Just Back, May 3-10 Western

[LJC1861]

So, we literally walked in the door from our totally "Magical" Western Cruise. I will start a detailed trip report tomorrow. My partner and I traveled with 4 of our best friends who sneered at us last year when we mentioned that we were taking a Disney Cruise. When we showed them our pictures and heard our stories they all agreed that maybe this "Disney" stuff wasn't too bad after all.

We were in 3 Category 5 staterooms on the starboard side.....7568-7572. I was acting as official "Cruise Director" for our little group and took my job seriously. I planned all the excursions, with their input of course, and basically took the lead in rounding up the group so we would be on time for things. Sometimes it was met with more enthusiasm than others....more on that later.

Embarkation Day:

We stayed at the Residence Inn in a 2 bedroom suite. As both couples are a bit older than us, and with some back troubles...we took the pull out sofa. I do NOT recommend using it, and next time we will book more than one room despite the cost. Lisa and I did not sleep well, but we were too excited to sleep anyway. Breakfast was good and we were off to catch the shuttle. As we had rented our car from Hertz which is located right at the Residence Inn, we were able to utilize their free shuttle to the port. The shuttle driver looked at us incredulously as we proceeded to pile all 15 bags onto the shuttle. We got to the port early, and just decided to wait. As 10:00 approached and more and more people began arriving I began to get a bit anxious ( more on anxiety later....LOL) and decided to walk over to the crosswalk to see if they were letting people in yet. Lo and behold they were and I walked all alone into the security area. A nice woman directed me to the machine and up the escalator I went.....into a TOTALLY EMPTY TERMINAL!!! I was literally the first person there. The rest of our party was still down with the luggage, but I really wanted the coveted number 2 as I had some Palo reservations to change. Not only did I get #2, I had the pleasure of being the only person in the terminal for about 10 minutes. Everyone else arrived shortly thereafter and we settled down to wait. We were all wearing the "Cruisin' with my Peeps" shirts and were greeted by several DIS'ers while waiting in the terminal. It was so much fun!

After boarding....we headed to lunch in Parrot Cay and ate ourselves silly. I had to caution the other about not eating too much as there was so much food coming. We had a wonderful fruity drink at Signals and headed to our staterooms.


More on embarkation day tomorrow....I am exhausted!

Linda

 

[LJC1861]

After lunch we headed up to Deck 9, after booking a martini tasting at Guest Services and had a fruity drink. I, of course, got my first Konk Kooler. Shortly thereafter we headed down to our staterooms to get settled. The safety drill was next and we all got ready, including my guest on the trip, "Flat Kevin (Stanley). I had made him his own life jacket and he was quite the star at the drill.

Following the drill we headed up to the Sail Away party. As we were a bit late we did not get the best spot and after hearing the horn we went back down to signals. I know I am a mush and got all teary when the horn sounded, but I was surprised to see several of our friends...who are not really Disney folk, get teary eyed as well. We got our drinks and went back up to Deck 10 to watch the ship leave port. I think it was then that Karen realized that being on a cruise meant that the ship actually moved! She was a bit hesitant as we went back down to get changed for dinner.

Dinner was in Lumieres and and was what I think was a new menu....the "Welcome aboard" menu. ** I need to backtrack a bit here. I noticed that the dining rotation was different as soon as I got my KTTW. The rotation this week was LAPLLAP, with pirate night on Tuesday!! I had specifically booked Palo for Wednesday which was supposed to be Pirate night. I had to change it and was able to with no problem.** We had Table 8, a LOVELY table near the window or the edge of every restaurant each night. While this might not appeal to everyone, for us it was perfect. We were able to enjoy the ambience of the restaurant without to much hustle and bustle. Our servers Don and Csaba were a bit shy and reserved that first night....but quickly warmed up to our antics.

We opted not to see the Welcome Aboard variety show and instead had a very early night.

Tomorrow--Key West and the LONG HOT walk to the Southernmost Point.

