DCLFan's 2007-2008 New Year's Cruise
Well, just last Saturday I arrived back home from my 7-night Western Caribbean Disney Cruise on the Magic. As always it was a great time, but there were a few things that I didn't like, mostly because of the weather, not so much Disney's fault. So, starting with my ride to Canaveral I'll begin my Cruise Report with this:
Chapter 1: The Drive and Port Canaveral
I backed out of my driveway, and said goodbye to home for the next 8 or 9 days. Carrying my newly gifted iPhone I was ready for my 8-9 hour drive down south to Port Canaveral. We left in the afternoon on Friday, December 27, so a stay in Jacksonville was required to finish the drive. The next morning we drove non-stop to Port Canaveral and made it surprisingly early at about 10:30 am, and quickly hurried to take out our luggage from the car to the curb and head through security and up the escalator to one of my most favorite sights and places ever. We forgot all about the Online Check-In so we had to sit at the desk and fill out paperwork for about 10 minutes, and quicky rushed to the Castaway Club Line to finish checking in. We there we gladly handed our boarding pass, with the number 2 on it. Finally our first 2 card, never closer than 8 before. We were one of the first 10 families in Port, and sat and waited for the next 2 hours or so. As always, I laughed as people ignored the boarding passes and lined up in front of the ships entrance. Finally they called 2 and we cut infront of everyone in line, as they finally realized that they waited there for no reason. We checked our Key to the World Cards in, and passed the pictures up, as I find them a waste of time and money. We quickly ran on the ship and headed to Parrot Cay for one of my favorite meals on the ship. We played around on the ship and at 1:25 pm, we entered our staterooms for the first time. I usually sit and watch all the 10-15 channels for the first hour that I'm in my stateroom. I read somewhere online that there were 4 staterooms that had a regular Veranda, with an obstructed view, so it was priced as a Navigator's Veranda. Room #6634 it was. As the day went on I climbed up to the 9th deck and hung out in front of the right hot tub (where I always go for deck parties) and watched "Adventures Away!" for the first time. Apparently the "Sailaway Party" is now used for all the deck parties that they throw for leaving the Ports of Call. At about 7:30 pm, I headed up to The Stack, my favorite place on the ship, and met all the Counselors that were attending New Year's in The Stack on the Disney Magic. At 10:30 pm, The Stack's Sailaway party attended and, as usual, not many people showed up, and of those people, nobody really feels like being adventurous, except Greg, who just went crazy. He then adapted the name McLovin. The night ended and I headed back to my stateroom, snuck in and fell asleep anticipating my next day at Key West.
Chapter 2: Key West
My experience in Key West and my overall view of the Port of Call can be summarized in very few words: horrible, disgusting, unlikable, etc... Now, before I start with why I didn't so much "love" Key West, I'll let you know that I really don't care to ever get off the boat. I'm not a big fan of any excursions, except the Thriller Speedboat, which is still 3 hours long. If Disney scheduled a cruise for the ship to leave Port, sail for 6 days, go to Castaway Cay the last day, and then return to port, I'd be completely fine with it. So anyways:
The day started out fine, waking up early and heading to Lumiere's for breakfast, as my family usually does every morning of the cruise. It's a beautiful day, weather is perfect. For the first time in a few months I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt! My excitment changed about 15-30 minutes after I set foot on the dock. I got on to Bourbon Street, and my family knew some friends from back at home who vacation to Key West all the time, so we went searching for a few hot restaurants. Unfortunatly, these restaurants seemed to take us through winding, never ending roads. We walked away from the ship for about 30-45 minutes. I did notice on my way there, that almost everyone on the island smokes, and literally every block (except those with jewlery stores) smelled horrible, and I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to ditch my family and walk all the back to the ship unaccompanied. I didn't really know where I was going. I just knew that I was looking for a huge, red/maroon colored building. I walked for about 15-20 minutes and didn't see anything, just familiar shops and a hobo playing the flute asking for our money. After about an hour of walking back to the ship, I make it back, pleased to see the cruise members nametags, and the lovely disinfectant wipes. I then rushed up to my stateroom and tried to catch my breath.
Thankfully, Disney plans activities on board and in The Stack all day on Port Days, so there's always something to do. I went up to The Stack and waited for my family to return to the ship. I play a little Guitar Hero and then head back down to my stateroom to meet my family. What all did they get from Key West? A few bottles of water, and a burger or chicken fingers. (Could've asked for that on the ship, duh!) The night ended with a Comedy/Magic show which was funny... sort of. The magic seemed to be all jokes, and he didn't seem as a "professional" compared to the other acts that were onboard. There was one trick where he was trying to turn a grown an into a rabbit. So, he had the crowd find ways to say "1, 2, 3!" in different languages. He made jokes on some of them, like a Native American language that some family dug up. Unfortunaly, after about 20 minutes of that he realized he hat the wrong wand. He goes and gets another wand, and the outcome of the trick is very stupid, and child-like... I didn't find it funny at all. (Don't want to spoil the "surprise" for everyone.) The night was topped off with our first disnner at Animator's Palate, which happens to be my favorite restaurant. Even though I know how the room changes, the epressions of first-time cruisers is amazing to watch. The Stack's nightly entertainment was Movie Night, whee they were planning to watch Deja Vu, which is one of my favorite movies ever, but I skipped watching it to run around the ship with some newly-made friends.
Chapter 3: Day at Sea #1 (NYE)
To Be Continued...
