Rob, Cass & Kira - "This trip is NOT going to suck!!!" WDW & DCL

[dizneeat]

Boy, that server sounds horrible.
He sounds a lot like the one we had on our first cruise. He was "slimy" to say the least.
Not a good way to start off the cruise and I am really sorry for the noise. You must have been under the pool area and YES, that can get pretty noisy at times.
Animator's is our least favourite restaurant - SOOOOOOO loud, especially when Crush is on.

 

[Matthisone]

Dear Cass,
I found your trip report completely by accident (as I found this board). I read the first two pages or so, and I was HOOKED!!! I've just turned 53, am disabled, and made my first trip to WDW in 2009 with some friends. I am wheelchair-bound in situations like that, so it wasn't as much fun for me as it should have been. Thanks to your trip report, I'm gonna try it again in November, only this time, am taking my 38 yo "kid" brother, and 2 of my grandchildren, ages 14 and 12 at the time of travel. Just made our reservations tonite, and it's going to be SO much fun planning this trip. You could say it's been on my "bucket list", but I wasn't brave enough to try it until I began reading your trip report. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!! I'm off to read some more! You're a great mom, a great partner, and an excellent storyteller. I'm going to read every word you've ever written on this board! Hugs to you, Kira, and Rob from cloudy, chilly, southern Louisiana!!! Robyn

 

[disneyfam]

LOL love the videos. Rob, "it was awesome, I'm so cold".

 

[jenseib]

Those cookies are the best in the world..I swear. I just love them!

That sucks about your servers. We had 16 at our table and I think we overwelmed our assistant server as well. She totally sucked. (on the Dream) She would forget drinks, and never give the bills at night...one night she charged my sister for my Uncles drinks. And the server was OK, but not great. And there were things Claire ordered that didn't make it out either.
That can make or break your experience for sure.

 

[Timon]

That last update was awesome, we really had a great time on the Dream and can't wait to try the Fantasy. I love how excited Kira was to get Onboard

You will love it! Almost the same, just a little better and longer cruise

We loved our verandah this time and even wondered how we did without it on two other cruises. We spent an unbelievable amount of time on our's but it was exactly what we wanted. You know me, I hate the heat too but for some reason when you're in the Caribbean, it's ok.

Yeah, you are used to the humidity though! I am not But I am super glad you enjoyed your verandah a lot this cruise

Cass, I am so sorry you had such a noisy stateroom. We usually stay on deck 10 - but further aft - we usually book 10626 (we like Stitch!, so the 626 reverence was awesome) and it was not noisy at all.
Wavephones - were a pain for us too! And we did NOT have recycle wastepaper baskets in August.

As for the veranda - we loved ours (always had one), but we are usually using ours at different times of the day. I AM an early riser, so would sit out there at 6 am and enjoy the sound of the waves - plus we always sit out there later at night and it is awesome just enjoying the sound of the ship gliding through the waves and the darkness.

Oh, and did I mention that I love your TR so far.

626

I did go out there a few times at night like you but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.

I love all the princess meets you did. Do it while they are young and still want to!!!!

Yeah..You are on the ship! Too bad your room wasn't the quietest location, but you are on the ship and about to have a grat adventure. I love how excited Kira is!

Yup, I was just happy to be on the ship!!!

Enjoying your report, but I think I need a nap just reading about your exploits.

Well, the cruise is slightly more relaxing than the parks

Kira did a great job decorating the door! Looks like she had a blast on the waterslide!

Jill in CO

Oh man, did she ever love that slide, Jill!

I love all her facial expression. she just cracks me up. That little slide must have some power!

Yes, it did, Jen! I saw some little ones go FLYING! I was scared to watch the little ones, afraid they were going to get hurt

Awesome, fantastic pictures and first day Cass, love every single minute!!

Thanks Jill

Loving the cruise photos... I sure miss cruising right now...

Me too

Love the report - a great way to spend my Saturday

Looking forward to reading about your ship adventures next!

Glad you are enjoying it

 

[Timon]

What a terrible dinner! I hope you talked to the Header Waiter. No excuse for your servers' attitudes and incompetence!

Jill in CO

We spoke to him 2 days later Lots more to come

Great job on all of these updates! I love reading about the cruise since I have yet to go on one! I love how excited Kira is about everything, it must be so much fun to see it all through her eyes

When I go out I am definitely a slow eater like Rob, I just wanna sit awhile and enjoy the time, if the server did to me what he did to Rob I would be so annoyed and definitely tell him to back off. I'm sorry your experience was less than stellar but at least you had a sweet ending to the night watching cartoons with Kira. It's the little things!