Linda

 

[VacationKicks]

Wow! I can't believe you started your trip report the day you came home. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

 

[Dreamer04]

More, More, More!!

 

[LJC1861]

As is typical of me I woke up ridiculously early on Sunday. I decided to get some exercise and walked a mile on Deck 4. I stopped a bit to take pictures of the sunrise and kept going. By the time I finished and got some tea for Lisa and I the rest of the gang were ready for breakfast. We all met in the hallway, our usual meeting spot and headed down to Lumiere's for breakfast. Over breakfast we mapped out our day as I yakked excitedly about all there were to explore in Key West. We decided on Kino's for sandals, some t-shirt shopping and then a visit to the Southernmost Point. Everyone decided that I was by far the perkiest person they had ever met, and that theme would carry on throughout the week.

When we docked I noticed that folks were disembarking earlier than expected, so I excitedly got everyone on the phone and said somewhat over-enthusiastically.....let's go! That was met with a mixed response as some were not quite ready......tone it down Miss Perky or it is going to be a LONG week, I cautioned myself. We disembarked and headed right for Kino's. After trying on lots of pairs of sandals, only Lisa purchased some. We did some t-shirt shopping while talking to the shop owner about the best way to get to the Southernmost Point. I was all for the Trolley, or a taxi, or even an electric car, but the rest of the gang decided it would be more economical to walk. The shop owner said it was approximately 14 short blocks....but looking at the map it looked a LOT farther. We decided to walk down Whitehead Street to avoid much of the hustle and bustle of Duvall. On the way we stopped to take pictures of the beginning of Route 1, chickens, banyan trees, and lots of other things. As we walked and walked and walked several members in the group began to ask that age old question...."are we there YET?" Somehow it became my fault that we walked (as the official cruise director I am sure) even though it was I who originally suggested a cab. We finally made it, and took bunches of pictures including several of Flat Kevin. We turned down Duvall and practically jumped a cab as he was letting another party out. We all sank gratefully into the cool air conditioning as we asked him where he would recommend for a snack. He recommended Red Fish, Blue Fish and we all had a snack and a drink. Of course we finished with Key Lime Pie. As we were dining, it began to rain and then to pour. We were so glad that we were inside and not out in it.

After we ate we split up to do some more shopping. Lisa and I hit CVS and then the Blond Giraffe. I purchased some Key Lime Juice so I can make pies at home. After that we hit the Croc store and each purchased a new pair. (This will be important later in the story) and headed back to the ship. We took a quick nap and got ready for dinner in Animator's Palette.

Dinner was fun. Our friends were totally enthralled with the entire experience and our table by the wall gave us a great view of the entire room. Flat Kevin came to dinner and sat at the end of the table propped up by a water glass. Don, our server, was a bit confused even after the explanation but did his best to play along. He asked what Kevin would be having for dinner and did not flinch when I ordered him an entree. Don recommended the chocolate peanut butter pie which was a huge hit with everyone. When he realized how much we were enjoying it he brought us more. Csaba amazingly had our cokes ready....each with the appropriate lemon or lime. He also had a bottle of Pellegino chilling for Nina and Barbara. They had ordered it the first night and he had it ready the second. They were all very impressed. After dinner we headed out to the deck to watch the sunset. It was so amazingly beautiful, and came complete with clouds shaped like Goofy in profile and Mickey. Only on a Disney Cruise would the clouds totally cooperate. Once again we had an early night, which for me included a glass of wine on the verandah.

Tomorrow.....our first day at sea.

Linda

 

[Googelibear]

I am really enjoying this report. Are you planning on posting some pictures for us to see

 

[laura001]

I too am enjoying your trip and am happy to see a complete adult side to a DCL cruise....keep it coming!!!

 

[Googelibear]

I too am enjoying your trip and am happy to see a complete adult side to a DCL cruise....keep it coming!!!

Exactly. We're leaving the boys at home this coming January. Haven't done Disney as adults only since the mid 80's.

