I miss DCL. Give me your memories

[ndog3rdtothefirst]

Only been on 2 but have 2 more scheduled (fingers crossed). One of ours is actually a little sad as it was the last night on a 7 day Eastern Caribbean, we were packing up and our 4 year just started bawling. We asked her why and she said she was going to miss Lauren, one of the kids club helpers. It was so sad but so telling of the awesome time we were able to give her (and her 2 older sisters) and how well Disney does it. Love the thread and hope it keeps going as right now we're all just cruising in our hearts!

 

[DisneYE]

- Picking up that extra ice-cream cone when my wife thought I was just filling the water bottles, and always having room for one more before they shut down for the night

hahaha...these are all great... the above is me as well.
But this brought back memories:
- I'd often say I'd go for a walk on deck 4 or go for a drink at meridian and instead I'd head over to the eye-scream station, grab me a cone and sit by the pool to watch funnel vision.
I'd do this and have 2-3 servings (esp. if they have pina colada or blueberry flavors) ..
yah.. I eat lots of ice cream when on DCL.. I gain a solid 10 Lbs on a 7 night and I'm not ashamed. I lose them in a couple of months of eating well again. #ItsWorthIt

 

[lundve]

In 7.5 weeks we would’ve been on cruise number #10 and are so sad to miss it...the goal is platinum before the Disney Wish....

There are so many memories - this was so fun to do - in case one wonders how I remember, I have Disney Trip spreadsheet that I can reference

Cruise #1 (First time of the Magic) Getting stuck on the ship when our 7 night Western turned into a 10 night thanks to Hurricane Frances - I gained 20 lbs because I was pregnant with our first child and fully indulged in eating for 2

Cruise #2 (First time on the Wonder) Celebrating with our sister and brother in law for their 25th anniversary. I presented them with a special scrapbook I’d assembled where 25+ close friends and family wrote special messages to them on Mickey shaped card stock.

Cruise #3 First and only - adults only cruise - with sister and brother in law and none of our children

Cruise #4 (First time on the Dream) Booking our first ever last minute VGT rate - 11 days before the sailing - and learning the water at Castaway Cay is cold in January

Cruise #5 - Our first and only Double Dip - Castaway Cay remains my favorite beach ever!!

Cruise #6 - Largest family cruise to date - 3 staterooms - party of 9; was nice to be in a happy place as my father in law (a relative to all of us) had died of ALS 8 months prior

Cruise #7 - (First time on the Fantasy) - my favorite cruise to date!! First Merrytime Cruise, and first as a family of five - it’s on the bucket list to do again. Grandma’s first cruise - she was a godsend as extra hands with our ten month old. So many memories - participating in the Jack Jack baby race, making gingerbread houses, seeing the massive lobby gingerbread house, Christmas decorations everywhere including Castaway Cay, seeing and sitting on Santa’s lap and more.

Cruise #8 - First time on newly reimagined Magic - loved the changes!!! Getting randomly seated with another family of 5 who also had three boys close in age to ours. They were Disney Cruise newbies and we helped fully convert them. Best seating ever as we had so much in common, are still friends today, and plan to one day, vacation together again.

Cruise #9 - Spending the actual date of our 20th wedding anniversary on Castaway Cay followed by an amazing dinner in Palo!!

Cruise #10 Tentatively booked for 02/2021

 

[bobbiwoz]

DH and I have been on a lot of cruises, Disney and otherwise, here’s our door from our NYE 2019 cruise:


DH makes the balloons for me as my birthday present!

A memory that makes me happy happened on last year’s DVC Member Cruise to Bermuda. We are 5 friends, one is my DSis, and we decided to enter the costume contest. We each displayed our superpowers



and we won!




Thank you for starting this thread. I have enjoyed sharing and reading about so many happy DCL memories!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Thank you for starting this thread. I have enjoyed sharing and reading about so many happy DCL memories!

Thank you so far to all who have participates. It's weird.... Like normally I do not get to cruise that often. I miss the ships, but you know - I watch a few youtubes, and think about the next time I can go on one.

