Justacruiser - Cruise #24 - Disney Magic 4/26/2015

[Justacruiser]

So, you would think after 23 DCL Cruises everything would go smoothly, so would I. But.......

3-Days before Sailing
Thursday, 4/23/2015 I got off work and home around 5:15 pm like normal. Normally the night before we drive we go out to eat so my DW doesn't have to cook and clean up before we leave the next day. So, we went out to eat. After that I came home and mowed our lawn because we were going to be gone for 11 days. Once I finished, the wife had decided that I needed to wash both cars and clean them out. By the way, we were only taking the one car, but while I have everything out clean the one....... After that, I still had to pack.

For packing, I pack three different bags, one of which is a small bag, one small plastic Wal-Mart bag and then a medium suitcase.

The small bag has clothes for the two nights that we are staying in hotels prior to the cruise which includes shaving kit (which a transfer to every bag as needed), undies, socks, shorts, t-shirt, shirt and a medium plastic bag and a small plastic bag. The medium plastic bag is for the dirty clothes I wear on departure day, and the first travel day. The small plastic bag is for the undies and socks for both days.

I will go ahead and tell you the small Wal-mart sack is for the first undies, t-shirt, shirt, shorts and the shaving kit.

Then packing the suitcase for a 7-night cruise. I take 7 t-shirts, 7 pull-over shirts (5 of which are DCL shirts, lol), 1 pair of jeans for Pirate Night, 4 dress shirts and 3 pair of slacks (switch out, not wearing the same exact outfit twice to dinner), undies, 1 belt, dress shoes, swimsuit, swim shirt and $5 swim shoes from Wal-mart (a Must for me anyway). And most important my DCL cap I won from Chip-It Golf on an earlier cruise, and my Sudoku book.

It takes me less than an hour to pack everything since I take the same exact items every cruise, which is pretty often.

I got to bed around 11:30 pm which about normal for me and got up at 5:10 am to do my normal 45 minutes on the treadmill before work.

2-Days Before Cruise
At 6:45 I went out to start me car and everything came on but the car. The lights, the radio, vent..... but it didn't turnover. I waited a couple of seconds and then tried the ignition again and the car started. After I drove the 30 minutes to work I turned off the car, in the back of my mind the question was there is there something wrong with the car? I turned of the car and tried to restart the car and it worked. So, I kind of let it go.

So, I left work at 11:30 got home at 12:15 got changed and got the car packed with my bags and my DW's stuff. We were supposed to go eat and be at the BIL/SIL house at 1:00 pm for them to follow us on the 1200 mile drive (each way). As the DW and I get in the car, all packed humming "It's a Small World", I turn the key and lights, radio, fan, and NOTHING!

More to come....

 

[Jean@NE]

Thanks for doing a cruise report! Can't wait to hear about your adventures!! I think we were on the same cruise on the Fantasy last December. After the cruise there was some discussion about the Coast Guard airlifting out the young boy that was hurt at Castaway Cay, and I noticed you had been on that same cruise. We were port side and aft, and my husband watched the chopper land, and told me just how it would happen. He is a former Huey pilot. We are retired military, from Nebraska. I believe you are also in the Midwest? I LOVE your other posts alerting us to the MTO discounts as well. We are hoping to get a MTO rate on the Panama Canal this October!

 

[Justacruiser]

So, to recap it is 12:30ish, 30 minutes before I am supposed to be at the BIL/SILs house to depart, car pack and now the car won't start. My DW told me it was probably the battery but I new it wasn't the battery. After all, I had just got home from work and as stated previously all the lights and radio were working fine. So, my DW calls the BIL (more mechanical by far than me) and he decides to come by. He checks the cables and we decide to take out the battery and go have it tested. The place we took it (about 3/4 mile away said the battery was great. So, we headed back home with no answers as to why the car won't start.

So, by now it's about 1pm, time to be heading out and we are putting the battery back into the car. After getting the battery back in I check the car again and it still won't even try to start. So, we have an option of driving the DWs car which is a 1999 with 67,000 miles, not great tires and no major service done ever. By the way, the DW has to sit in the back seat the entire way there and back because she can't sit in the passenger front seat due to the lumbar supported seat in that model. What a mess!

 

[Justacruiser]

So the DW, BIL and I are talking, meanwhile I am praying that the car will start. And we decide to take the DWs car, which would be terrible...... and my BIL said, try starting the car one more time. And...... it started right up.

 

[Justacruiser]

So now what do I do? It's now about 1:45pm, 45 minutes behind leave the BIL/SIL's house to begin our trip. So, I decided that I should contact my service repair located an hour in the opposite direction and see if they can fit me in. I was told, they would try to complete the starter replacement or get it started so they could finish the next day. So, that didn't work. Meanwhile the car is still running, not taking any chances.

