After a week of major stress since the tragic events of 9/11 we weren't sure if we should cancel or go ahead as planned. I had made the reservations back in November of 2000 and was put on a waiting list for a category 2 or 3. When I received the call that the WD Suite was available, I jumped right on it! Now I can say that if we had cancelled we definitely would have regretted it. All the support and opinions of the various posts I have read on this site, have helped us immensely. Thank you fellow cruisers and Dreams Unlimited!!
On Wednesday 9/19, we called Delta and asked to move our flight to Friday instead of Saturday because I was afraid with all the new security measures we may be delayed or have our flight cancelled and miss the cruise. They accommodated our request with no penalties due to what had just transpirred the week before. That evening I also called the Radisson at Port Canavaral and booked a family suite for the six of us. Myself, DH, DS, DS, DS, and my mom.
Friday 9/21/01...I started packing on Thursday and finished on Friday morning when I realized I didn't have enough room in my suitcases. So after I got the boys off to school I rushed to the mall, (much to my husbands distress as you can imagine) and picked up two huge suitcases!
Now I have enough room and I made it home in time without so much as looking in another store!! Since I am terribly fearful of flying (even before the tragedy), the pastor of our church, who we are good friends with, came over quickly said a prayer with us and gave me a St. Christopher medal that was his Dad's to help me get over my fear. He said it brought his Dad home safely from the war and it would protect us. Well it did wonders for me, I pinned it to my bra and wore it the entire trip. (But I still brought my 4 little valiums I asked my Dr. for in case the anxiety got too great while flying.)
After his visit, my husband went to the high school and elementary school to pick up our three sons, my mom came over and within 1/2 hour a white stretch limo pulled into our driveway to take us to Newark airport. Now this was living!
We arrived at the airport with no problems. The line to check in at Delta was very long but went exceptionally fast. They had alot of employees working and they were rather efficient. We got there so early we asked to be put on standby for the next flight that was scheduled to leave in 20 minutes. We went through security with no problems except for one carry-on. We brought an unopened bottle of scotch, a plastic bottle filled with some Kahlua taped closed and I was carrying a plastic bottle of water. The gentleman asked me to take a sip of the water and then o.k.'d it, then he asked me to open the taped bottle of Kahlua and take a sip out of it, which I did. He said o.k. but then a woman came up and said I couldn't bring the Kahlua on board I would have to empty it in the bathroom and bring back the empty bottle to dispose of in front of her. Since the plane was set to take off in 10 minutes, I ran to the bathroom, as the rest of my family went on ahead, and I took a huge, Huge, HUGE, swig of the Kahlua before I poured the rest out
! Since I am not a big drinker, that was all I needed to relax me for the plane ride to Florida!! The flight was fine, my two teens sat together up front, while myself, DH, DS and grandma occupied the last rows accross the back of the plane.
Tiffany Town Car met us at Orlando airport, our luggage was one of the first off. And we left for the Radisson, our driver Berkley was very nice. We settled into our suite, with a view of the Disney Wonder from our window. The Wonder was docked because it had just undergone its scheduled maintenance. This was going to be one of the rare times the Wonder and Magic would be docked together!
We went to the beautiful pool at the Radisson with Killer Mosquitos, and I do mean Killer, my sons wound up with huge welts on their necks and backs. At that time I noticed a husband and wife sitting by the pool and took a chance to ask if it was Mary and George aka RellingTwin. Sure enough it was and it was such a pleasure to meet them. We had e-mailed in the past regarding this cruise and I had been reading the 9/22's posts for awhile to familiarize myself with cruising. (This was our first.) They were so nice, then met Steve and Robin (also 9/22's) who we also saw a number of times on the ship. It was nice to see familiar faces on the ship even if it was just to say hi.
