Back to back Cruisin' with Peg Leg Mel & Eric the Rum Runner Oct 23-30,11 COMPLETED!!

[Disneygrl36]

Hello everyone....
This will be the story of our back to back cruises aboard the Disney Dream from Oct 23-30, 2011. The title comes from the fact that about a week & a half before we were to leave for this cruise, I ended up being diagnosed with a stress fracture in my left foot & would be in a stabilizing boot, on crutches or in a wheelchair. So I'm Peg Leg Mel & my dear husband Eric, well he just likes rum so there ya go.
Here is a recent picture of us from May on the California Grill observation deck after a lovely dinner with friends.

A little back story on us. We both cruised once on the Disney Magic in 98/99 prior to meeting & getting married.
Our first trip together on Disney Cruise line was in Dec 2006. We did a 4 night cruise on the Wonder with my parents.

This was the trip that our trip mascot tradition was born. I like to take lots of pictures & decided it would be fun to stick a little someone in our pictures to add to the fun. So, this was our first mascot.....Sorcerer Mickey.

Our second Disney cruise together was aboard the Disney Magic for a Halloween cruise in 2007. My birthday is Halloween so this was a very special cruise for us. We dressed up as one of my favorite Disney couples Mary Poppins & Bert on Halloween & won the Most Disney portion of the costume contest that night.

Our mascot from that cruise was a cute little pirate Mickey.

We made a lot of friends on that cruise & a bunch of us planned on cruising together soon. Well fast forward a bit & I was contacted by a friend who had booked back to back to back Oct 2011 cruises on the brand new Disney Dream. He talked & cajoled & convinced me to book too, so we booked back to back cruises & just waited for the fun to roll around. Unfortunately, that friend ended up having to cancel (he would be sorely missed ) but it was on with the show for us & we couldn't believe it had been 4 years since we had cruised!

Our house was all ready for Halloween before we left. We would actually be cruising until the 30th & returning home on my birthday the 31st.

Captain Mickey potato head was ready too....

Even the car was ready to go....

Saturday Oct 22, 2011
We headed to the airport in Knoxville for our flight. Going through security was interesing. I told them I could take the boot off but they said no leave it on & they could wipe it down & run that through a machine. Well, after the darn body scan & the boot wipe down, I still ended up having to have a dad gum pat down because something on the boot set the machine off. I felt violated! LOL. I know it's for our safety but I have been patted down like 3 times now & I feel like I need a cigarette afterwards.
Here the boot makes it's first appearance at the airport along with our mascot for this trip....a really cute Punkin Mickey vinylmation.

We had an uneventful flight which was nice & landed in Orlando Sanford airport around 12:30. We had rented a car to drive to port.

We were starving so the first order of business was to find somewhere to eat. One of Eric's favorite restaurants is PF Changs & there happened to be one sort of on the way in Winter Park so we had a nice lunch there. We did a quick stop at Publix for some water, diet mountain dew for me (I am slightly addicted & there would be none on the ship since it's a Pepsi product) & the liquor store for a small bottle of Old Forrester for drinkies in the room. Soon, we were on our way to Port Canaveral.
We headed straight for Fish Lips, where we had planned on meeting up with some of our fellow cruisers to watch the Magic sail away. In my gimpy state, I was pretty easy for them to spot. We ended up at a table with tommycruiser & twinsfan from the boards. I had a lovely cocktail called a pink blouse & Eric had a beer & we chit chatted with our fellow cruisers.

Soon the Magic was tooting it's horn & pulling away. Such a nice sight to see & we were excited that it would be us the next day on the Dream.

We really enjoyed seeing a sail away from a different perspective. We said adios until tomorrow to our new friends & headed to our hotel to crash for the evening. We had to stop somewhere for Eric to get sunglasses since he forgot his at home. So he went into the giant Ron Jon store while my gimpy self waited in the car. Our hotel was easy to find & just down from Ron Jon's. We were staying at the Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach which in the hind sight is 20/20 thing, I would stay a little closer to port next time, but it was a nice hotel with clean rooms.

