Video Killed the Trip Report Star: A Little Halloween Magic (Western) Complete!!

[Buckeye Princess]

Hello! I've been lurking and just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to share your trip with us. I don't post because I read while I'm up in the middle of the night nursing my son. (At 3 months he is still not a good sleeper. haha) As a result my hands aren't really free to type. Thanks for keeping me entertained through so long sleepless nights!!!

 

[nenner1]

duh that is the best time to go to Epcot...LOL

No kidding! It is painful to my wallet and my scale!

Hello! I've been lurking and just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to share your trip with us. I don't post because I read while I'm up in the middle of the night nursing my son. (At 3 months he is still not a good sleeper. haha) As a result my hands aren't really free to type. Thanks for keeping me entertained through so long sleepless nights!!!

Thanks so much for reading! I am so glad it has helped you through the night! Literally!!! So glad you have enjoyed it!

 

[Trinity524]

Are you sure you don't work in marketing for DCL? I had been thinking about taking a DCL cruise but wasn't sure what it was all about. Now you have be convinced that I can to go on th 10/28 Western. I have the Free Dining on in September, so I don't want to give that up and was looking to do the Eastern on 9/24 as that would have been the week after, but you made the Western look so great! I love that your youngest was able to do all the excursions, especially the sting ray one! Now to try to convince the hubby that not only do I have to go to Florida twice this year, but within 4 weeks of each other...

 

[nenner1]

Are you sure you don't work in marketing for DCL?

Now THAT would be a dream come true!

I had been thinking about taking a DCL cruise but wasn't sure what it was all about. Now you have be convinced that I can to go on th 10/28 Western. I have the Free Dining on in September, so I don't want to give that up and was looking to do the Eastern on 9/24 as that would have been the week after, but you made the Western look so great!

Well, we did love everything Halloween that this cruise offered...however our next cruise is back in September. Prices are a little lower then, plus the dates work out better for us with my kids' activities (football- playoff time) and dance company (Halloween performances)...so you could take a cruise closer to your Free Dining WDW vacation.

I love that your youngest was able to do all the excursions, especially the sting ray one!

Yes that is a benefit of booking them on your own-most DCL excursions are for ages 5 and up. Now that we are "old hands" at the process we exclusively book on our own vs through the cruise line! It's cheaper and many more options for tour times, tour offerings, and ages!

Now to try to convince the hubby that not only do I have to go to Florida twice this year, but within 4 weeks of each other...

Well, like I said September is not a bad time to cruise. Yes, it is still Hurricane Season but on a cruise they will just change the itinerary if necessary to keep you away from the bad weather if any...and well, you could still do MNSSHP before or after (we are for our 9/22/12 cruise).

Just a thought! But either way you decide it will be wonderful!!!

Thanks so much for reading, I'm so glad the TR has helped with your planning (even if it may have cost you an extra few thousand in cruise fare!)

Jen

 

[Fastpaks]

WOW I have a lot to catch up on... That picture of Sarah at Spring a Leak is priceless!! Look forward to catching up. Seeing the photos brings back a bunch of memories! Why does it take so long between cruises!

 

[nenner1]

We made our very last embarkation of the cruise, up the gangway after another amazing day at Castwaya Cay. Back at the rooms, I settled in determined to finish the ugly chore of packing, and Ron and the kids went up to the pool deck for one last swim.

This guy was waiting for our arrival. Luggage tags?!?!? Say it ain’t so!

Up at the Mickey pool, it was totally deserted!!!

Some more shots of the island and the Flying Dutchman, From this side you can see how rough she looked. I’m not sure if those holes had been there awhile or if dismantling had already begun.

Brendan found some of the boys up at Pinnochio’s and grabbed one last slice of his favorite DCL food!

Oh, so here’s where all the kids were!

The very last person to ride the slide on the 10-30-10 cruise…Savannah!

(video: click to play)



Farewell Castaway Cay! Til we meet again….

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready! Unfortunately we did not make it in time for the show, instead we wandered around enjoying the ship, make a stop in Mickey’s Mates for some last minute souvenir shopping, and then stopped in the back of the theater to watch the grand finale of Til We Meet Again:

Before dinner we did some more shopping, and would have made one more stop to see these guys, but the line was pretty long:

In virtually no time at all the doors to Lumiere’s opened and we filed in. On all four of our cruises our last night has always been in Lumiere’s/Triton’s.

