Disney Adventure 2/13 to 2/20 Operation Disney lines........
We had a real Disney Adventure last week & made the best of crazy situation.
There were 4 of us booked our rooms Cat 9 2146 & 2148
Husbands couldn't take off from work so 2 friends & 2 Moms made this our Mother Daughter cruise
Our cast:
Myself Patricia
DD Jenna 15
Angela
DD Mary 15
Today Friday 2/12 we left Newark airport for Orlando; uneventful flight. TIP: pack a light snack or breakfast in your carry on luggage. Continental gave us a cupcake for breakfast with a beverage. I bought bagels with cream cheese the night before and froze them. Early before our flight, I took them out of the freezer. By time we boarded and received our beverages, our bagels were room temperature & yummy.
On Friday we arrived in Orlando; cold and 35 degrees, raining. We booked the Hyatt using the Hyatt prepaid certificate, for $130.00 for the night. We requested the Polar room which is equal to 2 rooms in one. No beds in the polar room, only 2 Queen Couches that turn into beds on each side of room. In the middle of this huge room is dining room table, surrounded by chairs, and a bar on the side. There is a huge bathroom, vanity room and a big TV. I requested a cot for myself (the 4 of us slept in this paradise for the evening). After check in at the hotel, we had rented a car downstairs from Alamo for the day. We headed to ABC Liquor store and our favorite, dinner at the Olive Garden. We did some last minute shopping. We had plans for Disney world, but due to severe cold & heavy rain down pours, we passed. Later that evening we returned our car & enjoyed our room at the Hyatt.
Saturday morning at 6:30 AM I went down stairs to check in with Disney Cruise Line at the bottom of the airport (near the rent a cars).
I am officially a gold member, which was exciting for my perks. I was able to check in for the 4 of us (Angela & Mary were first timers). We received our key to the world and got our bus numbers, and even our ticket number to board the boat (# 2, YES!!!!). I was then told the Magic was detained at Castaway Cay due to weather & we would not board the Magic till 3 pm. At this point I ran into Rosa, from Westchester NY. Rosa & her family was to take the Amtrak train from NY to Orlando on Friday, only to find out that Amtrak canceled there train due to snow. Rosa, her husband & 2 small children rented a car and drove straight thru, and just arrived at 6:30 am. We were both told we were boarding the Magic at about 3pm.
I asked the DC agents if I could take the Magical bus to Animal Kingdom (I had DW hopper passes) I would keep in touch with DC by phone, & take the bus from Animal kingdom to the port. I was told no stay put. I went upstairs, & told the family. We went for breakfast and killed about 5 hours in the airport. Nobody from Disney seemed to know what was going on. They all had different stories. 12:00 check out at the Hyatt lobby was a zoo. There were very angry men from our cruise, yelling at their wives and yelling at Disney personal staff. It was very uncomfortable to see all of this. The lobby of the Hyatt was crazy.
The Plan:
At the Hyatt lobby Disney personal asked all of us (lot's of people) to gather, he told us we were not able to get on board till Sunday. We need to go down stairs wait in another line to check in & get our keys. (Phew we had our keys) He told us, if we had our keys, just to board the bus to Epcot. He said the plan was leave at noon to Epcot get a hopper pass and at 2pm go to "Wonders of Life Building" and Disney would give us the name of the hotel we were to stay at. They gave us all $15.00 each for a food card, and left our luggage at the Wonders of Life until we were ready to leave the park. We then were instructed to get our luggage & bring them to the bus & off to the hotel.
We were told Disney was offering
Free hotel stay Saturday and a free day at Epcot for their entire party
$20 per person on board credit for the meal they would have gotten Saturday night. The credit can be used on the ship when they board.