We had a nice view of the ocean.

We relaxed a little & I put my foot up. We then saw a nice sunset over the waterway in front of the hotel.

Eric went out & got us a Subway sandwich for dinner & we just relaxed in the room & watched the worst football game of the year for me. I am an alumane of the University of Tennessee. Eric did not go to UT but he is a born & bred Tennessean but for some reason he is a University of Alabama football fan. Well, needless to say Alabama kicked our butts this year. We watched the game with a very classy bottle of wine in paper cups before turning in for the night.

I am going to put links to all the installments here in case people want to skip over the chitter chatter.
Installment 2 We're on a boat!
Installment 3 The Dis Meet that wasn't & the dreaded muster drill
Installment 4 Drinks & Dinner & New Friends Oh My!
Installment 5 Happy Birthday to Eric & Nassau Ah Who Cares?
Installment 6 Mixin' it up & Villians run amok
Installment 7 Inside a champagne bubble & Dinner in the Palace
Installment 8 Castaway Cay would it be the best day ever?
Installment 9 A date with the captain & Our our private bar
Installment 10 Part 1 Dinner for pirates, fireworks & more Captain Jack
Installment 10 Part 2 Pirates, fireworks & more Captain Jack continued
Installment 11 Part 1 Brunch with buddies & Sippin' fine wine
Installment 11 Part 2 Sippin' fine wine continued
Installment 12 Do you Believe?
Installment 13 Part 1 Dinner with Dudes!
Installment 13 Part 2 Dinner with Dudes cont
Installment 14 Now it's time to say goodbye NOT!
Installment 15 Part 1 Did we peek in some cool places? Oh yes we did!
Installment 15 Part 2 Oh yes we did cont.
Installment 16 Why can't we play & a low key sail away
Installment 17 Drinks with old friends & dinner with new
Installment 18 Nassah again meh?
Installment 19 Animators Palate up close & personal
Installment 20 To catch a thief & a lovely dinner at Palo
Installment 21 Pirate night grown up style
Installment 22 Part 1 Back to Paradise
Installment 22 Part 2 Back to Paradise 2
Installment 22 Part 3 Back to Paradise 3
Installment 23 Last dinner
Installment 24 On to WDW
Installment 26 Our only ride & dinner at the Poly
Installment 27 On Top of the World

 

[Aburns8]

Subscribing, of course! Love the picture of you two outside of California Grill. I can't wait to hear about your adventures!

 

[ohboyx3]

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Hi Melanie! Can't wait to read about your trip!

 

[jenandjuice]

I'm joining in!

 

[minnieluvzmickey]

Yay! My husband and I were on the cruise with Melanie and Eric. We were tablemates. It was so fun and I'm so glad we met. I think we are long lost sisters separated at birth.

So excited for the trip report!

 

[BriarRosie]

Nicely done so far. Love the classy paper wine cups.

 

[101DalmFan]

Hi! DH and I were on the 2007 cruise with you guys too ..... AND we were just on the Dream on the October 23rd cruise too

Four nights was just too short! How great that you did a B2B!!

Lennie
101DalmFan

 

[Disneygrl36]

Subscribing, of course! Love the picture of you two outside of California Grill. I can't wait to hear about your adventures!

Andrea. That was such a great night at California Grill & that picture that you took was one of my favs.

Can't wait to hear more!!

thanks for reading & hoping to keep you entertained.

Hi Melanie! Can't wait to read about your trip!

Carrie. I am hoping I can make my trippie even half as fun as yours are.

I'm joining in!

& glad to have you.

Yay! My husband and I were on the cruise with Melanie and Eric. We were tablemates. It was so fun and I'm so glad we met. I think we are long lost sisters separated at birth.

So excited for the trip report!

Missy! We had the best time with you guys & I agree we are like sisters....so much in common. Wish we lived closer so we could hang out often.

Nicely done so far. Love the classy paper wine cups.

Lori. Thanks....I thought those cups were pretty hilarious myself.

