The one drawback with the Port of Miami is that you get on the ship on deck 4. They still announce you and you do get on midship, but it is just not the same as walking into the atrium on deck 3. We headed straight to Parrot Cay and were seated pretty much straightaway. We ended up at a table next to a family that I knew from a previous cruise so we spent most of lunch chatting. Both of us were not really hungry. Normally we do not have breakfast on the day we board. Still, we had late dinner so we had some lunch. Graham had Salad and Peel and Eat Shrimp followed by Roast Beef and Steamed Vegetables and some Raspberry and White Chocolate Mousse for dessert. I had Chilled Pineapple and Coconut Soup followed by Pork Schnitzel, Mashed Baked Potato, Corn Dog Nuggets and Spaghetti and Meatballs. This sounds like a lot of food, but I had just a tiny taste of everything. I passed on dessert. There was nothing that really called out to me.
By the time we had finished lunch, it was nearly 13:30, which is the time the staterooms are normally available. Graham settled down in one of the big portholes on Route 66 and I went to check if the stateroom corridors were open yet. They were not and I rejoined Graham. As our stateroom was on deck 2 forward, I checked once more if we could get in yet and once the barriers had been removed, I went to get Graham. We met our stateroom host and had a quick look around the cabin and then we decided a nap was called for. The adventures of the previous day had caught up with us. I set a wake up call for me for 14:45 and we both settled down to sleep.
It was nice to hear Mickey on the phone so early in the cruise. I only got about an hour of sleep, but that was all I needed. This made all the difference. I quickly got freshened up and then I headed to our DIS/ Facebook Group Meet. I was hoping to meet some people that I knew from previous cruises and I also had to pick some things up. Somebody from our group had kindly made lanyard badges as a gift for everybody. Somebody else organized some fantastic group t-shirts. I had prepaid ours by PayPal and needed to pick them up. I managed to get those things and managed to catch up with quite a few people. This was probably the busiest meet I have experienced on any of our cruises.
I decided to head back to the cabin a bit earlier than I would normally have done after the meet. I had left Graham asleep when I left and I figured I better made sure that he was awake in time for the safety drill. I got back a little earlier than I had planned. I decided to put up our decorations. I was particularly proud of our magnets this time round and as I had issues with getting them to stick on the Wonder last year, I had bought extra strength magnet tape. Unfortunately this did not work. The magnets did not stick to the outside of the door at all. I ended up putting them all on the inside of our door. It was kind of sad coming back to an empty door, but at least I got to enjoy our magnets when I was inside our cabin. I also had our door spotter that I hang from our fish so I had at least something to mark our territory. Once everything was decorated, I woke up Graham so that he could get ready for the safety drill.
Our muster station was inside the Walt Disney Theater. I was kind of surprised that we were directed towards the elevator lobby and the main staircase during the safety drill to get to our muster station as we were about as far forward as we could be and there was a Crew Member only door that led to the Walt Disney Theater right across from our cabin. Later in the cruise, I had a look at the instructions at the back of the door and we should have used the Crew Only door. One would think that they would show us the proper route during the safety drill. The drill itself was quite straightforward. Near the entrance of the Walt Disney Theater, a crewmember touched our Key to the World Cards against a reader and we were directed to a section of seats in the theatre. There we waited for a while until some announcements were made and we were dismissed. The whole process took just under 15 minutes and was definitely one of the smoother safety drills that we have experienced. Once it was over, we waited until the people who were in a mad rush had left and then we headed back to the cabin. Graham got changed into his swim stuff and I grabbed my camera. In the end I did not even use it. We went up to deck 9. We stayed forward and I was really surprised that we could not hear anything from the sail away party. I stayed up there until I had heard the horn. This was followed by an announcement by the Captain that we were not quite ready to leave, as we still had to wait for more food to be brought on board. I figured in this case, I may as well go back inside. I went back to the cabin to drop off the camera and pick up my autograph book and pens. My suitcase had arrived when I went for the meet, but Graham's suitcase was also there now so I put this inside and headed off to meet some characters.
Captain Mickey was due out at 17:15 and he did not have much of a line. So I went to say "hi" to him again. Pretty much as soon as I had joined the line, somebody approached me to say "hi". It was Drew, a member of entertainment staff that I had become quite friendly with on previous cruises. I always suspected that he is a rather special friend of Pluto. He once referred something that only three individuals could have known: Pluto, his female escort and me. It was great to see him again and we spent a couple of minutes chatting. At the time it did not sink in that the outfit had changed. For the most part, the character escorts wear white polo shirts so it was not that obvious. It was only when I looked across the atrium that I realized that he was actually wearing officer's whites. So when he came past again, I asked him if the change of outfit meant that he was now the character manager, which he confirmed. I don't think I was ever quite so pleased for anybody before.