With the current situation and cruises shut down, the fact that I CAN'T get online and purchase a cruise and go makes me miss it like 1000 times more. The same was true of WDW and although I have not been back yet, I miss it less now that it's open again (even in some capacity).

But what I feel most frustrated about it not hearing any news from DCL. ANYTHING. Give us pictures of the ships. Tell us stories. Make it appear like you are still a functioning company. And if they won't do it, well, we have to. So thank you all for making sure we carry DCL through this pandemic and keep up the stories!

 

[buzzrelly]

What a fun thread!

I love looking back on everyone's happy memories! We'll get back there again someday!

Cruise #1
Disney Magic June 2012. 8-nights NYC to the Bahamas
My DH and I got married on that cruise ❤ This was our Official, embarkation day wedding:


And our Unofficial one:

In addition to our kids, my mom and dear niece joined us on that cruise. My dear niece passed away three years later from complications from lupus so I am so happy she was able to be with us on that trip.


Cruise #2
Disney Dream April 2016. 4-Nights to the Bahamas

We had a ton of fun in Atlantis, floating along the lazy river:

But honestly, my favorite thing about that cruise was floating around on Castaway Cay:




Cruise #3
Disney Wonder April 2018. 3-Nights to the Bahamas
Totally a last-minute change of plans, as we were supposed to go back to Universal Orlando for a couple days but they weren't offering any discounts and I was irritated by their prices. We booked the Wonder less than two months out and mostly did it for this...

I just love, love, love Castaway Cay. This was our first time meeting characters out there

Also, Tiana's Place is my favorite cruise ship restaurant, hands down!




And lastly, Cruise #4
Disney Fantasy April 2019. 7-Night Eastern Caribbean
My favorite ship and cruise of all. I loved the EC and can't wait to go back someday
My morning routine:


Palo Brunch:


The Baths:


And St Thomas


Thanks for letting me share my walk down memory lane!

 

[cedricandsophie]

So many. Lots of fun cruises with the grandkids where I try desperately to be cool grandma with Hiking, ATVs and kayaking. Watching the kids including my disabled adult daughter interact with characters.
sailing in and out of Venice for the Greece cruise. Taking the whole family and everyone doing their own thing and meeting upfor late dinner to hear everyone’s adventures. Fabulous servers. Great dinners in palo.

 

[brentm77]

hahaha...these are all great... the above is me as well.
But this brought back memories:
- I'd often say I'd go for a walk on deck 4 or go for a drink at meridian and instead I'd head over to the eye-scream station, grab me a cone and sit by the pool to watch funnel vision.
I'd do this and have 2-3 servings (esp. if they have pina colada or blueberry flavors) ..
yah.. I eat lots of ice cream when on DCL.. I gain a solid 10 Lbs on a 7 night and I'm not ashamed. I lose them in a couple of months of eating well again. #ItsWorthIt

I average about 10 pounds too, but it comes off again quickly. There is something about their ice cream cones that isn't filling. I can eat so many of them. They are so darn refreshing though and just hit the spot every time.

 

[auntlynne]

What a fun thread!

I love looking back on everyone's happy memories! We'll get back there again someday!

Cruise #1
Disney Magic June 2012. 8-nights NYC to the Bahamas
My DH and I got married on that cruise ❤ This was our Official, embarkation day wedding:
View attachment 511130

And our Unofficial one:
View attachment 511135
In addition to our kids, my mom and dear niece joined us on that cruise. My dear niece passed away three years later from complications from lupus so I am so happy she was able to be with us on that trip.


