zachsmomie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2001
WOW!!! We just got back from the 3 day Wonder (7/12). It was fantastic. Here's what comes to mind:
Cast of Characters: Myself,32
Craig,hubby,44
Zachary, son, 8
7/12 - Leaving the Poly today. We were supposed to go eat at Boma's at 8:15am. FAT CHANCE!!!!! Still sleeping. So we ate at Captain Cook's and then "hung out" until it was time to leave at 11:45am. It was great! We boarded the Disney bus and the excitement kept building until we saw the ship in the port. It was awe-inspiring! As we proceeded up the ramp, we were stopped because our KTTW cards didn't work. We got 3 more and were on our way! We walked in and stopped dead (sorry to the folks behind us). It was better than I imagined. Then I came to my senses. We found our stateroom and dropped off carryons. Checked our son into the Oceaneer's Lab and headed for the spa. Once there, we made 1:30 reservations for the cabana massages. Then we ate at Parrot Cay. Yummy. I dropped a pillowcase off at guest services for all the characters to sign. (unfortunately my stateroom hostess had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it to her.) Our first dinner was Tritons and it was great to dress up after being in the parks for 4 days. The food was excellent and Chad, our server, was super. Then pin trading with the wonderful Rebecca who chatted with my son. He absolutely loved her. Then on to Hercules the "Muse"ical. Very nice show. Lots of laughs and my son LOVED the Pooh joke! Then we checked Zach into the kids club and hubby and I walked the deck. It was a beautiful star filled night and it felt magical. All that fresh air made us sleepy. I went to get my son and had to pull him away from the club. No nighttime activities for us after 11. TOO TIRED!
No pillow animal :-(
7/13 Nassau - HOT HOT HOT but the few hours we spent there netted me a gold chain and a gold bracelet so who am I to complain...lol. We visited the straw market. Not our cup of tea. We also went to Del SOl and got great color changing t-shirts. Back on the ship by 1pm and spent the afternoon swimming. I think alot of people had this same idea because the pools were mobbed!!! Pictures in the lobby with Captain and a very lovely Minnie Mouse. My son gave Captain Tom and bean bag crab from Crabby Dicks with a little note thanking him for such a great cruise. But no autograph :-( So I dropped his autograph book off at guest services and asked if the captain and bridge crew could sign it for him. No promises they said. But they would try. Dinner at Animator's Palate. What an experience! My son was mesmorized. Afterwards, we saw Voyage of the Ghost ship. Not my favorite but still very well done. Checked Zach into the kids club and cught the end of Match Your Mate. It was hysterical. Then we moved over to Barrel of Laughs to see dueling pianos. Unfortunately we only got to see about the first 1/2 hour before we got beeped at 11pm to get my son. He wanted no part of the dance party. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. When we returned to our room...a pillow animal. It was cute and wearing my sunglasses.
7/14 Castaway Cay - First let me say, this is the place I least wanted to visit. Beaches really hold very little appeal for me and I couldn't imagine spending a whole day there. But I was wrong. This is a beautiful place. After slapping on the sunscreen and bathing suits and loading up the snorkeling gear, we were off. Yes, the photo opportunities were fabulous. But me, a bathing suit and a photograph do not a pretty sight make. So needless to say, our Castaway photos were of my son only. Head to the beach about 9:30am. No hammocks :-( put on our gear and hit the waves. About 5 minutes later, we trudge back across the sand as my son decides he does not like the taste of salt water and is on the verge of vomiting. Okay but at least we didn't spend $25 a person to find this out! Then we venture into the water again to swim. Guess what!? We like swimming pools better! My son decided to check into the kids club and Hubby and I go off to eat lunch. We spent the next few hours under an umbrella on Serenity Bay. It was fabulous! Then it was magic time. 1:30pm Time for the Cabana Massage. Ok...so I had to talk hubby into this and I really didn't tell him the cost ($100 each) until it was too late to cancel (Hey what was the $50 postcard credit to be used for anyway...lol). He raved about it when it was over. We both felt so relaxed and for the first time that night went to bed WITHOUT sore feet and legs from walking so much. Only drawback...the bicycle trail is right outside of the cabanas. So when we were enjoying our very grown up massage were heard lots of kids carrying on. It would have been nice to be only in our secluded grown up world for a while. Then we got back to the room and the coolest message was on our phone. Remember that crab last night. Well the Captain's assistant, Brent< called and invited us to tour the bridge at 4:45pm. Of course this meant no kids show for Zach but hey...the bridge! So we shower and dress for dinner and meet Jason at the elevators on deck 8 at 4:45pm. There were 3 other families there as well. As we are walking to the bridge, Jason leans over to Zach and tells him that the Captain thanks him for his gift. When we get on the bridge. The captain greets us all and makes some remarks about the ship and what will be happening as we leave the dock in a few minutes. Then his assistant takes Zach by the hand and tells him he is going to get to blow the whistle when we leave. His jaw, my jaw and my husband's jaw drops. How cool! My son is beaming. When the time comes, he pushes the button and we hear "When you wish upon a star" It was fabulous. Then all the families present watch the captain take the ship out, walk around the bridge, have pictures taken (I hope the one of Zach in the Captain's chair turns out!) and just hang out asking questions and watching until about 5:15pm. This was great. It was the highlight of Zach (and hubby's)trip. They told everyone they met that Zach had gotten this special honor. It's the first thing he tells anyone about Disney. We eat dinner at Parrot Cay and my son gives Chad, our server, his second crab. More pin trading with Rebecca, the recipient of his third and final crab. Then onto Disney Dreams. What a great show! Unfortunately, then it was time to return to the stateroom to "kamikazee" pack. You know...throw everything in every bag and pray it fits as you stuff even more in. I don't know what happened. I even brought an extra bag like the boards said and brought 1/2 the clothes and washed them at the Poly Wednesday! Off to bed with a heavy heart knowing tomorrow was our last day.
