Get Off The Ship - we are running out of towel animals! Update 10/25 Day 31

[podsnel]

I am caught up! I think- must have missed the part about Tom's back- I do hope he is ok. Not a good situation for a mail carrier.

I cant wait for my first Gold/plat castaway meet! How long have you been platinum now? Our cruise this summer to Alaska will be my 1st gold. thumbsup2 so silly, but I am really excited to get the new color lanyard and bag!

This is such an amazing vacation, hope I get to do a BTB on the Fantasy one day!

 

[franandaj]

Welcome!
So sorry it took me so long to welcome you here, but with Tom being away and myself driving there to visit him every Friday right after work and getting home late on Sunday, I was left with weekend chores during the week and just could not get any DIStime in.

There's lots of adventures left and I even have a newer TR going, a February one.

Actually it was good for me that you've been busy, I had a chance to catch up. Normally I don't join in on TRs that have gone 20+ pages because it's just so hard for me to keep up on a good day, much less when I start off behind.

So many comments and questions, I can't remember them all. Is it customary to tip the servers at Breakfast and Lunch? If so, I have been a very bad cruiser! I didn't know about that!

Since joining in, I signed up for a B2B cruise (only 5 days total) and it was helpful to read your experience about getting on and off the ship. We thought we might do a little touring of San Diego while off the ship, but if they get you back on that quickly, we might just stick around and reboard ASAP.

We stopped in Grand Cayman with the Magic last April and it was incredibly hot then too. Disney had the cold water and towels on our stop as well.

All the food sounds incredibly tasty, but I don't think I would have liked many of the bread dipping sauces that they served you. I would be happy with just plain butter.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of it!

 

[dizneeat]

I sure wish my insurance would send to me a place like that!!!!!

All the insurances have different places to send you to, but they are all equally beautiful.
Now that we have found out how fun those spa visits are I am planning on signing up for one myself. I would love to go to Bad Ischl, where the Emperor of Austria used to spend his summer months.

Wow, I can't believe Tom had to wait a year for treatment of back pain! That's a long time to be hurting. I do have to say, though, that the place looked beautiful! Hope Tom is doing better now.

Yes, that is the downside. They do agree to those visits immediately if you had had an accident or operation, but if it is something that took years to get you to the state you are in now you have to wait.
But to be honest, it was worth the wait.
He is doing better at the moment, but his workday was close to 11 hours (he'll only get paid for 8 though) and his mood was accordingly.

There is nothing BAD about that spa, it looks wonderful
Most importantly I hope it's helping ease Tom's back

It did help him with his back pain and morally as well. His mood was/is much better when he was there. I hope it stays that way.
Bad Hofgastein was beautiful and I intend to post more pics on my PTR.

I thought I commented on Tom's stay at the spa...

Well, let me also say that I hope it does the trick and he feels better. for 3 weeks!!!

Ann, you did, just on one of my other threads.

He felt a lot better at the end and I hope it stays that way.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin! I thought I had managed to finally catch up on TRs tonight and then post my own updates. I have realized that I missed more than one update on your report. I am having a really hard time keeping up these days. I will be back this week to read and comment - I'm sorry for falling behind - you know I love your updates!

No problem falling behind and having to catch up - with Tom being away I fell behind myself, even on my own threads.

Nice they handed out cold towels and drinks.
It is so pretty where he went.

We really loved the extra things DCL did on those cruises. Set them WAY apart from the other ones there.

Bad Hofgastein, as small as it might be is situated perfectly and such a beautiful little village.

Can I just remark that our insurance in the United States would never pay for spa treatments. Our insurance would much rather pay for narcotics and muscle relaxants. I am just in awe. That looks like a gorgeous place and I hope that Tom's back is as good as new in no time.

Every insurance here pays for those spa treatment. They have different places where you can go, but you can always choose from several.
His back got so much better there, I only fear that it will be shortlived as his work is really stressful and they do not help with making it easier on them.

And Viagra.

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

I am caught up! I think- must have missed the part about Tom's back- I do hope he is ok. Not a good situation for a mail carrier.

