Coffee on the Verandah -The Last Slide, Recap & Souvies 5/29 - Link to Aulani TR 5/31

[Flossbolna]

Wow, what a story about the points! I like it that we are "neighbours" now - I own at BWV as well.

Very excited that you are about to start the cruise portion of the TR now! My cruise is coming close now (less than four months by now) and while it is a different ship anything DCL related is exciting at the moment!!

 

[eandesmom]

Hooray---I'm all caught up again...just in time to leave and fall behind again.

I love all the pictures of the empty beach.. I miss the beach.

I really hope you are feeling better! I miss the beach too.

Ice..retainers...travelling isn't easy, is it? But at least you get funny stories out of it!

That we do!

Mini-golf? On the ship? A-mazing! The Dream really looks...uh...dreamy. Sorry. Had to say it. Seriously, though, I'm loving all the art deco. And the stair case would make me want to walk around in a long gown so I could sashay my skirt everywhere.

It is gorgeous to be sure. Very different from the Wonder in that respect which is the "classic" ocean liner design style. I'm honestly not sure which one I like better. Definitely pro's and cons to both. I really wish I'd taken pictures of the mini golf. I think I assumed we'd be back up there taking pics and while the E's were, I didn't. 4 nights is too short to really explore the ship fully.

Well, now I feel caught up on your impending plans. So that's how Hawaii came about? Well played! I'm not at all surprised that you fell in love with the Boarwalk. It is just such a beautiful area of Disney and there really isn't anything that compares to walking in and out of the parks. But I can't believe how hard it was to get those points added on. Happy for you that you got what you wanted.

I've always loved the area and YC is still our favorite resort, hands down. But BWV is a nice hybrid for us. A little "older" than the vibe we feel at the BC/BCV which has so many young ones and a little less pastel. Something about it just felt like home. Honestly so did OKW to me but I'm not worried about being able to book there most of the time, same thing with AKV. They all have pro's and cons but really nothing beats walking to the WS and Epcot. Nothing.

Wow, what a story about the points! I like it that we are "neighbours" now - I own at BWV as well.

Hi Neighbor!

It was quite the adventure to be sure.

Very excited that you are about to start the cruise portion of the TR now! My cruise is coming close now (less than four months by now) and while it is a different ship anything DCL related is exciting at the moment!!

Ah yes, your cruise is the one I'd looked at for our spring break I think! I wish we were on it with you (so would the boys if they knew we'd considered it lol). You have Key West on your itinerary correct? I love Key West.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Hi there! I have been having a great time catching up on your TR. I haven't been here in a while so I'm trying to catch up on everyone's stuff! I was reading along and then got to the part about your family & friends who are all battling cancer and other health issues. Just know that you and they are in my prayers! Tracy really seemed like such a wonderful person. I do believe I remember her a little from here on the Dis. It is so good that you got to spend such a happy time with her.

It was just found that my mother has Glioblastoma. I was shocked when I read about your Ex and BIL. I am glad to read that your Ex made it past the "median" time that they gave him. I am hoping for this with my mother. We are trying to stay positive and strong. She is only 62. This was a major shock because other than this, she is completely healthy. No other issues. She had her surgery on Nov. 2 to remove the tumor and is now undergoing her chemo/radiation. We are hopeful that when we get to the end of the radiation that the tumor will still be gone! I am so glad that I came across your TR and started to read. I read another of yours a long time ago and enjoyed it. So far I have really gotten much more than I bargained for. But I am glad. I am glad to read about another person who has made it through this awful brain cancer. There aren't many, but there ARE some out there. Many prayers for you, your family and friends. I'm off to finish catching up on your TR.....

 

[eandesmom]

Hi there! I have been having a great time catching up on your TR. I haven't been here in a while so I'm trying to catch up on everyone's stuff! I was reading along and then got to the part about your family & friends who are all battling cancer and other health issues. Just know that you and they are in my prayers! Tracy really seemed like such a wonderful person. I do believe I remember her a little from here on the Dis. It is so good that you got to spend such a happy time with her.

