4/22/07 4 night Wonder-ful backward cruise!

[LJC1861]

My first cruise ever was on the 4/22/07 Wonder cruise, the one that had to return to port due to a medical emergency.

Lisa and I arrived at port at 9:30 a.m. and were asked to wait in a parking lot for a bit. We waited until about 9:50 a.m. and then drove up to the drop off point, and Lisa waited with the luggage while I went to park. 10 minutes later we were handing our luggage over to a porter and on our way into the terminal. Security and check in were a breeze and we were handed boarding card number 2!!. We settled in to wait and had a lovely time people watching until we boarded. It was so much fun heading down the gangway and being announced as we got on board. We were directed to Parrot Cay ( which was where we wanted to have lunch anyway) and sat down to a most wonderful buffet. I heard that it was good, and it definitely lived up to all the reports. The shrimp were phenomenal as were the desserts. After lunch we headed to Wavebands to change our Palo times and 15 minutes later we were up in the Quiet Cove area with a fruity drink in our hands. It was so heavenly and peaceful. At 1:30 we made our way to our lovely cat. 5 cabin on deck 7. Thanks to this board I had no trouble opening the verandah door and we began to settle in. We met a bunch of other DIS'ers in the Promonade lounge for a little meet just before lifeboat drill.
The lifeboat drill went quickly and then we headed up to the deck for the sail away party. We had so much fun...and yet another fruity drink. I actually got all teary when the horn sounded and we pulled away from the dock. We stood up on the bow on deck 10 as we sailed away. After that we went down to change for dinner.
We had early seating and rotation PTTA. We were seated at a table for 8, with 3 other couples. Rosemary and Frank, Lisa and I and Uae and Zengi from Japan, and a couple who spoke no English and did not speak or even try to speak to any of us for the entire cruise. I was an exchange student in Japan a VERY long time ago and only remember a few words and phrases of my Japanese. Still, I tried and we had many good laughs over our attempts to communicate via Japanese, English, "sign language", funny faces and gestures. It made for a very enjoyable dinner experience. Our server Harlan spoke Japanese so he was able to interpret for us a bit too.
After dinner we went back to the room to just relax. We were standing on the verandah and I noticed that there were lights where there shouldn't be. I commented on this to Lisa and felt like we were headed the wrong way. Sure enough....a few minutes later the captain came on the loudspeaker and told us what was going on. The decision was made to head back to port and the captain explained that as a result the itinerary for the cruise would be changed to give us a full day in Nassau. Within minutes there were messages on the phone informing us that our Palo brunch would now be on Monday and that our shore excursions would be rescheduled. It was so sad for the family involved, but totally amazing that the crew was able to completely switch everything so seamlessly. Within 2 hours there was a completely new navigator put under the door, as if that is the way it was always supposed to be.
I need to take a break....more on this report later.

Linda

 

[wilma-bride]

Good start to your report. What a shame that someone was so ill - I hope it was nothing majorly serious and whoever it was is now OK. Well done to DCl though for acting so quickly and professionally

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

 

[CNC1010]

Hey there Linda! Great start to your report!!!!! It was a pleasure meeting you during the cruise this week! Bummer about the Dolphin Excursion for you! We were able to catch an open spot on a later time and grabbed it. Really though... what I know now and seeing my DD's fear slip away as she slipped into the CCCCCooooold water there..... I'd would have LOVED to have done the SWIM instead!!! Hope to have my report started in next few days so i'll have more insight on it for ya! (working to get photos done tomorrow so I can post them soon!)

Yeah, unfortunate about our return to port the first day Doesn't it comfort you to know DCL Crew takes such immediate action in such situations?!?! Boosted my confidence even more than ever with DCL! You thought I was hooked on Disney before... this helped seal the deal for us!!! LOVE IT!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!!!!!

 

[LJC1861]

Monday 4/23- Day at Sea

I woke up very early, after sleeping better than I have in a LONG time. There is something to the gentle rocking of the ship that was just fantastic. I took the camera and sat out on the verandah and watched the sunrise. The cloud formations were beautiful and made for some great pictures. Then I decided to walk a bit and went down to deck 4 and did 2 very lovely miles around the deck. Afterward I popped up to BBB and got a snack to hold us over until brunch at Palo.

