The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Originally Posted by jenseib

Yes, you are more March than me. I was March 31st...so technically still in March, but the majority in April.

But my TR is in my signature as well. (A Hop, No Skip and Many Mishaps to a Dream)

Just wanted to let you know that I am slowly but surely getting caught up on your TR. I was 20 pages behind when I got back, but now I'm only 10! I'm making progress!

Originally Posted by wigdoutdismom

Stacy, I'll help you work on him this summer if you don't have him convinced. I only hope we overlap on our trips!!!
Rinky, Stacey's Ellie and your DD would make perfect playmates on the beach at Vero in June....
It's not nearly so hot right there by the ocean.

I know! I'm sure they would hit it off very well! And I am certain that if anyone can whip her DH into line over that Disney trip, it's you Wigd!

Originally Posted by wigdoutdismom

Oh and Rinky, Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope your family has a wonderful day!

Thank you! We did have a wonderful day! I hope your family did too!

Originally Posted by pooh'smate

I had a little bit of time and found your tr. I may not comment a lot because of time but I will be following and commenting when I have time. When I read your tittle I started singing "Swinter" in my head. We love Phinneas and Ferb in our house.

Welcome! I hope you will be able to join in often, but if not, please don't worry about it. I completely understand. I am reading (and posting) on 10 different TRs right now and that is the limit I have set for myself. I just don't have the time to read more than that and still be engaged with my family like I should. The DIS can really suck you in like a vortex and make you forget about everything else. Sometimes that's a good thing, but sometimes it isn't. And when I am writing a TR of my own, I have even less time. I feel really guilty about it sometimes though b/c I really want to read all of them, especially the TRs from people who read and post on mine, but it's just impossible to do that. So I totally understand what you mean!

Every time I hear that song, it is stuck in my head for days!

[MeMom]

Hope your family has had/is having a very enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

[momof2TNboys]

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Thanks for the heads up on the TRs. I will check them out.

[Happy Elf]

Enjoyed your update! What a nice place to stay! We love our Cracker Barrel too!

[jenseib]

I can totally understand...I am subscribed to "MANY" TR's and it's hard to keep up at times. And I wish I could read more, but I just don't have the time.....which is one of the nice things about not writing a TR...you have a bit more time to read things. It's gonna take me forever to get mine done...and I have decided to just work at my own pace. Some weeks, I may be ambitious, but others, not so much.

[archdandy]

Great first update. And dont worry about it being boring, I love the travelling days! It gets me so excited for the rest of the days!

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Originally Posted by MeMom

Hope your family has had/is having a very enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

We did! I hope you did too! I hope you'll be telling us all about it on your TR.

We had a great meal next door with my parents and 85 year old grandmother. We took naps afterwards, which we never get to do, and DD got to ride the huge combine all over the farm b/c they picked the soybeans on Thanksgiving day. Doesn't get much better than that around here. Even the dogs were fat happy!

Originally Posted by momof2TNboys

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Thanks for the heads up on the TRs. I will check them out.

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope your family did as well.

Originally Posted by Happy Elf

Enjoyed your update! What a nice place to stay! We love our Cracker Barrel too!

You can't beat the Cracker Barrel. I think the eating and shopping all at once is a big draw for lots of women!

Originally Posted by jenseib

I can totally understand...I am subscribed to "MANY" TR's and it's hard to keep up at times. And I wish I could read more, but I just don't have the time.....which is one of the nice things about not writing a TR...you have a bit more time to read things. It's gonna take me forever to get mine done...and I have decided to just work at my own pace. Some weeks, I may be ambitious, but others, not so much.

I agree. I actually enjoy reading other TRs more than writing my own. But I do like reliving my trip and having all the memories recorded so that when my feeble mind goes, I can go back and read it to remember. But like you, I'm going to have to take this TR at my own pace. Now that I am working more, I just don't have the time that I used too.

Originally Posted by archdandy

Great first update. And dont worry about it being boring, I love the travelling days! It gets me so excited for the rest of the days!

The traveling really wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. DD did really well overall and it went quicker than I thought it would. No pain, no gain, I suppose.

[Tracerr00]

Believe it or not I've never followed a TR before (only dining reports) so this is my first!! My DD and I are going on our first Dream cruise (first cruise ever actually) in January and then doing a short stay at WDW afterwards as well. I can't wait to hear all about your trip so we know what to expect! I love your writing style so I know it'll be a fun report!

