2nd Anniversary + 2nd Chances = Our 2nd Cruise! 7/20 NEWS!!

[ariel1025]

After speeding past security we made our way to check-in and I have to say that it was already massively different from our last cruise. During our honeymoon it was packed with wall-to-wall people and I stood in line waiting to check us in for at least 30 minutes, only to realize Candi didn't sign his passport and having to flag him over while waiting there embarrassed for him to come sign it. This time however, we made our way up the escalators to see this

We also got to go into the Castaway Club line and waited less than a minute before being called to check-in. This is where my stomach started doing flip flops. I nervously handed them all our documentation and waited to see what they would say about the difference between my name on my passport vs my drivers license vs my reservation The CM very pleasantly asked me which one was my married name and then said "I'm very sorry" UH OH "but you will have to spend this cruise with your maiden name" PHEW .... sweet relief!

After getting all of our paperwork, our room assignments/keys and our Castaway Club lanyards we were handed our boarding number and told to have a magical cruise. I roamed around to check everything and within 5 minutes they were calling our boarding number!!

We quickly made our way to the Mickey ears

We made our way through and decided to bypass the photo opportunity I know, I know, me of all people passing up the chance for a photo, but the truth is I don't find the backdrop very appealing and we just weren't feeling photogenic at the moment. After getting our keys scanned for entry we were welcomed onto the ship. It was so awesome to hear them welcome us by name and even more awesomely fun to hear the CM with an English accent pronounce our Spanish last name! After we boarded we were told we had about 10 minutes before our room was available. In the meantime we could roam the ship, go to the buffet to eat or wait about 20 minutes and enjoy lunch in Parrot Cay.

We decided to roam a few minutes until our room was ready so that we could freshen up before enjoying our first meal on board ....

 

[pamcarey]

Great update! I just got back from my cruise (I should be unpacking!), so it's so much fun to see your pictures!

 

[Jennifer48]

This cruise is already starting off better than the last! I hope it continues!

 

[SaratogaShan]

I am loving your trip report....can't wait to read more! I am glad you gave crusing another try. If I had to guess, I would say this one turned out better than the first!

 

[ariel1025]

Great update! I just got back from my cruise (I should be unpacking!), so it's so much fun to see your pictures!

I hope you had an amazing time on your cruise What itinerary did you sail?

This cruise is already starting off better than the last! I hope it continues!

Thanks for continuing to read!

I am loving your trip report....can't wait to read more! I am glad you gave crusing another try. If I had to guess, I would say this one turned out better than the first!

Thank you! I'm really glad we gave it another try too

 

[ariel1025]

After boarding the ship, we decided to roam around for a few minutes until our room was ready. In reality, it was probably less than 5 minutes before they announced that we could begin making our way to our rooms. Although we could have gone straight to eat (at the buffet or Parrot Cay) we decided to drop our stuff in the room and then make a decision from there.

We were in a Verandah view, room 6126. Even though I remembered what the rooms had looked like from our honeymoon, and I knew they hadn't changed, I was still excited to see our room for the first time. When we walked in we saw that our room was set-up with everything "flipped" from our last room (instead of the bed being on the right, it was on the left etc). We also quickly discovered that we had lots of goodies waiting for us on the bed

We had a gift bag for being return sailers, a Happy Anniversary card from the cruise staff, a welcome aboard card from DVC and a note letting us know that the fuel price had dropped since we had booked so we each got a $45 shipboard credit for the difference .... SCORE

Before we ventured back onto the main ship, we had to check out our view ...

And a quick view of the room from our balcony

After we were settled in as best as possible, since our luggage hadn't arrived yet, we decided to go to the DVC members mingle. I was curious to see if they would discuss any of the progress on the Hawaii location, as well as what the onboard incentives for adding on points were .... and I was possibly hoping to win the $500 shipboard credit for attending

In the end, we walked away with a hat, a small blanket (which I was super grateful for since I froze on the plane ride over) as well as a packet of really good deals for adding on points .... but luck wasn't on our side for the shipboard credit. Oh well, we had fun and Candi was impressed with how many of the trivia questions I got right

Once the presentation had ended we headed back to the room since we knew the mandatory boat drill would be starting soon. When we got to the room and got our lifejackets we were thrilled to find out our drill would be in Animator's Palate again (same as our honeymoon) instead of outside in the scorching sun!

The drill was painless and over quickly, so we decided to grab a snack on the way back to the room before we headed out for the Adventures Away party ....

 

[DisneyCruiser83]

You both are so cute in your jackets. I love lifeboat vest pictures, but DH never wants to take one.
I always go to the DVC meeting, but have never won the OBC, maybe one day.
I am glad you were able to update and can't wait for more. I hope you are well!

 

[pamcarey]

I hope you had an amazing time on your cruise What itinerary did you sail?

We did the 5 night Key West cruise. We had a great time... thanks!

 

[ariel1025]

You both are so cute in your jackets. I love lifeboat vest pictures, but DH never wants to take one.
I always go to the DVC meeting, but have never won the OBC, maybe one day.
I am glad you were able to update and can't wait for more. I hope you are well!