I cant wait for my first Gold/plat castaway meet! How long have you been platinum now? Our cruise this summer to Alaska will be my 1st gold. thumbsup2 so silly, but I am really excited to get the new color lanyard and bag!

This is such an amazing vacation, hope I get to do a BTB on the Fantasy one day!

Yeah, Ellen!
Tom's back situation took a long time to get where it was and over a year ago he asked for those spa treatments. He was granted his stay but it took until now that he was allowed to go. His back is feeling much better, it is just that I worry that with his current work it might be short lived.

Ellen, you ar going to love the Castaway Club meet. The officers walk around and you get to know the crew even better. Plus, there is free booze and a some really lovely nibbles.

I don't want to disclose to much, but I have another back to back planned for us (and actually already booked).
You really need to try the b2b yourself - it is such a treat AND isn't it a TAs duty to try that once?

Actually it was good for me that you've been busy, I had a chance to catch up. Normally I don't join in on TRs that have gone 20+ pages because it's just so hard for me to keep up on a good day, much less when I start off behind.

Ah, I feel so honoured that you did not give up on me and my TR!

So many comments and questions, I can't remember them all. Is it customary to tip the servers at Breakfast and Lunch? If so, I have been a very bad cruiser! I didn't know about that!

No, I don't think it is customary to tip the servers at breakfast and lunch. It is just that on our b2b travels we got to know some of them really well and knowing that they are all "saving up big time" we just want to chip in a little more.
And they will remember you VERY well that way and I guess some of our magical surprises were coming from small tips here and there.

Since joining in, I signed up for a B2B cruise (only 5 days total) and it was helpful to read your experience about getting on and off the ship. We thought we might do a little touring of San Diego while off the ship, but if they get you back on that quickly, we might just stick around and reboard ASAP.

You are going to love going b2b! Make sure you keep the same stateroom as it makes things VERY easy.
We have only done it at PC and it was great to be able to get back on the ship first thing when they clear it. It is like having the whole ship to yourself.

We stopped in Grand Cayman with the Magic last April and it was incredibly hot then too. Disney had the cold water and towels on our stop as well.

The cold water and towels are such a neat idea. That is something I really like about DCL - those little extra magical touches.

All the food sounds incredibly tasty, but I don't think I would have liked many of the bread dipping sauces that they served you. I would be happy with just plain butter.

Not all of the dipping sauces were that tasty. I like the chickpea one and any oils infused with herbs and anything with olives. But some were just far too sweet for my tast, so we just stuck with butter too!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of it!

Update coming up shortly!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 13, August 19

A trip to Hell and back - Part 5

Back in our stateroom we got changed and had a short discussion what to do about lunch.
We were too late for Royal Court, but we could easily head up to deck 12 to have some take away or we could order room service. We had never before ordered room service, so we decided to give it a try, especially since no one had called us about our Castaway Club gift. So I called and asked if we could just “order” our gift, the bottle of sparkling wine and some lunch.
Both were answered with a friendly yes and we were told that the wine, a cooler and some glasses would be delivered in about 45 minutes and our lunch would be served in about 20 minutes.

















15 minutes after we had placed our call there was a knock at the door and our lunch had arrived. The server put it on the small table



and after handing him a tip we went to check out our first room service meal in 11 cruises. We had ordered the



Caesar Salad, crisp romaine salad tossed in a creamy parmesan dressing to share, the



Steak Sandwich on sourdough with mushrooms, onions and American cheese, served with french fries for Tom and the



rispy Chicken Tenders with BBQ sauce and French Fries for myself. Everything came with neat little containers with Ketchup and sauces. We grabbed some drinks



out of the fridge and started to dig in. Needless to say that the food was really good and we kind of regretted not having tried room service earlier.
And while we finished up our lunch there was another knock at the door and our sparkling wine arrived.



And since it was already nice and cold we went and opened it right away and sat outside on the balcony with a glass of the bubbly. We were still enjoying our drink when the ship started to pull out of Grand Cayman.





