20060902--Eastern Sept 2nd, 2006

[CourtneyMc]

I have to say that although I didn't like XOP- my kids LOVED them

They were really good with the kids the one time we saw them in Bar D- they let them come up on stage, sing along, and what was funniest was they'd dance with them. You know how kids sort of come up with their own bizarre dance moves, well they'd see a kid doing something funny and next thing you know they were doing it too. I don't think I would've sat there and listened to them or danced to them if it weren't for the kids though! We definitely didn't care for the lounge singers. I was very disappointed when we went to the 'family dance party' in the promenade and it was lounge music. Yes, we were some of the '30 somethings dancing with their kids' at one of those times. It just didn't make sense to me as a family dance party to have that type of music. we didn't stay long!

One night mid-week I was walking past Bar D betw. 10-11 and I did notice that XOP was playing to what appeared to be a completely empty room and I felt bad for them. Maybe that was a normal occurence though based on what you guys are saying! we didn't do 'late night' activities so I didn't know.

Did anyone see the blond guitar player/singer in Diversions on Pub Night (Monstro, you were there weren't you?) I really liked him a lot, but like I said, we weren't out late so I don't know how often he was out.

It's also interesting to see that there wasn't a steel drum band. I just thought we missed it since we weren't at the pool often during peak hours. That stinks!

I finished my trip report on the trip report boards. It's nice to see that people read them.

 

[racrj]

Whew! I thought it was just me. I didn't think XOP was that good, either. But this was my first cruise so I wasnt' sure what to expect. I'm glad to hear Disney did have better performers and hopefully they will continue to look for go ones for future cruises.

On another note -- Now that I have taken several hundred pictures of my kids on the new digital camera - has anyone ever gotten their prints from an online digital print company? If so, what are some good ones?

 

[CaptainJack]

Whew! I thought it was just me. I didn't think XOP was that good, either. But this was my first cruise so I wasnt' sure what to expect. I'm glad to hear Disney did have better performers and hopefully they will continue to look for go ones for future cruises.

On another note -- Now that I have taken several hundred pictures of my kids on the new digital camera - has anyone ever gotten their prints from an online digital print company? If so, what are some good ones?

If you have a local Costco or Wal-Mart, you can upload the digital pictures to the store via the Internet and then pick the photos up at the store. I did it through Costco and it worked out great.

 

[racrj]

If you have a local Costco or Wal-Mart, you can upload the digital pictures to the store via the Internet and then pick the photos up at the store. I did it through Costco and it worked out great.

Thanks, a BUNCH!! I wanted to start my album, plus I need to give my dad his SD back. I forgot to bring my 1GB SD card and had onle a 16 MB SD card . I think I took a total of 12 pictures and then the new camera said the disk was full. I stared at it in shock for I was certain I put the GB SD in the camera!!!! Thank goodness for fathers!!! I, of course, went sulking to his cabin and cried that I didn't have any more memory on the card and he gave me his spare one. But now he wants it back and I need to print the pictures. I will try Wal-mart, as there is one close by.

P.S. It was great meeting you on the ship and running into a familiar face here and there.

 

[CourtneyMc]

I thought both of the live "bands" were on the bad side. The couple in the Promenade louge seemed to be in the same part of thier act each night Mina and I walked through before dinner. XOP drove me out of Bar D the first time we wanted to stay up late and dance. We never gave them much of a chance after that. We dropped into sessions and the guy there was on a Pan pipe. Ack! Disney did not want us to spend money in a bar listening to music or dancing on this cruise.

Must say that Bar D was much nicer without the cloud of smoke hanging around this time.

Chuck

So is the cloud of smoke more normal, or has DCL made changes to their smoking rule? I have to say DH and I were very pleased that there was so little smoke around, but we're wondering if that was not the norm?

Anyone know?

 

[CourtneyMc]

Whew! I thought it was just me. I didn't think XOP was that good, either. But this was my first cruise so I wasnt' sure what to expect. I'm glad to hear Disney did have better performers and hopefully they will continue to look for go ones for future cruises.

On another note -- Now that I have taken several hundred pictures of my kids on the new digital camera - has anyone ever gotten their prints from an online digital print company? If so, what are some good ones?

