"Step right up and come on in! Here is where the fun begins!"

[heaven2dc]

Great start to your trip! I would have done the same thing and flown out the same day esp with the time zone difference. Can't wait to see the ship!

 

[heaven2dc]

Great start to your trip! I would have done the same thing and flown out the same day esp with the time zone difference. Can't wait to see the ship!

 

[jenseib]

Ok, I youtubed it...never heard the song before... and what is a Disney afternoon?

 

[Leshaface]

I think you're right. I cheated and googled it, and that's how the Theme from Disney Afternoon begins.

I was thinking she was an Emerson, Lake and Palmer fan with the tune "Come on see the show", but I think you've got it.

When I read it originally, I actually sang it, but wasn't actually thinking she was using it from that song.

Ok, I youtubed it...never heard the song before... and what is a Disney afternoon?

Disney's Afternoon was a program that had a bunch of little shows like Talespin, Ducktails, Chip n Dale, etc. And to start off the whole program, they used that theme song.

Also, back in the 90's, Disneyland incorporated Disney's Afternoon into the park. It was really cute! Here's a pic

 

[stephielela]

I'm in!

Love your hair do!!!

It sounds like the song from Disney Afternoon, but I could be way off.

You are amazing!!!! And the winner of the dancing bananas!!!

More on why later!

Following along!

I think you're right. I cheated and googled it, and that's how the Theme from Disney Afternoon begins.

I was thinking she was an Emerson, Lake and Palmer fan with the tune "Come on see the show", but I think you've got it.

Ahahahahaha I would have googled it too!

Great start to your trip! I would have done the same thing and flown out the same day esp with the time zone difference. Can't wait to see the ship!

Ok, I youtubed it...never heard the song before... and what is a Disney afternoon?

Disney Afternoon was an afternoon block of shows. More details later!

 

[Leshaface]

You are amazing!!!! And the winner of the dancing bananas!!!

More on why later!

Yay! I love dancing bananas to start off my weekend!

 

[stephielela]

When I left off we had landed early at LAX.

I had purposely scheduled our transportation through Disney for this leg for 2 reasons. The first and most important was since we were flying in day of, I wanted to do everything I could to make sure Disney would get us on that boat, even if we were running late. The second was I love the Magical Express at Disney World, so I though this might be more magical than a Super Shuttle. As it turns out, it's not all that magical. It's pretty efficient, you head for baggage claim and right at the bottom of the escalator is a little desk with Disney reps waiting to check people in. They then take you to bag claim where you grab your bags and give them to a porter. I decided to send Jack's backpack with them as well, since we had the extra luggage tags (DCL sent two per person) and I didn' t want to have to haul all the stuff around the ship until our room was ready. Then they take you to the passenger pick up area where you wait for the bus. The lady kept apologizing to me for the bus not being there yet, but we were early so I wasn't concerned at all. I used the time to check in with my parents and check voicemails.

The bus was there by 10:30, maybe even earlier. We were the only ones at that terminal to get on. It was just a plain bus, no Disney at all, which was slightly disappointing, but not surprising. We went to the next terminal where a lot more people got on, and then we were on our way to the port!

The ride took about 30 minutes. We passed many familiar sights (I lived in California for six years) and eventually pulled up to the cruise terminal!!

They have several signs out front asking that you don't take pictures in the building, so I didn't. Basically you go in, show your passports, take the escalator up and there is a CM waiting to have you fill out a health form. From there you walk over to the check in desk, they take your picture, verfiy credit card info and make your Key to the World cards. On your card it has your table # and dining rotation as well. Mine said PTTAPTA, which was slightly confusing, but once I deciphered it, looked promising. P= Parrot Cay, T= Triton's and A= Animator's Palate. I ended up being really pleased with our rotation.

While we were at the desk I asked about Port Upgrades. She said there were plenty still available. A port upgrade is when you pay to upgrade your room category. When you do it at the port, the cost is usually 50% of the difference in price of the rooms. I was considering trying for an Ocean View at least, but then I decided to stick with my super cheap room, and save the $$ for other fun things. It is a great deal though.

Once we were all done checking in we went through security just like at an airport. We were given a boarding group number (6). I was hosting a Meet and Greet on the ship, and was told to mention it so they wouldn't make me ait till our scheduled 2 pm check in. I told the lady handing out the cards and she looked at me like I had 3 heads. Turns out they aren't big on the check in time system. After we were through a CM said it would be a good idea to go ahead and go to the Kids Club registration to get Jack all set up for the Oceaneer's Club so we wouldn't have to do it on board. We waited in line for about 5 minutes and then got Jack his security bracelet, which we were told would cost us $50 if we failed to turn it in at the end of the cruise. This was way more more sophisticated than the one we had n Carnival. This one had a big plastic sensor thing (hence the $50 charge). They also left it pretty loose, so throughout the cruise Jack would take it off when we weren't going to the club.

