We're Going on a Disney Cruise ! But wait.... where's the ship? Feb 13th Eastern

[Stevegriswold]

We drove and left WDW around 10:30 and got to the port at 11:30 AM, but it took an hour to unload our luggage and park, so it was about 12:30 when we boarded a bus at the Wonder terminal to take us to the Magic down the road. Then about 2 PM we were on the ship.

Steve

 

[MassDisLovers]

We drove and left WDW around 10:30 and got to the port at 11:30 AM, but it took an hour to unload our luggage and park, so it was about 12:30 when we boarded a bus at the Wonder terminal to take us to the Magic down the road. Then about 2 PM we were on the ship.

Steve

Long morning/afternoon for you, Lisa and your two little girls! We watched the lines from deck 4 for a while, the lines were very long. We could even see people still coming on when we were outside on deck for the safety drill

 

[tefrench]

We were on the Wonder and misssed CC due to the problems. While we were disappointed, we still had a good time on board at a "sea day." Then to find out later what all happened!!!

Great TR!

 

[jinia]

I am in! Was very curious about this cruise! Thinking of going on a first cruise 2011....

 

[anijac1412]

Enjoying this I, like everyone, was really curious about this! It's nice reading it from a guest's perspective!

 

[barbarasc]

Karen, make sure you remember to add that Security was NOT called during our Ladies lunch

 

[mclewes]

Hi! My family and I were supposed to be on this cruise but due to many issues changed our booking to the Dream in 2011! I must say I was kinda sad when the sail date came and we weren't on the ship but then I saw what happened and thought it was good luck we had to change our dates.
Now I see by your report we missed an adventure of a lifetime! You have a great attitude and I'm sure the CM's appreciated it!
Can't wait to read more

 

[sailingby]

GREAT TR! We were on the same "shortened" voyage and had a fabulous time. We were lucky enough to be on DCL transportation, but to be the first family on the ship sounds so cool! And we absolutely LOVE what you did for your DD. I hope I can do something like that for my children someday.

 

[MassDisLovers]

Karen, make sure you remember to add that Security was NOT called during our Ladies lunch

Are you SURE they were not called??? The servers looked pretty uptight about our group size.. do you think they were warned ahead of time? And remember when Brooke, Diane and Kim arrived a little late, they were told we were "almost done" and we hadn't even gotten our entrees yet. I think Security was lurking ...in fact. I'm quite sure I saw a hidden Mickey that had a hidden camera in it.

 

[barbarasc]

Are you SURE they were not called??? The servers looked pretty uptight about our group size.. do you think they were warned ahead of time? And remember when Brooke, Diane and Kim arrived a little late, they were told we were "almost done" and we hadn't even gotten our entrees yet. I think Security was lurking ...in fact. I'm quite sure I saw a hidden Mickey that had a hidden camera in it.

Maybe Kim and Brooke are really "undercover" for DCL?

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Really enjoying reading your report .... well done on keeping that surprise so well. Hope your cruise improves after that shaky start .

 

[MassDisLovers]

We enjoyed our first meal in Parrot Cay, but not as much as we enjoyed meeting Barbara , John and Jen! They were entering the restaurant as we were leaving and we spotted them. Hugs all around... after all those months of "chatting" online, it was great to finally meet them . We left them to enjoy their first lunch and walked around the ship, showing Jody "our" Magic. We stopped into Rockin'BarD to see if we could add to our Palo brunch reservation. I had only been able to book a table for 2 online, (Jody and me) but wanted to add Meaghan and our new friend Barbara. No problem- in and out quickly. Meg and I also had a mother-daughter tea reservation, but that was supposed to be on that day (Sunday). We were told it was automatically switched to Tuesday, the former St. Maarten day which was now a sea day since that stop was eliminated from the itinerary to compensate for our delay. Great! We opted not to do Palo dinner because Kelly couldn't join us and we didn't want to leave her alone for dinner. Plus, the dining rooms are so fun - why miss a night there!

Fairly soon the cabins were ready - right on time- which was amazing considering what the crew had been through that weekend. We began unpacking and before we knew it, it was time for our DisMeet in the Promenade Lounge. Meg opted for a nap and Kelly was dying to get up to the Stack and see what was new, so Jody and I headed off alone. We bought our first "Bahama Mamas" and Jody, Barbara and I settled in to meet our new friends. We were soon joined by John and Leslie, our friends from the morning, and started figuring out "who was who" in the group. Joy (playnejoy1) had taken on the heroic task of organizing our 85 person Fish Extender exchange so she handed out the final copy of who was "in". What fun that turned out to be! I had ordered a new, bigger FE from the lady on EBay for this trip, and it was a good thing I did. All week long the FE was FULL with the most generous and creative gifts! I don't know if there was ever a time we came back to the room and found it empty all week long. Thank you everyone!

