3/21/09 Magic **almost** Live

[DisneyMom92]

I am going to try my hand at an almost live trip report again. Last year, I did pretty well until the last day or days. I hope you come along for the ride.

We are sitting in the Hyatt Airport waiting for sunrise...well actually we are waiting for room service, then we will go to *hopefully* sleep, then head to port tomorrow. We have a shuttle picking us up from basikshuttle.com at 9 a.m. We have never used them before, but they have very reasonable rates and seem very nice when I talked with them on the phone. They were very accomodating. Apparently they have Town Cars and Vans and they gave us our choice. We thought we would be more comfortable in the van.

We are really excited. This is our fourth Disney Cruise... in fact, its our fourth cruise ever. This is the third year in a row that we have cruised over Spring Break, all of them Westerns, so this year we made absolutely no plans. None. If we want to get off the ship we can, but we are just playing it by ear.

My sister and my daughter have an inside stateroom and my son and I have a room with a balcony across the hall. Feel free to ask questions or tell me what you want to know about.

See everyone on the other side!

 

[BlueBayou]

I look forward to hearing about your trip! Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[frdeb1999]

Looking forward to your TR! And hope you have a fabulous time!

 

[lunsusie]

Have a MAGICAL cruise!

 

[Smileneyes]

Looking forward to your trip report!

Words has it there are new menus aboard...it'll be interesting hearing what you think!

 

[anetnmike]

cruising vicariously thru you!
thanx for bringing us all along with you!
my work has been really busy and I am in the middle of writing a paper for school - a nice western cruise sounds like so much more fun right now!
I'm ready!

 

[cakesnjammom]

cruising with you too!! thanks for taking me along! more, more, more...cannot wait!

 

[pperfectmom]

Ooooh...can't wait.

 

[heaven2dc]

I love live reports!! Can't wait to read all about your trip - have a grand time!! (I'm so jealous!)

 

[MN Dis Fans]

DisneyMom92 I hope you folks have a great cruise! I'm so jealous that we're not on the same boat this year!
Oh well, July's not that far away?

Looking forward to hearing all about your adventure's!

 

[DisneyMom92]

Sorry it's taken this long to post. I have had a considerable amount of trouble getting online this trip and was just now able to get on.

OK so some observations about what's new -- at least to me ... first the TVs are very nice and much more easily seen from across the room. The channels are hard to get used to, however. There is also a new safe in the room. Gone are the days that we have to use our KTTW or some other magnetic stripped card to open and close our safe. They now have a kiosk set up near Shutters where you can view all of the pictures taken of our group; simply swipe your KTTW and the pictures all pop up. Its a great feature even though we haven't taken advantage of many pictures this trip.

The menus look new and probably are different than before. Unfortunately, as you will see from my trip report that will follow, hopefully still tonight, we don't eat much from the menu except from lighter fare, so we don't really notice that much change. For those wondering...Peanut Butter Pie was back on the menu this trip.

I hope this answers all of the questions people were wondering about. If not, feel free to ask.

 

[DisneyMom92]

We were up and on our way at 9 am, just a few short hours after a late landing at 1 a.m. We met our driver from www.basikshuttle.com in the lower level of the Hyatt, near the valet stand. The people at the Hyatt were very nice and accommodating. We called for a bell cart just about 5 minutes before it came, which is pretty swift for that kind of hotel. Our driver was a few minutes early, as were we, since we thought we would have to wait for the bellman. We were on our way about 10 minutes early.

Now, everyone had told us that it was a hour to an hour and 15 minutes to get from the airport to the port, so we thought we would be there after 10. Remember, my son was on the great quest for the number 2 boarding card so we thought we might be close in getting it, but the adults of our group (me and my sister) didn't see any reason to give up on any more sleep for that coveted boarding assignment. However, we got there a little before 10, probably about 10 minutes, since our driver had no problems and we didn't hit any traffic issues. The day was beautiful, if a bit chilly, and our driver talked the whole way there about history of the area and such that the time passed really quickly.

