Getting our DCL fix-Nov 7th 2010 The Party has Started Come on IN! Updated 12/2

[LivingtheWDWdream]

Hello...my name is Amy...and I am a Disney and Disney Cruise Addict...I know I can hear you all responding "Hi Amy" and I am sure most of you probably have a growing addiction to DCL or have a full blown case of it right?

Well I guess the proper thing to do would be to first introduce you to myself and the person traveling with me, so you know who to avoid errr I mean enjoy during the voyage

There is myself Amy I'm 28 years old or as I prefer I celebrated the 7th anniversary of my 21st birthday this year it sounds better doesn't make it sound so close to *gasp* 30 This will be my 3rd cruise, and my 3rd Disney Cruise, we won't mention that I have #4 booked and #5, and 6 planned in my head already I have been to WDW many times but now live 12 mins from Epcot so day trips are more common. I am a full time Student studying Sign Language Interpretation.

Now onto my travel buddy sorta like in Finding Nemo where you needed an exit row buddy in the EAC, I have a travel buddy....My mother Angela we are so wrapped up with work and school and life that we just really never get an opportunity to have quality time so we take 1 trip a year together just to have some mom/daughter fun. She's 55 she was born 5 days before DisneyLand opened and loves Disney almost as much as I do so its not hard talking her into a Disney trip This is her 3rd Cruise, 3rd Disney Cruise as well....what can I say we are both very much addicted.


Ok So here are a couple of Photos so you can get to know us:

My Mom loves Disney and this is my all time favorite shot of her on our May 2008 WDW trip.

This is myself on my birthday that same trip....not the best hair style but hey I was rocking those Mickey Ears and the birthday Money!

So that is us. Hopefully not too scary or frightening but you probably want to know more about our trip and how it came to be all that good junk right

So to know how we got to this cruise that we have planned we have to go back in time and I'll give you the quick rundown so that this doesn't become a 15 hour read for you by the end you'd probably end up like which would be bad! Well, 2006 we go on our first DCL/Cruise have a MAGICAL time on the Magic's eastern Itinerary...we were hooked! We rebooked on board, in hopes to return the next year. Life gets in the way and we had to change that plan many many many times by the time we finally changed and went on that "rebooked" cruise the final tally of changes was 18. Well in December 2009 we finally took that cruise on the Wonder 4 night Itinerary. We booked that cruise 3 weeks before we set sail and we were locked into going at that point so no more changes

So of course we have a WONDERful time and are now really really dreading getting off the ship so we rebook once more this time though we rebooked 2 yes folks 2 cruises one for November 7th 2010, and one for December 2011 (that got moved already to November 2011).

This year has been tough for us though, I lost my job, I had unscheduled surgery, still having medical issues, and I am back in school full time. Life is hectic and the stress is high up until final payment day we weren't sure if this cruise would actually happen but we both looked at each other and both knew that we needed to get away from the stress and while it meant both having to cut back on "extras" it would be worth it.

So we paid in full and now all I had to do was sit back and research plans, and DIS meets worked out, and FE exchange organized and gifts bought

Up next...More of our Plans, and planning! 43 days to go and we are ready to go Now!

 

[Tinkerbellz65]

I'm excited to read more. We LOVE our Amy trip reports!!

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

I'm excited to read more. We LOVE our Amy trip reports!!

Awe Thanks I'm glad I can bring excitement

 

[DyanKJ130]

So glad to see you are writing!! Great start! Looking forward to more

P.S. That is my all time favorite photo of your mom, as well!

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

So I left off with sort of the background of where this trip came from and now your probably wondering (ok pun intended) where is this going. Well since I love to gab and the more you get to know me the more I gab so this won't be a problem, I'll tell you!

