Dining at "Pablo's" -- 1/24/09 first-time DCL family vacation! DAY ONE ADDED!

[jay.austin]

So outside the door to your stateroom they have a Fish on the wall that can be used to deliver things to you (one of the people in the spa sent us some info and put it there) so I guess you can say it is a mailbox. The people on this message board tend to hang things from the fish (thus the name "fish extender") that have pockets in them. Then all the people you are in on it that are going on the same cruise leave little gifts in your fish extender throughout the week and put things on the door.

I cannot post links yet but if you search the tubes for "fish extender" a link to a flickr site with a photo will be one of the search results (using google).

 

[BeccaGrace]

Okay, so you would think after a week in the hospital with DD I would have drafted a pretty impressive trip report, right? Well, I got through one day of the trip Here it is!

Embarkation Day!

I woke early freezing on the couch of our room at the Residence Inn. Why was I freezing on the couch when we had a plush king size bed in the other room you ask? Because Becca locked me out of the bedroom and when I finally finished my pre-trip report and staggered to the door at 1am, it wouldn't open. I am sure that less sound sleepers heard me loudly mutter multiple expletives that night but my family apparently didn't...except dh, who told me the next morning, “Yeah, I heard that, I thought I was dreaming.” Even better, he saw I wasn't in bed and thought I chose to sleep on the couch with my jeans as a pillow by choice. Yep, my neck really prefers mushed up denim to squishy hotel pillows

By this point it was around 5:30 and I tried to nap a little longer in bed but my excited, noisy kids weren't having any of that. The same light sleepers that heard me cursing during the night likely also heard my frequent exclamation of "Be quiet or they're going to kick us out" in the early hours of the morning.

We went to breakfast in the hotel…lots of choices, eggs, pancakes, waffles, etc.; the eggs were made with water (and they were very nice when I asked if they contained any dairy) so girls had scrambled eggs, fresh fruit and orange juice…Grace likes the orange juice back home better and does not care that the oranges come from Florida and we were actually in Florida.

The rest of family finally got up in their room…we filled out trip documents, repacked (it's amazing how trashed the room got just spending the night), left winter stuff in car…last minute run to supermarket for birthday cards, batteries, boring stuff

We got on the first shuttle to ship at 10am…almost missed it because the whole family wasn't in the lobby when the driver came in but we made it!…I started crying as we pulled up to the terminal and saw the boat (i.e. crying moment #1), we got through security in port around 10:30. We saw signs re: check-ins beginning at 11 but they called us right up…we were the first non-Castaway Club people to check in and got the coveted #2 boarding pass! I was quite excited and may have screamed slightly because Grace mentioned I was embarassing her We were done with pictures, kids club registration and settled in our seats in the terminal before 11.

While we were waiting the girls colored…Becca was tired and grouchy, Grace was starving…This was the only really bad food time we had on the trip. I messed up and put all our gfcf snacks in our luggage, and there was NOTHING in terminal they could eat…Totally desperate, I let them have Coke (we usually don't do corn syrup or artificial colors/flavors)...they were thrilled with it We also got pictures with Minnie. I was looking around for DISers but it seemed like everyone was wearing green!

They called number two--it was a little crowded and pushy and I got in tense travel mode for a minute but then we went through mouse ears (crying moment #2) and all was right in my warped little world…We stood in line for pics, annoying dh in process ("Can’t we skip this?")…and then they announce The Austin Family (crying moment #3--all before noon!). I dragged us all right to Parrot Cay for lunch. The girls had veggies and chicken…I inhaled some strawberry soup and pretended I was at 1900 Park Fare. I wanted to go confirm we had main dining and that they had the girls medical info with dietary restrictions…dh was testy and said “Well you aren’t going to calm down until you go, so go” I also asked if he wanted me to change 8:30 pm Palo ressie to see if anything earlier and he said no (this will come into play later--oooh, foreshadowing!) I ran to Rockin Bar D, there was no wait, and I was able to confirm we were main dining and yes they knew no gluten and dairy. I got back to Parrot Cay and dh asked if I was going to check re: dining and was shocked I was back already! As we left lunch they were turning people away from Parrot Cay because it was full (although it didn't seem it from the inside!).