Thank you I am doing very well, still tired a lot and getting very anxious for our ultrasound next week

We did the 5 night Key West cruise. We had a great time... thanks!

Awesome! We were just talking about doing a 5 day with Key West instead of a double dip next time

 

[ariel1025]

After the DVC member mingle and the safety drill we grabbed a quick snack on the pool deck before the Adventures Away party began. I grabbed the first of many fruit trays of the trip and we ate on our balcony before heading back out to claim our spot for the party.

We were able to grab a spot on the deck above the party, off to the side, with one row of people in front of us. I know we could have gotten a "better" spot if we had gone up there earlier, but we were really aiming to keep everything easy going this trip. It wasn't about stressing out, claiming spots, racing to reservations ....

The party began about 10 minutes after we positioned ourselves into our view

I promise you I am like a little kid .... as soon as the characters come out I am a screaming, singing, dancing fool I was super happy to see that Candi was even breaking out of his element and really getting into the fun as well.

As expected, the decks were packed and it was awesome to see everyone so carefree and excited. I knew we were all thinking along the same lines .... no work, no worries, no alarm clocks, no "grown up" responsibilities for the next 5 days

Then it happened .... the most beautiful sound of cruise horns in the world went off and we felt the ship begin to move

Once this happened, we moved our position from the party over the the edge of the ship to watch land (and stress) drift away

As soon as I snapped that picture of Candi, a super sweet girl who was walking by offered to take a picture of both of us. I've said it in several TRs before and I will say it again .... "I love how amazingly friendly and thoughtful Disney vacationers are!"

We turned and gave the land one last farewell

Then we grabbed some more snacks (make that round 2 of the juicy, yummy, cold fruit plate ) and headed up to our room to relax.

We once again positioned ourselves out on our balcony ... have I mentioned how much I love having a verandah room? Seriously, I couldn't imagine cruising without it! Disney sure knew what they were doing when they gave us a free upgrade on our honeymoon

 

[pamcarey]

Great update! I like your relaxed, no stress approach to the cruise!

 

[kellyb2000]

It wasn't about stressing out, claiming spots, racing to reservations ....

Our second DCL cruise was the first one after I found the DIS which means I was on information overload. It was very stressful trying to do and see everything that you hear about. Not hating, I still think

I promise you I am like a little kid .... as soon as the characters come out I am a screaming, singing, dancing fool

Ain't nothing wrong with that!

Great picture!

 

[anetnmike]

what a cute picture of you two!

DH completely fell in love with verandahs on our last trip-and I am not complaining we fell asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing against the bow every night and it was blissful...

love love love your updates!

 

[Jennifer48]

Great updates!

I think DCL is much more stress free than WDW. I hope your mentality continues!

 

[tinkmom2]

By the time you finish this trip report you are gonna have the baby lol! Just kidding! Love reading it so far. It's keeping me tied over til our next cruse only 400 plus days away

 

[ariel1025]

Great update! I like your relaxed, no stress approach to the cruise!

Thanks

Our second DCL cruise was the first one after I found the DIS which means I was on information overload. It was very stressful trying to do and see everything that you hear about. Not hating, I still think




Ain't nothing wrong with that!




Great picture!

You know the funny thing? I hadn't found the DIS yet before our honeymoon cruise and it made me more stressed out than after I found it Even though there were tons of things I wanted to see/do that I read on here, I felt more relief from knowing there would be something new for "next time"

what a cute picture of you two!

DH completely fell in love with verandahs on our last trip-and I am not complaining we fell asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing against the bow every night and it was blissful...

love love love your updates!

I agree about falling asleep to the waves

Great updates!

I think DCL is much more stress free than WDW. I hope your mentality continues!

It is definitely easier to not feel the need to "go go go" on the cruise than at WDW

By the time you finish this trip report you are gonna have the baby lol! Just kidding! Love reading it so far. It's keeping me tied over til our next cruse only 400 plus days away

I know, I know, I know Hopefully I will find time to start updating during the week and not just on the weekends!

 

[ariel1025]

Hello Everyone

I promise I am working on a trip update that will go up today .... I'm actually on bedrest due to a minor back injury so you might even get a couple

But first I had to share some baby news. We had an ultrasound on Monday so the Doctor could check-in on the baby AND we could finally find out the gender of the baby.

I will spare you the long, drawn out story that the day turned out to be but I have to share a few highlights with you ....

The baby is so super duper active ... would not lay still the entire time and really gave the Ultrasound Technician a challenge with getting all the measurements/photos the Dr needed

My favorite part of the entire process (even more than finding out the gender) was when the baby just got mellow for a second and yawned this great big yawn, complete with arms moving up by the head. It was the cutest, most amazing thing ever!!!!

So without further ado I "introduce" you to

OUR SON!

 

[ariel1025]

The original plan for this night was to do an early evening spa treatment - the couple's steam room one, forget what it's called followed by a late dinner at Palo's and the drinks on our verandah to wrap up the evening.

Well ... baby kinda changed some of that So here's what we did instead ...