Amazingly enough, we were the second people in line for the luggage handlers when they came out, and were the second in line to check in even though some people rudely pushed past us like they were more entitled to that number 2 boarding pass than we were! Since we were Castaway Club members, we got checked in before them anyway. The sign on the counter said check in would start promptly at 11, but a cast member told us they would be with us in a few minutes so we held out hope that we could sit and wait for the boarding announcements, rather than stand and wait. And about 10:15 they started checking people in. We had a gentleman who had seen better days, but he was efficient and we were soon handed our boarding card and heading to the chairs to await boarding. Oh, our card number? 2! can you believe it, two cruises in a row we got the coveted Number 2.

Oh, a new thing I haven't seen mentioned. They took individual pictures of each of us for security reasons. We didn't see the pictures and they were not put anywhere other than their own computers, but maybe one day they will be on the KTTW like a driver's license? I don't know, but that was quick and efficient as well.

The time passed quickly and soon the boarding announcement was made, our embarkation picture was taken and our name was announced. And we were home again! I can't tell you what a thrill it is for me to walk on the ship each time. This is absolutely my best vacation experience and each time it is better than the last!

We did all of the early boarding things, ate lunch, wandered the ship, etc. The rooms were ready at precisely 1:30 so we dropped our day bags off. I don't remember what else we did but soon it was time for the safety drill, which was over more quickly than ever.

We decided to skip the sail away party this year and sit by TopSiders to look for dolphin that might accompany our trip out to sea. And sure enough, after we had sailed about 1/2 hour, there was a pod of dolphin. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera yet so I didn't get to take pictures of them. I tried with my cell phone, but it didn't work.

We went back to the room to try to get organized. Our luggage was at our room prior to the safety drill so I spent a little while organizing the room. I lost track of time and before I knew it, it wastime to go to the opening show. I sent my family ahead of me and changed clothes before I went down.

Now, as I have said before, this is our fourth Disney cruise. We had planned to do things differently this time. I didn't want to be tied to a schedule or have to do anything we didn't really want to. The kids love the shows, especially my son, so we would go to most of the shows. I don't really like the first or the last show. It's not really that I don't like them, I just don't love them. I can do without them on our fourth cruise. Disney Dreams and Twice Charmed, I would be happy to see every day for a long time.

Dinner was dinner Disney Cruise Line style. I don't love the food like some others do. I like it, it's ok, but it's not great. We are not foodies, but no son likes a good steak, just don't do anything to it other than cook it and throw it on a plate. We found the service slow and the food just ok the first night. Slow service was something we had expected the first night so we were not especially disappointed.

 

[frdeb1999]

Thanks for posting the update! Glad your enjoying yourselves!

 

[anetnmike]

I agree with you about feeling "home again". I get that same feeling too!
loving your report so far...

 

[DisneyMom92]

We didn't have any great plans, but we wanted to get off here because this is my daughter's absolute favorite town she has ever been to. She likes the ambiance, the colorful houses and the laid back atmosphere. We took the trolly tour, the one that you can get on and off of as many times as you want. We did a little shopping and ran into CVS which is very close to where the ship docks for a few essentials we had forgotten.

Back on board the ship, we got ready for dinner. We decided to skip the show because it was a juggler, whom we weren't especially impressed with at the opening show. The kids ran off to do their thing and we merely relaxed and enjoyed ourselves by ourselves.

Dinner again was slow and we determined that it was because there is a group of 7 or 8 people behind us who are ordering at least 2 meals each at different times during the seating. The man is quite beligerent and complains about everything. He seems deterimined to not enjoy his cruise and possibly make sure no one else does either.

After dinner we went to the comedy show in Rockin Bar D. The comedian was hilarious and had us all in stitches. We stayed for the "One Hit Wonders" performance by Soul Drive. It was really a tour of our past and was thoroughly enjoyable.

The bed was especially soft that night and the ship was rocking quite a bit so I slept like a baby. Ah, heaven.

Monday at Sea
Sea days are the absolute best! The only thing we did was play bingo and do the Castaway Club event. Otherwise we sat on deck and alternately read and slept.

