- Joined
- Jan 24, 2003
- Messages
- 28,801
Cruisers: Andy(Verandah Man), DW-Hazel, DD-Angelina, Dmom-Vi,
Dsis-Vicki, and Dniece-Vicki J.
*Saturday August 23 2003*
We arrived at the DCL Terminal shortly before 10:30am and headed for the security check in, it went quite smoothly and we were in the terminal in a few minutes. We got all our paperwork in order and headed for the check-in line. Since we had arrived early, the line was very short, and we were sent to the next available CM.
Since I was holding all the paperwork, I lead my family to the check-in CM. I looked down this long line of CM, and saw one CM waving her Mickey hand at me. I got within 15 feet on her station, then I heard her start screaming, "I got him, I got him, I got the Captain." By the time we got to the counter, I think my face was changing 15 different shades of red. I looked at the CM name tag, and it read "Tanya from Mobile, Alabama." I was in shock, and I'll tell you why. A few weeks earlier, Rae had told me
after her cruise, that she had met Tanya at the terminal, and Tanya had mentioned to Rae, that she had hoped to check my family in, when we came for our cruise, and here we were standing in front of her.
A few seconds later, as Tanya was entering in our information, I turned around to say something to my Dmom, and there was this man standing behind my mother. He came towards me, reached out his hand to shake mine, and said, "I'm Jonathan, the DCL Terminal General Manager, and I'd like to welcome you and your family aboard Captain." By now, my chin had hit the floor. I never expected anything like this to happen, and the surprise continued, a few minutes later.
Once Tanya was finished checking us in, she told us to wait at her counter for a few more seconds. She walked away, and came out a side door, and waved at us to join her. We followed her over to a seating area, where she informed us, that we would be receiving priority boarding with the Conciege. Talk about being in shock, WOW!!! I met some more of our DIS'ers while waiting to board, and handed them their cards and door magnets.
CM Tanya from Mobile, Alabama & Captain Verandah
We headed in at 11:45 and had our group photo taken by the cruise sign near the entrance. A few minutes later, we were headed for the gangway and inside the most "MAGICal" ship ever. My family was welcomed and announced by Que, and I got goose bumps as we walked in to the main lobby area. All I could do was stand around and look at everything, it had finally become a reality, after nine long months of waiting, we were actually on the ship.
My family went up to deck 9 to Topsiders for lunch. I got my shrimp, and a bowl of the Orange Mango Soup, was that ever delicious. After lunch we dropped off our bags in our stateroom (I went out to check the verandah, of course) and headed to make our Palo reservation for our DISmeet Brunch.
Ericka from South Africa greeted us, and made our reservation for the private room for Thursday at 10:30. As we were getting ready to leave Ericka told us that the dress was casual, but no bikini's were allowed. I then asked her if I could wear my thong, well her face must have changed 30 different shades of red, she couldn't even say anything from the laughter and shock of my comment. When she finally spoke she said, "Now that's a sight I'm going to have in my head all day!!!"
We went back to our cabin and DW was already hard at work unpacking our suitcases, once finished with that we started touring the ship until it was time for the safety drill at 4:00, our station was in Animator's Palate.
After the safety drill, we dropped off our life jackets and headed for the DISmeet in the Promenade Lounge on deck 3. Here we got to meet more of our fellow DIS'ers that we hadn't met earlier, I forgot to get a group photo, because I was busy handing out cards and door magnets, and everyone was having a good time introducing themselves to one another. Because of the weather, the Sail Away Party was moved indoors, just down the hall from where we were gathering. We headed over to the Sail Away Party, but by the time we got there, it was so crowded, we couldn't really see anything (that's the trouble with being short). After the final 10 second countdown, my family headed up to deck 10, by the time we arrived up there, we had already pulled away form the dock. It was still raining ever so slightly, so we stayed up on deck 10 for about another 45 minutes(I had to wave to the two palms cam, even though I had no idea where it was, but I was waving folks!!! The rain started to pick up again, so we went down to deck 9, and got a light bite to hold us over until dinner.
Sailing Away At Last!!!
At 7:45, DW, DD, and I headed for Beat Street to hear the Family Dueling Pianos show with Fidelio and Anton, we enjoyed the show, especially when they brought the children up on stage. After the show, we headed to Animator's Palate for dinner, as we had the APL rotation. Here we got to meet some of the most "MAGICal" people. Our server was Roberto from Peru, assistant server Prudence from Jamaica, and head server Tommy from Norway. These three CM were "EXCELLENT" and made our cruise so much more enjoyable. Our tablemates were Ian, Tina, and Grace Parkes from England. We had hooked our reservations together with the Parkes family a few weeks before the cruise. I had sent Ian a PM back in April, asking if he and his family would like to be our tablemates, but Ian didn't open the PM until sometime in late July. Ian told me that he never received an e-mail about having a PM in his box, and one day just happened to have found it.