We have done several things with our digital prints. I've even gone so far as to order the same pic from a few retailers to see which looked best. In that regard, my best results have been from my local WalGreens. BUT- and this is important- it has to be one where the digital pics come out on the same equipment as film pics. I've been to some where they have the big equip. for film and smaller more basic equip for the digital prints.

I recently discovered that you can upload your pics to walgreens.com and print them to your local store online and pay no shipping or extra charges and it's only .19/print. So, that's my new preferred method. if you have a lot of pics, you might do better pricewise to pay the shipping and pay less per print.

that said, I've also had good luck with both Kodakgallery.com, ofoto.com, and snapfish.com. if you have a lot of pics, check the prices and look for coupons!

what i haven't done with Walgreens.com that i've done with the others is to share my pics. my family's gotten very good about posting pics online to kodakgallery and sharing them with everyone else. finally, i have christmas pics taken by the rest of the family since the rest of family seems to prefer kodakgallery i usually upload to both walgreens to do my prints and kodak to share.

good luck!

courtney

 

[gdulaney]

Actually that is a big deal onboard amongst some of the crew!!! DCL is trying different type bands...like several other lines. To cut costs! The group actually performs over 500 songs and supposedly doesn't repeat one on a cruise...and even on set party themes, the songs other than what is required, are different. BUT, my understanding is that the cruise staff might want the old guys back. Write to DCL!!!
Did you also notice that the steel drum band was not onboard. That was always nice in Parrot Cay. They would also perform out by the pools. Well, if you did miss them as well, write to DCL!!!
The former lead of the band...not the Charles Marshall...the young white guy? Can't remember his name. Anyway...he married a gal from the cruise staff recently. Kaz had pictures on her iPod!

Well, as I said...if you would prefer the old touches, let DCL know! Guess what...they are docking at CC right now!!! Wish I was there! Chaos definitely ensued upon our return!!!
Best of days all!
tif

Oh no...what if they lose Rich Purpura and keep DOA? We got down to see Rich's adult show and they were still playing and rather than being packed, we were able to easily find seats. That's never happened before. I felt sorry for them. Guess it's time to write a letter!

Ginny

 

[HollyTyler]

So is the cloud of smoke more normal, or has DCL made changes to their smoking rule? I have to say DH and I were very pleased that there was so little smoke around, but we're wondering if that was not the norm?

Anyone know?

I think the biggest cloud of smoke was in my room from the guys smoking while working on our verandah! But seriously, our room is the only place I saw cigarette smoke. Can't answer your question Courtney, just wanted to share a laugh!

 

[HollyTyler]

Regarding pics, I don't even print mine out anymore. I keep them all online at Kodakgallery and share them that way. I've even started making the photo books you can get from them. It's such a cool idea! Sort of like a coffee table book, so you never have to worry about your photos coming off the pages. And you can add descriptions that they print right under each pic too. Pretty expensive, but takes up so much less space on my shelves.

 

[NeedingVacation]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I was not at all impressed with Rich Papura. I think they should stick to extertainers that have really strong expertise in at least one area. They don't all have to put on a variety show... for instance they can be "JUST" a magician OR a comedian, not someone who claims to be both. Neither my husband or I liked him, but were afraid to walk out of the room because of obvious consequences.

Even the juggler was expected to be funny. He was great at what he does- juggling- can't they leave it at that?

 

[nuzmom]

I'm taking a very small chance, but here it goes...

After the cruise, my son, Michael, left his silver game boy case outside the budget rental car location. It had his and his brother's game boys in it with tons of games (he wasn't supposed to have all of them, but that's a different story). Anyway, our driver placed all of our luggage on the bench and Michael placed the game boy case on the ground BESIDE the bench. After a long wait in line and a trip to the bathroom, everyone hurried into the car. My DH loaded "everything" into the trunk. 20 minutes down the road - we realized that we didn't have the gameboys. We called Budget right then, but it was already gone. We also drove back, but nothing.

Ok - here's my only hope - a boy and his family (DISers) who my son played with in Oceaneers quest was a few behind us in line. His name is Conner and he's 11. I'm trying to locate that DISer and ask if they happened to pick it up "knowing" they could get a hold of us.

My son is obviously upset over this whole thing. During our vacation, I found several items - purses, bags, bracelet - and, of course, returned them all. I guess my son is crushed to find out that many people don't. Please don't flame us for having it - the boys play their gameboys on the plane trip and car rides and sometimes in the room at WDW.