Drinks finished we headed upstairs to the top deck and enjoyed the views while going out at sea again.









It was starting to get dark.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[franandaj]

No, I don't think it is customary to tip the servers at breakfast and lunch. It is just that on our b2b travels we got to know some of them really well and knowing that they are all "saving up big time" we just want to chip in a little more.
And they will remember you VERY well that way and I guess some of our magical surprises were coming from small tips here and there.

That's a very good point. Since we will be on the Wonder IN Oct/Nov and then again in May, we should probably tip nicely, we do that elsewhere at Disney as the folks at DLR know us pretty well. Do they take American dollars?

You are going to love going b2b! Make sure you keep the same stateroom as it makes things VERY easy.
We have only done it at PC and it was great to be able to get back on the ship first thing when they clear it. It is like having the whole ship to yourself.

That was my first question when I called about the B2B. We need an HA room so it was important not to have to change, I've heard about people doing both, same rooms and changing rooms, but with such a short trip we didn't want to change rooms. But the good thing is we chalk up two cruises towards our Platinum status in a short period of time without a lot of travel time. Less than your trip to Italy!

So have you done your DLP trip yet? I'm curious about that one, we are planning on going there in Sept 2015 as well as a trip to the Loire Valley. I want to do a culinary thing. I want to hear all about your trip, is that coming or did I miss the TR?

 

[dizneeat]

That's a very good point. Since we will be on the Wonder IN Oct/Nov and then again in May, we should probably tip nicely, we do that elsewhere at Disney as the folks at DLR know us pretty well. Do they take American dollars?

Yes, they all take US currency! We had a lot of magical "surprises" because we tip extra and we carry a lot of European (Milka) chocolate. All the European CMs (and there are a lot) are missing it and it makes instant friends.

That was my first question when I called about the B2B. We need an HA room so it was important not to have to change, I've heard about people doing both, same rooms and changing rooms, but with such a short trip we didn't want to change rooms. But the good thing is we chalk up two cruises towards our Platinum status in a short period of time without a lot of travel time. Less than your trip to Italy!

For us one of the extra perks is not having to pack up on the last day of the first cruise. So sad to see all the other suitcases out. But then I tell myself that ours can still sleep under the bed for another cruise.
And as for getting closer to your Platinum status - perfect! When we started out cruising we would always include the cruises into a WDW trip and the only ship we could use was the Dream. Now, 4 days were just too short to enjoy the ship so we went back to back and once even back to back to back. And it DID push us towards that Platinum status fast.
Now with cruise no 14 coming up and the Fantasy in the race we decide on the longer cruises if possible.

I had to take a peek and look where you live - Long Beach - oh, wonderful memories there. We loved our trips to CA and we would always stop in Long Beach! You are very lucky!!!!

So have you done your DLP trip yet? I'm curious about that one, we are planning on going there in Sept 2015 as well as a trip to the Loire Valley. I want to do a culinary thing. I want to hear all about your trip, is that coming or did I miss the TR?

We have been to DLRP in early January. I am in the midst of this TR which I included in my PTR. If you want to catch up on that one as well - there ARE links in my first post and the link to the PTR is in my signatue.

Don't go to early in September 2015, as kids might not be back in school and then the park gets pretty crowded.
Otherwise the parks are good fun - just be prepared that this is Europe and the CMs are doing their job - not like the ones at WDW or DL. People are more pushy and some smoke in areas where they should not.
Otherwise the parks have that special Disney feel and some rides are a bit different than in other parks and then there are some rides that are unique to DLRP. Toy Story land and now the new Remy part of the Studios.

 

[MEK]

Cool. Your first room service meal!

And sparkling wine to boot! What a great way to spend sail away and the weather looks absolutely lovely!

 

[tokyodisneydad]

At first I thought that tiny bottle was ur wine

 

[jenseib]

I can't believe you have never ordered room service. I love to do it just cause you can. I did it on our last cruise and Skip kept asking why I just didn't run up top to get something and I said he just wasn't getting it and the purpose.