It was just found that my mother has Glioblastoma. I was shocked when I read about your Ex and BIL. I am glad to read that your Ex made it past the "median" time that they gave him. I am hoping for this with my mother. We are trying to stay positive and strong. She is only 62. This was a major shock because other than this, she is completely healthy. No other issues. She had her surgery on Nov. 2 to remove the tumor and is now undergoing her chemo/radiation. We are hopeful that when we get to the end of the radiation that the tumor will still be gone! I am so glad that I came across your TR and started to read. I read another of yours a long time ago and enjoyed it. So far I have really gotten much more than I bargained for. But I am glad. I am glad to read about another person who has made it through this awful brain cancer. There aren't many, but there ARE some out there. Many prayers for you, your family and friends. I'm off to finish catching up on your TR.....

Oh Blue, I am so sorry! Please feel free to PM me directly. It is actually my ex, the E's dad, (GBMIV multiforme to be specific) and then a family friend (who's wife has been battling breast cancer for 12 years which now appears to have metastasized to her lungs). I am more than happy to share what we did with my ex, I do truly believe in his case that supplements made all the difference in the world. My approach at the time was, what could it hurt? There is such a challenge with the blood/brain barrier and chemo that it was like, why not. I did a ton of research (shocker I know ) and was pretty active in the American Brain Tumor forum boards (though they can be super depressing) and really came up with a program that for whatever reason, worked. He was given 2 years tops with surgery, radiation and chemo. One year without the chemo. He had one surgery, the tumor was fully encapsulated (which is good) followed by radiation. 4 months later it was back. One more surgery, tumor also fully encapsulated but they took a lot more around it out. He refused to do more radiation and didn't do chemo at all but agreed to do the supplements.

He's still around, it's been I guess 15-16 years now? I'd have to do the math. Sadly he's not made good use of the gift he was given and that's it's own long ugly story but he has definitely beat the odds on the cancer itself. Our friends GBM is much different, with multiple tumors, not encapsulated so they couldn't quite get everything. I don't know what level his is at (III-VI)We are really praying that the radiation and chemo do their thing.

No matter what, there is always hope, and odds are just that. It is possible to be in that small percentage that beats it and attitude, faith and support make all the difference in the world. Doctors jobs are to tell you the statistics. That is all they are, numbers. They are not your mom and don't define her or her situation. Never lose sight of that and it will help you all get through it.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Oh Blue, I am so sorry! Please feel free to PM me directly. It is actually my ex, the E's dad, (GBMIV multiforme to be specific) and then a family friend (who's wife has been battling breast cancer for 12 years which now appears to have metastasized to her lungs). I am more than happy to share what we did with my ex, I do truly believe in his case that supplements made all the difference in the world. My approach at the time was, what could it hurt? There is such a challenge with the blood/brain barrier and chemo that it was like, why not. I did a ton of research (shocker I know ) and was pretty active in the American Brain Tumor forum boards (though they can be super depressing) and really came up with a program that for whatever reason, worked. He was given 2 years tops with surgery, radiation and chemo. One year without the chemo. He had one surgery, the tumor was fully encapsulated (which is good) followed by radiation. 4 months later it was back. One more surgery, tumor also fully encapsulated but they took a lot more around it out. He refused to do more radiation and didn't do chemo at all but agreed to do the supplements.

He's still around, it's been I guess 15-16 years now? I'd have to do the math. Sadly he's not made good use of the gift he was given and that's it's own long ugly story but he has definitely beat the odds on the cancer itself. Our friends GBM is much different, with multiple tumors, not encapsulated so they couldn't quite get everything. I don't know what level his is at (III-VI)We are really praying that the radiation and chemo do their thing.

No matter what, there is always hope, and odds are just that. It is possible to be in that small percentage that beats it and attitude, faith and support make all the difference in the world. Doctors jobs are to tell you the statistics. That is all they are, numbers. They are not your mom and don't define her or her situation. Never lose sight of that and it will help you all get through it.

