My second cruise Trip Report (long) – Banana Heads Rule! - through end of cruise

[jd99]

For those who may have read my first ever cruise trip report in August – one that I posted live – you will remember that I had a very rough time of it the first two days and then it magically turned around into one of the best vacations ever. So good that we booked on board for a four day in June 07, then we got home and started checking into November dates and found a great price for the Dancing Banana Head Eastern cruise Nov. 25-Dec. 2.

I couldn’t bring myself to posting a live report this time simply because we were having so much fun and were even busier than the last time. Going back and reading my report from the first two days of the August cruise, I laugh out loud at how much I like it now since I was downright miserable then.

Enough pre-amble and on to the cruise report for our wonderful trip.

The cast of characters is me, Jeff, aka DH to my wonderful wife and daddy to my two princesses, DD8 and DD 2 1/2. We took DD8 out of school for four days for this cruise and she is none the worse for the wear. She had a PILE of homework to take home for Thanksgiving vacation, but had most of it done before we left for the cruise and came home to a spelling test (A+), math test (A+) and health test (A+). That’ll keep us cruising at this time of year for another year!

We flew to MCO on the 24th, one day early, in the event of bad weather that messed up our flight schedules or some such thing. Booked a room at the MCO Hyatt and it was fantastic. So convenient to just be upstairs at the airport for so many reasons. Just took my luggage on the cart to the front desk, had it delivered to our great room and relaxed. We arrived mid afternoon so we just hung out a bit before heading downstairs to the airport and Macaroni Grill for a nice dinner. Then DD8 and I went up to the room while DW shopped the Disney Store with DD 2 1/2 and took goofy pictures with the character statues. DD8 and I then hit the arcade for a while before we all retired for the night. I was feeling a bad cold coming on and was scared I was going to be sick the whole trip but I took some Nyquil and woke up the next morning completely better. Thank goodness.

Up early for breakfast in the airport food court after putting our luggage outside our room for pickup by Hyatt to the DCL bus. We were told to check in with DCL staff at 9 a.m. in the lobby and arrived a few minutes early to find that we were on the second bus. Geez when do these people get there? Ran into Lynn and her family from the DIS boards and ultimately Cheri and her family too. The whole process at the Hyatt was painless and I would highly recommend it. We will do it again for our next cruise. Jumped on our bus and off to the port, arriving by about 10:30 a.m. Being returning cruisers, check in was a breeze. This is when we had our first pixie dust moment of the cruise. We had booked a Cat 9 for this trip and I had thought all along about trying to upgrade if possible. I asked the CM checking me in about it and she happened to be just next to the supervisor who nodded, yes there are upgrades available. My heart was racing. What to do? I was alone at the desk and knew whatever I did would be an exciting surprise to the whole family. The CM Supervisor asked me what I was looking for – so I asked about a Cat. 4 which we had looked at booking this time. There were several available at a good price. I nearly did it then asked (assuming the answer would be no) about suites. Sure enough two Cat. 3 were available – one midship and one way Aft (a handicapped suite). After finding out the price, I decided to go for it as it was little more than what I paid to upgrade from 9 to 6 on the last cruise (prior to departure, not at the port). I couldn’t remember if the Aft would mean a lot of motion or noise so I asked for the midship and we sailed in Stateroom 8048 – a one bedroom suite. And all I can say is WOW.

I went to tell the girls who were in line for the kids club what I had done. After much jumping up and down by DD8 and big smiles from DW, I told them they didn’t need to stand in that line – that the concierge would take care of it – but they had found some friends in line from our DIS board, so they stayed there.

I went to sit in the roped off area for concierge guests and felt like an animal on display at the zoo, so I left and we didn’t’ go in there until it was almost time to board. Getting to board the ship among the first people was a great treat for sure and we went straight to the concierge reception where the folks literally waited on us hand and foot. Do you have enough Flounders time? Can I book any more Palo reservations for you? Would you like to do the gingerbread house making activity? How about a wine tasting? It was everything I had imagined it to be (and assumed I’d never see) and more. When I said I didn’t get a Palo brunch booking, the concierge (our hostesses were Sandie and Jenny and they were terrific) said “Oh I can get that for you.” We said, if it’s not available….. and she said “No, I can get it for you.” Wow. I felt like I was cheating a bit since I didn’t book a year in advance with the non refundable deposit and all (which is why I would never book the suite in advance) but I grew to enjoy all the attention and I know the rest of the family did as well though I suspect we were among the easiest concierge guests on the trip this sailing.