I selected the Veal Chop for dinner which was so tender and delicious, for dessert I selected the Mixed Berry Shortcake, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven, it was that good!!! I hope by the end of the week I can still fit into my clothes!!!
After dinner DD, headed up to the teen gathering(we didn't see her again until 1am), and DW and I took a stroll through Shutters to see if we could find our embarkation photo. After a stroll around deck 9 and 10 DW and I headed back to our cabin, DD forgot to take her KTTW card, so we had to wait up for her to let her in. DD said she had a "GREAT" time with the other teens!!!
*Before I Forget--Thank You Is In Order*
I had this in my notes on the bottom of the page, and almost forgot to add it in. Our room at the Radisson was very nice and clean, we had no problems whatsoever with it. Also, while meeting Diane (allshookup) and Family, she handed me a bag and inside was a coffee mug, with a picture of Captain Hook on it, but above Captain Hook's picture were the words, "Captain Verandah!" Diane told me she was trying to find a mug with a picture of Captain Mickey, but this was all she could find. Thanks again Diane and Family, the mug is sitting on our entertainment center in the living room!!! We also were surprised to find, in our cabin, a bottle of Champagne and a snack tray full of chocolate covered strawberries and other goodies, plus a DCL watch for myself, all gifts from Angela (texanlvr) and Family, I want to thank all of you as well. My DW and I did toast each other on the verandah with the champagne during the cruise.
As we were preparing to get ready for the Dueling Piano's Show, we received a knock at our cabin door. DW answered the door (as I was still shaving), and my DW was handed a large DCL canvas beach bag with a card inside from Jim Alessandro-Vice President of Marketing for DCL. In side the bag were six Disney Magic pins, an 8" X 10" autographed photo of Mickey and Minnie on the Magic, and a beautiful etched in glass portrait of Captain Mickey. I was standing there (with shaving cream still on my face) in total shock, my DW and I just looked at one another and could not believe what was happening, this cruise was becoming more "MAGICal" by the minute!!! Thanks Jim and everyone at DCL, for making this week one we will "NEVER" forget!!!
One of our "MAGICal" gifts from Jim Alessandro #205 of 350
Tomorrow is another day, and that will be on another thread!!!
Dsis-Vicki, and Dniece-Vicki J.
*Saturday August 23 2003*
We arrived at the DCL Terminal shortly before 10:30am and headed for the security check in, it went quite smoothly and we were in the terminal in a few minutes. We got all our paperwork in order and headed for the check-in line. Since we had arrived early, the line was very short, and we were sent to the next available CM.
Since I was holding all the paperwork, I lead my family to the check-in CM. I looked down this long line of CM, and saw one CM waving her Mickey hand at me. I got within 15 feet on her station, then I heard her start screaming, "I got him, I got him, I got the Captain." By the time we got to the counter, I think my face was changing 15 different shades of red. I looked at the CM name tag, and it read "Tanya from Mobile, Alabama." I was in shock, and I'll tell you why. A few weeks earlier, Rae had told me
after her cruise, that she had met Tanya at the terminal, and Tanya had mentioned to Rae, that she had hoped to check my family in, when we came for our cruise, and here we were standing in front of her.
A few seconds later, as Tanya was entering in our information, I turned around to say something to my Dmom, and there was this man standing behind my mother. He came towards me, reached out his hand to shake mine, and said, "I'm Jonathan, the DCL Terminal General Manager, and I'd like to welcome you and your family aboard Captain." By now, my chin had hit the floor. I never expected anything like this to happen, and the surprise continued, a few minutes later.
Once Tanya was finished checking us in, she told us to wait at her counter for a few more seconds. She walked away, and came out a side door, and waved at us to join her. We followed her over to a seating area, where she informed us, that we would be receiving priority boarding with the Conciege. Talk about being in shock, WOW!!! I met some more of our DIS'ers while waiting to board, and handed them their cards and door magnets.
CM Tanya from Mobile, Alabama & Captain Verandah
We headed in at 11:45 and had our group photo taken by the cruise sign near the entrance. A few minutes later, we were headed for the gangway and inside the most "MAGICal" ship ever. My family was welcomed and announced by Que, and I got goose bumps as we walked in to the main lobby area. All I could do was stand around and look at everything, it had finally become a reality, after nine long months of waiting, we were actually on the ship.
