saratogagirl
<font color= CC0066>I need books, and wine and Ian
- Joined
- May 4, 2006
- Messages
- 6,421
The Cast
Ian - 40, loves WDW, in particular the drinking establishments, leaves all planning to me..
Jules - 39, chief planner, and lover of salty rims!!
As is usual on the first morning, we were awake at stupid o clock, something like four am stupid o clock. We make some coffee, and while I am on the balcony having my morning ciggie, I spot a cruise ship with some purple lights in the distance, I become ridiculously excited, and shout for Ian to come see (sorry neighbours), my first glance at the Disney Dream!
We shower, dress and decide to head next door to Ron Jons, yes Ron Jons at five o clock in the morning. This is the view from the front side of our room, no adult emporiums this side!
We wander around Ron Jons, I believe we may have been the only customers, hardly suprising at the time of the morning, Ian bought a baseball cap. He can normally spend a bomb in here, so I was suprised that it was his only purchase.
There was a Walgreens opposite, so we headed over there to pick up some suntan lotion for the cruise. They also sold alcohol, so we get some beer and wine for the ship. The lady at the check out tells us that she can't sell us the alcohol until 7.00am (it must be socially acceptable to get hammered then), but offers to put it to one side for us, so we can call back for it. We wander up the street and find a IHOP, we had never been to one before, so decided to try it for breakfast. I get bacon, hash browns, eggs and toast, I have my usual debate with the waitress about how dippy I want my eggs, I can never remember how I need to order them! Ian gets a big breakfast with pancakes. It was all very good, but I think we were both disappointed not to have gone to the Greek diner which had been recommended to us, we will save that for next year..
We picked up our alcohol from Walgreens and took it back to the room, where we decide to go and take a look at the beach..
It truly was a bit of a state, although there were people out cleaning it, I can only assume a lot of late night partying happens there, but it was very badly littered with cans etc.. Ian decided to have a little paddle, it was a bit nippy!
There were loads of jellyfish on the beach
By this time it had started to rain, so we headed back to the room. It hammered down, it poured, so we sat in the room and watched a show where some experts and amateurs competed in pimping up cars while we waited for out ten thirty shuttle bus. The phone rang at ten past ten to tell us the bus was there. After a quick stop at the Best Western to pick up more guests we were on our way to the terminal. As we joined the queue to get into the terminal it was bucketing it down, the poor man behind was in a right knot as he had forgotten his passport! We were quickly passing through passport control, and the lady there promised to be careful with our bag as she heard Ians clanking Landsharks!
We got boarding eight, so took the opportunity to pop outside and get our first pictures of The Dream, we were both blown away by the size, she really is huge.
We still had a while to wait for boarding, but Goofy came to have pictures taken near where we were sitting, and it was fun to watch him with the children..
Before long our boarding number was called, they had introuduced the system of having to have your picture taken so they could link them to Shutters, to be honest we found it a bit of a pain in the bits as we never buy pictures onboard. The queue passed quickly enough though and it was soon time for us to be welcomed aboard. Its breathtaking when you first get on the ship, it really is beautiful..
We headed straight up to the upper decks for a nosy around, and I got my first cocktail
while Ian enjoyed a beer
We headed to our stateroom as soon as we were able, and were suprised to see that our luggage was already there. I got the most amazing present when we entered the room
I was so overwhelmed I couldn't find the card to see who it was from, I was in such a tizz, Mandy and Sue had arranged for a bottle of fizz, and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and cakes to be delivered to the room. I'm not ashamed to admit that there were tears, I was overwhelmed by their kindness, it was such a treat, thank you ladies.
We quickly unpacked and headed up to Cabannas for lunch, its very different to Topsiders, a lot more food stations, we enjoyed shrimp, salads, beef and turkey, it was all very good.
I was pleased to find some artwork of my favourite characters
Our lifeboat drill was at Animators Pallet, which was handy as it was still peeing it down
We headed up for the sailaway party, thankfully it stopped raining. We grabbed another cocktail and beer, and enjoyed the party. The ship then showed off with her horns, we were treated to "Your Dreams Come True", "Be Our Guest" and "A Pirates Life For Me" - show off ship ..
We had a wander around the ship before heading down to get dressed for dinner, look she has pretty lights which make the sea light up
We stopped for a pre dinner drink and I decided to be a princess
Dinner the first night was at Royal Palace, we had lovely tablemates, there were just the four of us, our companions were from Oregon, and were so friendly, it was their anniversary trip and their first cruise without their chilldren, he was the image of Val Kilmer! We ordered the wine package, Ian got the jumbo shrimp, citrus salad, lamb and creme brulee, while I went with the spinach souffle, onion soup, lamb, and creme brulee. I am sorry for the lack of pics but I wasn't sure what our tablemates would think of me snapping away. I do have some pics of the Royal Palace when we went to lunch which I will post late. We had a lovely dinner chatting and laughing with our new friends, I always worry about who we will be sat with but we were very lucky..
After dinner we headed for The Skyway Lounge for a few cocktails, our waitress had the husky voice that Ian loves, and informed us that we were in Paris, she then came back to tell us we had moved to Hong Kong, I dont think Ian cared where we were, he just wanted her to keep talking
I got a bit silly with the drinks menu, it lit up when you opened it, little things please little minds
now its dark
now its bright
It soon became apparent that Ian was bladdered, he blamed it on the jetlag
So off to bed we went ...