We had lunch at Parrot Cay which was great, ran into some more DIS folks, including my buddies Jan & Dave, and as everyone was jumping out of our skin to see the suite, we counted the minutes until 1:30…


Next up: Seeing the suite for the first time, DIS meet and the rest of day one.

 

[jd99]

Cast: Me (Jeff), DW, DD8, DD2 1/2

So we left Parrot Cay and headed straight up to the 8th deck. I will admit we were all VERY excited to see the suite as I had only ever seen one on the website or DIS board pictures posted by other cruisers.

Suffice it to say that it was gorgeous and huge. The two full bathrooms were worth the cost of the upgrade themselves. I’m not a fan of the split bathroom as we don’t really take advantage of the “split” and the two sides of the split are too small for me –they make me a bit claustrophobic. But these were full sized bathrooms. Double sink in the “master,” two showers, a Jacuzzi tub and lots of space. Two huge closets. Comfy chairs in both the living room and bedroom which we used when the beds were closed up. The verandah was nothing short of spectacular – so big and with great chairs too. DD8 slept on the pull out couch, DD2 1/2 on the pull down bed for which Fermin, our cabin steward provided 2 bedrails. Full sized Tvs in each room as well as a DVD player in the living room with a list of DVDs you could check out, a wet bar, dining table, treats everyday (one day petit fours, one day chocolate covered strawberries and other treats, one day a cheese and fruit tray, cookies, etc. etc. etc). The concierge staff really does everything in its power to make you feel special. Our cabin steward Fermin was excellent as well. We said out loud many times how lucky we were and to enjoy every moment because we likely will never get lucky enough again to have the suite. Here are some bad pics- hard to really capture what it looks like...

Next up was the DIS meet in the Promenade Lounge. It looked like 100 people there in green shirts (I didn’t wear mine but will next time) and everyone was so friendly – we truly felt like we knew each other already and that made it very fun. Our gift exchange was fun as well. My favorite thing was that I “met” U2Pixies (Pat) pre-cruise on the cruise meet board and found out her granddaughter, aged 9, would be on the cruise. A couple weeks before sailing, we got her granddaughter and my DD8 to email each other. So when they met in the Promenade Lounge they were already inseparable friends. I know this MADE my DD’s trip. The last cruise she didn’t make a friend until the last day of the cruise (she’s a bit shy in new surroundings) but this time having a friend going in gave her the confidence to meet a ton of kids in the club. Everyday she came back and said she had made a new friend. She already asked if I can find her a new friend for next year’s Nov. 24 sailing. I’ll work on it!

Boat drill was pretty painless even though it was raining. Then on to the sailaway party and it was drizzling a bit too much I think, so they moved it indoors. Clearly not as much fun as the outdoor version, but I think DCL does a good job of making the best of a bad situation and we still had lots of fun. DD 2 1/2 spent most of the time on my shoulders dancing and laughing while DD8 spent the time with her new friend. THAT was fun. And it was cool getting to really see all the Christmas decorations in the atrium..

Back to our room to see if luggage had arrived and everything did but our bag with all the shoes (yikes). It came soon enough and we got ready for the show. We had late dining (8 p.m. rotation) this time after having early the first time. I truly think there is no “perfect” dining time for us. We eat relatively late at home, but I found late to be not as good as early when it came to the flow of the evening. Going to the show early just made the girls sleepy whereas having dinner, going to Studio Sea for fun then the show was a better progression for us and we will do early dining next cruise.

We went to the Welcome Aboard show which we missed on the first cruise due to being overwhelmed by everything. It was a great show and really set a good tone for the trip. DD2 1/2 fell asleep in show – a theme that played out a lot on this trip.

Now anyone who read my first trip report knows that my one true disappointment was my head server who rushed us and never really did anything “special” – in fact he seemed put out if we made a special request. Don’t ya know that we showed up to dinner on the first night in AP and who was our server – but the same guy. I was SO disappointed at first. We were going to ask to change, but we really liked our table mates (a couple and their two kids from Alaska! ) and didn’t want them to think it was because of them so we decided to stick it out. Server was better this time, but I still don’t want to have him the next time. Can we ask to NOT have him next time? Do you think DCL put us with him because we did have him last time or was this merely a bizarre coincidence?