Cruise #2
Disney Dream April 2016. 4-Nights to the Bahamas

We had a ton of fun in Atlantis, floating along the lazy river:
View attachment 511144
But honestly, my favorite thing about that cruise was floating around on Castaway Cay:
View attachment 511134



Cruise #3
Disney Wonder April 2018. 3-Nights to the Bahamas
Totally a last-minute change of plans, as we were supposed to go back to Universal Orlando for a couple days but they weren't offering any discounts and I was irritated by their prices. We booked the Wonder less than two months out and mostly did it for this...
View attachment 511136
I just love, love, love Castaway Cay. This was our first time meeting characters out there

Also, Tiana's Place is my favorite cruise ship restaurant, hands down!
View attachment 511138



And lastly, Cruise #4
Disney Fantasy April 2019. 7-Night Eastern Caribbean
My favorite ship and cruise of all. I loved the EC and can't wait to go back someday
My morning routine:
View attachment 511140

Palo Brunch:
View attachment 511141

The Baths:
View attachment 511142

And St Thomas
View attachment 511143

Thanks for letting me share my walk down memory lane!

Official wedding photo - is it really the bathing suit one with the Captain?

Did your mom get to join you on the last cruise? So fun she was in the first two.

Lindquist Bay on St Thomas? The most beautiful aquamarine water; great bath house and almost nobody else there. Saw sea turtles and a manta ray.

Hope you get to sail again some day.

...and glad you married someone who likes Disney cruising.

 

[DisneYE]

I average about 10 pounds too, but it comes off again quickly. There is something about their ice cream cones that isn't filling. I can eat so many of them. They are so darn refreshing though and just hit the spot every time.

they hit the spot bc its DCL
As a self-appointed ice cream connoisseur I of course know there's better ice cream out there.
But ice cream on board these awesome ships, while you're on vacation and enjoying life, they just taste MagicAl.
Here's hoping we all get back to cruising again.

 

[ajo]

they hit the spot bc its DCL
As a self-appointed ice cream connoisseur I of course know there's better ice cream out there.
But ice cream on board these awesome ships, while you're on vacation and enjoying life, they just taste MagicAl.
Here's hoping we all get back to cruising again.

On Castaway Cay, we up the game of the soft serve ice cream by first putting a pineapple cake or two in the bottom of a cup and then topping it off with the soft serve. Doesn’t get much better than that!

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

We did the 2019 EBTA. Best cruise ever! I’m hooked on Transatlantics now. Any time we do a Med Cruise I always try to see if there’s a TA cruise going one way or the other so we only have to fly one way.

One of my favorite cruises and memories would be our first transatlantic on the Magic in 2007. A little background, this was my 3rd DCL cruise, first non concierge sailing and first time sailing without my husband. Also like most on this board, I’m a planner ( borderline obssessive), book far in advance and pre-plan almost every detail.

Well this sailing was totally different. 2007 was DCL‘s inaugural Europe season. The WBTA was not selling well so Disney offered these Cat 12 GTYs for $999 pp for a 14 night cruise. Crazy cheap and I couldn’t pass it up. Last minute booking for just me and my eldest daughter who was 11 at the time. Even though, this meant she would miss the first week of 6th grade. I still did it. I have to add that our school district was awesome and basically set it up so that she was enrolled a week later so the days she missed were not considered absences. Anyway, with in a matter of weeks we were flying to Barcelona and boarding the Magic to bring her home.

I know it will sound a bit dramatic but this cruise perfect! Great ports of call Barcelona, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Canary Islands and Castaway Cay. We had fantastic weather the whole trip, the seas were like glass -no rocking and rolling. We were upgraded from the Cat 12 GTY Inside to an Oceanview on Deck 2, right down the hall from the Edge where my daughter spent a lot of time with her new friends. Even our table mates selected by Disney were a perfect match- 2 other moms traveling alone with kids like me. How perfect is that? It was a fun, relaxing and spontaneous adventure. The ship was not even close to being full so no difficulty finding pool loungers. Great activities, excursions and multiple Palo brunches because of the many sea days. The one on one time with my oldest was amazing as well. It also started my love of transatlantic sailings. I’ve done two others with DCL - 2013 EBTA with my 2 youngest daughters and 2014 EBTA with all 3 girls. Plus a few on other cruise lines.

 

[buzzrelly]

Official wedding photo - is it really the bathing suit one with the Captain?

Yes! Isn't that funny?! I love that memory!

