch. We decided to head to lunch at Harry's based upon the recommendation that we got a breakfast.

Harry's was a great place for lunch. We decided to try a crab fondue that the Serviceman had suggested. Plus I believe that we ordered another appetizer though I can't remember what it was (maybe the Voo Doo shrimp?). We also split a Shrimp Po Boy. The crab fondue was a bit salty for us, otherwise we absolutely loved our meal!

[Donald is #1]

After lunch, it was still very hot & steamy. We walked around for a little while and decided to head over to Lightner Museum. This museum has a very eccletic collection and is in the same complex as the city hall.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090912_StAugustine_0033.jpg

Lightner Musuem
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The museum was very nice. After this musuem, we headed over to the Villa Zorayda Museum. It is hard to descibe this museum. I guess that best way to say it is that it is very "different." This museum is in a building that was built in 1883 as a 1/10th scale replica of part of Spain’s Alhambra Palace. It has supposed the oldest rug "the sacred cat rug" in the world inside of it.

By this point, we were hot & tired. Plus I believe that it was raining lightly. So we decided to head back to our B&B for a bit. While we were back at the room, I read for a little while (or was it play on the computer?) and DSis finished off our gifts for the cruise. It was raining pretty good for at least an hour or so. About 4:30 or so, we decided to brave the rain and went back out to wander around and finish going through the shops. We wandered around with a stop for some excellent gelato and ended up at a nice wine shop where we both did the wine tasting. The wine tasting here was $5 for 4 wine samples plus they gave you the glass. The wine was very good. However, we didn't think that it would like sitting in a hot car while we were on the cruise so we didn't buy any bottles.

For dinner, we went over to A1A brew pub. I wasn't feeling that great at first (maybe it was gelato + wine :rotfl2:?) so just DSis ordered dinner. She ended up getting soup (beer & cheese soup) and a salad. She ate the soup while I ate the salad. She said that the soup was excellent!
Well, the salad helped me feel better, so we both ordered dessert. :thumbsup2


After dinner, we decided to call it a night and headed back to B&B for the night.

I should also update here, that during the day, the hospital discovered that our mother needed a stent. So they installed it and after that our mother started improving. Of course, I think that poor DSis#2 spent a good portion of the day at the hospital. :sad2:

[OurOhana]

Loving the pictures of St. Augustine. I went to Flagler College there back when I was in my first year of college. I remember your first lunch spot very well. Great desserts too! I'll be looking forward to learning about a DVC cruise.

[dnv211]

This was our 1st also we had a great time too....

Does anyone know if you dont have any points left can you pay cash to go on the member cruise for 2010...

Also is they a limited on the amount of family members or friends you can bring with you???

Thanks for all the great infomation.. Love all the pictures...

dnv211

[dejnosluvmickey]

dnv211- yes you can pay cash(its just a little more than the reg 4 night because your tips are included)

I have not seen them do any limits but i could be wrong.

[Eeyores#1Fan]

dnv211-Few years back when we went you could only book a max of 3 cabins. Not sure if this is still the rule or not. ;o)

Nice pics and report Donald is #1. Can wait to read more. :goodvibes

[tksbaskets]

What a fun report. Looking forward to more :goodvibes

[Donald is #1]

Well today was the day that we have been looking forward to... Its time for the cruise!!! :banana::banana:

As usual for this trip, we were both up early and packed by about 7:30. It was still raining lightly from the storms yesterday and breakfast wasn't until 8. So we decided to get the car and load it up so that we could leave right after breakfast. We finished loading the car and still had about 15 minutes until breakfast. We figured that we would head in and hang out in our room for 15 minutes, but just as we were about to head in, the guy working the front desk told us that breakfast was ready and if we wanted, we could eat now. Score!!!! :banana::banana:
Breakfast was great again! This time it was cheesy scrambled eggs. DSis and I will certainly miss this B&B.

After breakfast, we hit the road. It was still raining lightly, but since we had time, we decided to drive A1A south along the coast. The drive was actually very nice and it even stopped raining for a few minutes.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_FloridaCoast_0001.jpg

The drive down was really nice until we got to the outskirts of Daytona Beach. It got very commerciallized outside of Daytona. We then moved to one of the more in-land routes until we got to the Nature Preserve outside of Cape Canaveral. We went through the nature reserve and then pulled into the National Seashore. I was hoping to get a stamp for my Narional Parks Passport. However, there wasn't a Visitor Center at this entrance. So we just turned around and headed down to Cocoa Beach. Our first stop was Ron Jon's so that we could get a T Shirt for DSis' son. This is a nice store and wasn't very crowded on a Sunday morning.