DD 2 1/2 slept through dinner too so we went back to the room. I went to Diversions for a drink and to Shutters to get our first pics, while DW unpacked the rest of our things. Then she did a walk on deck 9 and watched a few minutes of Mary Poppins. Then off to slumberland for some much needed sleep for all.

Next up: Our first day at sea.

 

[jd99]

Cast: Me (Jeff), DW, DD8, DD2 1/2

One of the reasons we were excited about the Eastern itinerary is the extra day at sea vs. the Western. This is exactly opposite of my thinking before ever taken a cruise before – I thought I’d want a port every day to get off the ship…but after cruising once and enjoying the weird combination of relaxation AND activity on a sea day, I loved it. So the eastern has 3 sea days including two in a row at the beginning of the voyage and THAT is a great great thing.

Before I go much further I want to point out how incredible this trip was thanks to the friends we made via the DIS on the cruise meet thread leading up to the trip. We ran into banana heads EVERYWHERE we went – some more than others – and there were a lot of folks we never met – saw them at the first meet – but didn’t get a chance to actually chat and thus I think we missed a lot of folks during the week. But I truly think we made some good friends on this trip and since some of us have already booked the same week for next year, I’m looking forward to furthering our friendships both leading up to the cruise and on the cruise. It’s really something I never expected to happen but am so happy it did.

Ok back to our day at sea. We slept in a little bit but got up in time for our character breakfast. Now after the last time we sailed, I swore we would skip the character breakfast this time because it is so frenzied and the food is not that great. And the older DD is not all that into it and the younger DD is scared to death of characters touching her. For some reason we forgot that pledge and went anyway. Had a decent time but really, really, really want to remember to skip it next time unless the younger one is into it by then.

After breakfast, DD8 went to the lab for the first time and DD2 1/2 to Flounders. To sum it up, it was terrific on both ends. DD8 made a bunch of friends whom she played with during the rest of the trip and DD 2 1/2 was happy to go to Flounders and ended up really liking it there. As an older kid in Flounders, she became a “helper” to the counselors and she loved that..and they loved her. HUGE props to Nadia, Laura and Jorge (George) who were just so good with her.

Since the girls went in a little early, DW and I had about a half hour before our wine tasting and we were almost at a loss – we don’t have kids…what should we do? The wine tasting was fun. We ran into DutchsMommy (Sarah & Stony) DIS board people there and had a very nice time tasting wine. Cms did a good job and I’d definitely do it again. Picked up the little one in Flounders but DD8 didn’t want to leave the Lab – this was definitely different than last time when she never wanted to stay when we came to pick her up. This would also become a theme. Ordered room service for DD 2 1/2; I went to the gym and rocked and rolled on the treadmill. Wow that was harder than I expected with all the ship rocking. We also hit the sports deck and the game room.

Tonight was formal night and the Golden Mickeys. Got the girls dressed up in hopes of taking our Christmas portrait tonight – or at least a shot of the girls in front of the tree. DD 2 1/2 fell asleep in GM (which were super by the way) so no formal photos for us! This is as close as we got.

Dinner was in Parrot Cay which I thought would be a bummer to have formal night there, but it was just fine. DD8 wanted to go back to the Lab where she stayed until 11:45 p.m. Kept telling me to go away everytime I asked if she wanted to leave. I went and had a glass of wine while waiting for her to be done while DW hung out in the stateroom.

All in all a great, relaxing and fun day for all.

Next up: Our second day at sea…couple's massage and gingerbread houses

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Jeff, this is great so far, I feel like we are back on the ship again!!!
Your upgrade sounds great!!!!
I will check back soon to see if you've finished you report, please dont take too long. I would hate to have to get out the whip again

I am looking forward to crusiing with all of you again. Hopefully we will have more time to talk next time.

kathy

 

[Dixielady908]

Jeff: So far great trip report. I'm enjoying yours as I am not a writer.
Yes we had a great time also. It was sooo fun running into people we knew, made the trip so much more fun.
Keep the report coming, looking forward to the next installments.

Denise

 

[Holly&Joesmommy]

Cast: Me (Jeff), DW, DD8, DD2 1/2

One of the reasons we were excited about the Eastern itinerary is the extra day at sea vs. the Western..... So the eastern has 3 sea days including two in a row at the beginning of the voyage and THAT is a great great thing.

ditto
great report, give us some more

 

[pgfour]

Jeff --

AWESOME report so far!!!!

