Anyone for the Western cruise 4/9/05???

[jkssands]

Well we are finally packed! I have one more day of work and the boys one day of school. That will be the longest day ever. My mother just started packing tonight.

Hope- Sorry about the flat tire. Like you said thank goodness it happened now not while on the road.

Sweet Sweet Dreams All!! See you at the meet on Sat night. I'm having trouble with my computer. I may not be checking back in before the cruise. I'm using my mothers computer right now.

Jill

 

[Evans Family]

Over and out everyone....we are all packed and will be leaving for FL in a couple of hours.

Safe travels everyone...see you on the ship!

 

[joehips]

Hello Everyone,

Just reporting from the Dallas Airport. We are almost to Florida. I can't believe it is finally here. Hope everyone has safe travel and all their luggage arrives with them. Just wanted to check in.

See everyone real soon!

Jordan

 

[hopelea]

Anyone out there???? Goodbye if you are. We are leaving in one hour. We are in the finally phase of leaving. Safe travels to all.

Hope

 

[KaitlinsMom]

We headed out to the airport now - Can't wait!!!!!!!! Here we gooooooooooo....

See ya all on the ship!!!!!


Karen

 

[mojodani]

Hopefully, the storms have passed for those of you traveling and enjoying your pre-cruise stay in FL. That was some storm, last night. I'm not complaining since we need the rain during the driest month of the year and I don't have to add water to the pool -- one less chore to do!

Okay, time to start packing and take the pooch to the kennel.

Have a great cruise!

Joni

 

[jkssands]

I wish this day would end. I have about 2 hours left at work then I have to go buy water shoes for me and lodest DS. Then off to a wedding this evening. That will help the time go by for me.

That was alot of lightling and thunder last night. I ended up not sleeping very well. I had youngest DS in the bed with me & DH. The weather is predicted to clean and be nice for the weekend. Hope they are right!

See you soon Joni and anyone else left behind yet.

Jill

 

[Madden6]

Anyone here???!!!
We missed meeting everyone at the sail away party But I hope everyone had a great trip!!

 

[KaitlinsMom]

I tried to meet at the sailway - Too crowded! I met totally mickey and Monica - Really super nice - the both of them - Our family had a blast!

Did anyone video tape Disney Dreams? I lost my copy when I went thru security at Orlando airport - I took it out when I had to take my video camera out, but forgot to put the tape back in! UGGGHH - But I am thankful in a way that it wasn't family memories that I left behind -

So, if it is not too much trouble - could anyone make a copy for me - My DD keeps asking me to play that tape!!!!

Thanks!

Karen

 

[hopelea]

I wanted to meet everyone too........I ended up on the other side of Deck 10 video taping.

Does anyone else still feel the ship moving. Friday night was terrible. We were in the front of the ship. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep. My dd's didn't sleep through it. It made out 12 hour drive home miserable!! Two dd's slept for three hours. The other only slept about 15 minutes.

Did anyone rebook??? We did!!! We also got charged for a pager that we turned in...$150. Didn't realize it until I just unpacked a bag. I don't know what we should do!!

Well, it was a great cruise. I spent way too much in shutters! But, I did get my Christmas Cards done.

Must go finish unpacking. If I sit still I feel the ship.

Hope

 

[yazee1]

Wow, that was the best vacation we ever had. I can't wait to do it again!

I have to admit I spent a lot of time looking at all the people on the ship wondering if someone was one of you from the board.

I was talking to a gentleman from disboards while we were in line to board but we didn't introduce ourselves. Oops. Could he have been Joehip? I met Jill, in fact, we ran into each other almost immediately on the ship and several times during the week including at bingo and during Palo's at brunch. It took some effort on both our parts for Karen and I to meet up. We were in the same places but never at the same time. Turk was true to his word on deck 10 with bubbles to share. Turk, thank your mom for all the bubbles. They were a life saver for our youngest. That was the best part of the embarkment party for her.

I wish I could have met more of you. Maybe on another cruise. Speaking of which, Hope, we booked for October 21, 2006 .