Now it was time... Off to the port! It was very easy to get to the port and every thing was well signed so that it was very easy to find the parking area for DCL. We were very lucky, that we were able to get everything from the car to the over hang before the rain started again.

I think that we got to the terminal about 11:30 or so. It was very easy through security and as soon as we got to the top of the escillator, there was a CM there directing us to the current line. Since we have cruised once before, we were able to go to the Castaway Club lines. However, all of the lines were very short. Once we were checked in, we were given a boarding number and then sent off to get our photographs taken. Everyone on the cruise needs to be photographed before boarding the ship.

There were characters out for pictures and also the magician from the BW was there. DSis and I thought that it was really well organized. We felt much less frazzled than on our cruise back in '04. We sat down for about 15 or 20 minutes and soon it was time for us to board. :yay:

As we were boarding, we were each given DVC Mickey Ears.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0004.jpg

As soon as we boarded, we headed up to Deck 9 to get lunch. We picked a table outside near the little kids pool, and DSis went first to get her food.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0002.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0001.jpg

Once she got back, I headed in. The meal was excellent! Since we had dinner at 6, we didn't want to eat too much, but we still ate well. Also, there was plenty of seating throughout our meal. When we cruised the last time, it was very difficult to find seating for lunch. However, this time it was great! We really enjoyed this meal!

By the time we finished lunch, it was after 1:30, so we decided to head downstairs and check out our room. Our room was number 7600 and it was great! It was on the starboard side and our balconny overlooked the dock. My luggage had already arrived, but it would take the rest of the afternoon to get both of DSis' bags. However, I will say that all bags arrived before 5:30.

We opened the door to the room, and what did we find???



Presents!!!

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0005.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0008.jpg

There was a Castaway Club bag for us to share since as I mentioned earlier, we are Castaway Club members. This bag had a mesh bag, 2 water bottles, a notebook and some stencils in it. Very cool!

There were also 2 DVC presents, one for each of us. This present was a small suitcase, with a DVC hat, duffle bag, licence plate thingy, picture frame, metal water bottle. Really really cool!!!!

Boy am I glad that we drove since we needed to get all of this stuff back home!

Well I unpacked and hung up our Fish Extender (FE). We then headed off to explore the ship prior to the life jacket drill.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0012.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0014.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0018.jpg.

Our next stop was to head to the DISmeet. For the year leading up to the cruise, I have been on the DISboards thread for the cruise meeting many of my fellow cruisers. Plus many of us are friends on Facebook. So it was really cool to meet all of these people that I have been talking to on-line!

(thanks for sending the photo Flo)
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/DisMeet91309.jpg.

Well, its getting late, so I will end this post here. Is anyone interested in me scanning the daily Navigators and posting them?

[dvc4life]

Great report so far Robbie!!!!!!!!

It's like living it all over again. Can't wait for more. :thumbsup2

[Donald is #1]

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/NavigatorSundaypage1-1.jpg

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[BigDogHU75]

Hi Robbie. Great TR so far. I can't wait to read more.

I am glad that your mother is doing better.

[wltdsnyfan]

Great report of the first day. Can't wait for the rest.

take care
flo
:surfweb:

[Donald is #1]

OK, let's see where did I leave off?

After the DISmeet, it was time to head back to the room for the mandatory life boat drill. If you have never been on a cruise before, the ship must perform a life boat drill before it can leave port. So, you head back to your room and get your life jacket. In your room & on the life jacket, your life boat station is marked. So when the alarm goes off, everyone heads back to their room and puts on their life jacket and then goes to their station. At the station, the crew members explain what to do in an emergency and then eventually they dismiss you.

After the life boat drill it is time for the Sail Away Party! This party is a lot of fun!

