12/16 - 12/26/06 Magical Trip Report

[kate2961]

Saturday 12/16/06
Wow! Our first cruise. We were so excited. We got to the boat early and had to wait in the parking lot across the street until they opened.

We looked at the Magic in awe and anticipation of what was to come.

Our time in the terminal was short. I found the kids activities check-in table and got my pager. My son was not to happy about the plastic bracelet he had to wear for the duration of the cruise. I secretly agreed with him. It looked uncomfortable.

When we boarded I headed to the Guest Services Desk. I knew from reading my Passporter that tickets for Tea with Wendy were available there. I later learned that tickets to other events were there as well....Gingerbread House, Galley Tour, and Wine Tasting. I also learned that not all of these events are listed in the Navigator. We asked about this and were told that they are not listed because they sell out so quickly. Seemed like a strange reason and did not explain why some events were listed. We asked for a list of all events that were ticketed to make sure we were not missing something. We later found out at the Spa that there were also some Spa events like Yoga, Spinning, Pilates and other spa classes that are also never listed in the Navigator. Talk about Hidden Mickeys! On my next cruise I will know better.

We went to Preludes at 2:20 to meet for the 2:30 walking ship tour which was scheduled to last 45 minutes. The tour guide was late arriving and the tour was limited to only certain areas of the third and fourth floors. Not the kind of information I was hoping for.

My son really enjoyed spending time in the Club and made several friends for the cruise.

My husband usually gets motion sickness so we spent that first night getting acclimated to the rocking of the ship. He had sea bands and Bonine and we took the advice of some friends that scuba dive to eat yogurt each day. The first day was not great for him but he did not turn green. By day three he felt fine and stayed that way throughout the cruise. In fact, it worked so well that he was able to ride a wave runner at Castaway Cay and take a snorkeling trip on a catamaran without ever feeling sick. That was a miracle for him. [Just watching me on the teacups at MK makes him sick.]

Overall it was a great first day and we were very much looking forward to the rest of our trip.

 

[tjeagle]

Great start! Looking forward to reading more!!

 

[mrsnesbit]

Our time in the terminal was short. I found the kids activities check-in table and got my pager. My son was not to happy about the plastic bracelet he had to wear for the duration of the cruise. I secretly agreed with him. It looked uncomfortable.


I just ask them to put it on loose and my dd takes it off when she wants like for sleeping. Also I take it off for formal pictures. If you cut it off they just give you a new one next time they go to the club. Just for the future.

 

[kate2961]

I am one of those people who try to plan out everything. In this case I spent nearly 18 months planning for this cruise and trying to make everything "perfect."

We were at WDW for pre-Christmas in 2005. Knowing that we would be on the cruise in 2006, I looked around for some items that I could use to decorate the room. I found a great little Mickey tree that lights up and some window clings. I also found a door wreath with Mickey and the gang as well as some character magnets.

I remember my husband searching the hardware store to find a special door magnet we could use to hang the wreath on our stateroom door.

Before our lifeboat drill on the first day I dug through my suitcase and pulled out the wreath to hang on our door. It looked great and made the room more festive.

As we left our room for the drill we noticed that the wreath was missing from the door. It was nowhere to be seen. When we came back from the drill my husband searched for it along the corridors but it was nowhere.

It made me very sad to think that someone had taken it. And why? It wasn't very valuable.

By some miracle, later that night as we walked back to our room we found the wreath stuck in the railing of our corridor several rooms down from ours. Maybe someone had a change of heart. I'd like to think so.

Now that we had it back my husband insisted that we keep it inside our room. So I decorated the back of our door instead.

I happened to have a couple of candy canes and I decided to tape those to the door instead. I figured that I wouldn't care as much if they got stolen. I checked the next day and they were still there. Another day went by and still there. Things were looking up. And just when I was beginning to believe again....gone. I guess they were finally just too tempting. Hope they were tasty.

I did notice many beautiful decorations some hand-made and some store-bought on people's doors. It was wonderful to see all of the decorations and I thank everyone for their efforts. It added a touch of home to the holidays.

 

[Babs417]

Im so glad you got it back. People should talk to their kids about things like not touching things that are not theirs.

 

[kate2961]

Sunday, December 17th

We had booked the Pirate Soul Museum tour for our day in Key West. It was the only excursion we had booked inside a building so I must say we were quite fortunate that Key West was the only port where it rained heavily.

I had visions of walking around and taking a picture at the Southernmost point in the U.S. but those visions were washed away.