Brunch at Palo....where do I begin!!! We were promptly seated, greeted and served a Bellini. Then Sean our waiter took us on our tour of the buffet. It was huge and beautifully presented. The seafood and dessert sections were enough to take my breath away. I lost count of how many shrimp and crab legs I ate, I am embarrassed to say. We then ordered our breakfast and lunch entrees...and yes we had both...LOL....and then it was on too dessert. I practically rolled out I ate so much. We mentioned to Sean that we were coming back for dinner that night and that we were celebrating both our 5th and 6th anniversaries. I booked the trip for our 5th and we took the trip shortly after our 6th. Sean mentioned that he was most likely going to be our waiter for dinner and that he would not only see that we were extremely well taken care of, but that he would be in charge of desserts.

After brunch we napped a bit, went up to the pool for more fruity drinks and a swim and in short had a perfectly lovely afternoon sitting and relaxing. Soon it was time to get as dolled up as we get and off we went to Palo. Once again we had a lovely table right next to the window. When we arrived there was a bit of confetti on our table and Bellini's waiting for us. We each had a salad, the warm shrimp appetizer and Lisa had the filet and I the rack of lamb. Sean heard us talking about the Pasta Carbonara, how neither of us had had it in a long time and shortly afterward there appeared a lovely dish of pasta carbonara!. Sean then began to present dessert after dessert....and I truly believe that he brought us one of everything and 2 chocolate souffles. The finishing touch was a plate with chocolate covered strawberries and "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate. It was beautiful and such a nice surprise. Our evening finished with a bottle of our favorite bottle of wine on our verandah. When we got back to the room we had a towel elephant covered in chocolates. In all my 30+ trips to WDW this was my very first towel animal!!! Kudos to Sonia for just making my day.

I have to say that the service and entire experience at Palo was just phenomenal. We were truly treated like royalty and we felt that there was no one in the restaurant but us, even though there were many other couples and groups in the restaurant.

If I hadn't known that Monday was not the actual scheduled day at sea I never would have known that anything was not as it should be. It was as if Monday was supposed to be the day at sea all along. I don't know what the Palo staff had to do to pull off that wonderful brunch, but they did it flawlessly and insured that each and every guest had an amazing time.

More later......

Linda

 

[LJC1861]

We arrived in Nassau, bright and early. The emphasis here is on the bright. There was not a cloud in the sky once again and the temperature was scheduled to be in the mid 80's by afternoon.

One thing I had forgotten to report about yesterday....our dolphin excursion. We were scheduled for 9:30 a.m. but they were unable to get the same times and only had a few slots in the afternoon. We received phone messages and hand written notes during the time we were at brunch. By the time we got to the shore excursion desk, all the spots were gone. It was disappointing, but that is how things work. There will be a dolphin excursion on another cruise and there will be another cruise! So, we decided to do some shopping with the money we would have spent on the excursion

I walked another 2 miles on the deck again and had a great time watching the ship pull into port as I walked. We got ready to head out and had a great breakfast in Triton's. Vishal was our server and took great care of us. Lisa loves eggs benedict and was excited to see it on the menu. We disembarked and headed into town. All the reports about the taxi drivers and hair braiders were true. Lisa and I both have really short hair and we had several women insist that we would look divine with braided hair. We had decided to do some shopping....t-shirts for some friends and something nice and not too expensive for us. We just got a new dining room set and found some lovely placemats and napkins in the Irish Linen shop. Then we ventured into a jewelry store. Big mistake. Last year on our anniversary Lisa gave me a diamond ring with 3 diamonds in it that belonged to her grandmother. It has a very simple but beautiful setting in both yellow and white gold. Just for fun we decided to see if we could find one to match. After looking in all the stores endorsed on the ship we ventured into the Jeweler's Warehouse where prices were much more to our liking. After explaining to Agatha what we were looking for she presented us with a ring that is extremely close to the one I am now wearing. We looked, and thought and decided not to be hasty. So we left the shop and continued looking. We came back again and asked a few more questions and left again to do some more thinking. After only a few minutes we went back and bought it!!!! It needed to be sized so we left it and decided to go back to the ship for lunch.

