Live from the Magic, 2/4 to 2/11/2006

[Johnna_Story]

I was up early this day (as were we all for the customs inspection!). Mark and DS went to the theater earlier as they had a morning excursion and DD and I waited in the room for our coffee and danish. Out on the verandah, I watched as we were secured to the dock (around 7:00 a.m.) and watched the port area slowly come to life. There was a lone rooster somewhere in hills waking everyone up.

After we passed inspection, and enjoyed some more coffee and breakfast on the verandah, DS, DH and DUncle went off to go on the Atlantis submarine excursion, while DD and I set off for the shops. We mostly brought trinkets and typical tourist souviniers (how did she talk me into the Maracas? ) and returned back to the room at 12:30ish, expecting DH and DS to meet us soon. However, they were already there, with DS passed out.

Come to find out, he got sick on the way to the submarine. We think he was seasick from the ride to the sub, which was apparently pretty rough. And he could NOT be convinced to get on the sub after that. So DH carried him all the way back to the ship to sleep. Now DH was lower than I had ever seen him.

It's at this point in the vacation where we both start to think about what a horrible vacation this is. Our expectations were so high, and between the bad weather, the kids being sick and more tired than usual, and now missing the submarine excursion, we were ready to give up and write it off as the worst vacation we've ever had. Looking back, we realize that all of these things were beyond our control but that didn't help at the time.

While DS, DH and DD all rested in the room, I went up to sit in the sun to snap out of the depression that had settled over me. Boy - did that hour and a half in the sun help (along with the 2 rum-spiked Strawberry Banana Freezes!) I returned to the room to pull my nurse/babysitting duty for DS while DH took DD to the pool. Just as I thought DS was getting better, he got sick all over our bed. Special thanks to our room host, Allan, for changing all the linens! DH, DD and DUncle went to dinner, and DS and I stayed in the room to watch Johnny Depp as Willie Wonka.

Aside: good movie, but I'm loyal to the classic. Gene Wilder will be the ONLY Willie Wonka in my mind.

And now, one of the best things a CM did all week: Pairoj, our server, had DH call me so I could order off the regular dinner menu, and he himself delivered dinner to me. I thought that was above and beyond the call of duty. My dinner almost made DS get sick again (seafood - not the best choice!), but luckily he didn't, and then he fell asleep.

I took DD to "Twice Charmed" - it was so cute. I really liked it and so did DD. Stopped in Mickey's Mates afterwards (Marcy - I was there for that meltdown, but your DH swept your youngest DD out before it got too overwhelming! I remember him calling out to you - "Marce - we're leaving!" And trust me, I completely sympathize!)

On the way back to the room, we saw Donald and Daisy posing for pictures, and DD says, "Mom - I want to go see Daisy." (Remember - she had to be at the far end of the table, facing the window at Character Breakfast?) I asked her: "Are you sure? You want to GO OVER TO Donald and Daisy? Stand next to them? Take your picture with them? ARE YOU SURE??" She kept saying yes. So, fully expecting a breakdown when we got to our turn, I waited in line - and kept asking if she was sure...

SHE DID IT!!! She cautiously walked up to Daisy and Donald, and the photographer and I feverishly snapped pictures!! Daisy kissed her finger as we walked away, and she is still talking about that visit. Now, we couldn't go near any of the other characters in the next few days, but I still consider this encounter HUGE progress. We definitely bought that picture from Shutters.

At this point, let me say how pleased I am with how the characters and the CM's who "manage" their appearances, are with the kids. Not that I would expect anything less...

To me, this capped off in a good way what could have been one of the worst vacation days ever. I'm typically an optimist, and went to bed thinking that it couldn't get worse, so tomorrow has to be better.

Overall it was, but there were still some downsides. Oh, do I go do laundry, or the trip report for Day 6???

 

[yachtsea]

Wow, Johnna, you did have quite a time with things didn't you? I am glad that things got better for you and your family. I know how excited you all were about going.

It is wonderful that your daughter warmed up to Donald and Daisy. They are so cute. I guess this is a break through and if you keep showing her the picture it might make her want to have more of them. Then you can have something to tell her to make her eager to go again.

