disneychic
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2001
- Messages
- 2,606
Just returned this morning from a terrific 7 day DCL Western cruise 
This was my 4th Disney cruise. I've done the 4 day Wonder 3 times. This was our first 7 day cruise. And, although I'm no stranger to these boards, this is my first trip report. Hope you enjoy reading about it
DAY 1 - 7/3/2004 PORT CANAVERAL
Cruising- Myself and my DH in cabin 5139 -- no kids yet
and my Mom and my Aunt Joann in cabin 5637
We arrived at the port at around 11:45. Surprisingly enough, we were able to park in the main lot (didn't have to park across the way) There were extrememly long lines checking in, we made our way over to the castaway club line and waited for about 15 minutes. Because we booked late (about 1 week prior to sailing) we didn't have a choice in our stateroom category. We had a Cat. 11 so we asked for an upgrade--none available. It was completely booked. The line to board the ship was HUGE. But it moved quickly enough. We skipped the photograph that they take upon boarding (this being my husband and my 4th cruise, we didn't feel the need to pose for a picture that NEVER comes out very well) It was weird boarding the ship and not seeing anyone selling the soda mugs we headed up to Topsiders for a buffet lunch (which was good) The weather was great. Sunny and 90 ( I guess? I live in Florida, so it always feels the same) After lunch we gave my mom and my aunt a Mini-tour of the ship. By this time the staterooms were ready and we headed down to deck 5 to check them out. We both had inside staterooms (a first for us, we usually have a verandah or port hole) Our rooms were about as far aft as you could get - which, didn't bother us. We checked out my mom and aunt's room 5637 first. it was nice. We then headed around the corner to our stateroom #5139. We had our Castaway Club gift waiting forus (beach towel, pins and invite to the return cruiser party) The room looked well enough to us. A bit smaller because it was a cat. 11. I missed having that trunk/dresser thing to put clothes in and the split bath. But, we got used to it. When we opened up the cabinet that usually houses the refrigerator but there was none there. They actually put it under the vanity so the little chair that goes with the vanity didn't fit because the fridge was bigger than the ones they usually use so I guess they had to stick it under the vanity which stunk for me because I was a mile and a half away from the mirror trying to put my make-up on and do my hair and stuff! Also, because of the fridge thing, and the chair stuck out too far from the vanity we didn't have a table in our room. Also, there was alot of noticeable rust in the bathroom by the tub and toilet, the closet doors didn't close right (so when the boat was moving at night the closet doors would roll to their opposite end and slam) and there was no light in the closet. I know that these things sound nit picky but, having cruised Disney before I just expected more I guess. Our luggage arrived about 5 minutes after we got to the room so we decided to unpack it now so we could enjoy ourselves. At 4:00 we had the mandatory boat drill, which our station was located in Animators Palate. That was great because we had air conditioning! At 4:30 we headed up for the sail away celebration. I LOVE the sail away celebration. I look forward to it every time. I love doing the countdown and hearing the ship's horn! To me, that's when my vacation starts! Our dining time was the 8:30 seating, and our restaurant rotation was Lumiere's, Animators Palate, Parrot Cay, Lumier's, Animators Palate, Parrot Cay, Lumiere's. After the sail away celebration, we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for the "Welcome Aboard Variety Show" and dinner.
The variety show had a comedian/juggler- Jeff Harris and a comedian/ventriliquist- Taylor Mason---who was hysterical!My husband and I were both crying we were laughing so hard. I put a bid on one of the auction items out in front of the Walt Disney Theater, it was 5 yards of disney fabric (the colorful pattern they use on the animator's palate vests) Opening bid was $75, I figured what the heck, we bid on atleast 2 items every cruise and never end up being the winning bid. Oh, our Captain was Thord and our cruise director was Rachel. We ate dinner at Lumiere's. Our table was #53 and our server was Mladen from Croatia, and our Assistant server was Anton from Bulgaria they were GREAT! We also had a great couple at our table, Also from Florida and they booked late too. They actually had 2 boys one 11yrs old, 1 was 7 years old....we only saw them once the whole cruise. They were in the childrens programming all week and wouldn't leave for even 5 minutes! Dinner was good, dessert was really good There really wasn't much in the navigator for the first night after dinner, so we just went up to deck 9, where the coffee bar is and relaxed out there for a bit. It was an excellent first day.