I ran on the treadmill on Thursday -- what a challenge! It was the loooooongest 4 miles I've ever endured! (I ran on deck 4 on Sunday & Monday.)

Next time (assuming we have similar conditions) I will run on the deck 4 track while at sea and will run on the treadmill when in port.

Can't wait to read more. . .

 

[jd99]

Cast: Me (Jeff), DW, DD8, DD2 1/2

Today we all woke up feeling great and ready for another fun day at sea and a day when we had a lot of couple’s time scheduled. We had breakfast at Topsiders followed by the kids heading to their various locations – DD8 to the Lab and DD2 1/2 to Flounders. Again, it went off without incident and the older girl got to make flubber for the first time. In fact she spent almost the WHOLE day in the Lab. She went in from 10 to 12 and then again from 3 to midnight! For someone who really wanted nothing to do with the club on the last cruise in August, I was shocked. And as a daddy who counts DD8 as his vacation buddy since DD2 1/2 is still clingy to mom, I found myself a little sad to not have my buddy to hang with but proud that she found her own way to having so much fun. And on this day alone, she made flubber, played various games on the sports deck, made chocolate chip cookies, went to an animal towel folding lesson and played a Disney trivia game among other things.


Why were the kids in the lab/Flounders? Because we had a couple’s massage scheduled. It was truly a great massage and I wish I would have scheduled a spa villa like I had considered but I think that will be on the agenda for next time. I could do without the sales pitch at the end of the massage but I know they are just doing their job.

After the massage we went to pick up the kids and headed up to Deck 9 for lunch and a hair braiding appointment for both kids. It POURED rain during and after the hair braiding. I noticed they moved the kiosk inside a bit later. After hair braiding, we went to a Gingerbread House Making event which was fun for all. Here are some pictures:

Sometime in here I went to the Cove Café for a coffee drink and to check my email for the first time. Got caught by Shell and Bill doing “work.” No major disasters so I was relieved. This was one of those days when we really appreciated having the suite – with the rain we were able to do a bit of “chilling” in the suite during the course of the day which made for even more relaxation.

At some point during the course of the day we decided to try to get that picture that we couldn’t get the night before. So we dressed the girls up in their pretty dresses and went down to an empty Atrium to try to get a great holiday shot in front of the beautiful tree. DD2 1/2 would have NONE of it and while DD8 posed beautifully all around the Atrium, the little one threw fit after fit. We must have been a sight -- I found out recently that Pat and Steve were watching from above so I’m glad we could provide some entertainment. Here is a photo from that debacle.

After the fit, DD8 went back to the Lab and never came out til closing time – I think she had had enough of her little sister. DW took DD 2 1/2 into the theater and watched the first five minutes of The Wild to get her to sleep – and she had success.

This was our Palo dinner night. We had only done brunch on the last cruise and were not necessarily itching to do dinner. We go out a lot to nice restaurants and thought “how good could it be? It’s on a ship.” We enjoyed brunch so much on the last cruise that we thought we should try dinner. Thank goodness we did. It was fantastic. We had incredible service from Marco and highly recommend him – in fact we requested him for our brunch later in the week after our dinner experience. Our dinner consisted of so much food I get a tummy ache thinking about it – champagne, wine, tomato & mozzarella salad, a great shrimp dish, two wonderful pasta dishes, a great pizza, filet mignon, chocolate soufflé and vanilla custard with berries. Oink.

After dinner we went to pick up the girls. DD8 as I mentioned never wanted to leave even though I tried three times. DD 2 1/2 had a blast in Flounders, being the helper to Laura and Nadia. She was beaming when we picked her up as was an exhausted but thrilled DD8.

Needless to say, with the massage, the Palo dinner, the kids SO busy all day, we all slept fast and hard this night.

Next up…on to St. Maarten…

 

[LindaBabe]

Loving it, Jeff! Keep up the good work!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

AWESOME Jeff,
keep it coming.

Kathy

 

[jd99]

I am finding it easier to do when I take my time a bit...so I shall probably post one a day until I get done. It sure is fun reliving it all. Wish it were two weeks ago and we were watching them TRY to light that Christmas tree!

 

[discruiselovers97]

I am LOVING the pictures! Can't wait till more!

 

[bdink921]

Great TR Jeff!!! Keep it coming....

