November 7, 2009 ~~~~ AHOY ST.CROIX ~~~~

[DisNae]

Back at home....it was great to meet some of my fellow DISers, and the FE exchange was fun!

However...I have to say that DH and I were a little disappointed with our first Disney cruise. We won't cruise DCL again before trying another cruise line. The kids loved it, but even some of the kids activities were boring to them (Pirates party, for example). I was really disappointed with the food (besides Palo). I read such great things about it and it was only average at best. Our next Disney trip will definitely be good old-fashioned Disney World. Or rather, Paris Disneyland since we're moving to Germany next month.

That said we did have a relaxing time, despite those very rough first 2 days--thank goodness for the motion sickness patch (for DH and I) and dramamine (for the kids)! I really enjoyed the fitness center and spa, and Quiet Cove pool and cafe. The kids loved the kids' clubs and all the characters. Our Palo server was simply amazing, and my Palo brunch main dish was one of the best meals I've had.

I scored a great deal on some diamond studs on St. Thomas. Can't complain about that!

I hope everyone else had a magical time!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Howdy all,

We are back too.
We spent the night in town before the long drive home.
The dogs were so excited to see us it was like world war 3 with them jumping all over us for the first 15 minutes as we picked them up from the sitters.

Thankyou everyone for all the wonderful FE gifts. Our grandkids will be enjoying some fo the edible items. We had 2 bags of goodies plus the very creative gifts many of you made. I now have some great ideas for the next time. Your all so AWESOME!!! Thanks again.

I do want to appologise to my tablemates Linda and Nina for not being at dinner after we linked our ressies with you. I just had come down with a lousy cold and by evening I wasnt very sociable and I didnt want to spread it to any of you. 2 nights I was in bed by 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.

It was great to meet all of you and i hope everyone had safe travels back home.

Gail and Linda are still cruising, so heres wishing you guys a smooth, awesome week at sea

I would love to hear everyones favorite thing they did or had happen on the cruise.

We finally (after 20 cruises) won at trivia.
We each received a billed cap that says WINNER on it.


Kathy

 

[bjkjoy]

Hi everyone. It was very good to meet all of you. But...don't get in a line up and ask me to name all of you. I couldn't keep up with all the introductions. However, it was GREAT. We got home Saturday at 5:00. Like everyone else, had a mountain of wash (still do) so we are picking at it.

The kids also loved all the gifts. They couldn't wait to get back to the room to see if something came. Thanks to "all" of you! You were all so creative.

Donna liked the food but we went to Red Lobster this noon and I said that was the best meal I had all week. None of the dinners on the ship could touch it. My best meal all week was on Cast Away Cay.

Samantha and I both got sea sick the first couple days but when we got to land that went away. Then Hannah got Red Lice from the beach on St. Croix but that was a three day itch that looked like hives and was gone when we got home. Then Samantha got sick the day we went home and still doesn't feel well. Now I'm glad she is home with Mom and Dad.

Better stop rambling for now. Will post again soon.

Bonnie

 

[GoofyTraci]

Hi everyone,

It was so incredibly awesome to meet all of you. We had such a great time we bought into DVC and booked another cruise while we were on board. Yes most of you know by now I am a Disney Freak.

The FE was great and we really enjoyed going back to our room everyday to see what new goodies we had. Other than our box being lost and me getting sea sick for the first couple of days it was awesome.

Nathan was so surprised and had such a great time. Thank goodness for Kyle (Christine's son) bc he never wanted to visit the kids club without him. And he had so much fun swimming and hanging out with him.

We got home late last night around 8:30. Our plane was delayed and delayed getting out of Orlando. I was so happy to be home but I sadly missed being on the ship with all of the nice people we meet. Hope to meet you guys sometime again. It was a blast. Thank you!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

We had a great time!!! It was really fun meeting everyone. We all loved the FE gifts, and sure are enjoying the candy now while we are at AKV. The scrap pages are terrific!

Tracy, glad you had a great time despite being sick and the box mishap. We too are Disney freaks and rebooked onboard as well...2011 8 night Christmas cruise in Mexico! We already have a 3 night Wonder next November.

Kathy to answer your question about favorite things, it was different for each of us. For DH he loved the family bingo (who knew?) and our servers. For DS- he loved making friends with Nathan and swimming in the Goofy pool. DS- Ocean Quest, hands down. We hardly saw her all week!! And for me it had to be either relaxing in the Quiet Cove pool with a drink, or chillin' on my verandah. Love that port upgrade! So worth it.