 

[frdeb1999]

Great TR...looking forward to hearing more!!

 

[lvstitch]

Pictures please

 

[PocaJaz]

Hi Linda, we were on this cruise too, and we might have been sitting pretty close to you. We were in Lumiere's the first night, early seating. I can't tell if you meant early or late?! We were at table 6, and we had a group of ladies at the next table. Was that you? We were 2 families of 4, two little girls and two little boys. Can't wait to read the rest of your report!

 

[philatiger]

Thanks for the great updates on your trip. My DP and I are booked on the western next year and await to hear all the good things we can expect.

Cheers,

Chuck

 

[LJC1861]

Poca Jaz--

Yup, that was us! We were at table 8. I hope we weren't TOO rowdy. I thought we did pretty well until the last night when we just got really silly. We had a little Conga Line going out of Parrot Cay into the Promenade Lounge and were just laughing ourselves silly.

Linda

 

[LJC1861]

Monday dawned bright and beautiful. As usual I started my day with a brisk walk on Deck 4. When I got back Lisa had ordered a little snack for breakfast as she is diabetic and needs to eat something when she takes her insulin. WE were going to do breakfast with the gang later on at Lumieres.

The appointed hour for breakfast arrived and we made our way down to Lumiere's. Robin asked the hostess at the door if we could have a table a bit away from small children. She loves kids, but the day before we had a screamer at the next table. Marina, the hostess looked at her incredulously and replied " You know you are on a DISNEY cruise, right??" We all laughed. We did get a great table in the far corner which was perfectly quiet and wonderful for the ladies who had not had much coffee yet. Before we sat down Nina asked if we should go up and reserve loungers by the pool. Lisa and I both said " NO!" I explained that it was strictly not allowed. We had a lovely breakfast (the Beast's Secret Tower was fantastic ) and headed up to the pool. I was a little miffed to see almost the entire front row of loungers already reserved with nobody in sight. We made the best of it and grabbed loungers on the end of the row. We spent several lovely hours by the pool. I decided to to to the Castaway Club reception and was able to get a picture of Flat Kevin with Captain Thord. That was cool.

The afternoon brought the first of several several art auctions. It was really fun, especially when the auctioneer asked for an estimate price from the audience on one piece and I was within $1000. There were free martinis offered and I had 1 and I have to admit I was a bit swimmy headed afterward.

After the art auction Karen, Robin and I had a martini tasting booked. The regular one was not to my liking, but the other 3 flavors most definitely were! They were not full sized, but big enough to make us all rather giggly by the time it was done. After the tasting we dressed for formal night. I must admit I did have one of the fruity drinks offered at the Captains reception and was even more swimmy headed....but it was fun. We got our picture taken and it came out great! It was off to Parrot Cay for dinner where once again Don and Csaba were full of charm. Dinner was wonderful with more Chocolate Peanut Butter pie from Animator's Palette. Of course we all had other desserts, but Don made the pie happen and it was really appreciated. After dinner we went to the Golden Mickey's and it was so much fun to see this show through our friends eyes. Karen wasn't feeling particularly well, and left early to head back to her stateroom.

Once again it was an early night as we needed to be ready to catch the earliest tender boat so we would be on time for our excursion on Grand Cayman. Although they were not too happy about having to be ready at 7:00 everyone agreed to meet early.

Tomorrow Grand Cayman, or "What do you MEAN you don't feel well???"

Linda

 

[philatiger]

I have to admit, the Chocolate Peanut Butter pie was awesome....tired to behave myself with the desserts....that was a losing battle...lol

looking forward to hearing about your time at Grand Cayman.

 

[always on vacation]

Sounds great so far!