Contrary to popular belief, when you get married on a cruise, the actual ship's captain does not perform the ceremony. Captain Arnold is licensed in NYC so he got on the ship on embarkation day, performed the ceremony…our legal marriage…and then got off. A couple days later we did the fake (fancy) ceremony on deck

Did your mom get to join you on the last cruise? So fun she was in the first two.

My mom has been on all the cruises, my husband has only been on the first one.

He and I were supposed to cruise on the Fantasy in March 2021, but I think we're doing a family trip to WDW instead. Someday I'll get him back on a ship!

Lindquist Bay on St Thomas? The most beautiful aquamarine water; great bath house and almost nobody else there. Saw sea turtles and a manta ray.

Trunk Bay Beach…so perfect!

 

[DisneYE]

On Castaway Cay, we up the game of the soft serve ice cream by first putting a pineapple cake or two in the bottom of a cup and then topping it off with the soft serve. Doesn’t get much better than that!

sounds delish... will keep it in the memory bank for when we're on cc... all we need now is for DCL to open!

 

[auntlynne]

Yes! Isn't that funny?! I love that memory!

Contrary to popular belief, when you get married on a cruise, the actual ship's captain does not perform the ceremony. Captain Arnold is licensed in NYC so he got on the ship on embarkation day, performed the ceremony…our legal marriage…and then got off. A couple days later we did the fake (fancy) ceremony on deck




My mom has been on all the cruises, my husband has only been on the first one.

He and I were supposed to cruise on the Fantasy in March 2021, but I think we're doing a family trip to WDW instead. Someday I'll get him back on a ship!




Trunk Bay Beach…so perfect!

Ah, Trunk Bay. I visited St John in 1998 and cannot keep the beach at Cinnamon Bay and Trunk separate in my memory.

We spent a week on St Thomas Dec 2019; the beaches were fabulous. I was hoping to get back there soon (timeshare), but availability is usually limited except during peak hurricane season. My sister rode out Irma in the condo bathroom and does not plan to go there again any September. But Marriott took such good care of their guests. They fed them, transported them by ferry to San Juan, lodged them at the Marriott, provided spending money, and returned their rental cars when St John roads were cleared.

 

[buzzrelly]

My sister rode out Irma in the condo bathroom and does not plan to go there again any September.

Yikes! That sounds scary!

 

[nancipants]

Other memorable moments: my first DCL cruise with my husband, his parents, and younger sister. It was a last-minute cruise and we were all scrunched in one room together. My husband and I agreed we wanted to go to Alaska on our honeymoon, but I was leaning toward Royal Caribbean since they sail out of Seattle (where his parents are from) and it was cheaper. Well, several hours into the cruise, I was completely hooked, and I knew I wanted to do our honeymoon on DCL. So I casually said, heyyyyy...what if we sailed DCL? My husband breathed a sigh of relief and said "oh good, I don't have to do that power point presentation to convince you." He looked up prices and we booked the next day onboard.

The Alaska cruise itself was amazing. The most memorable moment was holding sled dog puppies. Not to mention sailing through Tracy Arm, setting up his camera on deck, and taking picture after picture. I was bundled up because, Floridian. We had an Alaska cruise booked for this August with his parents and sister, which was also to be our infant son's first cruise. Alas. I'm now thinking of pushing back Alaska until 2014, which will be 10 years since our honeymoon cruise and allow our son to be kids club age.

 

[sharingiscaring]

We went on our first cruise to celebrate my husband coming home from a seven month deployment. It was a magical trip from beginning to end, but my favorite memory is sharing a hammock on Serenity Bay. We also loved our extended verandah and just watching the views. We can’t wait to go on a cruise again whenever that may be.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

View attachment 512035

What exactly is that lemon? A dessert of some kind I assume? Because I've never seen that but now desperately want to try it.

 

[sharingiscaring]

What exactly is that lemon? A dessert of some kind I assume? Because I've never seen that but now desperately want to try it.

It’s from the dessert experience at Remy. It was a lemon cake. So light and delicious.