I know he was just trying to be funny but I was too jaded by then and didn't care for anything that came out of his mouth really.

But yes, cookies and milk and Disney cartoons, great way to end the night and I was so happy to FINALLY get her that treat after talking about it for soooo long

Boy, that server sounds horrible.
He sounds a lot like the one we had on our first cruise. He was "slimy" to say the least.
Not a good way to start off the cruise and I am really sorry for the noise. You must have been under the pool area and YES, that can get pretty noisy at times.
Animator's is our least favourite restaurant - SOOOOOOO loud, especially when Crush is on.

We were directly under Flo's

Yeah, slimy is a good word

I love AP, my fave. Loud but I just LOVE that place!

Dear Cass,
I found your trip report completely by accident (as I found this board). I read the first two pages or so, and I was HOOKED!!! I've just turned 53, am disabled, and made my first trip to WDW in 2009 with some friends. I am wheelchair-bound in situations like that, so it wasn't as much fun for me as it should have been. Thanks to your trip report, I'm gonna try it again in November, only this time, am taking my 38 yo "kid" brother, and 2 of my grandchildren, ages 14 and 12 at the time of travel. Just made our reservations tonite, and it's going to be SO much fun planning this trip. You could say it's been on my "bucket list", but I wasn't brave enough to try it until I began reading your trip report. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!! I'm off to read some more! You're a great mom, a great partner, and an excellent storyteller. I'm going to read every word you've ever written on this board! Hugs to you, Kira, and Rob from cloudy, chilly, southern Louisiana!!! Robyn

WOW! I'm all choked up, I don't know what to say

Thank you for your post! I am so glad you are giving it another go! But because of me??? Wow!! I applaud your courage I hope you have a MAGICAL trip in November!

Let me know how it goes, please!

Thanks for the kind words and have fun reading all my crap, there's a lot of it

LOL love the videos. Rob, "it was awesome, I'm so cold".

LOL, I know, right?

Those cookies are the best in the world..I swear. I just love them!

That sucks about your servers. We had 16 at our table and I think we overwelmed our assistant server as well. She totally sucked. (on the Dream) She would forget drinks, and never give the bills at night...one night she charged my sister for my Uncles drinks. And the server was OK, but not great. And there were things Claire ordered that didn't make it out either.
That can make or break your experience for sure.

They are awesome cookies!!!!

Yeah, unfortunately, your serving team can make or break your cruise.

Honestly, after 6 Disney cruises, I am over going to the dining rooms every night. I used to love dressing up for formal and semi-formal nights but now I would rather be in the pool with my girl and grab some chicken tenders. If it wasn't for Rob enjoying the variety of food at the MDR's, I would eat at Flo's and Cabana's for dinner every night!

 

[Matthisone]

Poor Cass! Bless your heart girl!!! My ankles also swelled up like the creature from the black lagoon the first time I was at WDW, but I have something called RSD,(RSDHope.org) so the swelling wasn't entirely a surprise for me, it was just surprising how BIG they got!!! I was with a party of 12 and I couldn't expect them to slow down because of me, so while I rolled off to catch the bus back to my resort, they danced the night away at Downtown Disney or enjoyed the Extra Magic Hours at whatever park was hosting that night. Not big fun for me, but the rest of them had a blast. This trip will be different. There will have to be rest breaks in the middle of the day for me, and if the kids and my brother don't want to stop, they can carry on while I go back to the resort and CHILL!!!! Teenagers are wonderful that way!!! Make sure they all have charged up cellphones and another adult with them, and they're good to go!!!!! LOL!!! Loving your trip report and loving the pictures, ESPECIALLY the vid of Kira's shoes!! Amazing!!!!!

 

[Timon]

Day 9 - Part 1 - Forty-five minutes, that's it?????

Sea day, yay!

I was up around 6am listening to the tables and chairs being dragged above us on deck 11. Kira slept until around 8am, I think.

Wakey wakey!

First thing she did was check out the ocean

After getting all ready for the day, it was time to grab some breakfast at Cabana's.

Gotta say hello to Nigel!

On our way to the kids club, we stopped and saw Pepe's door.

Kira was excited for some Kids Club time.

So was Mommy and Daddy

She really didn't like wearing that big bracelet when she wasn't in the club so we always cut the band off for her so every time we checked her in, they would replace the band. Easy peasy for them and it made my girl happy.

With the princess doing her thing, Rob and I decided to roam the ship a bit.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the light fixtures around the ship, they are just SO gorgeous!!!

