Cruisin' with the Cinco DIS Mayo group..pictures and more text added!!

[MickeyD]

["
Ok, I got a lot of grief for being so "sparse" in my trip reporting so now you asked for it...never challenge an English major to be more wordy...you may live to regret it.

Cruisemates: Myself- Lisa (40’s), dh- Doug (40’s) and ds- Ryan (17)
Traveling from the Pacific Northwest, it becomes imperative that you fly in day prior, so we did. I had vouchers from United from last year’s Magic Cruise, so we used those and only had to pay $38 total for flights! (whoo hoo). Doug travels a lot with work so we were able to cash in Marriott points and stay at the Fairfield on Augusta National Drive (?) for next to peanuts. Considering this cruise almost didn’t happen, I was excited to get so many “deals”. We also used Avis for our car rentals both to port and back. Doug is a preferred member, which on the return leg that helped. (more on that later)

We arrived in Orlando at 9pm and had our luggage and car rental and were to the hotel by 9:45. The Fairfield is a very nice hotel and the rooms are clean and spacious (for a hotel anyway). They serve a pretty good continental breakfast in the morning that is complimentary. But, I digress..back to arrival, I had two ravenous men, so we did the short walk over to Denny’s and they stuffed themselves with all you can eat pancakes! Then it was back to the hotel and lights out about 11pm. It was very hard to get to sleep, not only were we all excited, but our bodies were saying it was still West Coast time and only 8 pm.

Morning dawned beautifully with the sun peeking through our shades. I sent the boys down to the continental breakfast to bring up some rolls and oj while I got ready. After breakfast, we packed up the car and headed to the Port! Now, this was our 6th time heading to Port Canaveral, but I still got teary eyed seeing those funnels on the Magic as we crested the hill… (picture). Ryan and I started snapping pictures and video right away. I wanted to document as much of this trip as possible. Just a side note here: I booked this trip at the beginning of ds’s senior year. When asked what Ryan wanted for graduation he didn’t even hesitate: a Disney cruise! This would be his last trip where he could attend the Stack activities and he had had a marvelous time last year, so wanted to go again. Being the great parents we are, (LOL) we booked the cruise.


Doug and Ryan at the Fairfield with our rental car.

Arriving at port, I decided to go with the DIS suggestion of having dh drop Ryan and I off with the luggage, he returns the car, and we go check in. This worked very well and I highly recommend it. Just make sure that you have all documentation signed and the credit card used (if you are using one for stateroom charges). Apparently, AMEX issues different card numbers for each individual on the same account. I handed the castmember mine and it didn’t jive with what was on the paperwork. Whoops! He just said to make sure Doug had his card.

While in line, I met a fellow Dis member (sherrie) and while waiting to board we met a few others (BLTOH, Madisonznana, CruiseboundinKY and sherrie joined us).

Even though we ended up with boarding pass number 5 (we were there at 10:30), we were onboard and eating in Parrot Cay by 12:15. Before we have always gone to Topsiders because I love sitting on deck, but this time it was too hot and humid so we chose PC and I am glad we did. It was not crowded and it was cool. Ds didn’t care as long as he got his Orange Mango Soup. After lunch it was time to check out any changes to the ship since last May. We wandered up to deck 6 to see if we could get in our room yet and met Madisonznana and papa sitting waiting as well. We chatted for a bit and by 1:30 they opened the hallway for us to go to our room. We had 6548 which is forward of the mid elevators on the starboard side. Nice location and the room was nice as well. I love the verandas and call me spoiled, but I will not cruise without one. Our room steward was Maurice and I nicknamed him our “Room Ninja”. He was simply outstanding at getting into the room, cleaning it from corner to corner and getting out before we knew it. He was always friendly and wanted to know what our plans were for the day, but he was never intrusive. We always slept late (teenager that didn’t come in until 2:30am) and never left the room before 10am, yet he always had it done and spotless by lunchtime.

We had our DisMeet at 3:15 and quite a few showed up. I am sure the kids thought it was Halloween or Christmas with all the goodies that quite a few of the ladies brought. Karen (MadisonzNana) made us each a tote bag with the "Cinco Dis Mayo" theme on it. (we sailed on May 5th/Cinco De Mayo..get it?) I will say that the women and kids had a blast getting to know each other...the guys...well they were mildly "tolerant" of it all.

