northernmouse
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2001
- Messages
- 199
Who needs an alarm today? Not I, not I, not I! All three of us were up, showered and packed before nine. Off we went to breakfast at the Radisson, where the dining entertainment was watching parades of people and their luggage congregating at the shuttle lines. It was easy to spot the bright yellow Magic tags -- and as happy as the Carnival folks appeared, the staff at the Radisson would note the better luck of those about to board the fairest ship of them all!
We went back to our room just after 10 and hooked our own troupe of black bags together and rolled them to the Avis shuttle. We were REALLY glad we'd rented a car from them. We were three of five people waiting for our shuttle. Meanwhile, over at the Radisson entry a hundred feet away, there was a growing crowd of restless cruisers. The Avis folks had us on our way quickly and effieciently (and yes, they did confirm we'd had a car) and a few minutes later, we were pulling into the terminal.
There she sat -- gleaming along her berth, looking just as lovely as her Wonder-ful sister. Our steps got even lighter, and Tanner's grin even bigger. We made our way through the first security check, through the baggage check (where I'm sure the security folks must have rolled their eyes at the x-ray view of our sock-cocooned collection of adult libations), and up the escalator to the foreigners check-in counter, where we were third in line. This is one of the few times on the trip it paid to be a non-US citizen -- we'd be less appreciative of the immigration lines (and times) in later days.
We waited in line less than 100 people back with a family from New Jersey who were having a reunion, and met a couple from Oakville, Ontario in line ahead of us. (Emphasis on Oakville, not Toronto
). But, because they had travelled through Toronto, this couple and their two children underwent a health interview and were required to have their temperature taken every day. It's good that DCL was dealing with the potential for SARS, but I was glad that we had re-routed our own trip the week before to fly through Denver. Though they said the daily appointment was handled efficiently (we saw them several times through the cruise), I don't think we'd have wanted even that level of regimentation on our holiday.
Boarding started precisely at 12:15, and the line moved fast. This time, we were prepared for the embarkation photo, and this time, we looked much less like Chip and Dale startled from hibernation! David and I split up so he could check Tanner into the Lab, and I could make our Palo reservations. The plan was to meet back at our stateroom (6090). I was at the room less than 20 minutes later, and David was already waiting in the room. 12:40, and we had reservations, had pager, and were already set at 'home'. What a great start!
Up to topsiders for the famous boarding buffet, which we had missed on our previous trip. Over lunch, we met Rae519, her mom and her son, Michael. What a wonderful lady! The consummate 'den mother', she had started a May 3 trip week thread, set up a 'getting to know' you page, and had made everyone on the thread feel like friends long before we'd left shore. If anyone ever has the opportunity to cruise with Rae, count yourself fortunate. And -- there were STILL shrimp at the buffet when we left, so shrimp-lovers fear not.
After lunch, David and I took advantage of the quiet time at the adult pool while Tanner wanted to explore the ship. We were the only people there, except one other lady who left just after we arrived. The water had just been changed -- so it was sparkling clean, warm for the first four inches, and then progressively cooler as the pool got deeper. Having a figure that can only be described as 'fluffy' has its advantages -- I spent a good hour floating blissfully alone, eyes closed, moving not a muscle while David sat in his swanky new trunks dangling his feet in the water, indulging in a small cigar and soaking up the sun. The pool would never be as quiet for us again! Now I understood why some people absolutely love sea days aboard.
However, the mandatory safety drill waits for no-one, so we left the pool deck at 3:30 so we wouldn't be late to test-drive our specially-reserved bright orange disaster wear. The muster went quickly, we were on the shady side (hooray) and everyone showed up. In less than 15 minutes, we were excused -- and then it was on with the show!
Right after the drill, we went to the Promenade Lounge to physically meet our fellow cruise DIS'ers, which was much more fun than any other blind date I have ever been on: Rae and her crew; Matthew and Corinna (who were getting married on ship and would graciously host us Monday in the Walt Disney Suite); ThreeCircles (who, along with mom Gloria, would be our dining companions for the trip and are some of the finest people one could ever hope to meet); AuntieBon (whom we envy because we learned she has a gift for winning cruises which has given her tremendous knowledge of everthing about being on board except down payments ); Jeanne434, AuntiBon's sister who was sharing in AB's good luck and positively glowed throughout the entire cruise (for much, much more see her wonderful trip reports on this forum!); Savs; Keith & Co; peachyk; emmak; our cruise celebrities Jennifer and Dave of Passporter fame and their friend Bruce (Zazu), a CM, who was an absolute fount of Disney knowledge and clearly loves Disney, and (uh-oh, middle-age brain sets in) a few others who's faces I see but who's names escape me at the moment.
