Hi, everyone! I've been MIA from the DIS since we got back, but now I've made a date with the boards to get caught up! We had a great trip. Hannah loved the club, and my sister and I got royally sunburned! Some woman on
Castaway Cay even approached DSis to ask if she could put lotion on her back!
Very kind stranger, that was! I loved so much about the ship - Enchanted Art, the shows, Hannah's reactions, the atrium, the dining rooms (food wasn't as spectacular as I had hoped, but our servers were wonderful, and Palo and Remy were fantastic!), the staterooms, etc. It was just a wonderful, wonderful time!
It's hard to believe it's over, but we had a great time. I, too, am sorry we didn't get to spend more time with everyone. For those we did meet - reimero and Pirategirl (I know I misspelled that), Tony and Sue, John briefly, Maria, Meg, Bookite (great neighbors), nonni, and Jennifer and Kyle (spacecanada), thank you for your graciousness and warmth!
So now that we've sailed, what were the "not sure people will get our humor" fe gifts? Not sure we got them with all the confusion involved in our move.
Hi again!
I was one of the worried people. I made the fridge magnets, and I was worried people would think it was in poor taste to mock real emergencies or problems people have. That's our type of humor, though, so we took a risk. Hopefully no one was offended!!!
Donaldsgal handed out word magnets and included some funny words you could print on your own that had a disclaimer that it's all in good fun. I thought it was really cute. When we finish unpacking, those magnets will be on our fridge for at least a few months! (Along with some of the awesome door magnets we got too...)
Yup! And I'll be responding your PM in a minute.
Hi all, very bittersweet end (finally) for us sending Greg off this morning and us on the overnight flight to Frankfurt shortly. What a great couple of weeks we had...and now, reality awaits.
So great meeting those of you that I did. I do wish we had had a mid-cruise chance to catch each other as a group as we are all running in different directions that first day or so.
Lara, thanks so much to you and Ron for getting us together and in sync that first day. Tony and Susan, Like everyone else, LOVED chatting with you guys, you make everyone feel like family. Bryan, it was a pleasure meeting you and thanks for the kind words. Jen, fun bumping into you all over. Barb, you were my first meet, and such a warm presence to start with. Jaimie, pretty much misses you girl, except for a brief moment at the Quiet Cove...looking forward to your blog update and wish you all the best. John, saw you and Pam only from a distance after the meet, but I sure hope you enjoyed the trip. Mati, your kind words before we sailed were special and I only wish we'd had a chance to have a glass of wine together, but your plate was quite happily full, it seemed. And so many other thoughts, I'll have to do the rest when my flight is not about to board.
We booked the Dream in early October as Greg gets back in September and I leave for a year in Baghdad in late October (Bryan, my joke is that I lost the 100 lbs so I could run faster in body amour...OK, morbid, but kinda true). We may or may not take that cruise, but we are locked in to a mid-June Med cruise in 2013 which will be one of my R&Rs. I highly encourage you all to do the Med sometime, we did a different version for our first
Disney cruise and it was an amazing experience for our boys.
All the best to you all, and here's wishing that our paths will one day cross again...
Meg
It was you that lost 100 pounds? You look incredible! Yes, we saw you at Palo, the sailaway party, and in various other places. It was fun to run into you so much. I think we saw you most, second only to, who else?, Tony and Sue!
And I didn't realize your job required deployment, too. I hope all goes well with that and that you stay safe!!!
We had a great time and would lilke to thank everyone who gave us the FE gifts! This was our fist time, and we were overwhelmed by the innovative, creative, tasty and fun stuff!
Also, thanks again for the wristbands to the unknown donator and to all those who helped order them and distribute! My son is still wearing his to this day! It really helped to identify those who were part of this DIS group.
It was nice to meet and chat with those whose paths we crossed during the week! We bumped into Tony and Susan the most, and really were so glad to meet in person.
We had a full itinerary, with my brother getting married in New Orleans 2 days before the cruise. We slept in 5 different places over the span of 12 nights! I have never unzipped and zipped up our luggage so much in such a short period of time. I've learned a lot about packing for the next time. Luckily, it all worked out.
I have to tell you that George and I never made it to the Adults only pool area, cafe, nor the spa. I only saw Alladin, missed the rest of the shows. We did try Palo and Remy, so that is part of the reason. I don't know where the time went, but is seemed to go so fast. We did a 'dummy' booking, just in case we decide to cruise again some time in 2014.
I have to say I got the best sleep ever on the cruise! The first night, I sat on the bed and felt like it was wiggling underneath me. I was scared I'd never get sleep. However, I think I must have passed out within minutes (very unusual for me to fall asleep so fast) and slept so well the entire week. Does anyone know what type of pillows they had in the standard inside cabins?
I'm still getting settled back home, but my appetite is still in vacation mode! Hoping to get our pictures printed and organized so we can show them to our family/friends. I'll be checking this board on occasion.
We ran into you in the store when you were shopping for some warm (and not super expensive) Remy attire. Did you end up liking it? We LOVED it!!! And thanks for managing the list of FEs for the people who didn't show for the cruise!
What a great cruise, huh
?!?!? We couldn't have had better weather or better travelling companions
. Like many others have said, we seemed to run into Tony and Sue more than anyone else
. Did you guys ever sleep
?? We did a dummy date booking; most likely a 2014 sail date. I'm dreaming of Hawaii
, but we'll have to see how the 'ol vacation budget is
. We LOVED LOVED LOVED the bed and bedding
. I would totally ditch our current bed and buy a replica of the bed on the cruise. It was absolutely heavenly. Last night Brian was asking if I knew who made the sheets because he liked them so much (and he NEVER asks about stuff like that
). Remy was an incredible experience with a great friend
. Did anyone confirm the rumor that was circulating that Johnny Depp was on our cruise?? I uploaded almost 1,000 pictures on facebook and love to relive the trip by looking at them all and smiling....a lot
.
