LIVE from the S.S. Member Cruise!!

[MarkRG]

Well, we are underway, left on time!

Ok, to give some of the sordid details:

When we checked in, They had us fill out two sheets - one, a photo release, one, a form specifying shirt sizes so I'd speculate a tee is in the offing!

They also gave us an enevlope. In this envelope is the folder you usually get with a stay at a DVC resort. In along with that were two lanyards! Not just any lanyards but ones with a HUGE SS member cruise slide(kind of like what's on a western tie), each lanyard with a holder on the bottom, In that holder a card with our first name and hometown, WAY COOL!

Upon arrival to the stateroom, we discovered first a Castaway club towel for being a return cruiser.

Then, in two nice neat little round boxes we have PINS! They're round, have SS member cruise 2003 and old time Mickey & Minnie on them and a bangle that says Disney Vacation Club. A bag from Disney Collector's Society, with postcards and two more pins. And little Mickey hand fans for us all to use at sailaway.

There has been lots of 'Welcome Home' everywhere! Banners in the atrium of the terminal, a banner in the atrium of the ship, the ss member cruise logo on the top deck railings. And a lot of DVC castmembers all over the place!

Ok, on to the rest, after having lunch with some of the Disers, we wandered the ship a bit! They have some cool DVC stuff in the silent auction!

Went thru the lovely fashion show of the safety drill.

Then up to deck 10 for the most attended deck party I have yet seen! just wall to wall people! For the most part all the Diswer's showed, met, mixed, and in general had a great time! It's always fun to put faces to names

They even brought out a new DVC flag that was run up on the lead mast alongside the DCL and American flags! It's our ship now!

Well, there's a lot of special events planned, EVEN MORE than what is in the two emails that are up at the link at the bottom of this message! Details to follow as they happen.

 

[ncligs]

Thanks for the update Mark.Have a good time the next 4 days!

 

[Zurg]

HEY MARK!

Have a great time!

Originally posted by MarkRG
.. DVC flag that was run up on the lead mast alongside the DCL and American flags! It's our ship now!

Ok what do I have to do to get the badshoe flag flown?

 

[4greatboys]

Mark sounds wonderful. Wish I was there too!! Maybe next one. Hope you have a great time and keep us posted.

 

[Hygiene99]

mark what ever happened to the cat 1 , 2, 3 room s???
just wondering thanks peter

 

[donald@home]

Thanks for the update. Can you describe some of the DVC things in the silent auction?

 

[MarkRG]

First, I'll make a full web trip report when we get home, with pics!
Answers, in order -

No idea if anyone has the 1,2,3 rooms, but there's some big names on board, I'd expect that's where they are. (I'm bad on names, I'll note them later on)

Auction, well, that I can do!

Besides the usual DCl stuff(captain's hat, old style plate from Animator's)

They have:
A DVC '10' art print framed and matted.
A few other DVC art prints(I have pics)
A DVC Hilton head large size canvas bag.
A DVC Hilton Head Grand opening licence plate.
A crystal with a DVC logo engraving.
And one thing I can't remember off the top of my head.
Tomorrow's Castaway Cay, round one!

(CC round two will have a photo op)

 

[sandieb]

Thank you for keeping us in the loop a little...wish we could be there, but since that isn't happening, we get glimpes into the fun through your email. Chances are that next cruise we'll be there. Have a really terrific time. Sandie B

 

[kangaroodle]

Hi Mark and Mary! Hope you're having a wonderful time! Can't wait till our cruise when we'll meet you both in May. Thinking warm thoughts here in Chicagoland! Kathy

 

[taswira]

Hi Mark! Glad to hear that you and Mary are having a fantastic time! I wish I could be there. I look forward to your great pics and trip report.

Who were the entertainers at the deck parties? Anyone special?

Shari

 

[ncligs]

Mark
Just wondering how is the weather at Castaway?

 

[MarkRG]

Hello!

Thanks foir the warm thoughts, Kathy, wish we could bring the weather home too!

We are currently underway from Castaway Cay to Nassau!

The sailaway band, and they are also playing in Wavebands, is Freddie and the West End Boys who have been playing on the outdoor stage at Pleasure Island.

Hey! We just had a Sasha moment! He says HI to all those he's met!

It was a good day, the ocean is still a bit on the cold side, but tolerable! We had mostly sunny skies and high 70's for the day, couldn't ask for better.

We began the day with a guided tour of the ship, by one of the imagineers who was part of the design team responsible for most of the theming aboard.

