April 2 Eastern

[logan1_2000]

Going to TRY to keep this less than a thousand pages....

Drove down through awful traffic south of ATL (we live in ATL) after leaving 3:30 Friday, then traffic, rain, construction, and fatigue later that night into Jax at 11 (in better conditions should have gotten there by 9). Next morning woke early but still after the rain stopped, easy drive to Port, parked in the nearby, inner, close-in lot for first time ever. Told we only needed one person w/ all the docs to be in line for check in, since they re-check ID's upon boarding, which began a few minutes after Noon I believe. Palo's reservation upon boarding at noon took 3 minutes at most. DW got her spa choices, and we had lunch up at Topsiders in the sun (and wind!).

Decorated door--got some tourists stopping by. DIS meet at 3 pm, GrayTLady and Tiggerish among my fellow cruisers. Half the ship, it seemed, was from Michigan, and the other half from Georgia. Nice folks all around.

Got our requested table for 4 for the three of us (DS, 9, with DW and I) to prevent recurrence of bad tablemates from last DCL cruise, and we had awesome service from Head Server Aleksandra, Server Conrad, and esp. ***'t Server Franck, who seemed like a character who had fallen out of Beauty and the Beast ("Wine eeeese my pa-shown"--his enthisiasm and personality and yes, his performance were all so memorable along w/ the accent that Lumiere himself would be proud of). And what fun--the next group of tables was served by Andre from canada, our first ever server from the Wonder in 5/2002, and we still rave about him. We had been told he left the company while on board the Wonder in Jan. of this year, and he told us he had just returned. He was great and friendly to us all week as well as our own great staff. Best ever Head Server. Example--I asked her a question about Mickey ravioli, in response to a thread on here, and then we turned out to have been in Palo's when it was on the menu, so she arranged for each of us to have a special order plateful ( 3 plates total) the next night at dinner when it was not on the menu.

Don was a great stateroom host for 7012, including when Ds had some unexpected issues on a pair of occasions (um, can't honestly say that I wouldn't have had the same moist result as DS if I had stayed up that late and had that many cokes...but he was awfully excited about the freedom we gave him, the friends he met on the ship, the soda fountain, and his own feeling of empowerment now that he has been on 4 DCL cruises and he knows the floor plan...but anyway, ...).

Bullet points now--went to the production shows only, loved them, but for the first time was not totally blown away by the talent level of the casts. They were fine, but my other three DCL cruises I always had a "wow" factor hearing the singing voices. 2nd to last production of Hercules on the Magic--I'll miss it, though I know others dont all have the same opinion. Went to a behind the scens seminar about the theater, very interesting.

Excellent weather with exception of--alas--all day hard rainoout of CC day yesterday. They docked anyway,in case it might have cleared. It was still fun, especially watching them add character appearances and extra movie showings, pass out free rain slickers if you wanted to try to go ashore (many did). Had a tech. difficulty delay with the added showing of National Treasure in Walt Disney Theater, then when it finally started it was Life Aquatic w/ Steve Zissou..."Wrong movie" we yelled, laughing. "Um, this is an R, you probably dont want to show it to a theater full of kids" I yelled. Another 20 mins of delay and they got it right--laughs all around and the crew member just tried to ad lib and kill time...told cow jokes,led dancing to "YMCA", and to "Singin' In The Rain".

Tired as heck..will add more, not all in chronological order, tomorrow...but for us, #4 was our best ever...

 

[logan1_2000]

Random Order Thoughts:

First time I saw the Pirate Night fireworks--very nice effect, and the buffet, with desserts, carvery, and a fajita bar, looked great--but we had eaten at Palo's and were stuffed.

Palo's--Erasmo was a very helpful server; we did some customizing of half portions, both ordered the filet--the filet was very good, I've had better but then I have been to some very top steak houses around the country, but this was very good. They were out of Apple Ice Wine for dessert, but the Bonny Doon was fun (we've had that before) as a substitute. Souffle very good with the panna cotta as well at dessert ( we didn't order the souffle in advance but he put the order in for us anyway). Our first time in there after 4 cruises, enjoyed it, would go back in a heartbeat.

