Well, it's Friday afternoon, and I'm not getting anything done at work anyway, so here goes - my first shot at a trip report.
DH (drclaws) and I were travelling solo. We don't have any children, and they wouldn't let us take the cats for some reason....
We flew in to MCO on Friday afternoon. It was our first time flying Southwest, since they only started in Philadelphia back in May. What an experience. Definitely a much more relaxed atmosphere than USAir, and with better service (particularly in the checked luggage department).
Since it was our first cruise, and we didn't know exactly what to expect, we booked a room at the Hyatt for Friday night. When we checked in we told them we were DCL people, and they gave us a letter that explained the procedure.
Spent some time exploring the airport and looking for a good place to eat. There's a Krispy Kreme shop in the food court! Also the Disney stores, Universal stores, SeaWorld store, NASA store, etc.
Our bags had to be in the hallway outside our door by 8AM Saturday morning (tagged with the DCL luggage tags we received with our docs). Had a nice breakfast in the Hemisphere restaurant on the 9th floor. Even better, it was free, thanks to a AAA promotion at the hotel.
We had to report to the lobby between 9 and 10AM. Signs in the lobby point you through the lounge to a room where some of your docs were checked, they asked your room # and the # of checked bags, and you were assigned to a bus. (We were on Donald Duck). They also ask if you have eaten, as there is no food available until you board the ship.
Then you went in to an auditiorium (or back to the lounge) to wait (and fill out your documents, if you haven't already done so. They give you a sleeve to hold the completed documents so they're ready for check-in at the port. When they called your bus you formed a line, were escorted to the elevator and sent down to where the bus was waiting. You hop on, enjoy the air conditioning and leave for the port when the bus is full. There were a few housekeeping announcements, but nothing I really remember. The ride was comfortable, about 45 minutes.
When we got to the port they directed us to the terminal and up the escalator to get in line. If you haven't been there before, it can be a bit misleading. They tell you to go to any window but the first three (if you are US citizens). So, I figured there were lines for each window. Not so. As far as I could tell, there were three queues. The first was for non-US citizens. The third was for Castaway Club members. The middle one was for the rest of us. That line moved very quickly, and the cast member who helped us was very pleasant.
Then we went to look at what the cafe offered. It was closed for renovation, so we got in line to board the Magic. We had a while to wait, so we sat on the floor and had a lovely chat with a family from Illinois who had cruised before (Cindy, Mark, and their two sons). I kept running into Cindy at shopping related activities throughout the week.
Some time around 11:45 (don't remember exactly) the line started to move. It moved fairly quickly, but at the time it seemed to take forever. But then we were through the Mickey ears, moving toward the first photo op and the Magic itself.
DH (drclaws) and I were travelling solo. We don't have any children, and they wouldn't let us take the cats for some reason....
We flew in to MCO on Friday afternoon. It was our first time flying Southwest, since they only started in Philadelphia back in May. What an experience. Definitely a much more relaxed atmosphere than USAir, and with better service (particularly in the checked luggage department).
Since it was our first cruise, and we didn't know exactly what to expect, we booked a room at the Hyatt for Friday night. When we checked in we told them we were DCL people, and they gave us a letter that explained the procedure.
Spent some time exploring the airport and looking for a good place to eat. There's a Krispy Kreme shop in the food court! Also the Disney stores, Universal stores, SeaWorld store, NASA store, etc.
Our bags had to be in the hallway outside our door by 8AM Saturday morning (tagged with the DCL luggage tags we received with our docs). Had a nice breakfast in the Hemisphere restaurant on the 9th floor. Even better, it was free, thanks to a AAA promotion at the hotel.
We had to report to the lobby between 9 and 10AM. Signs in the lobby point you through the lounge to a room where some of your docs were checked, they asked your room # and the # of checked bags, and you were assigned to a bus. (We were on Donald Duck). They also ask if you have eaten, as there is no food available until you board the ship.
Then you went in to an auditiorium (or back to the lounge) to wait (and fill out your documents, if you haven't already done so. They give you a sleeve to hold the completed documents so they're ready for check-in at the port. When they called your bus you formed a line, were escorted to the elevator and sent down to where the bus was waiting. You hop on, enjoy the air conditioning and leave for the port when the bus is full. There were a few housekeeping announcements, but nothing I really remember. The ride was comfortable, about 45 minutes.
When we got to the port they directed us to the terminal and up the escalator to get in line. If you haven't been there before, it can be a bit misleading. They tell you to go to any window but the first three (if you are US citizens). So, I figured there were lines for each window. Not so. As far as I could tell, there were three queues. The first was for non-US citizens. The third was for Castaway Club members. The middle one was for the rest of us. That line moved very quickly, and the cast member who helped us was very pleasant.
Then we went to look at what the cafe offered. It was closed for renovation, so we got in line to board the Magic. We had a while to wait, so we sat on the floor and had a lovely chat with a family from Illinois who had cruised before (Cindy, Mark, and their two sons). I kept running into Cindy at shopping related activities throughout the week.
Some time around 11:45 (don't remember exactly) the line started to move. It moved fairly quickly, but at the time it seemed to take forever. But then we were through the Mickey ears, moving toward the first photo op and the Magic itself.