$100 per stateroom on board credit
a 20% refund
Option to cancel cruise without penalty and with full refund
What Happened
We went downstairs at 12:00, had our keys to the world & were checked in. We were told just hop on the bus, but that was wrong. We had to wait in a really long line and get the letter to board the bus to Epcot even though we were already check in. (made no sense)
We got to Epcot and thought we could have fun in the park with our hopper pass, and we are hungry & we wanted to eat lunch. Wrong again, LOL. We waited in a really long line to get our hopper passes. We entered the park & it was time to check in at the Wonder of Life (2pm). I waited in line for almost 3 hours. The park was really crowded. My family went to test track while I stayed in line for our hotel. Inside there was lot's of entertainment for the young kids, not much for teens. They had a lot of junk food. Popcorn, ice-cream, chips, cookies, cotton candy, m&m's and soda. After an hour my family met me in the building. By then it was mass confusion. We were very hungry; my family left and went to guest services. They waited in a really long line, to find a restaurant in Epcot for dinner (we didn't have a car to leave the park to eat). While they waited in one line (guest services) I was still in Wonder of Life line for the hotel.
By almost 5 PM, we received our room assignments Caribe Royale Hotel. I asked a Disney personal if we could go to Magic Kingdom with the hopper pass after we ate dinner, and could they ship our luggage to the hotel (from Epcot). I waited a while, while they made arrangements for a luggage transfer to the hotel. No problem, all arrangements were made. At this time my family came back to the Wonders of Life from the Epcot guest services building, the only Epcot restaurant left to eat in was Morocco for 5:15 pm. Not happy with our only choice, we were very hungry& took it. My daughter only eats chicken strips, and it was on the kids menu (thank god), got to keep the kids happy. I was not happy with the adult choices or the prices. 2 kids meals, & 2 adult meals kids got ice cream on the kids menu came to over $100.00 with tip about 125.00 Our card took care of $60.00 I don't think I will eat there again heart burn all night. Thankfully I had Tums in my suitcase.
We then hopped over to the magic kingdom. It was really cold, 39 degrees & windy. We left the MK Park at 10:30 and were told the bus would be in the lot for the Caribe Royale Hotel. No bus until 11:45. We were cold tired, so we called the Disney people, who told us to take a cab and we were to be reimbursed (e were never reimbursed). The cab was only $25.00 plus a $5.00 tip, $30.00
At 11:00 PM, we checked in at the Caribe Royale Hotel. It's a beautiful hotel and very big. We were told at the lobby desk our luggage never came. So we asked for tee shirts or bathrobes to sleep in. They promised us Robes & tooth brushes but nobody ever came. We slept in our clothes. I called Disney at 1 am asking if they found my suitcases. I am glad I did, for they didn't know they were missing. They were very kind, they instructed me to call the front desk again and tell them to send up robes ASAP along with tooth brushes & paste. Disney said the next day that they would dry clean our dirty clothes on the ship. Gosh, how nice. I was glad I called, I was running on empty & they gave me the zest back.
I slept the rest of night in my robe, couldn't wake up DD. Next AM we went to the front Desk to try to locate our bags. The front desk told me to call all the hotels that have Disney people from the cruise and maybe I could locate the bags. I was shocked. How would I know which hotels? I called AAA since I had insurance with them. I couldn't find anybody. The Caribe Royale Hotel store sold no undergarments or anything in case of lost luggage. The front desk was no help.
No Disney personal anywhere. In all fairness it was Sunday morning. We were told Disney would give us breakfast in the ball room down stairs. Our children wanted cereal but the breakfast wasn't that great: Danishes, cookies, juice, tea bowls of fresh bananas, apples and oranges. I was happy about the fruit, but the kids weren’t. I was afraid to leave the area to buy breakfast in a restaurant, fearful we would miss the bus, or any information about the ship.
After about one hour later, a Disney rep finally came by. He was so nice & very sympathetic about our luggage. He knew just how to handle us & make us feel better. He said he would try to locate it. What a gentleman. I wish I new his name. I would love to write to Disney about him. We met many nice people in the many lines we were on.
After a few hours of waiting in the breakfast ball room, 1 person from each family waited in line to check in (yet another long line) for a number bus to the port.
We finally made it to the port only to find we were located in another terminal (I really wanted to see the model of the Disney Dream). The Wonder was at the port, so we had to go to another location.
