"The Dapplebeans Rejuvenation at Sea" June 20, 2009 *TORTOLA/TONS OF PICS*

[RLccweems]

Mary...did you get any pics of Chad with Liam? If so please email me them. I want put it in the scrapbook.

 

[JDBlair]

I'm in. Good times!

 

[RoyalVizier]

Day 1: Sailing Away and The First Dinner

We arrived down on Deck 2 at about 1:20 pm and hung out there in the elevator lobby area (I can't think of the right word... it isn't a lobby, but... I can't think of it. The elevator bank? The elevator atrium? The elevator... ? ) Anyway... we just hung out there because they had the entrances to the hallways blocked off, and we saw the room hosts and hostesses scurrying madly about putting the finishing touches on everything. We have learned from past experience that Disney is extremely punctual with the 1:30 pm time that you can get into your room, and sure enough, at 1:30 pm on the dot they "dropped the rope" and we were able to get into the hallway and our room.

As I said before we were in a Category 9 room which is the room with the large porthole window. We have stayed in this Category before and are extremely happy with this room type. On our sailing two years ago when I brought my in laws we splurged for verandahs, but decided that money needed to be saved this time so opted to stay with the window which we are totally fine with. I remember my wife saying about midweek that she wasn't sure a verandah was worth it... for us anyway. And I have to agree. So we checked out the room for a bit, and did a little video tour. This was the first year we've had a video camera with us so we had a bit of fun with that. We borrowed it from a friend, not owning one ourselves, because I wanted to be able to show my mom the ship, because I know that unfortunately she will never be able to experience a cruise.

There were goodies of course.

Very shortly after we arrived in the room the luggage came. It wasn't even 2:00 pm yet! We've always had remarkably good luck with the luggage delivery, so... Thanks Disney! My daughter's hot pink suitcase was buckled in just a bit as if a brontosaurus had sat on it, and that didn't make her very happy. She was concerned about something inside, but I didn't know what. My wife and her were exchanging very curious glances and my wife kept telling her that it would be alright. Hm... curious.

We did a bit of unpacking, put things away, goofed off a bit, and stared out the window. We were on the Starboard side of the ship which gave us the view towards the terminal. Man, there is a bustle of activity out there on embarkation morning! Trucks of luggage everywhere, pallets of food and fruit, makeshift tents with maintenance folks doing all kinds of ship-type stuff, bomb-sniffin' dogs... a little bit of everything happening out there. Directly outside of our window there was a yellow tent with a few guys underneath it wearing wetsuits and working with this GARGANTUAN scrubber thingy. It was like a floor waxer, but much larger and they were doing maintenance on it while one guy waded waiting in the water next to the ship. There was seaweed and barnacles and all kinds of grody yucky sea life littering the area surrounded them, so I guess they were scrubbing the bottom of the ship! Pretty cool. We gotta be aerodynamic to sluice through the ocean, huh? Aerodynamic... is that the word? Hydrodynamic? I'm having vocabulary issues today...

Anyway... our stateroom host, Felindro, came and introduced himself to us. I regret not catching where he was from, but he was an amazing guy. So kind and considerate and fun and would do anything for you. So we chatted with him for a bit, we gave him some of my dress shirts for pressing (my wife didn't want to spend any time on the cruise ironing, why I have no idea) and he also brought the tux I had rented for formal night.

At about 2:40 pm we were ready to venture out of the room and see what we could see. We went up to the Vista Spa with the intention of just poking out heads into the fitness center, but we discovered that the spa was having an open house. They were welcoming everyone, and all of the massage, treatment, and locker rooms were wide open for everyone to see. The spa is not something we'd paid too much attention to on previous cruises so we were curious. We walked around and checked everything out. We poked our heads into the Rainforest room which you can get on a daily or cruise long basis, we checked out the fitness area, the massage rooms, and the locker rooms, and we also happened across the spa villas. These things are gorgeous! They have one single spa villa, and then they have two double spa villas for two. Gorgeous!

Here's some pictures from the walk around.

When we had our fill of the spa we made our first visit to the Deck 9 beverage station before heading down to the DIS meet in the Promenade Lounge. I received just a bit of an unwelcome start as I stood staring at the bank of soda choices and didn't see my beloved fruit punch! I lived on fruit punch on the previous sailing, but this time pink lemonade was in it's place! Luckily, fruit punch was available in Topsiders when we had lunch there earlier so at least I could get it somewhere, but it was just a bit of a letdown and a shock, but only for a moment. Lack of fruit punch wasn't going to be a scar on my voyage, that's for sure.

So we went down to the Promenade Lounge to put some faces with the names we'd come to recognize through different communication channels leading up to this sailing. We met a lot of people, and I'm not going to name names because I am awful with meeting new people and remember names and matching names with faces so I don't want to anger or offend anyone by forgetting to mention anyone. But everyone was so great. We just chatted for awhile about what plans were on Tortola day, we talked about our pets, my wife showed off her button... it was nice meeting everyone.

Smilineyes... insert said flip flop photo here.