We booked for a 4 night cruise to the bahamas again, the price was right, and its easier to fit a 4 night cruise into our schedules then a whole 7 nights so for now its perfect for our lives at the moment. Although we'd love to be on the ship for longer then 4 days price, and schedule conflicts won't allow for it

I had school, and my mother had work so we decided we would just see how things went and not really make an overabundance of plans we wanted to just relax and enjoy the ship since we realize we won't be able to sail on the Wonder after this trip unless we travel to the West Coast to do so!

So when the time came to make our reservations for the Spa, Palos, and excursions we really didn't have a plan, we'd take whatever we could get and if nothing was available we'd check when we got on board about waitlisting. But we were lucky! I was on the computer after the 90 day mark but before the 75 day mark so it wasn't overloaded with people trying to book and I was able to book Palo's for Dinner for night number 2. and Brunch at Palo's for the sea day early in the morning 10am. See on vacation anything before noon is early for us

This is on my MUST do list for the cruise though and I am hoping that they will bring out a full portion again for me at brunch because I'd hate to embarrass my mother by taking 15 of the little ones instead

MMMM...Panna Cotta! Better then the chocolate souffle in my book!
The early brunch works out nice as we have Main dining which is a first for us we normally book so late in the game that main has always been sold out but we figured we would try and see how we like eating on the early side! I think it will help us out in the long run since in 2 previous cruises we have NEVER seen the night clubs and we barely made it to the pirate night dessert buffet on the last one we were so stuffed after late dining have no idea where we would have put it all anyways but hey desserts are not to be missed and I need to recitfy that error from our previous cruises

For Spa reservations, my mom will get a massage early early in the morning as in 8am on the Sea Day and i will get to sleep in! That is my kind of spa treatment, anytime I get a few extra minutes of sleep is pure bliss in my book

So that is all that we have planned for on the ship, the rest of the time we will just explore the ship, the island on our own and relax. That is the best kind of vacation for us one where we don't have to run from place to place or worry about what time it is.

Up Next.....how about starting the party a day early!

 

[Va-NanaTink]

Great start! Can't wait to hear more of your plans!
Your cruise plans sound very similar to Sulley's and mine (our cruise is 20 days after yours ) just relax, sleep read, lie by the pool or on a quiet

waiting for more

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

Great start! Can't wait to hear more of your plans!
Your cruise plans sound very similar to Sulley's and mine (our cruise is 20 days after yours ) just relax, sleep read, lie by the pool or on a quiet

waiting for more

I wish we could have kept the 7 day we originally had booked but never would have worked with school and work schedules. So you'll have to tell me all about it when you return!

 

[Va-NanaTink]

I wish we could have kept the 7 day we originally had booked but never would have worked with school and work schedules. So you'll have to tell me all about it when you return!

You know I will

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

So only on our first cruise in 2006 did we stay in hotel the night prior to our cruise since we had flown in from CT and didn't want to risk missing the ship. We had planned to stay at hotel in Cocoa Beach but after hearing some not so nice reviews and the cost to risk the bad experience we decided to stay at WDW and rented a car. It was nice to have a Disney stay before the cruise but we worried about traffic and missing the ship. We were newbies... On our Second Cruise last year we live 45 minutes from the port and we felt that we would just stay in our apartment get up early have a nice breakfast and then head out to the port the day of the cruise. It was ok we got there 30 mins before they opened the port for check in but we still worried about something happening and missing the ship. Yeah we just worry a lot....we also didn't want to miss the ship either!

So this year we decided that we would start the party early! We found a room at the Country Inn and Suites for the night prior to the cruise in Port Canaveral. We will get to park our car there for the length of our cruise and use their shuttle to get us to/from the port!

So by going down the night before it should lessen our fear of missing the ship and the night before we can head down to the port around 2pm, we can hopefully check in. We will then head over and get spots to watch the Magic sail out on her cruise and enjoy Jetty Park for the afternoon. We go to Jetty Park often just to see the ships leave but it will be different knowing that the next day we will be the ones sailing away!

Then have dinner at either Grill's or Rusty's. Since we often get coupons for Rusty's if we have one for then we will go there. If not we will try Grill's.
Then we can head to the hotel and just relax for the evening and try to get some sleep before our cruise!

