Thin line tween Love and Hate WDW/Halloween TR Western Oct 24-Nov 6 updated 9/27

[Fastpaks]

So glad to see you are adding to your TR.

The hotel story is making me skeeve...I can totally see how it just ate at you until you left the place. I hope you contact Trip Adviser about it, the just did a compile of the Top 10 Worst Hotels in America- and I swear some of them were like a crime scene.

I did. When you look them up on Trip Advisor, you can see where management is CONSTANTLY apologizing. It just doesn't matter. This place really just needs a complete over hall not just a fresh coat of paint on problems.

Aww..man.....NASTY!

Kudos to you guys for staying as long as you did! that *WAS* hotel hell!!! And after such a long exhausting day! Makes me tired just reading, I know I was tired when we were all out by the pool, and I had just gotten up at 11 something!

Finding the door open like that...fuhgeddabout it, not sure I could sleep after that, bolted or not! And hairs........ick, stray hairs are the worst. Nothing grosses me out more than finding hair in a hotal room.

I have a feeling it will get a lot better, real quick!

LOL I'm not sure that I was too bright about staying. The sad thing is I could have gotten the CI&S for only $20 more. (not to mention a better night's sleep). As far as getting better.. HEY NO fair! You sorta know what's going to happen. Though it will get bad again on the ship..........

OMG, hairs that's just gross. I think when I walked up and the door was open that would have done it for me, I would have been out of there. Can't wait to hear what you did for the morning!! At least you were getting on the Mickey Boat, so I know your room will be good and clean there

Honestly, if we weren't so exhausted and little more cash in hand, out the door I would gone. But I may not have gotten the memory I was about to get next.

 

[Fastpaks]

My wife and I looked at each other leaving the greatest joke of hotel/motel I had been in with a delimna of trying to figure what in the world we were going to do for about 5 hours. My wife and I tossed a couple ideas of may be driving up to where I grew up about 25 minutes north to Titusville but quickly ruled it out as there would be nothing to see at 4/5am in the morning. We thought about Ron Jon, last minute shopping at a 24 hour Wal-mart but we were starting to get low on the cash that we needed for the trip. Then it occurred to me that may be the Magic hadn't arrived in port yet. So we decided to see if we could watch it roll in.

We were a little disappointed when we drove up to the terminal to find that it was there already. That quickly faded as the closer we got to the ship we found to be very pretty.
(her cell phone pics)

From our camera

We drove around to the main gate and to our surprise it was "open". As we were driving up to it, we ran into the first terminal workers that worked for the port. He chatted with us for a minute and then gave us an idea of where to park and all that when we come back due to the construction. After we decided to "explore" the port to see if we could see anything else.

Once we got to the other side of the port, we found a street that took back by a local style bar with a shared parking lot with the business. As we pulled up the NCL Sun (I belive) was pulling in. More than likely, we missed the RCCL and Magic by prolly 30 to an hour of pulling in.
Her Cell

Our camera (with shaky cam)

 

[Fastpaks]

It was pretty neat to see the NCL pull in and park. It was still dark when we left about an hour or so later. SO we drove to Ron Jon with the thought of going in but instead we headed to the beach. Its a short walk and my son had never seen the beach. This would also would only be the 2nd time for my wife. Not to mention, everyone has that they begin to build of things they want to do in life. I had lived on the coast of Florida for about 11 years and never once watched a sun rise. It wasn't planned so that made it all the better.

When we arrived at the beach, we crossed over the Sand dunes via a sandy boardwalk, to hear a windy morning to greet us. This naturally made the surf a little rough and intimidated my son as well as make my wife nervous about the cruise we were about to embark on. I knew that there was a hurricane 100s of miles out at sea, and it was likely the cause for a little more surf than normal. But it was no danger.

Adam kept asking about crabs. He swore he saw them or stepped on one. After a little while I was able to get him to come down to the beach closer to the water and my wife caught a few pictures of the morning rise with her phone.

After a full rise and watching some people gather and run on the beach it was about 7 something in the morning and we were hungry. IHOP was calling.

She had a steak omelet

I just had the standard fare of pancakes.