We have decided to try and book for the same trip next February. We are not huge water activity people so the weather isn't a huge issue. Of course, we don't like walking around in the rain, but the temp. is ok to us if not too warm. I did love the weather at CC. Cal snorkled and I just sat in a lounge chair for a while. I know that he said that the water was pretty chilly at first, but then got better.

I guess you must have decided to go with the laundry tonight. I will eagerly await your next installment.

Tonya - I can't believe that you passed out. You poor thing! Do you like the tatoo now that you have it? How is the weather there in OK? It is like spring here, but it is going to get cold and rainy this weekend. Sounds like a good reason to stay home and do nothing on Sat. When are you and Steve booking your next trip?

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

It's at this point in the vacation where we both start to think about what a horrible vacation this is. Our expectations were so high, and between the bad weather, the kids being sick and more tired than usual, and now missing the submarine excursion, we were ready to give up and write it off as the worst vacation we've ever had. Looking back, we realize that all of these things were beyond our control but that didn't help at the time.

I absolutely, completely understand this feeling. We were horrified by our kids' behavior on the ship, and that, along with getting caught in a freezing downpour on St. Maarten while on the taxi boat (brrrr!), then having to leave St. Thomas because the kids were melting down, made us wonder if we had made the wrong decision in taking a 7 day cruise.

Like you, looking back, we had a lot of great family time and some wonderful experiences, but the bad stuff felt like it overshadowed the good. I think that I often forget how little my kids really are, and between a pre-cruise cold (Abbie was out of preschool all weel; Cass was out on Friday), the excitement, and the relative lack of sleep, we really overextended them.

I took DD to "Twice Charmed" - it was so cute. I really liked it and so did DD. Stopped in Mickey's Mates afterwards (Marcy - I was there for that meltdown, but your DH swept your youngest DD out before it got too overwhelming! I remember him calling out to you - "Marce - we're leaving!" And trust me, I completely sympathize!)

Ah, a parent's worst fear -- having someone they know see their child have a public meltdown! And the worst part was that the meltdown was because we wouldn't buy her a watch. You know, that almost 3 year old ability to tell time, and all.

Did anyone get to witness *my* meltdown the next night (after Disney Dreams), when we lost our older daughter?? She got shoved in the crowd because she wasn't holding hands, and we lost her. Not for a minute, but for about 20 minutes.

The good news is that we realized later that we all deal very well in emergency situations -- when she realized she had been separated from us, she went right up to a CM in the store and told him what happened. We, of course, didn't know this, and dh went to look for her on other decks while I waited on deck 4 in case she came back. Finally, I went to guest services to report her missing. I was a bit miffed at guest services because they treated this as a non-event, saying, "Well, I wouldn't worry about it. If she has a wristband on, she'll wind up at the Kids' Club."

Now, in the end, the GS woman was right -- the CM that Cassie approached took her directly to the Kids' Club and they paged us. (My dh was already there -- he went there after scoping out the common areas on the decks.) Which is a huge reminder why the kids should always wear their wristbands, even if they aren't going to the clubs. But her nonchalance and her refusal to even call the kids club, in the face of a panicked parent, really ticked me off. Lucky for her, I was focused on finding my kid rather than making life difficult for her. (Generally, I was not impressed at all with GS on this cruise, which I found surprising.)

Anyway, we got Cass back, dh brought her to deck 4, and I burst into tears as soon as I saw her. Which, of course, made her cry, and we stood there for about 10 minutes hugging each other and sobbing, and me telling her how proud I was of her for knowing to go to a CM right away.

Ah, what a scrapbook moment.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

My DIS friends -- does anyone have photos from brunch or from Bill's party? I can't believe I didn't take any DIS pictures!

 

[Johnna_Story]

Did anyone get to witness *my* meltdown the next night (after Disney Dreams), when we lost our older daughter?? She got shoved in the crowd because she wasn't holding hands, and we lost her. Not for a minute, but for about 20 minutes.

Anyway, we got Cass back, dh brought her to deck 4, and I burst into tears as soon as I saw her. Which, of course, made her cry, and we stood there for about 10 minutes hugging each other and sobbing, and me telling her how proud I was of her for knowing to go to a CM right away.

Ah, what a scrapbook moment.

Okay - so now I realize we didn't have EVERY bad possible thing happen to us on the cruise.

Sorry - no DIS pictures. I had 136+ digital pix, and 12 rolls of film , but not any of DISers. I'm sad about that...