The pool water was cold, the jacuzzi outside was nice, but the mosquitos chased us back to our room. We ran the big jacuzzi in our room and me and DS, DS went in with our bathing suits and no mosquitos! It was fun. We were ready for a nice meal in one of the restaurants near the hotel so we asked the kids which one they'd like, and wouldn't you know it - "our nice meal" turned out to be the McDonalds across the street! (Knew we shouldn't have asked the kids; although it did save us at least $50! - and we got a kids meal toy, which my 7 year old enjoyed for the rest of the trip)
Saturday 9/22/01...After a relaxing breakfast, the family wanted to head over to the port right away, so we got on a Radisson shuttle at 10:00am and were at the pier before 10:25am. We got lucky going over there. The bridge was up so traffic was stopped. Our driver gave us the opportunity to get out of the van and take pictures of the Wonder and Magic sitting next to each other. Beautiful!
Check-in at the port was smooth, everyone's luggage was placed against the wall and an officer with a dog went by each and every one to check them. We felt very secure. We entered the building went upstairs, received our key to the world cards and stood on line. A few characters came out and kept the kids entertained and before we knew it, we were boarding. This was so exciting. We couldn't believe we were on a ship! It was beautiful, huge and just plain Disney! We ate at Parrot Cay and then headed off to meet our concierge at Sessions. There we met Laura and later Martin. They took our reservations for Palos, Surial Bath, CC rentals. (In hindsight, at that time I should have asked them what else was available for us as guests of the WD Suite.) Then we went off to our room - The Walt Disney Suite #8030!
The boys couldn't wait to open the door, it was like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, when everything goes from black and white to color. The room was absolutely magnificient! As you walk in to your left is a bathroom, on your right a table with magazines. (The hall winds up into the living area.) Continue down the hall and on your left is a room with cabinets, sink, telephone, and to your right a door which leads to two closets accross from one another then leads to the master bedroom with a queen-size bed and TV, bench, make-up table, nitetables. From this room it leads to a huge bathroom with jacuzzi, double sinks, toilet, shower, telephone and TV. From the master bedroom, opposite the bathroom is the library with TV, phone and a pull-down double-size murphy bed. From there or from the long corridor you came in from is the living room, wet bar area with TV, VCR, CD-player, telephone, sink, refrigerator, cabinets gallour, and a piano! Next to that room is the dining room with table and six upholstered chairs along with a table along the wall with all the menus from the restaurants. Adjacent to the dining room was another bedroom with TV, two dressers, telephone 2 twin beds and 2 pull-down beds on top of the twins, there was a walk-in closet and cabinet in there. Also in that room was another nice size bathroom with jacuzzi and telephone. The veranda had to be at least 40 feet long, it held two lounge chairs, four straight back chairs and a number of small tables. Door to the veranda were located in the Dining room, Living Room and Library. Absolutely fantastic. The walls were done in a light oak. There were fresh flowers as we walked in (very unusual, but pretty ones) and a fruit bowl. The refrigerator had a few sodas and bottled water in it. The ice bucket was full. (The beds and pillows were actually very comfortable too!) Whew - hope that describes it enough. I'm not really sure how to download pictures, but if your really interested give me the instructions and I'll be more than happy to give it a shot.
At 4:30 was the mandatory Boat Drill where we had to wear those terribly uncomfortable to your neck life jackets. Although God forbid of an emergency, they would have felt very comfortable I assure you! We stood there until everyone on the ship was accounted for, then we returned to our room. We left shortly afterwards to celebrate on deck with the sail-away celebration - great fun. I recognized Dan & Scott from the 9/22 thread from their T-shirts and introduced myself to them. Such nice people from the 9/22 thread. Those of us who brought US flags, waved them and we blew bubbles, along with the bubbles the ship set off. VACATION...Finally!
That evening we went to diner and met our servers Frederic and Zoltan. They were very nice and always prompt. This was Frederic's last cruise before his vacation of 2 months back home in France after spending 7 months at sea.
After dinner we went to the "Welcome Aboard Variety" show which was very good. We attended the Mickey Mania Game Show which was already in progress. My two teen sons went to check out the Teen Club, but were not yet convinced they wanted to spend time there. My 7 yr. old went to check out the Oceaneers Club and assessed that it would be too "babyish" for him. (He's above average for his grade and age) I told him to try it out tomorrow and was told by a cast member that he could move up if he really disliked it.
