2 Crazy Kids + 1 ship + 2 stops at Castaway Cay = Our Cruise! 9/27/08-10/3/08

[flower91882]

Ok, we have no kids. We ARE the kids!!

CAST:

Danielle <-- That's me! 26, lover of all things Disney. I love vacations, especially Disney vacations. I work as a Statistician, and professional Cheerleader....hahaha, I know, it's quite the mix. I grew up doing musical theater style dance. I also love crafty things.

James <-- That's my husband! Also 26 (actually, he turned 26 on this trip!). He likes Disney and is very supportive of my habit. He just enjoys going places with me. Of course. He's a scientist and PhD student. He also does mixed martial arts and plays the drums.

Here we are:

So, I started a Pre-trip report for my upcoming Disneyland vacation, and I named it as my first, and it IS, since I started it first, but since this trip is already completed, this will be the first I actually complete and actually write things about the vacation itself. So, I'm not a liar.

More background on us:

I'm a lover of Everything Disney. I went to WDW a couple times as a kid and James went once in high school with the band. We both went to school in Florida. We spent our first spring break at the world and we made many subsequent trips. We went to grad school in Orlando and had annual passes for 3 years. We also got married there. So, we're pretty much WDW veterans. This was our second Disney cruise. We took a 4-night before we got married.

We've since moved back to the DC area to work (where we went to high school). I miss Florida and WDW very much.

Currently, we're planning three more Disney related vacations!! First up DISNEYLAND, where it all started!! Then we're going back to WDW for my best friend's wedding and then on a Baltic cruise with the mouse.

UP NEXT:

Pre-Cruise Chaos!!

 

[flower91882]

Ok, so here are some of the things we had going on before the cruise:

• Thurs, Sept 18 = My Birthday!! We went out to CoCo Sala to celebrate!
• Fri, Sept 19: Cooking class! Flavors of Oaxaca. Yummy!
• Sat, Sept 20: Team photo shoot for the website, FL vs TENN football game (GO GATORS!) & DC Improv (comedy club) and bar hopping with friends to celebrate my B-Day!
• Sun, Sept 21: Um...I was 'supposed' to have a girls day at a local Wine Festival, but because of the previous night's, ah, 'festivities' I wasn't quite feeling up to it....
• Mon, Sept 22: Opening video shoot for the team. This is the video that plays before the players skate out on the ice. We got to go and be part of the crowd that's cheering while the players pretend they are in a band. It was fun and you can actually see me for a split second in the video.
• Tues, Sept 23: I think I tried to go tanning today. I may have also packed some and done some laundry.
• Wed, Sept 24: The electrician came to put recessed lights in our basement. I must've done more packing.
• Thurs, Sept 25: The electrician comes back to finish the basement and puts the light and fan on different switches in the upstairs bathroom. I wasn't home for this, and I think I put James to work on laundry. I wasn't home because...we had our 1st pre-season game of the year!! GO CAPS!! (Ok, but don't drag this one out, because I'm going on Vacation tomorrow!!)

Hopefully everything was done, because we'd be leaving in the morning!!! I think I crashed. I have a lot of trouble sleeping on a regular night, but I'm don't remember having so much trouble. I may have been 'too excited to sleep' though. Actually, I may have been like that for a week or two.

UP NEXT:

And, they're off!

 

[mousetravel]

I'm subscribing! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[nenner1]

I'm onboard Danielle!

I'm sorry we never got to meet you guys on the cruise, but I am so looking forward to hearing about all of your adventures!

 

[flower91882]

I'm onboard Danielle!

I'm sorry we never got to meet you guys on the cruise, but I am so looking forward to hearing about all of your adventures!

Yay!! I'm so glad people are reading!

Ok, so here's the thing about meeting people on board.

I'm a very shy person and I get embarassed very easily. Sometimes I think that can come across as looking a bit snooty and stand off-ish, but I in no way Mean for it to!

I met Kimberly at the hotel before the cruise. She was the first and last person I actually met. It took all the courage I had to actually say something to her when I recognized her.

After that, I met a couple of the people at the lanyard station. I did see them a couple more times on the ship after that and I thought that I smiled nicely, but they never said anything, so either 1. they didn't recognize me after that (very possible) or 2. they just didn't Want to talk to me (also very possible) hahaha

I think I recognized a couple other people and Actually said something (which is kind of a big deal for me), but they looked at me like I had two heads, so I quickly stopped doing that. I think my confidence was shot. Of course, I don't blame them. I wasn't quite as active on the boards as a lot of people and I hadn't quite figured out how to post pictures yet, so I know no one could have recognized me.

