PoohJen
<font color=green>Willing to share a Mickey Bar?<b
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,045
Could never understand why, with all these enthusiastic DIS'ers, there aren't more trip reports. Well, now that it's my turn, I think it can be a combination of exhaustion, trepidation at the piles of laundry and work waiting for us upon our return, or just not knowing how to put all those Magical experiences into a few words. Maybe all of the above, but I'll give it a shot:
The cast: Me, DH 41, DS 12 and DStwins age 7. This was the first cruise for all of us.
Arrived at terminal 10:05, told to park and wait as the terminal wasn't open yet (people still disembarking). I remember from these boards that sometimes people are given misinformation, and after about 15 minutes of waiting I asked a different security person where folks just being dropped off have to go. He told us to drop our luggage under the white tent and go on in. Needless to say, once we got in there was a HUGE line for checking in.
In truth, it went pretty fast. The kids explored the terminal, and DH gathered them when it was our turn at the check-in counter. After the check-in line, we moved into the next line, which is for waiting to board. I waited here while DH took the boys to the restroom and more exploring/tv watching. Goofy came in and the boys got their picture taken with him in front of the scale model of the ship. And...how bizarre..but how totally neat...it was to be greeted throughout the terminal by people who knew me from the boards, but whom I'd never met before! Hello DisFriends!!! It was so much fun picking my "friends" out of the crowd.
TIP: No need to have alot of carry on luggage with you in the terminal. We had a small backpack for each boy (with their pins, autograph books, and disposable cameras), a rolling cooler, video camera bag, and a back pack with jewelry, cameras, other valuables.
They opened up the ship at 11:30 (yayyyy!) and the boarding line moved very fast. They line up your family for an embarkation picture, announce your family name as you board, and there you are...standing in the middle of the Magic's beautiful atrium, all decorated for Christmas. It's a bit bewildering at that moment, you think "Now what do we do??? Where do we go???" And then a nice, smiling DCL worker will come up to assist you.
TIP: Have a game plan worked out for your first day (but, of course, be flexible). It's so overwhelming once you board, I don't know how people who have never cruised would know what to do next if not for the DIS boards!!!
I had booked the REAS, so didn't need to worry about the spa/Palo thing. We went right up to the Lab to register the boys for the club and the lab, and then head up to sunny deck 9 for lunch!
I wanted to get started on sunny vacationing right away, so we ate outside at Topsiders, and then the boys (who were wearing their swim suits) hit the pools while waiting for the staterooms to open up.
Note: Although I had read the pools get really crowded, one thing I hadn't factored into planning my perfect vacation was crowds, noise and stress. In truth, the kid pools were generally very crowded, the deck was rather loud (from both music and crowds) and it was disconcerting having my kids keep running off in three different directions!!!
So, that leads me to my next tip...
TIP: If you are travelling with children, don't expect to be sitting in a deck chair blissfully sipping a little umbrella cocktail upon embarkation. (I'm sure that was part of my pre-cruise fantasy!) There's a lot going on all the time all around you, it may take some time for you and your kids to fall into a comfortable routine. Okay, that probably wasn't so much a tip as a reality check!
Around 1:30 we we were able to get into our staterooms (we had two Cat 6s, side by side on deck 5 aft). Loved the location - the aft elevators were fast, the kids clubs are on Deck 5 mid ship.
TIP: When travelling by elevator, try to use the forward or aft elevators; the wait for the midship elevators is noticeably longer.
At first I was taken aback by how tight the rooms were (remember, I'd never cruised before, so even though I "knew" staterooms are generally small...), but honestly, they were plenty big enough, and I loved them! Unfortunately, our rooms didn't have connecting doors, and that was a bit of a pain throughout the week.
Unpacked a little, then I headed to my Dismeet while DH and boys continued to swim.
We had a fairly large DIS crowd, so we planned to meet in the Promenade lounge. It was fun to put together names with faces, and Hannomom and her daughter, ChiChiHoney had put together fun goody bags for everyone for the Sail Away Party (and I think GrayFal had a hand in that too! Thanks y'all!!!).
Time for the safety drill. Had this been a real emergency....I predict there would have been chaos! Hard to hear the drill leaders, but it was over quickly and time for the sail away party up on Deck 9. The music was too loud for the twins, so we watched from Deck 10 - had a great view! DS12 stayed down there on the dance floor, in the mix.
We had early seating, so dressed for dinner - Parrot Cay. We had a table to ourselves, but were right next to a family of our DISfriends. We were SO tired at this point, having driven 12 hours the day before.
