„Did you feel pressured to provide only EXCELLENT ratings?“

[annmarieda]

That veranda is amazing! So huge!!

The DVC presentation looks like one of the better ones you have been to, yes? At least at this one you got a neat beach bag.

 

[firecracker725]

Previously a lurker, but I had to come out and say how much I love your verandah! Also, we just moved to France, and they literally just looked at our passports, said "Bienvenue" and send us on our way. Nothing like the craziness of entering the US.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Wow! The VGF lobby looks so inviting! Beautiful but not stuffy. I love the décor in that room! I may have to stay there some time now that you have me sold! I was planning to try OKW next trip because you love it so much, but Ryan and Dana want SSR again, so SSR it is!
I'm glad you got to stay there if even for a night - what a beautiful view! Love the sunrise pics!

Nice balcony mojo, Karin! We always get a mid-ship cabin to help be sure of Jim's motion sickness, but I'm thinking an aft cabin with that balcony would be worth the risk. He has done fine so far, even on rough seas.

The Disney CMs never cease to amaze me, either. When we were at DLR several years ago, our little Londynn was 11 mos. old and we went to Goofy's Kitchen (Like Chef Mickey's) for our first dinner. We met Alice at our table, and she spent a few minutes with our princess. Two days later, we were walking down a street in DL and here came Alice walking toward us. She ran up to the stroller, and leaned down and said, "Nice to see you again, Princess Londynn, how are you enjoying your visit?" My mouth just dropped open! They do so much to make magic at every turn!

Of course, your big tip and chocolates don't hurt either!

 

[englishrose47]

Happy Easter to you both Karin and Tom

 

[dizneeat]

I can see why everyone would remember you two, especially with your goodies, tips and gifts. We have three cruises on the Wonder from November to May, so I think we're going to tip everyone, and bring along Ghiradelli Chocolates either that or See's Candy to pass out to the CMs. Both are local to California, hopefully they'll appreciate at taste of our home.

You're giving me some great ideas!

They will be very thankful for some chocolate or gum. They are not allowed to bring it on board and have to buy the Godiva they have on board at regular price. :scary1:

That veranda is amazing! So huge!!

Those staterooms really have awesome verandas!

The DVC presentation looks like one of the better ones you have been to, yes? At least at this one you got a neat beach bag.

That presentation was WAY better than aome of the others we have been to. And winning that bag made my day.

Previously a lurker, but I had to come out and say how much I love your verandah! Also, we just moved to France, and they literally just looked at our passports, said "Bienvenue" and send us on our way. Nothing like the craziness of entering the US.

So glad you came out of lurkdome and spoke up! We were so amazed when we first saw that veranda and we put it to good use.

Isn't immigration so much easier when you want to visit Europe! Just walk up, have your passport checked and you're done!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Wow! The VGF lobby looks so inviting! Beautiful but not stuffy. I love the décor in that room! I may have to stay there some time now that you have me sold! I was planning to try OKW next trip because you love it so much, but Ryan and Dana want SSR again, so SSR it is!
I'm glad you got to stay there if even for a night - what a beautiful view! Love the sunrise pics!

The VGF are really beautiful! I never feel "at home" at the Grand, but this was a totally different feeling. We really loved it.
Great that your kids like our home resort! We have never been there apart from signing our contract.
Maybe you should show them pics of OKW and the size of the units - that, and the fact that it doesn't feel like a hotel make it so awesome fur us.

Nice balcony mojo, Karin! We always get a mid-ship cabin to help be sure of Jim's motion sickness, but I'm thinking an aft cabin with that balcony would be worth the risk. He has done fine so far, even on rough seas.

We usually have a mid-ship stateroom as well (and will have one for the next 4 cruises) but we wanted to try those "back of the ship" staterooms one time and it really was nice.

The Disney CMs never cease to amaze me, either. When we were at DLR several years ago, our little Londynn was 11 mos. old and we went to Goofy's Kitchen (Like Chef Mickey's) for our first dinner. We met Alice at our table, and she spent a few minutes with our princess. Two days later, we were walking down a street in DL and here came Alice walking toward us. She ran up to the stroller, and leaned down and said, "Nice to see you again, Princess Londynn, how are you enjoying your visit?" My mouth just dropped open! They do so much to make magic at every turn!