I will say after the internet for hotel specials I got our room price with the Cruise Parking Package down a little bit so we were the savings

 

[Va-NanaTink]

As if you would ever let that ship sail without you! I can't imagine that! So will you and Angela come and wave us off on the 27th? We will look for ya!

Great update Amy, can't wait for more! I'm ready and waiting!

 

[Kathiria]

Subcribing!!!!! Great start. I am a newbie but I been trolling and obessive with reading the boards for 2 years now. Now I finally am going next year in April. But I can't wait to read more of your trip report.

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

Subcribing!!!!! Great start. I am a newbie but I been trolling and obessive with reading the boards for 2 years now. Now I finally am going next year in April. But I can't wait to read more of your trip report.

Yay that you get to finally go!!! You will have a great time I'm sure and I hope you enjoy my trip report

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

We are so excited we have 31 days until we check into the Country Inn and suites and we got our Cruise Documents already! Thank you Mr. Mailman for that delivery! Now the bills eh you could have kept those!

We are participating on our DIS Meets Fish Extender exchange well actually I organized it but my group is awesome and so they all had a hand in it too and I can't wait to see all the loot we walk off the ship with. I just hope they all enjoy what we are giving. Of course since its possible that they may read this I can't tell you what it all is but lets just say If I were a kid I'd enjoy it and the adults hopefully will enjoy their gift as well!

Thanks to Shirley who posts that wonderful information thread I was able to contact the General Manager at CI&S and get some concerns taken care of and he was fantastic to deal with so if you are looking for a place to stay with what seems to be an awesome General manager CI&S is the place to stay! I'll let you know about the quality of the hotel when we return.

Now I am going to school full time but its hard to concentrate on the 138 Biology questions I have to memorize and the 150 ASL signs that I have to know to pass the course due to the fact that I am addicted to watching DCL videos on youtube and the planning dvd on the tv. I can't get enough cruise and I seriously have no idea how I will survive the next 31 days!!!

I did try on my 2 dresses that I am bringing 1 for Dressy Night and one for Palo's got both of them at Lane Bryant as a gift but they were both really cheap. I got them at their outlet in Orlando, 2 dresses together were $30. I also got a shrug for $10. So for 2 dresses, and a shrug $40 for the "formal/non formal" wear. I did pack those already along with things that I know I won't need between now and the cruise. This weekend we will work on getting more together.

so not really an update update but part of our planning I guess.

 

[Va-NanaTink]

so not really an update update but part of our planning I guess.

Love it! It's helping me pass the time until our cruise so keep it coming!

I don't have school to worry about, but for some reason work keeps getting in my way...and has been so busy this past week I haven't had much time to attend to the more important things, like READ TRs!!!

Wow, two dresses and a shrug for $40 ? you ROCK!!! That is totally awesome, Amy!

We are doing our first FE on our cruise, I'm excited and I hope they like what we are doing....

I'm sitting here waiting for more.... ......Is there more yet?

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

So things have been hectic here, we had a death in our family then my computer decided to crash we are calling that the great Crash of 2010. But we are coping with our loss, and the computer is now fixed so we are full steam ahead with the cruise planning, and preparation.

We have our suitcases out and are starting to pack things each day that we think of and know we need. So far the fish extender items are packed, the fish extender itself, the door magnets and our new tie dye shirts that we made. That was an accomplishment even if they didn't come out exactly as we had hoped we made them and we will wear them and as we are definitely not 'crafty' people by any means. Here are our shirts:

My mothers didn't have a very defined Mickey head and mine came out with more white then I had hoped but my mickey head came out a little better then hers did.

Here is Mom's shirt:

That is the front

and now the back:

Her back came out more tie dyed then mine so it had to be how we pleated and twisted it next time we will know better.

Here is My shirt:

and the Back of my shirt:

Are they perfect ....no but they are ours so we are happy!