My DH and DS5 seemed to enjoy the museum tour. I'm not a big museum person so I can't say the same. I had really booked the tour thinking that my DS would love it.

That night we ate in L and it was show night. We all dressed up, even my DS. He wore his new shirt, pants and Christmas tie and looked very handsome. Minnie even checked out the tie when they got their picture taken together in the Atrium.

I loved the show and L. It became our favorite restaurant (even over Palo). We ate there for breakfast or lunch whenever we could.

As an aside...

My husband was never ‘hot’ to go on this cruise like I was. He slowly warmed up over time to the trip. He had some good reasons. He was worried about seasickness and he could not swim well.

As for swimming, as part of my planning I booked my DH and DS in multiple swimming classes in the year before our trip. What a difference it made! After learning how to swim my DH was much more excited about the cruise and all the excursions/snorkeling I had planned. He kept making comments as to why his parents had never taught him to swim or gotten him in classes when he was young. Apparently this was one of those lifelong regrets that he finally resolved.

My ‘bad mother alarm’ started to go off. Was there was something I was neglecting to teach my son? ‘Mom, why didn't you ....’ Ok now. Just shut that alarm off.

Anyway, while my DH was getting more excited he was never as over the top excited as I was. I watched videos, read books, re-watched videos, re-read books, read websites, etc. I tried to talk endlessly about the cruise to my DH and he continued to try to talk endlessly to me about his interests (something like R/C planes and boats I think).

So imagine my surprise as I was typing away writing this report when my DH, who was in the playroom at the Apple, asked me to come see something. ‘Okay. I'm coming,’ I said. ‘Look. There's Cataway Cay,’ he said. And there it was. He had pulled up a map of Florida and the Bahamas and was pointing to the island. I said that I had thought it was farther north and looked for a moment before returning to my posting.

A few moments later he calls me again. ‘Coming.’ This time he wants me to know that we can buy our own island in the Bahamas for $2.5 million. The island included a house and was about 4 acres. He points out another for $5 million. And another for $25 million. He was joking of course. But I knew a part of him was missing the fun and excitement of our trip. That was a nice feeling. Today he even called me at work to thank me again for all the hard work of planning the trip and how much he loved the vacation. Awwwww. That was so nice.

 

[kate2961]

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

Love that wreath!!!!!!

 

[yargrnhoj]

By some miracle, later that night as we walked back to our room we found the wreath stuck in the railing of our corridor several rooms down from ours. Maybe someone had a change of heart. I'd like to think so.

Kids think it is "funny" to rearrange door signs and decorations. Just like the idiots who press all the buttons on the elevators. We had our door signs moved several times ourselves.

I'm not sure, even as a teenager, I would have found any pleasure in rearranging door signs. There would be so many better things to do on board.

 

[kate2961]

Christmas Pictures from the Magic...

The Lobby Atrium

The Christmas Tree in the Atrium

And the Gingerbread House

 

[kate2961]

Monday, December 18th

Getting Ducky...

On our first at sea day, my DS played in the Oceaneer Club and my DH and I went to see Don 'Ducky' Williams as part of Disney's Behind the Scenes presentations. We loved the presentation and found the story of how he got to work for Disney magical. Re-runs of the presentation were broadcast on the TV for those who missed it.

He drew several sketches before and during the presentation and they were raffled off afterwards. Unfortunately we did not win one. They were very nice. But we (and every cabin on the ship) did get the commerative lithograph of Beauty and the Beast that he made and he signed it for us. It is really lovely.

Chillin in the Cove...

MY DH and I decided to check out the Cove. At first we sat on the outside deck. The area is partially enclosed and it was nice to be able sit out there and watch the ocean. My husband ordered a decaf mocha and we shared a plate of treats from the Cove. They have these wonderful little fruit bars, almond treats and chocolate cups with strawberries.

We had to move suddenly when we realized that the outside deck was a smoking area (my DH has asthma) and the party that just sat down at the table next to us lit up. The man had a cigar and the two women cigarettes.

We did find a nice place to sit inside but wished that Disney had better smoking policies. We think that since the area is part of a passageway back to the adult pool and partially enclosed by the glass that it should not be a smoking area.

My DH hated the coffee. He found it very bitter and did not order any drinks from the Cove again. I had a pot of Harmony tea and loved it. On return trips to the Cove I ordered the same.

Toward the end of the trip I was taking a plate of the Cove treats that we love back to our room when I stopped to grab a drink at the fountain area outside Topsider's. A woman stopped me to ask where I had found the treats. I told her about the Cove. She told me that she hadn't ventured into that area yet because of the kids but she would now.