Going to Trunk Bay on our own--not a problem, but being at the Crown Bay dock means that there were no other ships, and would have had to sit until the open air taxi was filled which would have been a while to get to Red Hook--ended up going to downtown and taking the Charlotte Amalie ferry, small rocking boat and a longer boat ride. Took Red Hook back and then a longer taxi ride that stopped at Havensight, then Downtown, and then finally Crown Bay. Actually had some light rain showers while on the beach at Trunk Bay, easy cab rides to/from dock on St. John, and we got 2 - 2 1/2 hours there by going on our own.

St. Thomas Immigration--the agent on the left was literally twice as fast as the slowpoke on the right, they were shifting people from one side of the auditorium to the other agent to catch up. Got there 7 am, later than I'd hoped, and it took 40 minutes of sitting. Oh well.

Saw various things being repaired as the cruise went on, including a section of teak decking near the quiet cove pool, some mens room wall decorative tile in deck 9 aft restroom, hull painting at the dock in St. Martin.

I had remembered filet mignon on the same captain's gala menu as the lobster tail--not anymore, not sure when that changed (the print date on the menu was 7/04). The filet was very good, not as good as Palo though, on Best Of menu on the final night.

More later....

 

[logan1_2000]

You can get more detail on this cruise at the other thread being done on April 2-9. There are things included in that thread that I am not addressing because I was on my 4th cruise and well, remember how many photos you took of your first child, then second...and did you bother with much of that on the 4th (parents of large families, don't flame me, I stand behind my generalization but it is meant in fun...)...so for more detail see her thread.

Shutters--nice moment, on the last morning, when we were buying some 8 x 10's, we were told we could have a portfolio to display on of the photos and the other side would have one of the stock shots they sell of the ship. We couldn't agree, so the CM put one in the portfolio that DW and I liked, and just handed an extra one to DS of the shot he preferred. But Shutters needs more than two CM's at registers on Disembarkation morning. Whether it will go digital and join the 21st century, that is a vendor capital outlay issue.

Actually got something on sale!! Good looking mens polo shirt was marked half off, I spoke with the CM working Treasure Ketch, forget his name, South African I think, very nice and previously he was on the Wonder, and he said they wanted to move that design out to feature the newer emblem that has a compass in it.

The final four shown in the lounge on deck 3 for families, since diversions was all adult after 9 pm, was full of good natured folks rooting for different schools, and the Crew Staffers kept it fun with giveaways, and just plain making their way around the room and greeting people. Ang (short for Angela) was particularly friendly.

There were some pool games at Quiet Cove on one Day at Sea, which surprised me (seemed a bit out of place at that pool), but it wasn't raunchy and it lasted just 10 minutes. Ang said that was really to be visible and not let people think there wasn't a cruise staff.

A word on the Tropical Rain Forest--they call that Mild Steam Room--it was harsh! Couldn't breath at all during the rain day on Friday. My first time in the Spa, enjoyed other features of the rainforest, and the dry sauna was nice and the heated loungers, but that steam....ugh. Seemed worse than other steam rooms I've been in.

I did notice that the scrambled eggs were very wet not to our personal liking whenever included in the character breakfast, or disembarkation, or the like--they seemed more fully cooked in the buffets in PC and Topsiders. I liked the seafood lunch buffet, also the italian lunch buffet, but some of the breakfasts in the buffets were a let down.

We had room service just once, surprisingly, but they said 10 minutes and were there in 10 minutes w/ chocolate chip cookies and mickey bars!!

Comments from fellow travelers in the cabs on St. Martin and St. Thomas and St. John about the poverty make me think "well welcome to the caribbean, what did you expect to find, Palm Beach?" One fellow rider said "It was like we were in Mexico or something." Um, yes. Only Richard Branson's private Necker island doesn't have such sights. So be prepared to see poverty the likes of which you may not have seen before. And there are plenty of worse places in the world, too, sadly.