Adam didn't really eat anything. To make matters a little bit more dramatic, my son had developed a cough. We grilled him that he wasn't to tell anyone about it. The reason was simple. He isn't sick. Like me, he has allergies and only gets them in late fall early winter. Generally, they can get so bad that he will gag and I don't need to go into it further. We decided to take a precaution and go to Wal-greens. While we were in there we grabbed case of water.

By the time this was all done, it was nearly 8:45am. We saw the ships at night how about early morning. So we drove back to the port to grab all the photos a person would normally grab and then park at our parking lot, change, and then head to the boat when the time was right.

The NCL Sun

The Carnival irrelevant err Dream and the DCL MAGIC

Time flew fast and we quickly realized that we were going to be late. We wanted good boarding numbers for something because that's what some people on the Dis said. Since this is our first time on the boat we were in completely new waters. (pun intended) We left our favorite parking lot lol, and headed to the Disney Terminal only to be stopped by the draw bridge first.

Finally, we were greeted with

Carnival

And our ship

Excitement, nerves, exhuastion were all hitting us quickly. Whether we liked it or not we had arrived, what adventures could we have in store?Moments later, we would begin to find out!

Next: Mass Confusion

 

[Fastpaks]

Around 9:50 we pulled into where you drop off your bags. I guess since there was construction around they were allowing people to drop and park already.

You can see the "construction walls" in front of the terminal.

There were very few porters around and what seemed to be more and more cars coming to drop off their bags. A line was forming at the front of the terminal. Within minutes, a ton of bags lined the sidewalk unattended. I had dropped off my wife with our luggage while I parked. When I came back to where she was standing, she said a guy came up to her muttered somethings and then grabbed a bag. Ok, so 1 bag is one the ship?

About that time, nenner1 and tjbaggot had showed up with their families. We said, "hello and hi's" and then they kinda disappeared. I kept asking my wife what did the guy say. She was completely confused as was I. The line in front of the terminal was moving now and that is when I saw nenner1's family. So we flagged a porter, asked him about what gives. He told us some shpeil about the ship and took our bags. I asked him if we would see him again to tip him and he told us it would be unlikely. I gave him $5 and proceeded to the check-in area where we had to show our IDs.

We would line up for security dragging a soft cooler(broken down), a couple small bags, and a pink Nike bag with our day stuff 'till we got our luggage. After a lengthy security line, we finally hit the escalators

The terminal looked empty

We found some seats that hadn't been taken by anyone over where Jen's family (nenner1) was sitting. I asked her if they had checked in and could we leave our bags by her. Which she smiled as said sure. We all went to check in where it took about 20 minutes. There was some new CM's being trained that day. We would be giving the number 5 boarding pass. I would show Jen what we got and she told us they scored a 3. I swear there was about a 10 minute difference between us and them in the line and it had already jumped to 2 boardings. It wasn't 2 minutes when I noticed that another line was forming. When I asked someone what it was, they told me that it was the line for the kid's club. So I jumped in that. MEANWHILE, my wife and son decided to have some fun with pictures.

I met a couple from South Carolina while I was in line. It was their first cruise too, so I felt a little more comfortable about our trip. I made a comment that the line hadnt moved and that is when I found out, "this is the line for the line." OOOOOOOOOOK. I don't remember when the kids club line opened but I know we stood in line for about 45 mins to an hour. My wife and son meantime were hobnobbing with Mickey.

That was also when we discovered I left a bag in the car. So my wife had to go back to the car and get it. It had her dramamine! I got Adam signed up for the kid's club, I have my pager(lol so last year now huh), we went outside for some fresh air and pics. My wife returned to join us and we made Adam take the picture of us on a bench outside.

We weren't outside for more than 10 mins when we they called for the first family to start the boarding. Where was the time going? By now, you really knew that the terminal was just full of people. My mom in about 10 states away kept calling me asking about how everything is going. Sigh, lines is what I thought.

Finally, they started boarding, we were one of the first when they said 5 to start boarding. We made our way to the gangway which I completely forgot about our camera to take a picture. I just wanted to take it all in. My wife looked over the side and said, "what the hell am I doing?" She was really getting nervous. Just ahead of us, we could hear them announce the names, and before we new it, our was being said and in we were like it or not.