Anyway, just thought I'd take a chance that someone is trying to return the case to us.

 

[gdulaney]

nuzmom - good luck, I hope somebody turns in the gameboy & games!!!

 

[tomspixie]

I have to say that although I didn't like XOP- my kids LOVED them

They were really good with the kids the one time we saw them in Bar D- they let them come up on stage, sing along, and what was funniest was they'd dance with them. You know how kids sort of come up with their own bizarre dance moves, well they'd see a kid doing something funny and next thing you know they were doing it too. I don't think I would've sat there and listened to them or danced to them if it weren't for the kids though! We definitely didn't care for the lounge singers. I was very disappointed when we went to the 'family dance party' in the promenade and it was lounge music. Yes, we were some of the '30 somethings dancing with their kids' at one of those times. It just didn't make sense to me as a family dance party to have that type of music. we didn't stay long!

One night mid-week I was walking past Bar D betw. 10-11 and I did notice that XOP was playing to what appeared to be a completely empty room and I felt bad for them. Maybe that was a normal occurence though based on what you guys are saying! we didn't do 'late night' activities so I didn't know.

Did anyone see the blond guitar player/singer in Diversions on Pub Night (Monstro, you were there weren't you?) I really liked him a lot, but like I said, we weren't out late so I don't know how often he was out.

It's also interesting to see that there wasn't a steel drum band. I just thought we missed it since we weren't at the pool often during peak hours. That stinks!

I finished my trip report on the trip report boards. It's nice to see that people read them.

If someone else has informed you on the guitarist/vocalist at Pub Night, sorry to repeat. That was actually Cruise Staff Paul...Party Paul...Pirate Paul...Bingo Paul...etc., etc., etc. He is very gifted and talented...also quite humble about those gifts. Paul used to be young Herc in Hercules...the Musical onboard. As of our cruise, he had stated that that was his last cruise. Based on good information he was planning on returning to the Orlando area and working on land. My hope is that if he doesn't return to Disney in a performance role...that he will be scooped up by Disney in a bigger opportunity. He is truly a good person, with a great work ethic, and a whole lot of talent!

 

[CourtneyMc]

Regarding pics, I don't even print mine out anymore. I keep them all online at Kodakgallery and share them that way. I've even started making the photo books you can get from them. It's such a cool idea! Sort of like a coffee table book, so you never have to worry about your photos coming off the pages. And you can add descriptions that they print right under each pic too. Pretty expensive, but takes up so much less space on my shelves.

Since you mentioned it, I looked into the photo books too. It actaully wasn't that much more than just printing my pics would've been. Here's a tip, it might not alwyas work but it can't hurt- I started working on one and then abandoned it when other things came up. A couple days later, they sent me a coupon for 20% off if I finished the project. The code was ALLDONE. it's worth a try. if the coupon code doesn't work for you, try starting it but don't finish it and maybe a couple days later you'll get a code too

Personally- of your entire story about the verandah work being done- it would be the smoke that would've ticked DH and I off the most. To the point that if we could smell it in our room I can almost gurantee you he'd have stood at guest services glaring at someone until they moved us to a smoke free room. that's just unacceptable to me that someone would smoke while doing work on your room!

 

[tomspixie]

Nuzmom...i am so sorry about the GB stuff and can completely understand. I did a stupid and left a purse in our room. When I called last week no one had found it. I don't even know what was inside it. That sounds really bad, but I used to sell this particular brand of purse and so would trade several of them around every couple of days, so I didn't always unload. My prayer is that I did not have much in it, and that whomever has it, really needed it.

As to the workers, we were supposed to have it done in ours as well. They were going to move us, but it wasn't any better...in fact one room they were going to put us into had the bed up against the wall...wires hanging from the ceiling, drop cloths, etc. Not good. Well, two days before they were supposed to be in our room they were next door. The work was so loud that we could not even hear one another in the room. We don't even got off the ship in ports too much anymore as we have been often enough. It was an interesting situation that had us running about over and over.

Holly...sorry you had to deal with the smoke on top of the chaos of it all!

