Attention All DDC'ers (Dorky Disney Cruiser's)

[BML Mickey]

Well I am finally able to sit down and write to all of my DDC pals. Sorry for the delay but I am finally going to detail our interesting experience on the Thanksgiving Wonder 2006. Stay tuned all this week for more info...

 

[RRB]

Hi Brandon - can't wait to read them!

Randy

 

[BML Mickey]

Well, it has been a little bit of time since we travelled on the Disney Wonder for our Honeymoon and the inagural sailing of the DDC. I have to say that I wasn't sure about being able to handle the motion of the ocean and to be honest I cannot even say if Michele and I are good with cruising or not becasue of our bought with the stomach flu...but we are going to try it again!
I have to say that we were anticipating this trip for over a year and were so pumped to go that even our sickness couldn't keep us down.

The trip started with the most unbelieveable feeling in the world...seeing the Wonder from the bus. One thing that always happens to me (and Michele) with Disney is that I get all emotional. As we are sitting on the bus, I start to feel my eyes tearing! I cannot believe it! We aren't even on the thing yet! What a beautiful sight, it is truly amazing and everything that I thought it would be.

As we are standing in line to check in I hear "Brandon?" I am thinking who the heck knows me here? And then I realize! THE DDC. Just as we were starting to check in Josh was there and recognized our ears! It was so comforting to have someone that I felt I knew forever right there! The nervousness of cruising was gone (for now). I then met Shelly and Carol and there families and I felt right at home. At this point we got pictures with Goofy and Mickey and one of us out on the balcony of the terminal with the Wonder in the back (will post pics in a bit) and we just relaxed. Watched some cartoons, caught up with the DDC and really startyed to learn what the Disney Cruise experience was all about.

"Ladies and Gentleman we are now boarding guests with number 1 through 7!" Here we go yup we got 7 but who cared we were getting on! "Ladies and Gentleman the Larry Family" wow that was weird, we were announced for the first time as a married couple... and now for lunch! It was great, quite the combination of stuff and of course Ihad the shrimp.

After lunch it was time to explore a little. The funny part about the exploration is that I already knew what and where things were, thanks to the DDC and DIS boards. Michele and I were in awe, a city on water..no no no, a Disney Park on Water! WE finally got to go to our room and there it was 7122, we had been talking about it for 3 months and now I finally got to see it, touch it , and smell it. Out on to the verandah I go and we are set. The T-shirts on the bed (thanks Josh) and our Romance gift package (robes and stuff) were great welcoming pieces for our cruise. No time to waste we cannot spend too much time in our room becasue we need to get to the gooffy pool by 2:00pm!

TBC...

 

[yogibigdog]

Great start Brandon! Can't wait to hear the rest of your report! Hope you guys had a great wedding reception when you got back. Tell Michele we say Hi

 

[BML Mickey]

Running through the ship, Michele and I made our way up to the Goofy Pool for the DDC meet. Now for those of you on the ship, you all know how warm the weather was, not! and Michele was just amazed and confused why they were serving hot chocolate on the ship in Florida. To be honest so was I...

I have to say that I actually miss the group...becasue of our situation (which you will here more about later in my story) we didn't get to spend any quality time with any of the DDC. I have to say that even though I am not a Chat Board person this experience was very comforting. To have people on the ship that I could rely on and feel almost like family, was really nice...anyway back to the story.

What a great time we had at the meet, eventhough it was short, it was really great. Michele and I now went to get un-packed and prepare for the safety drill. Finally it was here, THE SAFTEY DRILL Once complete Michele and I made our way up to Deck 10 to watch and celebrate at the sailaway party...brrr. We were up on the Dumbo Tron and got some great pictures of everything.

At this time I started to feel the movement of the ship. I was always a little concerned about the motion and how I would feel as I do have a tendency to get motion sickness (from spinning rides and Simulators) however I didn't think that it was going to affect me so soon. Michele wasn't worried at all and didn't think anything of it but I deffinately noticed the movement (I thought).

We got ready to go to the show and once seated I really knew that I was in trouble. That was it...I got up and ran...the story doesn't get any prettier after this. After this episode Michele and I sat out on the deck to get some air and try to feel a little better but it only got worse. After getting back to the cabin, Michele started to feel a little sick. At this point we were not going to make it through the trip considering we just left the port so off to the doctor we go.

TBC

 

[yogibigdog]

I know the next part is the most disappointing part of the trip. Let us know how the ship medical staff was.
Keep the story coming!

 

[Babs417]

OH NO what happened?

 

[BML Mickey]

Michele and I now have decided that this thing is not going away with fresh air and rest so off to the doctor we go. At this time it is about 7:50pm and the medical centre closes at 8:00. I am quite concerned at this point, as our dinner seating time is quickly approaching and I have a feeling that we are going to miss it for sure.

So we are sitting filling out forms at the doctors office becasue although I think it is motion sickness the nurse explains that based on my symptoms its more than that. We finally get in to see the doctor (first time as a married couple) and he expolained that we had Viral Gastroenteritis (WHAT) or in other words stomach flu. What does this mean?