That storm was something! I don't know if it mattered where you were on the ship or not. We talked to a bunch of people and everyone had stories of closet doors sliding open and shut, bunkbed rails vibrating, and creaking noises in the rooms. For a little while, dh and I enjoyed watching as much as could be seen from our veranda then went to bed. The kids slept through it all. In the morning the kids saw their toothbrushes on the floor and asked how that happened. I told them Richie (room host) did it. They believed me! He was such a joker, it could have been him. They didn't believe me about the storm.

We drove straight through and got home about 4:00 in the morning. My brain still thinks it's on the ship. I'm weaving my way through the house today. That will go away by tomorrow, don't you think?

 

[jkssands]

We got home about 11:30Am. Just a short drive for us. The seas are really rough in Fl still. I feel bad for the families that left on Sat the seas didn't get any better. What a hard way to start a cruise.

I'm really glad we got to meet some of the families from the board. My kids had a great time! I also enjoyed it. I can say that I wouldn't spent the money to go on another Disney cruise though. The servers that we had for dinner and the one we had for Palos brunch we not any better than the ones I would have had at Denny's. Or room host Orlando was great!!! We really liked him. I couldn't get my boys to go to the club. They didn't really like it in there. The little one was in there for about 6hr the whole cruise. The older was in there a little bit longer as he could go in and out as he pleased. It might have been better for us if the boys were really into the characters. Don't get me wrong we had a great time. I just thing that we didn't get anymore out of it than we would have from another cruise line. Castaway Cay was great! I would miss that if we choose another cruise line next time.

I would love to hear what everyone else thought!

Jill

 

[hopelea]

Our room host was OKAY. We had better on our last trip. Our server was good, Navaneet from INDIA. He was so nice. Our assist. server Paula from Jamicia was not that great. My dd's didn't spend as much time in the lab as last time. I think it was because they had checking out privelages!

I did re-book, but I am also going to check on a RCCL trip over the same time that I booked the DCL. I want to see if the cost is about the same. RCCL doesn't have their Nov 2006 rates out yet. I really think I am ready to try a different cruise line. If RCCL is less than DC over Thanksgiving, I am going to go with RCCL.

I don't feel the ship moving anymore. All my laundry is done, van has been cleaned from top to bottom. It is time to get back into the real world........

Have a great week!!!

Hope
oh BTW, wasn't that cool that they were filming a commercial while we were there!! It was fun to see Miss Piggy & Kermit!!

 

[katyblue04]

Oh man that was AWESOME!!!

I totally started crying when I walked on board and they anounced my name and clapped. It was so exciting! By far the best vacation I've ever had.

Things I loved-

Watching all the adorable kids be so happy, the food and desserts, I LOVED that bed, it was soooo comfortable! Palo High Tea was great, dinner was even better, Marco just kept giving us more food, even things we didn't ask for! He would put a plate down and say "Try this, it's good!" Our massages were well needed and felt great. We got our hair done for Formal Night and we loved it, the Golden Mickeys were a blast, pictures with the characters were so fun, and our assistant server Gerry was great.

During dinner one night I saw a server pick up a sleeping kid and put him on a "bed" he made with two chairs. Then he patted the kids back until he fell asleep!! I was blown away. Talk about amazing service!

Our excursions were so fun, we did the Key West Kayak tour, Stingray City at Grand Cayman, and horseback riding in Cozumel. Castaway Cay was as great as I hoped! Snorkeling was great, but we were bummed that the underwater Mickey was still gone.

We got the dining rotaion I requested, and my pillowcases were beautifully signed. It was great! I loved the webcam on the tv all the time, I turned it on first thing in the morning as our "window". And the Disney movie channels? So fun! The deck parties were great, pirate night was fun, and I LOVED the horn!!! I also loved that they were so adamant with the hand washing/sanitizing.

Things I didn't love as much-

Hercules the Muse-ical. We're big theater people, and I was sort of expecting a full out performance almost to the scale of The Lion King on Broadway, so we were disapointed with Hercules. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I was looking forward to. Our server Philip was nice, but had a wierd sense of humor, and sort of annoyed us.

I had expected to really get to know my stateroom atendant, but she never even said hello unless we said it first. Maybe she was just a bit confused about seeing us two girls with the REAS package! Lol.

