Hey everyone! We got back LATE last night and then I worked all day today. I will have to deal with our eight full suitcases this weekend but tonight I am already in bed taking it easy. I will have to read and get caught up but wanted to post a few comments....
1. Thanks to everyone in my FE group! There were so many things we really loved and it was fun to come back to the room and have all the treats there. Can't remember right now who did the potpourri but I have to say it was one of my favorites because the bathroom had a bit of a funky smell to it.
2. Dinner Service = It was a bit rough. We sat with Erika's family and she has already covered much of it. Our servers were nice enough but they really just did not get Disney service. Drinks were never waiting on the table, they weren't refilled when we needed and there seemed to be little flexibility to get things customized when ordering (DS wanted just a plain steak one night and was told it could not be done).
3. Stateroom Host = Alright, I will say here is where I will state my disappointment. We only met our stateroom host one time (I opened the door and there he was so he introduced himself). We had dirty dishes that were left in the room for 2 1/2 days. I know that I could have put them out in the hall but I really wanted to see how long they would sit there without being taken at that point. We also had to ask for shampoo, etc. On the 4th day, I finally left a note on the bathroom mirror asking for supplies to be restocked in both bathrooms. Here is the worse though....my kids had their own stateroom connected to ours and their carpet was so gross with massive hair/lint balls. I would pick them up and leave them on the trunk or put huge wads of them in the garbage can. I do not think the carpet was vacuumed before we got there and it was not vacuumed the whole time we were on the ship. I will admit that I was annoyed that I had to tip this person.
4. A reminder that Disney is still part of the real world = On our at sea day, DS was with a group of friends doing the detective thing with the photos. The kids were all together and it was shortly after lunch. While they were on deck 5, an 18-20 year old male individual approached the kids and began to swear at them and say things to them. He then used his elbow to push my son . . . hitting him so hard that DS fell into one of the other children. He yelled at DS and then left the area. DS was not really hurt as much as he was scared. He was totally freaked out and said he was scared that the guy was going to do something else to him. DS came to find me and then I took all the kids to security. I will admit that I am very disappointed with how security handled the situation. He took all the information and then told me he would check to see if there were cameras and then contact us again. Now, DS was still crying at this point from having the elbow in his back and being scared. The security person, while being nice and taking the information, did not really do anything to help comfort any of the kids or help any of them feel better. The follow-up that I got was a message on my phone from security saying they were sorry they did not have a camera so there was nothing else they could do unless the kids saw the man again and called them back. That was it. Again, this is Disney and these were kids that went through this. I just feel like they could have checked on the kids or something. As a follow up to this, my son was really not feeling secure even the next day and just wanted to get off the ship at one point. I finally went down to guest services and told them that I expected them to do something to help my son feel better about what happened. After talking with one of the ship officers, he was surprised that he did not know what happened to the kids and volunteered to have a guest relations staff member who had worked at one point in the kid's club to take Ben on a private tour of the ship and try to make him feel better. Ben did go on the tour that afternoon and we appreciated the cast member who was great with him. I just feel like it should have been Disney making a point of checking on the kids and that I should not have had to ask for some help.
5. Despite all the things that happened, we probably had the best cruise ever because of how much fun we had with friends. I am feeling very lonely tonight after having such a great vacation with so many great people. I would have loved to have had more time to sit and talk with some people (Laura and Marco...you especially! )but there were others that I spent so much time with that I feel like we are now life long best friends (Kristin....you are truly one of the special people in my life).
6. Rebooking = We booked a dummy date but I am unsure of what we will decide upon. I had hoped to consider the Turkey cruise but the price is just too high for our family at this point. I just want to have a dummy date out there and will figure it out soon hopefully.
7. The Cabana = We LOVED LOVED LOVED the cabana at
Castaway Cay. It was wonderful to relax in such a wonderful place with all the cabana had to offer.
I am sure I will think of more but I will now try to catch up with the posts - or fall asleep reading because I am so tired!
We also asked for ice once and he then continued to bring us ice for the remainder of the cruise for our happy hour - even without being asked. He was always so pleasant and was great with the kids. I would have to say he was the best stateroom host I have ever had on DCL. 
(If you go up the fwd stairs to the pool deck on 11, you'll see the entrance to the spa/fitness center! 
)
Can't some pixie dust happen so prices will drop for the '12 Turkey Cruise? If not that year, let's all try to reconnect in 2013. We all need to come up with a "plan" so that when the 2013 prices come out, we are on it opening day....