My family went up to deck 9 to Topsiders for lunch. I got my shrimp, and a bowl of the Orange Mango Soup, was that ever delicious. After lunch we dropped off our bags in our stateroom (I went out to check the verandah, of course) and headed to make our Palo reservation for our DISmeet Brunch.
Ericka from South Africa greeted us, and made our reservation for the private room for Thursday at 10:30. As we were getting ready to leave Ericka told us that the dress was casual, but no bikini's were allowed. I then asked her if I could wear my thong, well her face must have changed 30 different shades of red, she couldn't even say anything from the laughter and shock of my comment. When she finally spoke she said, "Now that's a sight I'm going to have in my head all day!!!"
We went back to our cabin and DW was already hard at work unpacking our suitcases, once finished with that we started touring the ship until it was time for the safety drill at 4:00, our station was in Animator's Palate.
After the safety drill, we dropped off our life jackets and headed for the DISmeet in the Promenade Lounge on deck 3. Here we got to meet more of our fellow DIS'ers that we hadn't met earlier, I forgot to get a group photo, because I was busy handing out cards and door magnets, and everyone was having a good time introducing themselves to one another. Because of the weather, the Sail Away Party was moved indoors, just down the hall from where we were gathering. We headed over to the Sail Away Party, but by the time we got there, it was so crowded, we couldn't really see anything (that's the trouble with being short). After the final 10 second countdown, my family headed up to deck 10, by the time we arrived up there, we had already pulled away form the dock. It was still raining ever so slightly, so we stayed up on deck 10 for about another 45 minutes(I had to wave to the two palms cam, even though I had no idea where it was, but I was waving folks!!! The rain started to pick up again, so we went down to deck 9, and got a light bite to hold us over until dinner.
Sailing Away At Last!!!
At 7:45, DW, DD, and I headed for Beat Street to hear the Family Dueling Pianos show with Fidelio and Anton, we enjoyed the show, especially when they brought the children up on stage. After the show, we headed to Animator's Palate for dinner, as we had the APL rotation. Here we got to meet some of the most "MAGICal" people. Our server was Roberto from Peru, assistant server Prudence from Jamaica, and head server Tommy from Norway. These three CM were "EXCELLENT" and made our cruise so much more enjoyable. Our tablemates were Ian, Tina, and Grace Parkes from England. We had hooked our reservations together with the Parkes family a few weeks before the cruise. I had sent Ian a PM back in April, asking if he and his family would like to be our tablemates, but Ian didn't open the PM until sometime in late July. Ian told me that he never received an e-mail about having a PM in his box, and one day just happened to have found it.
I selected the Veal Chop for dinner which was so tender and delicious, for dessert I selected the Mixed Berry Shortcake, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven, it was that good!!! I hope by the end of the week I can still fit into my clothes!!!
After dinner DD, headed up to the teen gathering(we didn't see her again until 1am), and DW and I took a stroll through Shutters to see if we could find our embarkation photo. After a stroll around deck 9 and 10 DW and I headed back to our cabin, DD forgot to take her KTTW card, so we had to wait up for her to let her in. DD said she had a "GREAT" time with the other teens!!!
*Before I Forget--Thank You Is In Order*
I had this in my notes on the bottom of the page, and almost forgot to add it in. Our room at the Radisson was very nice and clean, we had no problems whatsoever with it. Also, while meeting Diane (allshookup) and Family, she handed me a bag and inside was a coffee mug, with a picture of Captain Hook on it, but above Captain Hook's picture were the words, "Captain Verandah!" Diane told me she was trying to find a mug with a picture of Captain Mickey, but this was all she could find. Thanks again Diane and Family, the mug is sitting on our entertainment center in the living room!!! We also were surprised to find, in our cabin, a bottle of Champagne and a snack tray full of chocolate covered strawberries and other goodies, plus a DCL watch for myself, all gifts from Angela (texanlvr) and Family, I want to thank all of you as well. My DW and I did toast each other on the verandah with the champagne during the cruise.
As we were preparing to get ready for the Dueling Piano's Show, we received a knock at our cabin door. DW answered the door (as I was still shaving), and my DW was handed a large DCL canvas beach bag with a card inside from Jim Alessandro-Vice President of Marketing for DCL. In side the bag were six Disney Magic pins, an 8" X 10" autographed photo of Mickey and Minnie on the Magic, and a beautiful etched in glass portrait of Captain Mickey. I was standing there (with shaving cream still on my face) in total shock, my DW and I just looked at one another and could not believe what was happening, this cruise was becoming more "MAGICal" by the minute!!! Thanks Jim and everyone at DCL, for making this week one we will "NEVER" forget!!!
One of our "MAGICal" gifts from Jim Alessandro #205 of 350
Tomorrow is another day, and that will be on another thread!!!