The gorgeous mural along the back wall:

Sav showing off her recent purchase:

My girls:

 

[nenner1]

And my handsome boy:

The Til We Meet Again menu is one of my absolute favorites, but it is so bittersweet.

Tonight Savannah may actually eat off the regular menu. What after 6 nights of Minnie’s Mini Burgers, she’s finally had enough?

Sarah was in quite a mood tonight! So far..it was a good one!

Our appetizers were out very promptly. We had ordered the Artichoke, Spinach, and Jalapeno Cheese dip with Crispy Pita Chips, which was very good:

But the big winner was the Grilled Chicken Satays, spicy, tender, and downright scrumptious. We had to fight over these!

We skipped soup and salad, but when Mahendra asked the kids what they wanted, they said out of nowhere, “watermelon”. Well sure enough, he brought out a little patter with watermelon and pineapple slices. Wonderful!

Dinner moved along rapidly this evening, or maybe it was just that Sarah was doing so well. She had her portion of kids pork chops, and being the sole exception everyone else at the table –yes, even Savannah- had selected the Grilled Beef Tenderloin over Bearnaise with William Potatoes, Asparagus Spears and Baby Vegetables.

And it was fabulous! The meat was a good cut, flavorful and tender. I adore the William Potatoes: mashed potatoes formed into a pear shape, then breaded and flash fried- OMG to die for! I’m not a fan of asparagus or béarnaise sauce but the mushrooms in reduction were delectable as well.

Everyone enjoying their dinner!

Time was absolutely flying. I could hardly believe our last dinner was almost over! In the blink of an eye, the parade of flaming baked alaska began, followed by the indroduction of the chefs, and finally the parade of servers around the room with their flags to the Baha Men’s rendition of “It’s a Small World”.

And after that….one more for the road!

Sarah with Passayu and Mahendra- what wonderful service!

Passayu informed us he would be moving to the Fantasy next year, after 10 years with DCL on the Magic and Wonder! (Wow!) I truly hope we will see him again on our next cruise!

Sarah was quite a ham this evening:

(..it’s OK, she’s playing)

The rest of us had the Baked Alaska for dessert…..

….well except me, I had the Baked Alaska and the Chocolate Decadence.

Desserts were fab, I actually preferred the Baked Alaska to the Chocolate Decadence. We bid adieu to our wonderful team, and handed out the tip envelopes. I wasn’t sure we would be in for breakfast the next morning, but probably not, so we said our farewells now.

And out in the hallway, a goodbye to Ellen and the rest of the Podsnel family! Gee thanks for the ears, Savannah!

Our rooms were all turned down, and the kids had their last critter to add to the farm, a bunny:

Our room had what I think is a puppy puckering up with big fish lips:

 

[nenner1]

Ron took the kids down to the Til We Meet Again Character farewell party in the Atrium while I finished up the packing and got all of the luggage tagged and outside.

Downstairs, one last hug from Mickey, and then the farewell kiss goodnight ending with a shower of shiny mickeyhead confetti raining down from above:

All the kids (and some adults) scurried around picking up all the confetti from the floor (hey- it’s great for scrapbooking!) Vacuums? We don’t need no stinkin’ vacuums!

Savannah and Adriane:

And off to Shutters to finish off our package, where I ran into Judy one last time:

Stephanie entertained Sarah while we scoured for our Castaway Cay pics. The Shutter staff, can’t say enough wonderful things about them. They gave Sarah an envelope with several stock pictures of the ships and characters, a generous gift she will cherish!!!

It was getting late, but you didn’t think we were done yet, did you?

Brendan and Savannah belted it out one last time at Studio Sea. Karaoke is now totally their favorite cruise activity!!

Afterwards, Brendan was back to the Edge for one last time, Savannah and Sarah fell quickly asleep:

And we have nearly come full circle:

Up Next: See Ya Not Soon Enough!

 

[livingis2me]

What a great cruise! It's really sad to see it end... again.