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Hi Jonathan, I remember those lines too! Steve dropped me off with the girls and all the luggage and took the rental car back to Hertz. It took him less than 15 minutes and in that time we hadn't moved an inch on those sidewalks in front of the terminal! What a mess with all the construction going on! Our family was right next to Judy's and it was a huge relief when the porter finally came and took our stuff away! We were lucky enough to snag a boarding card 3 and I also waited a long time in the Kids Club line. In hindsight we could have just waited and done it at the Club once we were on the boat. But I didn't know that then! You live and learn, I guess

Beth

 

[BettyBeBop]

Great updates! WOW! That motel! There are no words!

Question - If you could give other newbies one important tip about your terminal arrival and check in, what would it be? (Aside from getting there early, that is.)

 

[nenner1]

Boy oh Boy you have been busy!

GREAT set of updates! Your ealry morning on the beach was just beautiful but I canNOT imagine how tired you all must have been! Seriously!!!

Port Canaveral is great how you can go and look around like that at al the ships. Port Everglades stinks, it is like a prison or something, you can't even get anywhere near the ships, let alone in the complex without going through security. And there are no restaurants or anywhere to watch (well there is a park and a hotel but nothing accessible in the mornign like that.

IHOP looks yummy, it's been way too long since we've had a nice IHOP breakfast (or dinner for that matter, teehee). Breakfast at the hotel was so crazy I think I only had a couple of pastries.

Yep the line out front = a little nutty! It was weird, with shuttles dropping off in the middle, and when the line finally started moving there were many groups who were not, so we were kindof timidly moving forward looking around like, "The line's moving, let's go..we aren't cutting..I swear!" LOL! Each and every DCL cruise we have been on over the last 4 years has been different getting into that terminal.

And speaking of lines, yeah the kids club deal, that is the worst I've ever seen it. In my previous cruises they did not wait so long to open up that line..so it never got so bad. By the time we noticed it, it was already so long I decided we wanted no part of it!

Anyway, awesome update! So looking forward to more, keep the memories alive for us!

 

[verygfy]

What a great update!! What an amazing morning...

I can not imagine how tired you must have been by the time you got on the ship!! Can't wait for the next installment.

 

[Fastpaks]

Hi Jonathan, I remember those lines too! Steve dropped me off with the girls and all the luggage and took the rental car back to Hertz. It took him less than 15 minutes and in that time we hadn't moved an inch on those sidewalks in front of the terminal! What a mess with all the construction going on! Our family was right next to Judy's and it was a huge relief when the porter finally came and took our stuff away! We were lucky enough to snag a boarding card 3 and I also waited a long time in the Kids Club line. In hindsight we could have just waited and done it at the Club once we were on the boat. But I didn't know that then! You live and learn, I guess

Beth

I never realized you were right there too! AND you got ahead of me!! You know, I don't think we did wrong by waiting in line. Thinking back on it, it was the one line worth the wait. There wasn't really a lot to do in the terminal anyway. I think the crash coarse was the frustrating part really.

Boy oh Boy you have been busy!

GREAT set of updates! Your ealry morning on the beach was just beautiful but I canNOT imagine how tired you all must have been! Seriously!!!

Port Canaveral is great how you can go and look around like that at al the ships. Port Everglades stinks, it is like a prison or something, you can't even get anywhere near the ships, let alone in the complex without going through security. And there are no restaurants or anywhere to watch (well there is a park and a hotel but nothing accessible in the mornign like that.

IHOP looks yummy, it's been way too long since we've had a nice IHOP breakfast (or dinner for that matter, teehee). Breakfast at the hotel was so crazy I think I only had a couple of pastries.

I'm still behind Jen. I could have sworn you were going to drag yours out a little longer. My goal is to get something out every Thursday morning at least. I hope you don't mind I may need to "steal" a picture or two from you to round out a story.

One thing: IHOP was forgettable.. lol I'll trade you my IHOP for you hotel?! I think if the terminal didn't look so good, I wouldn't bother getting there earlier. That one in Fort Lauderdale is just a Sam's Club warehouse looking bad.

Yep the line out front = a little nutty! It was weird, with shuttles dropping off in the middle, and when the line finally started moving there were many groups who were not, so we were kindof timidly moving forward looking around like, "The line's moving, let's go..we aren't cutting..I swear!" LOL! Each and every DCL cruise we have been on over the last 4 years has been different getting into that terminal.

And speaking of lines, yeah the kids club deal, that is the worst I've ever seen it. In my previous cruises they did not wait so long to open up that line..so it never got so bad. By the time we noticed it, it was already so long I decided we wanted no part of it!