A formal affair...

It was our first formal night (there were two). Both my DH and my DS wore rented tuxes and I wore one of two dresses I had bought for the cruise. My son hated the tux and felt choked by the tie. By the time we got to dinner at Animator's I told him he could take the tie off.

One of the reasons I had become interested in the cruise was based on a write up of the show in Animators. I knew it was something I had to see. I was actually disappointed. It wasn't what I had expected, or what I had seen discribed. Also, they may have changed it somewhat. The pictures of the show in the book in the cabin were not what we got. I still think that the concept is enchanting. Perhaps it was just the execution on our night. I'm not sure. I would be interested in hearing about other's experiences.

No Goofin' around...

I'm not sure where I learned about Goofy's pajama party before the cruise. Maybe it was from the promotional cruise DVD or from reading some Navigators that were posted online. I know that pictures of it were broadcast on TV monitors throughout the ship. Anyway, I knew about it and had told my son. He was most excited about doing this activity. We had bought him special pajamas and slippers just for the event.

For some reason they scheduled the party tonight at 7 PM. Our dinner started at 5:45 each night and never finished by 7. My DH left early with our DS and they quickly changed into his pajamas and went to the Lab. (The Club had Pumbaa's PJ party for the 3-4 year olds and the lab was for Goofy's Giggle Gala for 5-7 year olds.)

The Navigator said this...."A good old pajama party. Watch a movie, play games & much more."

When my DH and I went to pick up our DS later that evening we asked expectantly about his evening and the pajama party. He looked at us gloomily and said there was no pajama party and that Goofy did not show up. I thought I must have misunderstood him. I asked him again with the same response. He also asked why Goofy hadn't come? We were shocked. I didn't really know what to think. We asked the counselors and were told without apology that Goofy was booked elsewhere because of the Golden Mickey's. (Yes, The Golden Mickey's were held tonight. We had seen it with our DS earlier in the day. Two thumbs up!)

We tried to explain to our DS that someone had double booked him and that was why he did not show up. He still asked, "But why didn't he come here? Why would Mickey double book him" Now he thought Captain Mickey was to blame. I made it quite clear to him that Goofy and Mickey were in no way to blame for this and Goofy had no choice.

After further discussion back in the room we learned that there were no special activities that night and that they were all left to freeplay in the area. My DH called the Club to talk to the counselors to see if he could learn more. Same story without apology.

I am angry that they would promise something like this to the kids and not deliver and then provide no explanation. I was angry with myself too for having built up this activity in my DS's mind so that now he was so disappointed. The cruise was about this event for him. And how could they let the children blame Goofy for their error! Unbelievable.

This was not the last time we saw a cruise activity in the Navigator that was less than promised. On Tuesday my DH and I attended The Making of the Disney Magic. The Navigator promised that the movie would be followed by a Q&A with a Deck Officer and an Engineering Officer. There was no engineering officer because, we were told, they were quite busy running the ship. Do the Cruise Directors actually check out these things before posting them in the Navigator, apparently not always?

Anyway, after that I learned my lesson. I read the Navigator and found the activities that sounded great for my DS but I never told him what they were or what to expect. I just showed up on time and hoped for the best.

 

[Ct_TiggerFan]

No Goofin' around...

When my DH and I went to pick up our DS later that evening we asked expectantly about his evening and the pajama party. He looked at us gloomily and said there was no pajama party and that Goofy did not show up. I thought I must have misunderstood him. I asked him again with the same response. He also asked why Goofy hadn't come? We were shocked. I didn't really know what to think. We asked the counselors and were told without apology that Goofy was booked elsewhere because of the Golden Mickey's. (Yes, The Golden Mickey's were held tonight. We had seen it with our DS earlier in the day. Two thumbs up!)

After further discussion back in the room we learned that there were no special activities that night and that they were all left to freeplay in the area. My DH called the Club to talk to the counselors to see if he could learn more. Same story without apology.

I am angry that they would promise something like this to the kids and not deliver and then provide no explanation. I was angry with myself too for having built up this activity in my DS's mind so that now he was so disappointed. The cruise was about this event for him. And how could they let the children blame Goofy for their error! Unbelievable.

This was not the last time we saw a cruise activity in the Navigator that was less than promised. On Tuesday my DH and I attended The Making of the Disney Magic. The Navigator promised that the movie would be followed by a Q&A with a Deck Officer and an Engineering Officer. There was no engineering officer because, we were told, they were quite busy running the ship. Do the Cruise Directors actually check out these things before posting them in the Navigator, apparently not always?

