scrapbookingpro
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2006
- Messages
- 545
Hi Everyone!
I so enjoyed reading all of the long detailed trip reports before our cruise, so I really wanted to write one of my own. I hope it helps a bit, even if it just helps pass the time until your own magical cruise!
A little background.......
This is the fourth cruise for DH and I. Two three days, and then this was our second seven day. We sailed with two friends, S and J who had never sailed before and really had NO idea what to expect, which I think makes it more fun! We range in age from 22 to 33 and we are all in the entertainment business (actor/singer/composer/performer) so we tend to be a bit loud, silly and well, act like giant children. (A bold confession, but true...)
We are all from Orlando, so getting to the port involved a simple one hour car ride. There was a little bit of smoke left from the fires, but nothing major and it didn't slow us down at all. DH and I have enough cruising experience to know the basics, so we arrived to pick up S and J at about 8:15AM, aiming to get to the port by ten at the latest. We ate Krispy Kremes in the car and sang Disney songs at the top of our lungs.
We arrived just before ten- so far, so good! We got a great parking spot and headed up the escalators to check in. Number 2 boarding card, YAY!! The online check-in was new to me and it turns out I forgot to bring the correct form, so we had to fill out more papers, but it was quick and painless. We were all checked in by 10:20 AM. Now we just had to wait.
Bad luck strikes.......
Here's where things start to go a bit down hill.
They called our group to board, right on time at 11:45. I was soo excited, I couldn't stand it. We rushed over to the entrance way and there were tons of people standing around it. A cast member was telling people to back up. I thought, yes, please back up and let group 2 in!! (I am not always the most patient person
) I was looking around and there were ropes blocking everything off, so I ask the CM "where do we enter?" He barley looks at me and says "you're not going in, we need to clear the building." Um. Huh? I look around. Not one person looks like they are about to leave the building, so DH laughs. "He's joking" DH says. But no, the CM is still saying we need to evacuate. No announcement. No explanation. Just, "we need to clear the building." This can't be happening! I was soooo close!! People slowly started to file out of the building. They sent us to the parking lot across the street. It was hot outside. There was confusion and much frustration as we all wandered around the parking lot asking "what's going on?" "When will we go back in?" No answers, so I try not to panic. We made ourselves comfy on a curb and started putting on sun block because we didn't know how long we'd be out there. A half hour passed. Rumors reached our ears- there was a suspicious bag left unattended. They had to call the bomb squad. Another half hour passed. A fire truck came and then a bomb squad car. Guess they weren't rumors. CMs started handing out water, but they still had no answers to our questions. More rumors- dogs were brought in and they went crazy over the mystery bag. Then something about if you set your bag on the grass, the dogs will smell the fertilizer and think it's something else...? I don't know, people were passing on any little bit of info they could get. A security officer came through and made everyone turn off their cell phones. Another half hour passed. An ambulance had to be called for people who weren't handling the heat very well. I saw at least two people on the ground, both over heated. Another half hour. It was almost two o'clock now. It felt like we would never be allowed on the ship.
Then, finally good news came. We could go in and board the ship at last!! Don't get me wrong, of course I'm glad that Disney is so cautious in situations like this. Much better to be safe than sorry!! It's just really hard to keep telling yourself that after two hours in a hot parking lot with 1500 other people. But yes, Disney has your back in the whole safety thing. They are great!
So, we walk like cattle back across the street and wait in a very long line to get through security (again), and I realize that my Number 2 is now completely useless. Oh well, at least we can finally get on the ship!! My poor friends are now re-thinking this whole cruise experience. I tell them not to worry, they'll have a great time. Our pre-board photo tells all. We all look tired, sweaty and slightly harassed
Finally On Board!!
We made it!!! DH and I drag an overwhelmed S and J straight to Rockin' Bar D to make Palo ressies since I couldn't get them on line. We booked a dinner and a brunch, no problem what so ever. Then we went over to Parrot Cay for our first meal on board. At last, we could eat, drink and relax. We had corn dogs and chicken and cookies- yum! You can serve yourself again- I guess the whole CM-at-the-buffet thing didn't work out for them.
After lunch we went to our rooms- inside staterooms on deck 5 (5637 and 5639). We loved the room and location. Perfect!! We had time for a quick tour of the ship before the Boat Drill. S and J were still completely overwhelmed but having a great time. So much to see!!
