Dream a Little Dream Feb 2/6/11 Finished 3/4/11

[missj1975]

Welcome to my Second Cruise Report. I had so much fun writing about my December Cruise that I just couldn't wait to start my second report.

If you read my first report, then you might remember that we booked the Dream Cruise as soon as we got off the Magic...cause we just had that much fun. So much fun that I am now trying to talk my hubby into booking the Maiden Voyages for the Alaskan Cruise and the Fantasy Ship. Yeah I got a lot of work of ahead of me to talk my husband into that ;-).

Cast of Characters: me (35) - Disney Fanatic with a DH who totally supports my habit.
DH (40) - Vacation Planner extraordinaire

We are getting so anxious...less then two weeks until vacation. Today I started trying on clothes...seeing if I like anything or if I need to buy me new clothes. Luckily for the banking account my two favorite dresses still fit.

A quick trip to Target to buy kitty litter also resulted with two new pairs of jeans for me. Totally DH's fault because I did offer to stay in the car while he ran inside.

Our FE gifts came in the other day so I put them away in the suitcase yesterday and totally realized I don't have my new FE yet. I bought one off of ebay December 12 and it still hasn't came in yet. I double checked ebay and the expected delivery date said January 8th. Now I really started freaking. I've bought from this seller before so I was really hoping she didn't forget about me. I sent a quick email to the seller asking about the status.

Well impatient me couldn't wait for a response from the seller. We had time to kill yesterday before a hockey game and Michaels just happened to be on the way to the game.

Since I don't have a sewing machine...(and technically don't know how to sew) I made a no sew FE. Since my cruise is near Valentine's Day, I went with a Valentine's Day. This is my FE. Opinions are totally welcome. My DH loves it but I am not so sure. DH says I am way too critical on myself.

So of course today the seller responds that she was on vacation and that the FE will get to me in time, no problems. I'm happy but DH says he still wants to use my FE and just save the ebay one for future cruises. I haven't decided yet. I do appreciate my DH's praise but I'm still undecided whether I like my handmade one or not.

 

[missj1975]

The main reason we picked the February 6th sailing date was because it fit perfectly into our originally planned week long trip to Disney for the Love is Magical Pin Event at Walt Disney World.

Of course after the December Wonder cruise, we just had to cruise again so we changed the week long trip at WDW to 2 days at WDW and 4 days on the cruise ship.

2/3/11 - Fly to Orlando -staying at the Beach Club Resort for 3 days
2/4/11 - Spend the day at Animal Kingdom/Epcot with my twin sister and her family
2/5/11 - Attend the Love is Magical Pin Event at Epcot
2/6/11 - 2/10/11 - Sail on the Disney Dream
2/10/11 - Fly back to St Louis and try not to cry too much

I have a twin sister who is also my best friend. She has a great husband and two darling girls. They go to Disney just about as much as DH and I do. She will be at Disney the week before me and our trip overlaps with her trip by 2 days. I wish our trip would have overlapped more but I couldn't get days off sooner with my job.

The Disney Cruise line has a nice little customer service perk that allows guests to drop off items at the front desk that they would like autographed. The items will be returned to the guests by the end of the cruise. Last cruise I had Vinylmation dolls signed. This cruise I finally decided on decorative letters.

After they are autographed, I will probably decorate them with gems, attach ribbons at the bottom, and use them as barrette holders. Or maybe just leave as is. I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler Alert: If you are on the same cruise as me don't scroll down any further. I am about to post pictures of my FE gift.

The coin on the right was our original gift. It is a very nice & heavy coin. But then I thought maybe really little kids wouldn't necessarily like the coin so DH thought pirate gift bags would be a great idea for the kids. Everyone (no matter the age) is still getting the coin. We just added the pirate gift bags for the kids. Typical party gift bag: Pirate map, eye patch, chocolate coins and some other pirate loot.

I am in love with the coin. We bought way too many because I thought our gift exchange was going to be bigger. DH is stressing but I'm like...who cares...more coins for me. LOL. Before DH and I got married, I made him a pirate chest and filled it with all kinds of pirate goodies. Now I am always on the look out for pirate souviners to add to the chest. The extra coins look awesome in the chest.

 

[Soundragon]

Cool, glad to see someone else from here going the same time we are.

It's my b-day present this year.

 

[missj1975]

Cool, glad to see someone else from here going the same time we are.

It's my b-day present this year.

Awesome birthday present!!! This cruise is our Christmas present to ourselves since I got a nice Christmas bonus!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in!

 

[missj1975]

Joining in!

Yeah! Thank you!!!

Are you anxious? I don't know how I am going to get thru the next 9 days.

 

[BethC1952]

Since I'm not doing the FE, I peeked at your gifts--I love them!

Hopefully, we'll get to meet on board. I'm SO ready for this trip!

Beth

 

[missj1975]

Since I'm not doing the FE, I peeked at your gifts--I love them!

