I am going to write this report in a section-by-section format, as opposed to day by day. I cant remember specifically what we did each day, so Ill give my overall opinions, instead.
The fact that our cruise turned into Disneys first ever 10 day cruise:
Our experience was excellent. Given the circumstances, I dont think that there was anything else that the Captain couldve done. I always felt that our safety was a priority. We were excited when we heard that wed be onboard an additional 2 days. This notice was given a couple of days in advance, so it wasnt a shock at all. When we found out that wed be docking at Port Everglades, which is 3 hours away from Orlando, it was cause for concern because then we had to figure out the logistics of getting to our 11:25am flight. Once we realized that wed never make that flight, we called Song Airline ourselves, the night before while docked in Port Everglades, and got the last 4 seats on the 7pm flight. We knew this meant a long wait at the airport, but we decided to do this rather than spend a night at WDW and have to fly out the next day.
DCL provided complimentary transportation from Port Everglades to the Airport. According to the written information we received in our stateroom, they wouldve given us complimentary accommodations at one of the WDW resorts if we had to wait till Wednesday to fly home.
The day we docked in Galveston, Texas, DCL brought a new performing act on board. It was called Rhythm Extreme and was sort of a Stomp type of show. It was interesting, and I thought it was good of DCL to bring on a new show just to entertain us another night. To us, it seemed that DCL was really trying to keep the guests happy. We did not encounter a single CM on the ship who wasnt happy and trying their best to help the passengers in any way possible.
Ok, thats all for now, as far as the extended trip goes. I may add more later if I think of something else.
Now for the regular cruise info!
Our stateroom:
We were in cabin #6042, which is a category 6 cabin, and has a private verandah. Before the cruise we didnt know whether, or how much, wed use a verandah. I have to say that literally as soon as we walked out to the verandah, we looked at each other and I screamed This was SOOOOO worth it!!! Indeed, the extra money we spent on a verandah proved to be quite an investment for us, especially considering the extra days wed spend on the ship. We used the verandah often. DH would wake up early before the rest of us and hed go out there and enjoy the morning scenery. Every morning when I woke up wed go back out there and talk, rehash the day before, and plan what wed do that day. I think I can say with 100% accuracy that we never entered our cabin without stopping out on the verandah each time. I wont say that Id never sail again without a verandah, but I will say that the additional price, at least for us, was EXTREMELY worth it!!!
The most special moment on the verandah: Monday night when we were docked at Port Everglades, DH and I were out there talking on the cell phone, when in the distance I saw another cruise ship approaching. From the distance I was able to make out 2 tiny red smoke stacks at the top of the ship. As it slowly sailed closer and closer to the dock, I yelled to DH I think thats the WONDER!!!!!!!!!!! We grabbed our cameras so we could zoom in on it, and YES IT WAS THE WONDER!!! We ran upstairs to deck 10 and were able to video tape the Wonder as it approached the Magic. It was a once in a lifetime moment; you could hear the guests on the Wonder yelling over to us, and wed yell back at them!! There were hundreds and hundreds of guests on the decks of each ship. I cannot wait till we replay our video and get to see this over again. While DH was video taping this, I was snapping away with the still camera. Eventually I will have pictures of this all, on my web site.
Now, as for the cabin itself, it proved to be quite adequate for the 4 of us. At home, DSs each have their own bedroom, DH has a private office, and I have my own desk area, off of the family room, so we are all used to having our own spaces. It took about a day or so, but eventually we all settled into a good routine and werent bumping into each other. LOL I split the desk area for DSs to share; I took the steamer trunk, and DH used the drawers area over by the bathroom for himself. We each had our own space, although limited. LOL It helped for us to each have a place to enter the cabin and be able to set down our sunglasses, Keys to the World card, etc.
The beds were comfortable, but we had to stash our luggage under them. They were way too big to fit into the closet. I had read here on the boards that you can lift up the beds and slide the suitcases underneath, which is what we did. We did a rather sloppy job of it, but when we returned to our cabin that night, our room steward had fixed it all for us.
This leads me to our room steward, Darwin. He did a wonderful job keeping our cabin clean, and our champagne on ice. Every single time I passed him in the hall hed ask me if everything was OK, and if I needed anything or not. I never needed anything from him, so Id thank him and go on my way. He was good, he did his job and wasnt too noticeable. We did stop and chat once in a while, but usually when wed see him we were off to someplace specific and didnt have much time to talk.
This is all I have time for now! Soon I will sit down and talk about restaurants and our servers!!