Booked another one for 10/14/06, Special Western, it was about 20% less expensive than next year's spring break. Just don't know if I really want to sail then or not. I think about trying the Mariner, or Princess's mega ships, but DS says DCL, and since he knows his way around I have great peace of mind having him on his own, and I don't worry and neither does he. I would lose that to switch to other ships. Though next spring break, for example, I could do a junior suite on RCCL for $300 more for the three of us than the cost of a Cat. 8 on DCL. Food for thought.

Castaway Club reception--the remarks were to be as expected, no news other than "we'll keep you informed when we know more about more ships"--which again, and as discussed here on the boards, is largely exchange rate dependent I think. And they switched the shrimp to coconut shrimp, which i don't care for, but there was a green drink that was a pleasant alternative to the punch. The party has outgrown rockin D bar--not sure what else they can do!

Design Flaw--have always thought it was a problem that Pluto's, the only casual dining option open for extended periods, is outdoors and uncovered, and that showed up on the rainy Castaway Cay day. You could get to scoops or Topsiders w/o getting soaked, but that is not true for Pluto's. I would rememdy that on future ships, or even include some additional covering for a path as part of the next drydock in the first half of october 2006.

 

[logan1_2000]

Was in the car, packed, and on the road at 8:20 a.m. on Saturday morning. Found the bathroom facilities on beat street clean and un-used as the crowds were gathering in the atrium/lobby, and our room was already done and awaiting the next guests by 7:45 when we checked back after the early breakfast.

And the traffic on 75 was a nightmare, and then we all hopped off to go on old rte 41 through South Georgia, from Valdosta through Hahira (pronounced Hay-High-ruh) and on to Adel (A-dell)--it was bumper to bumper on two lanes in the middle of farms, but at least were moving, at least until the last 5 miles back toward the interstate. 10 hours to drive 500 miles, which usually is 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 depending on stops other trips. Ran into fellow DCL cruisers at the Chik Fil A in Lake City and again at a Middle Georgia Rest Stop.

At least the weather was great for the drive--because the other 3 driving nightmares were there--construction, volume, and accidents.

 

[jacobatt1]

Thanks for the report! Were you cheering for Tiger yesterday???

Amy

 

[DiaLady]

Great update! Thanks so much! I like your idea about covering Plutos for rainy days. . .

Have a great recovery!

 

[logan1_2000]

Yes, I had bragged on the Sunday Masters badges awaiting me when I got back. And when I got back I also found numerous emails about DS's baseball team having a makeup from a rainout the Thursday before we left, and the makeup was scheduled for 1 pm on Masters Sunday. And DS wanted to play baseball. So to this day I remain someone who has never been to the Masters. I also left Randy Johnson's perfect game last year after the 4th inning on a pre-set curfew because DS had a baseball playoff game the next evening and I did not want him to be overtired. I hope he remembers these gestures, along with the 4 (so far) DCL cruises when I am old and he has to care for me...

 

[delo4]

Was the Aleksandra head Server from the Netherlands? If so, we has her as our server on our first cruise and she was wonderful. She must have been promoted recently. We saw her again on our 6th cruise this past October and she was still a server. She was by far the best one we have ever had. She is very professional and knowledgeable and personable. She remembers us each time we visit.

 

[logan1_2000]

Yes--Aleksandra the head server is from the Netherlands (citizenship, anyway; her last name, as printed out on the tip receipt, shows a different ethnic background as does her accent, so she is indeed part of the international flavor of the CM's all by herself!) She was exactly as you remember her, and she sure didn't act "new" in her job, so a well deserved promotion.

 

[delo4]

I believe that Aleksandra married another server on board. He is from India. When we first met her, she was single. She left the ship after they got married and they planned on living in France. He was having trouble getting the right papers, so both decided to go back on the ship until they could get all the papers in order.

Its good news that she has been promoted, She was a first class server!

 

[Tiggerish]

Your fatherly sacrifices may pay off, remember who will be picking your nursing home.

I did re-book on board and get the secret port hole rooms on a 4 day in May of 2006 for myself and my brother and his family.