 

[KatMark]

You've never ordered room service before? That used to be one of our boys favorite things to do one meal per trip. It wasn't their money so they didn't care that it cost more if we had just gone and gotten the same thing somewhere.

Nice pictures as the ship took off to sea again.

 

[JKSWonder]

I order room service every night for delivery in the morning. I'm an early riser and while everyone is still sleeping, I have coffee, croissants and Danish on the veranda. It is my time and it is glorious!

 

[dizneeat]

Cool. Your first room service meal!

And sparkling wine to boot! What a great way to spend sail away and the weather looks absolutely lovely!

Yes, our FIRST room service meal. Might sound funny, but being a non native speaker always made me shy away from it. Talking to someone face to face is easy - talking ot someone on the phone, esp. if that someone most likely isn't a native either, not so fun.

The sparkling wine was on Mickey - made it taste even better.

At first I thought that tiny bottle was ur wine

No, Mickey is a bit more generous.

I can't believe you have never ordered room service. I love to do it just cause you can. I did it on our last cruise and Skip kept asking why I just didn't run up top to get something and I said he just wasn't getting it and the purpose.

I know it sounds funny that we have never tried room service before, but we were either too full or I was just not in the mood for making that call. As a non native speaker phone calls can be a pain, so I tried to avoid it. But now that we tried (and liked what we had gotten) we have had it more often.

 

[annmarieda]

How cool that you had room service for the first time. Non native speaker or not... I find calling in an order intimidating. I know I have had room service before... but I don't do it often. Yay for the champagne on Mickey!

 

[englishrose47]

Room Service lunch looked delish !!!!The Bubbly looked pretty good too!!!I too have been absent way to much lately due to working a lot and opting for early bedtime !!! Tomorrow I start at 6a on full time job and then at 5p go to second job till 9p .

 

[dizneeat]

You've never ordered room service before? That used to be one of our boys favorite things to do one meal per trip. It wasn't their money so they didn't care that it cost more if we had just gone and gotten the same thing somewhere.

Nice pictures as the ship took off to sea again.

Yes, I know, sounds silly that we have never used room service before, especially since it is free of charge on the ships. But I guess the biggest hurdle was the language barrier. But now, that we know how it works we DO use it more often.

I order room service every night for delivery in the morning. I'm an early riser and while everyone is still sleeping, I have coffee, croissants and Danish on the veranda. It is my time and it is glorious!

That's a great idea! We used to do that for CC day - but we used the order form, never called them.
And Tom is not a huge fan of a sweet breakfast, so we usually head to Royal Palace/Court for breakfast.

How cool that you had room service for the first time. Non native speaker or not... I find calling in an order intimidating. I know I have had room service before... but I don't do it often. Yay for the champagne on Mickey!

OMG, someone else who doesn't like calling for RS and you ARE a native speaker.
We have now started to order it more often, now that I know how it works and that they do catch what we want.

Room Service lunch looked delish !!!!The Bubbly looked pretty good too!!!I too have been absent way to much lately due to working a lot and opting for early bedtime !!! Tomorrow I start at 6a on full time job and then at 5p go to second job till 9p .

Lunch was yummy! And a bottle of bubbly from Mickey was nice too!

Rosie, I hope you can cut back on work hours soon. Your trip is getting so close too! Can't wait to see and read more about your adventures.

 

[annmarieda]

OMG, someone else who doesn't like calling for RS and you ARE a native speaker.
We have now started to order it more often, now that I know how it works and that they do catch what we want.

Well, while I may be native apparently I mumble a lot. I guess I am hard to understand.

Seriously though, I rely a lot on facial expression and body language to know if I am getting my point across. Speaking on the phone just leaves me as to if they know what I am saying. I know that I say "does that make sense?" a lot when on the phone.

 

[JKSWonder]

We've also ordered room service for the kids on our Palo dinner nights. We feed them in the room, then drop them off at the club while we head to Palo. It's worked out really well for us.

 

[Linda67]

We've never ordered room service either Karin, although I think I may have ordered breakfast one time (my memory is failing me!)