Lesson learned: get Diser's real names before next trip so we can contact each other while on the trip!!! (Right Stacy and Tim??)

 

[sbatty]

I completely sympathize with everyone's less than magical moments. In retrospect we had a great trip but there were some trying times. I wish we had another trip booked because I want to redo some things.

Our trip started at the Nick Hotel. We arrived very late Thursday night in the rain. Everyone was tired so we went straight to bed. We woke up 3 hours latter to my DD crying because she had gotten sick in her bed. We cleaned up the mess and I had a restless night sleep - jumping up every time she stirred and worrying about what the rest of the trip had in store for us. Our first vacation morning, I woke up early to do laundry. On the way to the laundry I checked out the amazing pool. The sun wasn't out but the pool was open. We decided to hold off and see how everyone was feeling. This turned out to be a mistake because the pool closed shortly after and remained closed because of the lightning and rain. My DD choose the Nick Hotel for her birthday present and I was disappointed for her. I obsessed off an on throughout the day on the weather and everyone’s health.

My DD wasn’t hungry the rest of the day but seemed to have bounced back. Maybe she just reacted poorly to the travel so we just took things easy. We had fun throughout the day at the arcade and watching the live Nick Family Shows. The next morning we packed up and called my Dad to say we were on the way to pick him up. We stopped to take pictures of the pool. As we were walking out they opened the pool. I called my Dad – we were going to be late. My DD hustled into her bathing suit and swam for 30 minutes. She went down the water slide twice and we were out of there. My DS was NOT getting into the water without sun.

The next couple of days all seemed well. The kids liked the club (we kept DD out the first night to verify she was fine), the boat was great, St. Martin was chilly and wet but the beach was beautiful. My DD and DH had a tuna fish sandwich on the island. That may have been a mistake. The kids had a blast at the Pirate Party. My sister had invited my DD to spend the night and she was thrilled. My sister woke her up at 7am to bring her back so we could go to customs. On the way to our room my sister was lucky to get DD to a trash can in time. Waiting in the theater was a bit nerve racking. I wasn’t sure what would happen with my DD. She sure wasn’t happy waiting. When we got back to the cabin DH and DD were both feeling yucky. I took my DS to Megan’s Bay with my sister. We had a great time. My DS meet a friend and swam for hours, but I did feel sorry for the rest of my family. My DD and DH skipped dinner. Eventually I put my DS to bed and headed out for 80’s night. I had a blast. I returned late and kissed everyone good night. This is when I noticed my daughter was burning up. I grabbed a thermometer. She registered 103.8 under her arm. I woke her up and had her take Motrin. I sat with her the rest of the night. Her fever didn’t break until 4am. I thought I was worried before. I spent the night trying to convince myself that being quarantined wouldn’t be that bad. I had pretty much resigned myself to visiting the ship’s doctor in the AM. Those of us that slept (everyone but me) woke up feeling great.

I took the kids to the character breakfast while my husband made sure he was feeling better. My DH and I spent the rest of the day resting with my DD and ventured out to see the Disney Dreams matinee. Once again it seemed my DD had made a full recovery and we all enjoyed some shuffle board and ping pong.

My DD woke up in a good mood on Castaway Cay day. She was really looking forward to going to the beach. We went for a morning stroll and she just wasn’t feeling well. She ended up going back to sleep. She did come out to the island to look around for a bit, but headed back for another nap.

After St. Martin my DD was a bit sad she never got to return to the kids clubs and that she couldn’t go swimming, but really did take it in stride. I might try to avoid the ships’ doctor at all cost but I wouldn’t knowingly expose other kids’. Once we realized my DD was still sick we really did keep her pretty close to the cabin and when we did venture out stayed away from others.

If you asked my DD this was her best trip ever. When she wasn’t feeling bad she was loving everything. The rest of us never got what she had and she was completely healthy by the time we left the ship.

I really want to rebook. My kids are 6 and 8 and I think they are close to the perfect age for a Disney cruise. My DH is pretty much sold on the idea of taking a repositioning cruise in 2007 so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

I completely sympathize with everyone's less than magical moments. In retrospect we had a great trip but there were some trying times. I wish we had another trip booked because I want to redo some things.

I'm glad you posted!

