All the way from Japan to enjoy the WONDER of Disney--The Cruise

[jns]

great report
thanks for sharing

looking forward to hearing more
most check out the 1st part of your trip report

did you keep your photopass card from WDW if so you can order them on line
if not send in a request they just might be able to find it for you
give lots of details and dates
good luck Photopass link

 

[disneyholic family]

popping by to say hi and see if there's a new installment..
alas, not yet....
can't wait to hear about the rest of the cruise..

 

[tokyodisneydad]

i LOVE your door signs - what a great idea!!!!

our safety drill on our second cruise was a blast...our CM was the lead performer in the disney show, Hercules (the one who tells all the jokes in the show) - he was HYSTERICAL.....he kept cracking jokes non-stop and yelling at the other cruise ship across from us.....we couldn't breathe we were laughing so hard...

that's a great idea about the glasses...we only ordered the drink of the day once.....actually the kids did - without alcohol of course....you can always order the drink of the day with or without alcohol, which i thought was great...

we had a verandah and i would definitely recommend it if you can fit it into your budget next time....i spent a lot of time out on that verandah..

i love that big screen on deck...they didn't have that when we cruised...
by the way, our sailaway party was indoors due to the afternoon thunder and lightening show....it wasn't very much fun because there just was no room for anyone (held in the lobby)...
but they had another sailaway party in nassau and that more than made up for it...

as for the teen club - if i were to name the one greatest thing on both of our cruises, it was the teen club....it completely changed our son...
he was 15 and 17 on our two cruises...
up until the first cruise, he had been a very quiet, sort of introverted person...not with us, but with everyone else..
he stayed at home in front of his computer....
then came the first cruise....he and DH went to the teen club as soon as you could after boarding the ship....from the 411 meeting on, DS spent the rest of the cruise with the teen club (except for meals, which were with us)...
he LOVED the club, he LOVED the CMs....
and when we happened to see him together with the other teens, we realized he had somehow turned into this amazing social butterfly...
and this new persona stayed with him when he left the cruise..
when he got back to school that year, he suddenly turned into one of the school leaders - president of the class, head of the major activites, head of the local youth group and on and on...
i don't know what happened on that ship in the teen club, but it was miraculous...a completely new person was born..

and then on our second cruise, he again was so happy in that club...
he still quotes the CMs 3 years later....
when the cruise was over, when we were leaving the ship, other teens kept coming up to him to shake his hand or hug him goodbye....it was the sweetest thing i've ever seen....
and that new outgoing personality that came out on that first cruise continues to this day - he's 20 now....and a leader in what he's now involved in....

i've mentioned this to him....that i thought he changed on the cruises, and he says, yes, absolutely.....that they were the best thing that happened to him...

This is the kind of experience that I had hoped for Junna and Akane, but I can understand their feelings of nervousness also. Their English is improving, but it's still not good enough that they could have understood without support. This will be the only chance they have for that experience also. If they want to go on a cruise again it will be when they grow up. DDM and I will go next year, but NO teenage daughters. More on this later.


OK everyone who has replied thank you so much, I'm sorry for the slow and limited reples A lot is going on at work now and I'm going through a lot with that and my health.

Now back on the ship

 

[tokyodisneydad]

Well as the ship got underway I noticed that the other two cruise ships were underway also. I looked at the Wonder and even though it was just slightly smaller I was glad I was on it rather than those other crackerjack boxes.
Leaving port we saw staff wearing Mickey gloves waving. No words can possibly describe the feelings as I felt the ship move for the first time. Th tears of being overwhelmed were flowing freely. I got a hug and thank you from DDM (THe girls have yet to say thank you and thats why they want be going on another cruise unless their husband's take them)
any way back to my cloud . First we stood by the port side rail them we ran across to the other side. Finally we got as close to the front as possible. Looking out we saw people on shore waving and we were waving back. If you were on shore that day you probably saw me. I was jumping higher than anyone else and waving with every limb I have.
We heard the other ships horn sound. Kind of a Mooooooo sound. Junna turned looking for another steak. Then it was the Wonders turn. WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR. A little out of tune, but hey it was music to my ears. If you in front of the horns cover your ears. If you don't your waiter sounds funny at dinner later.
We stayed there looking and pointing at everything. When we passed the beach just before open ocean, my girls were in heaven. they really are tropical kind of people. especially my heart and soul Kiyomi.

