wilma-bride
<<This space intentionally blank>>
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Saturday 26th October (still)
Our cases had just started to arrive but it was time for us to go to the Meet n Greet/Candy Exchange which Id arranged on our DIS meet thread and in our Facebook group. A Candy Exchange is something wed done on our previous cruise, in 2011. The idea is that everybody brings candy/sweet treats from their local area and we all get to try some and have a chat with our fellow cruisers at the same time. When organising the private Mixology sessions, I had enquired whether we might be able to have a room in which to hold the meet and we had been allocated the D-Lounge for an hour from 2.45pm. We arrived to find the place was absolutely packed. I mean full to the brim, bursting at the seams. I had never seen so many people at a DIS meet before. Somebody had pulled a load of tables into the centre of the floor in front of the stage and candy was being piled onto the tables in bucketloads.
One of our fellow cruisers, Trisha, had helpfully brought some zip-loc bags so people were able to grab a bag and fill it with sweets. Sian and Daniel took one of everything there, to save for later. There were some really interesting and unusual candies and chocolates there, including Tim Tams from Australia. I had been dying to try one of these ever since I saw Natalie Imbruglia on TV teaching a chat show host (cant remember which one) to drink tea through a Tim Tam. Unfortunately, I still didnt get to try one Sian and Daniel must have missed them. There were so many people there, it was quite overwhelming and although I got to meet lots of the people I had been chatting to on FB for the months prior, it was impossible to speak to everybody.
I managed to spot Adriana, whose son, Kai, was the same age as Daniel. The boys had been Emailing each other before the cruise and we were keen to introduce them, I called Daniel over and Adriana found Kai and pretty soon the two boys were chatting away about the cruise and their plans for the coming days.
Next thing I hear somebody call me name, turn around and its Holly! Holly and I had been chatting online, in the FB group, for ages. I was so pleased to finally meet her and we hit it off straight away. I immediately introduced her to Char and we took the opportunity to get a picture together.
It was at this point that I decided we ought to try and get everybody together for a group shot. Rob was able to attract everyones attention and usher them up to the stage for a group photo, which he kindly agreed to take.
To this day, I still cant believe the sheer number of people we had there. I was so overwhelmed I had to have a little sit down. We took the opportunity to grab a picture of the girls in our group, together with Adriana.
Soon afterwards people began to drift away. Adriana told me she was worried that her and her husband, Randy, didnt appear to be on the list for the Mixology session that I had organised for the next day. Stupidly, I had forgotten to bring the DCL confirmation with me on the cruise so Wendy kindly lent me her phone (again!) so that I could access the document through my Emails. I verified that Adriana and Randy were definitely on the list and we would see them the next day, as we were booked on the same session.
A few of us stayed behind to clean up but we were mindful of the fact that the lifeboat drill would be taking place soon. We packed away the remaining candy and left it for the crew, hoping they would enjoy it.
As we were walking back to the stateroom, the lifeboat drill was announced and we had just enough time to get back to the room to check our assembly point before the alarm sounded.
We were gathered together in The Tube. It was pretty busy and there were a lot of bored children but it was over fairly quickly and painlessly and we cut back through the Skyline Lounge and went up the 3 flights of stairs back to our room. It was at this point that we realised, in order to get unpacked and get ready for dinner in time, we would probably have to miss the sailaway party. We normally do late dining on the cruise, however so that we could link up to eat with the rest of our group, we had decided to do main dining this cruise (as that is what the majority had already booked). We werent sure how it would work for us but we could only try it and see. Back in the room, we started unpacking. I did tell the kids they could go up but they decided to stay and help. It took a little while but we were soon done and were able to go out onto the verandah in time to hear the horn and watch us sail slowly away from Port Canaveral.
Our cases had just started to arrive but it was time for us to go to the Meet n Greet/Candy Exchange which Id arranged on our DIS meet thread and in our Facebook group. A Candy Exchange is something wed done on our previous cruise, in 2011. The idea is that everybody brings candy/sweet treats from their local area and we all get to try some and have a chat with our fellow cruisers at the same time. When organising the private Mixology sessions, I had enquired whether we might be able to have a room in which to hold the meet and we had been allocated the D-Lounge for an hour from 2.45pm. We arrived to find the place was absolutely packed. I mean full to the brim, bursting at the seams. I had never seen so many people at a DIS meet before. Somebody had pulled a load of tables into the centre of the floor in front of the stage and candy was being piled onto the tables in bucketloads.
One of our fellow cruisers, Trisha, had helpfully brought some zip-loc bags so people were able to grab a bag and fill it with sweets. Sian and Daniel took one of everything there, to save for later. There were some really interesting and unusual candies and chocolates there, including Tim Tams from Australia. I had been dying to try one of these ever since I saw Natalie Imbruglia on TV teaching a chat show host (cant remember which one) to drink tea through a Tim Tam. Unfortunately, I still didnt get to try one Sian and Daniel must have missed them. There were so many people there, it was quite overwhelming and although I got to meet lots of the people I had been chatting to on FB for the months prior, it was impossible to speak to everybody.
I managed to spot Adriana, whose son, Kai, was the same age as Daniel. The boys had been Emailing each other before the cruise and we were keen to introduce them, I called Daniel over and Adriana found Kai and pretty soon the two boys were chatting away about the cruise and their plans for the coming days.
Next thing I hear somebody call me name, turn around and its Holly! Holly and I had been chatting online, in the FB group, for ages. I was so pleased to finally meet her and we hit it off straight away. I immediately introduced her to Char and we took the opportunity to get a picture together.
It was at this point that I decided we ought to try and get everybody together for a group shot. Rob was able to attract everyones attention and usher them up to the stage for a group photo, which he kindly agreed to take.
To this day, I still cant believe the sheer number of people we had there. I was so overwhelmed I had to have a little sit down. We took the opportunity to grab a picture of the girls in our group, together with Adriana.
Soon afterwards people began to drift away. Adriana told me she was worried that her and her husband, Randy, didnt appear to be on the list for the Mixology session that I had organised for the next day. Stupidly, I had forgotten to bring the DCL confirmation with me on the cruise so Wendy kindly lent me her phone (again!) so that I could access the document through my Emails. I verified that Adriana and Randy were definitely on the list and we would see them the next day, as we were booked on the same session.
A few of us stayed behind to clean up but we were mindful of the fact that the lifeboat drill would be taking place soon. We packed away the remaining candy and left it for the crew, hoping they would enjoy it.
As we were walking back to the stateroom, the lifeboat drill was announced and we had just enough time to get back to the room to check our assembly point before the alarm sounded.
We were gathered together in The Tube. It was pretty busy and there were a lot of bored children but it was over fairly quickly and painlessly and we cut back through the Skyline Lounge and went up the 3 flights of stairs back to our room. It was at this point that we realised, in order to get unpacked and get ready for dinner in time, we would probably have to miss the sailaway party. We normally do late dining on the cruise, however so that we could link up to eat with the rest of our group, we had decided to do main dining this cruise (as that is what the majority had already booked). We werent sure how it would work for us but we could only try it and see. Back in the room, we started unpacking. I did tell the kids they could go up but they decided to stay and help. It took a little while but we were soon done and were able to go out onto the verandah in time to hear the horn and watch us sail slowly away from Port Canaveral.
so I enjoyed a Cadbury Flake
I thought I had eaten all the ones you brought me but I think Nate hid them on me. 