Dinner was once again slow, but better. Our servers spent quite a bit of time with us after the large obnoxious table left and we had a great time with them. They didn't come out and agree that the neighboring table was demanding but they didn't disagree either, leaving us to assume they agreed

We shopped a little in the stores, and then went to our rooms to read and get ready for the next day. One thing I failed to mention before is a new pin offer they have. Saturday, Monday and Thursday they offer a different pin with purchase. The pins are really nice. I plan to take a picture when I get all three. Look for that either with Thursday's post or after we get back, depending on how our internet minutes hold out.

 

[disneychic]

Thanks for posting! Waiting to read more of your TR!

 

[DisneyMom92]

OK, I have another installment of my trip report to post, but I thought I would pop in with a little live update. It's 11 a.m. and we are docked at Castaway Cay. What am I doing in the stateroom? It's 66 degrees outside! Way too cold for a day a the beach, IMHO, so I am letting the kids and my sister sleep in. Its also quite windy and many excursions were cancelled. We didn't have any planned so it didn't affect us. I just hope it warms up later.

Now back to the trip report.....


Tuesday in Grand Cayman

I like to get up and watch the approach, so this is what I did. The rest of them like to sleep in, so they did. We had planned to stay on board, but I wanted to go ashore to get a new Swatch watch. My sister decided tocome along with me. She bought 2 Swatch watches and a Passman (sp?) ring. I bought my watch, a T-shirt and some yummy Rum Cakes!

Back on board, dinner was better, not quite as slow, but very enjoyable. They made our filet steak plain, so we were very happy with that. We are developing somewhat of a rapport with our neighboring table. They have two young children who are very well behaved and very cute.

I forgot to mention Twice Charmed. It was very good but once you know the story you find yourself watching other things, things away from the center of the action, like the dancers or whatever. We have always noticed that Disney hires singers who dance rather than dancers who sing (those of you who do one or the other know what I am talking about) and this cruise is no exception. However, some of the men can actually tap dance which was fun tonight.

After dinner we watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua. It's a very cute movie and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. We don't often get to watch movies at home so this was a special treat. They are showing Escape to Witch Mountain tomorrow night, which I am really looking forward to. The only complaint I have is that the kids before the show ran in and out, climbing over seats, yelling to each other trying to decide where to sit. That was somewhat annoying, but since I have kids of my own, I only complained to my sister. I am sure someone is complaining about mine elsewhere in the ship at some point or another.

Tomorrow is Cozumel.

 

[DisneyMom92]

Wow! It's hard to believe that we are over half way through the cruise. How come the time before the cruise goes so slowly while the time on the cruise passes so quickly?

My 16 year old daughter and I had decided to debark the ship together to get her a necklace from Tanya Moss a lot time ago. She really liked the one I bought last year and was impressed that her friends liked it too. Whenever she wore it she got a lot of complements, so she wanted one for herself.

She decided she wanted to meet shortly after 10 so I waited for her in my stateroom, trying to get on the internet to post what I had done of my trip report and see if anyone had any questions. I have had quite a bit of trouble this time trying to get on. I don't know if it was my computer or something else causing the problem, but I hadn't been able to get online so far.

After we had breakfast in Parrot Cay, we had the best time wandering the area near port together. We shopped for souvineers for some of her friends back home, as well as for ourselves. I picked up another piece at Tanya Moss along with the one I was getting for her. We then walked down the street looking in some junk stores and trying to locate something written in Spanish for my son's Spanish class. He gets extra credit for bringing in examples of Spanish in print or something from a Hispanic country's culture. he has already brought in money so we were looking for something else cool. We found a word search book and a water bottle, both totally in Spanish.

After we returned to the ship we had lunch and separated ways. I returned to the stateroom to work on this trip report and took a nap. I really enjoyed my nap this afternoon.

Tonight was the Pirate's celebration. We don't get all dressed up but we do still enjoy this activity, especially the fireworks. Having the late seating, we are never hungry for the late buffets but they always look wonderful.

Thursday is a Sea Day. We mostly read and sometimes play bingo or do a tasting here or there.

 

[anetnmike]

I am really enjoying your trip report! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I can't believe the temps at CC though wow!
Can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

 

[frdeb1999]

Loving your TR! Can't believe how cold it was at CC!! I would have opted to stay on board also! Looking forward to the rest!