4 Women-4 days of Wonder; Oct 15-19

[MJ5MOUSE]

Chapter 1; How much luggage could 4 women pack
If 4 women could pack luggage
4 a 4 day cruise?

Cast -Sister Sue, Castaway Club member that introduced us to DCL and the DIS
-Me
-DD17 (Mouse)Read my DD's trip report http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1260757
-DD17’s Best Friend (DDBFF)

Most TR’s start with “How I got to Florida…” But since I live here my TR will begin with why I still had to spend the day before traveling.
DDBFF used to live two doors down from us. She and DD grew up together and since their birthdays are 1 week apart they make a point of celebrating it together. This cruise is just 2 ½ weeks before DD’s birthday so DDBFF is invited to come along. Several years ago DDBFF’s family moved to Tampa so off I go to retrieve DDBFF. On the way back I pick up Sister Sue from Pop Century. She flew in a few days before to visit the parks. Our honeymooning friends from the DIS meets thread are staying at Pop Century too so we stop by GS and leave them a phone message of congratulations and tell them we will see them tomorrow on board the Wonder.
We had spent many hours in anticipation chatting with fellow cruisers on the DIS Meets thread and had really developed friendships so we were looking forward to meeting everyone in person almost as much as we were looking forward to the cruise its self.
We get everyone settled in at my house and DH takes us out for dinner to Texas Roadhouse. We can’t believe that the day has finally arrived it seems surreal.
Sunday morning DH stuffs the 10 pieces of luggage that the 4 of us women have packed for our 4 day cruise into the back of my car. Now where do we sit and how do I see out? Oh well, I don’t care we are going on a CRUISE!
Oh-oh, I forgot to get $1.00 bills to have handy for tips. We stop for gas and get 20 ones, now were ready. We arrive at the port about 10:30 and are greeted by a CM who wants to tell us all about the changes and upgrades made during dry dock. Problem is we seem to know WAY more about the changes than she does. Guess she doesn’t spend every waking moment glued to the DIS. Besides we are ready to get on our ship NOW! so enough talking already!! Finally I am allowed to drop off my 10 pieces of luggage and 3 passengers in front of the terminal. Very quick and easy a porter grabs our luggage and whisks it away and guess what, we forget to tip him, ARRRGGGGHHH.
As I pull away from the curb I see a beautiful little princess spinning little pirouettes as her parents unload their car and I think to myself AWWWW she is so cute and she gets to cruise with Mickey. Then it occurs to me….. I know that little princess...!!!

Next Up : Guess Who We Found? (Post # 8)

 

[Sue88]

I'm riveted! I can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[dallastxcpa]

Great start to your trip report. I can't wait to hear more.

 

[TinkNanny]

Oh my,..........Who could it be

 

[curlybop]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with 10 pieces of luggage.

Keep on going!!

 

[tjeagle]

Enjoyed your first installment...keep it coming!!

 

[Frankiesmom]

great so far! We will be doing our 1st 4 nite in Jan. have done 2 3 nites-give us all the gory details! LOL can't wait fo the rest. Angel

 

[MJ5MOUSE]

Thanks for reading and commenting. Hope your enjoying it. Here is Chapter 2: Guess who we found?

I parked my car and raced back to the terminal. Just inside my travel companions are chatting with little miss princess’s mum. That’s right, my DD had recognized our sweet little Elouise at precisely the same time I had. Elouise is the DD4 of our UK friend Lindy Loo from the DIS. Let me tell you this darling young girl stole every heart she came in contact with on this cruise starting with my DD. Elouise adored her too and spent most of the morning playing “tickle Alie” which was a great way to keep them both occupied while waiting to board.
I was surprised and a little disappointed when we entered the terminal that they were already handing out boarding pass number 4, especially since there were so few people waiting in the terminal. But I knew from reading the DIS that it would not take much longer for number 4 to be called after the coveted # 2 so I decided to just enjoy the fact that I had a boarding number that would soon allow me to pass through those mickey ears.
Since Sister Sue is a CC member we entered the CC members check in line and began that process. It seems the CM who was checking us in was new and v-e-r-y s-l-o-w but we finally got checked in and we each received a CC members lanyard and two pins which made us feel very special. When ever we wore them CM’s would say “Welcome back” to us.
After check in we went to take the girls picture near the entrance and got there just in time to catch Captain Mickey coming out to take photos. The girls were first in line. Next we joined Elouise and Her Dad (Wayne) in the waiting area, you should have seen that girl putting away cinnamon rolls. While we waited we met many of the DISers we had been talking to on our cruise meets thread. We had pre-planned to all wear lime green so we would be easy to spot. We said hello and promised to meet at 3 by the Mickey pool.
Shortly after noon #4 was called and we passed through the giant yellow ears on our way to our dream vacation.