[jecskc]

Hey Rinky ... did you have passports ?? Or did you just use your birth certificates ?? And if you DID have passports, how long did it take you to get them ?? TIA !

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

On the second day of Swinter my vacation gave to me, a really DREAMy boat and a shoebox that's built to sleep three!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

We were up bright and early on Thursday morning, and the very first thought that entered my mind was, “I wonder what’s going on with the hurricane.” To quote Nemo, it was hard to get that ‘swirling vortex of terror’ out of my mind considering that I was about to board a ship and sail out into the big ‘ole blue. I turned on the TV but couldn’t find any mention of Rina. We wanted to get to the port early since we had no idea where to go or what to do, so for the moment, I tried to put it out of my mind and focus on getting ready to head down for breakfast.

By 7:00 a.m. we were on our way to the lounge.



The breakfast offerings were great as always. This is one of the main reasons we choose to stay at Hilton properties. They always have hot foods such as eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, etc. in addition to the typical continental type items.









Then it was time to say goodbye to Jacksonville.



Once we were on the road I decided to call my parents one last time before we set sail. I knew that once we boarded the ship, I wouldn’t have any means of communication, so I called them to say farewell. The first thing I did was ask my mom about the hurricane. Her response was, “You’re not going to believe this, but it just fell apart overnight!” WHAT?!? The last time I had checked, it was a category 3! How did it just fall apart? I was elated!!! I kept asking her if she was sure. I just couldn’t believe it. She assured me that she had just watched the tropics update on the Weather Channel and Rina had only made it as far as Cuba before it ran out of steam! What a HUGE relief!

NOW IT’S TIME TO GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP!!!

It wasn’t much longer before we were seeing signs for Port Canaveral.



We knew we were getting close when we started crossing over water.



And then we saw this, and squeals erupted!



Just mere seconds later, this appeared off in the distance.



And just as I had predicted in my PTR, chaos ensued at the sight of the ship. DD and I screamed like giddy school girls and DH started fussing because we were being so loud that he couldn’t hear the GPS. DD just kept yelling, “I can see the Aquaduck, look, look, it’s the Aquaduck!!!”

We pulled into the port and were directed to the curb where we could drop off our luggage.





We were greeted by a porter who took our bags. We tipped him and headed to the parking garage. By 10:00 a.m. we were in line and waiting to get into the port.





I was sure that we would be standing there for an hour before we could go in, but surprisingly, they opened the doors after about 10 minutes! We were some of the first people to go in and had no wait at the registration counter. I had already printed out and signed our cruise documents before we left home, so we breezed through check in very quickly. We were assigned to boarding group number 5.

As soon as I turned away from the check in counter, I saw Mickey coming out for his meet and greet! We hurried over before everyone else spotted him and we were first in line! He walked right over and grabbed DD up.



Then gave her a kiss on the hand…



He must have been in a photographic mood because he kept on posing for me!







Then we all got some love from Mickey!



Continued in next post

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The terminal was still really empty at that point, so I went ahead and got DD’s kid’s club bracelet. I had no intention of dropping her off there (she is super shy and I knew she wouldn’t go for it), but the CM told me that we couldn’t even go in there and look around without her having a bracelet on.

Once that was done, all we had to do was wait. DH and DD easily found a seat, and I entertained myself by taking some pictures in the terminal.

The entrance to the ship…













The terminal was still really empty. I was hoping that meant that our cruise was not sold out. (Unfortunately, that would turn out to be wishful thinking.) Pretty much everyone who was in the terminal was now in line to meet Mickey. I was very glad that we happened to be in the right place at the right time and didn’t have to wait in that line to meet him.



Still waiting…



Getting excited.... and silly



Then they began calling boarding numbers over the loud speaker. We stayed in our seats because I figured it would take a while to get to group five, but I was wrong! They went through groups 1-3 in just a few minutes, so we walked up towards the entrance. Just then, Mickey left the meet and greet and Minnie came out! I really wanted pictures with her but there was no way we had time before our number was going to be called, so I just snapped a really quick picture and moved on.



Boarding group five was called next and I was ecstatic! I took this picture on the way in to remember what time we boarded. 11:37…not bad!