Next a brief setback and dinner

 

[disneyholic family]

This is the kind of experience that I had hoped for Junna and Akane, but I can understand their feelings of nervousness also. Their English is improving, but it's still not good enough that they could have understood without support. This will be the only chance they have for that experience also. If they want to go on a cruise again it will be when they grow up. DDM and I will go next year, but NO teenage daughters. More on this later.

i understand about their english...
my daughter had an age problem....she was already 18 on our first cruise (and almost 21 on the second), so she was too old for the teen club...

lucky for your girls, they had each other....my daughter was stuck hanging out with me and DH....not exactly the disney cruise she'd dreamed of...
and she was the one who had originally most wanted to go on the cruise...
but she did have a great time, just not the time she thought she would have with others her age...

 

[disneyholic family]

Leaving port we saw staff wearing Mickey gloves waving. No words can possibly describe the feelings as I felt the ship move for the first time. Th tears of being overwhelmed were flowing freely. I got a hug and thank you from DDM (THe girls have yet to say thank you and thats why they want be going on another cruise unless their husband's take them)
any way back to my cloud . First we stood by the port side rail them we ran across to the other side. Finally we got as close to the front as possible. Looking out we saw people on shore waving and we were waving back. If you were on shore that day you probably saw me. I was jumping higher than anyone else and waving with every limb I have.
We heard the other ships horn sound. Kind of a Mooooooo sound. Junna turned looking for another steak. Then it was the Wonders turn. WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR. A little out of tune, but hey it was music to my ears. If you in front of the horns cover your ears. If you don't your waiter sounds funny at dinner later.
We stayed there looking and pointing at everything. When we passed the beach just before open ocean, my girls were in heaven. they really are tropical kind of people. especially my heart and soul Kiyomi.

Next a brief setback and dinner

great photo and great description!!!

i loved seeing the disney people on the dock with the mickey hands...
and as we sailed off it was amazing!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I can't wait to hear that horn blow!

 

[°O°Joe]

subscribing... can't wait to hear more.

 

[tokyodisneydad]

I'm back but this is not a new cruise post, just an update on why I'm so slow. There is a lot going at work. My company is holding on to a thin thread of hope that they don't go bankrupt. Bad management. Nobody thought it would actually happen. My school is the largest English teaching school in Japan, but it's inevitable. So I have been looking for another job, but the market is flooded with other teachers doing the same as me. I'm not panicking yet. Ok that's the bad news are you ready for some good???

For those that read the first half of my report and remember the bad experiences I have good news. I followed up with guest services about what happened. I just had a reply from one of the staff--We will call her Tinker Bell They are sending me a 25$ gift certificate for the glasses and 4 complimentary park hopper passes. My belief in the magic of Disney has been restored

Coming next a Cruise update.

 

[tokyodisneydad]

Well after the ship actually got into open water our family decided to split up and tour the ship a bit more. The girls went exploring and DDM and I went on our own. First we walked around Deck 10 hand in hand. Did I tell you how much I love this ship? I'm a helpless romantic at heart, just ask my wife. The Wonder brought that out even more than usual. The girls were gone so now was a lucky chance to be alone with my wife. It wasn't sunset yet, but there was a bright red hue in the sky and it was perfect.
Now for those who remember from my land report I had bought Kiyomi a gift to give her on the ship. I took her to the front of the ship, got down on one knee and asked her to stay with me forever and told her how much I loved her. I then gave her a sapphire ring that I had bought at the Jewelry shop in the Dolphin. Tears flowed, kisses and hugs followed

After that we decided to go to guest services. I wanted to check on our onboard credit. When we got there they had no record of it and the staff was really short with her answers, but this was because she was from Japan. When I spoke Japanese she was friendly and helpful. She suggested we go to the internet area and email our travel agent so I did. More on this later.

Next back to the room to get ready for dinner and Towel animal Junna

 

[disneydance]

Great job this TR is the best i am Loving it :thumbsup1:

 

[tokyodisneydad]

Great job this TR is the best i am Loving it :thumbsup1:

Thanks Katie! Your TR is going well also. Yes I'm still reading, just haven't had alot of time to reply.

 

[CruisinEars]

i'm still here too. I read the land portion and have been waiting patiently for more of the cruise. We are doing a 1 week cruise and 1 week at the parks too. Sorry about the job sitch. Not good. Hope things turn out well for you.

 

[travelmel]

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! that's so sweet! Lucky DW. Keep up the good work!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You are such a sweetheart. Kiyomi is lucky to have such a great guy in her life!

I hope that everything gets sorted out with your onboard credits.

 

[disneyholic family]

sorry about the job situation...
but i'm sure you have a competitive advantage over at least some of the other wannabes (experience, knowledge of japanese, understanding japanese culture) ..
i'll keep my fingers and toes crossed...

you REALLY are a romantic - that was such a wonderful thing to do....

 

[pjstevens]

WOW!!!! What a wonderful hubby you are. Only wish someone had caught that on camera, would be priceless.

Hope all turns out well and will be looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Hello Tokyodisneydad. I just caught up on your report and i have to say great job. I'm sorry to read about your problems while in the parks. I'm glad to hear that you heard from Disney about you problem. It's great that they do listen to there guests. We also had problems a few years ago and they were great with us once we got home and I let them know about our problems. Hope your job search is going well. Hope you are doing well, I know you mentioned something about health problems. My Wife and I are annual passholders to WDW and hope to someday make it to TD. Maybe we could hire you to be our tour guide. waiting for the rest of the story.............

 

[tokyodisneydad]

i'm still here too. I read the land portion and have been waiting patiently for more of the cruise. We are doing a 1 week cruise and 1 week at the parks too. Sorry about the job sitch. Not good. Hope things turn out well for you.

Thanks for the good wishes about my job and thanks for continuing to read along

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! that's so sweet! Lucky DW. Keep up the good work!

My wife is kind of spoiled that way. In 2003 I covered the inside of the house with 2003 paper hearts that I cut myself and wrote a different message in both English and Japanese on each one. She cried

You are such a sweetheart. Kiyomi is lucky to have such a great guy in her life!
Kiyomi says I'm one of a kind

I hope that everything gets sorted out with your onboard credits.

Stay tuned we will see

sorry about the job situation...
but i'm sure you have a competitive advantage over at least some of the other wannabes (experience, knowledge of japanese, understanding japanese culture) ..
i'll keep my fingers and toes crossed...

you REALLY are a romantic - that was such a wonderful thing to do....

I think I have a leg up on most other teachers with my experience and language skills

WOW!!!! What a wonderful hubby you are. Only wish someone had caught that on camera, would be priceless.

Hope all turns out well and will be looking forward to the next installment.

If someone could have gotten a secret photo it would have been great. I noticed later that the ship has a video camera in that area that you can watch from your room. I wonder if anyone was watching our special moment?

Hello Tokyodisneydad. I just caught up on your report and i have to say great job. I'm sorry to read about your problems while in the parks. I'm glad to hear that you heard from Disney about you problem. It's great that they do listen to there guests. We also had problems a few years ago and they were great with us once we got home and I let them know about our problems. Hope your job search is going well. Hope you are doing well, I know you mentioned something about health problems. My Wife and I are annual passholders to WDW and hope to someday make it to TD. Maybe we could hire you to be our tour guide. waiting for the rest of the story.............

If you ever make it to TDR Tokyo Disney SEA is the best park in the world and I do tours for people all the time just give me a call

 

[tokyodisneydad]

After our brief setback with the onboard credits DDM and I looked at each other and decided that it didn't really matter. Yes it was $135 credit, but absolutely nothing was going to take away from the best vacation we had both ever been on. That ship has a way of getting in your blood and it makes itself a part of you for the rest of your life.
We looked at the scheduled show for the night and it was a comedian. I probably would have enjoyed the show, DDM English ability is not quite at the level to understand humor, so we decided to skip it.
We had told DDJ and DDA to meet us back at the room. They were just going in when we arrived. I was happy because I got to see their reaction to the change to the room. The beds were ready and Junna claimed the fold out of the roof bed. Then they saw the Towel Animal--A rabbit--Of course DDJ and DDA wanted to pose with it.