We had lunch in Triton's again and lo and behold Vishal was our server. He welcomed us back and we had a wonderful lunch. Then we headed back through the taxi and braiding gauntlet. As we were on the walkway a couple approached us with tickets for the water taxi that they were not going to use. We had decided to go over to Atlantis anyway and accepted them gratefully. We were 2 of the last passengers to board the VERY crowded water taxi and let me tell you, it was a pretty scary experience. We decided it would be in our best interest to take a taxi back when we were ready.

Atlantis was beautiful and we gambled just a tiny bit in the casino. We then walked down to the aquarium and marveled at all the beautiful fish and manta rays in the aquarium. We headed back into town to pick up our ring and it fit perfectly. We then went back to the ship and had a fruity drink on deck nine to ease ourselves back into the peacefulness of the ship. The Quiet Cove area is just lovely....and it is nice to have a child free area of the ship.

Tonite was pirate night, and although we decided not to dress in pirate attire we did put on our most festive tropical shirts. Dinner was a blast with our Japanese friends really enjoying themselves. After dinner we went up on deck for the pirate party. I am glad we got there early to get a good spot on deck 10. It was so cool to see Mickey fly down the zipline. The fireworks were truly breathtaking and put the perfect ending on to the already wonderful day.

More later!

Linda

 

[wilma-bride]

Linda, it all sounds absolutely fantastic. Even though I haven't been on my first cruise yet (got a 3 night booked for August), I am already thinking I NEED a 4 night just to have brunch at Palo What a shame about your dolphin excursion - but a good enough excuse to book again eh

 

[LJC1861]

Today brought us to Castaway Cay. Once again I watched the ship as it pulled into the island. It is truly truly amazing that they can pull the ship right up to the island and there you are in paradise.

We decided to do BBB for breakfast so as to get to the beach even quicker. It turned out to be a great move. We were off the ship right at 8:30 and on a tram to Serenity Bay by 8:45. We were practically the first ones on the beach. We got a hammock, an umbrella and 2 lounge chairs and settled in. We had slathered on SPF 50 sunscreen before we left the room and continued to re-apply throughout the day. I rented a float tube and spent quite a bit of time in the crystal clear water. We watched people come and go throughout the morning and totally enjoyed our hammock. We both read an entire book each during the day! Lunch was wonderful, with steak, chicken, ribs, salads, cookies, fresh fruit and ice cream!! Of course there was room for fruity drinks in the afternoon and the Konk Cooler was everything it was described to be and more.....several more in fact. We decided to call it a day around 2:30 ish to give us time to nap a bit more in the coolness of our stateroom.

We ended up getting sunburned...not all over but in patches like the tops of our feet! I even put extra sunscreen on my feet several times, but I guess it gets worn off easily in the water and sand. Still, we moved onward towards dinner in Animator's palate. Nicholas and Harlan were wonderful as usual and there was much animated conversation between most of our table mates. Our Japanese friends were on their honeymoon and showed us some of their pictures. Oohs and aahs translate into any language. After dinner we headed out to get on line for Disney Dreams. While we enjoyed the Golden Mickey's, we LOVED this show. It was truly magical and extremely well done. It is amazing that all of that could be done on a moving ship. I am a total mush and did get all teary eyed.

Once again we enjoyed a lovely bottle of wine as we packed our bags to have them ready to go. Packing was SO hard to do. We had such a good time that we honestly did not want the trip to end. We did what we had to do though and vowed to take another cruise.....as soon as we could afford to.

More later......

Linda

 

[wilma-bride]

the Konk Cooler was everything it was described to be and more.....several more in fact.