(I didn't take any pictures in the terminal. I'll have a few to add from now on.)

Next Up: Chocolate, Chocolate, and more Chocolate, what more could 4 women want? (post #13)

 

[jrose529]

Great report so far! I can't wait for more.

 

[Lindy Loo]

MJ, hello....................... lovin your trip report!!!

You are too kind about Elouise, it was you guys who so made our cruise. you were the BEST!

I'm so grateful for the DIS, for the tips, and for the chance of meeting you and having such wonderful table mates.

I will do a trip report soon, but I love the details, you remember ( the Cinnamon rolls at the terminal etc!!)..........................guess you keeping a journal paid off?

Cant wait to read the next chapter!

 

[curlybop]

Chocolate? Chocolate you say? I'm all ears.

 

[Sue88]

More report please!

 

[MJ5MOUSE]

Chocolate, Chocolate, and more Chocolate:

Of coarse after reading the DIS for all of these many months I had long anticipated the moment you are announced as you board. It did not work out nearly so well as I had hoped. For those of you who do not know this, the CM who announces your arrival asks your family name as you board then makes the welcome announcement. Since the 4 of us all had different last names we did not know how to answer so he asked our individual first names, but we had to go over these several times before he got them right and by that time the thrill had passed. So if you are looking forward to being announced but have a difficult name situation here is my suggestion; Decide how you would like to be announced in advance and be prepared to relay it. If the name(s) are difficult have them written down and ready to pass to the announcer. I have since heard of people who are traveling with people with different last names coming up with other creative ways of being announced. Perhaps, give yourselves a travel group name.
We were directed to Parrot Cay for lunch. We were told that if we wanted to sit outside we could try Beach Blanket Buffet but Sue thought PC was a nicer way to start out. I had seen fewer pictures of PC and it had been newly renovated during dry-dock and I have to say I loved the look of it. The colors are so bright and inviting but still elegant. It was also much larger than I had anticipated. The food was excellent in my opinion. I had salmon with a tomato salsa, yellow rice and fresh steamed vegetables. I love colorful food. But as I hinted at previously, true to my natural womanly instincts my favorite color food in brown as in deep rich decadent chocolate. I was ready to hit the dessert buffet. As I stood eyeing the luscious array

a woman standing beside me say’s “Oh, I am trying to stay away from the chocolate.” to which I respond, “ Not me-I am focusing on the chocolate”. I then selected a large slice of double fudge chocolate cake. I sat down and began to savor said gooey richness when the server comes up to me and says, “You need ice cream on that” Whoa, what was I thinking, he was so totally right! I quickly returned to the ice cream station where a CM asks if I would like chocolate or strawberry with that? Hmmmmm, betcha can guess my answer.

Full and happy we decided to take a look around the ship. We visited the Oceaneers club and imagined Elouise playing there. We passed above the atrium and clapped for the arriving passengers. We ran into Dopey who loved my DD’s lime green scarf that matched his shirt.