Day 2- 4th of July at Key West trip report to follow.......after I unpack!
This was my 4th Disney cruise. I've done the 4 day Wonder 3 times. This was our first 7 day cruise. And, although I'm no stranger to these boards, this is my first trip report. Hope you enjoy reading about it
DAY 1 - 7/3/2004 PORT CANAVERAL
Cruising- Myself and my DH in cabin 5139 -- no kids yet
and my Mom and my Aunt Joann in cabin 5637We arrived at the port at around 11:45. Surprisingly enough, we were able to park in the main lot (didn't have to park across the way) There were extrememly long lines checking in, we made our way over to the castaway club line and waited for about 15 minutes. Because we booked late (about 1 week prior to sailing) we didn't have a choice in our stateroom category. We had a Cat. 11 so we asked for an upgrade--none available. It was completely booked. The line to board the ship was HUGE. But it moved quickly enough. We skipped the photograph that they take upon boarding (this being my husband and my 4th cruise, we didn't feel the need to pose for a picture that NEVER comes out very well) It was weird boarding the ship and not seeing anyone selling the soda mugs
we headed up to Topsiders for a buffet lunch (which was good) The weather was great. Sunny and 90 ( I guess? I live in Florida, so it always feels the same) After lunch we gave my mom and my aunt a Mini-tour of the ship. By this time the staterooms were ready and we headed down to deck 5 to check them out. We both had inside staterooms (a first for us, we usually have a verandah or port hole) Our rooms were about as far aft as you could get - which, didn't bother us. We checked out my mom and aunt's room 5637 first. it was nice. We then headed around the corner to our stateroom #5139. We had our Castaway Club gift waiting forus (beach towel, pins and invite to the return cruiser party) The room looked well enough to us. A bit smaller because it was a cat. 11. I missed having that trunk/dresser thing to put clothes in and the split bath. But, we got used to it. When we opened up the cabinet that usually houses the refrigerator but there was none there. They actually put it under the vanity so the little chair that goes with the vanity didn't fit because the fridge was bigger than the ones they usually use so I guess they had to stick it under the vanity which stunk for me because I was a mile and a half away from the mirror trying to put my make-up on and do my hair and stuff! Also, because of the fridge thing, and the chair stuck out too far from the vanity we didn't have a table in our room. Also, there was alot of noticeable rust in the bathroom by the tub and toilet, the closet doors didn't close right (so when the boat was moving at night the closet doors would roll to their opposite end and slam) and there was no light in the closet. I know that these things sound nit picky but, having cruised Disney before I just expected more I guess. Our luggage arrived about 5 minutes after we got to the room so we decided to unpack it now so we could enjoy ourselves. At 4:00 we had the mandatory boat drill, which our station was located in Animators Palate. That was great because we had air conditioning! At 4:30 we headed up for the sail away celebration. I LOVE the sail away celebration. I look forward to it every time. I love doing the countdown and hearing the ship's horn! To me, that's when my vacation starts! Our dining time was the 8:30 seating, and our restaurant rotation was Lumiere's, Animators Palate, Parrot Cay, Lumier's, Animators Palate, Parrot Cay, Lumiere's. After the sail away celebration, we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for the "Welcome Aboard Variety Show" and dinner. The variety show had a comedian/juggler- Jeff Harris and a comedian/ventriliquist- Taylor Mason---who was hysterical!My husband and I were both crying we were laughing so hard. I put a bid on one of the auction items out in front of the Walt Disney Theater, it was 5 yards of disney fabric (the colorful pattern they use on the animator's palate vests) Opening bid was $75, I figured what the heck, we bid on atleast 2 items every cruise and never end up being the winning bid. Oh, our Captain was Thord and our cruise director was Rachel. We ate dinner at Lumiere's. Our table was #53 and our server was Mladen from Croatia, and our Assistant server was Anton from Bulgaria they were GREAT! We also had a great couple at our table, Also from Florida and they booked late too. They actually had 2 boys one 11yrs old, 1 was 7 years old....we only saw them once the whole cruise. They were in the childrens programming all week and wouldn't leave for even 5 minutes! Dinner was good, dessert was really good
There really wasn't much in the navigator for the first night after dinner, so we just went up to deck 9, where the coffee bar is and relaxed out there for a bit. It was an excellent first day.Day 2- 4th of July at Key West trip report to follow.......after I unpack!