 

[HollyTyler]

Since you mentioned it, I looked into the photo books too. It actaully wasn't that much more than just printing my pics would've been. Here's a tip, it might not alwyas work but it can't hurt- I started working on one and then abandoned it when other things came up. A couple days later, they sent me a coupon for 20% off if I finished the project. The code was ALLDONE. it's worth a try. if the coupon code doesn't work for you, try starting it but don't finish it and maybe a couple days later you'll get a code too

Personally- of your entire story about the verandah work being done- it would be the smoke that would've ticked DH and I off the most. To the point that if we could smell it in our room I can almost gurantee you he'd have stood at guest services glaring at someone until they moved us to a smoke free room. that's just unacceptable to me that someone would smoke while doing work on your room!

Hi Courtney! I did exactly the same thing and got the 20% discount too. The book was delivered fairly quickly and I absolutely love it! Everybody I've shown it to has commented on how it's such a great idea. The one I did was from our cruise last year, but I didn't do it until about a month before this cruise. Hopefully I'll get this one done quicker than last year!

 

[HollyTyler]

Nuzmom...i am so sorry about the GB stuff and can completely understand. I did a stupid and left a purse in our room. When I called last week no one had found it. I don't even know what was inside it. That sounds really bad, but I used to sell this particular brand of purse and so would trade several of them around every couple of days, so I didn't always unload. My prayer is that I did not have much in it, and that whomever has it, really needed it.

As to the workers, we were supposed to have it done in ours as well. They were going to move us, but it wasn't any better...in fact one room they were going to put us into had the bed up against the wall...wires hanging from the ceiling, drop cloths, etc. Not good. Well, two days before they were supposed to be in our room they were next door. The work was so loud that we could not even hear one another in the room. We don't even got off the ship in ports too much anymore as we have been often enough. It was an interesting situation that had us running about over and over.

Holly...sorry you had to deal with the smoke on top of the chaos of it all!

Sorry you had to deal with that noise too! Even if they weren't in your room, I'm sure it was still disruptive for you. There was a day when Tyler took a 5 hour nap and I was going to nap for part of that too, but I could hear the guys working on a room nearby and it was way too loud. Good thing kids can sleep through just about anything if they're dog-tired!

My TA was appalled with my experience and told me she's surprised they didn't schedule better. She also commented that the workers should have been working instead of taking time to smoke in the room. She already had a meeting set up yesterday with the Director of Guest Services for DCL and told me she would tell him all about my experience. Hmmmm.....if they toss an upgrade my way for next time, that will make me very happy!

 

[HollyTyler]

Hey, if anybody has some free time, you really should read the "Geeks on a Boat" trip report if you haven't already! Her writing style is hilarious and will keep you laughing. She also incorporates a few pics to emphasize certain parts. It's probably the best report I've ever read!

Did I really say "free time" above? Most SANE people would be sleeping by now! Or out doing whatever fun things people do on Saturday nights.

 

[tomspixie]

Hey, if anybody has some free time, you really should read the "Geeks on a Boat" trip report if you haven't already! Her writing style is hilarious and will keep you laughing. She also incorporates a few pics to emphasize certain parts. It's probably the best report I've ever read!

Did I really say "free time" above? Most SANE people would be sleeping by now! Or out doing whatever fun things people do on Saturday nights.

Holly...the scary thing here is that we were all ready for be by about 10:30! Abby was even in...afternoon football game. We even threw a movie into the DVD player and kicked back. Well...there was a time out for a game of kick the can. It was funny...we were going to make a DCL tv movies night...GLORY ROAD, 16 BLOCKS, FIREWALL, SHE'S THE MAN, FAILURE TO LAUNCH, or ANNAPOLIS. We ended up going "off ship" and ended up watching BROTHER'S GRIMM. Not bad.

We were at a 4pm soccer game for Iain...our middle...which is 5pm in Florida. We were very depressed. The worst fo me though is 1:30 on Saturdays...that's when someone else can get into MY room.

Hope all have a wonderful Sunday!

 

[gdulaney]

Hey, if anybody has some free time, you really should read the "Geeks on a Boat" trip report if you haven't already! Her writing style is hilarious and will keep you laughing. She also incorporates a few pics to emphasize certain parts. It's probably the best report I've ever read!

Did I really say "free time" above? Most SANE people would be sleeping by now! Or out doing whatever fun things people do on Saturday nights.

Holly,
I've been reading it too! Here descriptions are so funny...I lost it at one point and did the whole coke spewage through the nose....

Ginny