Wonder cruise report.....
Part 1
Landing after the
red eye the nite before the cruise was better then expected. We did sweat a tight drive at near the last minute to the airport in LA - but other then that I can only remind folks who are flying to be CAREFUL to gather ALL your bags and stuff before you leave the X-Ray security check point. I accidentially left Alicia's huge carry on shoulder bag at MCO on our travel home and at 15 minutes before boarding Alicia noticed the bag missing. SHE RAN all the way back to get on the mono-rail to reach the check point. The bag was still there and they said they usually send any bags left behind to a lost and found area which would have meant more lost time detouring there... and with 15 minutes before boarding this error can make for an annoying moment for the runner. At any rate, she ran out and got back to the gate in about 5 minutes flat... that includes riding the monorail! She really ran / sprinted and our LA gate was at the end of the terminal spur! Needless to say she was slightly miffed with me - especially since she did not let me run to get the bag.
So... as I was saying... travel was otherwise uneventful. We rented from the new
Thrifty rent a car folks as their rates (being the new kids on the block) were lower priced then Budget or
Avis. However, there was a $10 drop charge from MCO to CCB (none from CCB to MCO). Even so they were significantly cheaper then their competition. We had a Dodge Caravan for about $41 + $10 drop charge going and we reserved a full size for $48 or so coming back but were given a
Chrysler Pacifica. A nice crossover minivan with
HUGE BLIND SPOTS. Alicia's company has these available as a fleet option and EVERY counterpart she knew of with this vehicle
has gotten into some sort of accident in it - so she was actually very reluctant to take it as a free upgrade. But I encouraged her to take it anyway for kicks. The Thrifty folks were EXTREMELY NICE with blazing fast service. I would rent from them again in a heart beat.
Getting to the port we ran around CC a little in search of beach toys. I neglected to pack the bucket and sand toy set. We expected Disney sets on the ship and thought we'd get a generic set for 1/3rd the cost instead of the Mouse set. I bought a huge set in a net for about $7 and we boarded at about 2PM. There were absolutely NO LINES as everyone was already aboard. So it was a breeze. They had a sign up on the counter declaring that there were no upgrades available for begging or purchase. I asked anyway... then I sent Alicia to ask again to be sure. I should not have been surprised being so late to the port. Oh yeah... I do not recall seeing any Disney beach toy sets on the ship - but they had lots at Castaway Caye. The big mickey shovel was almost irresistable. I resisted in the end though.
So... before I move on... when we disembarked we met another multi-family group on the shuttle to Thrifty. They shared a harrowing story of how when they ARRIVED to board the ship they had problems. FIRST, They discovered their son had left a backpack with all his school homework at the airport. Not a big deal. Execept... that sounds like a sly move - so watch your kids with their homework backpacks! <chuckles>
But the harrowing drama unfolded when this family group discovered that a 2nd and 3rd bag had been left at MCO! One had their
notebook computer in it and the third bag had... are you ready... are you guessing....
the 3rd bag had all their passports, BCs and cruise docs. Now, the cruise docs you can actually live without to board. The greatest hazard being that your cruise docs would have a LOT of personal info for ID thiefs to pour over. The real problem though is that the passports and brith certificates in the bag left behind was a FATAL error! You cannot board or disembark without passports or BCs. If
DCL lets you board w/o proper docs and US customs finds out then the cruise line gets a huge fine supposedly... and their resistance to letting anyone board w/o proper docs is quite serious. I suspect someone attempting re-entry w/o docs has to remain on the ship and they do not want that to happen!
SO ... the family sent 2 adults to drive BACK to MCO to recover the 3 bags. They got them and 2.5 hours later ... with their families waiting outside to board.... they returned. In the rush they boarded only to discover that they had left a notebook computer bag in the rental car! The computer was waiting for them on their return... I saw them pick it up. They otherwise said their cruise was great. They must have had 35~40+ bags to load into their giant van!
The moral of this story. My spouse usually has a number in mind once she checks the heavy bags at the airport. So as we go through security and debark the aircraft she mumbles "7" and starts counting bags to see if we have all seven as we go from point to point. Maybe you should be careful about having everything with you as you move through the travel process.
OK... what about boarding at PC? Well... there's not much to say except maybe if you're thinking of maybe trying to snag a cheap upgrade at the port you'll need to know #1) what certain upgrades are worth to you. The 1st time we sailed DCL they offerred an upgrade CHEAP at the port but we passed. Later we realized the error we made as the cabin upgrades normally are worth a certain amount and we had MISSED that the offer to step up at the port waws indeed a good offer.
So - the counter position to check for this is at the end on the extreme right. Remember, once someone upgrades their cabin - then their OLD cabin becomes available for someone in a lower catagory to pay for an upgrade. So one empty upper level suite can trigger several upgrade opportunities for folks. And the absence of an upgrade now can change later in the morning/afternoon. Not guaranteed - but possible. Someone else posted that this happened to them.
So... once aboard... I'll keep it simple and just say you wanna get aboard BEFORE 2PM if possible. If you are boarding near 2PM like we did then you probably should hustle directly up to deck 9 to the Topsider buffett aft.
They will close it a few minutes after 2PM then you will not get any decent lunch fare at all. We like the peel and eat shrimp... and in the past they've had crab claws out. I just like the shrimp. Now... at 2 or 3PM your DIS meet might be starting. SO get on over to it and share good cheer for a while til the life boat drill starts. If I were you I would be in NO HURRY to get there. But get there you must. Photos too make sense as you're unlikely to go out with the orange vests again til your next sailing! I like to show up late to these things and minimize my punishment.