Also, we forgot to wear our lanyards most of the time...and we miss the meet-n-greet...that could have contibuted...those were my bad...

I did point out a lot of people to my husband who I recognized from the boards and he made fun of the fact that I knew so much about people that I didn't know and who had no clue who I was. I think the word 'stalker' was thrown around a bit.

OK, explanation DONE.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Loving your TR! Can't wait to read more!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise. And by the way we have the same birthday!

 

[nenner1]

Yay!! I'm so glad people are reading!

Ok, so here's the thing about meeting people on board.

I'm a very shy person and I get embarassed very easily. Sometimes I think that can come across as looking a bit snooty and stand off-ish, but I in no way Mean for it to!
OK, explanation DONE.

Oh don't feel bad, I totally understand.
Sometimes I can be shy like that too (at the meet & greet I was over in the corner) but once you get me going I don't ever shut up...

Oh and I have to say I love the title I read it and thought "Huh. Danielle has kids?!?!?!" LOL!!

 

[flower91882]

Oh don't feel bad, I totally understand.
Sometimes I can be shy like that too (at the meet & greet I was over in the corner) but once you get me going I don't ever shut up...

Oh and I have to say I love the title I read it and thought "Huh. Danielle has kids?!?!?!" LOL!!

Exactly! Once someone talks To me, I won't shut up, but I have the hardest time making initial contact.


hahahaha....I thought the title would make people confused, so I figured I would add that first line to clear it up.

 

[anewmac]

Loveing it! Keep it coming... hey and post that video of ya... love to see ya in "action" LOL.

Gonna head over to your Dland trippy and subscribe too it. I love hearing what others do there!

 

[Kay1]

Keep going. Will there be pictures?

 

[flower91882]

hey and post that video of ya... love to see ya in "action" LOL.

I wish I could, I don't have a copy. You'd have to come to DC and watch a Caps game to see me in action.

And, yes, Kay1, there will be pictures. Not of everything, but we did take quite few.

 

[MagicMe]

Oh don't feel bad, I totally understand.
Sometimes I can be shy like that too (at the meet & greet I was over in the corner) but once you get me going I don't ever shut up...

Uh, shy???? I don't remember that.

I wish I could, I don't have a copy. You'd have to come to DC and watch a Caps game to see me in action.

And, yes, Kay1, there will be pictures. Not of everything, but we did take quite few.

Sorry - coming from Philly - you can figure I'm a big Flyers fan!!! (not to mention those World Series Phillies and our just fall short again Eagles!!).

Next time if you have them, please wear the lanyards. I don't normally talk right up to people but I found that the lanyards were a real ice breaker. I'd see that and then strike up a conversation as to what their screen name was or who they were related to on the DIS. I had some really nice conversations with people that were wearing the lanyards but were relatives of people that DIS'ed. It was truly like having extended family on board.

Oh - and I can't wait to hear more of your trip report!!!!

 

[flower91882]

Sorry - coming from Philly - you can figure I'm a big Flyers fan!!! (not to mention those World Series Phillies and our just fall short again Eagles!!).

Next time if you have them, please wear the lanyards. I don't normally talk right up to people but I found that the lanyards were a real ice breaker. I'd see that and then strike up a conversation as to what their screen name was or who they were related to on the DIS. I had some really nice conversations with people that were wearing the lanyards but were relatives of people that DIS'ed. It was truly like having extended family on board.

Boo Flyers!!! Hahahahaha!

I have had the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of the Phillies boys though. Some are very nice. Others, no so much.

I think with all the changing from day, to swimming, to evening clothes, the landyards just got lost in the mix and stuffed in a bag somewhere. I didn't want to lose them.

 

[flower91882]

Friday!! That means: We're going on Vacation!!

My mom picks us up from our house (we live about a half mile from where she works). I think it was around 9am. She drives us to Dulles airport, then turns around and goes back to work. So sorry Mom!!

We got checked in at the Airtran counter. No problem with overweight luggage. Wahoo! (I hadn't bothered to check before we left) Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:08pm. I don't think we left until closer to 1pm. The flight was OK. I don't know if I'd mentioned before, but I had gotten a cold a couple days before. I still wasn't feeling Fabulous, and my ears still felt kind of blocked. So, on the flight, I felt like my eardrums were going to Explode. I turned to James and asked if that was possible. Of course, he says "well, it is possible." Um, Thanks for the vote of confidence sweet heart!! Well, needless to say, they Didn't explode and we touched down in Orlando without incident. Except for the pain in my head.