That is so awesome that they can remember some people/kids even after a day or two.

Of course, your big tip and chocolates don't hurt either!

Happy Easter to you both Karin and Tom

Thank you, Rosie! I hope your have a beautiful Easter yourself!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, February 16

„Are you on a Disney cruise right now?“ - Part 4

But before that we headed out onto the veranda again.
When we looked over the railing we could see that the people who had the stateroom directly underneath ours were out on the veranda as well. They were from our DISboards group, so I called down to them and we exchanged a few sentences. They had two very nice and well behaved young ladies with them and so we asked if they were allowed some chocolate and if there were any allergies.
Yes, they were allowed chocolate and no allergies, so we told them to wait, went back into our stateroom and found our chocolate stash. I had brought some wool to tie some things together and now we tied some chocolate onto the string and let it slowly move down to our new friends.
The kids were happy and the adults all had a good time. Then there was a knock at the door and we got to know our stateroom host. She was a quiet middle aged lady, who asked us to sign for our present and introduced herself. We told her that we would like to have the sofa bed turned down every night and she made a note of that before she left.
A little later we needed to get ready to head out again. It was time for the lifeboat drill. We left our stateroom and were immediately directed towards a Cast Members only area, where we walked down to deck 4 and entered the Tube through its back entrance. We were then told to go to the other side and join the people waiting over there. And just when we got there they were starting to let people in and checked their stateroom numbers. Then we were told to move all the way down and grab the first available seat. We did as we had been told and soon enough the presentation of how to don a life vest began. Then we heard the ship’s whistles and were instructed what to do in case of an emergency and soon enough the drill was over and we were on our way back to our stateroom. We unpacked the rest of our things and decorated our door after fixing the Fish Extender on its fish.



And when we were done with all that we just relaxed in the room, but just for a few minutes. Tom decided to have a look outside and see if the other ships had already left. Well, it turned out WE were the first ship to leave and they were already removing the mooring lines.





So we quickly headed back into the room to find something we had brought for our sailaway, an Austrian flag. We had seen a lot of people holding posters and flags and Fishlips’ webcam would zoom in on them a bit. So this time we had told our friends that we would hang the flag outside of our balcony and maybe they would be able to spot us, while we were sailing out. We quickly tied the flag to our balcony and that is when we realized that our deck was the only one without the wooden covering on top of the railing. Well, we should learn later that they were renewing them bit by bit.







And in the meantime we were already on our way up the channel.



We waved a lot to people in restaurants and along the channel and when we finally got up to Fishlips we waved even more,



still hoping that we might make it and would be on the webcam.























And while we were still out on the veranda laughing and having fun, Tom got a text from a friend here in Austria, letting him know that we indeed had been on the webcam. Little did we know that he had not been the only one seeing us sail out and recognizing us on the way. A little later, when I was able to check the DISboards there were several new posts on my Pre-trip-report, one of them titled, “Are you on a Disney cruise right now?”. Once we were out in the open seas











we sat out on the veranda for a while, then unpacked and around 6pm we grabbed the first lot of our FE gifts and headed out to deliver them. It took us a about an hour to walk all over the ship and when we finally got back to our stateroom we had a few gifts ourselves, which we took inside and then had a closer look at.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[englishrose47]

How neat to be on the web cam !!! What a neat idea with lowering down the Chocolate!!!!

 

[dizneeat]

How neat to be on the web cam !!! What a neat idea with lowering down the Chocolate!!!!

He even zoomed in on us, Rosie. It was just awesome.

And the kids loved "fishing" for their daily chocolate. They even had a competition who was allowed to fish the next time.

 

[franandaj]

What fun! Sending the chocolate down to the cruisers below you!

How cool that you were on the webcam! I don't think anyone I know would be watching when I was sailing out.

 

[Teri1]

Karin I love the pictures! Very nice.

 

[LuvEeyore]

I am so very late to an important date!!!...a trip report by Karin!!Only on day 2 but pate 16!!

I want you to know that I had my mind all made up until I read your report this morning. We are going to WDW in Jan 2015 and I was thinking of renting DVC points and thought I had my mind made up on the resorts I would try for until I saw your pictures. The bathroom and view alone have me wanting to rethink!!