After the drill be went to the Sail Away Celebration. Last time DH and I sailed there was no big screen at the Goofy Pool. We loved it- I was on it briefly, dancing wildly to some A*Teens song
The party was fun, as always. When we started to sail away, we all went up to Deck 10 and just stood there against the railing, watching the water and feeling the breeze. It was gorgeous.
At 6:15 we went to see the Welcome Show. Since we are all in entertainment, we were mostly interested in the singer/dancers, the sets, the costumes and all that. But we also enjoyed the ventriloquist, Michael Harrison- he was very funny!! And we saw Rich Purpura do some comedy and magic (mostly comedy). One of the kids he had helping him accidentally gave away the secret of his magic trick. The audience loved that!
After the show it was time for our first dinner! We had Lumiere's this night, table 19. I was a little anxious about meeting our table mates and servers, knowing what a crazy group we were- I hoped we would all get along. Our group arrived first. Our server was Sandor (FANTASTIC- more on him later) and his assistant was Maria Consuelo. I am the pickiest eater ever so I was really hoping that Sandor could handle me. When we got to the table there was a children's menu left there by mistake. Maria started to take it away and I said NO leave it please!!! So she brought me some crayons too. (I told you we were big children). I explained to Sandor that I really wanted some plain salad with croutons and 1000 Island dressing. He said no problem and I knew I was in good hands. Then our table mates arrived. Gulp. First impression- these people are going to hate us. There was definitely a language barrier- we couldn't tell what language they were speaking, but it wasn't English, and they looked very serious and well, "adult". I thought, this could be a long week. Later you will see how very wrong first impressions can be.
After dinner we went up to the adult pool and sat in the hot tub. We had a great time just talking and laughing. There was hardly anyone else up there. After about forty five minutes, we got out, grabbed some pizza from Pinocchio's and went to our rooms.
We were exhausted and couldn't wait for day two!!
Day 2: http://www.disboards.com/threads/may-6th-western-day-two.1112651/
I so enjoyed reading all of the long detailed trip reports before our cruise, so I really wanted to write one of my own. I hope it helps a bit, even if it just helps pass the time until your own magical cruise!
A little background.......
This is the fourth cruise for DH and I. Two three days, and then this was our second seven day. We sailed with two friends, S and J who had never sailed before and really had NO idea what to expect, which I think makes it more fun! We range in age from 22 to 33 and we are all in the entertainment business (actor/singer/composer/performer) so we tend to be a bit loud, silly and well, act like giant children. (A bold confession, but true...)
We are all from Orlando, so getting to the port involved a simple one hour car ride. There was a little bit of smoke left from the fires, but nothing major and it didn't slow us down at all. DH and I have enough cruising experience to know the basics, so we arrived to pick up S and J at about 8:15AM, aiming to get to the port by ten at the latest. We ate Krispy Kremes in the car and sang Disney songs at the top of our lungs.
We arrived just before ten- so far, so good! We got a great parking spot and headed up the escalators to check in. Number 2 boarding card, YAY!! The online check-in was new to me and it turns out I forgot to bring the correct form, so we had to fill out more papers, but it was quick and painless. We were all checked in by 10:20 AM. Now we just had to wait.
Bad luck strikes.......
Here's where things start to go a bit down hill.