I saw you run out of the theater on during the last night's show with your dd -- I assumed she wasn't feeling well again.

Of course, it took me until day 6 to realize that you were right across the hall from us . . . . I'm such a dork.

 

[Johnna_Story]

I'm so glad I went ahead and shared my "less than magical" moments. Here I was thinking I was the only one who felt like fate, life, God - anyone and everyone - was out to make me have a miserable vacation, and hearing from you all makes me realize that it's really not all about me. Tough lesson to learn: the world doesn't revolve around me. Gosh darn-it. Now I have to change my whole outlook on life.

Seriously - next trip, and hopefully fate will be in our favor that we'll be on a cruise with such cool people (maybe even you guys!), I will make an effort to get to know everyone better. I wanted to go to 80's night, the pirate deck party, and other things, and just didn't want to go by myself. As I get older, that "high school eating by myself in the cafeteria" feeling usually isn't so strong, yet sometimes it rears its ugly head. Ah well...take it as a lesson learned (I've been dying to use that smiley!) and vow to do things differently next trip. Of which there WILL be one, even I can't yet say exactly when that will be.

 

[Johnna_Story]

We have decided to try and book for the same trip next February. We are not huge water activity people so the weather isn't a huge issue. Of course, we don't like walking around in the rain, but the temp. is ok to us if not too warm. I did love the weather at CC. Cal snorkled and I just sat in a lounge chair for a while. I know that he said that the water was pretty chilly at first, but then got better.

I would love to do the Eastern again. I really liked the extra day at sea, vs. the Western. Plus, the weather was better this year, even though it was early Feb. this year vs. early March in 05. And I'm like you - water temp doesn't matter, but beach time is important.

I guess you must have decided to go with the laundry tonight. I will eagerly await your next installment.

Ha! No laundry last night. I just tried to catch up on my shows saved on TiVo! I've got four CSI's (NY, Miami and 2 of the originals) to watch! Thank God for TiVo - it changed my life!!

 

[Johnna_Story]

As Chicken Little would say: Today is a new day!

We woke up and had room service (really, what a change; the Storys had room service? ) and ordered toast for DS just in case the stomach was not quite right. He wolfed it down, and was feeling fine. So our plan was for the kids to go to the clubs, and we all (me, DH and DUncle) would go to the 2nd Dis group brunch. We show up at Palo only to find out that there was confusion - we had all been told it was scheduled for 9:30. Well, Palo doesn't open until 10:30, not 9:30. So, not wanting the kids to be in the clubs that long, or for lunch (again, JIC DS was not yet 100%), DH encouraged me to go to brunch since I missed Sunday's, and he really wanted me to experience it.

So I went back at 10:30, and man oh man, all I can say is WOW. That food was so good!!! Alexander, our server, was so nice. I met fellow Disers Stacy (TigerB), Tim, Dee and Peter (Happy 50th again Dee!!), and Steve (a.k.a. Boxkite) and Mary. A small group, but we had such a nice time, that is when we weren't stuffing our faces with pizza, pasta, sweets, cheese, meat, eggs, dessert, etc. By the way, if anyone has any questions about Disneyworld or DVC, just ask Stacy and Tim. You guys will be my personal vacation consultants when it's time for us to plan our trip to WDW!! And I must mention again how nice it was that Stacy (who has yet to have kids of her own) was so thoughtful and made autograph books for our kids and for Steve and Mary's kids. My kids went through it page by page and saw some characters they had never yet seen! It might take time, but a goal will be to fill up each and every page with an autograph or personal picture with each one!

Fighting the urge to nap after brunch, I met DH and the kids at, can you guess? Yep the pools! Actually, they were in the hot tubs more than the pool. DD and I observed "Goofy's Fitness" (cute!) and just hung out. I had planned to go to the Galley tour, but just didn't get around to it. Again, the opportunities to do things, either as a family (family towel folding, so you think you know your family?) or adults only (Martini tasting, Wine tasting, beer tasting), were so abundant, and we just enjoyed taking it easy and going at our own pace, and not feeling like we had to be anywhere at any time (except dinner) was just how we like to have our vacations. It goes against my nature of planning each minute of each day, but somehow it works.