After lunch we took the girls to the Mickey pool, which they loved. Grace is typically terrified of water slides but actually went down the Mickey slide! Becca, who is normally shy and reserved, is like a different kid in the pool, she bopped all over the place and would play with groups of kids (even if she wouldn’t talk to them!)

I’m not big on sitting around and was itching to explore the ship, so I left the kids with the rest of the family and went over to the spa to reserve a facial for MIL’s birthday from us. At the spa, I met Andrea who was going to do her facial and promised to spoil her…I also met Peter, who was doing SIL and BIL’s metabolic thingy (sorry to bust out the scientific terminology!) He gave me a tour of the rainforest room (which I loved but never got back to all week, which was probably my only regret) and the gym (which I didn’t really plan on visiting or returning to ) I will say the gym was gorgeous and I would definitely use it if I was presently in a more health-conscious state of mind, which I unfortunately am not but am heading towards after seeing myself in all the pictures!

Joey and I went to check if rooms were ready. We had staterooms 2638 and 2640 and were very pleased with them. On the nights we had rough seas I could feel the motion of the boat but I’ve been seasick in the past and had no issues at all this trip and neither did anyone else in our party. The only review I had seen of our rooms said that they were quite noisy. The only noise we ever experienced was docking on the last day and it was at the same time as our 6:00 wake up call, so I didn’t consider it a problem. The location was awesome…1 or 2 flights of stairs to the main restaurants, aft elevator was close and brought us right to sodas, Topsiders and the Mickey Pool on 9:00. It was also very convenient for getting off and on in port.

I was supposed to decorate the room to surprise MIL but all decorations were in checked luggage Loved the room, met Derrick, saw we had 5:45 dinner and realized that with unpacking, safety check, deck party and dinner there would be no time to hit our DIS meet. DH was still a bit stressed with the running around and I assured him the entire trip would not be like this.

There was a note in our staterooms that mentioned we had a $100 credit on our accounts. The running joke of the week is that MIL and DH kept asking me why we had the credit and I told them it was for booking with Dreams Unlimited and then a day later they would ask again. I should have started making up stories about it

The luggage came a piece at a time from between 2-3:30. Based on reviews I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough storage space but we had plenty…I hung dresses/suits and also put the suitcases in closet, Joey’s clothes went in the steamer chest, the girls clothes in left desk drawers, my clothes in right desk drawers and misc. stuff in drawers in front of shower and we still had room to spare.

We did our safety drill in Animator’s, they had table cloths over the tables which appeared to already be set for dinner. It was kind of an odd scene and I found it hard to hear because each grouping of people had a CM talking into a megaphone. It was quick though and we headed back to the room to get ready for deck party.

We went up to 9 but the girls didn’t want to be on the dance floor (they aren't much for crowds and noise). So we went up to deck 10 port side (like my seafaring lingo?!?!?!). I hadn't planned on drinking but saw what BIL had and got my first tropical drink in a souvenir DCL plastic glass…I have no idea what it was but it was good! It had a mango colored layer and then a white layer (coconutty?) and then the server put in a shot of something clear (can you tell I don’t drink much?!?!? At least I didn’t before this week!)…she said she was worried she made it too strong and if I decided it was too strong she would make me another one…that was one thing I noticed all week, I’ve heard people say that bars and places water drinks down or don’t use much alcohol because it’s cheaper not to but on DCL the liquor was always flowing VERY generously!

Sorry for going off on an alcohol-induced tangent. We got the sparkly shaky things (yes, that’s a technical term) and danced like fools. Our track record for getting on the jumbo tv stunk this week…we didn’t make it up there once When the ship's whistle blew and we had crying moment #4. I won’t name names, but I was not the only person in my party to cry for that.