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0023.jpg

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http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0028.jpg

During the sail away party, the ship undocks and heads out to sea! :yay:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090913_SSMC09_0031.jpg

DSis and I had the main (i.e. early) dinner so that meant that our meal time was 5:45. Our first night's dinner was in Tritons. Also as part of the DIS thread for the cruise, I had signed us up for linked dining. That meant that we would be paired for dinner with fellow DISers. So we got to Tritons and found that our dinner companions were djstweety and her husband and ehagerty and her husband. It was so much fun having dinner with them!
I don't fully remember what we had to eat, but I believe that we both had the escargot plus shared a special appertizer. Then we both had the tenderloin which was incredible. Dessert was also great! We both had to be rolled out of the restaurant the food was so good. :lmao:

After dinner, DSis decided that she didn't want to go to the show so she headed up stairs. I went to the Golden Mickeys which were awesome! Before the show, I stopped at the gift shop to get the Member cruise pin and ended found that the line was very long. I ended up waiting in line and it went fairly quickly. However, I found that the next night the line was virtually non-existent. So I probably should have waited.

After the Golden Mickeys, it was getting late so it was time to head back to the room.

Overall it was an awesome start to the cruise!!!

[dnv211]

thank you for the information it helps....

[dvc4life]

Your pictures are awesome of the sailaway party Robbie! Thanks for sharing.

[WDWLVR]

Great job Robbie! Can't wait to read the rest!

[praisehisname]

I just found your report and am reading along!

Denise

[Donald is #1]

I just found your report and am reading along!

Denise

Welcome!

[Donald is #1]

Today was our first full day on the cruise. Our destination today was Castaway Cay!

Both DSis and I slept very well on the ship. The movement of the ship didn't bother us at all. :thumbsup2

We still hadn't docked by the time that we were ready for breakfast. So we decided to head up to the buffet for breakfast. We were very impressed with the selection! I don't think that we even made it over to the omlets. There was just so much to choose from. Yes they had Mickey Waffles (they were the small ones). It just isn't the same for me when I don't get to have Mickey Waffles at least once during a WDW trip.

If I remember correctly, the boat docked while we were at breakfast. However, we didn't head off the ship yet. We had our DVC meeting today.

DVC Meeting: They split the ship into 2 groups. 1/2 of the ship goes to the DVC meeting (if you want) on the first Castaway Cay day and the remainder of the ship goes on the 2nd Castaway Cay day.

During this meeting, they showed us a couple of DeeVeeCee videos and basically did an overview of the resorts currently for sale and then went over some of the incentives.

If you are planning on going on the Member cruise and are thinking about adding on, then you definitely want to wait for the cruise if you can. THe incentives on the cruise are definitely better than the general incentives.

As you leave the theater, they had a board setup with magnets with times on them. I had been thinking about adding on (BCV or BLT) so I decided to get an 11 AM appointment to go down to the "DVC Clubhouse" and check out the incentives. Dsis was thinking about going with me to see the incentives for herself, but instead we decided to split up for a while and DSis headed out to Castaway Cay, while I waited for my appointment.


While I was waiting for my appointment, I went back to the room and took some pictures of Castaway Cay from our balconny.


http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0002.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0004.jpg

I probably should mention that it was a bit windy today. So they cancelled most of the excursions.


Well, as it got closer to 11, I headed off to the DVC Clubhouse. This is in an area on deck 2. When I got down there and checked in, I went to a waiting room and they had cookies, coffee, tea, soda, and a pretty good size bar.

I was quickly called over to speak to a CM and we went over the other incentives. Well, I was thinking about 100-120 points. The intent of these points was to get a 1 BR for a long weekend every other year. When we went over the incentives, the best ones were for VGC. Increasing up to 125 points, meant that I could get VGC for $25 off per point! :woohoo:
So, since I like all of the DVC resorts, I decided to get these points since they were so cheap. To be honest it was only a few dollars more per point than if I had bought BCV resale. So I quickly signed the agreement and gave them my Disney CC for the downpayment.

They were also running another incentive and luckily, I got the second to last one! They had a series of group dinners in Palos with one of the special guests! So that means that DSis & I will eat at Palos 2 nights in a row!


Well, it didn't take too long to sign up because they actually mail you most of the paperwork. So I was heading out to Castaway Cay probably about 11:30. It was so beautiful! I started heading over to the adult beach where DSis was plus where my massage would be later.


http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0005.jpg

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http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0008.jpg


Me at Castaway Cay
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0009.jpg


I decided to walk over to Serenity Bay but as I was walkign down, a CM in a golf cart stopped and asked me if I wanted a ride. He was driving 2 other DVCers down. It was very hot, so of course I agreed.

Quickly we were down there and I walked over to the beach to find DSis.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0011.jpg

I was able to find DSis easily and we quickly decided to get lunch. We went over to the lunch spot by Serenity Bay and found that everyone else had the same idea. Let me tell you, it was extremely hot in line! I decided to get a steak so I almost melted waiting for it in front of the grills!