Once we were done registering we had our first character experience! They had Goofy set up near the kids registration so we got in line for that. We didn't have our autograph book yet, but I figured we would just get him to sign later.

While we were in line a guy asked about my lanyard (from my travel agency). I explained it was for my travel agency and he asked if I liked using a travel agent so I told him I actually was a travel agent, and he asked a couple more questions about whether or not it was beneficial to use a TA or not. We chatted for a minute but it was Jack's turn for Goofy so we had to hurry away.

After Goofy we went to find seats to wait for them to start boarding. At this point no one had boarded yet, so I was even happier with my decision to fly in same day. We didn't have to worry about missing anything! I think we probably waited about 30 minutes before they started! Then they started calling numbers and we waited maybe another 15 minutes. Then it was our turn!!!

 

[brens]

Thank-you for your wonderful full of great details trip report.
Could you please tell me which terminal at LAX you would go to when
boarding the dcl bus?
Thank-you

 

[Leshaface]

Great update!

Okay, so about the room upgrade, you would say it's worth it if you could swing it? We'd like to upgrade from inside to ocean view, if available. I'm not sure what the pricing is right now, but would you say it's about $200-$300 more from inside to oceanview?

Eek! Can't wait till you get on the ship!

 

[stephielela]

Thank-you for your wonderful full of great details trip report.
Could you please tell me which terminal at LAX you would go to when
boarding the dcl bus?
Thank-you

The bus came to each terminal and picked up the guests there. The CM at the desk waited with us to let us know which bus it was because it's not a Disney bus, so it looks just like every other bus out there.

 

[stephielela]

Great update!

Okay, so about the room upgrade, you would say it's worth it if you could swing it? We'd like to upgrade from inside to ocean view, if available. I'm not sure what the pricing is right now, but would you say it's about $200-$300 more from inside to oceanview?

Eek! Can't wait till you get on the ship!

Thanks! Honestly, if you can live with an interior, I would say wait until you get to port, but get there early. On the fuller cruises, the upgrades go faster but our ship was pretty empty. I would look at the difference between what you paid and what the OV rooms are going for and cut it in half and that would be a good estimate as to what you will pay at port. Did you book GTY status or an actual stateroom #?

 

[Leshaface]

Thanks! Honestly, if you can live with an interior, I would say wait until you get to port, but get there early. On the fuller cruises, the upgrades go faster but our ship was pretty empty. I would look at the difference between what you paid and what the OV rooms are going for and cut it in half and that would be a good estimate as to what you will pay at port. Did you book GTY status or an actual stateroom #?

No we have an actual stateroom assigned to us already. I kind of wished we did a GTY room though. Alright, i'll check the differences between the two stateroom prices. Thanks!

 

[EnchantedTikiGal]

Subscribing Yay for a new Wonder TR!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

 

[therussells08]

I'm here! I'm so excited to read about your trip. I have been dying to take a Disney cruise for ages, so maybe this trip will finally convince me to book one!

Jack is looking as adorable as ever, I see!

 

[indiesgirl4ever]

I'm in!

 

[stephielela]

Subscribing Yay for a new Wonder TR!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

I will try to keep it interesting!

I'm here! I'm so excited to read about your trip. I have been dying to take a Disney cruise for ages, so maybe this trip will finally convince me to book one!

Jack is looking as adorable as ever, I see!

You should definitely try it sometime!! Have you cruised any other cruise lines? It was amazing!

Thanks, Jack is being less than adorable this morning, but I am hoping he will settle down so I can get an update done today...

I'm in!

This has been a LOOOOONG week! I apologize for not getting an update done in the past few days, I have managed to come down with a wicked cold, and my house is still a wreck with a lot of trip stff, laundry and Halloween stuff still laying out... I have many things to do today, but I will try my best to get an update in!!!

 

[jenseib]

When I read it originally, I actually sang it, but wasn't actually thinking she was using it from that song.



Disney's Afternoon was a program that had a bunch of little shows like Talespin, Ducktails, Chip n Dale, etc. And to start off the whole program, they used that theme song.

Also, back in the 90's, Disneyland incorporated Disney's Afternoon into the park. It was really cute! Here's a pic

It's so weird, because my older kids used to watch these shows al lthe time, but I swear I don't remember this at all...is that a sign I am getting old?

How much were the transfers using Disney transportation.

 

[stephielela]

It's so weird, because my older kids used to watch these shows al lthe time, but I swear I don't remember this at all...is that a sign I am getting old?

How much were the transfers using Disney transportation.

I watched all those shows as a kid! I loved them!