So the choices, try the car we are in and see if it can make it OR move everything into the 1999 car that has had very little maintenance except oil changes and new tires at some point. I could toss the DW in the back seat for the 2,500 round trip knowing that if any hoses or belts break it was a wrecker and renting a car. So......

 

[Justacruiser]

We decided to take the car I drive everyday, 2009, 190,000 miles. But I was still not sure the car would make it, I know "Ye of Little Faith".

So, at 2pm we left the BIL/SILs house. The 4 of us in the 2 vehicles went thru a Braum's drive thru, by the way if you haven't had an old fashioned burger from Braum's you need to. They are primarily in the mid-west. I had purchased gas the night before and so I was good for the first leg of the trip with a stop in Little Rock for gas at the half-way point. By the way, there is a dealership within a half of a mile of where we stop for gas, just in case. I had actually tried to get my car into the facility at Little Rock but there would be closed by the time got there. But, just in case it didn't start we would be there for the next morning. By the way, it was pouring rain for about 3 of the 4 hours we drove to get to Little Rock. As we pull in to get gas, I told the wife I was leaving the car running to get gas. She overruled me SO........... I turned off the car to get gas. Will the car start again to continue our drive after getting gas?

 

[Justacruiser]

By the way, by this time it is pouring rain outside and I could just see me not being able to start my car. Well, it started right up and we were able to drive over to Chick-Fil-A and grab a bite of dinner. I like the spicy chicken deluxe sandwich. Again, the car started and we were off to finish our driving for the night with a stop in Tupelo, MS. The weather was crazy that day across the Midwest and they were calling for tornadoes and storms with hail. But we woke up to partly cloudy skies to continue our journey. We stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel for the first time. Wasn't a bad hotel located right off of Interstate 22/highway 78.

Will the car start?

1-Day before Cruise

 

[party-of-five]

Oh my... What a way to start your vacation! Looking forward to more!

 

[Justacruiser]

1-Day before Cruise

I got up and met my BIL for breakfast and we wanted to head out at 0800 for the long drive. According to MapQuest the drive was going to take 11:59 without any stops. So, a little nervous I approached the car at fortunately it started. Not taking anything for granted I knew at this point I was getting far away from any services if the car decided not to start, plus it was Saturday so I knew most places would be closed early. So now, truly it was all just trust and faith for the car to push on towards Port Canaveral. I had stopped the night before to get gas so I would only have to start the car once in Tupelo.

The BIL doesn't like driving in the big cities so we decided to drive thru Birmingham and then south to Montgomery on 231. Well if you are familiar with this area there is a lot of driving with not much on the road to stop for a number 1 break, especially if I intend on turning off the car. The DW and I usually stop at some point on the trip at Zaxby's. Pretty good chicken strips and I love the fries and fried mushrooms! The DW thought that the only Z's we stop at was Florida. So, I am driving down 231 and the DW gets upset because I haven't stopped for gas or number 1. We approach Ozark, Alabama and the DW says we MUST stop. So, not being patient they decide on Chick-Fil-A again. Again my main concern is the car starting.......

Well we were able to eat and get some gas and get back on the road. Pretty sure right down the road about 2 miles (in Ozark) was a Zaxby's. It was a running joke the rest of the way there and back home. By this time it is about 2pm and we are still a long way to our destination in Florida.

We continued to follow 231 until we hit interstate I-10E. MapQuest says that the way we went and the option of going thru Atlanta and then down I-75S take the same amount of time, but I really think the interstate is so much better and a lot less stop and go. Anyway, about 7pm we finally did stop at Zaxby's in MacClenny FL for my chicken and shrums. And yes this is the 3rd Chicken plan in a row that we stopped at. Anyway, ate and got gas with the vehicle still starting up! So off we went for our final leg of the trip into the port area.

More to come

 

[Justacruiser]

So about 10pm we arrive are the hotel I had reserved for us. I had stayed there several times previously or our trips to Port Canaveral. It is only 15 minutes away from the port and they offer a 40% off coupon for port parking which for a 7-night cruise is a discount of $48 at the terminal. We started staying there because they allow me to pay cash. The DW and I do not do credit cards and the staff had always been accommodating. So, I had reserved the 2 rooms for us and I walk in, state my name and the clerk at the deck told me she had cancelled my rooms at 6pm. So here me and the BIL stand and the clerk tells me there is one room left! I was so embarrassed. Now what?

 

[Justacruiser]

I was really upset with the staff member there. It wasn't the care I am used to receiving. I asked the person to review the information and see that my reservation should have been. She did provide us both the 40% off certificates for the port. We ended up staying the night as a hotel next door. Got the rooms for the same price we were paying. If you have read many of my posts and thread you could know the hotel that cancelled my reservation. But, I have since discussed the matter with upper management so there should not be future problems. One can only hope! We got to bed around midnight, but I could sleep in till 8:30am on cruise day!

