09/18/11 - DVCers Take Over the Dream (S.S. Member Cruise 2011) - Thread #13

[dvc deernut]

omg ian what did you do? What time was this?

i didnt do anything. I wasnt in the pool yet. I was off to the side taking photos of the pool and happened to get the guy in a photo reaming out the officer. Then i went and joined in. Sue was there too.

 

[dvc deernut]

I'm sooooooo tired I had such a long weekend at work! I need another vacation!

HI MICKEY !!!! I WORE THE BOSOX HAT REST OF HOLIDAY. AMAZING ALL THE COMMENTS I GOT I TOLD EVERYONE ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ABOUT THE YANKEE FAN IN OUR GROUP

 

[Mantle1509]

i didnt do anything. I wasnt in the pool yet. I was off to the side taking photos of the pool and happened to get the guy reaming out the officer in a photo. Then i went and joined in. Sue was there too.

Why did you ream the officer?


Did you get the magnet I left on your door the last night?

 

[Mantle1509]

HI MICKEY !!!! I WORE THE BOSOX HAT REST OF HOLIDAY. AMAZING ALL THE COMMENTS I GOT I TOLD EVERYONE ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ABOUT THE YANKEE FAN IN OUR GROUP

Did you also tell them you were a jinx

 

[dvc deernut]

Why did you ream the officer?


Did you get the magnet I left on your door the last night?

IT WASNT ME THAT REAMED THE OFFICER OUT I WAS A BYSTANDER. YES I GOT THE MAGNET THANKS I WILL PUT IT WITH MY FEs ON DISPLAY IN A SHADOW BOX.

 

[dvc deernut]

i couldnt believe the arguement they were having. The guy was very animated. I couldnt hear what he was saying.

 

[matthew517]

We had a great time on the DVC member cruise. Dr.Tom & Dr. Becky our dinner companions were wonderful.

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

Thanks Debbie - you're AWESOMESAUCE!!!

Aw shucks! Thanks!

WE JUST GOT HOME. WE HAD UNTIL 2pm TO SPEND AT AK TODAY. WE HAD A FEW PROBLEMS WITH OUR RESSIE AT OKW BUT IT GOT RESOVLED. THE BEST GIFT I GOT TO GO HOME WITH WAS GIVEN TO ME TODAY BY(IM NOT SURE IF SHE IS ONE OF THE ACTING MANAGERS). ONE OF THE THINGS I WANTED TO DO THE NIGHT WE DID THE WISHES CRUISE WAS TO STOP IN AT MK WITH A PAIR OF MICKEYS WHITE GLOVES AND HAVE MICKEY SIGN THEM FOR ME FOR OUR FRIENDS 2 SONS THAT HAVE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY. BUT SINCE WE WERE HELD UP WITH OUR RESSIE WE HAD TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE BOAT. SO TODAY LAURA AND I WERE HEADING TO AK UNTIL WE HAD TO LEAVE. WHILE IN THE LOBBY BEFORE WE LEFT I TOLD HER THE STORY AND SHOWED HER THE GLOVES. SHE WITH A BIG SMILE ON HER FACE SAID NO PROBLEM, GIVE ME AN HOUR AND I WILL RUN THEM OVER TO MK TO HAVE MICKEY SIGN THEM. WHEN WE GOT BACK, SHE BROUGHT OUT THE GLOVES. THEY WERE SIGNED AND PERSONALIZED TO EACH BOY. ONE IS 10 AND ONE IS AROUND 3. BUT THEY WERE SIGNED BY EACH CHARACTER, MICKEY MINNIE GOOFY DONALD AND PLUTO. EACH DIFFERENT. PLUS A PERSONALIZED PHOTO OF ALL 5 SIGNED. IM KIND OF AN EMOTIONAL PERSON, I HAD TO FIGHT BACK TEARS I WAS SO PLEASED. I COULDNT THANK THEM ENOUGH. IM GOING TO CALL DISNEY TOMORROW AND EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE. WELL I HAD TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU. PS. YOU GUYS ALL MADE THIS CRUISE SO SPECIAL THANK YOU I WILL MISS YOU!!!!!

What an incredible CM to get the Mickey hands signed for you!! I'm glad everything worked out in the end.

 

[disrailfan]

I wanted to say that it was nice to meet all the new friends we made on this cruise.

It really is a bummer being home, even though we have been home since Friday morning.

Looking forward to doing this all again. Anyone interested in organizing our own cruise? If so I am so in......