The food was actually quite good and we really enjoyed it. It ended up that we were sitting with the same couple that were in the cart that I got the ride from. Well I filled in DSis on my add-on and we were both excited, esp since these points will probably mostly be used for Food & Wine Festivals. After lunch, DSis decided to head back to the ship so that she could relax on deck. I had a massage scheduled for 1. So I waited around for my appointment. WHile I was waiting, it started to pour! According to DSis, it had rained earlier while I was on the ship. It didn't rain for very long but it sure came down!

Soon it was time for my massage in one of the cabanas. :cloud9: My massage therapist was good, but it wasn't the best massage that I have ever had. However, it was sooooo relaxing with the waves and breeze in the background!

After my massage, I decided to wander around and take a few pictures and slowly made my way back to the ship.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_CastawayCay_0013.jpg

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[praisehisname]

Great update! Glad you got your add-on points!

Denise

[kamgen]

Who were the special guests/celebrities onboard??? We sailed on the member cruise in 2008 but had to miss this one! Glad you had fun!

[BigDogHU75]

Great pictures Robbie! Can't wait to read more.

[Donald is #1]

Who were the special guests/celebrities onboard??? We sailed on the member cruise in 2008 but had to miss this one! Glad you had fun!

Let's see. The guests were:
Kathryn Beaumont -> voice of Wendy (Peter Pan) and Alice (Alice in Wonderland)

Bill Farmer -> voice of Goofy

Dave Bossert -> Disney Animation

Tim O'Day

Mari Gastineau -> WD Studios Motion Pictures Group International executive

Ducky Williams -> Disney Artist

Judy Kuhn -> Singing voice of Pocohantas, Broadway star

Great pictures Robbie! Can't wait to read more.


Thanks! I'm loving your trip report too.


Everyone, hopefully I will have 1-2 updates up this weekend.

[Donald is #1]

Well, as soon as I got back on board, I headed back to our room. DSis was already there. The first thing that I noticed was that we had another present!

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_SSMC09_0054.jpg

This time it was a very neat book on lost Disney animation.

Since we had plenty of time before dinner, we decided to finish off our fish extender gifts and then go deliver them.

I had already put together the kids part of the gift (puzzles and magic towels) prior to the cruise. So now we needed to fill the bags with the adult portion of the gifts that DSis had done. Here is an example of our adult gifts:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_SSMC09_0060.jpg

I was really impressed with how they came out.



We had 35 cabins to deliver to. So we decided to split up the bags and we each delivered 1/2 of them. Boy did we get some exercise. lol


Tonight was Pirate night! Our dinner was in Animator's Palette tonight and because of Pirate's night, it had a special menu. All of the servers were dressed up for pirates night and at one point, there was a parade through the restuarant.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090914_SSMC09_0069.jpg

Once again, I had to be rolled out of the restaurant because I had eaten so much. After dinner, DSis headed back to the room and I headed over the main lobby because tonight was our DIS group photo.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/DISGroupPhotojpg.jpg

This photo was a lot of fun and it was fairly quick. Once they had us setup, they sent Mickey over and soon the picture was taken.

I was originally planning on seeing the Toy Story show this night, but instead both DSis and I decided to head over to one of the bars to watch the Pat's game on TV. When I first got there, the place was packed, but soon it started clearing out as people headed off to the late dinner. We had a great time watching part of the game. However, we didn't see the end because we decided to head up to deck 10 to check out the Pirates in the Caribean Deck Party. Sorry, I don't have any photos because it was too dark for my camera. The party was fun but packed. We ended up standing on Deck 10 and watching from above.

The highlight of the evening were the fireworks! It was very cool to see fireworks shot off from the ship. You could see some ships in the distance also watching the fireworks.

A note on the fireworks: I really wanted to see the fireworks and debated jsut going up to the party near the end. Well, it is a good thing that we didn't do that. It ended up that the fireworks are shot off more to the middle of the party instead of the end.

After the fireworks, we headed back down to our room for the night.

[Donald is #1]

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/NavigatorMondayPage1.jpg


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[Time4disneynow]

Hi Robbie,

I just read your TR and I just loved it. The TR on the members cruise was fantastic. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories. Loved all your photos too. Hopefully we will see each other again on a future members cruise.