Thank you so much for letting me know all of this. I would love to know more about the supplements. I will PM you shortly! We have been trying to keep her spirits up and remind her that it is "statistics" and numbers and that she can still beat it. She has her up days and down days. Right now she is doing pretty well and I plan to keep that going!

 

[CarolynK]

We also own at BoardWalk; we have stayed at other DVC resorts, and while each of them has their own charm and strengths, I always miss BWV when we don't stay here - it just feels like home.

We've visited WDW for NYE many times - we are at BWV right now, until Friday and while it IS obviously crowded, it's definitely worth it! The Epcot Illuminations NYE show is truly special.

Congrats on your purchase!!

 

[rndmr2]

I came over to your TR from yours and MEK's joint report and I have been enjoying reading all about your trip so far. That Vero Beach Resort is really pretty. I got about 2/3 of the way through the links then I just started reading all the posts.

Sorry to hear about all the medical issues with your family, hope your nephew is doing OK.

Your tribute to Tracy was beautiful. I remember her from various TR's and I was so sorry to hear of her passing, you are right, other than her being thinner, you would never know she had been sick from those most recent pictures, but it's so good she had that last trip to the world.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your Trip!

 

[eandesmom]

Thank you so much for letting me know all of this. I would love to know more about the supplements. I will PM you shortly! We have been trying to keep her spirits up and remind her that it is "statistics" and numbers and that she can still beat it. She has her up days and down days. Right now she is doing pretty well and I plan to keep that going!

She can beat it. Numbers are just that. I PM'd you probably more than you want to know. I'll also PM you my regular email

We also own at BoardWalk; we have stayed at other DVC resorts, and while each of them has their own charm and strengths, I always miss BWV when we don't stay here - it just feels like home.

Oh that's just how I felt staying there! I loved OKW, really I could move in and live there and for a non park trip it couldn't be better. I adored AKV and the Savanna and while the kids all say it was their favorite, I was on that veranda looking at the animals way more than anyone! But there was something about BWV that really spoke to me, tiny veranda and all.

We've visited WDW for NYE many times - we are at BWV right now, until Friday and while it IS obviously crowded, it's definitely worth it! The Epcot Illuminations NYE show is truly special.

Congrats on your purchase!!

Thanks! I am so excited to own there it's crazy! I love the live report, I can't tell you how much better that makes me feel. I've been all of a sudden torn between Xmas and NYE with Xmas maybe being a little less crowded but had kind of had my heart set on NYE. The 3 days of phase 3 closures at MK freaked me out a bit. I can work around it but not so sure about the rest of my family (parents, siblings) I've only got 21 days to decide one way or another! Good to know on Epcot NYE fireworks. You hear so much about MK's, and the crowds, that it makes me wonder what would be best. I am going to be trying for Boardwalk View for our villa but imagine it would be far better seen inside Epcot.

I came over to your TR from yours and MEK's joint report and I have been enjoying reading all about your trip so far. That Vero Beach Resort is really pretty. I got about 2/3 of the way through the links then I just started reading all the posts.

Hi and so happy to have you here!

Sorry to hear about all the medical issues with your family, hope your nephew is doing OK.

Thanks, he is ok. Annoying as ever. Right now the plan is meds and a visit every 6 months unless something new develops. Current focus is my dad who has another angiogram tomorrow.

Your tribute to Tracy was beautiful. I remember her from various TR's and I was so sorry to hear of her passing, you are right, other than her being thinner, you would never know she had been sick from those most recent pictures, but it's so good she had that last trip to the world.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your Trip!

Thank you, she really glowed on the trip. Yes she was thin and a bit weaker but truly if you didn't know, you wouldn't. She was so happy and positive it really was infectious. I'm so grateful to have had those last visits.

Lots more trip coming. I may well write an update tomorrow before heading off to the hospital, keep my mind off things.

 

[PrincePluto]

Happy New Year! Good wishes and prayers for your family's medical issues.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

New vacation plans are always exciting! Great to have something to look forward to. Your plan is pretty ambitious...hope you can pull it off!