We checked in DS in time for the D Sea U graduation ceremony. This is one of the best moments of all week. I actually cried when the "On My Way" song started. That song will forever remind me of Disney Cruises because of this ceremony. All the kids in their graduation caps, and watching pictures of their week together, just moves me to tears. And normally I'm not a SAP! But I just love this part of the trip more than anything else.

So after that, we had our last dining room dinner. DH wanted to grab food on deck 9 and let the kids swim and hang out, but I had been looking forward to lobster night, so I didn't want to miss it. And it was our last opportunity for dinner in the dining rooms (Palo ressies on Friday) with our servers. So we had dinner, and quite frankly, the Lobster was not the best I've had. Not that it was bad, but it wasn't quite as good as I had hoped.

The kids went to the clubs after dinner, and we went to Sessions to hear Bobby Hamilton's tribute to Frank Sinatra. Now, I'm from NJ originally (Sinatra's birthplace) and grew up a big Sinatra fan. Bobby Hamilton did a nice job and is a great pianist, but as I kept saying to DH, it was a "tribute, not an impersonation." I'm sure his jazz set later that evening was great, as he sounded a lot like Louis Armstrong, and not so much like the late great Ole Blue Eyes. But we enjoyed the adults only time.

After DH and I had a tiff (that I blame on the tensions of the week, and attitude that came from my drinking alcohol while taking cold medicine) I went to the Disney Dreams show by myself - I wish I had taken the kids since I think they would have enjoyed it too. But who could pull them out of the clubs??????

No 70's party for me - I was off to bed, and in eager anticipation of our day at Castaway Cay tomorrow.

 

[Billinaz]

Well, in addition to the Feb 1 2007 and Feb 4 2007 Wonder cruises that we are doing back to back I booked a 'dummy' reservation with Jocelyn.


We already have our request in to Inventory Control to be on the Magic on Christmas 2008. Son as that opens up Im transferring the dummy reservation to that.....

Kim was complaining about being scared to para sail and even with my 3000+ skydives I could not convince her it was OK. As soon as she got back she wanted to go again...

Melanie got the opportunity of a lifetime, a personal meeting with her favorite Princess.... Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora. She got to spend about 20 minutes alone with her. Funny seeing her up close after seeing her on stage..We also have a photo mat with the princess signatures ready for framing one of these photos. They also have 2 princess pillowcases with the character signatures.

Apparently this is such a big request they have slips printed for CMs to fill out.

 

[nordicskidoodle]

Well, reality is hitting us in the face and we are back from our week in paradise. I am sorry I didn't get to meet any of you, with the exception of Mark and DUncle at the hot tubs. We were trying to fit everything in with so little time since this was our first DCL cruise. As the saying goes, we had a magical time. You may have seen us around the ship. I was with my daughter Lindsay who is 10 and has Down Syndrome. I think she was the only one on the entire cruise. She loved it!!! Our other daughter was the cute little Chinese one. You could say we don't exactly blend into the crowd!
The CM's treated our daughter Lindsay like royalty. After the character breakfast Goofy came up to her and gave her a big hug. The CM that was with him asked her name and cabin number. When we returned from dinner that night we had a personalized autographed picture of Goofy saying it was nice meeting her, and he hoped she enjoyed her cruise. She also has a wheat allergy and the chefs prepared her special meals with a personal pastry chef that we met from India making her these desserts to die for! This trip was worth every single penny for us, since there are so many things we can't do as a family because of her limitations. Guess who was the first one of the ship? Yes, you guessed it! We did make it to the shows, but wasn't able to enjoy all the night life that was available. Johnna, I can relate to your disappointment, but that's what we have to expect with young kiddies.
Next cruise, I think I may go myself(yes, I have to get over that fear too!)
The two biggest disappointments we had were our servers and the weather. Our servers really didn't put in that extra effort. The asst. would give my husband a cup of coffee every night and never give me one. I had to ask every night! They were really not that friendly either. I thought everyone else on board was very friendly and accomodating. Marcy, I guess you have experienced this in the past also. As for the weather, getting out of the pools it was freezing, as was the water at CC. We are planning on going again next year but in April. For 1000 dollars more to me it is worth it. I just wish I would have booked on board to get the stateroom credit. Is anyone else planning on 2007, or 2008?
We have friends getting on board this morning(I'm so jealous!!!)