Luckily I had found out I was pregnant in time to cancel our spa treatment ... the exotic rasul, that's what it's called ... I'm not sure what would have happened if we hadn't cancelled in the time frame alloted. When I had talked to the Dr about going on the cruise I was given strict orders to stay hydrated, stay out of the hot tub and stay out of steam rooms Since it's Disney, I like to believe they would have allowed us to use the cost of Rasul as a credit for a different spa treatment Anywho, since we did cancel in time we didn't have to worry about it!

Instead of doing the spa we decided to catch the early showing of that night's show in the Walt Disney Theatre. If you will remember from my planning, I was sorta bummed about missing the show the first night, so this didn't put a damper on our evening at all! I had originally thought that since it was a 5 night cruise that the first show would have been a "compilation" type preview of the shows to come. However, it was actually The Golden Mickeys so I was super excited we would get to see it.

Before the show we got all "spiffied" up in our cruise finest so that we wouldn't have to rush around afterwards to get ready for Palo. At first I felt out of place being all dressed up as many of the other cruisers were in jeans and t-shirts. However, the more full the theatre got, the more people I saw dressed up as well.

We had seen this show on our honeymoon cruise, and we both remembered liking it. I have to say, I think we liked it even more this time. The jokes seemed to be more on cue and the acting and singing both seemed better as well. Not sure if it was our good moods or if it really was the case, either way we were pleased.

After the show we still had about half an hour before our dinner so I decided to take the camera back to the room for the rest of the night. As had been the case our two nights at Disney World, I really just wanted to enjoy an evening with my Husband. We had so much to be celebrating and I didn't want to distract myself with trying to get "perfect" pictures all night. I knew they would have photographers at Palo so if I liked that picture, I would just buy that to capture the evening.

Once the camera was carefully stored away, we decided to roam the top deck of the ship until it was time to check in for our reservation. It was a beautiful night, with the wind blowing just slightly and the sun setting so peaceful on top of the ocean

We had cleared about 2 laps around the ship when we decided to go ahead and check-in a little early. As we were waiting to give our name there was a couple ahead of us that caught Candi's eye. You see, Candi isn't the biggest fan of dressing up, so he wasn't exactly thrilled to be in dress slacks and shirt and tie. Since he isn't a girl, he doesn't get how great that outfit looks next to my dress and heels Well, the gentleman in front of us was in khaki shorts, polo and leather sandals so Candi became convinced that I "tricked" him into dressing up by saying there was a dress code I couldn't help but (very maturely) stick my tongue out at him when the couple were asked to go back to their room and change before enjoying dinner. Don't worry, I didn't let anybody else see what I did ... that's what made it so mature

Once we got checked in we only had to wait a couple of minutes before we were taken to our seats. Even though it was already dark out I was still happy that we got a table by one of the windows. I absolutely love window seats! We were immediately introduced to our server, Dragan, who was absolutely the best! He was attentive without being intrusive and helpful without being pushy. We couldn't have asked for a better server or meal. It was the perfect start of the cruise, and I we both agreed it will always continue to be our first meal on any future voyage!

After we were good and stuffed we decided to go back to the room and change before heading back out for the night. Candi had seen in the navigator that there was a pinao bar and he was thrilled to go check it out. We both agreed that we wanted to see the Tribute to Elton John that night, in the Cadillac Lounge. We got there just as the previous show was wrapping up and grabbed a little table for two by one of the windows.

Unfortunately, this is where things started to go wrong. I'm not sure if the waves and speed of the boat had been the same all night. But, all of a sudden it seemed like we were going really fast and hitting some really rough waves. I was getting very nauseaus, very quickly Luckily, Candi had grabbed my Seabands before leaving the room so I put those on while Candi went to the bar to order a drink. While he was up at the bar our server came over to get our order and I let him know that my Husband was getting a Ginger Ale for me, but we would let him know when we needed something else. He then questioned me about why we were ordering directly from the bar and didn't wait for him to come take our order. I explained to him that I got very sick and needed a Ginger Ale quickly and we hadn't seen him yet. He proceeded to reply by stating "well it looks like I got to you before your little drink anyway didn't I?" I was in utter shock! I once again let him know that I didn't need anything from him at the moment and he continued on to the next table.

Once Candi got back with a Giner Ale for me and a Cappucino for himself the show we had came to see started. Now, I love Elton John and Candi likes him but we both had certain songs we wanted to hear. For me, Elton John goes hand in hand with the following two songs ... "Benny & the Jets" and "Candle in the Wind." For Candi, Elton John is just about the piano playing so as long as those 3 items were covered we were in heaven! We stayed for the whole show, which was only an hour, and were both super pleased by the end. I really wish I would have remembered the performers name, because he did a superb job and we were both really impressed.

At the end of the show we made our way out and decided that it was time to call it a night. We headed back to the room to shower and decided that we were in need of room service and a movie before going to sleep. So I ordered another round of fruit and Candi ordered some cheese and crackers before we eventually fell asleep with the excitement of Castaway Cay the next day ....

 

[grace&philipsmom]

A boy! Congratulations!

 

[kellyb2000]

SUPER excited for you guys and your baby boy! Congratulations! Nothing like a Mama's boy