I can remember the intense excitement and anticipation I felt walking through here.



We were announced by our family name in true royal fashion as we entered the atrium. My eyes were immediately drawn up to the gorgeous chandelier. Pictures do not do it justice. It’s amazing!



Then we were pulled aside by a CM and told that our room would be ready at 1:30, and until then we could have lunch at the Enchanted Garden and enjoy the rest of the ship. Sounded good to me!

Even the elevators had special Disney touches.





We found EG very easily, and it was just steps away from our stateroom.





A hidden Mickey in the iron gate



The place was pretty empty.



DD thought everything looked so fancy.



I guess she was feeling like royalty, so she used her napkin for a crown.





This was set up as a buffet for lunch. They had lots of different things to choose from and most of it was really good.



DH raved about the lamb they served here. I really liked the pasta and the turkey caesar wrap.

On our way out of Enchanted Garden we saw this beautiful picture. The artwork on the Dream is so gorgeous! But this wasn't any ordinary painting. I knew about this from reading cruise reports here on the DIS, but DH and DD got quite a surprise when we walked by and it came to life! DD loved these and different ones were scattered all over the ship.

(Click on the picture to see a very short video.)



Since we were so close, we peeked around the corner to see if our room was ready a bit early, but it wasn’t, so we used the bathrooms near Enchanted Garden to change into our swimsuits (we brought them on board in a carry-on bag).

From the pool deck we had a great view of the port and the other ships that were docked.



It was such a beautiful day, hardly a cloud in the sky! So much for that 70% chance of rain that was predicted for our embarkation day! So far, everything was absolutely perfect, but could it really be this wonderful or was I just dreaming?

Up next: The Second Day of Swinter: Part 2

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Originally Posted by Tracerr00

Believe it or not I've never followed a TR before (only dining reports) so this is my first!! My DD and I are going on our first Dream cruise (first cruise ever actually) in January and then doing a short stay at WDW afterwards as well. I can't wait to hear all about your trip so we know what to expect! I love your writing style so I know it'll be a fun report!

I am so glad that you are joining in! If you are like me, you are going to get hooked on the TR boards! It is so much fun reading about how other people spend their Disney vacations. You learn so much and get some great ideas. I LOVE IT! It's my hobby!

This was our first cruise as well. Hopefully our experience will help you out with your cruise. I definitely learned some things that I will do differently next time. But you are in for a great vacation. I'm VERY curious to hear how the weather is for your January cruise. You'll have to tell us all about it when you get back.

Originally Posted by jecskc

Hey Rinky ... did you have passports ?? Or did you just use your birth certificates ?? And if you DID have passports, how long did it take you to get them ?? TIA !

We went back and forth on getting passports for what seemed like forever. Finally we just decided to skip them this time since the cruise was so short and since we didn't know if we would even want to cruise again. It was already adding up to a pretty expensive trip, so the passport cost just sort of pushed it over the edge. I think it was going to be about $420 for the 3 of us! We had no problems at all using our birth certificates. They hardly even looked at them. Just know that you cannot fly out of the Bahamas without a passport should you have an emergency. That's very unlikely, but still something you have to decide whether or not you are willing to risk. The paperwork that I got when we were thinking about getting the passports said to allow 8 weeks.

[Mndisneygirl]

Oh - big sigh! I have some of those very same pictures (Except it was raining) approaching the Dream! And the gorgeous chandelier, all that!! I LOVE IT!!!
great pictures!!
Lucky you got to have lunch at Enchanted Garden! I thought that place was so pretty. We had ours at Cabanas.

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

Oh - big sigh! I have some of those very same pictures (Except it was raining) approaching the Dream! And the gorgeous chandelier, all that!! I LOVE IT!!!
great pictures!!
Lucky you got to have lunch at Enchanted Garden! I thought that place was so pretty. We had ours at Cabanas.

EG was really pretty wasn't it? I was sure that we would be having lunch at Cabanas. I think all the cruise reports I have read had lunch there. Not sure how we ended up at EG, but it was good. I kind of had my heart set on some of those crab claws from Cabanas though. Maybe next time! Unfortunately, that turned out to be the only lunch we would eat on the ship.

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Looks like things were off to an awesome start!! I am loving all the pictures. Can't wait for more!