They called our group to board, right on time at 11:45. I was soo excited, I couldn't stand it. We rushed over to the entrance way and there were tons of people standing around it. A cast member was telling people to back up. I thought, yes, please back up and let group 2 in!! (I am not always the most patient person
) I was looking around and there were ropes blocking everything off, so I ask the CM "where do we enter?" He barley looks at me and says "you're not going in, we need to clear the building." Um. Huh? I look around. Not one person looks like they are about to leave the building, so DH laughs. "He's joking" DH says. But no, the CM is still saying we need to evacuate. No announcement. No explanation. Just, "we need to clear the building." This can't be happening! I was soooo close!! People slowly started to file out of the building. They sent us to the parking lot across the street. It was hot outside. There was confusion and much frustration as we all wandered around the parking lot asking "what's going on?" "When will we go back in?" No answers, so I try not to panic. We made ourselves comfy on a curb and started putting on sun block because we didn't know how long we'd be out there. A half hour passed. Rumors reached our ears- there was a suspicious bag left unattended. They had to call the bomb squad. Another half hour passed. A fire truck came and then a bomb squad car. Guess they weren't rumors. CMs started handing out water, but they still had no answers to our questions. More rumors- dogs were brought in and they went crazy over the mystery bag. Then something about if you set your bag on the grass, the dogs will smell the fertilizer and think it's something else...? I don't know, people were passing on any little bit of info they could get. A security officer came through and made everyone turn off their cell phones. Another half hour passed. An ambulance had to be called for people who weren't handling the heat very well. I saw at least two people on the ground, both over heated. Another half hour. It was almost two o'clock now. It felt like we would never be allowed on the ship.Then, finally good news came. We could go in and board the ship at last!! Don't get me wrong, of course I'm glad that Disney is so cautious in situations like this. Much better to be safe than sorry!! It's just really hard to keep telling yourself that after two hours in a hot parking lot with 1500 other people. But yes, Disney has your back in the whole safety thing. They are great!
So, we walk like cattle back across the street and wait in a very long line to get through security (again), and I realize that my Number 2 is now completely useless. Oh well, at least we can finally get on the ship!! My poor friends are now re-thinking this whole cruise experience. I tell them not to worry, they'll have a great time. Our pre-board photo tells all. We all look tired, sweaty and slightly harassed
Finally On Board!!
We made it!!! DH and I drag an overwhelmed S and J straight to Rockin' Bar D to make Palo ressies since I couldn't get them on line. We booked a dinner and a brunch, no problem what so ever. Then we went over to Parrot Cay for our first meal on board. At last, we could eat, drink and relax. We had corn dogs and chicken and cookies- yum! You can serve yourself again- I guess the whole CM-at-the-buffet thing didn't work out for them.
After lunch we went to our rooms- inside staterooms on deck 5 (5637 and 5639). We loved the room and location. Perfect!! We had time for a quick tour of the ship before the Boat Drill. S and J were still completely overwhelmed but having a great time. So much to see!!
After the drill be went to the Sail Away Celebration. Last time DH and I sailed there was no big screen at the Goofy Pool. We loved it- I was on it briefly, dancing wildly to some A*Teens song
The party was fun, as always. When we started to sail away, we all went up to Deck 10 and just stood there against the railing, watching the water and feeling the breeze. It was gorgeous.At 6:15 we went to see the Welcome Show. Since we are all in entertainment, we were mostly interested in the singer/dancers, the sets, the costumes and all that. But we also enjoyed the ventriloquist, Michael Harrison- he was very funny!! And we saw Rich Purpura do some comedy and magic (mostly comedy). One of the kids he had helping him accidentally gave away the secret of his magic trick. The audience loved that!
After the show it was time for our first dinner! We had Lumiere's this night, table 19. I was a little anxious about meeting our table mates and servers, knowing what a crazy group we were- I hoped we would all get along. Our group arrived first. Our server was Sandor (FANTASTIC- more on him later) and his assistant was Maria Consuelo. I am the pickiest eater ever so I was really hoping that Sandor could handle me. When we got to the table there was a children's menu left there by mistake. Maria started to take it away and I said NO leave it please!!! So she brought me some crayons too. (I told you we were big children). I explained to Sandor that I really wanted some plain salad with croutons and 1000 Island dressing. He said no problem and I knew I was in good hands. Then our table mates arrived. Gulp. First impression- these people are going to hate us. There was definitely a language barrier- we couldn't tell what language they were speaking, but it wasn't English, and they looked very serious and well, "adult". I thought, this could be a long week. Later you will see how very wrong first impressions can be.
After dinner we went up to the adult pool and sat in the hot tub. We had a great time just talking and laughing. There was hardly anyone else up there. After about forty five minutes, we got out, grabbed some pizza from Pinocchio's and went to our rooms.
We were exhausted and couldn't wait for day two!!
Day 2: http://www.disboards.com/threads/may-6th-western-day-two.1112651/
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DH phoned MIL in her room to ask if she had any more Dramamine. This is what I heard from DH's end of the conversation. "Do you have any dramamine left? No, you gave her some yesterday, remember? What? It's what?! Well, that explains why it didn't work....."