None of us wanted to miss the sailaway party, so after quick hellos, the DISers went various ways. We three made our way to deck 10 where were could be part of the action without being in the middle of it. What a great party! I love the characters, and the band and all of the happy energy that you can't avoid being drenched in anywhere within three decks of it!
Somehow, we never made it to the welcome aboard variety show, which we had intended. We went back to our room to unpack and be amazed by the quantity of stuff you can stash in one small room, especially if you stack your suitcases like Russian dolls under the bed. David tried on his rental tuxedo, (it fit perfectly and looked yummy) and then left to iron some clothes to beat the rush for dinner.
We met ThreeCircles again at 8:30, and were introduced to our serving team -- Sammy from Thailand and Adem from Turkey. They absolutely made our cruise!! Sammy's great sense of humour, Adem's magic tricks, and the fun they loved to have made every evening an absolute pleasure. We had a great table for six, and can't say enough good things about our companions Jason, Travis and Gloria. They have all cruised with Disney before, and I think they love it even more than we do -- if such a thing is possible. After dinner both Jason and I were treated to celebration cakes. Jason had graduated that very morning from university, and our trip was to celebrate achieving my MBA. Needless to say, there was no shortage of cheering and relief at our table! Jason is going on to work with cancer patients, and David and I both came to admire his dedication to his work and to serving others. What the world needs now is more people with his ideals.
At dinner the first night, we set what would become our dining pattern -- visiting with Sammy and Adem and being among the last to leave the room. After dinner, Tanner went to check in at the lab, while David and I went to duelling pianos and enjoyed a good laugh. Then, back to our room to wash up, take a photo of the rock sleeping on Tanner's pillow, and spend some quiet time with an adult beverage and nothing but the quiet and the waves and the stars out on our verandah.
Tomorrow -- our very first full day at sea, when Cindi and David admit their addiction and begin to plot how to finance a back-to-back cruise.
We went back to our room just after 10 and hooked our own troupe of black bags together and rolled them to the Avis shuttle. We were REALLY glad we'd rented a car from them. We were three of five people waiting for our shuttle. Meanwhile, over at the Radisson entry a hundred feet away, there was a growing crowd of restless cruisers. The Avis folks had us on our way quickly and effieciently (and yes, they did confirm we'd had a car) and a few minutes later, we were pulling into the terminal.
There she sat -- gleaming along her berth, looking just as lovely as her Wonder-ful sister. Our steps got even lighter, and Tanner's grin even bigger. We made our way through the first security check, through the baggage check (where I'm sure the security folks must have rolled their eyes at the x-ray view of our sock-cocooned collection of adult libations), and up the escalator to the foreigners check-in counter, where we were third in line. This is one of the few times on the trip it paid to be a non-US citizen -- we'd be less appreciative of the immigration lines (and times) in later days.
We waited in line less than 100 people back with a family from New Jersey who were having a reunion, and met a couple from Oakville, Ontario in line ahead of us. (Emphasis on Oakville, not Toronto
). But, because they had travelled through Toronto, this couple and their two children underwent a health interview and were required to have their temperature taken every day. It's good that DCL was dealing with the potential for SARS, but I was glad that we had re-routed our own trip the week before to fly through Denver. Though they said the daily appointment was handled efficiently (we saw them several times through the cruise), I don't think we'd have wanted even that level of regimentation on our holiday.Boarding started precisely at 12:15, and the line moved fast. This time, we were prepared for the embarkation photo, and this time, we looked much less like Chip and Dale startled from hibernation! David and I split up so he could check Tanner into the Lab, and I could make our Palo reservations. The plan was to meet back at our stateroom (6090). I was at the room less than 20 minutes later, and David was already waiting in the room. 12:40, and we had reservations, had pager, and were already set at 'home'. What a great start!