I must say of all the airline food I've had, Luftansia's is by far the best!! Are we really discussing airline food
Great start so far.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wow! Karin, the verandah looks huge. I remember seeing you and Tom on the webcam and thinking that the location of your room looked like a great one.

 

[pas130]

Fishing for chocolate? YES, I LOVE IT!!

Very cool a DIS Superstar was on the webcam and again, your verandah is AWESOME!

 

[dizneeat]

What fun! Sending the chocolate down to the cruisers below you!

How cool that you were on the webcam! I don't think anyone I know would be watching when I was sailing out.

The chocolate "fishing" game became a new habit for us. We did it every day and it was awesome fun.

We have been on the webcam several times, but we did not "stand out". We were on deck 12 and in the crowd, sometimes we would wave with Mickey gloves so we were more visible.
This time we just hung the Austrian flag in the back and whoever tapes the ships zoomed in on us and kept it that way for quite some time.
Several of our friends who knew we were on the Dream sent us texts.

Karin I love the pictures! Very nice.

Thank you, Teresa!

I am so very late to an important date!!!...a trip report by Karin!!Only on day 2 but pate 16!!

Welcome!
No problem being late, I did not have much time to update so far, so you see - only day 2.

I want you to know that I had my mind all made up until I read your report this morning. We are going to WDW in Jan 2015 and I was thinking of renting DVC points and thought I had my mind made up on the resorts I would try for until I saw your pictures. The bathroom and view alone have me wanting to rethink!!

Sorry to get your plans in disarray. I would never have believed that I would want to go back to the VGF, but we do. The view was just amazing!

I must say of all the airline food I've had, Luftansia's is by far the best!! Are we really discussing airline food
Great start so far.

Lufthansa isn't bad when it gets to catering on flights, but Lufthansa Business is just AWESOME!!

Wow! Karin, the verandah looks huge. I remember seeing you and Tom on the webcam and thinking that the location of your room looked like a great one.

The veranda WAS huge! I would gladly book the same stateroom again for a shorter cruise. For the longer ones I just need that tiny bit more space in the Family stateroom.

Fishing for chocolate? YES, I LOVE IT!!

Very cool a DIS Superstar was on the webcam and again, your verandah is AWESOME!

Ah, the chocolate fishing was so much fun. And the kids loved it.

That was one awesome veranda! Well, the whole cruise was!

 

[annmarieda]

But before that we headed out onto the veranda again.
When we looked over the railing we could see that the people who had the stateroom directly underneath ours were out on the veranda as well. They were from our DISboards group, so I called down to them and we exchanged a few sentences. They had two very nice and well behaved young ladies with them and so we asked if they were allowed some chocolate and if there were any allergies.

How fun that there were other disers below you!

Yes, they were allowed chocolate and no allergies, so we told them to wait, went back into our stateroom and found our chocolate stash. I had brought some wool to tie some things together and now we tied some chocolate onto the string and let it slowly move down to our new friends.

How fun! I bet the girls loved seeing the chocolate lowered to them.

And while we were still out on the veranda laughing and having fun, Tom got a text from a friend here in Austria, letting him know that we indeed had been on the webcam. Little did we know that he had not been the only one seeing us sail out and recognizing us on the way. A little later, when I was able to check the DISboards there were several new posts on my Pre-trip-report, one of them titled, “Are you on a Disney cruise right now?”. Once we were out in the open seas

So cool that you were able to be seen on the webcam.

 

[dizneeat]

How fun that there were other disers below you!

How fun! I bet the girls loved seeing the chocolate lowered to them.

So cool that you were able to be seen on the webcam.

The family was in our FE group, and when we marked the staterooms on a map we noticed they were right underneath us. Needless to say that the kids loved the game.

We still cannot believe how long we were in focus and what a close up we got! I guess I need to buy the video from them.

 

[JKSWonder]

And you are on your way! I love sail aways.

 

[dizneeat]

And you are on your way! I love sail aways.

And a picture perfect sailaway it was! Perfect start to our cruise.

 

[MEK]

Your cabin door is just too cute! Love it!

What a fun idea with the chocolates.

Very cool that you made it on the webcam!

Fun pictures from sailing away!

 

[Linda67]

Great door decoration Karin
How cool that your friends back in Austria and on the DIS spotted your flag!