 

[LJC1861]

Tuesday arrived and with it our big excursion on Grand Cayman. The night before Karen excused herself from the "Golden Mickeys" with an upset stomach. We didn't think too much of it at the time as she had several martinis and a rich dinner and dessert. On Tuesday morning as we all met in the hallway Robin came out of their cabin looking very tired and still in her jammies. She explained that Karen had been up all night vomiting and worse. She made a middle of the night excursion to the medical center and that was to be her only excursion for the day, unfortunately. She had a shot of Phenergren for the nausea and was told that she needed to see the Dr. at 9:30 that morning. Needless to say neither one of them was up for the excursion. It was with a heavy heart that Nina, Lisa and I headed out for the tender line.

We got in line and were seated in the theater promptly at 7:30. At 7:35 we were lead down to the tender. By 8:00 we stepped ashore on Grand Cayman and made our way 5 minutes down the street to the Blue Iguana. There we met our host for the day, Capt. John Michal Stafford. We had booked the 5+ hour "Outrage Eco-Tour" through Island Marketing. Our meeting time was set for 8:30 and John-Michael was was there before we were. We piled into his van and off we went. On the ride he asked if the beverages he had chosen were to our liking (they were) and if we wanted to stop for picnic items or have lunch at Rum Point (Rum Point). Shortly after arriving at his boat we were on the way for our adventure. He took us to Stingray City first and we were the second boat there. The other boat was a small tour boat as well and there must have been only 10 of us in the water at that time. As we were getting our stingray interaction lesson John Michael told us to look towards the other boat. The stingrays left that boat and began heading over to ours to see what was going on. We were taking a bit too long to get into the water, so back they went. John Michael laughed and told us it was quite common, they go where food is. We finally got into the water and within minutes were surrounded by fascinatingly beautiful stingrays. We spent 45 wonderful minutes feeding, holding, petting and being petted by these friendly docile creatures. When the bait was gone so were the rays, but by that time other boats had arrived loaded down with people.

Next John Michael took us on a bouncy ride into some deeper water to see flying fish. We saw several and it was very exciting. From there he took us sightseeing for a little while showing us some of the lesser known areas on the island. From there it was off to his favorite reef for some snorkeling. Nina was the only one of us who had snorkeled and John Michael patiently showed us how. With some hesitation it was in the water for all of us. After a bit of panic, I adjusted my breathing and began to relax. It was SO beautiful. John got into the water with us and pointed out stingrays, and dove to the bottom to show us live conch. We snorkeled for about 1/2 hour and we all began to tire. Rather than make us swim back to the boat, he brought the boat to us. Talk about service! We climbed back aboard and headed on our way. As it was almost lunch time he took us to Starfish Beach, which is just down from Rum Point. He pulled up alongside a shallow sandbar and dropped anchor. There is a small rental property right there and a family who must have just checked in. The mother calls out, "Don't anchor the sandbar is shallow!" John Michael laughed and replied " no worries, I come here every day!" We stepped off the back of the boat into ankle deep water. John Michael quickly found one starfish off the opposite of the boat. He said that he would find others if we wanted to walk down the beach for lunch. We invited him along, but he declined. The walk to Rum Point was beautiful and so was the beach itself. We had a fantastic (and fantastically expensive) lunch at the outside lunch spot on the beach. When we were stuffed we headed back down the beach. There we found John Michael with 4 huge starfish. We got to hold them and he explained all about the way they eat and see. After we spent several minutes with the starfish John asked if anyone wanted to do some tubing as we headed for the Mangroves. Of course I did and he got the tube and me all set up. Getting from the boat to the tube was hysterical. "Jump like you are jumping on your bed" John said.....well it has been at least 35 years since I have jumped on my bed, but I gave it a try. I hit the tube and promptly ended up, upside down in the water laughing all the way. With John's help I got back up and he gave me instructions on how to hold on and let him know if I was okay. He pulled the boat away and off we went. Then he went faster....and faster. I was holding on as tightly as I could and we were flying!!! It was SO much fun. I have no idea how long I was on the tube, but it felt like a very long time. I finally got loaded back onboard and we rode the few minutes to the mangrove preserve. This is a huge part of the island and the mangroves create canals as they grow. He headed up one of the canals as he explained how vital these plants re to the eco system. Soon he came upon a very calm place on the water. He told us to look down there there on the bottom were jellyfish that looked like snowflakes. They were breathtaking. John Michael simply let us be...for about 15 minutes. Nobody said a word. Nobody had to. It was altogether too beautiful. Finally we headed back to the dock. We were tired and a bit sunburned, but totally relaxed.