Lisa

 

[Billinaz]

I must have seen you get onboard... did your DD use a wheelchair when you got on?

 

[nordicskidoodle]

Bill,
Yes, it was a wheelchair that looks like a big umbrella stroller.
It was so exciting to walk through those big mickey ears! We couldn't
have been much far behind you on the escalator we were also very early and my husband got boarding card number 2.
Lisa

 

[Billinaz]

We got a 2 as well, but didnt need it, we were in the concierge area. You were also right in front of me when we turned to watch the fireworks on pirate night, and I almost ran her over in the Walt Disney Theater (sorry, didn't see her until I was too close).

We had the 3 kids and were trying to get out of the rain that we were standing in before they let us into the terminal.

I saw you guys go past us in line on the Princess meet and greet and grabbed the CM in charge and asked her to go back in the long line and bring you up front.... and she did!!!!!!!!

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Well, reality is hitting us in the face and we are back from our week in paradise. I am sorry I didn't get to meet any of you, with the exception of Mark and DUncle at the hot tubs. We were trying to fit everything in with so little time since this was our first DCL cruise. As the saying goes, we had a magical time. You may have seen us around the ship. I was with my daughter Lindsay who is 10 and has Down Syndrome. I think she was the only one on the entire cruise. She loved it!!! Our other daughter was the cute little Chinese one. You could say we don't exactly blend into the crowd!

Lisa,

I saw a few special needs children on board with us. I'm sorry we didn't get to meet you!

I'm sorry about your servers. As you know, this is the first cruise where we felt our servers were special. Except for Sasha at Palo -- he's always special!

Marcy

 

[nordicskidoodle]

Bill, that is too funny-believe it or not I do remember someone almost knocking us over at the Walt Disney Theater! Those stairs were tough on her. I took her in her stroller to jackpot bingo, it was quite the adventure finding the back door through one of the clubs behind a secret curtain. Thank you for asking the CM to move us up front in the princess line. We were there literally seconds before she came over. I don't think we would have made it waiting for that long. Something about poor Snow White, she kept scratching her arm everytime she saw her. Little bugger!
I can't wait to go again-April 28th 2007 here we come! My son and daughter will still be 11-after age 12 we pay adult fair x2-Ugh!!
Lisa

 

[1stTimeDisneyCruiser]

My sister woke her up at 7am to bring her back so we could go to customs. On the way to our room my sister was lucky to get DD to a trash can in time.

Did this happen to be on deck 5 forward near the elevators? My husband witnessed this and felt so bad. He came back to the room wishing there was something he could do. So sorry to hear about your anxious moments and sleepless nights!!

Laura

 

[steveandtonya]

Hey everyone, Wish we were back in Florida. Ice and snow here with temp of 19 and wind chill of 4 degrees. Funny how 2 weeks go we were just getting going.
Steve

 

[Billinaz]

Yea, that was me (remember someone asking if you needed help?). I was trying to catch our 6 year old. She was not watching where she was going (do they ever?) and I was trying to stop her. My wife was ticked off at the people behind her. They pushed her forward and she was trying not to push into you guys.

They should have another way for those who need special accomodations to avoid those inevitable lines. They did on boarding, what about the theaters and character appearances??? They have special entrances at DL and WDW.

It was amazing as everyone watched you go by and not one person lifted a finger to help her get to the characters. I already caught another family and had them go on front of us (we were near the front of the line),I think their daughter had downs syndrome.


Looked lke we were in the perfect spot for the fireworks, I could not see anything going on at the pirate party and the kids couldnt see either. The fireworks were pretty nice.

We are on a back to back Wonder cruise Feb 1, 2007. I am waiting for Christmas 2008 to open up for the holiday cruise.

Bill, that is too funny-believe it or not I do remember someone almost knocking us over at the Walt Disney Theater! Those stairs were tough on her. I took her in her stroller to jackpot bingo, it was quite the adventure finding the back door through one of the clubs behind a secret curtain. Thank you for asking the CM to move us up front in the princess line. We were there literally seconds before she came over. I don't think we would have made it waiting for that long. Something about poor Snow White, she kept scratching her arm everytime she saw her. Little bugger!
I can't wait to go again-April 28th 2007 here we come! My son and daughter will still be 11-after age 12 we pay adult fair x2-Ugh!!
Lisa