We went to get our luggage, which all came out fine. Except for the large boot print on my Brand New luggage!! Oh well, at least it was kinda cheap. I went to look for the FL Tours people. I had figured they would be there waiting for us. Nothing. So, I figured I should call, I mean we were delayed a bit. But, they did have our flight info, so they should have known that. Anyway, I call and they seem surprised that there was no one there. Hmmmm..... So, one guy says that he's close to the airport and he'll come and get us. That's fine, but it's not the guy who was supposed to come. I wonder what happened to That guy?!

As I walk outside into the beautiful Florida sun I realize....I FORGOT MY SUNGLASSES!!!! I'm not the type that can go without sunglasses. I can't see anything and my eyes will start to water profusely. Ok, ok, it's fine, I'll get some at the hotel. So, we leave in the car and head to the Radisson Resort at the Port in Port Canaveral. We make it there fine but since this wasn't our scheduled driver, he didn't have any of our paperwork and didn't know how much we had agreed to pay! He was good about it and trusted that I was giving him the right amount. I had put cash in a bunch of separate envelopes to pay for these types of things, including tips, so I wasn't really prepared to pay more than that. I'm glad it worked out.

We went and checked in to the hotel and made sure that they still had us scheduled for the First shuttle the next morning. They did. Everything went smoothly. We got to our room, changed into our swimsuits and went to...the hotel store! I bought a pair of sunglasses. (Crisis Averted!) They were actually really cute too. Then, we went to the pool! Ahhh....Vacation!! I really like the pool there. It's themed nicely, there's a bar and there's sometimes live music. It was a very nice way to start our trip.

Ok, so we were supposed to meet some of the DISBoard people over at Grills, but we really didn't feel like going anywhere, so we changed and went to the hotel restaurant. It was pretty good. Then we walked down the street to a mini-golf course we had seen on our way in. Let me tell you, this was probably the Most disgusting place I have been to in a long time. I thought I was going to get dysentery from the water and everything looked like it had black mold all over it. Well, we still played and had a good time and it became a big joke by the end.

After that, we went back to the hotel, made sure everything was in the appropriate bag for boarding the next morning and went to bed!!

Sorry, no pics of today. I left the camera in the room.

UP NEXT: Come on get in the boat, fishes, come on get in the boat, fish, fish.

 

[LMO429]

great start! lookimg 4ward to more

 

[anewmac]

I think we drove by that mini golf and I thought the same thing... it was nasty! And I see we werent the only peeps that were lead astray by Fl Tours. They didnt pick us up after the cruise AT ALL nor did they even have any of our info. HORRIBLE! Glad it worked out for you LOL

 

[lwilliam]

more, more, more

 

[flower91882]

I think we drove by that mini golf and I thought the same thing... it was nasty! And I see we werent the only peeps that were lead astray by Fl Tours. They didnt pick us up after the cruise AT ALL nor did they even have any of our info. HORRIBLE! Glad it worked out for you LOL

Hmmm....so strange. Did everything work out? I don't think I'm going to go with them again, I can tell you that. It wasn't the worst experience, but it did get me a little stressed out and I don't do well with that.

 

[flower91882]

We're getting on the Magic today!!

We got up, probably around 9, and got dressed. We hiked all of our luggage back around the pool to the lobby and got checked in for the shuttle. This is where I met Kimberly from our cruise meets thread. We saw her a couple more times around the ship and then, she disappeared.... Ok, I guess she got sick and layed low at the end of the cruise. Sorry Girl!!

Then we went outside to wait for the shuttle.

Waiting:

New sunglasses. Cute, right?

We talked to some other people here. Most of them were going on Carnival and were quite jealous of our upcoming Disney cruise!
I think it was around 10 when the shuttle got there. Everyone got their stuff in the trailer and off we went. First Stop: Booze Cruise! hahaha. Ok, we had to drop off a couple that was getting Married on Carnival! They were cute and everyone clapped and congratulated them as they got off the bus. Then, finally, we were off to the Magic! I believe it was a little after 10:30 when we got there.