Well first of all they gave us a shot out of He-- right in the a-- I hope that I am not being too vulgar, which was the most painful shot I have every had. Then some imodium and medication which would help knock us out and such. We were then told that we will be contacted by Guest services to go through the rest of the details and that we were to go straight to our rooms and we must remain there for 48 hours. Well, back to the room we go.

At this point Michele is shivering and feeling really guilty becasue we originally went to the docotr for me and now I am helping her back to the room. Thats my job...I am the husband...I think

Getting back to the room we took our meds and then the phone rang. It was our guest services representative who (when I remeber her name I wil luse it) was amazing. She explained that we were going to be confined to our stateroom for 48 hours after the last symptoms stop. She explained that we would be able to go onto Castaway Cay if our symptoms had subsided for 12 hours. She also explained that eventhough we were unable to go to any of our meals that the menus would be provided for each meal and that we could order any of that to our stateroom.

She ended the conversation by letting us know that she would send up some chicken soup and powerade to help us through the evening and that she would talk to us in the morning. According to Michele the soup and powerade came and so did the menus but I was out like a light.

The next thing I knew the sun was coming up and we were pulling into Castaway Cay. We had the Stingray Excursion booked and a couples cabana massage and really didn't feel that an excursion would be a good idea so we cancelled with no problem (refund granted). The message however was the best thing ever. I felt like a million bucks when we were done. Although it was absolutly freezing cold becasue of the wind, it was great. I would definately recommend that to everyone.

After our message we started to head back to the ship. I should have mentioned earlier that we did keep on running into our DDC pals through out our Journey. We saw Randy, Josh & Shelly and fam on the island which is really weird considering how many people there are hanging around.

Back to our stateroom as we were instructed and Thankgiving dinner in bed. Next stop....Nasau

TBC

 

[Michellepooh]

Great trip report so far, Brandon! The cruise already feels like it was ages ago so it is nice to relive it a little (although there are some moments I'm sure you don't want to relive).

 

[BML Mickey]

Mcihele and I always have mishaps with our vacations so we make the best of everything we can.

It gets better don't worry...

 

[yogibigdog]

I remember seeing you guys on Castaway Cay right after your massage. You looked better but my heart went out to you guys what an ordeal! Especially it being you honeymoon.

 

[BML Mickey]

Once again the sun came up and Michele and I were up to watch the ship dock in Nassau. What a nice port...so many other ships to admire...Again we had to call to get permission to leave the ship so instead of rushing on to land as we had already cancelled our excursion (refund granted) so we had hot breakfast in bed and watched a movie until about 1130 in the morning. We finally decided to get up get cleaned up and head out. We were permitted to leave the ship and took a nice walk in town. We did a little shopping and then back to the ship we went. We wanted to make sure that we felt good for our Palo dinner that night.

Our reservation was for 630pm and we needed to get special permission to go to dinner becasue the time that we were actually allowed to leave our stateroom was 730pm. Permission was granted and off to dinner we went.

You know I have to say that there was a lot of buildup for Palo and I really did enjoy the resteraunt but, from the experience that I had, it was nothing special. I felt the food was so so, I really didn't enjoy what I had and I pretty much eat anything, our server was not overlly attentive to our table at least and didn't make the evening really that special considering it was our honeymoon and the first night out that we had. We almost didn't get our wine that was included in our package becasue they didn't realize that we had that. All in all it was nice and I would do it again but I definately wouldn't get myself all pumped up for some fantastic experience based on mine.

After dinner we toured the ship a little and got pictures done in the Atrium with the characters and some portraits howevr becasue it was our only night out all of our pictures ended up looking so similar becasue we didn't go and change for each photo.

We then went to change and get on deck for the Pirate party...brrr! Freezing our buns off we got some hot chocolate and pulled out the laptop to update our website for our family back home. We caught up with Shelly nad crew (again) on deck and got ready to head up to the Pirate party! We actually both had costumes for the party but were really not in that kind of mood to start to get all dressed up. Great view from Deck 10 and we had a great time, finally feeling better.

We went back to our stateroom after the party and felt that was about enough excitment for the day and went to bed (with a little help from captain conk me out).

Next up the Day at Sea...TBC

 

[RRB]

Brandon - nice report! Takes me back to the cruise and meeting the DDC's. I didn't realize what you and Michele went through. I'm sorry you didn't have a better experience. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Randy

 

[BML Mickey]

Funny enough when the sun came up this morning it was the most beautiful of all the sunrises we had seen. Not only was it beautiful but it was also the day that we could get out and do some stuff.

The day started out with breakfast in bed as part of our Romance package and I have to say that no matter what anyone says hot breakfast in your stateroom is not so great. It is pretty rubbery and I think that the resteraunt breakfast is deffinately better.