Oh... be sure to look at your dining tickets - as it reminds you of
WHEN your character breakfast is scheduled. DOn't miss it. And your key to the world has imprinted your dining rotation. No wories ther if you forget where you're supposed to dine - just ask someone in the dining room or guest services. BUT... do NOT miss your character breakfast! And... try to get everyone to look directly AT the camera when the photos are being snapped. It's always so difficult to et good shots. Everyone looking at the wrong camera OR glancing about. The character breakfast is a nice opportunity to get several great family shots suitable fgor X-mas cards. Oh yeah... contrary to what they say... if you missed your character Breakfast then ask to substitute another one if possible. We actually followed another DIS family into theirs (not ours) and just did it unreserved. Then we never got around to doing our scheduled event! I think our sailing was very light for kids and we had never seen a character brucnh (or the family beach at Castaway Caye) so empty before. So that made it easier to crash a character breakfast out of convenience.
Oh... the sail away party was something NOT to miss. GO EARLY so as NOT to miss the character appearance.
I'll just say for 1st timers this was a "special moment" for our family on our 1st DCL sailing. It may or may be one for your family too. SO get out on deck early for it. Best to be on deck 10 for the view onto the stage IMHO unless you like lound music, a tight crowd and possible dancing!
So for our sailing we actually had a brief DIS meet experience as we were concentrating on eating shrimp and other late lunch fare. We were among the last folks in the topsiders buffett when they closed it down. And we waltzed into the DIS meet as some folks were departing. We really did not meet too many folks here as we just setled into chatting at length with a few folks.
So.... at this point (before dinner but post sail-away) I would encourage you to check the character appearance schedule. It is available by telephone, in the lobby on deck 3 by the guest relations desk, or (I think) it's in your navigator. Keep in mind the various appearances and locations. And at all the photo ops they often have a CM escorting the characters and they can be asked to snap a family photo with YOUR camera. So their cruise photographers will snap photos and you can MAKE a copy with your camera on the spot too. And it is ok to pause and ask the CM assissting to just take two. Concentrate on looking directly at the cameras. OR - if one of you is staying out of the picture then take a half dozen pix in quick succession. One is sure to stand out as better then the others. And each time you'll save $20 against buying from the ship and you'll have a nice series of images with the characters.
Oh... if you have a good DSLR, then try setting the aperature to f8 or f11 and push the ISO to 400 or 800 if you have a better DSLR. OR... maybe you'll et better results at 200. I vary the ISO sometimes with the background. F8 or f11 is often a sweet spot for maximum sharpness on many lenses. AND the only images I cannot get good copies of on my camera are the "lifestyle" portraits witht he all white background and triple soft boxes for illumination. My little extrenal srobe with a diffuser cannot match their triple soft box arrangement. So I did buy 2 of the lifestyle portraits from Shutters.
So, in the evening after dinner we a set routine. We catch dinner, the show and knock ourselves out in the gift shop. The mark-downs on the found on the first nite of the cruise are sometimes temporary. IE, the next day the prices may go back to normal. That has been our observation (sometimes). So if you spot something you might like then just buy it. While on the ship if you change your mind then just return it - no sweat. Oh yeah... the theater doors (if you're on early dining) open right at 8PM. SO if you get there within the first 5-10 minutes of the doors oening then you can snag great seats... center section about 10 rows back! I like to be near the asile in case we have to leave then I don't have to climb over and around folks. OH yeah, another admonishment... we had DIS pals sitting next to us during one of the shows and their child was sitting up on their knees to weatch and he flipped FORWARD during the show hitting his lower lip on the wooden edge of the seat ahead of us. He was in a LOT of pain and cried loudly. His family stepped out and the girl at the concession gave him a free lollypop which helped a bit in calmong him - but the injury is avoidable with parental caution and vigilance.
Oh yeah... we used a double stroller extensively on the ship. I parked it outside of the Walt theater (they'll show you where) and in the dining rooms you can either use it for a sleeping child, or park it near the entrance or exit to the dining room. Although most of the time we kept it very close to us and we used it 75% of the time for our kids or our table mates' kids who were sleeping. In the cabin it can be a bit of a bear to manage unless it folds really FLAT - then you might slip it UNDER the bed. Some folks who were near the aft or forward portions of the ship LEFT their strollers outside of the cabin. SOme of them were pretty nice strollers too. We kept ours inside just because we like to be sure the interior is secure and free of foreign materials. I'd rather not tempt a mischief maker.
Oh yeah... we (or our DIS neighbors) drew complaints for late nite chatting, running & merry making in the halls. Mostly it was NOT my kids. But we did contribute to the madness. In retrospect we should have kept it quieter. I guess we have become the sort that our parents warned us against. So - try to keep it down as the hour grows late. I'm sure most of ya are not as disruptive sorts as we are/ er, rather were. <chuckles>
Ok... I don't know how much I wrote but it was probably a lot. I'll read through it right now to see if I shouldn't deleat any or correct DIS or DAT. I don't want to spoil any surprise while at the same time I want to pass on constructive thoughts.
More later when I find a little time. I'm gonna be wacked for the next 48-72 hours. Got a lot on my plate.
Maybe more later....
TTFN~!
I have no idea why that posted 3 times???????????
... saying some pretty mean stuff to each other. So much for "the happiest place on earth" 
Talk about great timing.