Can't wait till the next one!

Ron

 

[dvc4life]

What a great last night. Looks like that is no better way to remember your wonderful trip.

 

[Jennifer48]

aww say it isn't so!

 

[nenner1]

WOW I have a lot to catch up on... That picture of Sarah at Spring a Leak is priceless!! Look forward to catching up. Seeing the photos brings back a bunch of memories! Why does it take so long between cruises!

I know! At least dragging out a TR for months makes it that much closer...when I finally get done blabbing about this one, it's almost time for the next one!

What a great cruise! It's really sad to see it end... again.

Can't wait till the next one!

Ron

You can say that again!

What a great last night. Looks like that is no better way to remember your wonderful trip.

It truly was magical. A perfect day,a perfect cruise.

aww say it isn't so!

I know! What in the world will I do with myself now (oh, maybe finish the movie, scrapbook up the photobook, plan the next one...etc. )

 

[nenner1]

As usual the early birds were up at the crack of dawn. Before, actually. Not early enough to see our arrival back at port Canaveral, but early nonetheless.

How early? This early!

Sunrise over the port:

The kids enjoyed the verandah, and the view one last time.

Uh oh, the little monster is awake!

We got dressed and ready, finished packing our ample carry-off bags, and prepared to bid adieu to the Magic. We actually had as many carry-off’s as we had carry-on’s…amazing when you consider all of the lanyards and candy we schlepped on that was given out. And they were heavy too.

We were feeling a bit bloated and the breakfast offerings seemed blah and uninteresting to us, so we decided to skip breakfast altogether. Normally we would hop up to Topsider’s and forego the table service breakfast because the one time we did that the service was sloooow (from the kitchen, not our wait staff), the food not good, and it took a long time to debark. Plus we were just in the mood for some good old fashioned Mc Donalds!

So not long after 8 AM we headed downstairs. In the hallway near the Promenade Lounge we found Ellen and family in the very long breakfast line and were able to say goodbye one last time.

As we rounded the corner we found the Atrium pretty full with wanna-be debarkers:

Wanna be, because everybody appeared to just be hanging out. The deal is they only let so many folks downstairs in the luggage area at once, and when it clears out and the customs lines get shorter they let more in. Soon everybody was moving quickly through the lobby.

No! Say it ain’t so!!!

And sure enough, just steps from the escalators we were stopped and one of the fabric queue lines was strapped shut in front of us. Ugh…we had to wait one more round.

Luckily our friends Joanie and Sam were there to chat with while we waited, about 15-20 minutes or so. Finally we were on our way. At the bottom of the escalator, porters were waiting. A very lucky one (heh!) got all of our bags for us. Most of them were together but we had one rogue one that was off elsewhere. The porter scooted us off into a customs line, a short one at that, and within minutes we were at the curb.

I retrieved our all important shuttle return pass and called the phone number to request it to come on down for us. When the driver answered, luckily he was already just then arriving to pick up others that had just called and before I could hardly push the “end” button, he was pulling in. We loaded up the trailer, and rode along to pick up some other cruisers from the Norwegian Sun, then five minutes later we were back at the CIS, being dropped off under the portico.

Ron got our van, we loaded it up, piled in, and headed off…first stop, Mickey D’s.

Within a couple of hours we were home, and it was really over.

Until next time, my friends. Thanks for reading, and living our journey along with us. I hope you have found it useful, helpful, and entertaining.

Our next journey aboard Disney Cruise Line is scheduled for September 22, 2012, an Eastern on the Fantasy. And maybe…just maybe…we might squeeze in on the DisMoms Cruise on the Dream next May. Before that we will be enjoying Allure of the Seas this September.

Happy cruising to you all! Until next time…..

Jen

 

[JKSWonder]

I am in complete denial that it is actually over. Reading your report and Ellen's made the whole thing last longer. It feels like such a long time since we will be there again....probably because it is, a year and a half!

If you do a trip report for your upcoming Allure trip, post a link here...I would love to read it. I'm thinking we might be ready to give RCCL a try someday.

 

[dvc4life]

Great report Jen! I'm really gonna miss reading about your adventures and seeing the cute pictures of your kids. It truly has been an enjoyable read. Hope to see you do another report sometime in the future!