7/15 - Home Again YUCK!!! Time to leave and I don't even get to sleep in late! This is so unfair!! We arrive home to great weather but I keep looking for people to hand me drinks and bring me food and play music in the background and smile alot. All I see is a grumpy hubby who needs to go back to work tomorrow and a son missing the pool and a pizza box. (you thought I was cooking tonight...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) and a barking dog. Oh well, at least our once in a lifetime vacation is now looking more like...next time we will. I think hubby is ready to book again!
We had a fabulous time and everything was wonderful. Deck 5 room 5132. Navigator's Verandah.
Any questions? Ask away!
Sandy
P.S. On a side note-during our land portion our new camcorder started flashing that it needed a head cleaning tape. No where to be found on Disney. We had no car and the Poly front desk was useless. But Dean with cruise desk came to the rescue. He found a store that sold them, arranged for someone to get it and leave it in our room while we were at MGM. Now that is service!
Cast of Characters: Myself,32
Craig,hubby,44
Zachary, son, 8
7/12 - Leaving the Poly today. We were supposed to go eat at Boma's at 8:15am. FAT CHANCE!!!!! Still sleeping. So we ate at Captain Cook's and then "hung out" until it was time to leave at 11:45am. It was great! We boarded the Disney bus and the excitement kept building until we saw the ship in the port. It was awe-inspiring! As we proceeded up the ramp, we were stopped because our KTTW cards didn't work. We got 3 more and were on our way! We walked in and stopped dead (sorry to the folks behind us). It was better than I imagined. Then I came to my senses. We found our stateroom and dropped off carryons. Checked our son into the Oceaneer's Lab and headed for the spa. Once there, we made 1:30 reservations for the cabana massages. Then we ate at Parrot Cay. Yummy. I dropped a pillowcase off at guest services for all the characters to sign. (unfortunately my stateroom hostess had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it to her.) Our first dinner was Tritons and it was great to dress up after being in the parks for 4 days. The food was excellent and Chad, our server, was super. Then pin trading with the wonderful Rebecca who chatted with my son. He absolutely loved her. Then on to Hercules the "Muse"ical. Very nice show. Lots of laughs and my son LOVED the Pooh joke! Then we checked Zach into the kids club and hubby and I walked the deck. It was a beautiful star filled night and it felt magical. All that fresh air made us sleepy. I went to get my son and had to pull him away from the club. No nighttime activities for us after 11. TOO TIRED!
No pillow animal :-(
7/13 Nassau - HOT HOT HOT but the few hours we spent there netted me a gold chain and a gold bracelet so who am I to complain...lol. We visited the straw market. Not our cup of tea. We also went to Del SOl and got great color changing t-shirts. Back on the ship by 1pm and spent the afternoon swimming. I think alot of people had this same idea because the pools were mobbed!!! Pictures in the lobby with Captain and a very lovely Minnie Mouse. My son gave Captain Tom and bean bag crab from Crabby Dicks with a little note thanking him for such a great cruise. But no autograph :-( So I dropped his autograph book off at guest services and asked if the captain and bridge crew could sign it for him. No promises they said. But they would try. Dinner at Animator's Palate. What an experience! My son was mesmorized. Afterwards, we saw Voyage of the Ghost ship. Not my favorite but still very well done. Checked Zach into the kids club and cught the end of Match Your Mate. It was hysterical. Then we moved over to Barrel of Laughs to see dueling pianos. Unfortunately we only got to see about the first 1/2 hour before we got beeped at 11pm to get my son. He wanted no part of the dance party. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. When we returned to our room...a pillow animal. It was cute and wearing my sunglasses.