Hi! DH and I were on the 2007 cruise with you guys too ..... AND we were just on the Dream on the October 23rd cruise too

Four nights was just too short! How great that you did a B2B!!

Lennie
101DalmFan

Lennie. I thought I recognized you in animation class that day. I should have spoken. Agreed 4 nights is too short so I was really glad we had 7.

In trip report related news, I dropped my Flip Video camera in the elevator on the dream on our 2nd Nassua day & it WOULD not work. It wouldn't even turn on. Well, my wonderful husband messed around with it today & got it working & we got the videos saved so you will be entertained with some videos now.

I will try to get the next post up tomorrow. Since I am still in my boot, I am hoping to get this trip report done fairly quickly. I went to the doctor Wednesday & my stress fracture is healing but he still wants me in the boot for at least 2 probably more like 3 weeks, so no 12hr shifts on my feet until around Thanksgiving.

 

[TwinsFan]

Hi Melanie, I found your TR! I'm photo challenged here on the DIS boards so my TR won't have all the nice photos yours does, but I'm almost done with it. We feel so lucky to have met you and Eric and the rest of our tablemates. We had some very fun times. I hope we can cruise together or meet up somewhere in the future. I'm ready for more TR, bummer that you have the boot for three more weeks.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Hi Melanie, I found your TR! I'm photo challenged here on the DIS boards so my TR won't have all the nice photos yours does, but I'm almost done with it. We feel so lucky to have met you and Eric and the rest of our tablemates. We had some very fun times. I hope we can cruise together or meet up somewhere in the future. I'm ready for more TR, bummer that you have the boot for three more weeks.

Hey Beth & . We were so lucky with our tablemates. I don't think it could have been much better. Let me know when you post your trippie. I wanna see what you guys were doing when we weren't together. At least I got to ditch the crutches & wheelchair & can now walk around more in the boot. It is feeling pretty good so I can't complain too much.

Uploading photos now for the next installment.

 

[Disneygrl36]

So after our fun night of football & wine from paper cups, we woke up fairly early. I think we were "too excited to sleep." Eric went for a run...good boy that he is & I went out on the balcony & watched the sun come up over the ocean.

Once Eric got back, we went downstairs to enjoy a free breakfast on Hampton Inn. I really do not remember what we ate at all probably because I was anxious to get the show on the road. It was exciting when walking back up to the room, looking out & being able to see the Dream in the distance waiting for us to come aboard.

Soon, we were packed up & headed the the Thrifty rental car office to return our car. We had an 11:00 arrival time at port & the longer we sat there waiting at the very small, very crowded Thrifty office, the more anxious I got about whether we would arrive on time. At least there was a lively British family with 2 young adult males to entertain us whilst we waited. I bet they rocked the Freedom of the Seas like nobody's business. It was also at this point WAITING that we decided that we might explore changing our plans for returning to Thrifty to get a rental car to drive to WDW once off the ship. Finally, a shuttle came & we were off. Everyone else got off the shuttle to get on the Freedom of the Seas, but we stayed on alone waiting to get to the Dream.

Soon we were pulling into the terminal & getting ready to start our vacation.

And as you can see even with our waiting, we weren't too far off the mark for our arrival time.

It was stricking the difference between the drop off area at Freedom of the Seas & at DCL terminal. There was hardly a line & it seemed very organized & less chaotic, so maybe the staggered arrival times are a good thing.
We went through security & it was a breeze even with the wheelchair & crutches etc. Soon we were checking in & given a 4 boarding number & by the time we went to the bathroom they were calling number 5 group so we headed right into the queue line to get on the ship. This was the only picture I took before we boarded.

There was no time to dawdle or take pictures in the terminal, but I knew I would have plenty of time when we came back in on Thursday.