Most important, will the car start on cruise day? That could be bad!!!!

 

[Justacruiser]

Time to depart for the terminal! Because the DW and I are platinum we could get to the terminal anytime. We were up and both cars loaded at 10:20 for the 15 minute drive to port. Fortunately the car started, would it start when we got back? Who cares! We are going on a cruise.

We got to the terminal parking at about 10:40am and had to get in a line that has an attendant because of the 40% voucher. The discount has to be manually input/loaded into their machine. if you use cash, you cannot use bills larger that $20's. The attendant loaded our discount and actually fed the machine our cash for us. It is kind of a reach to load the money in bill after bill and was quicker with the attendant do it. You can use the credit cards and it would be quicker.

We dropped off the luggage and "yes" I kept the car running. By the way, I didn't stop and get gas on the way to the terminal. Had about 1/3 tank when I got to the terminal but was taking no chances! (lol) Tipped our porter $5 for the 2 bags and parked on the first floor of the garage. The 4 of us walked into the terminal and were checked in by 11am. There were actually a lot of people already in the terminal but there was room for the 4 of us to sit together. We had gotten our lanyards and our MAIN dining rotation was LACLLAC.

About 11:50 they announced the Family of the Day and followed by announcing our boarding number, number 1! Once we were announced we got our pictures taken after they scanned us in. Note: for those of you that want to purchase any pictures on board, it is important to get your picture taken at the point right after being scanned in. The ships have photo recognition and some future pictures rely on that foundation photo. Just another note, the pictures that need the recognition are those random pictures like in the dining room where CM's go table to table taking pictures. Any pictures taken without you KTTW card will require the face recognition capability.

Anyway, sorry to digress.... once we get our names announced onboard we head to the aft elevators on deck 3 and go up to 9, Cabanas is right there. We were some of the first folks there and grabbed a table next to the window and grabbed lunch. After lunch the DW and I are used to going out on deck 9 and sitting in the chairs and taking in the surroundings. We enjoy sitting and watching the newbies coming out on deck 9 and starting to look around. Truly a kid in the candy store moment a lot of the times. The DW usually starts looking over the Navigator to see the upcoming events overview. It was about 1:30 when we all went down to deck 8 and went to our rooms that were located next to each other. Our room attendant was kind enough to open the verandah divider for us. We were fortunate enough to get 4A rooms, really enjoy the extra space.

Once we get in the room the DW, as always, does a deep clean of the room with stuff she brings on the ship were here. Everything but the floors is good over. During that time I ran down to guest services and gave them a deposit for my account. As stated earlier, we don't use credit cards and it is slow at customer service on this day so it's quick to add the cash. We can add more cash as we need or get a cash refund prior to getting off the ship. OFF THE SHIP, we haven't started the cruise yet, what am I thinking?

 

[Justacruiser]

Day 1
Finally on board! Let me back-up a second. Initially when we planned our vacation I decided to book my BIL and I in one room and my DW and SIL in the room next door so we could get the Platinum perk. By the way, the BIL/SIL are gold now after the cruise we just got off of.

Anyway, after Cabanas for lunch we sat up on deck 9 out by the pools and went on deck 10 and took some pictures. I am my BIL took his and my DW's room key down to Guest Services where we requested and got a room key for the rooms they intended to stay. Thru the on-line check in I was able to get mine and my DW on the same pay account and the SIL and the BIL on the same pay account. It was pretty much seamless except for a CC credit my SIL received, but they posted to my account. It was easy enough to fix. But let me address something real quick.

When I booked us the way we did, my BIL and I in one room and my DW and SIL in another, it did mess up the pictures for the entire cruise. I used my room key for a picture with the DW and my SIL used her card for pictures with her husband (BIL). We also had a picture of all 4 of us. The problem is that when there is more than one room assignment cruisers are in the same picture, the pictures are most generally viewable by computer. That's for the face recognition ONLY pictures where they don't have a room key to connect the picture with the room. If room keys are provided, they normally will be in your folder.

 

[Justacruiser]

So after we have the proper room keys, paid our cash deposit, get the luggage and rooms squared there was time to see McFarland, USA with Kevin Costner. It was a pretty good movies and not worth all the negative comments, IMHO. It was a really nice time to go to the theater. Then it was time for the muster drill.

The 4pm drill lasted about 20 minutes due to having to wait for passengers to get to their assigned stations. Our station was "O" on deck 4. For those who haven't done a drill yet, I always wear sunglasses. Sometimes the sun is right in a sport that can make you wish you had worn them. Also, if it's a warm day out, you might not want to wear a lot of extra clothes. There is little air flow and it's crowed, and the sun. After that it was time to get dressed for dinner.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

joining in