And we checked out those comfy chairs on deck 4. It was nearly 1 so we decided to see if our room was ready. We took the aft stairs to deck 7 then followed the corridor forward to 7014. When we reached mid ship we found that the ropes were still up suggesting that the rooms were not yet open but since we were already on the wrong side we proceeded on. Our room was by the forward elevators just where the corridor jogs so it was very easy to locate. Our luggage had not yet arrived but the room was prepared. We entered and my DD found a welcome note from our cabin host, Kim. DD left him a message in return thanking him and put each of our names on it. We were thirsty and DD decided she was ready for her first ice cream treat so we proceeded to deck 9. Free soda and ice cream any time YES! This was definitely a Disney plus. We found Elouise and her parents at the Goofy pool. The Mickey pool was not open yet on this day, which probably disappointed parents of young children. Then we headed up to Aloft so the girls could check it out. The CM there was Jen and she was very nice and filled the girls in on all the details of when to meet to sign up for “Gotcha” an elimination game the teens play. She also told us there were a surprising number of older teens (16 and 17 year olds) cruising with us this week. The girls liked the rooms décor and said they would be back that evening.

Next up: DISers meet at the Mickey Pool.(Post 17)

 

[Sue88]

Great reporting!

 

[CastleCreations]

Hi I love your trip report. Can't wait to read more!!
Lis

 

[saratogagirl]

great report and piccies Jane, I feel like I may have been there with you LOL ....
Can't wait to read more, you keeping that journal has certainly paid off ...

 

[MJ5MOUSE]

DISers meet at the Mickey pool:

We returned to our cabin to see if our luggage had arrived. It just had and Kim introduced himself and asked us if we had everything. I had brought gift bags for the DIS meet and was hoping to get them in time. I unpacked the bags and gave Sue, Janet, and Alie theirs. They all enjoyed getting something special. I gave the girls markers and small photo albums, I told them they could have characters sign the pages then they could slip the photos they take in behind the signatures. (Yup, got that idea from the DIS) I also got them highlighters for marking the navigators, sticky notes to leave messages in the room, and a cute little necklace of a fairy with a vial of pixie dust.
When we arrived at the Mickey pool it had finally opened and they were just getting the new toddler area up and running. I took a couple of photos to post here for those anxious to see it.

Elouise was zipping down the Mickey slide, which is pretty cool as she is only 4.
I am sort of a take charge type so when we had agreed to meet with our fellow DISers I kind of took it upon myself to be the point of contact. I had kept a full list of everyone on our cruise meets thread that wanted to meet and had kept the info up to date on our thread. So I designated myself our DIS-ORGANIZER. I found this title hilarious, my DD not so much. Oh well no accounting for sense of humor. Around 3:10 my DD spotted Ian and Jules (Saratogagirl) the only ones of our tablemates we had not yet met. (11 of us had linked our dinner ressies from our meet thread) As everyone gathered, Belinda (tinknanny) Linda, Wayne, and Elouise (Lindy Loo) Jen and Mike with their DDs Nicole and Kylie (Mdavison) and newlyweds Jake and Kelly (Sparkelly) we all hugged and shared our travel stories and were just so very glad to finally be there together on the Wonder, by the Mickey pool, sharing our adventure. Making friends on the DIS before we actually sailed not only kept us excited and sane as we waited for our sail date all those long months, it also made the experience on board all the more special. It was like traveling with old friends. Thanks to each of you for making this trip so special. I gave each of my new “old” friends a bottle of Orange Blossom Honey that is produced and bottled by a neighbor of mine in Malabar Florida. (Those bees probably pollinate the citrus trees in my very own yard) and a lime green drink koozy that I had decorated with the DCL Mickey ears. I also had a special gift bag for Elouise similar to the ones I gave my girls.
At 3:30 they closed the pool to encourage everyone to return to their cabins for the Safety drill.

We reluctantly went our separate ways looking forward to meeting up again at Sail-a-way, the shows, and dinner at Tritons.

Up next: Why is my skirt 2 decks above where I am?(Post 24)

 

[Sue88]

love the pictures.
Can't wait to hear about you skirt!

 

[Stinasmom]

Oh, I'm signing on to this one!
My DH acts like he's dragged along when it comes to Disney...I can see me taking a friend or my mom and my DD and a friend of hers on DCL when she's older!
Thank you for sharing so far, looking forward to the rest!
Marcy

 

[tch121]

Thanks for the pics of the toddler pool - I've been dying to see what they've done. My 2 year old will be thrilled for our 11/12 cruise!