Guess what??? Another long, really long, line to get onto the boat. I learned that being a gold member means nothing on this trip. LOL! Finally on board the ship. And there was no name announcement? After all we went through to go on the ship, to be on the ship. (I wanted to show off to Angela how they announce our names).
Today was Valentines Day, and it was supposed to be our Palo Brunch, had to go to make new reservations at Palo for a new Brunch date. There was no line.
Next Guest services, Operation suitcases. Our guest service helper was Libo. All I can say is, he did his best to find our suitcases. What a worker, and he was so kind. He was on a mission to find our suitcases before the boat sailed. At this point 2 days in the same clothes we felt very dirty. We missed out Disney boards meet because we were with Libo trying to locate our luggage. We ate upstairs at Topsiders.
Because it was Valentines Day, my husband called & asked if I got the gift from him in the room. I didn't, I called Guest service and told them that my husband said he bought me a surprise it should be in my room. Was it flowers or wine? Guest services told us they would look into it.
The sail away party was sensational. Towards the end of the party there was an announcement that the "Wonder" was coming & going to pass us. I wish you all could have experienced what we did. Everyone, including the crew members, ran to the side of the deck & watched the Wonder sail pass us. The DJ played "Come sail away". It was very quiet at first, except the music; all of a sudden the Wonder was next to the Magic. Everyone was waving crying, & just the energy. Can I confess, I was standing on top of group of stack chairs and I was so tall. I could see everything & everybody, waving my Burberry scarf. I was about 8 feet tall. I had tears in my eyes as I was waving. I took lots of photos. If only I knew how to post I would show you all the photos. Both horns were blasting. It was truly a magical moment. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. The Wonder left us, but we all were still talking about it.
It was then time for Dinner our servers were Dwight and Steve. Dinner was suburb. I felt a little funny dinning in our jeans & sneakers.
Our luggage was delivered about 9PM
I had a stateroom attendant that was awful, after 2 days, I complained & was able to change him & then had a "Magical host name Albert".
The kids went to the Stack and made many new friends. They loved the Stack. We were exhausted but went to the theater that night for the show. We had a great time. What a long day.
We had a real Disney Adventure last week & made the best of crazy situation.
There were 4 of us booked our rooms Cat 9 2146 & 2148
Husbands couldn't take off from work so 2 friends & 2 Moms made this our Mother Daughter cruise
Our cast:
Myself Patricia
DD Jenna 15
Angela
DD Mary 15
Today Friday 2/12 we left Newark airport for Orlando; uneventful flight. TIP: pack a light snack or breakfast in your carry on luggage. Continental gave us a cupcake for breakfast with a beverage. I bought bagels with cream cheese the night before and froze them. Early before our flight, I took them out of the freezer. By time we boarded and received our beverages, our bagels were room temperature & yummy.
On Friday we arrived in Orlando; cold and 35 degrees, raining. We booked the Hyatt using the Hyatt prepaid certificate, for $130.00 for the night. We requested the Polar room which is equal to 2 rooms in one. No beds in the polar room, only 2 Queen Couches that turn into beds on each side of room. In the middle of this huge room is dining room table, surrounded by chairs, and a bar on the side. There is a huge bathroom, vanity room and a big TV. I requested a cot for myself (the 4 of us slept in this paradise for the evening). After check in at the hotel, we had rented a car downstairs from Alamo for the day. We headed to ABC Liquor store and our favorite, dinner at the Olive Garden. We did some last minute shopping. We had plans for Disney world, but due to severe cold & heavy rain down pours, we passed. Later that evening we returned our car & enjoyed our room at the Hyatt.
Saturday morning at 6:30 AM I went down stairs to check in with Disney Cruise Line at the bottom of the airport (near the rent a cars).
I am officially a gold member, which was exciting for my perks. I was able to check in for the 4 of us (Angela & Mary were first timers). We received our key to the world and got our bus numbers, and even our ticket number to board the boat (# 2, YES!!!!). I was then told the Magic was detained at Castaway Cay due to weather & we would not board the Magic till 3 pm. At this point I ran into Rosa, from Westchester NY. Rosa & her family was to take the Amtrak train from NY to Orlando on Friday, only to find out that Amtrak canceled there train due to snow. Rosa, her husband & 2 small children rented a car and drove straight thru, and just arrived at 6:30 am. We were both told we were boarding the Magic at about 3pm.