That's the way to do it Castaway Cay sounds like heaven on Earth

 

[LJC1861]

Today we were up before the sun to be at breakfast by 6:30. Our entire table was there, and I have to say it was a nice way to end the cruise. For the first time the couple that didn't say a word spoke! They simply said " Thank you for fun time." As I said, I am a mush and it touched me. Our Japanese friends gave hugs all around as they happily headed off to WDW to finish their honeymoon. Rosemary and Frank, Lisa and I had lots to talk about and it was so nice to hear all their family stories throughout the cruise. They have been married for 53 years, and were so sweet when Lisa and I showed off our matching rings. Rosemary got all teary eyed that night and patted Lisa's arm and said " It was meant to be honey" in her thick New York transplanted to Naples Florida accent.
We were lucky to have such nice and fun dining companions. We were both a bit apprehensive about this part of the dining experience, but it worked out well.

Disembarkation was a breeze and were were in our car by 7:35 a.m. As we walked into the lobby and saw the red Mickey banner that said " See you real soon" I must admit I broke into tears. This was hands down one of the best vacations we have ever had. There was enough Disney for me, enough relaxation for Lisa, enough time together for both of us. It was SO wonderful to have everything just a few staircases away. The food was good, the service superb, and the weather was perfect. I was totally impressed at the twice daily room cleaning and turndown. I was amazed to see how hard the crew works....and ALWAYS with a smile. I was truly glad to tip even more than what was suggested. I was grateful to see all the hand sanitizing that took place and the security as you re-board the ship after excursions. I totally enjoyed the adults only experiences and appreciate the activities and places onboard the ship for children of all ages.

For any of you who have yet to take your first cruise, you have much to look forward to. The best advice I can give is to relax and enjoy the preparation as much as the actual cruise experience. Don't stress too much over the seemingly little things. Yes jeans are okay in the dining room. No shorts are not okay in the dining room and Palo. Yes they insure that the adults only areas of the ship stay that way. Yes you do need to pack fewer clothes and more money. No you will not be able to do everything and don't even try....it is just too stressful. Decide as a family on the big things and go with the flow. Yes, things might happen and trust that Disney will do their best to make it magical. Our cruise was proof of that....there was much that needed to be switched and re-arranged. It was perfect just as it was. Trust that magic will find you when you least expect it. For us, it was all the small things....the smile from our Japanese tablemates when we understood each other, finding our ring in Nassau, being totally alone on a beautiful beach, watching the sunrise, seeing a tiny little girl in a make a wish t-shirt run to hug Mickey....I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Have fun. I know that we did, and can't wait to take another cruise.

Linda

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks for the report Linda - I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to our cruise even more now

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Txs for the awesome TR

 

[DreamCruiser100]

I enjoyed your trip report very much, thank you for taking the time to write

 

[lunsusie]

Linda, thanks for such a great trip report! So glad that you and Lisa had such a WONDERful cruise. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[LadyShiva]

Heya, Linda! Great trip report! Thanks for writing it up!

Brandie

 

[Dawn414]

Awesome!!! Glad to hear you both had such a great time.

Dawn McG

 

[dleem63]

Great trip report. Think I saw you both at brunch on Monday at 10:00, it was great. We had same dinner rotation as you, except 8:30 p.m. seating which was way to late for roomate. He works 5:30 to 3:00 p.m. and is in bed by 9:00 p.m. each night. I did not remember your name on the cruise just remembered you were from Arden as I went to Lutheridge there when I was much younger LOL. I think I will try and talk roomate into going on the 5/3 cruise next year and actually met some people this time. Will have to check schedules (I work for law firm and trial schedules dictate vacation). I am glad you guys had a good time and are coming back for more Disney Magic.

DeAnna

 

[LJC1861]

Hi DeAnna,

You should have taken a chance and introduced yourself! We met so many people from this board on the ship and lots of other people that we kept running into everywhere we went. It was so much fun.

Brunch was fantastic, wasn't it?? I still can't believe that they pulled it off 2 days before they were supposed to.

Lisa and I are really looking forward to 5/3/08. I started a meet thread on the meets board and although there are not too many posts yet, I know that there are several other DIS'ers who will be sailing on that cruise.

Take Care,

Linda

 

[DeloreanGirl]

I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only one that got massively sunburned on Castaway Cay! And yes, it was in patches and also on the top of my feet!!