Anyway, awesome update! So looking forward to more, keep the memories alive for us!

All I know is you and Ron were there one moment and then the next one: GONE! I talked to a porter later when we got off and he had told me that the previous week the ship was held up. Plus I don't know if you remembered but our cruise was the one they switch about 40% of the crew for Dream training so that could have been a cause.

Great updates! WOW! That motel! There are no words!

Question - If you could give other newbies one important tip about your terminal arrival and check in, what would it be? (Aside from getting there early, that is.)

Initially, I would have said nothing. But then this reminded me about something I forgot to tell in the terminal. I will put it in the next update. One thing though:

It is better to have one larger peice of luggage (with wheels) to drag around than a bunch of small bags. I had on me, a back pak (laptop and stuff), a Nike duffel(day clothes), a soft cooler on wheels, a small red bag(aka the money bag and paperwork), and another small bag with meds and such. I would have rather had just put everything in one large bag and rolled it around with us. By the time you get one the ship, its about noon. You eat for about 45 mins to an hour. 1:30 they open the rooms up so dragging one case vs a bunch of little ones is totally tolerable.

One other thing, have your camera ready when you start to board. There is something about your thoughts on the gangway on the way up that could be captured by a quick picture!

IMO, registering the kids was worth it to me. Not having to wait in line on the ship is awesome. But when you do wait in a line on a ship, things tend to move at the speed of a snail. Not fun.

What a great update!! What an amazing morning...

I can not imagine how tired you must have been by the time you got on the ship!! Can't wait for the next installment.

We were tired which probably caused a fight or two that probably wouldn't have happened. I think once we got on the ship, all things became good because although I had read about the ship a lot, there was something to learn and see. That part was keeping us up. I don't think we went to bed 'till about 11:30 or so that night iirc.

 

[Fastpaks]

Since we were doing this entire trip in cash, when we went to check-in at the terminal they gave us a sheet with restrictions. Most people put a credit card on their key to the world card. When you do that, after a certain amount, they charge your card. When you pay cash though, you are given a set "credit" amount based on the days of travel. For a 7 day like ours, it was $500. I think 4 day was either $400 or 350 and a 3 day was 300. When you crossed that threshold, your card would be frozen for purchases and you would have to pay the amount. We never hit this amount and I settled my account several times during our trip just so I didn't have to do it the last night.

 

[Fastpaks]

I have spent a lot of time on the water over the years. I have known people that have had all sorts of boats and various sizes. Nothing could prepare me for the first step inside the Magic.NOTHING. My first thought was the ship was regal but more narrow than I thought. The second thing I noticed was the first thing my wife did, there was water on the other side of those windows. She turned to me and said, I think the ship is moving and I don't feel well. WHAT!! Then I said what any loving husband would say,"I'm going to head to the Rocking D Bar, take him and go get some food." She was NOT happy.

For her, her unhappiness would quickly dissipate as she found a table that the crew had set out it with her favorite decorations, Halloween.

And a ice sculpture to boot

A crew member told her to make her way down the hall and go inside Parrot Cay. MEANWHILE, I went to Rocking D Bar where there were 3 tables. One for the Palo, one for the spa, and one I believe for dinner changes and the like. My wife and I had no interest in going to dinner, but brunch had sounded interesting. On our Dismeet thread, as a group had talked about going to Palo and trying to get the back room for our group. I only knew of a few real names of those that may be interested. I asked the manager of Palo if there was any brunches available and to my surprise he told me there were. He then asked me what day we were interested in, and I told him as long as it wasn't the character breakfast day it would be fine.

He told me that I would have a Monday Character breakfast, so I asked for a Thursday resi. I knew that the Dis meet was also "planned" for a Thursday group and that the time we wanted was 11:00. I asked if some of the people I knew were already there. He confirmed a name and then I asked if we may be able to join them which would bring the total of us to 6. I told him that we were trying to get a couple more of us together and don't be surprised if there are more. I had already talked to Judy (tjbaggott) about it and knew she would try a little later. He smiled and said something to the fact he will keep his ears open. Little did I know, the CM would play a bigger factor in something none of us expected.

My wife by now had been seated but she just loves decorations.