We snuck out early from the party to go have a few minutes of downtime before dinner. Then we headed for Lumiere’s. (We did get LAPPLAP for dining with a 5:45 seating…only downside was Formal Night in Parrot Cay and Pirate Night in Lumiere’s…not the most ideal settings for the themes but they ended up totally working and we had the BEST dining team!) Liam and Jason were awesome all week and Michelle took amazing care of the girls and getting meals for their GFCF (gluten/casein (dairy) free diet). I failed in my plan to get pictures of all their food and actually got pictures of none of it unfortunately. But I can describe it! It won’t do it justice though and they ate like princesses all week. In fact, we are having adjustment issues at home from eating so well. We went to Outback for dinner the other night and Grace was expecting them to make her a GFCF dessert and couldn't understand why they couldn't when "they made it for me every night on the cruise." And Becca cracked me up in the hospital because they sent the wrong meal and when they brought up her meal she asked me, "Is this room service?" and I said that it was just like the cruise and she said, "But they don't cut my meat for me." No, mommy has to cut the meat again. I thoroughly enjoyed my week of no meat cutting And it's weird but I still think about Liam, Jason and Michelle everyday, they were very good to us and we looked forward to seeing them every night.

Since it was the first night and we had not pre-ordered dinner, it took a while to get Grace and Becca's food. It made for a long dinner but it was relaxing and nice…the girls started with fruit and then had roast chicken, broccoli and French fries cooked in fresh oil (which I didn’t even have to mention…they are clearly informed about cross contamination issues, which I appreciated). For dessert they had soy ice cream (vanilla) and fresh fruit. For the ice cream they do use Rice Dream…for those that care about the dietary aspects of my trip report…Rice Dream soymilk does contain trace amounts of gluten (yes, I know it says gluten free on the label but testing has shown a minute amount, which for some may trigger issues) However, their ice cream has a clean record and we feel okay using it – your decision may vary based on your situation. I will say that Grace is a walking gluten meter and will get a tiny red rash around her mouth if she ingests it and the only issue we ever had this trip was in Cozumel and was not with a DCL served meal…oh, except for our two dairy issues, which I will touch on later.

Okay, I’m getting sidetracked with all these food & drink-based tangents…dinner was great (except for my funky rutabaga fries, which must be an acquired taste!)

We were all zonked and did not attend the ‘All Aboard! Let the Magic Begin!” show. In fact, we didn’t attend anything and crashed by 9:00.

PS—Our first towel animal was an adorable stingray! We also had our first fish extender gifts and the family went wild!

So that's the first day...who knows how long it will take me to draft the rest but I didn't want to leave everyone totally hanging! I need to go do my taxes now but will also try to post first day pics tomorrow!

Jay--Did I miss anything from the first day that you can think of?

 

[jay.austin]

No though I don't remember any of the frantic running around you referred to.

It was rum in the drink. It was some kind of Mango Pina Colada I think.

 

[lindaso]

Enjoying your trip report so far. I do remember you stopping me in the hallway and I drew a complete blank when you asked me about the meet.

From your description of day 1, we were near each other a lot!! I was the first one in the Castaway Club line at check in, had boarding pass 2, at the Mickey Pool, in AP for safety drill, port side deck 10 for sailaway. Weird.

Looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[Chernabog66]

1) Michelle, Liam, Jason are the best! We had the best dining experience this week and I spent several meals in happy tears at how well DCL handled the girls' GFCF diet.

You know, I've been thinking about Michelle a lot these last few days. She's from the Melbourne area of Australia and that's where all these awful fires have been lately. Anyone know how to get ahold of these folks and pass on regards?

 

[BeccaGrace]

No though I don't remember any of the frantic running around you referred to.

It was rum in the drink. It was some kind of Mango Pina Colada I think.

That's why I am the fake travel agent...I do all frantic running so the rest of you didn't have to and so you never knew it was happening

 

[OurOhana]

I miss having my daughter's hot dog cut up for her, and her fruit and her milk delivered. OK, I miss all of us being served. It looks like you guys had a blast. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[jay.austin]

I will say the one of the best ideas Sara had on the first day was to put the kids bathing suits on before we got there. It was great that they were able to jump right in the pool and it gave them something to do while we waited for the departure &c.