I have to confess that whenever I start reading about deals on DVC contracts I start losing track of the words and hearing Charlie Brown's teacher in my head. Don't worry, as long as it makes sense to you, that's what's important.

 

[dizneeat]

 

[eandesmom]

Happy New Year! Good wishes and prayers for your family's medical issues.

Thanks! Happy New Year to you too!

New vacation plans are always exciting! Great to have something to look forward to. Your plan is pretty ambitious...hope you can pull it off!

Well the good news is that my side of the family is a certified bunch of park commandos, Disney and Harry Potter freaks. A few of them might be flakes on when they commit but overall, they will be good. It will be different, some the kids are horrible eaters so I think the dining portion may be the biggest challenge. It will also be different as it's a bunch of teen boys that together, make the decibel level of any house shake. Putting them all in one room is a bit frightening and I see a trip filled with Sorcerers of the magic Kingdom, Perry and Disney Quest but hey, it will be different.

I think the biggest challenge may be figuring out how to do a couple of dinners in the villa. At the treehouse we will have the deck so doing a dinner there should work since we can kick kids outside (even if it's 50 degrees). At Boardwalk I'm not sure. Those tables only seat 4 and even factoring in couches and veranda's and even the counter, I'm not sure how well it will work but it would save quite a bit of $$.

I have to confess that whenever I start reading about deals on DVC contracts I start losing track of the words and hearing Charlie Brown's teacher in my head. Don't worry, as long as it makes sense to you, that's what's important.

totally, I get it.

I love this Karin! Thank you and Happy New Year back to you!

 

[eandesmom]

Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

But first a couple of updates. On my nephew he did see his new doc who has started him on heart meds and wants to see him every 6 months So other than the meds, no real change for him right now. Question we all really have is why his previous doc didn't sent him to this kind of specialist before and why he wasn't on meds before as they may improve some function. Though the whole thing was a big scare, we are grateful in a way that he ended up seeing a different doctor who waived the red flag as ultimately he's under more appropriate care now. My dad is scheduled for an angiogram this afternoon. He's been freaking us out over the last month or so and finally went in. As before we will see where the blockage is and they will decide what to do. Could be nothing, could be more stents, we will see. His doc is pretty adamant that he is still not at the candidate for a bypass level as his heart does a decent job of rebuilding alternate routes on it's own, it just takes a while. If the blockage is where they can’t get at it, right now they are saying he will just have to wait it out and it could be a good 6-8 months before he's built enough new bypass on his own to really feel better. Ugh. Getting my dad to slow down is impossible. Sigh. I will update later tonight when I know.

We left off with our successful ditching of all 3 kids within hours of boarding. The E's were off playing mini golf, Kendall off in the teen club having made new friends already. Actually she wasn't in the club, her new "friend" had grabbed her and they'd taken off to somewhere but Kendall had assured Jeff she knew how to get to the stateroom and what time dinner was. It made me nervous but it was her birthday after all!

We had 2nd seating for dinner, which we vastly prefer as it lines up with our normal eating time. That meant if we wanted to see any of the shows offered, it would need to be done before dinner, at 6. The boys arrived back on time and we headed to watch The Golden Mickey's. I believe this is offered the first night on all Disney Cruises. I know it was on the Wonder.
If you've not seen it, think of it as a Disney version of the Oscars

Red carpet photography

I won't go over the whole story line but it's cute. They do celebrate Disney movies throughout.

Some pretty Snow white scenes behind the curtain

As you can see we were in an upper side balcony, sorry for the heads!

Ah, the Hunchback. I've still never seen this movie.

Tarzan!

A visit under the Sea

Complete with bubbles

Huh, he wasn't in the movie!

Uh oh

Guess you have to celebrate the best villains too!

And a little bit of roundup for good measure

This is the "star" of the show, the backstage coordinator turned last minute replacement host (of course) so she can have her own princess moment.

Imagine our surprise when we found that Rapunzel was actually in the balcony next to ours!