She found a small 4 top table for us and got her and Adam some food.Some wild rice, small potatoes mac-n-cheese, some bowtie pasta that she found

And to her surprise Strawberry Melon soup which she LOVED!!

Adam decided on something he loves spaghetti

When I got back to them I went up and grabbed some shrimp and some light fare from this desert bar.

Now, I had joke with several of my customers that when I bored the ship, the first thing I would do is go straight to the bar and order a drink because I deserved it. SO I got a Strawberry Margarita and my wife got the drink of the day which had rum in it. That is all she had to know!

After lunch, we made our way to the middle elevator, but before we did we stopped by Lumiere for a quick photo.

My wife also wanted to check on the menu because she had allergies. (THIS would actually be a BIG issue later.) She looked at the menu as was a little unsure of it, but she tends to be cautious. Once at the elevators, it was a quick ride to the 7th floor where we found a crowd of people in the halls waiting. The doors to the hallway were shut. We were on the left side of the ship. There was a map on the wall of the deck and I realized that when they do open the hallway up, we are on the right side.

It was 1:20pm and we made small talk with the folks on our deck. Someone had made a mention that we wouldn't be allowed in our staterooms till 1:45pm because they were running behind. This turned out to be true as the small crowd grew larger and a little cramped. The crew opened the doors and we made our way on the right side hall towards the front of the ship... the Loooooooooooonnnnger walk towards the front. We passed the forward elevators and realized we were about 20 ft from them. I'll remember that in the future. I watched the CM's carrying the suitcases for various guests from the crew elevators and remember feeling sorry for this poor woman CM trying to move some of luggage. Her body was going two different directions at one time. I was amazed.

Before I knew it, we had arrived at 7509. My son wanted to do the honors of opening the door and in we all went.

Next: I Know I'm Forgetting Something

 

[myelton01]

I'm finally caught up now!!! GREAT updates! I'm so ready to be on the boat now. lol Sorry your hotel sucked so bad the last night! At least you got to get on the Micky Boat the next day though where it's nice and clean and shiny. Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!!!

 

[Fastpaks]

I'm finally caught up now!!! GREAT updates! I'm so ready to be on the boat now. lol Sorry your hotel sucked so bad the last night! At least you got to get on the Micky Boat the next day though where it's nice and clean and shiny. Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!!!

I think that is why we were a little more tolerant with what happened on the boat. That and a fresh shower among other things! lol Should have updates up tonight if the boards let me if not tmrw morning.

 

[Fastpaks]

my wife wouldn't let anyone in until she got a picture of the room.

I followed with the Nike bag that had our clothes for the day. At this moment only 1 of our 5 suitcases had made it to the room.

Fortunetly for us, it was the one with all of our magnets to start decorating the door. My wife and son jumped at it and I began to wonder what I was forgetting.

I flipped on the tv to see find out that Mizzou vs Nebraska game were playing a ESPN was covering it. "I know I'm forgetting something," I kept thinking. Within minutes of the game starting, NE scored 2 touchdowns and I was done with the game. THANK GOD for Goofy's How to play Baseball. (I must have watched that cartoon 15x by the end of the cruise). My wife finished the door

And 3 more suitcases showed up. So we started to unpack. My son andI would use the upright steamer trunk and my wife would use the closet and the drawers. We then looked for a menu for the room service, but we couldn't find one. Over the next hour or so we just kept unpacking. " I know I'm forgetting something." Before we knew it, Brent was on the speakers telling everyone about the mandatory muster drill to which my wife deathly afraid fo this adventure wanted to immediately put on the vest and head down to deck 4. I told her we don't have to be there till 4. We will wait until they announce the drill and then go. She was ok with it, but decided she was already in the life jacket, so she would stay in it.

The buzzered went off we got our gear on and went down stairs. Of coarse we took pictures!!

The life boat above our head

My sister had just had her son so we grabbed a photo of the lady next to us in his little life jacket to show her what they look like.