We dropped our bags off with the porters, tipped them and headed inside the port. We got in line to check in and got Boarding card #3! Yay!
Check-in when smoothly. After that we went and found our DISBoards cruise meets people and grabbed our lanyards. Thanks guys!

Then what else is there for two crazy kids to do but sit down and watch....Cartoons!!

After a while, I started getting nervous with the crowds, so we stood up and tried to make our way towards the front. Finally they started boarding and before long they called out #3. Hey, that's us! We got on and got our photo taken and got announced on to the ship. Yay, we're here!! BUT, we've got business to attend to, so we hurried down to Rockin' Bar D. I had already made Palo Dinner reservations. They were SUPPOSED to be for Pirate night. I should have changed them since Pirate night changed, but for some reason I didn't even notice the change until the night before at dinner. Whoops. I guess I should pay more attention! Anyway, we got in line to try and get tea and brunch at Palo. Tea was a go, but we had to be put on the waiting list for Brunch. No worries though, I think we got a call the next day saying we had a reservation.

Then, off to lunch. We went to Parrot Cay. I like being able to put my junk somewhere and not having to carry it with a tray and drink and around so many people.

After that, we tried to go watch the FL vs MISS game in Diversions. No Dice. I guess they don't hook up the satellite while in port. They kept trying to tell me to come back later and they'd have a comprehensive list of games they'd be playing. But, I didn't want to watch Other games, I wanted to watch the Florida game that had started at Noon!! You'd think they'd have had it, being we were IN FLORIDA. Oh well....

I think we went up to the pool to look around after that. Then off to our room.
Side note: Originally we had booked a Cat 11. A little while before the cruise I decided, hey let's upgrade to a Cat 7 so we can have a balcony. Well, when we did that they ended up assigning us to a CAT 4! While this was Really exciting, to be honest it was a probably a waste of space for the two of us. Although, I did love walking by the Roy Suite when we were going back to our room! We were in room 8502.

Our room:

I had ordered a romance gift and it was there waiting for us when we arrived. It included two robes, champagne, chocolates and a soft sided ice bucket. So, we hung out in here until the Muster drill.

Off we go:

We ended up being Outside in the sun. Ick. I also started getting really frustrated at all the people that for some reason could Not follow directions!! What part of line up with ONE family in a row with the shortest in front don't you understand?? We ended up having an entire family stand in front of us, with the shortest in the back and they kept bumping me. I don't have the patience for that, but James tried his best to keep me calm.

Then, back to the room and up to the Adventures Away sailaway party. We got a spot on Deck 10 near a railing. I had fun dancing around to some of the corny songs. We didn't stay too long. We went back to the room and got changed for dinner. Then we went to the 'All Aboard Let the Magic Begin' show. It was cute. Basically a preview of what else you're going to see on the ship. After that, Mickey Mania! This is very cheesy, but cute. It's a shame you have to partner with a kid, what about us childless adult children? Hmmm????? I think James should count as a child and they should let us play. Of course, that wouldn't even work, because he would Never go up and do something like that. James Hates attention. I guess opposites really do attract.

Dinner was at Parrot Cay tonight. We met our tablemates. We sat with 3 other young couples. One was from Great Britain and had just got Married at WDW. Actually, their ceremony was at the same place Ours was a couple years ago. Another was from Las Vegas. They were seasoned Disney cruisers. The last couple were Huge cruisers, but they had never been on Disney before. It was interesting talking to them each night and getting their perspective on Disney vs. other lines. We also met our servers: Leasa and Marco. They were great. I think they were more used to having kids, but they were great with a bunch of youngish adults. Let me also note that our dinners took a LONG time. I think we were usually some of the last people in there. I think they did this because we seemed to want to take our time and enjoy each others company (we did talk a lot), but sometimes it took a little Too long. I think one night I told them that I was in a bit of a hurry because there was something I didn't want to miss and they happily obliged, so they were very accomodating.
Let's see if I can remember what we ate.
Me: Baked Crab Martinique (very good if you like cream and cheese ), Island Roasted Rib-eye (I think) & I have no clue....
James: Spice Island Chicken Wings, Mixed Grill & ?
Ok, let's be honest, I don't remember and I didn't write it down, nor did I take pictures.

After dinner, we headed over to Rockin' Bar D and caught the very end of Magic Quest. It looked like they had a Fun time with that. Then we stayed and watched Match Your Mate. This is always a riot!

Then, off to bed!!

UP NEXT:
Castaway Cay: Part 1