That brought us up to about 3:30 pm when we parted company to return to our staterooms to get ready for the safety drill. We donned our lifejackets, which is always opportunity for us to be silly (as if we need a reason).

Our assembly station was in the Walt Disney Theater just up two decks so we went up there and joined the orange masses. The drill was quick and painless as always so when we were done we dropped our vests back in the room and headed up to Deck 10 for the sail away party. We got a spot right across from the Goofy Pool stage and very much enjoyed the show. This was the first time we'd seen the sail away party since it changed over to Adventures Away, and the changes and enhancements are wildly beneficial. High energy as always and fun, and the weather was perfect! This gave me my first real opportunity to try out the video camera. I extracted some stills from the video because I never would have been able to capture these otherwise.

Peekaboo...

The horn sounded at 5:00 pm (love that!), but we didn't sail right away.... we probably waited for about 25 - 30 minutes or so, and then I noticed that we were moving. That is everyone's cue to move to the railings around Deck 10 and gawk as the scenery floats by. There we dozens and dozens of boats in that passage. We saw one boat with a police boat pulled up next to it, and it looked like he was getting a ticket. We saw a lot of folks fishing, and one guy held up a 3 - 4 foot shark he had caught! Wishing I had a picture of that! We stood there for a long time watching the world disappear behind us, and once we were out into open water we retired back to the room to chill for a bit. We did a bit more unpacking and getting things in order. With two adults and a teenager in a smallish room for a week, things need to be as tidy and organized as possible. I was forever straightening up over the week.

My daughter went to the Stack, and we went back up to Deck 9 for more drinks. We poked our heads into the Cove, went to Goofy's Galley and had chicken wraps (yum) while lounging there in the Cove area. This is the spot! We claimed two chairs and a table and deemed that "our spot" for the week. It was heaven. Disney does an amazing job with sound control on the ship and in the parks. You walk over the bridge from the Hub of the Magic Kingdom to Adventureland and the bustle of sound from Main Street just seems to melt as you pass underneath that Adventureland sign and the tribal drums take over. Same thing on the ship. You walk past the Goofy pool and hear families talking and kids squealing, but as you move through that partial divider to the Cove area, the sound just melts away. I was really amazed by this on the night of the pirate party. We were in the Cove hot tub while the pirate party was going on just on the other side of that stack and we couldn't really hear any of the music or crowd or anything. Phenomenal.

When we were done sampling the chicken wraps we headed down for a wander of the ship. We wandered the atrium, Shutters, we picked up a flyer about the Med cruises next year, we checked out the art gallery, and previewed the menu for Parrot Cay that evening. On the way back to the room we passed Felindro in the hallway, and already he recognized us by name! Impressive. Again we just hung out (there was tons of hanging out. That's what you do on a cruise, right?). My wife showered, I wrote some notes, looked at the navigator...

My daughter came back from the Stack at about 7:15 pm so we could all start getting ready for dinner. So we got dressed and headed up to the atrium. We had our pictures taken, which is something we like to do every evening (we're a sucker for the pics at Shutters). It was the white backdrop which is our favorite and of course we ended up getting a few.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay thanks to the wonderful Yolande who had switched our dining rotation earlier in the day. She had told me earlier in Rockin' Bar D to visit the restaurant podium and ask for her so she could get us all situated so that's what I did, and of course she recognized me by name, and she escorted us to our table. Table #7. It was a table for four, so I was pleased with that personally. I'm not the greatest conversationalist and I don't meet new people very easily so I much prefer a table to ourselves rather than dining with others. Our servers were Gabriella from the Czech Republic and Jozsef from Hungary. They were REMARKABLE! By the end of that first dinner, we were comfortable with them and knew that dinners were going to be a fabulous event for the rest of the week. To us, we view dinner on the Disney Magic as an event. Almost part of the entertainment. There is so much more involved that just going in and sitting down at a table, ordering your food, getting your food, eating your food, and getting up and leaving. There is an atmosphere. If you watch, and observe the other tables and the other guests and the servers and the interaction that is occurring all around you... there is a jovial atmosphere. There is banter and smiling and laughing and hijinks and games being played and magic being performed and conversation being had. It's just... I don't know. There is a wonder to it that we absolutely adore. We personally would never skip a dinner in the dining room to eat pizza or chicken fingers. We'd be too worried about what we'd miss.

Here's the food that we enjoyed for that night.

Consistently throughout the week dinner lasted roughly an hour and 45 minutes, from 8:15 pm to about 9:45 pm. For all of the reasons I just stated above, we like to take our time and linger and enjoy... no need to rush. So when desserts were done we went back to the room. It was almost 10:00 pm and my wife and I were utterly exhausted. We are not night people. At home in everyday life we are in bed by 10:00 pm. We were hoping that on vacation we'd be different. That we'd get caught up in the excitement or some activity and that we would experience some surge of energy. Yea, not tonight. My daughter went off to the Stack for the rest of the evening, and for us it was bedtime. Right now, I'm looking at the notes that I took for that day, and I firmly believe that I was probably writing in my sleep. My notes are practically scribbled and illegible.

Day one was perfection. The perfect beginning to this much needed vacation...