Up to topsiders for the famous boarding buffet, which we had missed on our previous trip. Over lunch, we met Rae519, her mom and her son, Michael. What a wonderful lady! The consummate 'den mother', she had started a May 3 trip week thread, set up a 'getting to know' you page, and had made everyone on the thread feel like friends long before we'd left shore. If anyone ever has the opportunity to cruise with Rae, count yourself fortunate. And -- there were STILL shrimp at the buffet when we left, so shrimp-lovers fear not.
After lunch, David and I took advantage of the quiet time at the adult pool while Tanner wanted to explore the ship. We were the only people there, except one other lady who left just after we arrived. The water had just been changed -- so it was sparkling clean, warm for the first four inches, and then progressively cooler as the pool got deeper. Having a figure that can only be described as 'fluffy' has its advantages -- I spent a good hour floating blissfully alone, eyes closed, moving not a muscle while David sat in his swanky new trunks dangling his feet in the water, indulging in a small cigar and soaking up the sun. The pool would never be as quiet for us again! Now I understood why some people absolutely love sea days aboard.
However, the mandatory safety drill waits for no-one, so we left the pool deck at 3:30 so we wouldn't be late to test-drive our specially-reserved bright orange disaster wear. The muster went quickly, we were on the shady side (hooray) and everyone showed up. In less than 15 minutes, we were excused -- and then it was on with the show!
Right after the drill, we went to the Promenade Lounge to physically meet our fellow cruise DIS'ers, which was much more fun than any other blind date I have ever been on: Rae and her crew; Matthew and Corinna (who were getting married on ship and would graciously host us Monday in the Walt Disney Suite); ThreeCircles (who, along with mom Gloria, would be our dining companions for the trip and are some of the finest people one could ever hope to meet); AuntieBon (whom we envy because we learned she has a gift for winning cruises which has given her tremendous knowledge of everthing about being on board except down payments
); Jeanne434, AuntiBon's sister who was sharing in AB's good luck and positively glowed throughout the entire cruise (for much, much more see her wonderful trip reports on this forum!); Savs; Keith & Co; peachyk; emmak; our cruise celebrities Jennifer and Dave of Passporter fame and their friend Bruce (Zazu), a CM, who was an absolute fount of Disney knowledge and clearly loves Disney, and (uh-oh, middle-age brain sets in) a few others who's faces I see but who's names escape me at the moment.None of us wanted to miss the sailaway party, so after quick hellos, the DISers went various ways. We three made our way to deck 10 where were could be part of the action without being in the middle of it. What a great party! I love the characters, and the band and all of the happy energy that you can't avoid being drenched in anywhere within three decks of it!
Somehow, we never made it to the welcome aboard variety show, which we had intended. We went back to our room to unpack and be amazed by the quantity of stuff you can stash in one small room, especially if you stack your suitcases like Russian dolls under the bed. David tried on his rental tuxedo, (it fit perfectly and looked yummy) and then left to iron some clothes to beat the rush for dinner.
We met ThreeCircles again at 8:30, and were introduced to our serving team -- Sammy from Thailand and Adem from Turkey. They absolutely made our cruise!! Sammy's great sense of humour, Adem's magic tricks, and the fun they loved to have made every evening an absolute pleasure. We had a great table for six, and can't say enough good things about our companions Jason, Travis and Gloria. They have all cruised with Disney before, and I think they love it even more than we do -- if such a thing is possible. After dinner both Jason and I were treated to celebration cakes. Jason had graduated that very morning from university, and our trip was to celebrate achieving my MBA. Needless to say, there was no shortage of cheering and relief at our table! Jason is going on to work with cancer patients, and David and I both came to admire his dedication to his work and to serving others. What the world needs now is more people with his ideals.
At dinner the first night, we set what would become our dining pattern -- visiting with Sammy and Adem and being among the last to leave the room. After dinner, Tanner went to check in at the lab, while David and I went to duelling pianos and enjoyed a good laugh. Then, back to our room to wash up, take a photo of the rock sleeping on Tanner's pillow, and spend some quiet time with an adult beverage and nothing but the quiet and the waves and the stars out on our verandah.
Tomorrow -- our very first full day at sea, when Cindi and David admit their addiction and begin to plot how to finance a back-to-back cruise.