-DCLF
Well, just last Saturday I arrived back home from my 7-night Western Caribbean Disney Cruise on the Magic. As always it was a great time, but there were a few things that I didn't like, mostly because of the weather, not so much Disney's fault. So, starting with my ride to Canaveral I'll begin my Cruise Report with this:
Chapter 1: The Drive and Port Canaveral
I backed out of my driveway, and said goodbye to home for the next 8 or 9 days. Carrying my newly gifted iPhone I was ready for my 8-9 hour drive down south to Port Canaveral. We left in the afternoon on Friday, December 27, so a stay in Jacksonville was required to finish the drive. The next morning we drove non-stop to Port Canaveral and made it surprisingly early at about 10:30 am, and quickly hurried to take out our luggage from the car to the curb and head through security and up the escalator to one of my most favorite sights and places ever. We forgot all about the Online Check-In so we had to sit at the desk and fill out paperwork for about 10 minutes, and quicky rushed to the Castaway Club Line to finish checking in. We there we gladly handed our boarding pass, with the number 2 on it. Finally our first 2 card, never closer than 8 before. We were one of the first 10 families in Port, and sat and waited for the next 2 hours or so. As always, I laughed as people ignored the boarding passes and lined up in front of the ships entrance. Finally they called 2 and we cut infront of everyone in line, as they finally realized that they waited there for no reason. We checked our Key to the World Cards in, and passed the pictures up, as I find them a waste of time and money. We quickly ran on the ship and headed to Parrot Cay for one of my favorite meals on the ship. We played around on the ship and at 1:25 pm, we entered our staterooms for the first time. I usually sit and watch all the 10-15 channels for the first hour that I'm in my stateroom. I read somewhere online that there were 4 staterooms that had a regular Veranda, with an obstructed view, so it was priced as a Navigator's Veranda. Room #6634 it was. As the day went on I climbed up to the 9th deck and hung out in front of the right hot tub (where I always go for deck parties) and watched "Adventures Away!" for the first time. Apparently the "Sailaway Party" is now used for all the deck parties that they throw for leaving the Ports of Call. At about 7:30 pm, I headed up to The Stack, my favorite place on the ship, and met all the Counselors that were attending New Year's in The Stack on the Disney Magic. At 10:30 pm, The Stack's Sailaway party attended and, as usual, not many people showed up, and of those people, nobody really feels like being adventurous, except Greg, who just went crazy. He then adapted the name McLovin. The night ended and I headed back to my stateroom, snuck in and fell asleep anticipating my next day at Key West.
Chapter 2: Key West
My experience in Key West and my overall view of the Port of Call can be summarized in very few words: horrible, disgusting, unlikable, etc... Now, before I start with why I didn't so much "love" Key West, I'll let you know that I really don't care to ever get off the boat. I'm not a big fan of any excursions, except the Thriller Speedboat, which is still 3 hours long. If Disney scheduled a cruise for the ship to leave Port, sail for 6 days, go to Castaway Cay the last day, and then return to port, I'd be completely fine with it. So anyways:
The day started out fine, waking up early and heading to Lumiere's for breakfast, as my family usually does every morning of the cruise. It's a beautiful day, weather is perfect. For the first time in a few months I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt! My excitment changed about 15-30 minutes after I set foot on the dock. I got on to Bourbon Street, and my family knew some friends from back at home who vacation to Key West all the time, so we went searching for a few hot restaurants. Unfortunatly, these restaurants seemed to take us through winding, never ending roads. We walked away from the ship for about 30-45 minutes. I did notice on my way there, that almost everyone on the island smokes, and literally every block (except those with jewlery stores) smelled horrible, and I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to ditch my family and walk all the back to the ship unaccompanied. I didn't really know where I was going. I just knew that I was looking for a huge, red/maroon colored building. I walked for about 15-20 minutes and didn't see anything, just familiar shops and a hobo playing the flute asking for our money. After about an hour of walking back to the ship, I make it back, pleased to see the cruise members nametags, and the lovely disinfectant wipes. I then rushed up to my stateroom and tried to catch my breath.
Thankfully, Disney plans activities on board and in The Stack all day on Port Days, so there's always something to do. I went up to The Stack and waited for my family to return to the ship. I play a little Guitar Hero and then head back down to my stateroom to meet my family. What all did they get from Key West? A few bottles of water, and a burger or chicken fingers. (Could've asked for that on the ship, duh!) The night ended with a Comedy/Magic show which was funny... sort of. The magic seemed to be all jokes, and he didn't seem as a "professional" compared to the other acts that were onboard. There was one trick where he was trying to turn a grown an into a rabbit. So, he had the crowd find ways to say "1, 2, 3!" in different languages. He made jokes on some of them, like a Native American language that some family dug up. Unfortunaly, after about 20 minutes of that he realized he hat the wrong wand. He goes and gets another wand, and the outcome of the trick is very stupid, and child-like... I didn't find it funny at all. (Don't want to spoil the "surprise" for everyone.) The night was topped off with our first disnner at Animator's Palate, which happens to be my favorite restaurant. Even though I know how the room changes, the epressions of first-time cruisers is amazing to watch. The Stack's nightly entertainment was Movie Night, whee they were planning to watch Deja Vu, which is one of my favorite movies ever, but I skipped watching it to run around the ship with some newly-made friends.
Chapter 3: Day at Sea #1 (NYE)
To Be Continued...
-DCLF