I was dissappointed with the quality of the entertainment on the DVC Member cruise this year. I was also somewhat dissapointed with the quanitity and quality of the gifts, we used to get so much more in the past. This was more than likely our last DVC member cruise.

We are making plans for three cruises next year, two of them are already setup now, looking for a third cruise to do next year if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks to all of you for the great FE's. There are some truly creative people in our close knit group here on the boards.

Later,

Milford

 

[susieq55]

WE JUST GOT HOME. WE HAD UNTIL 2pm TO SPEND AT AK TODAY. WE HAD A FEW PROBLEMS WITH OUR RESSIE AT OKW BUT IT GOT RESOVLED. THE BEST GIFT I GOT TO GO HOME WITH WAS GIVEN TO ME TODAY BY(IM NOT SURE IF SHE IS ONE OF THE ACTING MANAGERS). ONE OF THE THINGS I WANTED TO DO THE NIGHT WE DID THE WISHES CRUISE WAS TO STOP IN AT MK WITH A PAIR OF MICKEYS WHITE GLOVES AND HAVE MICKEY SIGN THEM FOR ME FOR OUR FRIENDS 2 SONS THAT HAVE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY. BUT SINCE WE WERE HELD UP WITH OUR RESSIE WE HAD TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE BOAT. SO TODAY LAURA AND I WERE HEADING TO AK UNTIL WE HAD TO LEAVE. WHILE IN THE LOBBY BEFORE WE LEFT I TOLD HER THE STORY AND SHOWED HER THE GLOVES. SHE WITH A BIG SMILE ON HER FACE SAID NO PROBLEM, GIVE ME AN HOUR AND I WILL RUN THEM OVER TO MK TO HAVE MICKEY SIGN THEM. WHEN WE GOT BACK, SHE BROUGHT OUT THE GLOVES. THEY WERE SIGNED AND PERSONALIZED TO EACH BOY. ONE IS 10 AND ONE IS AROUND 3. BUT THEY WERE SIGNED BY EACH CHARACTER, MICKEY MINNIE GOOFY DONALD AND PLUTO. EACH DIFFERENT. PLUS A PERSONALIZED PHOTO OF ALL 5 SIGNED. IM KIND OF AN EMOTIONAL PERSON, I HAD TO FIGHT BACK TEARS I WAS SO PLEASED. I COULDNT THANK THEM ENOUGH. IM GOING TO CALL DISNEY TOMORROW AND EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE. WELL I HAD TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU. PS. YOU GUYS ALL MADE THIS CRUISE SO SPECIAL THANK YOU I WILL MISS YOU!!!!!

Hi Ian!!! What a great story! I really hope the kids love the gloves! Disney is so, so great at doing things that end up being memories that last a lifetime, aren't they? Way back when the steamboat that is now Fulton's Crab House used to be called Empress Lily (I know I'm dating myself!) we went to a character breakfast there with friends and their kids. While we were there and the characters were going from table to table, I noticed that Mickey went to a table to say hello, and the parents of the boy who was there told the handler that he was deaf. The handler whispered to Mickey and they said they would be right back. Well, from that point until now, this is this ONLY time I have seen this, but Mickey came back with regular white gloves on and proceeded to use ASL (american sign language) with the boy!! Well, his mother practically collapsed with joy as she watched her son have a signing conversation with his favorite character! There wasn't a dry eye in the restaurant for those of us who were watching! It is one of those moments, like you said Ian, that you won't forget! A very special Disney moment!!

Well, we are home safe and sound as of 1:30 this afternoon. We stayed onboard and did the B2B - man, it was so different! Lots more kids, and much ruder people!

The SSMC was so nice - because I got to spend time with all of you! I got emotional during Coffee Club (sorry guys) and wanted to tell you ALL who weren't there too, that I could NOT have made it through the year I had leading up to this cruise if it hadn't been for the support I found here on this thread and the other one that I chat on! You are all such wonderful people and I thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart!! I really want to stay in touch.

ANDY - I really missed seeing you - it seemed like every time I tried to find you, you weren't there! Maybe we can get together sometime during the holidays - like maybe a mini-DIS meet or something with everyone from this area! That would be a blast!

I really hope everyone got to see me when I was 50 feet or so in the air because I FINALLY GOT TO PARASAIL !!!!! It was fantastic! Everyone should do it at least once!! Thanks to Lisa and Kyle, and Monica and Michael, and my brother Steve and the Bestest Kid in the World Dustin, for making that experience one I will never forget!

I will be happy to send my email address to anyone who wants to stay in touch - just send me a PM! Love you all.