About a minute later, the last few people showed up, we were checked off and given the safety shpeil and back to the room we went to drop and start exploring the ship. When we got back to the room, I realized that what I forgot was the a photo for the Dismeet. *smacks head*

(courtesy of tjbaggot)

We put our jackets away and I had noticed when I got back that I don't know what my OBC was. This was really important because I'm on cash so I only have so much that can be spent. Every dollar counted. So we went down to deck 3 to talk to Guest Services about the OBC. While we were there, my wife ran into Judy(tjbaggott) and they all started to chatting away. There was a calm excitement in the air. You could tell the "vets" of cruising began relaxing and you could see the curiosity of the newer folks looking wide eyed. I got to the desk and asked about my OBC. They told me that it was 1/2 of what DU had quoted me. This had to be wrong, but I began to freak a bit because we were leaving the port in about 30 minutes!

 

[Fastpaks]

My DW took our DS up to the sail away party, while I deal with DU about the OBC. I went to Deck 10 and began emailing my DU TA about the issue at hand. Not exactly what I had planned on considering its supposed to be a vacation not an email fest. (IMO this could have been solved in a 5 minute conversation rather than a email. It would have also been a way where I'm not upset at DU that would eventually turn out NOT to be their fault.) There was a nice warm breeze that would run through ship on deck 10 as I made my way to where the Sail away party was. I spent more time on my phone emailing than I did enjoying the party. A bit of a bummer. You can't see them but Jen (nenner1) and here family are over up near the stage on the left side of the picture. Jeff (Pudo) is in the white shirt just below me, and I wouldn't think the (Tinkerbelltwins) and her family is with him

I walked around up at the top and near the middle of the back upper deck when I noticed the compass that had been put in the dead middle on deck 10 above the kid's pool. (Nice and interesting touch) My wife and son had spotted me by now and had reunited with me. That is when we realized we were moving away from the dock. My wife looked like horror and excitement hit her at one time. Like it or not though, we were on our way now!

Not so hidden Mickeys

Some boat that happened to be docked in the port for whatever reason.

From my cell:

DU and I were trading emails very quickly and the last one I received was one that assured me they would look into it. I couldn't do anything about it now. I just lost cell service as we sailed out of port. Not to mention, a little lady caught my eye. She flirted with me and I returned the favor. Best part, my wife took the picture of such a fine lady.

I had spent the whole week waiting in line and with in a few minutes of being on the ship, I just run into these characters. Life is good! We made our way back to our room to change to go swimming. The adult pool was just calling out as your could tell it was silent there.

Our last suitcase showed up and we just kept unpacking. I knew we were on 2nd seating so there really wasn't a rush. We had made a mention of wanting 1st seating but knew it was such short notice that we would likely not have had it. My wife asked me if I was sure about that. To which I told her I was, and then she said, "Why does it say dinner is at 5:45. 10 minutes from now?" I had misread the tickets as the 8am character breakfast....

Up next: Dinner Mates and Disney Service When It Comes to Allergies.. O boy

 

[Fastpaks]

My wife quickly got ready as did DS and I. We were now flying through clothes that we were careful about putting away. Dinner was to be in about 10 minutes and we were going to be late for sure. (This would be a pattern.) After a momentary pannick and quick changing skills, we made are way down to deck 3 for dinner at Lumeire's. There was a small line and before we knew it, we were seated at table #44. Our table was set for 8 so we knew we would be meeting out dinner mates rather soon. I was delighted to see that the folks that sat next to us had a son about the same age as ours. The father sat next to me and the son next to mine directly across from him. The rest of the family didn't say hello and looked a little annoyed they were with us.

I swear to you the boat must have been moving rather hard. My wife was already looking at me with eyes frightening looks as if she wanted off the ship and now! I was rocking pretty hard as we were making our way down the gulf stream. Several times, I'm pretty sure the boat moved 3 feet in one direction. Thinking about that night is making my head swim. Our server was from South Africa and our assistant was from Portugal. I don't remember their names for a couple of reasons that will likely become clear as I go on to more into the TR. (and I am HORRIBLE remembering them)

My wife was delighted when the Assistant Server told her that Ginerale was available. She told us about the breads and the spread and before I knew it, my son had nearly downed all of it. I know that this could not have played well with the other family although the mother and the two younger adults had their own. The father was a kind gentleman. He also drove for a living though he was somewhat retired. She was the bread winner of the family as he told me. A Chief Financial Officer or something like that. He then told me that he had been on about 8 cruises and that it was almost if not all Disney.