45 minutes later, we got a message on the Wave Phone saying Kira wants to be picked up from the clubs

So much for mommy/daddy time!

When we picked her up, she said it was REALLY busy in the clubs and she wasn't having very much fun. She said she waited in line to drive the ship for 15 minutes and nobody would let her have a turn.

I was worried that this would be the norm for the rest of the trip. I promised her that it wouldn't be as busy on the two port days and that we would make sure she got some club time on those days.

Back to the room where she found some little goodies in our Fish Extender from Chuck and Nancy. She was beyond THRILLED to get little pressies every day! I had every intention of buying her little gifts to put in there every day but I was so sick before the trip that I didn't get around to it. Thankfully she has a great Aunty Nanc & Uncle Tuck who loves her and spoils her rotten!

She was a little hungry and requested some chicken strips so I ran upstairs to grab her some lunch and then she played with her new toys and munched.

Rob caught up on work...

Once she was all done eating, Kira joined me in delivering some candy to N & C's stateroom. Years ago, I sent N & C some Maynard's Swedish Berries and Chuck fell in love with them, so every time I see them, I make sure to bring a few bags for him. Well, about 2 weeks before our trip, I was at Walmart and saw little packages of all different kinds, so I grabbed 6 or 7 different packs with the intention of delivering one per day to their FE. However, with my bad ankles, I decided to just deliver them all in one visit

I haven't really mentioned it but at that point, my ankles were KILLING me!!! Thankfully, the cruise is more relaxing than the parks but still, the ship is HUGE and there is a lot of walking. I normally use the stairs the entire cruise but I just couldn't, so I had to rely on the elevators this time. I was really thankful that our room was so close to the elevators and that the first 2 days were at sea days! We actually spent a LOT of time in our room. Normally, I really enjoy just walking around and exploring (especially deck 4) but there were lots of parts of the ships I didn't even get to see because of my ankles. Rob used one of the large ziploc bags that we brought and filled it with ice from the drink station that first night and I would ice my ankles 6-7 times per day. I would store it in our fridge and it lasted 3 or 4 days, it was awesome!

 

[Darkrobe]

I really miss having this for breakfast, it was darn tasty!

If you are doing the Mid-Ship detective agency, do yourself a favour and take a PICTURE of this door to stop yourself from going to it at different phases of the search, your feet will thank you later.

"So much for mommy/daddy time! " I think I remember you saying a bit more than that when we got the call


"Rob caught up on work..."

Later on it would be better to refer to "Rob trying to work but can't connect to the network". I spent hours trying to connect with my laptop. The phones and iPad connected quickly but for some reason the $125 NIC in my laptop had serious connect issues with the wifi in the ship.
I was NOT a happy camper.

 

[jenseib]

Love the lanyards!!!!

I could go for a breakfast like that...and some chicken strips now too!
I love Kira's dress! Where did you get it?

 

[Timon]

Day 9 - Part 2 - "Bored (**)"

After relaxing a bit, I suggested that Kira try the club again as there was a fun activity going on and she agreed to try it again.

This gave Rob and I a chance to have a nice, quiet, relaxing lunch at Royal Court.

I did want to try RC at least once for lunch and Rob enjoys the variety so it was perfect.

He enjoyed two appetizers...

And some soup

Yup, he ate ALL of that



I played around on the Wave Phone a bit while he ate his three courses and found a text from the people who occupied our cabin on the previous cruise that made me laugh...

I seriously don't know how one could possibly be bored on a Disney cruise with the bazillion things you can do

I had me the burger! Which was quite delish but the fries were NOT edible! Gross! They were hard and cold like they had been sitting there for HOURS!!!

The one thing I hate about going for a sit-down lunch on the ship is that it is all a little too fancy schmancy for me, ya know? For example, the ketchup is not sitting there on the table like most restaurants, you have to ask for it. And then when you do, they bring this little teeny tiny bowl of it, on a separate plate with a doily. Seriously? I'm a gonna need about 6 of these buddy!

And then I asked for mayo, which they had to hunt down at a server station and it comes in a large wide-mouthed soup bowl with a spoon.

Ummm can I just get a little bowl of it??

He said he would do it for me BAH!

I prefer the mayo to be on the bottom (I know, I am anal like that ) but I didn't want to flip everything over and make a mess.

I prefer to dress my own burger, thank-you-very-muchly!

So, I asked him to just put it on the side of the plate, which he didn't seem very comfortable in doing. I assured him it would be okay, yet he ended up putting a little dollop ON the top bun.