Some flying carpets

And lions

Continued in next post

 

[KatMark]

Cynthia, I just wanted to stop by and wish you and your beautiful family a very Happy New Year.

 

[eandesmom]

My favorite princess

Our princess and her hero

Last but not least

Sorry the pics are rather lousy, I really need to work on my low light shots and figure out how to use my own darn camera as I know it can do better.
While I liked the Golden Mickey’s on the Wonder, I did like it better on the Dream. I’m not sure if it was just bigger brighter sets, the addition or Rapunzel or what else was different but I enjoyed it more. They really do an amazing job on the shows, I can’t say enough about it.

After the show we headed back to the stateroom to change. And catch the sunset from our verandah!

I stayed out of the way taking pics while the rest got ready. Apparently Jeff and Kendall were doing some de-wrinkling. Or the mirror was too short to stand in front of. Or both.

He looks like he's running late!

Yeah, about those low light shots?

Nice new hat huh. LOL! Between the hat and his silver lanyard, that little boy was in heaven! Even if it doesn't appear so in the picture.

Nighty night sun

And with that, we went to dinner. Our first evening was in the Enchanted Garden. I'd requested this rotation as I'd wanted to be at Royal Palace for our "dress up" night and then have Animators twice. Since we’d be ditching them one of the 2 nights for Palo I wanted them to get their favorite twice in return. I am sorry to say I have no pictures of dinner. As it was our first night with new table mates, I’m always a bit leery of being too weird at the table. Don’t worry, it’s only this meal. We were seated with a single mom and her lovely daughters who were 15 and 20. Perfect! I'd asked to be seated with a family that had girls K's age! They were just lovely lovely lovely folks, from CA. Which is funny since on our last cruise we were with another family of all girls, 2 mom's in that case, also from CA. As Jeff is from there, lots to talk about immediately and the girls were just charming.
Our servers, Allan and Merrick were very nice. Sadly, as with the Wonder, for some reason the assistant server who handles the drink orders took forever. Jeff apparently thought he was living like a rockstar and ordered a wine package which surprised the heck out of me considering we had plenty of wine in the room and we knew we'd order something nicer than the package offerings at Palo. I wasn't convinced him getting a glass with dinner wasn't the cheaper route. But ok, no biggie, we are now committed to 3 bottles of wine during the cruise which meant I probably wouldn't be bringing a glass to dinner anymore! I had brought a large glass of white with me from the room as at the time I was really avoiding red wine which is what he wanted and I knew is what we'd be having at Palo. I can at least tell you what I ordered, only because I actually took notes (which I did NOT do during food and wine so sorry in advance for those reading that TR lol).

Appetizer: Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower - with crisp noodles and wasabi dressing

Entrée: Pan-seared Sea Bass - with Saffron and fennel risotto with a sweet chili glaze

And for Dessert I had a fruit tart, which I don’t see listed anywhere.

I want to say that Jeff's wine didn't show up until after the appetizers. Our server opened it and proceeded to pour Jeff a taste which he okayed. The server then poured the other mom a glass! Not me, our table mate.
"I am so sorry, I thought she was with you". Oh my goodness. The poor woman hadn't ordered anything to drink so we didn't even know if she did and she was mortified, as was the server. We all laughed it off and told her to enjoy it, which she did. Talk about an ice breaker!

Dinner was lovely, I really did enjoy the food. It is my least favorite décor wise, which doesn't mean I don’t like it, I just like the other 2 restaurants better. During dinner we did notice she ship swaying a little but it wasn't bad, actually a little pleasant if you ask me. I had make everyone take Bonine that morning, and planned to do so each day as a preventative measure so I wasn't worried. It was really more for me to see if taking it proactively would avoid the vertigo I'd had after my last 2 cruises. After dinner we split up again. The plan was for K to hook back up with her friends (2 of which were actually girls that she’d have met at the FE meet, had we made it) and the boys would check out the tween club and then hit the pool and Aquaduck. The adults would head to the adult comedy show.
We went back to the stateroom first.