Special thanks to everyone who got up so very early each morning (or even one morning) to enjoy great conversation and coffee! Thanks to all!!

 

[M & N Potter]

"Hello 911. I would like to report a major theft. Apparently sometime overnight someone stole the beautiful weather, palm trees, castles, princess, amazing people and the large mouse that had been interacting with for the last several days."

"What? It was just a DREAM?"

Never mind ...

I want to thank my amazing family, Dan, Sue, Laura, Jim for including us on the cruise. To all of our Dispeeps, you are all awesomesauce! What a great time we had with all of you!

 

[kenneywj]

I was dissappointed with the quality of the entertainment on the DVC Member cruise this year. I was also somewhat dissapointed with the quanitity and quality of the gifts, we used to get so much more in the past. This was more than likely our last DVC member cruise.

I so agree with you. We went on the member cruise 2 years ago and the gifts and entertainment were so much better. I kept thinking that due to lack of gifts we were really going to get something big the last night and it was wine glasses.

The entertainment was also lacking. Enough with Ducky Williams. Also the ship was not decked out in DVC flags on the top decks as it was before. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the suitcases on our beds. This was also probably our last member cruise. The Joey Fatone sales presentation was embarrassing. It could have been whittled down to the last 15 minutes of offers.

On the plus side, we did enjoy the ship as we were anxious with all the bad reports. We did have to wait for the elevators at times. However, I thought the food was excellent, except for the Enchanted Garden. This time, I felt as if the servers were not going through the motions and even though tips were pre-paid; they worked to earn them.

So bottom line, great cruise and great ship, but last member's cruise.

 

[DizDragonfly]

I wanted to say that it was nice to meet all the new friends we made on this cruise.

Looking forward to doing this all again. Anyone interested in organizing our own cruise? If so I am so in......

I was dissappointed with the quality of the entertainment on the DVC Member cruise this year. I was also somewhat dissapointed with the quanitity and quality of the gifts, we used to get so much more in the past. This was more than likely our last DVC member cruise.

We are making plans for three cruises next year, two of them are already setup now, looking for a third cruise to do next year if anyone has any suggestions.

We're definitely interested in organizing our own group cruise. But, I don't think we can swing it next year. My current plan is to rebook the cruises I booked onboard once the new dates/prices are released (and hence the cheapest they are likely to ever be).

This was our first member cruise and I have to say, it didn't wow us. It's been said before, but it bears repeating, it was the PEOPLE on the cruise that made this cruise special, not anything that DVC set up. I certainly didn't see the value in the extra $1000 it cost us to rebook the 9/11 4 day cruise to the SSMC.

I can't say we'll never do another SSMC, but we won't do one for a while and only if the reports of the quality of the member cruises improves quite a lot. Maybe for the 25th anniversary of DVC? We'll see.

That said, we now know we LOVE cruising DCL and getting to know many of you in person was truly AWESOMESAUCE! I hope we are all able to get together again in the future. I wish I had been able to meet you all and get to know you more in person. Sue, I wish I'd been able to get up to the Coffee Club, but it just didn't happen for me. Mornings are not my thing anyway and add to that all the late nights and it wasn't a recipe for success! Andy, where the heck were you hanging out? I think I got a glimpse of you one night at dinner and then for the two minutes we had a chance to meet at Castaway Cay. Hope your knee wasn't treating you too badly and that we have a chance to meet up again in person some day.

Milford, Jason's sad that he didn't get to share that cigar and drink with you! It's definitely on his list of things to do in the future. And speaking of Jason. He had been somewhat reluctant to really discuss moving to Florida and now he's definitely on the side of making it happen! So, with any luck, sometime in the next decade (5-10 years) we'll be making a move!

My sinuses will be so happy to move! We weren't on the ground here for half an hour (still in the car) and my sinuses were swelling and I was having a reaction to all the grass pollen here. I only had one day of sinus trouble in Florida and that's when we were driving around the wildlife refuge on the dirt road and all the long grasses were smacking against the car as we drove along.

To the Potters, thanks for opening up your villa and letting us all have a final bash! Thanks to Terrie and Wally for their bartending skills! And to Junior for getting the pizza thing figured out. I made the mistake of eating dinner that night, but the pizza I did try was really great! Debbie, thanks for setting up the group picture account. I'll get in touch with you for the password!

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

I wanted to say that it was nice to meet all the new friends we made on this cruise.

It really is a bummer being home, even though we have been home since Friday morning.