 

[livingis2me]

What a "magical" (I'm not a fan of when people use these puns) cruise! The ship itself is definitely showing it's age, but the staff makes up for it. The Dis-ers we cruised with really helped make it an extra special cruise. Even after being on RCCL's beautiful Independence of the Seas (which so far is my favorite overall ship so far) earlier in the year, this one was the best cruise we've been on. I think I'll have a new favorite ship when we go on The Allure of the Seas this September, but it will be hard for it to beat the overall experience of this past cruise.

Great trip report! ...But I guess it's really over. Or is it??? I believe we were promised a video...

love ya!
Ron

 

[DundasDad]

LOVED the trip report! We are off this Saturday for our first cruise ever (Magic - WC too!) and I feel a LOT better because of the details and hints you've provided.

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP! (I'm standing, but you can't see that .. ) lol

 

[Jennifer48]

Great job, as always!

Thanks for all the helpful information! We'll be taking our first western next year so I love all your port info.

Thanks again Nenner family!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Aww, so sad to see your cruise end, but I guess all good things do, right? I loved seeing how much fun your family has together! I'm looking forward to your next Disney adventure!

 

[nenner1]

I am in complete denial that it is actually over. Reading your report and Ellen's made the whole thing last longer. It feels like such a long time since we will be there again....probably because it is, a year and a half!

If you do a trip report for your upcoming Allure trip, post a link here...I would love to read it. I'm thinking we might be ready to give RCCL a try someday.

Thanks Jane, it was such a delight cruising with you and your family, and all of the amazing people we had in our group!!

Yes I'm sure I will do a TR on the Allure! I'll be sure to come back here and post a link..it will probably be on Cruise Critic unless I can find enough comparison to DCL to justify posting it somewhere on the Dis (the RCCL threads here always end badly LOL)...or then again I could post it on the CB. We'll see, but for sure there will be one!!!

Psst...summer 2012 will be here before we know it!

Great report Jen! I'm really gonna miss reading about your adventures and seeing the cute pictures of your kids. It truly has been an enjoyable read. Hope to see you do another report sometime in the future!

Thanks so much Chris, it was great to have you sailing along with us! There will definitely be more TR's..as many as my siggy can handle!

What a "magical" (I'm not a fan of when people use these puns) cruise! The ship itself is definitely showing it's age, but the staff makes up for it. The Dis-ers we cruised with really helped make it an extra special cruise. Even after being on RCCL's beautiful Independence of the Seas (which so far is my favorite overall ship so far) earlier in the year, this one was the best cruise we've been on. I think I'll have a new favorite ship when we go on The Allure of the Seas this September, but it will be hard for it to beat the overall experience of this past cruise.

True, RCCL is a whole different animal, great, but you can't create the special atmosphere you get by participating in the meet threads here, that's for sure!

Great trip report! ...But I guess it's really over. Or is it??? I believe we were promised a video...

love ya!
Ron

You're right and I am working on it! Now that I have imovie on my phone, it should be moving along quickly. I'm struggling to keep it at a reasonable length!

LOVED the trip report! We are off this Saturday for our first cruise ever (Magic - WC too!) and I feel a LOT better because of the details and hints you've provided.

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP! (I'm standing, but you can't see that .. ) lol

Aw, thanks so much Sean! So glad it has helped you. Now go on this week and have an AMAZING TIME!

Great job, as always!

Thanks for all the helpful information! We'll be taking our first western next year so I love all your port info.

Thanks again Nenner family!

Oh you are so very welcome! When I first found the Dis I did it through a google search and at first the only board I saw was the DCL TR board so I read everything here over again and then some (and eventually found the other boards too.) I'm so glad sharing here has helped others with their cruises like I was helped with mine (and still am to this day!) It's such a valuable tool!

Hope you and your family have a fantastic cruise!!!

Aww, so sad to see your cruise end, but I guess all good things do, right? I loved seeing how much fun your family has together! I'm looking forward to your next Disney adventure!

Thanks Tammie, you are so right! It's almost your turn for an amazing repo adventure..I can't wait to read about your trip up the West Coast..and someday we will sail together!!!