Was he really on the cruise? Wow! If someone got a picture, please share it!
What a great first
DCL cruise!
Enjoyed visiting with those we were able to meet. Kathy was the first to introduce herself to us at the port, made us feel so welcome. Like others, we ran into Tony and Sue the most. Did you guys clone yourselves?!
Saw John and Pam several times. Meet Maria at shutters looking for Aqua Duck pictures, she found one of ours and put it out for us to find. Thanks Maria! Saw Elaine and family several times, and Barb, and Jenny and her family. Sat next to Lisa (Sourgrapes) at one of the shows had a nice chat with her. Lisa, I hope Gavin got to do something at Castaway Cay. I think I saw Amy and her mom, and Mati around the ship but never got to officially meet them.
We also never really made it to the adult areas or cove cafe. Guess we'll just have to go again. The first time doing FE, was a great experience. So overwhelmed by all the gifts. Thank you everyone! Michael was so excited to check the mail everytime we went back to the room. He doesn't do that at home. Thank you all for making it so special for him.
We went to DW for a few days after the cruise. Not sure that was the best idea, although we really couldn't have gone before. If we have the option in the future we would probably do the cruise last.
We booked a dummy cruise, thinking maybe late May or early June 2014. Wanting to take the grandsons so will have to work around their schedule. Kind of leaning toward the Fantasy again because I know they would love the Aqua Duck and the Aqua Lab. We'll see when the itineraries come out.
Hopefully we shall cruise with some of you again!
Yes, it was fun to see you. Between AllEars and the FBR group, I think we saw you nightly. Michael and I both got to talk to Crush at dinner that first AP night, which was fun. And I enjoyed sitting next to and chatting with your husband at the first night's show. I'm glad you had a good trip!
Sheldon from India and Herry from Indonesia. We loved them!
Where there any non-tipped staffers that made your cruise more special?
Robby who did the Disney Trivia contest in La Piazza. You were there, Tony. He was just really funny! And a server from the Philippines who was one of the helpers in our life boat drill. We saw her frequently after that, and she always remembered us and was sweet to Hannah.
What did you have signed?
Just Hannah's autograph book.
The Rumbaba charter, which was AMAZING! We saw an eel, 4 stingrays, several different types of fish, great coral, and two sea turtles. It was a fantastic experience!
What do you regret not doing?
Not getting more formal pictures taken by the Shutters crew. It seems we were always running late to things, and not getting naps regularly made the start of evenings a bit rough for Hannah in terms of grumpiness. We also never set foot in the movie theater, which is a bummer because we have had good luck with seeing funny movies on previous cruises.
If you've sailed other DCL ships, how did the Fantasy compare?
Bigger in general, more lush, more seating areas around the ship (or so it seemed), bigger atrium, more seating areas around ship, mini golf (Hannah accidentally sent a red golf ball flying over the deck, and I had visions of a Seinfeld episode in my head...) and AquaDuck, Enchanted Art, etc. Worse TV stations, though; maybe all DCL cruises have done away with this, but in the past, they had movie channels on. This time, there was very little on TV, which isn't a big deal, but when we were there with Hannah for some downtime and she wanted TV, there wasn't much to choose from.
Favorite part of the ship?
This is unoriginal, but I really think it's the atrium. I loved it, and every time we were there, I wanted to take pictures. I also liked the shopping "district" with the big picture of Walt as you walked into the theater.
Favorite rotation restaurant?
We liked Animator's Palate. The decor was the highlight, and I got to talk to Crush! Hannah loved seeing her animation on the screen. They didn't do a great job giving us directions about not putting writing on the animations, so we had to fill them in and they looked a little crazy, but it's all good.
We only did one. The Rumbaba. Had we done 10, it still would have been number one.
We liked the Disney trivia contest in La Piazza, loved the AquaDuck, and enjoyed seeing the Enchanted Art/Midship Detective Agency.
What was the highlight of the week for you?
The Rumbaba charter was amazing. Remy was an extremely close second.
Who did you want to meet but didn't get the chance?
More of you!
What picture (that you took or was taken) do you like most? (Share!)
I did take some, but I can't get them to upload right now (internet is slow at my sister's house). Later, though!
Anything that you regretted doing? (what happens on the sea.....)
Oh my gosh. The Aqua Trikes on Castaway Cay. I thought they'd be fun, but apparently I was naive about how those would work. I thought we would ride them along the shore, but that's a big fat NO. We, meaning *I*, since Hannah couldn't help pedal it, "sailed" it out into the barricaded part of the water at CC, against the tide, with a constricting life vest on. I was sort of beside myself with panic at the thought of getting us back to the shore. I was afraid I'd have a heart attack or a stroke. Hannah tried to encourage me (how sweet) not to give up, and we got back, but on my gosh. Never. Again.
Who is still suffering from post-cruise-blues?
We have a trip to Hilton Head island at the end of this month for a week, so that is definitely helping to ease them! Otherwise, yes, I'm bummed it's all over!
.
. MaryRose became a BIG fan of rum punch that day 
and that heavenly bed 
(can you tell that I liked the bed 
). Remy and Palo dinner and brunch were awesome . 
and not going to see more movies on board. I am a tight wad and hate to pay almost $10 to go see a movie. We did see The Avengers in 3D on pirate night which was waaaaaay cool 