A month or so before the cruise, Linda (lindafarrell), one of the members on our thread, told us that her DH was starting a new job and was unable to go on the cruise, so her friend Betty would be going instead. Linda asked if Jody, the girls, and I would like to link dining with them since we were a "ladies only" group. Linda made arrangements for a table of 6 and soon many others linked dining too - Barbara and her family, Kim and her daughter Gabby (kimms) and friends Diane and Brooke (Brooke 3L), Joy and her family and John, Kelly and Clay (clay's crew). We now had dining linked for 20 people who had never met! I was really looking forward to meeting Linda and Betty at the Meet and "picked them out of the crowd". I went over to introduce myself and we became instant friends, sharing pictures of grandchildren and the stories of our lives. We then met Kim, Brooke, Diane and darling 6 year old Gabby - how fun!

After the Meet we went to the safety drill. Interestingly, Jody was surprised by the depth of the drill. She had sailed once before on a Carnival ship and said they didn't have any sort of drill on her cruise. Although it can be a pain to get all suited up in the life jackets, I guess I am glad that Disney take safety so seriously. We were outside for the drill and saw people still streaming on the ship and supplies and luggage still being loaded. Back to the cabin we went, to finish putting things away and get ready for the sail-away party. Lots of excitement as always, but nothing compared to the excitement when the Wonder and Magic were both leaving port a little while later. They played their horns and both passengers and crew were out on deck to see this unusual event. More than one person got a little teary! There are several good videos of this up on YouTube, especially the one by our own Steve Griswold!

Soon we got changed and headed up to see our first show - the All Aboard Variety Show. It was very good, and an indication of what was to come. A quick perusal of the shops and then it was time to head to dinner. We had late seating, 8:15, and were beginning in Lumiere's. Our rotation was a little odd, with 4 meals in AP - L AP AP PC L AP then AP again for the final breakfast. AP is my least favorite restaurant, but it really doesn't matter. We were all excited to eat dinner with Linda and Betty and get to know them better. Our table was #54 and we headed there only to find..... that it was a table for just the 4 of us. A little investigation found Linda and Betty at a nearby table with some of the other folks from our thread. Oh well..... Our servers were the very personable Dwight from Jamaica, a 10 yr DCL veteran, and Steve from India who was quiet and very efficient, and showed the kids magic/brain teaser tricks over the course of the week. Before we left the dining room we confirmed with Ivo, the Head Server, that we had a reservation for 20 for lunch in Lumiere's on Thursday at 12:30pm. This was our planned "Ladies Lunch" and gift swap. He said he would check on it and let me know the next night. Barbara was concerned that we might be a rowdy groupbut Ivo told us he'd "take care of it" for us.


After dinner Kelly went back to the Stack (this would be the theme of the week - she ate with us but that's about it! ) and Meg went to a "College Club Social" for 18 to 21 year olds. Unfortunately, she was the only one there! Apparently all the other people in her age group were at home or at school (where she should have been! ) Jody and I wandered around a little more to walk off the late dinner and decided we had had enough. We went back to the cabin and found our first fish extender gift, an absolutely beautiful embroidered tote bag with our family name, sail dates and Disney Magic on it. What a wonderful surprise - thank you Steve and Lisa! This became our "around the ship" tote for the cruise and we were often stopped and asked where we got it. There were a lot of envious folks! We looked over the Navigator for Monday and were asleep before either of the girls came back.

 

[ArmandXG]

Signing up!
I love a good surprise and you seemed to pull it off without a hitch!
I've been waiting for someone to post a TR about the little misadventure. I'm glad to see that you took everything in stride, with a positive attitude.
Can't wait to read more!

 

[jessica52877]

Do you have a picture of the bag? I was really struggling with what to do for the adults and wish I would have thought of that! How cute!

 

[IrishKevin]

Great TR! We were on this cruise and had an awesome time despite the rocky start to everything!

 

[MassDisLovers]

Do you have a picture of the bag? I was really struggling with what to do for the adults and wish I would have thought of that! How cute!

I could take a picture, but I don't know how to post them... sorry!
It was really wonderful, a full size tote bag, and represented a lot of work for the family who made them for everyone.

 

[Mich123]

Love your report! Subscribing!

We were on the Wonder for the three day cruise that started on the 18th; interestingly, while the crew did mention that the Wonder had missed CC the week before, no one mentioned the situation with the Magic just four days before.

 

[LisaSp]

Was the guy in this pic your Ivo? If so, I am delighted to hear he is now a head server. He was our server on the Magic 2 yrs ago and was fantastic. We loved him!

 

[MassDisLovers]

Yes, that's Ivo. He was very personable. We've had other Head Servers who seemed aloof - Ivo was around every night to talk, and was frequently helping our servers to serve and/or clear.We were told that his wife works in Palo.

 

[LisaSp]

Cool. He really was terrific and I am glad he was promoted! He was so good with our kids (we cruised with another family and had 5 kids total at our table).