Hi All,
Well, it is kind of hard to type as my "do I really have to leave the ship" tears keep making the keyboard slippery. This was my and my husband's very first ever cruise and boy will any other cruise line have legions to live up to!
For us the magic started before we ever boarded the ship with every phone call to the
DCL reservations folks (who must have gotten tired of seeing my number on caller id) with questions, to hours devoted to reading every post I could get my eyes on regarding the Magic's voyages from the repo cruise to the week before we embarked.
The DIS meet on Deck 10 was a blast on Saturday the 2nd and it was a truly terrific way to kick off the cruise. Everyone had a great time giving and getting their goodie bags in the gift exchange and I highly recommend organizing that activity for future cruisers. The kids were entertained, the parents were amused and much mixing was done by all. By the way, while I am still on the subject, a great big THANK YOU to the kind folks that bought me a drink whilst I was wearing out my vocal cords shouting the numbers for the exchange.
After the DIS party, we all went to our cabins to get our life vests for the drill. Fortunately, everyone was where and when they were supposed to be so the drill was over almost before it began. My DH and I took some pictures of ourselves and the assembledge for posterity. Those life jackets are HOT (and I do mean in the temprature, not in appearance)!
Then we set about cruising the ship and trying to get familier with what was where. We had the APL dinner rotation (Animator's, Parrot Cay, Lumiere's) so, thanks to the wonderful folks on DIS boards I was aware to be armed with my video camera and still camera as well to capture all the fun at our first Animator's dinner seating.
Our server was Clive, our Assistant Server was Deepak and our Head Server was Chetan. All were above stellar! In our groups case, if there had been a rating better than excellent all would have received it and then some. The kids, and adults for that matter were all greeted by them by first name before we even introduced ourselves and the personal attention that we received was only beginning.
As I had heard here that you could request recipes I mentioned my interest to Chetan and from then on, after every meal he would ask what recipes were of interest that evening. We also had a member of our group with a severe food allergy to any and all nut products. Chetan and Clive would both go over her order with her to ensure that nothing would be a problem. On the rare occasion when she would select something with a danger ingredient, they were both johhny-on-the-spot with a recommendation for a modification so that she could enjoy her meal choice.
I entered every trivia contest that I could find time for and emerged victorious two out of three times. In the one that I placed second in, I would have tied for first but had changed my answer at the last second (note to self and others, ALWAYS go with your first gut instinct). Still, the Crew staff member running the game gave us prizes anyway as the winning team had three members in it and we had two and she had brought five prizes with her.
I now have a lovely collection of DCL prizes including the "I'm a DCL winner" gold medal (for general trivia), a DCL pewter keychain (Pirate Trivia), A DCL squeezie beach ball (also general trivia 2nd place) and the most coveted of all a "WHO WANT'S TO BE A MOUSEKEETER" contestant pin, earned honestly thank you very much.
I took the advice I received here (again thanks DIS boarder's) and chose a row that had the fewest people in it. Then, they picked four other contestants and on what turned out to be the final contestant pick of the game, they chose my row! I was thrilled and crossing everything I owned and concentrating on my seat number 32. Lo and behold, the number's spun and there it was, shining like a beacon on the viewing screen... 33. I was disappointed to say the least (talk about so close and yet so far) and looked to my left to see a stunned lady sitting in that seat.
When Gary the Crew Staff member assisting with the contestant aquisition asked her if she wanted to play she gave a deer in the headlights look, said that she had just wandered in and sat down and no, no she really didn't want to play. As they then go to whoever is sitting in the seat to the right of the first choice candidate they looked my way! I was out of my seat and pretty much running down the aisle before they even got a chance to ask if I wanted to play the game! The audience was super but unfortunately, I did wash out at the $100 level (question 5) but got $80 in shipboard credit so that was pretty cool.
I also got to be Gloria Gaynor in the "Gloria Gaynor" contest on '70's night in Rockin' Bar D. That was also a blast and the DIS'ers in the audience sure helped me on that one as well. I even heard "you go Gloria" as I ran down the aisle for the Mousketeer show.
Jumping backward in time here, I did discover while I was unpacking that I had left an important item at home. On formal night, I went to the garment bag to get my DH's suit and my gown and discovered much to my amazement there was no gown there! I had carefully packed everything he needed and checked and rechecked my lists but somehow that one slipped right by me
.