Looking forward to doing this all again. Anyone interested in organizing our own cruise? If so I am so in......

I was dissappointed with the quality of the entertainment on the DVC Member cruise this year. I was also somewhat dissapointed with the quanitity and quality of the gifts, we used to get so much more in the past. This was more than likely our last DVC member cruise.

We are making plans for three cruises next year, two of them are already setup now, looking for a third cruise to do next year if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks to all of you for the great FE's. There are some truly creative people in our close knit group here on the boards.

Later,

Milford

I couldn't agree with you more, Milford!! I was soooo disappointed at the lack of decorations at the terminal and on the ship. I was extremely disappointed at the gifts. They said they were going to "WOW" us this year....I was "Wowed" alright....WOW did they mess up!!!! We'll let ya know about coordinating a cruise next year. Like the shirt says: I'm fine with "Cruisin with my DISPeeps".

Hi Ian!!! What a great story! I really hope the kids love the gloves! Disney is so, so great at doing things that end up being memories that last a lifetime, aren't they? Way back when the steamboat that is now Fulton's Crab House used to be called Empress Lily (I know I'm dating myself!) we went to a character breakfast there with friends and their kids. While we were there and the characters were going from table to table, I noticed that Mickey went to a table to say hello, and the parents of the boy who was there told the handler that he was deaf. The handler whispered to Mickey and they said they would be right back. Well, from that point until now, this is this ONLY time I have seen this, but Mickey came back with regular white gloves on and proceeded to use ASL (american sign language) with the boy!! Well, his mother practically collapsed with joy as she watched her son have a signing conversation with his favorite character! There wasn't a dry eye in the restaurant for those of us who were watching! It is one of those moments, like you said Ian, that you won't forget! A very special Disney moment!!

Well, we are home safe and sound as of 1:30 this afternoon. We stayed onboard and did the B2B - man, it was so different! Lots more kids, and much ruder people!

The SSMC was so nice - because I got to spend time with all of you! I got emotional during Coffee Club (sorry guys) and wanted to tell you ALL who weren't there too, that I could NOT have made it through the year I had leading up to this cruise if it hadn't been for the support I found here on this thread and the other one that I chat on! You are all such wonderful people and I thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart!! I really want to stay in touch.

ANDY - I really missed seeing you - it seemed like every time I tried to find you, you weren't there! Maybe we can get together sometime during the holidays - like maybe a mini-DIS meet or something with everyone from this area! That would be a blast!

I really hope everyone got to see me when I was 50 feet or so in the air because I FINALLY GOT TO PARASAIL !!!!! It was fantastic! Everyone should do it at least once!! Thanks to Lisa and Kyle, and Monica and Michael, and my brother Steve and the Bestest Kid in the World Dustin, for making that experience one I will never forget!

I will be happy to send my email address to anyone who wants to stay in touch - just send me a PM! Love you all.

Special thanks to everyone who got up so very early each morning (or even one morning) to enjoy great conversation and coffee! Thanks to all!!

Sue - I didn't get to meet you!!! I REALLY wanted to attend the sunrise coffee club one morning so I'd get to meet you, but I just couldn't get myself out of bed that early! I LOVE the story about the deaf boy at WDW!!! I'm sure not all of the characters know sign language, so that just adds to the magic that the person wearing the Mickey costume that day at that restaurant knew sign language!!! Please PM me with your email address...and if you're on facebook....PLEASE friend request me!! (Debbie Guernsey-Burgess) That goes for anyone else on here that I'm not already friends with on Facebook!!

"Hello 911. I would like to report a major theft. Apparently sometime overnight someone stole the beautiful weather, palm trees, castles, princess, amazing people and the large mouse that had been interacting with for the last several days."

"What? It was just a DREAM?"

Never mind ...

I want to thank my amazing family, Dan, Sue, Laura, Jim for including us on the cruise. To all of our Dispeeps, you are all awesomesauce! What a great time we had with all of you!

I so agree with you. We went on the member cruise 2 years ago and the gifts and entertainment were so much better. I kept thinking that due to lack of gifts we were really going to get something big the last night and it was wine glasses.

The entertainment was also lacking. Enough with Ducky Williams. Also the ship was not decked out in DVC flags on the top decks as it was before. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the suitcases on our beds. This was also probably our last member cruise. The Joey Fatone sales presentation was embarrassing. It could have been whittled down to the last 15 minutes of offers.