The father was great conversation. The rest of the family, save the child, ignored us as if we were beneath them. Our Server was hard to understand but EXTREMELY friendly. He told us about our dishes and we ordered. My wife has allergies and some of them very serious. Blue Cheese, mustard, certain beans, lemon grass and she doesn't eat pork do to personal reasons. He told her not to worry that they[dcl] would take care of her. She ordered a salad. He said he needed to check on the dressing but would get back to her. This is where things started to go down hill.

When he came out with her salad it was bare. No dressing. None. Zip. Nadda. He explained to her that the dressing had mustard seed in it. She then asked is there no dressing that she could have. He told her that the chef said only olive oil. I was a little stunned. She then inquired about Ranch or French at least and he said the chef said only olive oil. We didn't want to be a bother and know that Chef's like things to be right when they place food out. So may be the chef was a a bit moody and just liked things to be "balanced".

My wife didn't touch it. Why bother since the food was inedible since it was really just grass at that point. This is probably where I should bring up my one and only pet peeve. When I go out for dinner, I like my glass to be filled within a reasonable amount of time. When its done well, I typically tip really good. When it isn't done, I will put down my fork and just not eat. Back to the food!

I on the other hand had some French Onion Soup

Coutesy of Princesstrisha

Main course was

Sea Bass with a Mushroom Risoto

A side of Duck with Orange Glaze

And my wife would have the Lobster Macoroni

I had never had Sea Bass and heard a ton about it. I tried only it at first and was surprised at how soft and bland it was. BUT when you eat it with the Risoto and the sauce, it became clear this is how to eat it. Delicious. A greater surprise was the duck. I LOVE IT. I like it so much that the server brought me another. My wife enjoyed the Lobster Mac. For desert, she ordered Creme Brulee and fell head over heels on it.

Around desert time, my son told me he wasn't feeling well. We excused ourselves and went to the bathroom in which he informed me that he was going to throw up. I felt his head and looked at him and he seemed fine. I asked him specifically what wasn't feeling right. He told me that his head was spinning. I was a little relieved. I told him that a lot of people are feeling that way, and it will go away. Just as I finished another man and his son walked into a already very small bathroom. His son said to him,"Dad my head is spinning...." My son flashed a smile to me and I knew he would be ok at that point.

Dinner with the exception of the salad went off without too much trouble. Dessert was finished and then IT HAPPENED! My son reached for his drink and spilled it forward. INTO the father's lap that had been sitting next to me. His wife looked very annoyed and he just laughed it off. He told me not to worry about anything. He has had a few young kids in his life and was a formal school buss driver. Needless to say, the icy family that we were next to became a glacier to us and was that happy. I apologized of coarse and we all departed dinner.

Next: She Made Me Go

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Yay, Just what I needed this morning was a trip report from Fastpaks to remind me about our glorious DCL adventure over Halloween!

Indeed, that was our family by Pudo -- Steve was fiddling with his camera (a constant activity for him) and we were very grateful to be around a family that knew the ropes. I barely remember the sail away party as things seemed to keep happening so fast! It was our first cruise too and, like Amy, I was very alarmed with all of the rocking during dinner that first night. We ran into Judy that first night after dinner and she looked a little wan too from the rocking. When I got back to our stateroom I put on seabands on my wrists and on the kids too (they, of course, needed to decorate theirs with princess stuff). I think the seabands helped, at least they did for me psychologically!

Thanks Jonathan for the reports! Keep them coming.......

Beth

 

[LindaBabe]

Thanks for the update! Didn't anybody tell you guys about Bonine??

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Thanks for the update! Didn't anybody tell you guys about Bonine??

I had a ziploc bag full of just about every seasickness concoction I could find at the pharmacy, including bonine. But I tried the seabands first and they seemed to work so went with that instead of ingesting anything. If they hadn't ... I would have started swallowing stuff! I wasn't keen on my six year olds swallowing anything, ergo the wrist bands for them too, but they got their sea legs sooner than their mommy did! And my husband who usually has a harder time than me, had no problems whatsoever with the rocking. Go figure!

 

[nenner1]

Oh good stuff...LOVE it! I swear this is just what I needed today, thanks Jonathan!

Of course I already knew the dinner story and what is yet to come! That sea bass does look good and I'm not a big seafood eater! It's just too bad Adam splashed the nice dad of the family instead of the snooty mom. Hehe!

Can't wait for you to share more of your cruise, you are keeping it alive for all of us!