I didn't like that I could never find a clock while on board. It drove me crazy! I also didn't like all the cigar smoking. I know it was outside on the deck, but still, the wind would always be blowing the smoke in my face! The show at Animator's Palate wasn't as exciting as I hopped. And I was disapointed that there weren't any Disney Behind the Scenes classes to take. At least, I wasn't aware of any.

But of course, over all the whole cruise was beyond amazing! I wish we could have booked another one! But I took almost 500 pictures, and lots of video, so I'll live through those for a while!

I'm so glad we had such great weather! And welcome home everyone!
-Katy

 

[yazee1]

Katy, I'm glad you had a terrific time. We did too. I wonder if a person's second time is as magical as the first time. We booked again for October of 2006, so I guess I'll find out.

This trip was full of wonderful surprises for all of us. The biggest one came during check-in. We were no longer assigned to our oceanview staterooms 2088 and 2090, adjacent but not adjoining rooms. Our new rooms were 6028 and 6030, adjoining staterooms with verandas. I don't need to tell you were on

From that point on, everything went really well. Our room host, Richie was the best! Cheerful, great sense of humor, a perfectionist at keeping our rooms neat, taking care of whatever we needed and arranging the kids stuffed toys in ways that made them laugh. By the third day the boys couldn't wait to come back to the room to see what Richie had done to their stuffed animals.

We had an excellent server team, Prudence and Elisa and wonderful tablemates. Coincidentally, I had met one of our tablemates just before the cruise. We were in line together at the omelette station at the Radisson's breakfest buffet and had a short and pleasant conversation at that time.

Early on, we thought we were going to hit a snag concerning the Oceaneers' Club. Our younger son, who will be eight in June, didn't like the Club much. Actually, he hated it. He paged us to get him and when dh did, he had been crying, very unlike him. He tried the Lab the next day and it was much more to his liking. We also, had one incident with my 4 year old daughter early on in which she screamed and clung and didn't want to go. She also is not like that ordinarilly. So, I didn't make her stay. We changed our plans and took her to lunch with us and then back to the room for a nap. After that, no more tears or complaints when it was time to go to the club.

I didn't intend to write so much. We drove straight home (18 hours total trip time) from the ship and I'm so tired.

 

[mojodani]

I hope everyone had a safe trip home. Those poor folks on the Norwegian Dawn will have some stories to tell!

We must be jaded because we found DCL lacking compared to other lines. We had a fun time but are glad we only paid the FL resident rate.

Embarkation and disembarkation took longer than we are used to. Maybe because so many people use birth certificates instead of passports. Once the new regulation for mandatory passports is in effect, checking in and clearing customs should be quicker. Upon entering the terminal, we were handed a Wonder handout. Allowing pax to stay in their stateroom and calling luggage tag colors would cut down on the crowds leaving the ship.

To the clown in 7500: Thanks for making the rest of us wait, inhaling the freshly painted hull fumes, while they repeatedly paged you for the lifeboat drill.

The Magic certainly makes a statement next to the other ships in port. Gotta love the horn, too. Complimentary fountain soda, Pirate's night fireworks and the proactive hand sanitizing were appreciated.

I felt that the Topsider was cramped and crowded with mediocre food. Dinners were much better but our service was spotty. No water, nor coffee with our dessert were ever offered and several nights iced teas were not refilled without asking. We enjoyed the magic tricks by our server and we had great tablemates! Thank you, Disney! All at our table felt that the lunch service times were limited. We really had to check out the Navigator for the times for sit-down service.

Shutters came through for us after a snafu by them. Kudos to Christina. OTOH, the male photog was annoying with his interruptions. DD waited in line for 20 minutes for a photo by Kylie only to be told she was leaving. The family in front took forever to get their pics taken and DD was told she was to be last one. Didn't happen. From then on, we ignored Kylie's requests for photos.

DH loved the Rain Forest and his dive in Cozumel.

Three treadmills and an orbiter were out of service. Come on Disney, you can do better. Clanging metal beginning at 0800 was unnecessary. Mickey's glove repair could wait until noon. Soldering a step without a protective shield (a Filipino crew member is not a protective shield, Disney) and extension cords snaking through the hallways is not safe.

