Trip Report – Day 4 (Cruise Day 1)
If we had a bad day during the whole vacation, this was it. I had planned to be up and out of the villa by 9:30. Totally doable, right? We could easily sleep in and still get out in a reasonable amount of time. I really wanted to get to the Port between 10:30 -11 because the Podcasters were having a Kid Meet in the Cruise Terminal. I thought it would be good for my kids to meet some other kids before being thrown into the kids club.
After we got everything all packed and everyone had some breakfast (again, loving DVC and having a full kitchen), we did manage to get out before 10am. A few minutes later than I would have liked, but not bad.
Valet brought the car up, and after spending way too much time, we got all of the luggage in. My husband has to “engineer” everything. I am willing to bet that Nancy knows what I mean.
Finally, we are off to the Port! I program the address in our GPS and we are good to go. But first, Jeff says, he wants to stop at Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee. Um, ok. And you didn’t do that at the BCV marketplace why? Whatever. I am confident we will pass a DD on the way, so I decide to let it go.
It takes longer than I would like to find DD, but again, we are on our way so I am ok. We should still make it to the port by about 11-ish.
Here is where my husband, the world traveler, the one who goes all over Asia and God’s green Earth, turns into the American Tourist from Hell. He decides that this exact moment is the perfect time for him to get a new pair of
Crocs. Not traditional crocs, but the new flip flop kind. And not in any of the color combinations, but black-on-black. I suggest that it would be easier to order them online as that way he can get exactly what he wants (as most stores do not carry all of the different styles of Crocs, just the basic ones). No good, he has to have them for the cruise. Has to.
Thank goodness we had the GPS or things would have taken even longer. I pull up some shoe stores and we get directed to the nearest one. It is Sunday morning and it doesn’t open till 11. Great. Off to the next one. Can you imagine my attitude at this point? Finally, we hit pay dirt at the THIRD shoe store. He got the exact Crocs he wanted. It is now 11 and we are just leaving the Disney area. It will take about an hour to get to the Port. I have totally missed the Kid Meet and will, in fact, miss the characters as they come into the terminal to welcome everyone on board. Crap. I really wanted that.
The hour drive to the port is uneventful. Thankfully. We cross the bridge into Port Canaveral and there it is…the Disney Wonder! We all cheer!
Back to being happy and excited. We are maybe half a mile away or so and can easily see the enormity of the ship. So impressive.
We get off at the appropriate exit and hit a WALL of traffic. Seriously, we moved maybe one block in 15 minutes. All the while I am *suggesting* to Jeff that maybe we are in the wrong lane. We snap back and forth and he keeps saying, “YOU drive then, if you are such the expert.”
Again, I let it go. I am earning MAJOR Heaven points, I figure.
Finally, he takes my suggestion and gets out of the line and does a U-turn. Thank goodness because it was totally the wrong line. However, this puts us on the wrong side of the Port and we now have to find our way back to the ship. Not as easy you might think. All one-way streets and such. I make Jeff ask directions and we get to the port. It is 12:30. OMG. I had wanted to be there 2 hours earlier.
Once at the Disney terminal, however, everything is a breeze. We unload our luggage and the wonderful porters take it away and it will magically appear in our staterooms in a couple of hours. Brilliant (that’s for you, Kelly
).
Jeff goes to park the car while the kids and I head up to get in line to register and get checked in. I know from reading that this is going to be a 15-20 minute process. We get in line and it is a quick wait until it is our turn. I present all of our paperwork and mine and the kids’ passports. Smooth sailing. Just waiting for Jeff so we can all be checked in. Just as we are finishing, he arrives at the check-in desk. Perfect timing. Except. One. Thing. Again, here is Mr. World Traveler. The guy who is on his third passport because he actually FILLS all of the pages he travels out of the country so much. He packed his passport in his luggage. The one we gave the porter. The one that is now somewhere in the belly of the ship with a million other bags waiting to be sorted and placed in staterooms.
I VERY calmly (super proud of myself here) explain to him that I will take all 3 kids and finish the registration process for us. This means getting our pics taken and getting the kids registered for the clubs (they need bar-coded wrist bands and I need a pager that is linked to their bar codes, etc.). I (still) calmly explain that I can take care of the FOUR of us. By myself. The only thing he needs to do is get himself on the ship. I point out Guest Relations and tell him to go explain the situation to them and they will do what they can. But the kids and I are going to finish the registration process and he can meet us if/when he deals with his situation.
By some incredible miracle, those CMs found the right piece of luggage just as the kids and I were boarding the ship. I swear, it must have only been 10 minutes. VERY impressive. We can now all board. It is about 1:15.
We walk through the big Mickey ears and they announce our names in the Atrium. “Welcoming the Anderson-Small family on board!”
And the CMs all cheer and throw confetti.
It is fun and exciting, but also very loud and chaotic as other families are all getting on board and being announced too. They direct us right up to Deck 9 where we can have the buffet lunch and the kids can swim in the Mickey Pool.
--this day will have multiple installments. Next one and pics coming--
God. Now I have to google it. 
Thanks
Don't test her Erika - you know she'll do it!