Well enough for now, must go to bed (for real) and will continue tomorrow. Hope your enjoying - hope I'm not going on too long. After this is done, I will print out a copy for myself as a diary of our trip. Good-night.
On Wednesday 9/19, we called Delta and asked to move our flight to Friday instead of Saturday because I was afraid with all the new security measures we may be delayed or have our flight cancelled and miss the cruise. They accommodated our request with no penalties due to what had just transpirred the week before. That evening I also called the Radisson at Port Canavaral and booked a family suite for the six of us. Myself, DH, DS, DS, DS, and my mom.
Friday 9/21/01...I started packing on Thursday and finished on Friday morning when I realized I didn't have enough room in my suitcases. So after I got the boys off to school I rushed to the mall, (much to my husbands distress as you can imagine) and picked up two huge suitcases!
Now I have enough room and I made it home in time without so much as looking in another store!! Since I am terribly fearful of flying (even before the tragedy), the pastor of our church, who we are good friends with, came over quickly said a prayer with us and gave me a St. Christopher medal that was his Dad's to help me get over my fear. He said it brought his Dad home safely from the war and it would protect us. Well it did wonders for me, I pinned it to my bra and wore it the entire trip. (But I still brought my 4 little valiums I asked my Dr. for in case the anxiety got too great while flying.)After his visit, my husband went to the high school and elementary school to pick up our three sons, my mom came over and within 1/2 hour a white stretch limo pulled into our driveway to take us to Newark airport. Now this was living!
We arrived at the airport with no problems. The line to check in at Delta was very long but went exceptionally fast. They had alot of employees working and they were rather efficient. We got there so early we asked to be put on standby for the next flight that was scheduled to leave in 20 minutes. We went through security with no problems except for one carry-on. We brought an unopened bottle of scotch, a plastic bottle filled with some Kahlua taped closed and I was carrying a plastic bottle of water. The gentleman asked me to take a sip of the water and then o.k.'d it, then he asked me to open the taped bottle of Kahlua and take a sip out of it, which I did. He said o.k. but then a woman came up and said I couldn't bring the Kahlua on board I would have to empty it in the bathroom and bring back the empty bottle to dispose of in front of her. Since the plane was set to take off in 10 minutes, I ran to the bathroom, as the rest of my family went on ahead, and I took a huge, Huge, HUGE, swig of the Kahlua before I poured the rest out
! Since I am not a big drinker, that was all I needed to relax me for the plane ride to Florida!! The flight was fine, my two teens sat together up front, while myself, DH, DS and grandma occupied the last rows accross the back of the plane.Tiffany Town Car met us at Orlando airport, our luggage was one of the first off. And we left for the Radisson, our driver Berkley was very nice. We settled into our suite, with a view of the Disney Wonder from our window. The Wonder was docked because it had just undergone its scheduled maintenance. This was going to be one of the rare times the Wonder and Magic would be docked together!
We went to the beautiful pool at the Radisson with Killer Mosquitos, and I do mean Killer, my sons wound up with huge welts on their necks and backs. At that time I noticed a husband and wife sitting by the pool and took a chance to ask if it was Mary and George aka RellingTwin. Sure enough it was and it was such a pleasure to meet them. We had e-mailed in the past regarding this cruise and I had been reading the 9/22's posts for awhile to familiarize myself with cruising. (This was our first.) They were so nice, then met Steve and Robin (also 9/22's) who we also saw a number of times on the ship. It was nice to see familiar faces on the ship even if it was just to say hi.
The pool water was cold, the jacuzzi outside was nice, but the mosquitos chased us back to our room. We ran the big jacuzzi in our room and me and DS, DS went in with our bathing suits and no mosquitos! It was fun. We were ready for a nice meal in one of the restaurants near the hotel so we asked the kids which one they'd like, and wouldn't you know it - "our nice meal" turned out to be the McDonalds across the street! (Knew we shouldn't have asked the kids; although it did save us at least $50! - and we got a kids meal toy, which my 7 year old enjoyed for the rest of the trip)
Saturday 9/22/01...After a relaxing breakfast, the family wanted to head over to the port right away, so we got on a Radisson shuttle at 10:00am and were at the pier before 10:25am. We got lucky going over there. The bridge was up so traffic was stopped. Our driver gave us the opportunity to get out of the van and take pictures of the Wonder and Magic sitting next to each other. Beautiful!
