PrincessMer
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2010
- Messages
- 152
Background:
The Cast: Clark (DH, 30) and myself (Meredith, 28)
The Why: Well, why not? Actually, I’ve been dying to go on a cruise since I was about 18. You hear about folks going on cruises and spending time on beautiful beaches with girly drinks, so who wouldn’t want to do that? Actually, a couple of years ago, I saw a show on the Travel Channel about DCL, and once I saw Castaway Cay I knew that I had to go there! It became my lifelong goal to go to Castaway Cay. I bugged my DH for months (years?) until he finally agreed that we could consider taking a cruise. Well, those were the magic words! I began to research possible cruises and we finally decided on the Disney Magic January 3 – 8, 2011.
Day One, Part 1:
Finally, after months of counting down (and annoying my DH, family, friends, and co-workers), it was time to cruise!! I could barely sleep the night before. I got about 2-3 hours of sleep and then spent the rest of the night rereading the DIS or lying in bed telling myself that if I didn’t get some sleep I would be too tired to actually enjoy the first day of the cruise. It didn’t help. Finally, it was late enough that I could justify actually getting up, showering, and getting ready for the cruise (just as DH was getting into bed for the night). Once I was ready, I tried to get DH up. For those of you who know us, you know this is a major event. DH does not wake up easily. When you have someone who desperately wants to sleep and someone who can barely contain her excitement and wants to get going, you will end up with a fight. A fight is exactly what happened.
The fight was short lived and we were finally on the road at 7:00 am, with our excessive luggage and my very nice mom driving us to the port from Jacksonville. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast, and while my mom and DH listened to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on CD, I took a nap. I woke up a couple of times, and about 12 miles from the port, I finally woke up for good and I thought I was going to explode from excitement. We arrived at the port around 9:50 AM. My mom pulled up to the drop off area and we got out of the car. We handed two suitcases to a porter, gave him a tip, and followed instructions to walk to the gate to wait in line. There were still a lot of people from the last cruise waiting to be picked up, but we finally found the line we were supposed to be waiting in and stood there with our carry on bags.
The weather was perfect, and I did my best to not bounce in place while we waited for security to let us in. At 10:00, we walked up to the gate, gave our room number, and were instructed to get in line to go through the x-ray. We did that, and before we knew it, we were in the lobby waiting to get checked in and get our cards. I was so excited when I got the coveted #2 boarding pass!
We then found a comfy seat while I tried to explain to DH what a boarding pass #2 meant. We spent the next hour and a half reading through the Navigator (for my friends reading this that don’t know what the Navigator is, it is basically a daily schedule of events for the ship), exploring the terminal, looking for the Tigger pin that had fallen off of DH’s lanyard (it’s still missing), and taking some photos.
Finally, at 11:45, the family of the day was announced, and shortly thereafter, it was time for group #2 to enter the ship!!! I practically dragged DH to the front of the line, had our cards swiped, and went on our way. We skipped the on board photo, and as we approached the ship, I looked at DH for confirmation that I should still ask to be introduced in the manner in which we had agreed. For those of you reading this trip report that aren’t familiar with DCL, when you board the ship for the first time, the crew will announce your name and a bunch of the crew will be in the atrium clapping for you.
A few moments later, the CM announced us as “Carl & Ellie on their next great adventure,” and we walked into the atrium with lots of applause and a huge smile on my face. DH and I had agreed on this introduction because I wanted to do something cute and we both love the movie UP. I don’t know how many people “got it” but we thought it was adorable and it made me happy, and that is all that counts!
Stay tuned for the rest of the report!
Chapter Links:
Day 1, Part 2
The Cast: Clark (DH, 30) and myself (Meredith, 28)
The Why: Well, why not? Actually, I’ve been dying to go on a cruise since I was about 18. You hear about folks going on cruises and spending time on beautiful beaches with girly drinks, so who wouldn’t want to do that? Actually, a couple of years ago, I saw a show on the Travel Channel about DCL, and once I saw Castaway Cay I knew that I had to go there! It became my lifelong goal to go to Castaway Cay. I bugged my DH for months (years?) until he finally agreed that we could consider taking a cruise. Well, those were the magic words! I began to research possible cruises and we finally decided on the Disney Magic January 3 – 8, 2011.
Day One, Part 1:
Finally, after months of counting down (and annoying my DH, family, friends, and co-workers), it was time to cruise!! I could barely sleep the night before. I got about 2-3 hours of sleep and then spent the rest of the night rereading the DIS or lying in bed telling myself that if I didn’t get some sleep I would be too tired to actually enjoy the first day of the cruise. It didn’t help. Finally, it was late enough that I could justify actually getting up, showering, and getting ready for the cruise (just as DH was getting into bed for the night). Once I was ready, I tried to get DH up. For those of you who know us, you know this is a major event. DH does not wake up easily. When you have someone who desperately wants to sleep and someone who can barely contain her excitement and wants to get going, you will end up with a fight. A fight is exactly what happened.
The fight was short lived and we were finally on the road at 7:00 am, with our excessive luggage and my very nice mom driving us to the port from Jacksonville. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast, and while my mom and DH listened to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on CD, I took a nap. I woke up a couple of times, and about 12 miles from the port, I finally woke up for good and I thought I was going to explode from excitement. We arrived at the port around 9:50 AM. My mom pulled up to the drop off area and we got out of the car. We handed two suitcases to a porter, gave him a tip, and followed instructions to walk to the gate to wait in line. There were still a lot of people from the last cruise waiting to be picked up, but we finally found the line we were supposed to be waiting in and stood there with our carry on bags.
The weather was perfect, and I did my best to not bounce in place while we waited for security to let us in. At 10:00, we walked up to the gate, gave our room number, and were instructed to get in line to go through the x-ray. We did that, and before we knew it, we were in the lobby waiting to get checked in and get our cards. I was so excited when I got the coveted #2 boarding pass!
We then found a comfy seat while I tried to explain to DH what a boarding pass #2 meant. We spent the next hour and a half reading through the Navigator (for my friends reading this that don’t know what the Navigator is, it is basically a daily schedule of events for the ship), exploring the terminal, looking for the Tigger pin that had fallen off of DH’s lanyard (it’s still missing), and taking some photos.
Finally, at 11:45, the family of the day was announced, and shortly thereafter, it was time for group #2 to enter the ship!!! I practically dragged DH to the front of the line, had our cards swiped, and went on our way. We skipped the on board photo, and as we approached the ship, I looked at DH for confirmation that I should still ask to be introduced in the manner in which we had agreed. For those of you reading this trip report that aren’t familiar with DCL, when you board the ship for the first time, the crew will announce your name and a bunch of the crew will be in the atrium clapping for you.
A few moments later, the CM announced us as “Carl & Ellie on their next great adventure,” and we walked into the atrium with lots of applause and a huge smile on my face. DH and I had agreed on this introduction because I wanted to do something cute and we both love the movie UP. I don’t know how many people “got it” but we thought it was adorable and it made me happy, and that is all that counts!
Stay tuned for the rest of the report!
Chapter Links:
Day 1, Part 2
Loving this!