I asked the DC agents if I could take the Magical bus to Animal Kingdom (I had DW hopper passes) I would keep in touch with DC by phone, & take the bus from Animal kingdom to the port. I was told no stay put. I went upstairs, & told the family. We went for breakfast and killed about 5 hours in the airport. Nobody from Disney seemed to know what was going on. They all had different stories. 12:00 check out at the Hyatt lobby was a zoo. There were very angry men from our cruise, yelling at their wives and yelling at Disney personal staff. It was very uncomfortable to see all of this. The lobby of the Hyatt was crazy.
The Plan:
At the Hyatt lobby Disney personal asked all of us (lot's of people) to gather, he told us we were not able to get on board till Sunday. We need to go down stairs wait in another line to check in & get our keys. (Phew we had our keys) He told us, if we had our keys, just to board the bus to Epcot. He said the plan was leave at noon to Epcot get a hopper pass and at 2pm go to "Wonders of Life Building" and Disney would give us the name of the hotel we were to stay at. They gave us all $15.00 each for a food card, and left our luggage at the Wonders of Life until we were ready to leave the park. We then were instructed to get our luggage & bring them to the bus & off to the hotel.
We were told Disney was offering
Free hotel stay Saturday and a free day at Epcot for their entire party
$20 per person on board credit for the meal they would have gotten Saturday night. The credit can be used on the ship when they board.
$100 per stateroom on board credit
a 20% refund
Option to cancel cruise without penalty and with full refund
What Happened
We went downstairs at 12:00, had our keys to the world & were checked in. We were told just hop on the bus, but that was wrong. We had to wait in a really long line and get the letter to board the bus to Epcot even though we were already check in. (made no sense)
We got to Epcot and thought we could have fun in the park with our hopper pass, and we are hungry & we wanted to eat lunch. Wrong again, LOL. We waited in a really long line to get our hopper passes. We entered the park & it was time to check in at the Wonder of Life (2pm). I waited in line for almost 3 hours. The park was really crowded. My family went to test track while I stayed in line for our hotel. Inside there was lot's of entertainment for the young kids, not much for teens. They had a lot of junk food. Popcorn, ice-cream, chips, cookies, cotton candy, m&m's and soda. After an hour my family met me in the building. By then it was mass confusion. We were very hungry; my family left and went to guest services. They waited in a really long line, to find a restaurant in Epcot for dinner (we didn't have a car to leave the park to eat). While they waited in one line (guest services) I was still in Wonder of Life line for the hotel.
By almost 5 PM, we received our room assignments Caribe Royale Hotel. I asked a Disney personal if we could go to Magic Kingdom with the hopper pass after we ate dinner, and could they ship our luggage to the hotel (from Epcot). I waited a while, while they made arrangements for a luggage transfer to the hotel. No problem, all arrangements were made. At this time my family came back to the Wonders of Life from the Epcot guest services building, the only Epcot restaurant left to eat in was Morocco for 5:15 pm. Not happy with our only choice, we were very hungry& took it. My daughter only eats chicken strips, and it was on the kids menu (thank god), got to keep the kids happy. I was not happy with the adult choices or the prices. 2 kids meals, & 2 adult meals kids got ice cream on the kids menu came to over $100.00 with tip about 125.00 Our card took care of $60.00 I don't think I will eat there again heart burn all night. Thankfully I had Tums in my suitcase.
We then hopped over to the magic kingdom. It was really cold, 39 degrees & windy. We left the MK Park at 10:30 and were told the bus would be in the lot for the Caribe Royale Hotel. No bus until 11:45. We were cold tired, so we called the Disney people, who told us to take a cab and we were to be reimbursed (e were never reimbursed). The cab was only $25.00 plus a $5.00 tip, $30.00
At 11:00 PM, we checked in at the Caribe Royale Hotel. It's a beautiful hotel and very big. We were told at the lobby desk our luggage never came. So we asked for tee shirts or bathrobes to sleep in. They promised us Robes & tooth brushes but nobody ever came. We slept in our clothes. I called Disney at 1 am asking if they found my suitcases. I am glad I did, for they didn't know they were missing. They were very kind, they instructed me to call the front desk again and tell them to send up robes ASAP along with tooth brushes & paste. Disney said the next day that they would dry clean our dirty clothes on the ship. Gosh, how nice. I was glad I called, I was running on empty & they gave me the zest back.