On the plus side, we did enjoy the ship as we were anxious with all the bad reports. We did have to wait for the elevators at times. However, I thought the food was excellent, except for the Enchanted Garden. This time, I felt as if the servers were not going through the motions and even though tips were pre-paid; they worked to earn them.

So bottom line, great cruise and great ship, but last member's cruise.

Last year's member's cruise had AWFUL service!!!! I was so impressed with the service this year!! We even gave extra on our tips it was THAT good!!

And I'm pretty sure this is our last member's cruise, too. It's overpriced to pay for the "entertainment" and "free gifts". And I think it's a bunch of doggie doo-doo that one of our gifts is RCI pins. I didn't join DVC to get RCI exchanges....if I wanted that I'd have joined a different time share!!! I would much rather plan a cruise with everyone on this thread and make it our own personal member's cruise. Some of the FE gifts were better than most of the DVC gifts anyways!!

 

[DizDragonfly]

And I think it's a bunch of doggie doo-doo that one of our gifts is RCI pins.

I didn't even get a pin. When I went by, they weren't giving any pins away. Those passport covers were pitiful though.

 

[BigDogHU75]

I wanted to say that it was nice to meet all the new friends we made on this cruise.

It really is a bummer being home, even though we have been home since Friday morning.

Looking forward to doing this all again. Anyone interested in organizing our own cruise? If so I am so in......

I was dissappointed with the quality of the entertainment on the DVC Member cruise this year. I was also somewhat dissapointed with the quanitity and quality of the gifts, we used to get so much more in the past. This was more than likely our last DVC member cruise.

We are making plans for three cruises next year, two of them are already setup now, looking for a third cruise to do next year if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks to all of you for the great FE's. There are some truly creative people in our close knit group here on the boards.

Later,

Milford

When are you cruising next year?

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that was disappointed in the gifts we received. I agree about the RCI gift . I doubt we'll do another member cruise. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and wished we had more time to visit. I'm anxious to finish unpacking and look through all the FE gifts.

 

[dvc deernut]

I couldn't agree with you more, Milford!! I was soooo disappointed at the lack of decorations at the terminal and on the ship. I was extremely disappointed at the gifts. They said they were going to "WOW" us this year....I was "Wowed" alright....WOW did they mess up!!!! We'll let ya know about coordinating a cruise next year. Like the shirt says: I'm fine with "Cruisin with my DISPeeps".




Sue - I didn't get to meet you!!! I REALLY wanted to attend the sunrise coffee club one morning so I'd get to meet you, but I just couldn't get myself out of bed that early! I LOVE the story about the deaf boy at WDW!!! I'm sure not all of the characters know sign language, so that just adds to the magic that the person wearing the Mickey costume that day at that restaurant knew sign language!!! Please PM me with your email address...and if you're on facebook....PLEASE friend request me!! (Debbie Guernsey-Burgess) That goes for anyone else on here that I'm not already friends with on Facebook!!









Last year's member's cruise had AWFUL service!!!! I was so impressed with the service this year!! We even gave extra on our tips it was THAT good!!

And I'm pretty sure this is our last member's cruise, too. It's overpriced to pay for the "entertainment" and "free gifts". And I think it's a bunch of doggie doo-doo that one of our gifts is RCI pins. I didn't join DVC to get RCI exchanges....if I wanted that I'd have joined a different time share!!! I would much rather plan a cruise with everyone on this thread and make it our own personal member's cruise. Some of the FE gifts were better than most of the DVC gifts anyways!!

DONT FORGET YOU GOT TO SAIL WITH ME AND IN THE SAME DINNING

TO WHO EVER READS THIS, THANKS FOR PUTTING UP WE WITH ME YOU GUYS MADE THE CRUISE FUN (and our friends from Mass with their BEER BARGE)

 

[dvc deernut]

THIS IS JUST A PART OF WHY WE ENJOYED THE CRUISE, THE SMILING FACES!!!! PLUS THE GUY IN THE BOSTON HAT, OH WAIT THATS ME!!!! I DIDNT WANT YOU TO FORGET ME[/B]

 

[friends with mickey]

Thank you Thank you Thank you to all we met and enjoyed for our entire trip. We made it back to Houston late last night and back to work this morning. It would be impossible to recognize all the great folks that made this trip so memorable, but we are grateful to all of you!

We have to acknowledge the Potter clan and thank you guys for adopting us for the trip, y'all really made it special.

Any cruise or trip to Disney with this wonderful group would be AWESOMESAUCE. We make our own fun better than DVC could ever hope to entertain us. I hope we plan a reunion trip some time soon. Keep on posting the memories until we can make some more