Then we went ashore for some quality time on the half empty at 1pm(!) family beach. I have no idea at this point what the adult beach was like, but one of us will find out soon enough.
Came back in time for Mary to go to a lecture for the Disney Collector's Society, where they gave out pins and Mary won a book! Very cool.
Now we're off to dinner and the 80's party.

 

[ncligs]

Mark, thanks for the daily reports.If you get a chance, check out this thread from the Cruise forum, asking about 2 days at Castaway.Maybe you can give your opinion.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=324473

 

[taswira]

Mark - Who is your server? I don't suppose there is any chance it is Mario from Croatia? It's been just over a week and I already miss him as I sit here trying to figure out what to prepare for dinner. Oh - to be spoiled silly again!

This <I>Wonder</I> withdrawal is tough! I sure <I>envy</I> you at the moment.

Shari

 

[Hygiene99]

hi mark hope all is well..................
do u know how many people r on board this cruise ????
peter

 

[DebbieB]

A friend of mine is on the cruise (Donna), she e-mailed me and said she saw Scotty Bowman, former Penguin and Red Wing Hockey Coach. Mark, she also mentioned meeting you in the internet cafe the first night.

Are they pushing add-ons? I would imagine it would be a guide's dream to have over 1,000 happy members in one place.

 

[madcoco]

Not sure about the number of people on this cruise, but they DID tell us there are only 300 kids, which is very low. Also, they normally have 150 repeat cruisers (castaway club) but this cruise there are over 1000 repeat cruisers! it took 3 lounges to hold all the members of the castaway club at the luncheon.

 

[CrayzeeDiz]

Gee happy to see all DVC's having a great time and getting lots of cool stuff; but what about the rest of us DVC's who use our valuable points to cruise. I was on last weeks 4 day Wonder and all we were given was a towel and 2 pins, and we went to CC only once. Oh well maybe next cruise ........ Have a great time I'm Full of Wonder Envy.....

 

[MarkRG]

Ok, another day's flown by!!

We're in Nassau till 1:30 in the morning tonight(the crew's estatic - extra shore leave!)

Yes, Scottie bowman is onboard, had his little private section of the beach, has done a panel already, pretty cool.

Shari - we've not see Mario and really don't know where he is, but we'll keep asking/looking.

The big pushes are these:

• 50% off your next cruise if you book onboard
• full 15% magical beginnings on any add-on anywhere, no restrictions. Do 100 points and you get this limited to 100 crystal that is exceptional.
• USE Interval International! They have unified the point system for all the II to a flat system - I don't have a point chart handy but it falls to a top end of 160 for a 1-BR and 270 for a 2-BR in the high season per week.

The CC meet was crazy! They overfilled all three clubs and then some.

Cabin-wise they are nearly full, but instead of a cabin being 2 adults and kids it's just 2 adults, mostly. This makes for less crowded beaches at CC and not full dining rooms. The ship otherwise is just as busy.

I menitoned it on the cruise board, but I'll mention it here too. The cat 1,2,3 cabins are being used by the DVC bosses who are all on this cruise! They are using the Roy & Walt suites to host invite only receptions.

Ok, onto today...

Today was Nassau Day! We cruised over from cc at a whopping 7 knots(read- crawl) as it's very nearby.

Now I took my own advice and we went over to Atlantis, on our own taking another two couples with for some fun exploration and having a fun time. Atlantis is still the jewel of Nassau, hands down. Don't miss it if you visit Nassau.

One thing that is really pushed by the person who does the Shopping in Paradise talk onboard is a shop called Del Sol. You might of heard of them, they sell items that colorise under sunlight or UV. Ignore the pusiness and go there anyhow, it's cool! They have shirts, sunglasses, a frisbee(!), rings, mail polish and other items that color up very much under sun. Even th bag they put your purchases in does, way cool!

Ok, back on board went to the member update. This is where the big pushes mentioned above are, you also get a free ballcap(white or blue) and they had a drawing for : 1) an extra dinner at Palo's 2) a number of invites to the private reception mentioned above 3) 2 DVC watches. They also had really nice giveaway items for people to guess questions.

Ok, on into the day, Andrea McArdle is onboard and doing shows tonight. A DVC cm by the name of Matt who's been keeping an eye on the dis btw(HI MATT!!), bumped into me and got me in to see a bit of the rehearsal, we just got back from the real show, was fantastic! He also hinted we havn't seen nothing yet, wait and see tomorrow. We havn't been up to the room to see if any new surprises have appeared today.

Time to be off to late seating dinner! Type at you all later!

 

[ncligs]

Mark
Thanks again for the update! Did any CM's happen to mention if they would do a "DVC members only" cruise again?If they did when would it be.I hope they would give more notice next time.