The infirmary dispensed (sold) outdated antibiotic eyedrops and didn't have the proper equipment or numbing drops for a corneal laceration.

Why was the Goofy pool emptied so early on Friday (hours before we ran into rough seas) and repairs started? The cruise was not over. Kids love to swim at night. Disney, you ran out of garnishes for our Martinis, Mickey waffles for our wonderful tablemate and the Mickey watch in the gift shop. Jeesh.

Castaway Cay was great.

DD, 12 going on 20, didn't care for the Lab. She thought it was too chaotic and the activities too juvenile. One counselor was particularly rude so she did not return. I did admire the continued reinforcement of handwashing when the counselors escorted the children to the bathroom. Our 6 year old tablemate's best time was "Making Flubber!"

Our room host did a great job but DH found a dust-covered watch under the bed (the dustbunnies made me feel right at home!). I was a bit grossed out, Saturday morning, at the mildew spewing out from under the bathroom wall after the rough seas. I was more concerned about how much mildew might be lurking behind those walls.

Jill, thanks for the napkin-folding tips on Palo's Tuxedo.

 

[jkssands]

Mojo- atleast you had majic tricks from the servers. We didn't get that or drink refills and it took 1/2hr to get the drinks at the start of dinner. The napkin folding was fun. Not that I will use it alot, but I did enjoy it.

Do other cruise ships do so many reapirs while the have passengers on board? It seemed at any givin time there was an area blocked off becuase if work.

Jill

 

[hopelea]

After returning home to my every day life. I am beginning to re-consider our 2006 cruise. I was sitting in the back yard this afternoon thinking, a pool would look really good back here. Well, for the $$ of our 2006 cruise, we could have a nice above ground pool. Or, we could spend a week in Cancun, Hawaii or the US Virgin Islands. I really think that I will be cancelling our next trip. Sorry Disney, but I need something different now. I think two times in three years is enough.

Our servers were not on top of things either. But, we did enjoy the trip. Glad we did it. But, I am going to check on something else for our 2006 trip.

Hope

 

[Madden6]

I don't know if anyone is around but I have to put my 2 cents in here. This was our second in 2 years, and A wonderful trip it was. BUT there were things that did bother me...
What is with the service on on the final day of the trip??? What kind of breakfast was that??? And I agree, the pools were emptied and there were trays everywhere!! What a mess!
My girls didn't care for the Oceaneers Club either, but they loved the lab. Only to spend an hour in there before we had to take them out.

Our servers were great and we, too, had Richie as a stateroom host. He was awesome!!

The knocking in the morning drove me crazy too, but thank god it did not wake the kids.

My mother had a great time! She said it was an experience she has never had! I have to thank Disney for that!

But we did not rebook. We too figure that if we do cruise again we may try NCL. A woman who was in line with me to sign up for hair braiding in CC said, that she prefers NCL and her granddaughter liked it better too. The little girl was 6.

Well, sorry we didn't get to meet anyone either.....but glad I wasn't on that other cruise line!!

 

[DCDevil2007]

Do other cruise ships do so many reapirs while the have passengers on board? It seemed at any givin time there was an area blocked off becuase if work.

Jill

I think all the work was being done to the ship because of the crossing over to cali next month, they have to make everything "Ship Shape" I sure will miss that horn though

I had a wonderfull time and the fireworks werent as great as i expected them to be, but they were still really nice, our server Silvio didnt compare to our 3-day server Chedomir last time, but this was only Silvio's 4th cruise, He was still really good, he said he didnt know if he was getting home sick or sea sick Our assistant server I-Ketut was fairly good, but it seemed to take a while for him to refil our drinks, last cruise they were refilled before they were emptied!

teen activities were really fun, I did lots of scavenger hunts, which i got lots of prizes from and the dance parties were nice.

The last night was probably the worst part of the cruise
I was SOOO seasick it was unbareable, Mom didnt think to pack the dramamine because none of us got sick last time, but we ended paying a fair amount for it on the ship!! The lady who checked me out with it was very nice in that i was being kind of slow and they were right near closeing, she could see I was sick. But the following morning a cast member said that those were the worst seas they had in a few years!

Not much else to say, overall a fun time