Sailaway was delayed but they still held the party. It was weird to have the whole dance party thing and then the ship doesn’t leave the dock! We finally left about 5:30 or so. (I can’t remember the exact time)

Our dining rotation was LAPLAPL, which is not my favorite rotation because this puts you in Parrot Cay for both Formal and Semi formal night. We also had second seating. We arrive at dinner and find we have a table for five. A young couple is seated and we get to chatting. They are from England and have a lovely accent, but I find it hard to understand some of their words (you would think I could understand English for goodness sakes! ) LOL Eventually we figure out that they are Dis members (UKAngel) and had been on our cruise meet thread! We really enjoyed meals and were always the last table to leave. Our servers were David from Australia and Anastacia from Trinidad and they were both wonderful. A bit “stuffy” perhaps, but they suited our all adult table. Yes, we ended up “all adult” because after night numero uno, ds rarely made meals. In fact, if you are going on a Disney cruise to spend time with your teen, um…plan again. We saw Ryan at ports (and not even every port), at one show, and at 2:30am when he was tripping over the end of the bed.

Up next….ports: a white knuckle thrill, a pirate encounter and a dolphin kiss.

Later!
Lisa

 

[tamim]

Your TR is off to a great start. Sounds like reading the DIS boards was beneficial. I look forward to more details. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sherrie]

tyty Lisa, I love reading my fellow cruiser's report.can't wait to hear more.

 

[BLTOH]

off to a good start. keep it coming

 

[MickeyD]

Excursions:

We had done this itinerary a few times before, but we always seem to do something different in port each time—and this time was no different.
Key West: this time we chose the White Knuckle Thrill boat ride. I give this one a 3 out of 5 stars only because it was a very short excursion and we spent more time getting to and from the place then actually “white knuckling”. Now that said, I don’t think I could have done much more! The boat is a 900 hp big block and the owner takes the group out into the ocean and spins this boat at 65 mph! You will get wet! The bad part is: salt water in the eyes BURNS!
They really should put a limit on the age though. There were three young kids on this excursion and I spent an inordinate amount of time worrying that they were going to go flying over my head! I mean, both my son and I (and he is not a small person, nor am I) went flying in the air more than once. I spent most of the trip on the captains lap! LOL

Grand Caymen: Pirate Encounter. I give this a 3 out of 5 stars (anyone seeing a pattern here?) This was interesting but they gear the excursion towards the little kids and ignore the parents and older kids. It is also a relatively short excursion for the price. From the Magic, you tender into Grand Caymen and then board a tender to the Pirate ship. Everyone is allowed to stand wherever they want on the ship and they sail out around the back of the Magic and "fire" their cannon at the Magic. The "pirates" also yell obscenities (clean obscenities like "get a real ship" or "quit looking at us!") and it was pretty amusing. Then once the ship is off the coast of 7 mile beach, the captain rounds up the youngsters and has them swab the deck. Most of the kids really didn't get into this, and a few got scared. They also "courtmartialed" a parent and strung him up. The captain read the charges against the accused and some of it was pretty amusing, but they did cross the line on a few things...I mean, there were young children present. After all this, they allow everyone to jump from the ship and swim in the gorgeous water. You could also "walk the plank". We chose not to get in the water as I had enough salt water the day before in Key West! So we sat up on deck sipping soda and enjoying the beautiful day. After a 30 minute or so swim they get everyone back on board and spend the rest of the time trying to sell you merchandise, while they take you back to Grand Caymen. If you wanted to shop after this excursion, there was plenty of time. We decided to head back to the Magic, and I am glad we did. Not long after we got back on board a squall came in and it RAINED and RAINED. There was even a funnel cloud that came down! We just watched it all from deck 9 aft whilst eating our panini sandwhiches.

Cozumel: My absolute highlight of the cruise I did the Dolphin Encounter. I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. It would get 5, but I had to “endure” the little fish that kept swimming around us and freaking me out. The guy next to me (bless his heart) laughed at me because I was jumping around and asked why I wasn’t freaking on the huge fish that we paid to come see?
I was surprised at the length of time that we got to spend with the dolphin and we got to kiss him, he kissed us and then we danced with him. We got lots of petting time, we sang a song with him etc. Luckily, my dh came along as an “observer” (no way was he going in the water) so I made him my photographer and videographer. I did buy three of the professional ones, but the video was all of everyone else, and I don’t care about their experience! I will say that when they have you enter the pen, you walk onto this platform that is slippery and the waves really move you. Again, we had small children that could NOT stand up by themselves and one that was absolutely terrified to be there!
After the swim, Doug and I walked around and looked at the park. It is remarkable how much they have restored since the hurricane. It is beautiful...but hot. We headed back to the ship about 2:30 and did our usual of heading to deck 9 aft with our panini sandwhich and ice cream. Ds showed up about 3:30 as he had stayed on the ship all day and "hung out" with friends.