Dude, I don't know what your problem is but ooookay!

The amount he gave me was ridiculously small though! Ummm, please, sir, can I have some more?

He kinda of gave me a weird look and gave me another little scoop. Really, I would have MUCH preferred bringing me the damn bottle or at least my own little bowl


Rob had a salad...

And then the yogurt for dessert, which was not what he was expecting but said it was delicious!

Lunch took WAY longer than I would have liked. But at the end of it, a head waiter (not ours) named Zsolt came by and chatted with us a bit. He asked us about our dining experience the previous evening and Rob and I just looked at each, followed by silence.



He could tell that we had some issues and pressed us for details, so I gave the man some details.

He said that he was going to talk to someone and make sure that tonight's service would run MUCH more smoothly. We explained to him that we would not be there for dinner as it was Formal Night and we had planned on some quality family pool time and then hitting Cabana's for dinner. He said he would speak to them regardless and make sure service was better tonight for the people that were going to be there and then for the rest of the week.

We thanked him for inquiring and for trying to make our cruise experience better. We found out the next day that he had spoken to our head server (Jaime) about that first night and that service at our table was amazing that night, however, with 5 of us missing, it SHOULD have been amazing!!!

After lunch, we decided to check out the adult clubs because Rob didn't get to see that area the night before.

I just LOVE all the art on the ship! Especially the big ones in the stairwells. I will show you my fave later on in the report.

You know, I didn't take a single photo of the adult clubs!!! OMG, you know I'm not feeling well when I don't get pics of something!

However, I did get some pics of the snacks that were out in the adult area

 

[cntkg1]

I just showed Chuck (or Uncle Tuck ) the pictures of breakfast and all he did was moan. I think the food at Cabana's was better than the food for dinner at the MDR's!!

I agree with you Cass, both Chuck and I would totally skip the MDR's too. None of the food really stood out this time for us either. I couldn't even pick out which one of your pictures was a shot of my food.

I'm so glad Kira enjoyed her little gifites throughout the week. We loved giving them to her too. I never did tell you how we almost got caught by you one day. We were just about to drop off another gift when your door opened. We both went running across the hallway to the other side and hid around the corner. If you wouldn't have stopped to say something to either Kira or Rob, you would've caught us for sure.

And btw, you know you could've just asked Chuck and I to watch Kira for a bit for that "alone time" you wished for. Chuck would've taken Kira swimming and I would've run past your cabin door a hundred times, knocking on it and giggling and snickering the whole time. Mwhahahahahahahahaha!!!

 

[jedijill]

I agree sometimes the service is a bit over the top....like they are trying too hard. This last cruise on the Dream I skipped the MDRs and ate at Palo ad Remy every night so I don't mind fancy!

Jill in Co

 

[jenseib]

I agree. I am not one who wants someone else to dress my sandwich. I am picky. Plus I would want a ton of mayo and ketchup as I mix it for the fries.

I do want to try a dining room lunch one of these days. I just never can fit it in.

 

[tow-mater-1]

I had to smile at the text as Nate and I kept getting "the text" interrupting our alone time.

 

[Timon]

I really miss having this for breakfast, it was darn tasty!

"So much for mommy/daddy time! " I think I remember you saying a bit more than that when we got the call


"Rob caught up on work..."


Later on it would be better to refer to "Rob trying to work but can't connect to the network". I spent hours trying to connect with my laptop. The phones and iPad connected quickly but for some reason the $125 NIC in my laptop had serious connect issues with the wifi in the ship.
I was NOT a happy camper.

I'm sure you miss ALL the cruise food

Yeah, I was expecting a LOT more than 45 minutes of alone time

My iPad worked perfectly

Love the lanyards!!!!

I could go for a breakfast like that...and some chicken strips now too!
I love Kira's dress! Where did you get it?

I love our new lanyards, they are so bright and I love that blue!

Kira's dress is from her wonderful auntie Heather who goes to Maui and buys her a new one every year She's had that type of dress since she was 3 I think and I just love them and she loves them too

I just showed Chuck (or Uncle Tuck ) the pictures of breakfast and all he did was moan. I think the food at Cabana's was better than the food for dinner at the MDR's!!

I agree with you Cass, both Chuck and I would totally skip the MDR's too. None of the food really stood out this time for us either. I couldn't even pick out which one of your pictures was a shot of my food.

I'm so glad Kira enjoyed her little gifites throughout the week. We loved giving them to her too. I never did tell you how we almost got caught by you one day. We were just about to drop off another gift when your door opened. We both went running across the hallway to the other side and hid around the corner. If you wouldn't have stopped to say something to either Kira or Rob, you would've caught us for sure.