.

Barb.

Great report

I hope you included some comments on the cards or at least you should send a mail to Disney Guest relations about the issues you ran into.

For the most part Disney attempts to correct issues like these.

 

[kate2961]

I filled out the comment form before we left the ship but then I never left it. The impression we got from the counselors was that no one cared and I didn't want to waste anymore energy on the issue. I would have just gotten angrier if more people ignored the situation. Anyway, I thought the best way to deal with it was to let all my DIS friends know. This way I don't feel more stress and anger and I think I actually feel much better now.

 

[kate2961]

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Behind the Scenes...

Today at 11 - 11:45 we were treated to a visit from Tom Wolber, VP of DCL. We love this type of stuff. It was great. Tom immediately opened it up for questions and there were plenty.

The one question everyone was thinking was asked almost immediately. "So when will you have another ship?" And the answer is...same as before. The Euro x-rate is not favorable. With the current rate a new ship would cost about $650 million. Another interesting fact was that the shipyards are currently booked with other cruiselines through 2010. Disney always has the option of buying someone else's place though if they are willing to sell at a reasonable price. (So is there something in the works on that I wondered. Or maybe there might be another small cruise line that they could acquire.) In any case, he did not discuss non-public information.

At one point the questions stopped and the moderator pulled out a sheet of paper announcing that the crew had pulled together some questions just in case. Yes, I thought, I'd love to hear their questions.

But alas, no, someone asked another question and on it went to the end. It looked like they were done taking questions. Then the moderator opened the sheet and all agreed that one question from the crew would be asked before ending.

The question was whether it was true that Tom had learned to drive all the stunt positions in Lights, Motors, Action Cars at MGM when he was in charge over there. (He was in charge over there? I didn't know that. Next time I want to ask for his background with Disney.)

He said yes. He drove every position (I think he said excluding the motorcycles). He said that when his boss learned of it he laughed. That is until the Disney lawyer talked to his boss. Then he was told to stop. [The lawyers are always spoiling the fun! f.y.i...I love lawyers and my dad was one so no hate mail on that.]

Escape from Hook ...

The Navigator said - "Let's hide Captain Hook's treasures and bring home a piece of the find."

And my DS says -"Great time." And Captain Hook showed up. This event got a huge smile from my DS. My wish and a way for the DCL to make even more moola from Shutters...Take pictures of our DS and DD while they play in the Club/Lab. I promise I will pay for them. What's another mortgage on the house anyway!?


More Behind the Scenes with ...

The Making of the Disney Magic. We had previously seen the film but we did enjoy seeing it again. The Q&A afterwards was great (even though the speaker was not a current engineer but a former one - see prior posting). He seemed quite knowledgeable about the ship and we enjoyed this.


A shark in the water ....

The Club took the 5-7 year olds up to the sports deck for some fun. We weren't sure if our DS would be okay with this since it's a bit breezy up on the top deck. So we went to check on him.

The kids were playing a game where some of the kids are sharks (my DS) and the rest are minnows. The sharks try to tag the minnows as they run across the deck. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, including my DS, who relished the shark role.

VEG-Out....

All of us are vegetarians (including DS). Yes. Veg-Heads. And not the kind that eat chicken and fish. But we do eat dairy and eggs.

Anyway, for those who wonder whether a Veg can have fun and feast on the DCL the answer is yes. I won't say that every meal was great (because it wasn't). The entrees for the adults were creative though and some worked and some didn't. I would expect that. They always had a least one appetizer and two entrees at dinner for the adults. I'll discuss the kid's menu next.

As usual our server was a bit taken aback at first that we were Veg. We got that at Palo (and pretty much every WDW restaurant we've been to). They are trained to make recommendations and are flummoxed when they realize they don't really know the Veg parts of the menu. They always seem to try to make a quick recovery though. It's okay. We know what we like. Besides, there are only 2 entrees to pick from. How hard is that?

We did go to L for lunch one day and found not one Veg item on the menu. I told my server that we were Veg and there were no Veg items on the menu. "Should we go to another restaurant," I asked. "No, no," he said and he got the head waiter. The head waiter was there instantly and really seemed to care about finding us something we could eat and enjoy eating. We selected a menu item sans the pork and it was very good. The head waiter checked on us to make sure we were happy. He was great and I would have gladly have given him the head waiter tip...as opposed to our own head waiter to whom we spoke only a couple words and were never quite sure what he did.