Ian - 40, loves WDW, in particular the drinking establishments, leaves all planning to me..
Jules - 39, chief planner, and lover of salty rims!!
As is usual on the first morning, we were awake at stupid o clock, something like four am stupid o clock. We make some coffee, and while I am on the balcony having my morning ciggie, I spot a cruise ship with some purple lights in the distance, I become ridiculously excited, and shout for Ian to come see (sorry neighbours), my first glance at the Disney Dream!
We shower, dress and decide to head next door to Ron Jons, yes Ron Jons at five o clock in the morning. This is the view from the front side of our room, no adult emporiums this side!
We wander around Ron Jons, I believe we may have been the only customers, hardly suprising at the time of the morning, Ian bought a baseball cap. He can normally spend a bomb in here, so I was suprised that it was his only purchase.
There was a Walgreens opposite, so we headed over there to pick up some suntan lotion for the cruise. They also sold alcohol, so we get some beer and wine for the ship. The lady at the check out tells us that she can't sell us the alcohol until 7.00am (it must be socially acceptable to get hammered then), but offers to put it to one side for us, so we can call back for it. We wander up the street and find a IHOP, we had never been to one before, so decided to try it for breakfast. I get bacon, hash browns, eggs and toast, I have my usual debate with the waitress about how dippy I want my eggs, I can never remember how I need to order them! Ian gets a big breakfast with pancakes. It was all very good, but I think we were both disappointed not to have gone to the Greek diner which had been recommended to us, we will save that for next year..
We picked up our alcohol from Walgreens and took it back to the room, where we decide to go and take a look at the beach..
It truly was a bit of a state, although there were people out cleaning it, I can only assume a lot of late night partying happens there, but it was very badly littered with cans etc.. Ian decided to have a little paddle, it was a bit nippy!
There were loads of jellyfish on the beach
By this time it had started to rain, so we headed back to the room. It hammered down, it poured, so we sat in the room and watched a show where some experts and amateurs competed in pimping up cars while we waited for out ten thirty shuttle bus. The phone rang at ten past ten to tell us the bus was there. After a quick stop at the Best Western to pick up more guests we were on our way to the terminal. As we joined the queue to get into the terminal it was bucketing it down, the poor man behind was in a right knot as he had forgotten his passport! We were quickly passing through passport control, and the lady there promised to be careful with our bag as she heard Ians clanking Landsharks!
We got boarding eight, so took the opportunity to pop outside and get our first pictures of The Dream, we were both blown away by the size, she really is huge.
We still had a while to wait for boarding, but Goofy came to have pictures taken near where we were sitting, and it was fun to watch him with the children..
Before long our boarding number was called, they had introuduced the system of having to have your picture taken so they could link them to Shutters, to be honest we found it a bit of a pain in the bits as we never buy pictures onboard. The queue passed quickly enough though and it was soon time for us to be welcomed aboard. Its breathtaking when you first get on the ship, it really is beautiful..
We headed straight up to the upper decks for a nosy around, and I got my first cocktail
while Ian enjoyed a beer
We headed to our stateroom as soon as we were able, and were suprised to see that our luggage was already there. I got the most amazing present when we entered the room
I was so overwhelmed I couldn't find the card to see who it was from, I was in such a tizz, Mandy and Sue had arranged for a bottle of fizz, and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and cakes to be delivered to the room. I'm not ashamed to admit that there were tears, I was overwhelmed by their kindness, it was such a treat, thank you ladies.
We quickly unpacked and headed up to Cabannas for lunch, its very different to Topsiders, a lot more food stations, we enjoyed shrimp, salads, beef and turkey, it was all very good.
I was pleased to find some artwork of my favourite characters
Our lifeboat drill was at Animators Pallet, which was handy as it was still peeing it down
We headed up for the sailaway party, thankfully it stopped raining. We grabbed another cocktail and beer, and enjoyed the party. The ship then showed off with her horns, we were treated to "Your Dreams Come True", "Be Our Guest" and "A Pirates Life For Me" - show off ship ..
We had a wander around the ship before heading down to get dressed for dinner, look she has pretty lights which make the sea light up
We stopped for a pre dinner drink and I decided to be a princess
Dinner the first night was at Royal Palace, we had lovely tablemates, there were just the four of us, our companions were from Oregon, and were so friendly, it was their anniversary trip and their first cruise without their chilldren, he was the image of Val Kilmer! We ordered the wine package, Ian got the jumbo shrimp, citrus salad, lamb and creme brulee, while I went with the spinach souffle, onion soup, lamb, and creme brulee. I am sorry for the lack of pics but I wasn't sure what our tablemates would think of me snapping away. I do have some pics of the Royal Palace when we went to lunch which I will post late. We had a lovely dinner chatting and laughing with our new friends, I always worry about who we will be sat with but we were very lucky..
After dinner we headed for The Skyway Lounge for a few cocktails, our waitress had the husky voice that Ian loves, and informed us that we were in Paris, she then came back to tell us we had moved to Hong Kong, I dont think Ian cared where we were, he just wanted her to keep talking
I got a bit silly with the drinks menu, it lit up when you opened it, little things please little minds
now its dark
now its bright
It soon became apparent that Ian was bladdered, he blamed it on the jetlag
So off to bed we went ...
Another great installment