Castaway Cay: Can you say heaven on earth? I love this place. I have been to other cruiselines private islands and yes, they are lovely. I wouldn’t kick myself off any of these islands!
We got off fairly early and were nearly the first ones in line for Captain Jack. He was hilarious and really had the voice down and the mannerisms. I had to look closely to make sure it wasn’t Johnny Depp! Notice in the picture how he and I are standing close, while Doug and Ryan seem to be standing a bit off to the side? What the picture doesn’t show is where his hand was prior to the picture! LOL (I am totally ok with this by the way…no sensibilities were harmed in the brushing of his hand near my hip).

We had a lovely lunch with our tablemates (bet they were wishing they could actually ditch us for a meal, but they were nice as always) and then we hung out on the adult beach while ds hung out on the teen beach. While wading in the water at the adult beach, we did get to have our own “stingray encounter”. I noticed a dark shadow approaching in the water (of which I promptly exited! ) and we saw that it was a huge sting ray! Kind of neat, but I observed from the beach area. (hey, I draw the line at dolphins!)
I will add that it is imperative to apply and reapply sunscreen while at CC. Ds limped into the stateroom and his legs were incredibly sunburnt. He paid the price for not applying sunscreen to his legs for about 2 weeks post cruise.

up next...entertainment, food and whatever else I forgot here…[/COLOR




…[/FONT]

 

[MickeyD]

Never mind, I got the pictures resized they will just be small! I hate computers!!!!
Lisa

 

[pppiglet]

Hey..nice report and pictures. Did you get any pics of UKangel?

 

[Madisonznana]

Hey..nice report and pictures. Did you get any pics of UKangel?

Yeah, didja?

I love your report, to the point, I wonder if I can get away with this for the rest of mine? Madison likes me to re-read mine. She likes lots of details! And since the world revolves around Madison........
I had to hold on the Madison at the Dolphin Encounter, I was afraid she was going to float away.
Oh, and that is a lovely picture of my large posterior at the terminal! No woooohoooo on that one!
Karen

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Tfs

 

[MickeyD]

Hey..nice report and pictures. Did you get any pics of UKangel?

I did. I will see if I can get them posted in my next installment.

 

[MickeyD]

Having already seen all the stage productions numerous times, I was kind of cynical going in to the theatres. But, I am the first to admit, I changed my tune. First off, I love love love, Golden Mickeys. They just highlight most of my favorite Disney shows, so it is fun to watch the sequences. Twice Charmed didn’t do it for me last time, but this time it just seemed so much better. The gal that played Cinderella (the first one, not the one that comes out at the end) was really good, and the stepmother was very good as well. She also did Cruella De Ville in GM and was great at that too.
Then there is Disney Dreams. Before I felt this was very sappy, but they have added some very cool effects to this show, including snowing in the theatre. I absolutely love Beauty and the Beast and I got a bunch of pictures ( no flash of course). This leads me to a little bunny trail here: Picture taking. I did not get any pictures at Golden Mickeys because I have a new camera and I wasn’t sure if I had the flash off or not. By the time we got to Twice Charmed, I had learned how to turn off the flash, but it wouldn’t have mattered as I was blinded by all the flashes around me! I really don’t understand when they say “No flash photography”, that means NO FLASHES people! They do this to protect those performers that are running around on a moving stage! May I also add here that wandering around the aisles and allowing your small children to tool around the dark aisleways is not safe during these shows? I can’t tell you how many small children almost bit it because the performers came running up the aisle…during the show. (ok, rant over)

The food overall on this cruise was pretty good. I stuck to the recommendations of our server most of the time, and that worked. We did have brunch in Palo and I will say it was much better than dinner. Zita was our server and I really liked her. Our head server was PJ and I did mention I had read a lot about him and he said: “Mmmm…Dis boards, right?” so they do know that we talk about them behind their backs.
The infamous Pikey was on board as well and we sat and talked with him following Pub night. I got in his good graces because I could help him on a short cut for 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon that he and Charley play at every function. It also helped that our tablemates from England were with us, and Pikey being from that area, well they bonded.

