BethC1952
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2001
I pick up the story of my adventures where I left off in my land report
(and if you missed that, we've been at Port Orleans Riverside since 5/23, relaxing and enjoying ourselves. We're having a no-stress, no hassle vacation, which also means flying by the seat of our pants--no touring plan, no PS, just do what we want when we want.)
We woke up Sunday morning early, wanting to take lots of pictures of PO Riverside before we have to get on the Cruise Line bus, and I also have to dry the bathing suits we wore for our midnight swim. We showered and dressed, and while DH settle in to watch the Sunday morning news programs, I got ready to head to the laundry room. So, I walked carefully around our luggage which was, by now, piled right in the front of our room so that it would be picked up, threw open the room door, stepped outside, and gasped
Here we go again. Fog as thick as pea soup, compounded by the smoke from the nearby brush fires, made it impossible to see across the garden! It also made it nearly impossible to breathe. My eyes were tearing within seconds, and I was coughing my lungs up (thank heaven I don't smoke. At least I had some lungs to cough up!) I dragged myself to the laundry room and put the suits in the dryer to be picked up after we had breakfast.
Back at the room I picked up my cameras and DH and we headed out to get breakfast and to take pictures, although they wouldn't be the pictures I was really hoping for! There will be a section on my website of the pictures I took that morning, along with some of the same views on the day we arrived so that you can see the difference!
We wondered past Ole Man Island pool and took some pictures, and stopped at the playground and took a few pictures there, too. Then we headed in search of food, snapping photos along the way.
Once again, there was no waiting at Boatwright's, and since we had some time to kill, we decided that one more sit-down breakfast would be very nice. We finished, stopped to fill our mugs with tea one last time, and headed back to get our bathing suits from the dryer, to pick up our day bag and leave room 3717 for the last time.
By the time we got there, our luggage had been picked up. The room looked so bare and empty again! We gathered the last of our belongings and headed back to the main building to wait for the bus. Of course, I still had to write and mail postcards, so the time was well-spent!
Just after noon, everyone who was waiting to board the Cruise Line bus was ushered out the door to the yellow, red and white buses waiting right outside. The buses pulled away from the hotel as soon as the last of the guests were aboard, and we were off on part two of our great adventure! It was kind of sad to be leaving WDW, but the excitement of the cruise made it easier to bear!
Along the journey we watched a video about he cruise and how to make reservations for the spa and the excursions. Since it was a holiday weekend, traffic was really very heavy and very slow going, with the bus at times coming to a full stop in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The bus driver put another movie on, something about a dog that plays football (I think), but I spent the time working on some needlework that I carry with me everywhere.
From reading this board, I knew that our first sight of the ship would be as we came up over the bridge and there she was! No matter how many times you read on this board about how big and beautiful she is, the reality is even more astounding!
It seemed to take forever for the bus to pull up to the dock and for us to be allowed to enter the terminal building. Please, when you take your cruise, stop to appreciate the terminal building itself. The model of the ship is very interesting!
And then we were on our way to board. Since we had come from WDW and had our KTTW, we were able to by-pass check-in and board immediately.
The atrium lobby on the ship is the first thing you see after you get past the photographer (and we didn't buy that picture. We looked like we had slept in our clothes for about a week!)
Since we knew we weren't going to be making any ressies, we headed to our stateroom right away, not quite sure what to expect. We had reserved a Category 11 inside stateroom, and knew that it would be very tiny and cramped, but we've camped in an 8X10' tent, so I knew we'd be OK.
We stepped around our luggage which was already waiting for us and opened the door (6083, port side, slightly aft of the midship elevator), and were stunned. The room was so much more spacious than we had been lead to believe! A full description and pictures will be on my website by the end of the week. I had asked a question about the bathtub size on this board, and I'm pleased to be able to say that I was able to sit comfortably in the tub (and I'm not a tiny woman).
This will be continued in my next post I had no idea it was this long!
Beth
We woke up Sunday morning early, wanting to take lots of pictures of PO Riverside before we have to get on the Cruise Line bus, and I also have to dry the bathing suits we wore for our midnight swim. We showered and dressed, and while DH settle in to watch the Sunday morning news programs, I got ready to head to the laundry room. So, I walked carefully around our luggage which was, by now, piled right in the front of our room so that it would be picked up, threw open the room door, stepped outside, and gasped
Here we go again. Fog as thick as pea soup, compounded by the smoke from the nearby brush fires, made it impossible to see across the garden! It also made it nearly impossible to breathe. My eyes were tearing within seconds, and I was coughing my lungs up (thank heaven I don't smoke. At least I had some lungs to cough up!) I dragged myself to the laundry room and put the suits in the dryer to be picked up after we had breakfast.
Back at the room I picked up my cameras and DH and we headed out to get breakfast and to take pictures, although they wouldn't be the pictures I was really hoping for! There will be a section on my website of the pictures I took that morning, along with some of the same views on the day we arrived so that you can see the difference!
We wondered past Ole Man Island pool and took some pictures, and stopped at the playground and took a few pictures there, too. Then we headed in search of food, snapping photos along the way.
Once again, there was no waiting at Boatwright's, and since we had some time to kill, we decided that one more sit-down breakfast would be very nice. We finished, stopped to fill our mugs with tea one last time, and headed back to get our bathing suits from the dryer, to pick up our day bag and leave room 3717 for the last time.
By the time we got there, our luggage had been picked up. The room looked so bare and empty again! We gathered the last of our belongings and headed back to the main building to wait for the bus. Of course, I still had to write and mail postcards, so the time was well-spent!
Just after noon, everyone who was waiting to board the Cruise Line bus was ushered out the door to the yellow, red and white buses waiting right outside. The buses pulled away from the hotel as soon as the last of the guests were aboard, and we were off on part two of our great adventure! It was kind of sad to be leaving WDW, but the excitement of the cruise made it easier to bear!
Along the journey we watched a video about he cruise and how to make reservations for the spa and the excursions. Since it was a holiday weekend, traffic was really very heavy and very slow going, with the bus at times coming to a full stop in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The bus driver put another movie on, something about a dog that plays football (I think), but I spent the time working on some needlework that I carry with me everywhere.
From reading this board, I knew that our first sight of the ship would be as we came up over the bridge and there she was! No matter how many times you read on this board about how big and beautiful she is, the reality is even more astounding!
It seemed to take forever for the bus to pull up to the dock and for us to be allowed to enter the terminal building. Please, when you take your cruise, stop to appreciate the terminal building itself. The model of the ship is very interesting!
And then we were on our way to board. Since we had come from WDW and had our KTTW, we were able to by-pass check-in and board immediately.
The atrium lobby on the ship is the first thing you see after you get past the photographer (and we didn't buy that picture. We looked like we had slept in our clothes for about a week!)
Since we knew we weren't going to be making any ressies, we headed to our stateroom right away, not quite sure what to expect. We had reserved a Category 11 inside stateroom, and knew that it would be very tiny and cramped, but we've camped in an 8X10' tent, so I knew we'd be OK.
We stepped around our luggage which was already waiting for us and opened the door (6083, port side, slightly aft of the midship elevator), and were stunned. The room was so much more spacious than we had been lead to believe! A full description and pictures will be on my website by the end of the week. I had asked a question about the bathtub size on this board, and I'm pleased to be able to say that I was able to sit comfortably in the tub (and I'm not a tiny woman).
This will be continued in my next post I had no idea it was this long!
Beth