Fortunately, I had packed an "emergency" evening gown much to my DH's amusement. I had even told him when it was being wadded into the suit case "a girl should always have an emergency evening gown because you never know...". As it turned out, the emergency dress was fine and probably was a better choice since it gave me a tiny bit more breathing room than the "real" dress did. I will simply have to go on another
Disney Cruise very soon so that I can use the other dress.
For my DH and myself the ports of call were less than stellar. Not because of the cities themselves but because we did not have enough time to explore and the group that we were traveling with were really industrial grade shoppers in search of a diamond ring. We, (DH & me) are more the "let's see the sights" types and he has a new camera so he really wanted to use it. Also, the day that we were in Puerto Vallarta it was so humid and wet that it felt like we were in a steam bath for the first part of the day. It did clear up some in the later afternoon and by the time we were heading back to the ship it was getting to be down right pleasant.
Pretty much every night it was beautiful on deck and the weather cooperated to allow for midnight strolls under the stars without the need of a wrap. The last night out it was a bit brisker as we neared L.A. but it was still t-shirt & shorts weather for the most part.
Our cabin steward was Violetta and she was Wonderful! I took to calling her our "cabin fairy" as the room would seem to just magically reassemble itself in perfect order whenever I left it.
By far the most exciting and special experience for everyone in our group (in a sea of special experiences both actual and virtual) was a "Magical Moment" that was able to be arranged for my best friend's MIL (the lady who brought all 12 of us on the cruise). She had been a guest at
Disneyland on the very first day that the park was open (both on the invitation only day and on the first public day) as a child and is a huge Disney buff.
As we departed Mazatlan, she and the other 11 of us were invited onto the Bridge to meet the Captain (Captain Tom) and the Staff Captain (Joshua) and she was asked to sound the ships horn! She was even presented with a "Magical Moment's" certificate detailing her achievement, a picture signed by all the characters and a DCL book mark (a perfect gift for her as she is a head Librarian for a high school). She was so touched as were we all!
All in all, I don't think anyone could possibly have had a better first cruise ever. We did have a couple of bobbles here and there, the 14 year old boy sprained his ankle playing basketball (but once he met a girl in the stack, the ankle was no longer a concern), one of the 10 year old girls (Elizabeth) fell and bruised her neck, sprayed glow stick innards in her eye and got a little sick to her stomach (but still had a wonderful time!) and the 7 year old boy (Chad) got a sore throat and a bit of a cough 4 days into the cruise (but had a blast hanging out in the cabin watching endless movies and eating endless Mickey bars), and I completely soaked my cell phone when a water bottle leaked in my bag. My DH is currently trying to dry it out in the oven and it seems to be progressing nicely (he is a radio engineer so I trust that he knows what he is doing) still, if the phone does not recover I do sense another accident in its near future as my insurance covers everything except water damage so... all in all, it all worked out fine.
About the only thing that did not work out was that Serena (the other 10 year old girl) lost a fan her aunt had bought her in Puerto Vallarta somewhere in the Walt Disney Theatre and it did not turn up (it was blue with a peacock on the front). She is sad and disappointed but ok.
I will add more as it comes to me and will be happy to post pictures if someone with just share with me how that is best done. Also, I will be trying to convert some of the video that I shot over the past week to DVD and will let you all know of my progress. I did film the DCU graduation ceremony and it seems to have turned out pretty well so if I can make that DVD I will let you all know and if you have a young graduate will be happy to send you a copy of the footage if you will replace the DVD rom.
I need to ring (or more accurately type) off now as I have a 17 year old son who CLEANED THE ENTIRE HOUSE INCLUDING THE BATHTUB AND WASHED ALL 3 CARS (Even Barrett & Ken's) for us while we were gone and is wanting ice cream. I guess the Disney Magic does continue after we get home.
Now let's see that was Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust...
Take care all!
Tisza
(hit castaway cay twice)... I'd love to see as many of you as possible on that one... we can start a tradition...! my regular email is LGLBRIEFS@AOL.COM if anyonbe wants to contact me directly... I mis you guys already! I'll write more after I get some sleep... 
and the party was fun. It was great to meet everyone and see you around all week. 
so I'll get back to the board another time. Larry says hi and cheers. Eric's happy to have his Game Boy again. (That's probably what he was homesick for!)
So far, it's not helping!
She was teasing us because the first night most of us ordered 2 desserts. But that was so fun, and we discovered that we love the Passionfruit Napoleon. 