I thought folks might like to see what the family suite looks like with all 3 beds set up

K's giant bag is on the table. It drove me NUTS in the stateroom. The boys and both of us unpacked and then put our bags away. K preferred to live out of her bag with stuff spilling everywhere. In fact this becomes an issue later on but I’ll hold on that now. That thing was huge and in the way. But as you can see, without the bag there, the room is pretty navigable and doesn't feel claustrophobic. You can make it out to the verandah while someone is in the Murphy. That is if their bag isn't in the way like a landmine. LOL!

A few more pics. I know I could find hardly any with all 3 beds set up when I looked so I’m sure I went overboard.

Our bed was a little fancier

And had a friend

We headed off to the comedy show which we loved! It was absolutely hysterical and we were excited that they'd have a family show later in the cruise we could all go to. The only unfortunate thing is that while sitting there my feet, covered in all the no see um bites, really began to bother me, feeling again like they were on fire. I’m sure the straps of the sandals I’d worn to dinner weren't helping either. Feet on fire and tired after a very long day we decided to call it a night after the show. The boys were due to be back at the room by the shows end and true to their word, they were. The 4 of us went to bed. I am honestly not sure what time K came in as I was out cold but come in she did. Me, I'd probably have given her a curfew but it was her birthday and it was Jeff's call, not mine. She is responsible and we had no reason to be concerned about anything otherwise but still it made me nervous.

It's funny, the first night on the ship always seems to have something. On the Wonder, it creaked. It wasn't unpleasant but it was noticeable. I actually found it kind of soothing in an odd way. On the Dream, our verandah door whistled. I don't recall it doing it any other night and maybe I just got used to it, I'm not sure. Either way it didn't keep me or my burning feet up, I passed out cold and had a peaceful sleep. Tomorrow would be our first port, Nassau.

A walk on the promenade

 

[KatMark]

I was posting a "Happy New Year" post to you and you were posting your update.

The show looks really cute and how neat that Raphunzel was in the balcony next to you.

The room looks plenty big for the three kids...well, except for that bag (I have a child who lives out of a suitcase and drives me nuts in the process ).

Glad you had a good dinner and that you enjoyed the adult comedy show.

 

[rentayenta]

Happy New Year Cynthia.

Jeff was right, thank you for the shot of the bed layout in the family suite. I have been under the impression my family would have to get 2 cabins when pricing out cruises. I know with two cabins we'd have an extra bathroom but the family suite has got to be less expensive than one interior and one with a balcony, right? Maybe I'm up in the night.

Belle is one of my favorites too.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Nice update! I liked the Golden Mickeys too - not my all time fave, but it was a fun show - cool that Rapunzel was up by you!

I know what you mean about the camera settings. I really wish I could find time to learn mine better. I know it has the capability - it's just user "issues"!

I hope on our next cruise our kids enjoy some time on their own too.
Funny about the wine at dinner! I guess if she's a wine drinker, she appreciates it. At least she helped work on those three bottles!

So the set up of the beds - was that curtain next to the murphy bed the verandah door?

I hope your feet get better soon!!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

The Golden Mickey's looks like such a cute show. What an adventure at dinner - pouring wine for the wrong guest I'm glad that you had such good table mates though.

Also, Happy New Year to you and your family!!

 

[MEK]

I'm so glad your nephew found a new cardiologist and has been started on appropriate meds. All I can think is the old doctor was waiting for his ejection fraction to change before referring him to a specialist. But I agree that he should have been under the correct specialist care all along. I hope that his next echocardiogram brings good news!

I hope your dad is making out OK with his cath today. Fingers crossed.

Great update. Thanks for the picture of how the family suite looks. I was curious about that.

The sunset from the verandah looks beautiful!

Wow - that show looks great. I didn't know you could take pictures of the show. It looks pretty cool.

Too funny about the wine. What a way to get an unexpected glass of wine.

Dinner sounds yummy. I guess I'll excuse you for not posting food pics.