 

[firemans wife]

Great trip report so far!!! I did not realize you guys upgraded to suite-how cool!!! I am wishing I were back on the ship about now. Looking forward to reading more.

Lorna :

 

[Disney owl]

thanks for sharing

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Ok Jeff, you said you would do a page a day. Where is todays report????
Dont make me get the whip!!! You know how mean I can be!!!
I wanna read more!!

kathy

 

[jd99]

Hey Kathy
Got the crud that you all have been complaining about..so I'm out of commission for a day or so. I promise I won't forget to finish!
jeff

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Jeff,
In that case I will forgive you and hope you feel better soon!! Hope the kids dont get it too!! it is nasty!!

Take care of yourself,

kathy

to help you feel better soon

 

[jd99]

Tuesday
Cast: Me (Jeff), DW, DD8, DD2 1/2

Yesterday wore us all out and we slept in today. Took our time, having breakfast late – around 10 a.m. and didn’t get off the ship until near 11:30 a.m. Saw Kathy & Greg on the ninth deck when I was up there getting some towels and laughed when I heard they had already gone ashore and came back for a bit and were planning to head out again. I felt like such a lazybones.

I was really looking forward to St. Maarten day as it was the only port on either of the two cruises we have taken which I never never visited it on a “regular” vacation. We struggled, however, with what to do on this island as we ideally would have found the most beautiful beach and just hung out for the day. But as uptight Americans we weren’t sure if we wanted to take the girls to a beach with topless bathing and definitely didn’t want to hit beach where we thought we might find full nudity. Talked to the concierge staff and weren’t really able to determine if there was a great beach that would be okay for us on the French side, so we just stuck to the Dutch side. In fact, we ended up just staying close to the ship and water taxiing over to Great Bay near the port. Some St. Maarten pics from our verandah:

We walked a bit down the beach and took one of the vendors up on the offer of a two-for one umbrella and chair deal. I think it cost us 10 bucks for two chairs and an umbrella and 6 bucks for a bucket of 3 cold Coronas. We probably only spent about 2 hours there before the clouds rolled in and it looked like rain. But it was a nice beach...just still wonder about the French side. Maybe next year.

Going back on the water taxi, I took this great photo of the ship.

I thought the area of Phillipsburg was fine and the beach at Great Bay was okay too. My DD8 was a bit freaked out by the aggressive vendors but most just moved on if you said no. Late in our time there, a vendor came by and we had just been shooing them away with a firm “no thanks” since she was so freaked out. Well I guess she (DD8) saw something she liked and said “How much?” My wife was flabbergasted and bargained her way to a pretty anklet and necklace for 11 bucks. I suspect the next time we are somewhere confronted by vendors, DD8 will be much less concerned.

After our time in STM, we headed back to the ship for a late lunch on Deck 9 and some swimming (for the first time on this trip). Hit every pool although I only dipped my toe in Goofy’s pool as it really grosses me out with all those people ALWAYS in there. I also think that this pool isn’t maintained as well as anything else on the ship. There are places where it truly needs a lot of paint, rust spots, etc. I even got to go to the Cove pool briefly. After another coffee drink and quick email check, we got ready to watch Santa Clause 3 in the Walt Disney Theater. Concierge staff provided us with a bag of popcorn in our room to take to the show. Nice touch. DD2 1/2 slept through the movie (of course). Movie was pretty good and we had a nice time.

Next up was Walk the Plank in Studio Sea and guess what, DD8 and I were picked. We were the green team and doing pretty well until DD guessed Natalie’s age at 32 (she’s 23). Then I had to Walk the Plank….Walk the Plank…Walk the Plank. It was fun and DD8 had a blast.

Tonight was Pirate night and dinner in AP. DD 2 1/2 was awake for the first time at dinner and was a bit of a challenge but all in all it was fine.

Pirate Party was very fun. DD8 and I were right up front for much of the dance party and we had a good time. She got a bit grouchy at one point (I’m guessing exhausted) and we moved back to watch the fireworks then the family went off to bed while I went to Rockin’ Bar D to watch some DIS folks star in the Karaoke Show, including Tiara Bob & the Dreamboats and Jersey Don. It was great fun but by the end of the show I needed sleep!

Next…Early Wake up for Immigration and the Sunny Liston Tour (Every Day of the WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK...)

 

[Holly&Joesmommy]

great report, ready for more