We continued our morning with a stroll through the ship and decided to do our shopping, as we had not been to the stores yet. Of course one thing that M and I always do when we are in Disney is shop, because you can never have enough Disney gear. A word to the wise, the new thing at Disney is to offer a special buy on a product if you spend a certain amount of money. Who wouldn't take advantage of this? Well be aware before you do. We took adventage of this opportunity twice on our trip and both products have some kind of defect. We are sure that this is the way they get rid of there defective merchandise.

Anyway, we bought the snow globe along with our other products and had the Captain sign it (as he was there when we were shopping) we also looked at a pair of earings for M, they were a little much, 1200 US.

We ventured over to Triton's for lunch as we didn't get there for dinner on our first night, and it was really nice. I wish that we would have gotten to have dinner there because the food was awesome. The service was great and we had a really nice time.

After this we decided that it would be a good idea, while we still felt great to go and see the show instead of waiting until the evening when we may not be in great shape if the seas get rough and we are actually affected by them.

Disney Dreams! WOW, thats all I can say. Every Disney show that I see, I cry, this was no different. It was trully magical seeing that kind of production on a ship!

After the show we ventured up on to deck to relax by the pool and get some pizza from Pinochio's. What a relaxing aternoon, the ocean was calm and the air was fresh, not a piece of land in sight. Paradise!

Dinner tonight was at Annimators, and this was the one thing I had been looking forward to since we booked. We got ready early and although we had a late seating we thought it was time to try and enjoy a little bit of the night life o nthe ship before dinner. We stopped at the Promenade lounge and had wht now is my favorite drink, a Mohito. We took our drinks over to the Cadillac lounge where there was a jazz pianist playing and all of a sudden we finally felt that we were actually adults enjoying our honeymoon.

Off to dinner we go. No this was an experience we had not had before. First of all you need to line up to get in to the restauraunt (not a problem) then when you get in the take you to your table and you get started. The only thing that I have to say about the whole thing is that it was very loud! You couldn't even hear the music that went along with the Animators show as the volume of the people was just ear piercing (and we were in a corner). None the less not to complain, it was still very nice.

Becasue this was the first night that we got to go to a restaurant I mad e a special request to have the photographer to come and tke a picture of us otherwise all our pictures form the trip would be from the night before in the same outfit. Once again our guest services agent made sure that this happened. We also finally had the opportunity to meet our servers for the very first time and they got to give us the celebration cake that they had been waiting to give since day one of the cruise.

TBC...

 

[MassDisLovers]

So sorry to hear that you missed out on so much of your cruise. But congrats to you for doing the right thing and staying in your stateroom to keep everyone else from getting sick. If more people were like you, the whole cruiseline norovirus thing wouldn't exist. Glad you got to celebrate at the end, at least!

Thanks for sharing

 

[RRB]

Brandon - we're waiting......

 

[BML Mickey]

In reading my previous post I have realized that I am a poor speller (typer) and I will try to slow it down a little.

---

As for the Animators dinner like I had said everything was great and I am sure that this celebration cake that they had been waiting to get to us was not actually from the first night (as it sounded).

After dinner we went to check out Studio Sea and a few other places on board that we had not seen yet. We then ventured over to the main Atrium to meet the charaters and see the final show.

We scoped out a great spot on Deck 4 and hung to it, litterally, becasue at this time the sea started to get a little rough. It really felt that I was drunk this whole night with all the movement but really I wasn't (only one drink all cruise).

One of the most horible feelings in the world as far as I am concerned is the horible feeling of being sick to your stomach. With our adventure during this historic voyage we had decided that after the show we would head back to our cabin and get to bed becasue we felt the ocean and wanted to make sure that our final evening and morning were not ruined by us getting sick!

That's all folks!

---

Really there is nothing else interesting to tell. We travelled to Downtown disney after debarking and spent the afternoon there until we had to get to the airport for our flight home.

I have to say that although for many this trip report is sad and unfortunate Michele and I believe that it was a test. We know that we can go on vancation, get sick and still have a good time! We both want to thank all our DDC friends who unknowingly helped us through this tough time.

A very special thanks goes out to Carol, Tony and the boys who always seem to pop up just as we were feeling down to brighten our day! Also to Josh who, being the first DDC member that I met, was always smilling and having a great time which help both Michele and I to do the same no matter what. To the rest of you thank you for your friendship as well and I hope that we can all get together soon on the boards, in the parks or on the ship. I think that we should start a little event calendar to let other group members know when we are going to be traveling to Disney so that if people are interested they can join the excursion.

Hope this filled everyones curiosity aobut our trip and I look forward to talking with you all soon.

PS I will post some pictures of the wedding in the next week or so.

Brandon

 

[yogibigdog]

Thanks Brandon for the report. We went to Downtown Disney too when we got off the ship. I am surprised we did not bump into you there considering we ran into you guys on the ship so often. It was a nice way to end the trip. Picked up a couple of more souvenirs while we were there. We are getting excited about going on the 7 night eastern this April. It will be here before you know it!
Enjoy married life and keep in touch. Definitely let us know when you head back to Disney.



Here is a picture of you guys at the sail away party
I love your Wedding Ears!