Little Twin Stars
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2003
- Messages
- 399
Day 1 The day of Embarkation
We got up at around 7:30 am. After taking the luggage down to the DCL representative and having a simple breakfast right inside the hotel room, we went to pick up our rental cars from Budget. We were at the Budget counter at around 9:00 and we got our cars at around 9:30 am.
We were using Discount Code UO10736. It cost us around $ 26.90 including taxes to rent a mid-size car for 1 day. The code also gave us the opportunity to upgrade our car to a full size car. All three cars got upgraded and we were very pleased.
Thanks to Dave as his maps at www.dcltribute.com shows us clear directions all the way from the airport to Publix, where we stayed for just 20 minutes, and then from the supermarket to the Terminal at Cape Canaveral.
The 3 gentlemen dropped down the ladies and the kids at the port. They then went to fill up the car with gas and had it return to Budget. The Budget shuttle dropped them back at the terminal promptly. The three men were pleased with the service and they gave the shuttle driver some tips. Since they kept their passport while we checked them in with the cruise documents, when they came back after 30 minutes, they just showed their passport and that was it.
While the men were dropping the cars at Budget, we 3 ladies checked in at the port. We arrived at the terminal at around 11:00 am and to my surprise there were already a lot of people. By the time all 3 men came back and we lined up to get ready on board, there were around 100 people lining up. We saw Goofy coming out and managed to take some photos for the kids.
Boarding started at 12:00 and one of us went to Wavebands to set up our Palo brunch and dinner reservation which began at 12:45 pm. We planned to have lunch at Parrot Cay but it was all full and we were directed to Beach Blanket Buffet at deck 9, wehere food was served cafeteria style. The variety was good but the quality was not. We were very disappointed with the drinks and I am sorry to say that the ice tea, ice water and lemonade tasted terrible! The trademark jumbo shrimps tasted good but we were not impressed by the rest of the selection. Our friend then came back to join us at 1:00 pm, telling us the good news that we got Palo lunch at Day 4 at 10:30 am and dinner on the same day at 6:30 pm. We were able to get our requested rotation: APTA, changed our dinning from late to early, and the manager also promised to get a table of 12 ready for us every night.
We went to our stateroom 6547. Our stateroom host was Stephen and he did not talk much but was very responsible. We asked for more hangers, envelopes and letterheads and he brought us everything later.
Our kids kept asking to go to the Mickey Pool and the 3 men took the kids up there while the 3 ladies unpacked the luggage. I found the room very clean and had ample space for our stuff. We did bring out over the door shoes holder and believed we should be OK without it.
Then all kids returned to the room and had a shower. We 3 ladies went to the Oceaneer Club to make reservation for them. I was able to go to the Promenade lounge for the DisMeet and was glad to see Vivg, who organized the disMeet and the rest of our cyber friends.
Boat Drill started at 4:00 and was followed by the Sail Away Party at Deck 9. The kids did not enjoy it at all. The characters showed up before the party ended for only a few minutes and we were the only 3 families who had brought Bubbles for the kids. When the Ship started sailing, I took everyone to Deck 10 to see the dolphins but we saw none!
So, we went back to the stateroom to get ready for dinner. We dinned at Animator Palate and our serving team was ONeill and Sabastian. Both of them were nice and helpful. ONeill was especially good. We tried the Butternut Squash Soup which was quite good. The Lobster Wrappers and the Maple Glazed Salmon were just OK. Right after the restaurant had changed the color, I took all kids to the club as they had become very restless. Then around 30 minutes later we had to sign them out for our first show: Hercules, which was good.
The show ended at 9:30 pm and all of us were really tired. When we returned to the stateroom, the room was all set with the bed turned down. We found also the Navigator for Day 2. But we were so tired that we were drifted to sleep almost instantly.
We got up at around 7:30 am. After taking the luggage down to the DCL representative and having a simple breakfast right inside the hotel room, we went to pick up our rental cars from Budget. We were at the Budget counter at around 9:00 and we got our cars at around 9:30 am.
We were using Discount Code UO10736. It cost us around $ 26.90 including taxes to rent a mid-size car for 1 day. The code also gave us the opportunity to upgrade our car to a full size car. All three cars got upgraded and we were very pleased.
Thanks to Dave as his maps at www.dcltribute.com shows us clear directions all the way from the airport to Publix, where we stayed for just 20 minutes, and then from the supermarket to the Terminal at Cape Canaveral.
The 3 gentlemen dropped down the ladies and the kids at the port. They then went to fill up the car with gas and had it return to Budget. The Budget shuttle dropped them back at the terminal promptly. The three men were pleased with the service and they gave the shuttle driver some tips. Since they kept their passport while we checked them in with the cruise documents, when they came back after 30 minutes, they just showed their passport and that was it.
While the men were dropping the cars at Budget, we 3 ladies checked in at the port. We arrived at the terminal at around 11:00 am and to my surprise there were already a lot of people. By the time all 3 men came back and we lined up to get ready on board, there were around 100 people lining up. We saw Goofy coming out and managed to take some photos for the kids.
Boarding started at 12:00 and one of us went to Wavebands to set up our Palo brunch and dinner reservation which began at 12:45 pm. We planned to have lunch at Parrot Cay but it was all full and we were directed to Beach Blanket Buffet at deck 9, wehere food was served cafeteria style. The variety was good but the quality was not. We were very disappointed with the drinks and I am sorry to say that the ice tea, ice water and lemonade tasted terrible! The trademark jumbo shrimps tasted good but we were not impressed by the rest of the selection. Our friend then came back to join us at 1:00 pm, telling us the good news that we got Palo lunch at Day 4 at 10:30 am and dinner on the same day at 6:30 pm. We were able to get our requested rotation: APTA, changed our dinning from late to early, and the manager also promised to get a table of 12 ready for us every night.
We went to our stateroom 6547. Our stateroom host was Stephen and he did not talk much but was very responsible. We asked for more hangers, envelopes and letterheads and he brought us everything later.
Our kids kept asking to go to the Mickey Pool and the 3 men took the kids up there while the 3 ladies unpacked the luggage. I found the room very clean and had ample space for our stuff. We did bring out over the door shoes holder and believed we should be OK without it.
Then all kids returned to the room and had a shower. We 3 ladies went to the Oceaneer Club to make reservation for them. I was able to go to the Promenade lounge for the DisMeet and was glad to see Vivg, who organized the disMeet and the rest of our cyber friends.
Boat Drill started at 4:00 and was followed by the Sail Away Party at Deck 9. The kids did not enjoy it at all. The characters showed up before the party ended for only a few minutes and we were the only 3 families who had brought Bubbles for the kids. When the Ship started sailing, I took everyone to Deck 10 to see the dolphins but we saw none!
So, we went back to the stateroom to get ready for dinner. We dinned at Animator Palate and our serving team was ONeill and Sabastian. Both of them were nice and helpful. ONeill was especially good. We tried the Butternut Squash Soup which was quite good. The Lobster Wrappers and the Maple Glazed Salmon were just OK. Right after the restaurant had changed the color, I took all kids to the club as they had become very restless. Then around 30 minutes later we had to sign them out for our first show: Hercules, which was good.
The show ended at 9:30 pm and all of us were really tired. When we returned to the stateroom, the room was all set with the bed turned down. We found also the Navigator for Day 2. But we were so tired that we were drifted to sleep almost instantly.