It was $30 each to get to the boat on Disney transportation. So while it was worth it to me at the time to ensure they would get me to the boat, I would not typically pay that much.

 

[stephielela]

Ok, when I left off a while back, it was our turn to get on board! So first you show your boading pass and Key to the World cards to a cast member. At this point they decided they didn't like Jack's picture so they redid it. Then we went through the doors to the tunnel thing. I guess it would be called the gangway? I don't know. Regardless, you stop first to get your welcome aboard photo taken. Some people just bypassed this, but I was hoping it would be a good shot. It wasn't. So then we continue on the gangway and I am getting more and more excited! I took some quick pictures of the side of the ship to illustrate the differences in the size of portholes for future reference.

So once you approach the entrance of the ship, there are crew members there who ask your family name. Then they announce you as you walk across the lobby and everyone claps. How awesome is that???? So the lobby is on the third deck midship. They funnel you through the lobby and guest services in on the right. I didn't have any reason to stop so we followed the traffic, which leads you to the aft part of the third deck where Parrot Cay is located. The lunch options were Parrot Cay or Beach Blanket Buffet on 9. We decided to eat out in the California sunshine so we hopped on an elevator to deck 9. There were cast members there handing out sanitizing wipes before you entered the buffet. We picked a line and were handed trays and silverware. I was pleasnatly surprised to see that they have different trays for kids, they are the kind most of us had in school with lots of different sections. This came in handy because soemtimes Jack can be picky about his food touching, and sometimes he wants things that definitely do NOT go together. Plus he made it his mission to get something in each section! The lunch buffet was relatively impressive and there were plenty of yummy options. Once we were ready to head outside a CM appeared out of nowhere to help me out with our trays! I was so happy because balance is not my strong suit... We made it outside and found a nice table to sit at and soak in the atmoshpere.

Jack had Mac and Cheese, chicken and 2 types of bread along with pink lemonade

I also had 2 types of bread (he gets his love of carbs from me obviously), a tomato and mozzarella mini sandwich, chicken and gherkin salad with what appears to be Sprite. I am not sure what was wrong with me, I don't ever drink Sprite. Oh well.

As we were eating I noticed one of my favorite people on ships, the man with a tray full of drinks!! Now let me clarify from the beginning, I am not a heavy drinker. I do however enjoy "boat drinks" which to me are drinks, usually fruity in nature, that are served in excess on cruise ships. It's really one of my favorite part of cruises because how often am I going to go to a bar and order a Bahama Mama? Never. But on a boat, it's the natural thing to do. So the wonderful man with the drinks notices my excitement and came over. He informed me that the Drink of the Day was in fact a Bahama Mama. I asked the most important question of "How much?" to which he replied that the first drink is $7.50 but I keep the cup and then every drink of the day for the REST OF THE CRUISE would be $4.50. (All prices are before the 15% automatic gratuity and tax). This was a fantastic offer, too good to be true, and one that I would most certainly be taking advantage of!

Now I was really on vacation.

Soon we finished lunch. Jack said he wanted ice cream for dessert, but we couldn't find it so he ended up with a plate of desserts instead:

Once we finished dessert it was still way too early to get into our room. We went to check out the Oceaneer's Club next and Jack was excited about the slide. He played for a few minutes.

We explored a bit, took a tour of the spa where I got to see the beautiful Rainforest Room where I planned on spending some time later on. Then we wandered inside and ran into our first princess!

We hadn't purchased our autograph book yet because the stores have to stay closed until we are out of port, so no autograph.



Then we continued walking around the ship aimlessly. We found the ice cream, and I found another man with Bahama Mama's. I signed the reciept and was pleased to discover the drinks are only $4.89 after all extra fees!

We went to sit in the buffet so Jack could eat his ice cream, and I took note of this brochure for my parents and future clients, as I am not a wine drinker.

As I finished taking pictures, an annoucement was made that rooms were ready!!!

 

[stephielela]

Jack and I hurried to the elevator outside of the Beach Blanket Buffet and zipped down to deck 2! It turned out our room was pretty conveniently located not too far from the aft elevators. Soon we were standing in front of our home for the next 7 days!!

I immediately started taking pictures before we could mess anything up! From the entrance, on the right were the bathrooms, left were the closets.

View from entrance:

Toilet bathroom:

Bath products in the bathtub bathroom:

Bathtub/Shower

They had combined the beds into one. I asked Jack if he wanted his own bed and he said he just wanted to share with me, which was fine, it was plenty big!

Cabinet at the end of the bed:

Couch (which converts to a bed):

Desk area:

Info guide, week at a glance navigator, dining tickets:

Inside desk drawers (naturally all this came home with us )

Wave phones:

Dining schedule:

Convenient bench and drawers:

Inside smaller closet:

Bigger closet, plenty of hangers: