...and a happy New Year! 12/30/2010

[twokats]

Couple of observations from our cruise:

1. We saw First Timers, Twokats and 2gr8DisneyKids all the time. No we were stalking you, but it was good to see friendly faces

2. Our Assistant server was new, very new, this was her first cruise and she was very flustered. She did not have hear ears in training and now one was there to assist her. The first night, she did not collect cards for drinks until very late and then when one of the family left, she was completely flustered and asked another family to take over her charges for 3 drinks. The did it, but she mentioned she would get "in trouble" if she didn't get this done. She was very late with drinks... But she always had a friendly personality and did well with kids. But seemed to be getting in the way of the other servers. As the night went on, she and our server got further and further behind. We were always the first ones there and generally the last to leave. On the 2nd to the last night, she wasn't there. We had another assistant server and she mentioned that our AS would be back tomorrow to say her goodbyes. I am not sure if someone complained from the other table or maybe our server. When she did appear the next night, she said she did not go to CC she stayed on board and rested and reviewed manuals, when I asked if she was staying on board she said yes. She was not there the next morning on Departure day, we had a 3rd AS. Our HS, mentioned he had taken care of the "Problem" the prior evening.
I was just surprised that they did not have an Training person with her if this was her very first cruise.

3. SPH rock. But what I liked and didn't like was that we were isolated, very little traffic in the hall way.

4. We never took an elevator once. You can walk everywhere on this ship if you are able. We never felt like we were far away from anything.

5. I was disappointed that Ducky Williams was not on this ship as they had on the CC page, they moved him to the PC cruise. Bummer.

We made it home Thursday evening. Weather was good although we are possibly going to have our first snow tomorrow. . . hope it passes us by.

We were very glad to meet everyone also and yes there were several that we saw quite frequently and had time to chat with more. . . enjoyed that.

I was also disappointed about Ducky Williams, but enjoyed Tim W. (can't remember how he spelled his last name) He was also an imagineer. In the production part. His project right now is the fantasyland expansion in Magic Kingdom. He also was in charge of the hotels in Hong Kong. He gave a presentation on New Years that we went to and he introduced himself to each person that came to his presentation and he made a point of talking to us everytime he saw us anywhere and even searched for us a few times. (He really made an impression on my DD and he seemed to return the feeling with her, he gave her a few imagineer pins and really made her day by remembering her name and all that. He also made a big deal of my Mom.) There was also several of the cruise staff that we got very close to. Kat from England, Max from Scotland, Nick from England were a few and they greeted us and talked to us each time they saw us around the ship. Christiaan was also great. . . we had a few conversations with him.

Our servers were both great. Our Assistant Server always took care of Mom's wheelchair and remembered our drinks after the first couple of days. Our host was super also. There was one evening he came in to fix the beds when we were there and he showed us in detail the way to fold the towel animal that he did.

We were dependent on the elevators when we had Mom with us since she was stuck with the wheelchair. But DD and I used the stairs some when we were on our own.

We booked a cruise onboard for May 26, 2012. It will be on the Fantasy. I wanted that one since May 26 is our anniversary (our 28th to be exact) and I told DH, that was just meant to be for us to have another anniversay cruise. It will be a western caribbean. Only 504 more days until that one!!!

Our excursions were great and our time on the ship was full and eventful. Hope all had a great time and I will talk to y'all later!!

 

[twokats]

Sorry I forgot to tell everyone thank you for all the FE's. DD really enjoyed coming back to the room and finding all the items.

 

[lucky1]

and commented that my son was "great" being hypnotized. I wanted to get more details, because my son said that he did not think it worked on him.

Patti- Did your Son get Hypnotized in the family show? if So, there were several young men that did well. The one with the shoe and simba was funny. I have to say I am not sure if I know i people are really hypnotized or it is an

Laura

 

[lucky1]

Kat from England, Max from Scotland, Nick from England were a few and they greeted us and talked to us each time they saw us around the ship. Christiaan was also great. . . we had a few conversations with him.



We booked a cruise onboard for May 26, 2012. It will be on the Fantasy. I wanted that one since May 26 is our anniversary (our 28th to be exact) and I told DH, that was just meant to be for us to have another anniversay cruise. It will be a western caribbean. Only 504 more days until that one!!!

Our excursions were great and our time on the ship was full and eventful. Hope all had a great time and I will talk to y'all later!!

Kat was someone who remembered us each day on the cruise. She made a point of talking to my daughter each day. I was surprised that they remembered her name each day. Bryan, one of the photographers also made a point to talk to Chaya each day.

We rebooked on Dec 4 MR cruise this year, but only booked it as a dummy cruise. We also are going to change our April 17 MR cruise this year as we can not go that long right now.

FYI... I came home with a souviener from the cruise. the Flu or something. On the afternoon of the 6th, my stomach did not feel good and I tossed my cookies and no birthday dinner at DTD

Yesterday day and today I have been running a slight fever and achy and today, going between hot and cold. Luckly the flight was uneventful.

 

[niklynn1]

I am so sad that I did not get to catch up with any of you on the cruise. With this being our first cruise, we got so caught up in touring the ship and checking out our stateroom that before I knew it, they were calling for the Safety Drill and I had completely missed the Dis meet! So sorry! I was hoping to recognize some of you along the way, but never could figure out who any of you might have been!

We did have a great time though. I'm sorry to hear that some of you had less than wonderful servers. I was so thoroughly impressed with ours! We had Alex from Phillipines and Jen from England. They were better than I could have asked for! I was sad to say goodbye, but on the last breakfast they brought us each out NYE menus personally inscribed with a special message from both of them. My two kids typically ordered beef and chicken each night, so Alex began bringing out several different appetizers, entrees and desserts each night that we had not ordered trying to get them to try new things! It worked! They tried lobster, escargot, scallops..and many, many other things! I cannot say enough good things about these two servers.
Unfortunately, one of the new things my daughter tried (there were so many we cannot pinpoint it) resulted in an allergic reaction that sent us to the medical center onboard. However, after MUCH Benedryl and lotion she is on the mend!

The one "bump" on our trip was the excursions. There seemed to be a lot of miscommunication and confusion on both of our adventures in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Likely because the Wonder had not been on this itinerary before. At least they seemed to recognize that they had blown it because we received apology voicemails in our stateroom before we had even returned from both excursions. I will likely not book thru Disney again though for port adventures, because the only reason I paid the higher price this time to go thru them was to AVOID the glitches and complications, which didn't work.

I wish the weather on the first 2 sea days had been as PERFECT as the last one, but Captain Henry told us at the signing this was fabulous weather for this time of year. Even with the somewhat rough seas the first couple of days, none of us were bothered with sea sickness, but I still feel like I'm moving after 3 days back!

Our flight home through Delta was a bit rocky as well. Our flight out of Orlando was delayed, which meant we would not have made our connection in Memphis, so they swithced us to another flight thru Detroit, where they were having "weather" problems. (Wish she would have told me that sooner when she changed our flight). The jet bridge was frozen and so we could not debark for nearly 30 min, causing us to have to RUN thru the Detroit airport from concourse A to C to make our new connection. Geez, what a way to end a relaxing vacation....

Sad the trip is over, but happy to be home also--except for the 10 inches of snow predicted here tonight. Ahhhh, back to reality....

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

Hi All!

We ran into several of you around the ship and at the airport! We also saw Lucky1's table mates all of the time!

We also had a great time, but noted that it was not a seamless as our last cruise. Characters skipped us at breakfast, our AS was very new (but nice), the spa did not move DH's massage as requested... small things.

We booked the March 13 MR, but might switch it to the March 3 Western once DS's school calendar for 2012 is out. I wanted Alaska or the 8-night NYE for next year, but the MR fit our budget better.

Thanks for all the great FE gifts!

We got the F&F card and also hope to book a cruise with my parents over the holidays in 2012 or March 2012.

We loved the big window on 2, but missed the quiet of the SPH... booked that for the MR cruise.

Got in later than we hoped due to some snow in Toronto, but all was fine and no rushing around to catch flights.

Bryan and Lauren the photographers were great as was Peter Pan (same from the March cruise and great then) and Captain Hook for interacting with the kids. Our host (Teddy) was also great and brought me DCL slippers after I ran out in the hall in a panic due to packing ALL of my shoes!

We bought some great pics and the big scrapbook so I have my work cut out for me! And only 2 months until I leave for 9 nights in WDW!

 

[lucky1]

The one "bump" on our trip was the excursions. There seemed to be a lot of miscommunication and confusion on both of our adventures in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Likely because the Wonder had not been on this itinerary before. At least they seemed to recognize that they had blown it because we received apology voicemails in our stateroom before we had even returned from both excursions. I will likely not book thru Disney again though for port adventures, because the only reason I paid the higher price this time to go thru them was to AVOID the glitches and complications, which didn't work.

Niky - What were your Glitches? Our glitch was with St Thomas Beach Excrusion that 2gr8DisneyKids was on as well. The cruise staff said Towels would be provided and told everyone to put the towels back. We got to the beach and were told there were no towels. Yikes!!! Luckily they sent a CM along on the trip and the Local staff called their bosses. After an hour we had our towels, truck in from the ship. Of course we got a phone calls apologizing for the problem.

St Marteen worked out fine.

Hi All!

We ran into several of you around the ship and at the airport! We also saw Lucky1's table mates all of the time!

Somehow we always end up with the loudest and most adventurous tablemates. We did have a good time with them.

We also had a great time, but noted that it was not a seamless as our last cruise. Characters skipped us at breakfast, our AS was very new (but nice), the spa did not move DH's massage as requested... small things.

I assume you were at the same Character Breakfast, because DH and DD were skipped as well. DH said he made a big stink and then they came around. There was no way I was going to get up for an 8am Character Breakfast at 8am on Jan 1 after saying up past midnight.

A little disappointed because when I finally showed up, I saw how they RUSHED the characters at each table and did not allow for any interaction. Wondering if they had partied too long as well.

Laura

 

[first timers]

We got home today. When we got off the ship, we checked in at Bonnet Creek, then volunteered at the WDW marathon weekend helping give out race packets and shirts till 9PM. We did the 5K Friday morning, saw 'relaxin' during the race, and volunteered again giving out Goffy race packets until 8:30PM. I was up at 3:30AM to get to the start of the half marathon by 5AM, the rcae starting at 5:30AM. I wanted to beat 2hr 45min and finished in 2hr 42min.

Thanks to everyone for the FE gifts. Hope to see all of you on future cruises. Alex

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

Somehow we always end up with the loudest and most adventurous tablemates. We did have a good time with them


I assume you were at the same Character Breakfast, because DH and DD were skipped as well. DH said he made a big stink and then they came around. There was no way I was going to get up for an 8am Character Breakfast at 8am on Jan 1 after saying up past midnight.

A little disappointed because when I finally showed up, I saw how they RUSHED the characters at each table and did not allow for any interaction. Wondering if they had partied too long as well.

Laura

It was the Mom and daughter and they seemed like they were very nice, but I was surprised when she kept saying she could not find things to eat on the menu.

Yep the 8 am NYD breakfast. Nearly zero interaction and Pluto totally skipped us. We mentioned it as soon as we noticed they were really leaving and we were told by the head character guy Pluto could not come back. After a rather heated discussion it was arranged for us to come back at 10 and see Pluto at the start of the next breakfast.

I am guessing it was their first or second breakfast since they had been doing 3-4 night cruises and the head character guy seemed to not understand why a signed picture under left in our room was not the same as getting the autograph and seeing him at the breakfast. And that coming back at 2 was not a choice due to nap time. For being a Disney cruise they did not get that the kids might actually want to visit with the characters.

 

[lucky1]

Did anyone else see the small dog on board? A women (I believe from Columbia) had the dog always with her. I saw the dog on the first day, at Bingo and then on deck at the pirate party. DH is convinced the dog was NOT a service dog.

Anyone else?

 

[lucky1]

It was the Mom and daughter and they seemed like they were very nice, but I was surprised when she kept saying she could not find things to eat on the menu.

Her daughter lived on Cheeseburger the entire cruise. It become the running joke that the we already knew what she would order before looking at the menu.

Our AS, would try to make a mickey head with Catsup on her burgers and it was ozing with catsup. I guess they figure all american's love their catsup.

 

[lucky1]

the attack against the congresswomen in Arizona yesterday was just a mile away from our home and a little girl that DD9 had danced with was killed during the shooting. It has been a very bsad weekend here.

 

[lucky1]

.

 

[Relaxin']

the attack against the congresswomen in Arizona yesterday was just a mile away from our home and a little girl that DD9 had danced with was killed during the shooting. It has been a very bsad weekend here.

We heard the news on the flight home, and I was thinking about you. I am sorry to hear that your daughter knew the little girl. It is not a way a community wants to celebrate and remember the beginning of a new year.

 

[twokats]

Did anyone else see the small dog on board? A women (I believe from Columbia) had the dog always with her. I saw the dog on the first day, at Bingo and then on deck at the pirate party. DH is convinced the dog was NOT a service dog.

Anyone else?

We saw the dog, in fact their table for dinner was really close to us in each restaurant. She brought it to the first part of dinner in our first night in Tritons. I could not believe it. She took it out in about 10 minutes, but I agree, I don't see it being a service dog, but I understand that a lot of people abuse that classification. She brought it to the character breakfast, which ours was a really enjoyable time and as far as I remember, we were not skipped by anyone. Then we did not see the dog again til the breakfast of disembarkment day.

Our excursions also went off without a hitch. . . as far as I could tell. They were all very careful with my Mom and her wheelchair, don't know if that was a factor or not. Plus ours were all tours, with no beaches involved.

We had a very relaxing flight home also. Someone tried to take Mom's wheelchair, but the young man got it back very fast for us, so that was taken care of very satisfactory for us. Plus he helped us until we caught the shuttle to the parking lot.

I started coughing today and am fast on my way to losing my voice, but that is common for me at this time of year and especially with the drastic changes in weather I have been through. Plus I had been fighting this even before the cruise.

We did get our first snow today. I think it was supposed to be about 5 inches we were getting. I am sure that helped make this cough worse, but thankfully I still have some meds that I can take for it.

 

[Relaxin']

Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat. I was fine until early Sunday AM and broke down and took Nyquil. My DH started feeling flu symptoms Sunday and progressively got worse today. He had the sweats/chills all day today. Geez, I miss the cruising life.

 

[KikiMouse]

Hi guys, first of all thanks for the FE gifts. They were all great!

Laura, yes I did see the lady with the small dog and I was very surprised, although I thought it must be some type of service dog. It was there during the deck New Years party. My sister was a gate agent for one of the airlines and tells the story of a passenger who wanted to board with a "service monkey" ! I can't recall the decision, but it was funny to hear her tell it!

I drove home Sat., and a long drive. I'm still in withdrawal- my husband was gone for 11 days from work, he has never done that! I know the cruise was really relaxing for him. Although the Blackberry was up as soon as we got into port!

Did any of you drive over to see the Dream? She was docked at terminal 4. I just had to see her, she was beautiful. One of our Palo servers was going to visit her, they had a couple of hours away and it was their treat to get to see the Dream.

Maybe I will cruise with you guys again. My husband may be interested in the last eastern cruise for the Magic. We love this ship! Nostalgia. Also, probably great rates!

KikiMouse

 

[lucky1]

Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat. I was fine until early Sunday AM and broke down and took Nyquil. My DH started feeling flu symptoms Sunday and progressively got worse today. He had the sweats/chills all day today. Geez, I miss the cruising life.

Yikes... DD on Wednesday night was complaining of a sore throat and on our last morning she woke up very warm. Guess what we forgot to leave unpacked. Luckly our table mate had some children Tylenol, so we gave her that. She bounced back after her nap in the van ride to WDW. I on the other hand spend my time in WDW in the hotel room throwing up. I was fine on our flight on Friday and then on Saturday night, I started having sweats and chills and lasted all day Sunday. Today I am congested. Ugh... A nice present to bring home from the cruise. Please don't tell me it has something to do with turning 50

 

[TXCruisemom]

Just wanted to tell everyone a big "thank you!" for the wonderful FE gifts! It was such an awesome bonus for my kids! Me too!!

Despite a few glitches for us, this was the best vacation we have ever taken together. Guess that's why we couldn't pass up booking a dummy date for 2012!

Our first 2 nights at dinner were not great. We didn't have the same servers both nights due to a mix-up. We talked to the head server to find out what was going on. He had us moved to another table for the remainder of the cruise. WOW! We had Lavendra and Estawar. They "made" the cruise for our family with their attention and service!

We had a strange and very loud plumbing type noise in our cabin and they really did try hard to fix it! When they couldn't, they offered to move us to another cabin which happened to be a Cat.5 with a balcony! It was an amazing upgrade! (We were able to leave our FE at our old cabin and just check it each day.) What pixie dust that we paid for a Cat.12 and ended up in a 5 for the same price!

Our daughter also got a 24 hour bug midway through the trip. The staff in the medical center was wonderful! Because we had to stay in the cabin with her, they sent up a DVD player and a huge list of movies. They gave us complimentary dry-cleaning for her clothing. They delivered meals from the main dining room rather than room service. They even delivered sodas free to the room. We were all treated so nicely.

On the night before CC, we had an envelope delivered to our room. They gave us free bikes and free floats since we had had some problems. I really feel like they bent over backwards to keep us happy. Really, we are such flexible people that we weren't ever upset by anything that happened. However, they have definitely made us want to cruise only with Disney from now on!

Looking forward to another cruise!

Sharron

 

[Relaxin']

Yikes... DD on Wednesday night was complaining of a sore throat and on our last morning she woke up very warm. Guess what we forgot to leave unpacked. Luckly our table mate had some children Tylenol, so we gave her that. She bounced back after her nap in the van ride to WDW. I on the other hand spend my time in WDW in the hotel room throwing up. I was fine on our flight on Friday and then on Saturday night, I started having sweats and chills and lasted all day Sunday. Today I am congested. Ugh... A nice present to bring home from the cruise. Please don't tell me it has something to do with turning 50

Hmmm the two birthday kids had similar symptoms. I am so sorry for not getting your birthday card to you. I had it through the whole trip, yes all the way home because I forgot to leave it at your door. I was curling for two hours tonight. I am froze to the bone, congested, chapped lips and it is snowing outside. All I can say, my son better park my car in the garage tonight. Boy I miss bathing suits and sandals.