We said goodbye to John Michael with a promise to be take his tour again, with our friends who couldn't make it and headed off to do some shopping. Of course we ended up with the obligatory t-shirts and Rum cakes and caught a tender back to the ship.

We checked in on Robin and Karen. Karen was QUARANTINED!!!!! She was also very down in the dumps. The Dr. explained that this was a CDC requirement, not a DCL requirement and that there was nothing they could do. Karen was SO upset as we had Palo reservations that night. We were all upset at that point. Robin did explain that if she was feeling better Karen could go with us to Cozumel, but that we would have to go back into quarantine when she returned. (This was something I just couldn't wrap my head around but oh well). We gave her a hug and then it was off to rest a bit before Palo.

Palo was AMAZING!! Tomas, our server was great as was the meal. We each had an entree and he brought 2 others for us to try. Dessert was another food fest with a chocolate souffle for each of us and several other desserts. Robin took some yummy Palo mashed potatoes to Karen with good wishes from Tomas and PJ the maitre d' who said that he would try to get us all back into Palo on Friday night so Karen could enjoy a meal there.

Now, I know this next statement is going to be a bit sacreligious...but we skipped pirate night and even the fireworks. Yup. We were just too tired, full and sunburned....and a little depressed about Karen. Karen and Robin watched it from there verandah however. We all parted ways for the night hoping and praying that Karen would be better and able to go on our excursion on Cozumel....the Royal Dolphin Swim.

Tomorrow--Cozumel, or "But I might hurt them!"

Linda

 

[lakeeter]

Hi -

I'm Lisa, Linda's partner, and I'm going to include some of the photos to go along with Linda's trip report. I've quoted some of the parts of her report to go with the pics, so I hope it's not too confusing!

Just Back, May 3-10 Western

Embarkation Day:

We stayed at the Residence Inn in a 2 bedroom suite. As we had rented our car from Hertz which is located right at the Residence Inn, we were able to utilize their free shuttle to the port. The shuttle driver looked at us incredulously as we proceeded to pile all 15 bags onto the shuttle.

After boarding....we headed to lunch in Parrot Cay and ate ourselves silly. I had to caution the other about not eating too much as there was so much food coming. We had a wonderful fruity drink at Signals and headed to our staterooms.

Embarkation Day, part 2

After lunch we headed up to Deck 9, after booking a martini tasting at Guest Services and had a fruity drink. I, of course, got my first Konk Kooler. Shortly thereafter we headed down to our staterooms to get settled. The safety drill was next and we all got ready..

Day 2--Key West or "Are we there yet???"

We decided to walk down Whitehead Street to avoid much of the hustle and bustle of Duvall. On the way we stopped to take pictures of the beginning of Route 1, chickens, banyan trees, and lots of other things. As we walked and walked and walked several members in the group began to ask that age old question...."are we there YET?" Somehow it became my fault that we walked (as the official cruise director I am sure) even though it was I who originally suggested a cab. We finally made it, and took bunches of pictures including several of Flat Kevin. We turned down Duvall and practically jumped a cab as he was letting another party out. We all sank gratefully into the cool air conditioning as we asked him where he would recommend for a snack. He recommended Red Fish, Blue Fish and we all had a snack and a drink. Of course we finished with Key Lime Pie. As we were dining, it began to rain and then to pour. We were so glad that we were inside and not out in it.

Don recommended the chocolate peanut butter pie which was a huge hit with everyone.

After dinner we headed out to the deck to watch the sunset. It was so amazingly beautiful, and came complete with clouds shaped like Goofy in profile and Mickey. Only on a Disney Cruise would the clouds totally cooperate.