Zonked out.

Up Next: A Frosty and Felindro's Surprise

 

[DVC Mary]

Hey DVC Mary! You've got donut holes, a parade and bingo?! Sounds like big fun! Where are you? DS and I will be right over!
I do believe that in addition to the Ollie buttons there was a whole line of Ollie merchandise mentioned in the pre trippie Naturally the buttons, having genuine Magic pixie dust actually ON them, will be worth every penny of that $325 a piece. Don't forget the Ollie World Tour which, now RV could accompany,being a celebrity himself
to all of you that also went on this cruise-please also write your reports toothe more the merrier!

Hoffman Estates 4th of July Festival every year.

Schaumburg Septemberfest every Labor Day weekend.

Our Bingo is 3 cards for a $1 w/ jackpots between $20-$40 on average. The coverall game last night was $490 pot!! Much cheaper than the cruise & you actually get Bingo chips!

Maybe Ollie & Co. could make special apperances during their World Tour!
Remember if you were on the cruise you have a coupon for Chicago Style Pizza if you come visit us!!

If you weren't in the FE group, just PM me & I'll send you my homemade aka on DCL notepaper coupon b/c I couldn't get FE gifts put together b4 the cruise.

 

[AbsyBabsy]

Enjoying your report!

 

[DVC Mary]

RV keep it coming! I'm really enjoying your trip report.

 

[JDBlair]

This is getting me excited for our October cruise!!

 

[frdeb1999]

Loving your TR so far. Great details and pics! Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[anetnmike]

DVC Mary- we could have been there! We are near Plainfield!Sounds like a good time and DS loves bingo and real pizza! The Ollie World Tour certainly needs to stop in Chicago!
RV, we prefer a table to ourselves as well. We enjoy people watching very much but like to eat in peace It is so much fun to watch everyone at dinner too because everyone is having such a great time.
Sounds like your trip is off to a great start! Your pictures look fantastic!

 

[DVC Mary]

Another vote here for tables of 4.

We're scared we'll be seated w/ people that will be annoyed by our kids.

 

[SSRJen]

Loving your report so far! We did some things exactly the same and some different. I still regret we did not make it to the meet!

We were on deck 2, same side as you, I am sure we passed your door many times.

 

[Disneylovers]

We saw a lot of folks fishing, and one guy held up a 3 - 4 foot shark he had caught! Wishing I had a picture of that!

Here you go RV! My daughter got a picture of it! It's not the best pic, but I'm trying to make it larger.

 

[Disney Nana 4]

I just love your trip reports!I am a retired teacher and I'd give your writing an A plus. You certainly keep your readers' attention and your sense of homour is keen. Our family is going together, all 10 of us, on March 13-20 next year. We have inside cabins,2 grandparents(us) 4 parents who still think they are teenagers, and 4 children,(our grandkids:3,5,7,13). We all love Disney and have forever! I read everything I can on the cruise to get tips to help us make our cruise special.I want to leave them all with a memory they'll never forget!! All your information is greatly appreciated.We live in Auburndale Florida all winter, so we're not too far from you. Keep the reports coming. Our's is an Eastern, but not Tortola.: St T., St. M., and C. Thanks again!

 

[princess22]

I'm loving your TR. Can't wait to read more!!

 

[alwayslisad]

awesome report! keep it coming!

 

[RoyalVizier]

RV keep it coming! I'm really enjoying your trip report.

Thanks, but uh... how long are you going to keep that countdown in your signature? It's agonizing to look at!

This is getting me excited for our October cruise!!

Nothing like a trip report to pass the time leading up to a cruise!

Loving your TR so far. Great details and pics! Looking forward to the next installment!

Workin' on it, but funny how life on land drowns ya in reality and there just isn't the time you have on a cruise ship.

We were on deck 2, same side as you, I am sure we passed your door many times.

Yea, we always found ourselves wondering how many DIS folks we were passing throughout the week.

Here you go RV! My daughter got a picture of it! It's not the best pic, but I'm trying to make it larger.

Well look at that! Thanks! Where is your trip report?!

I just love your trip reports!I am a retired teacher and I'd give your writing an A plus.

Thank you so much! You've got quite a group there going on your cruise! That's going to be so awesome!

 

[Jennifer48]

Booo to the DIS for unsubscribing me to the TR! I was wondering why I hadn't heard an update from you in a while!

What a FABULOUS first day!! If the rest of your cruise is anything like that, I'm in for a great read!

Keep up the good work!

 

[DVC Mary]

RV--The countdown's gone. It was making me depressed too, but I usually come home & try to plan another trip right away but we can't figure out whether to cruise in April or May for a 3 day Wonder w/ my Mom. We'll be kidnapping her.

SW also just came out w/ some great fares, so I'm also debating about a trip during late Nov or early Dec to take her to see all the Christmas decorations.


Congrats Jennifer 48 on your upcoming wedding!

 

[Jennifer48]

Congrats Jennifer 48 on your upcoming wedding!

Thank you!

 

[Disneykidsdad]

What a great trip report. I can't wait to read the rest!!