BIG TIP: Definitely travel the day before embarkation if you are coming some distance!!! Less stress and less fatigue the day of sailing! We had packed a small bag with sail-day clothes, and left the bag and old clothes with the car.
At dinner, one of the twins started complaining about a tummy ache (hence, he had the famous plate of "nothing" for dessert!). I was truly surprised at how much the ship was rocking, but chalked that up to my cruise inexperience. Turns out, the ship did rock noticably for the next 3 days, more than usual, according to the cruise staff. But I digress...back to the tummy ache...DS got back to the cabin and immediately got sick all over the place (as we tried to hurry him into the bathroom). Poor guy. Happily, he felt much better after that! (and, happily, we had two rooms! Hence we all slept in the other room that night!)
I had taken bonine that day and the day before, and because of all the motion, I continued to take it the rest of the week. DH took some freebie motion sickness medicine that they were giving out at the health clinic on Deck 1. I gave the twins Benadryl that first night (after the sickness episode) and one other time during the cruise when they complained of feeling queasy. DS12 never needed anything. I'm pleased to report that we had no other sea sick episode for the rest of the cruise, despite all the rocking!
With DS feeling better we went to Studio Sea to play a little Mickey Mania. DS 12 and I got to be contestants. I was a little embarrassed when he buzzed in to answer "What flag flies above the Swiss Family Treehouse?" and answered "England". but then the next family buzzed in and answered "Germany", so I felt better. I'm sure the audience was pulling their hair out!!! We came in second and all received little medallions (congrats to the winning team! they really knew their Disney trivia!!!).
After that, the boys all checked into the Club/Lab for some meet and greet time, while DH and I unpacked. We passed on the opening show (heard it was great though! and I think we could've seen it on TV, but missed it). Soon it was time for bed for our very tired family.The boys settled into bed and caught some Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on tv (we watched that about 100 times during the week, in bits and pieces whenever we were in the room). The best part of the cruise so far...DH was ecstatic about the shoe holder over the door trick!!! All our "stuff" went in there...disposable cameras, sun screen, watches, my Passporter, etc, etc. He thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread (and it was!). Thus...
TIP: Heed the "shoe holder over the door" tip!!!! Really helps keep things organized!
Well, that's Day 1! Now, off to help the kids catch up on a week of school work! (shouldn't flubber-making count for some science credit???!!!)
Click here for Day 2 Report - Day at Sea
The cast: Me, DH 41, DS 12 and DStwins age 7. This was the first cruise for all of us.
Arrived at terminal 10:05, told to park and wait as the terminal wasn't open yet (people still disembarking). I remember from these boards that sometimes people are given misinformation, and after about 15 minutes of waiting I asked a different security person where folks just being dropped off have to go. He told us to drop our luggage under the white tent and go on in. Needless to say, once we got in there was a HUGE line for checking in.
In truth, it went pretty fast. The kids explored the terminal, and DH gathered them when it was our turn at the check-in counter. After the check-in line, we moved into the next line, which is for waiting to board. I waited here while DH took the boys to the restroom and more exploring/tv watching. Goofy came in and the boys got their picture taken with him in front of the scale model of the ship. And...how bizarre..but how totally neat...it was to be greeted throughout the terminal by people who knew me from the boards, but whom I'd never met before! Hello DisFriends!!! It was so much fun picking my "friends" out of the crowd.
TIP: No need to have alot of carry on luggage with you in the terminal. We had a small backpack for each boy (with their pins, autograph books, and disposable cameras), a rolling cooler, video camera bag, and a back pack with jewelry, cameras, other valuables.They opened up the ship at 11:30 (yayyyy!) and the boarding line moved very fast. They line up your family for an embarkation picture, announce your family name as you board, and there you are...standing in the middle of the Magic's beautiful atrium, all decorated for Christmas. It's a bit bewildering at that moment, you think "Now what do we do??? Where do we go???" And then a nice, smiling DCL worker will come up to assist you.
TIP: Have a game plan worked out for your first day (but, of course, be flexible). It's so overwhelming once you board, I don't know how people who have never cruised would know what to do next if not for the DIS boards!!!I had booked the REAS, so didn't need to worry about the spa/Palo thing. We went right up to the Lab to register the boys for the club and the lab, and then head up to sunny deck 9 for lunch!
I wanted to get started on sunny vacationing right away, so we ate outside at Topsiders, and then the boys (who were wearing their swim suits) hit the pools while waiting for the staterooms to open up.