Hopefully, we'll get to meet on board. I'm SO ready for this trip!

Beth

Thank you!!! If we get a chance to meet on board, I will bring an extra coin for you!!! Everyone needs a little pirate treasure.

I am so freakin antsy. I'm never like this before vacations. I think it is all the snow in St. Louis. I just want to get away.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yeah! Thank you!!!

Are you anxious? I don't know how I am going to get thru the next 9 days.

Not anxious. I have so much to do at work for the next few days that I dont think I'm going to stop until Friday Feb 4th at 4pm when I can walk away and be like phwwww.

 

[sarbah77]

...I was wondering how I missed this and I see you started it yesterday. Whew!

Looking forward to the trip and meeting everyone!

 

[mlipreston]

Can't wait to continue to read your report. I loved your other one so much I'm back for more. Have a great trip!

 

[praisehisname]

Joining in and looking forward to hearing all about it!

 

[missj1975]

Thanks for all the joins. 8 more days till we fly to Orlando.

On Sunday night...after reading about all the excitement surrounding the Dream Maiden Voyage (which I knew nothing about until last month), I was feeling a little left out. So I said to hubby..."so you know next year Disney will have another new ship called the Fantasy...and it will also have a Maiden Voyage." He just looked at me.

Hmmm....ok more hints in order. So I quickly emailed my TA who just happened to be working late on a Sunday night...and got a quote back in less then ten minutes.

So try again..."You know darling husband...love of my life...blah blah blah....for only $****.** we can be on a Maiden Voyage. Wouldn't that be exciting?" This time a look that clearly said 'There is no way I am spending $****.** on a 7 day cruise.'

So finally I said to my husband "Guess what...we are going on a 7 day cruise March 31, 2012. We have to put down a non-refundable deposit since it is a special event. But who cares cause you love me and we are going." I might have thrown in some tears and puppy dog looks but who cares...it worked...I'm going on a cruise...again ;-)!!! In over 400 days...wow that is a long wait.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Are you going to wait until our cruise to book it? I think that will give you some extra discount + OBC if you rebook on the cruise.

 

[missj1975]

Are you going to wait until our cruise to book it? I think that will give you some extra discount + OBC if you rebook on the cruise.

We didn't wait to book because my TA said there were only 2 rooms left of the type that we wanted. I didn't want to take a chance of the room being gone in 9 days. I was thinking of trying to rebook on board but I really don't understand how the whole rebook thing works. I tried to read about it but was confused. My understanding was there has to be the same type of room available for the rebook to work. Plus my TA said our deposit was non-refundable because of the cruise being a special event. Will they let you rebook with a non-refundable deposit?

 

[BethC1952]

Thank you!!! If we get a chance to meet on board, I will bring an extra coin for you!!! Everyone needs a little pirate treasure.

I am so freakin antsy. I'm never like this before vacations. I think it is all the snow in St. Louis. I just want to get away.

Thanks! I'd like that!

We're supposed to get snow again tomorrow. There has been snow on the ground since the day after Christmas, and that's very unusual here at the Jersey Shore. Now it's just yucky, miserable gray ice. Some of the sidewalks I have to use on my walk to/from work every day still haven't been cleared! I can't wait to be somewhere with a temperature above 40 degrees!

Beth

 

[Lemola]

Great pre-trip report so far! I am antsy too - can't wait to sail! 10 more days until we fly down. We are doing a couple of days at Beach Club AFTER the cruise.

And I'm totally JEALOUS of your next cruise! You must have the best puppy-dog eyes EVER!

 

[missj1975]

Great pre-trip report so far! I am antsy too - can't wait to sail! 10 more days until we fly down. We are doing a couple of days at Beach Club AFTER the cruise.

And I'm totally JEALOUS of your next cruise! You must have the best puppy-dog eyes EVER!

I am so excited to be staying at the Beach Club. This will be our first time. We got a great AP discount so couldn't resist staying there for a couple of days. Plus since we plan to spend most of our time at Epcot, Beach Club seemed the best choice.

And yes I have pretty good puppy dog eyes, second only to my Death Star Glare (which I have only had to use once on my husband).

 

[kristinanderic]

I'm excited to read your TR. We live about 25 minutes from St Louis and will be on the Dream on 2/13/11, woo hooo!!

 

[missj1975]

I'm excited to read your TR. We live about 25 minutes from St Louis and will be on the Dream on 2/13/11, woo hooo!!

My neighbor just said we are suppose to get more snow on Monday and Tuesday. As long as the snow is done by Wednesday I am happy. We fly out Thursday evening.

I just ordered a waterproof camera bag for my camera from ebags. I know I am cutting it close but hopefully it will arrive on time. Expediated Shipping would have cost $12.95 extra and they only predicted one day faster then normal shipping. I will take my chances with normal shipping.

My waterproof camera konked out in December. Instead of buying a new one, I plan on using my regular camera with the waterproof bag. The bag has good reviews so hopefully it works.