[BigDogHU75]

Hi Robbie,

I wanted to see the DIS pirate photo but I never got a chance to see it. Thank you for posting it. I really wanted to purchase it foe my scrapbook.

Anyway, great update!

[Donald is #1]

When DSis and I took our first cruise back in 2004, I was concerned that we were going to get bored during our day at sea. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was so much to do, that we didn't stop.

On this cruise, I was looking forward to the day at sea as a day to relax. Well, although I didn't do everything, I still didn't sit down to read for that long. :rotfl2:

Well, this morning (I think) we decided to have breakfast at Tritons. We both decided to have the "Little Mermaid's Morning". This was two belgian waffles stuffed with dulce de leche and rolled in sugar and cinnamon. Served with watermelon wedges. (thank you to AllEarsNet for the menu and descriptions :thumbsup2) This item was excellent though a little small. Apparently a lot of people order something else with this (due to the size) because when the waiter came back, he asked us if we wanted to order something else. Since we have been eating ourselves silly so far, we decided to pass.

DSis headed up to the deck to relax. She did much better at sitting and relaxing than I did.

I headed out to my first activity of the day -> Disney's Lost Animation. This event was well attended though the theater wasn't full. This was a great event where Tim O'Day and aminatist Dave Bossert discussed and showed clips of lost animation from various films or want to be films. Some were already colored and some were still un-colored. I loved this event.

Next I headed over to "Character Speak: Animation's Inspired Voices". This event was over in the Buena Vista Theater and it was packed!!!! This was one of the best events of the trip. Tim O'Day hosted this event also. The guests here were Bill Farmer (current voice of Goofy) and Kathryn Beaumont (voice of Alice and Wendy).

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0095.jpg

There were so funny. I was laughing so much that I was crying!


Afterwards and I headed up on deck to find DSis. We ended up eating lunch from the fast food places on deck (pizza, burgers, etc). The food up there is good, not spectucular but good. We got a little confused on where ice carving was going to be. To be honest, it was my fault because I forgot that the "goofy" pool wasn't the one with Goofy next to it. Doh!!!

After lunch, I headed off the the Castaway Club event while DSis headed off to Bingo, I think. The castaway club event was a nice way to meet fellow cruisers. There were so many people that they had us split into 3 different venues on route 66. There was food and door prizes though I didn't win anything.

DSis didn't really enjoy Bingo. She found it expensive and crowded.

Afterwards, I can't remember if I made it to 'Animation's Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" where they were discussing up-coming movies. I think that I did, but I can't remember.

I did attend the Adventures by Disney presenation in the Promenade Lounge and boy was it crowded!

Finally I made it up on deck to read. I had a great day, but I didn't get on deck for too long. While I was on deck, Chip & Dale came out to do a small show.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0102.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0103.jpg

It was cute!

At some point during the day, I also headed down towards the gift shops and took some pictures down there.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0096.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0097.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0098.jpg

Our gifts today at various times were Snow White pins and a picture from the Princess and the Frog.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0104.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0106.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r248/bosox3260/SSMC09/20090915_SSMC09_0109.jpg

For dinner tonight we went to Palos. Oh my, this was one of the best meals that we had ever had!!!! So worth the extra $15 per person. :thumbsup2

We each had a glass of wine, and got different appertizers. DSis ordered the filet and I ordered the lamb for our entrees. We also ordered the mushroom ravioli to share. These meals were so awesome!

For dessert, I ordered the chocolate souffle and DSis ordered something else that she wanted to try. Well our waiter also added a second Chocolate Souffle so that DSIs could have one. The desserts were amazing!

They had to roll us out of the restaurant!

At the end to the meal, they gave each of one a DVC wine glass to take home.


Another amazing day!

[Donald is #1]

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[happylady]

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing with us. :goodvibes

[praisehisname]

Great update! Glad you're back!

[BigDogHU75]

Palo's dinner is a must for me on our next cruise. I have never tried the chocolate souffle and people keep raving about it.

[Donald is #1]

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing with us. :goodvibes

Yes, it was awesome. I can't wait to go again (maybe in '11)

Great update! Glad you're back!

Thanks, I was hoping to get another update up while I am WDW, but based on my first few days, I am not sure that I will get a chance. So the next update may not be until the weekend before Christmas.

Palo's dinner is a must for me on our next cruise. I have never tried the chocolate souffle and people keep raving about it.

Definitely see if you can book it on your cruise. It was amazing!