For the kids the options were limited to pretty much (A) Mac n' cheese or (B) cheese pizza. My DS loves both so that was not a problem. He ordered (A) almost every night. I would have preferred more variety. On the first night they offered spaghetti with a Veggie meatball (called meat but there isn't any) as an adult entree. I ordered that for him and he loved it. Unfortunately they never offered it again. FYI - there is no problem ordering adult food items for the kids. He did have the Veg hamburgers from Pluto's Dog House some days and a good b'fast so I tried not to worry about all the mac n' cheese. He loved it and it was his vacation too.

 

[yargrnhoj]

My DH hated the coffee. He found it very bitter and did not order any drinks from the Cove again. I had a pot of Harmony tea and loved it. On return trips to the Cove I ordered the same.

Ok, so it wasn't just me. I mentioned in my TR I'd bought coffees on the first day and then never went back because the coffee was so bitter. I wonder what blend they use -- if it was the standard Nescafe, they are doing something really wrong.

 

[kate2961]

Interesting about that coffee...

If you read the TR for SleepDog25 (an excellent TR by the way) then you know that the coffee on the Wonder and its barista is excellent.

Not sure why the Magic is having problems. Our local Starbucks sometimes produces bitter coffee too. Does it have something to do with the cleaning process I wonder?

 

[kate2961]

3, 2, 1...

I forgot to mention the first port we visited on our cruise. There were actually 7, not 6. The seventh, as discussed in Passporter, was Cape and/or Port Canaveral.

We were scheduled to leave for our trip on the evening of Friday, Dec. 8th. and had planned to drive to Florida and arrive at the Poly on 12/10, spend some time at WDW and leave for cruise on 12/16.

Then something happened. I read an article that the space shuttle Discovery was scheduled for the first evening launch in a long time on 12/7. I was already taking my DS out of school for a week and a half. I debated about the extra two days and decided to go for it.

The entire vacation now spanned leaving the night of 12/6 to make it to Cape Canaveral by afternoon of 12/7 to see the shuttle launch and returning on 12/31 (AKL was planned for the back end of the cruise). [By the way, this was not our normal vacation but a special once-in-a-lifetime event - what we call our honeymoon - but that is another story.]

So we drove quickly and made it on time to see the first attempted launch. We bought tickets that allowed us to (a) have dinner with an astronaut before the launch, (b) watch the launch from the visitor's complex area, and have access to all of the wonderful exhibit buildings. The other viewing area closer to the shuttle was sold out. Our view was slightly obstructed by the tree line.

The whole event was excellent. My son had a great time playing on the space shuttle playground with dozens of other children while we waited for the launch. It went down to the last second but could not take off due to low and thick cloud cover which is a hazard if they have to make an emergency landing.

Our tickets were good for the launch (as long as it occurred before 12/26) so we went back two nights later on 12/9. This time it was a go and the launch was spectacular.

The pictures cannot convey just how bright it was. Really, really bright.

This is from the big screen they had set up on the lawn of the visitor's complex.

This is a series of shots showing the Discovery take off...

At one point the announcer told us that Discovery was now over Africa and we could still see it in the sky. That was incredible.

 

[kate2961]

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006

View of St. Maarten from room...

Another view of St. Maarten...

 

[Disney owl]

Thanks for the report & great photos

 

[mrsnesbit]

I filled out the comment form before we left the ship but then I never left it. The impression we got from the counselors was that no one cared and I didn't want to waste anymore energy on the issue. I would have just gotten angrier if more people ignored the situation. Anyway, I thought the best way to deal with it was to let all my DIS friends know. This way I don't feel more stress and anger and I think I actually feel much better now.

Great Trip report!

I just wanted to let you know that we had several instances where a counselor was actually surly and rude to both me and my dd. I had enough of that about day 8 and went to the club and asked who was in charge? The counselor in question was not there(COLLEEN US) The counselors there said, "we are", and laughed nervously. I smiled and just asked to speak with the officer in charge of the clubs. One said,"oh no, I'm getting fired." Jokingly. But they got him on the phone and he actually came down pretty quickly.

I told him of our interactions with Colleen and and he pulled out a notebook and took notes. I said that she did not embody the Disney Spirit that I have found everywhere onboard! He said they knew about it and were trying to work with her on that issue. I said I don't know if I am the only one complaining but I just couldn't let it go since it wasn't an isolated incident but an ongoing problem throughout the cruise. He said that, "no you aren't the only one to bring this to my attention."

You could have definately talked to him or to guest services even. They might have been more sympathetic and perhaps had more pull with getting a special gift from Goofy. I have seen them do that before. Just for future reference. The counselors truly are not able to control what happened I'm sure.