Note: Although I had read the pools get really crowded, one thing I hadn't factored into planning my perfect vacation was crowds, noise and stress. In truth, the kid pools were generally very crowded, the deck was rather loud (from both music and crowds) and it was disconcerting having my kids keep running off in three different directions!!!
So, that leads me to my next tip... TIP: If you are travelling with children, don't expect to be sitting in a deck chair blissfully sipping a little umbrella cocktail upon embarkation. (I'm sure that was part of my pre-cruise fantasy!) There's a lot going on all the time all around you, it may take some time for you and your kids to fall into a comfortable routine. Okay, that probably wasn't so much a tip as a reality check! Around 1:30 we we were able to get into our staterooms (we had two Cat 6s, side by side on deck 5 aft). Loved the location - the aft elevators were fast, the kids clubs are on Deck 5 mid ship.
TIP: When travelling by elevator, try to use the forward or aft elevators; the wait for the midship elevators is noticeably longer. At first I was taken aback by how tight the rooms were (remember, I'd never cruised before, so even though I "knew" staterooms are generally small...), but honestly, they were plenty big enough, and I loved them! Unfortunately, our rooms didn't have connecting doors, and that was a bit of a pain throughout the week.
Unpacked a little, then I headed to my Dismeet while DH and boys continued to swim.
We had a fairly large DIS crowd, so we planned to meet in the Promenade lounge. It was fun to put together names with faces, and Hannomom and her daughter, ChiChiHoney had put together fun goody bags for everyone for the Sail Away Party (and I think GrayFal had a hand in that too! Thanks y'all!!!).
Time for the safety drill. Had this been a real emergency....I predict there would have been chaos! Hard to hear the drill leaders, but it was over quickly and time for the sail away party up on Deck 9. The music was too loud for the twins, so we watched from Deck 10 - had a great view! DS12 stayed down there on the dance floor, in the mix.
We had early seating, so dressed for dinner - Parrot Cay. We had a table to ourselves, but were right next to a family of our DISfriends. We were SO tired at this point, having driven 12 hours the day before.
BIG TIP: Definitely travel the day before embarkation if you are coming some distance!!! Less stress and less fatigue the day of sailing! We had packed a small bag with sail-day clothes, and left the bag and old clothes with the car.At dinner, one of the twins started complaining about a tummy ache (hence, he had the famous plate of "nothing" for dessert!). I was truly surprised at how much the ship was rocking, but chalked that up to my cruise inexperience. Turns out, the ship did rock noticably for the next 3 days, more than usual, according to the cruise staff. But I digress...back to the tummy ache...DS got back to the cabin and immediately got sick all over the place (as we tried to hurry him into the bathroom). Poor guy. Happily, he felt much better after that! (and, happily, we had two rooms! Hence we all slept in the other room that night!)
I had taken bonine that day and the day before, and because of all the motion, I continued to take it the rest of the week. DH took some freebie motion sickness medicine that they were giving out at the health clinic on Deck 1. I gave the twins Benadryl that first night (after the sickness episode) and one other time during the cruise when they complained of feeling queasy. DS12 never needed anything. I'm pleased to report that we had no other sea sick episode for the rest of the cruise, despite all the rocking!
With DS feeling better we went to Studio Sea to play a little Mickey Mania. DS 12 and I got to be contestants. I was a little embarrassed when he buzzed in to answer "What flag flies above the Swiss Family Treehouse?" and answered "England". but then the next family buzzed in and answered "Germany", so I felt better. I'm sure the audience was pulling their hair out!!! We came in second and all received little medallions (congrats to the winning team! they really knew their Disney trivia!!!).
After that, the boys all checked into the Club/Lab for some meet and greet time, while DH and I unpacked. We passed on the opening show (heard it was great though! and I think we could've seen it on TV, but missed it). Soon it was time for bed for our very tired family.The boys settled into bed and caught some Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on tv (we watched that about 100 times during the week, in bits and pieces whenever we were in the room). The best part of the cruise so far...DH was ecstatic about the shoe holder over the door trick!!! All our "stuff" went in there...disposable cameras, sun screen, watches, my Passporter, etc, etc. He thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread (and it was!). Thus...
TIP: Heed the "shoe holder over the door" tip!!!! Really helps keep things organized!Well, that's Day 1! Now, off to help the kids catch up on a week of school work! (shouldn't flubber-making count for some science credit???!!!)
Click here for Day 2 Report - Day at Sea
Keep writing when you can...You're doing a great job!
However, I did have Epcot figured out. Didn't you hear me trying to feed it to you?? 
)