And btw, you know you could've just asked Chuck and I to watch Kira for a bit for that "alone time" you wished for. Chuck would've taken Kira swimming and I would've run past your cabin door a hundred times, knocking on it and giggling and snickering the whole time. Mwhahahahahahahahaha!

OMG, that is too funny!! You know, I commented on the ship how awesomely sneaky you guys were because we NEVER saw you and we were in and out of that cabin like 15 times a day, yet you always managed to deliver stuff when we weren't there

Too cute about the knocking on my cabin door a hundred times

I agree sometimes the service is a bit over the top....like they are trying too hard. This last cruise on the Dream I skipped the MDRs and ate at Palo ad Remy every night so I don't mind fancy!

Jill in Co

I don't mind a DINNER being fancy and "overdoing it" but if I pop in at lunch time for a burger, there is no need to impress me

I agree. I am not one who wants someone else to dress my sandwich. I am picky. Plus I would want a ton of mayo and ketchup as I mix it for the fries.

I do want to try a dining room lunch one of these days. I just never can fit it in.

It's one of the reasons I actually prefer going to Flo's, just gimme my burger and I will do the rest I went to RC for my hubby and to try it out for research purposes

I had to smile at the text as Nate and I kept getting "the text" interrupting our alone time.

LOL, Char! Too funny

 

[Timon]

Day 9 - Part 3 - Best day ever!

After exploring the adult clubs, we picked up the little princess from the clubs. She had fun, thankfully and was in a great mood.

We went to the matinee showing of Aladdin in the Walt Disney Theatre and it was really good. Kira LOVED all the shows, like I knew she would but her favourite part of every show was any kind of 4-D effect, where they threw streamers or blew bubbles, that kind of stuff. She managed to catch some gold streamers and was just over the moon about it LOL!

Back to the room for a bit and she was just GIDDY! Her joy and excitement was just shining through. She was obviously LOVING the cruise and despite my ill-health, it just made me so stinkin' happy that she was enjoying herself so much.

I knew deep down that she would enjoy it but after almost 2 years of planning and talking about with her, it was finally here and she was loving it even more than I had imagined

We snuggled on the bed and talked about her day so far...

Which led to jumping ON me

Which led to her bouncing around like a crazy kid

We had some time to kill before Cabana's opened for dinner, so it was time to hit the pool!

First we checked out AquaLab because we hadn't been there before but she is like her Daddy and she was freezing after just a minute or two.

So, she hopped in the hot tub to warm up. She liked that, boy!

We enjoyed watching the sun set while Kira warmed up in the hot tub.

Love the hot tubs on the new ships with the glass floors in and out of the tub.

Mickey Slide time!

I took some pics from a different angle...spot anyone in the background?

This was a FABULOUS time to enjoy the pools! It was formal night so most people were getting all dolled up for dinner and the show, so the entire deck 11 was almost empty!

I cannot tell you how happy I was with my decision of skipping Formal Night entirely. On all previous cruises, we had dressed up and gotten nice photos and gone to dinner, which was great fun but this being my 6th Disney cruise, I was so over that! I just wanted to relax and enjoy some family time. Plus I knew Kira would MUCH prefer some pool time and a quick casual dinner than taking the time to get dressed up, wait in line for photos and then have a 2-hour dinner.

And boy, did she have FUN!

They were playing The Princess Diaries on the big screen.

I just love the Dad with his two buckets of beer

Then it was time for the Aquaduck with her daddy again. This time she knew what to expect, which made it easier for her to just enjoy it. I think they went 7 times that night LOL!

Love the pointy toes LOL!

Looking at these pics and thinking back on this whole day, I have to say that this was probably the BEST day of the whole cruise and quite possibly the whole trip. It was just so relaxing and filled with fun and joy and lots of family time. There was no stress, no bad servers (more on that later), we got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset, great entertainment...yeah, it was pretty damn wonderful

And I have to say, I don't think we will ever do another Formal Night ever again!

 

[OurDogCisco]

What a great idea skipping formal night. Looks like you all are having fun. I can't read about Cabanas for dinner. We did it once on the magic but did not stay. We just took the tray back to our room.

 

[jedijill]

What a great afternoon/evening! I think it was a good call to skip the MDR!

Jill in CO

 

[monica23535]

It really does sound like you had a great night I love the photos of Kira and Rob on the Aquaduck!

The Fantasy really does look a little better than the Dream, I think I want to do seven nights instead of four next time.