The Stack: well it must be pretty good, as it “took” my son all week. They had a formal dance on Thursday night that only about half the kids dressed up for. There were 66 teens on board but only about 20 or so ever showed up at the Stack. Ds had the absolute time of his life and still “myspaces” all the kids he met. He did meet and hang out with Jeremy Suarez (sp) who was the voice of Koda in Brother Bear and is now on the Bernie Mac show. (everyone always asks about famous people cruising, so here you go)

We were docked next to the Carnival Holiday in Cozumel and while on deck 4, dh and I were “privy” to their harassing comments. Like; “Watch out for Mickey” “Hey, your ship has rats”…you know, real mature comments. Well they left prior to our ship leaving and their horn tooted and of course, Disney has to respond, so when the “When you wish upon a star” notes went, we just stuck our tongue out at them! (so much for our maturity! )

On the comment sheet I found I did not have enough room to leave comments (both good and bad) so I wrote a two page letter on the stationary that they give you. I mentioned the horrible rotation of having Parrot Cay on formal night (the menu was bar b que ribs for gosh sakes), the flaunting of rules in regards to dress code (if you want to wear flip flops, go to Topsiders, not Palo), and the kid infractions in the adult areas. If Disney really does want to cater more towards their adult clientele, they need to go back to enforcing the adult only areas, this includes Beat Street after 9pm! I did receive a long letter of thanks and acknowledgement (no free cruise though ) upon return home from a Disney executive.

Both our tablemates and us were the last ones off the ship. We strolled out of Lumieres at 9:15 and went right through customs and our luggage was the only ones left. It was nice. We got aboard the shuttle and headed to Avis, which was packed, and while standing there we hear our name called, so dh goes up to the counter, they hand him the keys to our car, and off we go. Gotta love that Preferred membership. We blew in front of about 30 people. So if you were standing in line for a car that day, sorry, but we did pay for it once we got to the airport. See United had placed us on a connecting flight with US Air and the line for US AIR was about 2 hours long. After 2 hours of “stand here, stand there” we found out that our connection was cancelled and the lady at the desk did not have clue about rebooking us! So I very politely (hey, I can be polite when I want something. LOL) explain to her that there is a United flight leaving at 2:30 and to see if there are seats on it. Sure enough there are 3. Do we mind an exit row? Nope! Well, she then couldn’t figure out how to change the ressie so I told her to call the United desk to ok the transaction and we would head over there. She finally did and we ended up on the 2:30 flight to Denver. This all worked out well in the end because it cancelled a connecting flight and we went straight from Denver to home.

Overall, I would say this was the trip I had hoped for. Everything didn’t go perfectly, but the glitches that we had, worked out best in the end. We still love cruising Disney and will most likely go when she comes to the West coast. I just can’t stand those long flights to the east coast!
We had beautiful weather, smooth seas ,met good people, and ds had the best senior trip ever..who could ask for more?

Hope you stayed with me this long and I hope you enjoyed my "lengthier version". If you have any questions, I'll try to remember what happened...it has been a while now...over a month..hard to believe!

Lisa

 

[Madisonznana]

Yea Lisa, You are a much better woman then I!! I haven't finished day 2 of my report yet! I will try to work on it this weekend. I think I will be alone for most of it. Ahhh, the memories!! Madison wants to know when she can start her count off chain for our next cruise!
Karen

 

[disneymom7851]

MickeyD

Did you get any pictures of Cinderella in Twice Charmed?

 

[MickeyD]

MickeyD

Did you get any pictures of Cinderella in Twice Charmed?

Yep!

I was having trouble with the zoom, and although we sat fairly close the pics aren't too great. sorry. I wasn't using a flash either.

Lisa

 

[MickeyD]

Yea Lisa, You are a much better woman then I!! I haven't finished day 2 of my report yet! I will try to work on it this weekend. I think I will be alone for most of it. Ahhh, the memories!! Madison wants to know when she can start her count off chain for our next cruise!
Karen

I know what is up with that? I am waiting because I want to hear about the further adventures of Miss Madison! Tell her I want a cruise countdown too!

Lisa

 

[MickeyD]

Debbie and group from our cruise that were asking about Mandy and Mark (UkAngel) They are the ones on the left. Doug and I are on the right. ryan took the pic. This was the night we celebrated their anniversary (and the only night we ever saw our Head Waiter!)

 

[scoutsmom99]

Thanks for the great report.

 

[sherrie]

happy belated anniversary, sorry i forgot, I am surpised I didnt hear David and Anastasia singing too you.did you tell them?

 

[pppiglet]

Thanks for posting UKangels picture. They look like a fun couple!

 

[Madisonznana]

Do you think we scared them away? Or was it you Lisa, who "advised" them to keep away from the wacky bunch of disers?'
Mandie has not even been back after the cruise!
Karen