We took our welcome aboard photo....which I didn't buy & for some reason forgot to take a photo of when we were looking at our photos. The next thing I knew, we were announced & in the lobby with a CM telling us about lunch. I was dazzled by the size of the lobby & the chandelier but didn't really have much time to take it all in. We had planned to go to Enchanted Garden to eat, but they said it was pretty busy so we headed up to Cabanas instead. At this point, Eric said this was his least favorite part of the cruise.....hurrying on board, eating & still having to lug around your stuff until your room is ready. I agreed with him & it was even harder this time because we had his back pack, my small bag with cameras etc., my crutches (which I wish we had left at home), me in the wheelchair & we had a very full bag with 12 bottles of water & an 8 pack of DMD & a bottle of bourbon in it. So, we were a bit overwhelmed & I am sure we were a sight to see. We finally figured out that putting the heavy bag on my lap was the best solution. We found a table by the window & put down all our stuff before heading to the buffet. The CM's in Cabanas were very helpful, friendly & sweet.
This is my plate-I wish it showed the cute design that was on the plates. It was a beachy design & the clear drink cups had little Mickey heads all over them. So cute!

The food was good especially the shrimp, and soon we were content & starting to relax. It was about 12:30 by the time we finished lunch, so we decided to just go somewhere & hang out until the room was ready. We headed to the Quiet Cove area & this was a great idea.
We immediately gravitated to this cozy looking area.

Looking out at the ocean was so calming & that was a comfy lounger.

Hey we are finally on vacation!

The next order of business was a drink of the day which Eric went to the bar to get. As I sat there, an older couple came over to explore the area where we were sitting which was next to the hot tub. The next thing I knew, the woman was taking off her long pants to put on shorts so she could get in the hot tub. There she stood in her drawers.........good lawd. Oh well, if she wasn't embarrased & worried, why should I be? So after the free show, we kicked back & relaxed with our drinks which were tasty rum concotions that put us on the right path to a happy vacation.

Before long, it was time to go see our room. We were on deck 10 aft in a category 5A deluxe verandah stateroom.

I loved the red pillow & the blue throw. I wanted to bring them home with me.

View of the verandah.

Cute details in the room.
Lamp with ships & castles.

Artwork with cool rope characters.

Our Castaway Club goodies.

I decorated our door with the magnets I had made. I found out later that I did not do a very good job of sticking the magnets on the back & by the end of the cruise, we only had about 1/2 the stuff left on the door.

Next up........the dis meet that wasn't & the dreaded muster drill.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Here are a couple of photos that show the magnets better.....

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

sweet first page will go back and read now.

 

[Jennifer48]

I'm here!

What a great first day, meeting friends and watching the Magic sail away. Sounds wonderful! I love your sunset & sunrise photos!

I hope your foot didn't hinder your trip too much. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Disneygrl36]

sweet first page will go back and read now.

Dan.....I remember last time I cruised my trip report had you all talked in to cruising. I hope this one will help you seal the deal.

I'm here!

What a great first day, meeting friends and watching the Magic sail away. Sounds wonderful! I love your sunset & sunrise photos!

I hope your foot didn't hinder your trip too much. Can't wait to hear more!

Jennifer. We did have a great time watching the Magic. I would love to go watch the ships sail away again sometime, even if I wasn't cruising.

 

[TwinsFan]

I love all the photos! Yes, I know we picked up Eric's magnet off the floor at least once and stuck it back on the door, at the time I didn't even realize it was you guys Weird just noticed you had a blue blanket on your bed, we had a red blanket. I wish they sold that pillow in the gift shop, would be a great keepsake.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Joining in for the fun. hope Peg Leg Mel is better now and the Ugly, fashionless boot is now a thing of the past (only if it should be!!)

 

[minnieluvzmickey]

Weird how we were both eating at Cabanas at the same time on that first day not even knowing that we would be tablemates. I wonder if we were sitting near each other. At 12:30 I was running up to Palo to sneak in before it was time to book my brunch. It worked!

Interesting that our throw on the bed was red and yours was blue. I wonder how many colors there are.

On our door we had the same sorcerer hat and badges with our names. Also, we had an Auburn magnet and I had a lime green one with my diser name.

This is getting scary!

Keep the report coming......I am enjoying recapping everything.

 

[Tink rules]

I'm in!!!