I slept the rest of night in my robe, couldn't wake up DD. Next AM we went to the front Desk to try to locate our bags. The front desk told me to call all the hotels that have Disney people from the cruise and maybe I could locate the bags. I was shocked. How would I know which hotels? I called AAA since I had insurance with them. I couldn't find anybody. The Caribe Royale Hotel store sold no undergarments or anything in case of lost luggage. The front desk was no help.
No Disney personal anywhere. In all fairness it was Sunday morning. We were told Disney would give us breakfast in the ball room down stairs. Our children wanted cereal but the breakfast wasn't that great: Danishes, cookies, juice, tea bowls of fresh bananas, apples and oranges. I was happy about the fruit, but the kids weren’t. I was afraid to leave the area to buy breakfast in a restaurant, fearful we would miss the bus, or any information about the ship.
After about one hour later, a Disney rep finally came by. He was so nice & very sympathetic about our luggage. He knew just how to handle us & make us feel better. He said he would try to locate it. What a gentleman. I wish I new his name. I would love to write to Disney about him. We met many nice people in the many lines we were on.
After a few hours of waiting in the breakfast ball room, 1 person from each family waited in line to check in (yet another long line) for a number bus to the port.
We finally made it to the port only to find we were located in another terminal (I really wanted to see the model of the Disney Dream). The Wonder was at the port, so we had to go to another location.
Guess what??? Another long, really long, line to get onto the boat. I learned that being a gold member means nothing on this trip. LOL! Finally on board the ship. And there was no name announcement? After all we went through to go on the ship, to be on the ship. (I wanted to show off to Angela how they announce our names).
Today was Valentines Day, and it was supposed to be our Palo Brunch, had to go to make new reservations at Palo for a new Brunch date. There was no line.
Next Guest services, Operation suitcases. Our guest service helper was Libo. All I can say is, he did his best to find our suitcases. What a worker, and he was so kind. He was on a mission to find our suitcases before the boat sailed. At this point 2 days in the same clothes we felt very dirty. We missed out Disney boards meet because we were with Libo trying to locate our luggage. We ate upstairs at Topsiders.
Because it was Valentines Day, my husband called & asked if I got the gift from him in the room. I didn't, I called Guest service and told them that my husband said he bought me a surprise it should be in my room. Was it flowers or wine? Guest services told us they would look into it.
The sail away party was sensational. Towards the end of the party there was an announcement that the "Wonder" was coming & going to pass us. I wish you all could have experienced what we did. Everyone, including the crew members, ran to the side of the deck & watched the Wonder sail pass us. The DJ played "Come sail away". It was very quiet at first, except the music; all of a sudden the Wonder was next to the Magic. Everyone was waving crying, & just the energy. Can I confess, I was standing on top of group of stack chairs and I was so tall. I could see everything & everybody, waving my Burberry scarf. I was about 8 feet tall. I had tears in my eyes as I was waving. I took lots of photos. If only I knew how to post I would show you all the photos. Both horns were blasting. It was truly a magical moment. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. The Wonder left us, but we all were still talking about it.
It was then time for Dinner our servers were Dwight and Steve. Dinner was suburb. I felt a little funny dinning in our jeans & sneakers.
Our luggage was delivered about 9PM
I had a stateroom attendant that was awful, after 2 days, I complained & was able to change him & then had a "Magical host name Albert".
The kids went to the Stack and made many new friends. They loved the Stack. We were exhausted but went to the theater that night for the show. We had a great time. What a long day.
Maybe when Meg comes home for her college spring break in a few weeks she can figure it out for me. What a fun group we had!