Normally it takes a day or so before the characters get the measure of me, but this time round, I had amazing character interactions right from the beginning. I could not help thinking that our new character manager may have had something to do with this. I can just imagine the kind of summary that he may have given his team:" She is as mad as a hatter, but good fun." Whatever he had told them, it worked. I had a great interaction with Mickey. I still had a bit of time until Pluto was due to be out. So I decided to go up a deck and introduce myself to the DVC staff. They checked if they had me on their list and I told them that I would die of shock if they had. They even did not have a record of us the one time when we sailed on points. Sure enough we were not on the list, but were duly added. I was told that the Member Celebration would be on the first sea day and that they were still trying to finalize the location. I was given some baseball caps and lanyards and then I headed back downstairs to see Pluto. Pluto did not have a long line either and after a nice interaction, I was on my way again.
My next stop was the shops. I had seen a photo of one of the special t-shirts for this cruise and really wanted this. On our previous Panama Canal Cruise, I had missed out, as I had not gone to the shops on the first evening. That was not going to happen this time round. When I got upstairs, the shops were still closed. In the Navigator it said that the shops would be open at 18:00 and it was nearly that by this point. I decided to stick around and wait. There were a few other people who had the same idea. 18:00 came and went and the shops were still closed. One of the merchandise staff came out and explained that due the late departure, they were not able to open the shops at this time, as we needed to be 9 miles away from the port first. She estimated that the shops would be open at 18:45. I decided that I would come back later. I decided to head up to the drink station to get myself a Coke and then I would go back to the cabin to unpack. I cut through Shutters and decided I may as well check my folder location. While doing so, I spotted another familiar face. We have known the Assistant Photography Manager Kate for a number of years. She is also from the UK. I had not expected to see her this cruise as from reports when she had been seen around, I figured that she must be on her holiday. As it was, she only had come back that day. We chatted for a bit and then I went up to deck 9 to get my Coke.
When I had my Coke, I headed back to the cabin. I unpacked and put the dresses that I wanted to put for pressing to one side. I wanted to put them in the laundry bag, but there was no laundry bag there. I put my head round the door to see if our stateroom host was about. He was just coming out of the room opposite and I asked him about this. He said that he had removed the old laundry bag that morning as it was broken and would leave a new one when he came for the turn down service. He asked me to just leave the dresses and the laundry form on the bed and he would collect them. I also asked for a corkscrew, but told him there was absolutely no rush. I finished my unpacking and got changed. I was just about to head out again when it knocked on the door and our stateroom host delivered the new laundry bag. I quickly put the dresses and the laundry form in there and left the bag on the bed and then I went to see some more characters.
Goofy was due to be out at 19:15 with Captain Mickey 30 minutes later. Goofy had virtually no line. When I had finished meeting with him, I headed up to the shop to get my t-shirt. They did not have any XXLs on display so I was going for a size bigger. I like my t-shirts baggy. Somebody else asked for the t-shirt in XXL and one of the merchandise staff said that she thought they had some in the back. There were three of us that wanted a shirt in XXL and she soon came back with them. I went and paid for my shirt and then took the shirt and the autograph book back to the cabin. Then I went to see Captain Mickey again. Once I was done with all the characters, I headed back to the cabin to retrieve Graham.
Close up of the gorgeous jewellery I was wearing that night (photo courtesy of
www.wyrdingstudios.com)
Graham had arrived back and was nearly unpacked. He got changed and we headed out. Dinner that first night was in Animator's Palate. The line was huge and we went to sit down inside Shutters until the crowds went down a bit. Once we got to the restaurant, the first person I spotted was Josip, who had been our head server on the back to back cruise last year after the first night. I was happy to see him, but he was busy with something and I figured I would get a chance later in the cruise to say "hi". We were directed to our table. Our tablemates were already there. We were seated with two brothers and their wives that lived in Southern California and Washington State. Our server and assistant server came to introduce themselves. We were given the menu and asked what we like to drink. Graham stuck with water and I had a Coke.
The menu that evening was Let The Magic Begin. Graham did his usual trick and let our server decide what he was going to have. He ended up with Fried Calamari followed by Seafood Chowder with Sourdough Croutons and Grilled Halibut with Smashed Green Peas as his main course. I am not quite so adventurous and chose my own food. I had Chicken Bastella with Almond Slaw followed by Chilled Mango and Papaya Soup and Fillet of Pork Wellington with Baby Vegetables, Potato Gratin and Cabernet Jus as my main course. During the meal, our head server came to introduce himself. It happened to be Josip. I was very happy when I realized that he would look after us again. Throughout the meal we chatted with our tablemates who seemed to be very nice. We passed on dessert. There was nothing that we really fancied on the dessert menu and by then we were really tired. We said good night to our tablemates and headed back to the cabin. Minnie was out and had hardly a line, but even that did not tempt me.
When we got back to the cabin, be took turns getting ready for bed. I had a quick look at the Navigator and took a photo of our towel animal. I also noticed that our stateroom host had left us a corkscrew. Once we were both ready we went to bed and fell asleep as soon as we were in bed.