Check-in at the port was smooth, everyone's luggage was placed against the wall and an officer with a dog went by each and every one to check them. We felt very secure. We entered the building went upstairs, received our key to the world cards and stood on line. A few characters came out and kept the kids entertained and before we knew it, we were boarding. This was so exciting. We couldn't believe we were on a ship! It was beautiful, huge and just plain Disney! We ate at Parrot Cay and then headed off to meet our concierge at Sessions. There we met Laura and later Martin. They took our reservations for Palos, Surial Bath, CC rentals. (In hindsight, at that time I should have asked them what else was available for us as guests of the WD Suite.) Then we went off to our room - The Walt Disney Suite #8030!
The boys couldn't wait to open the door, it was like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, when everything goes from black and white to color. The room was absolutely magnificient! As you walk in to your left is a bathroom, on your right a table with magazines. (The hall winds up into the living area.) Continue down the hall and on your left is a room with cabinets, sink, telephone, and to your right a door which leads to two closets accross from one another then leads to the master bedroom with a queen-size bed and TV, bench, make-up table, nitetables. From this room it leads to a huge bathroom with jacuzzi, double sinks, toilet, shower, telephone and TV. From the master bedroom, opposite the bathroom is the library with TV, phone and a pull-down double-size murphy bed. From there or from the long corridor you came in from is the living room, wet bar area with TV, VCR, CD-player, telephone, sink, refrigerator, cabinets gallour, and a piano! Next to that room is the dining room with table and six upholstered chairs along with a table along the wall with all the menus from the restaurants. Adjacent to the dining room was another bedroom with TV, two dressers, telephone 2 twin beds and 2 pull-down beds on top of the twins, there was a walk-in closet and cabinet in there. Also in that room was another nice size bathroom with jacuzzi and telephone. The veranda had to be at least 40 feet long, it held two lounge chairs, four straight back chairs and a number of small tables. Door to the veranda were located in the Dining room, Living Room and Library. Absolutely fantastic. The walls were done in a light oak. There were fresh flowers as we walked in (very unusual, but pretty ones) and a fruit bowl. The refrigerator had a few sodas and bottled water in it. The ice bucket was full. (The beds and pillows were actually very comfortable too!) Whew - hope that describes it enough. I'm not really sure how to download pictures, but if your really interested give me the instructions and I'll be more than happy to give it a shot.
At 4:30 was the mandatory Boat Drill where we had to wear those terribly uncomfortable to your neck life jackets. Although God forbid of an emergency, they would have felt very comfortable I assure you! We stood there until everyone on the ship was accounted for, then we returned to our room. We left shortly afterwards to celebrate on deck with the sail-away celebration - great fun. I recognized Dan & Scott from the 9/22 thread from their T-shirts and introduced myself to them. Such nice people from the 9/22 thread. Those of us who brought US flags, waved them and we blew bubbles, along with the bubbles the ship set off. VACATION...Finally!
That evening we went to diner and met our servers Frederic and Zoltan. They were very nice and always prompt. This was Frederic's last cruise before his vacation of 2 months back home in France after spending 7 months at sea.
After dinner we went to the "Welcome Aboard Variety" show which was very good. We attended the Mickey Mania Game Show which was already in progress. My two teen sons went to check out the Teen Club, but were not yet convinced they wanted to spend time there. My 7 yr. old went to check out the Oceaneers Club and assessed that it would be too "babyish" for him. (He's above average for his grade and age) I told him to try it out tomorrow and was told by a cast member that he could move up if he really disliked it.
Well enough for now, must go to bed (for real) and will continue tomorrow. Hope your enjoying - hope I'm not going on too long. After this is done, I will print out a copy for myself as a diary of our trip. Good-night.
After the party I put them away and forgot all about them till we were packing to leave.