7/14 Castaway Cay - First let me say, this is the place I least wanted to visit. Beaches really hold very little appeal for me and I couldn't imagine spending a whole day there. But I was wrong. This is a beautiful place. After slapping on the sunscreen and bathing suits and loading up the snorkeling gear, we were off. Yes, the photo opportunities were fabulous. But me, a bathing suit and a photograph do not a pretty sight make. So needless to say, our Castaway photos were of my son only. Head to the beach about 9:30am. No hammocks :-( put on our gear and hit the waves. About 5 minutes later, we trudge back across the sand as my son decides he does not like the taste of salt water and is on the verge of vomiting. Okay but at least we didn't spend $25 a person to find this out! Then we venture into the water again to swim. Guess what!? We like swimming pools better! My son decided to check into the kids club and Hubby and I go off to eat lunch. We spent the next few hours under an umbrella on Serenity Bay. It was fabulous! Then it was magic time. 1:30pm Time for the Cabana Massage. Ok...so I had to talk hubby into this and I really didn't tell him the cost ($100 each) until it was too late to cancel (Hey what was the $50 postcard credit to be used for anyway...lol). He raved about it when it was over. We both felt so relaxed and for the first time that night went to bed WITHOUT sore feet and legs from walking so much. Only drawback...the bicycle trail is right outside of the cabanas. So when we were enjoying our very grown up massage were heard lots of kids carrying on. It would have been nice to be only in our secluded grown up world for a while. Then we got back to the room and the coolest message was on our phone. Remember that crab last night. Well the Captain's assistant, Brent< called and invited us to tour the bridge at 4:45pm. Of course this meant no kids show for Zach but hey...the bridge! So we shower and dress for dinner and meet Jason at the elevators on deck 8 at 4:45pm. There were 3 other families there as well. As we are walking to the bridge, Jason leans over to Zach and tells him that the Captain thanks him for his gift. When we get on the bridge. The captain greets us all and makes some remarks about the ship and what will be happening as we leave the dock in a few minutes. Then his assistant takes Zach by the hand and tells him he is going to get to blow the whistle when we leave. His jaw, my jaw and my husband's jaw drops. How cool! My son is beaming. When the time comes, he pushes the button and we hear "When you wish upon a star" It was fabulous. Then all the families present watch the captain take the ship out, walk around the bridge, have pictures taken (I hope the one of Zach in the Captain's chair turns out!) and just hang out asking questions and watching until about 5:15pm. This was great. It was the highlight of Zach (and hubby's)trip. They told everyone they met that Zach had gotten this special honor. It's the first thing he tells anyone about Disney. We eat dinner at Parrot Cay and my son gives Chad, our server, his second crab. More pin trading with Rebecca, the recipient of his third and final crab. Then onto Disney Dreams. What a great show! Unfortunately, then it was time to return to the stateroom to "kamikazee" pack. You know...throw everything in every bag and pray it fits as you stuff even more in. I don't know what happened. I even brought an extra bag like the boards said and brought 1/2 the clothes and washed them at the Poly Wednesday! Off to bed with a heavy heart knowing tomorrow was our last day.
7/15 - Home Again YUCK!!! Time to leave and I don't even get to sleep in late! This is so unfair!! We arrive home to great weather but I keep looking for people to hand me drinks and bring me food and play music in the background and smile alot. All I see is a grumpy hubby who needs to go back to work tomorrow and a son missing the pool and a pizza box. (you thought I was cooking tonight...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) and a barking dog. Oh well, at least our once in a lifetime vacation is now looking more like...next time we will. I think hubby is ready to book again!
We had a fabulous time and everything was wonderful. Deck 5 room 5132. Navigator's Verandah.
Any questions? Ask away!
Sandy
P.S. On a side note-during our land portion our new camcorder started flashing that it needed a head cleaning tape. No where to be found on Disney. We had no car and the Poly front desk was useless. But Dean with cruise desk came to the rescue. He found a store that sold them, arranged for someone to get it and leave it in our room while we were at MGM. Now that is service!
Jan
Thank you so much, that is great info and $ to be armed with when going to nassau,
. After waiting for 40 minutes (and completly losing the rhythm of the story by then), DH and I decide to give up and we went to the fitness center and worked out for an hour.
(Belated)