Day 3, Monday, Day at Sea or " We HAVE to get to the pool!!
Monday dawned bright and beautiful. As usual I started my day with a brisk walk on Deck 4.
We spent several lovely hours by the pool.

Day 4--Grand Cayman, or "What do you MEAN you don't feel well???!!!

Tuesday arrived and with it our big excursion on Grand Cayman. The night before Karen excused herself from the "Golden Mickeys" with an upset stomach. We didn't think too much of it at the time as she had several martinis and a rich dinner and dessert. On Tuesday morning as we all met in the hallway Robin came out of their cabin looking very tired and still in her jammies. She explained that Karen had been up all night vomiting and worse. She made a middle of the night excursion to the medical center and that was to be her only excursion for the day, unfortunately. She had a shot of Phenergren for the nausea and was told that she needed to see the Dr. at 9:30 that morning. Needless to say neither one of them was up for the excursion. It was with a heavy heart that Nina, Lisa and I headed out for the tender line.

Our quarantined friend, Karen

We finally got into the water and within minutes were surrounded by fascinatingly beautiful stingrays. We spent 45 wonderful minutes feeding, holding, petting and being petted by these friendly docile creatures.

From there it was off to his favorite reef for some snorkeling. Nina was the only one of us who had snorkeled and John Michael patiently showed us how. With some hesitation it was in the water for all of us. After a bit of panic, I adjusted my breathing and began to relax. It was SO beautiful. John got into the water with us and pointed out stingrays, and dove to the bottom to show us live conch. We snorkeled for about 1/2 hour and we all began to tire. Rather than make us swim back to the boat, he brought the boat to us.

The walk to Rum Point was beautiful and so was the beach itself. We had a fantastic (and fantastically expensive) lunch at the outside lunch spot on the beach. When we were stuffed we headed back down the beach.

There we found John Michael with 4 huge starfish.

After we spent several minutes with the starfish John asked if anyone wanted to do some tubing as we headed for the Mangroves. Of course I did and he got the tube and me all set up. Getting from the boat to the tube was hysterical. "Jump like you are jumping on your bed" John said.....well it has been at least 35 years since I have jumped on my bed, but I gave it a try. I hit the tube and promptly ended up, upside down in the water laughing all the way. With John's help I got back up and he gave me instructions on how to hold on and let him know if I was okay. He pulled the boat away and off we went. Then he went faster....and faster. I was holding on as tightly as I could and we were flying!!! It was SO much fun.

I have no idea how long I was on the tube, but it felt like a very long time. I finally got loaded back onboard and we rode the few minutes to the mangrove preserve. This is a huge part of the island and the mangroves create canals as they grow. He headed up one of the canals as he explained how vital these plants re to the eco system. Soon he came upon a very calm place on the water. He told us to look down there there on the bottom were jellyfish that looked like snowflakes. They were breathtaking. John Michael simply let us be...for about 15 minutes. Nobody said a word. Nobody had to. It was altogether too beautiful. Finally we headed back to the dock. We were tired and a bit sunburned, but totally relaxed.

 

[rcchello]

Linda and Lisa - I enjoy following your adventures. Thanks for the pictures Sorry our friend got sick (must add Imodium to my packin list)!

Will be watching for updates

 

[LJC1861]

Bob,

She did have tons of immodium packed! It was actually the vomiting that got her in trouble. At one point it was so severe she felt that her only option was to go to the medical center. Karen knew what would most likely happen as we had been talking about what happens if....but when you are that sick there comes a point where you simply have to do something about it. The shot of Phenergren that she received did help, as did the pills that they gave her as well.

Disney did an excellent job of taking care of Karen. They comped any and all canned beverages that she could drink. They brought her whatever food she could handle, which believe me wasn't much. They brought up a DVD player and several movies for her to watch....and the DID check numerous times to make sure she was in her room. They were nice about it, but it was evident that they wanted to make sure she was abiding by the rules of the quarantine.

Linda