So those are now packed in the suitcases, we will likely have 4 suitcases total, might have to see about a 5th one if we can't fit it all but the less we pack the easier it is on me because I'll be the one toting and lifting them!

We rented my mother a mobility scooter from Brevard Medical Equipment and hopefully its there for us when we get to the port, we also have been in contact with our hotel and have been given great peace of mind about a few concerns we had.

We have been watching the cruise planning dvd, the travel channel's DCL special, and we finally got our Cruise Videos from our last cruise onto a DVD and have been reliving our cruise for the last few days. We are down to 34 days we just can't wait!!!

 

[Va-NanaTink]

Great update, Amy! keep it coming!!!

I think your shirts rock! Do they have a '60s night on the Wonder? If so, you two will be the belles of the ball!!!

 

[wlbbcb]

This is going to be quite the best cruise ever!!! I love it already Ames!!

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

So sorry that I have been Missing in Action but with School being in full force I have been super busy with studying, packing, and getting things ready to go and I haven't had the chance to get an update worked on so my apologies.

We are only 5 days until we will be in Port Canaveral, we will be staying at the Country Inn and Suites, hanging out and relaxing before Sunday where we will be boarding the Wonder!!!

I have 2 suitcases packed and only carry on items left to pack 5 items to be exact and so I'm pretty much 99% packed and the items are all last minute items.

I had hoped to be able to go to the Port prior to this weekend to watch the ships sail out but we were so busy we just didn't have a chance. It was hard to even fit in a trip to the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot this year but we forced ourselves to and we were happy we did the cookbook was 10x better this year compared to last year and while we won't go on a weekend again next year we did find something to like about it this year compared to last year.

I know my Pre-Trip report may not be as exciting as others are and I hope that once I return and start the Trip Report more will find their way over here to join in, help me share my excitement of our cruise.

5 more days until we go!!!!

 

[Va-NanaTink]

have a wonderful trip, Amy! I can't wait to read your TR........
Wooo hooo! almost time!

 

[LivingtheWDWdream]

So I had a slight mishap and broke my carry on bag and we didn't have another that would fit all that we have to carry on with us so I spent 45 minutes fixing it. I am getting quite useful in my old age crisis was averted and the bag is now fixed!

I woke up this morning at 3:30 wide awake and its a good thing I did I realized I forgot to pack something for Pirate night!!! So I quickly packed it while I remembered it then I realized I forgot to pack a few other things for the hotel on Saturday so about 4:30 I finally fell back asleep! This lack of sleep is definitely due to the phrase "I'm too excited to sleep!"

Well I had emailed a while ago the General Manager of the Country Inn and Suites and asked about the Cruise and Park Special and the Shuttle to the port and he was kind enough to get back to me way back when but he emailed me today to thank us for staying there and that he had made arrangements for us to go on the 1st shuttle of the day Sunday! At least he didn't say the Space Shuttle...that would be awesome but I'd rather cruise then go to outer space! I'm spacey enough already!

I'd say the Customer Service is fantastic at the hotel so far and hope that it continues from the time we check in until we get back from the cruise!

My mother is NOT packed yet and she feels that I am a pack mule because her bags are so heavy I may need a new back when we get home! But we are hopeful that she'll get it all into the 2 suitcases and won't need a 3rd one. I am going to wager that she is still packing just before we leave on Saturday!

I also cleaned out the car so that we have room for all our junk and so that nothing "tempting" is in it while we are away. Don't want to take any chances since this is our first time doing the cruise and park special and staying in Port Canaveral.

I also have watched the DCL planning video 26 times in the last 4 days I can't get enough of it! I also have been planning our next cruise which is in 2012 (we have on booked on the Dream for 2011 but we aren't sure yet on that) for my 30th birthday. We found out it falls on a date where there is a group from All Ears going so we are hoping that the price doesn't increase before we book onboard. Otherwise we will have to move it to the 1st Eastern in June as our back up date.

2 Days to go!!!!!