So anyone have post- trip blues?

Christine

 

[LindaBabe]

Back at home....it was great to meet some of my fellow DISers, and the FE exchange was fun!

However...I have to say that DH and I were a little disappointed with our first Disney cruise. We won't cruise DCL again before trying another cruise line. The kids loved it, but even some of the kids activities were boring to them (Pirates party, for example). I was really disappointed with the food (besides Palo). I read such great things about it and it was only average at best. Our next Disney trip will definitely be good old-fashioned Disney World. Or rather, Paris Disneyland since we're moving to Germany next month.

That said we did have a relaxing time, despite those very rough first 2 days--thank goodness for the motion sickness patch (for DH and I) and dramamine (for the kids)! I really enjoyed the fitness center and spa, and Quiet Cove pool and cafe. The kids loved the kids' clubs and all the characters. Our Palo server was simply amazing, and my Palo brunch main dish was one of the best meals I've had.

I scored a great deal on some diamond studs on St. Thomas. Can't complain about that!

I hope everyone else had a magical time!

The raves you heard on food were for the old menus - I was one of them. But the new menus - not so much - sometimes I have trouble finding something appealing to eat. And some times I order something that sounds good and the reality is - eh. Sorry you didn't love it - but as a vet of 10 cruises - I can so understand!

Hi everyone,

It was so incredibly awesome to meet all of you. We had such a great time we bought into DVC and booked another cruise while we were on board. Yes most of you know by now I am a Disney Freak.

Is this the same girl who wanted to fly home and never set foot on ship again???

We had a great time!!! It was really fun meeting everyone. We all loved the FE gifts, and sure are enjoying the candy now while we are at AKV. The scrap pages are terrific!

Tracy, glad you had a great time despite being sick and the box mishap. We too are Disney freaks and rebooked onboard as well...2011 8 night Christmas cruise in Mexico! We already have a 3 night Wonder next November.

Kathy to answer your question about favorite things, it was different for each of us. For DH he loved the family bingo (who knew?) and our servers. For DS- he loved making friends with Nathan and swimming in the Goofy pool. DS- Ocean Quest, hands down. We hardly saw her all week!! And for me it had to be either relaxing in the Quiet Cove pool with a drink, or chillin' on my verandah. Love that port upgrade! So worth it.

So anyone have post- trip blues?

Christine

NO blues - we're still here.

I have to say - the scrapbook pages in the swap were AMAZING! LOVE THEM and will definitely USE them. I've saved all my labels and custom wrappers for the fish extender page, and have a pair of wonderful photos for the pirate page all picked out already.

The FE Stuff was absolutely fabulous! You guys are beyond Generous. The hand made stuff was an amazing display of effort and creativity.

Since we don't have kids, this is what I've done - divided out the candy to give to the cast members mess, the hand mades and other stuff we can use, I'll keep, and the little toys (A HUGE BOX of them) will go to Give Kids the World.org to make lots of other kids happy. Thank you so much for your generousity, friends.

Happy Day, Everyone!

 

[asreitzel]

We arrived home at 4pm Sat and got started on the mounds of laundry! Everyone had a great time, but I found I did not relax as much as I thought I would. I was exhausted by the time we got home and slept 12 hours straight the first night home (I think I was in college the last time I did that!!). It was hard not to try to "do it all"! We ended up canceling all of our Palo reservations and some of our tastings (martini, congac) because we felt so over-booked!
DD7 had to be dragged out of the kids club nightly, so clearly she loved it there! The counselors were so great! DD3 liked the club, too, but she paged us a few times for a pick-up. We also had fun at some of the game shows in the evening (Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer and Mickey Mania). The theater shows were all great! Early in the cruise we won Bingo, so that was fun and helped cover some of those Pina Coladas and Rum Punches! We never played again because we figured we would never be so lucky twice!
I was disappointed in the character meets. When we cruised 4 years ago on a 4 night, there seemed to be more characters (Mulan, Pocohontos to name a few) and more chances to meet them. Some (Peter Pan, Wendy, Alice, Queen of Hearts, etc) you had one chance and if you missed it you missed it (and you didn't necessarily know that it would be your only opportunity). They used to do an autograph session where they all sat at a long table and you could go through the table to get anyone you missed. You didn't get a great photo op, but it was still a nice way to complete an autograph book for a 7 yo determined to fill the pages!! I think next time we will take a pass on autograph books...that can really become the master of your schedule!
I also thought the food was just okay. Some was great...some - not so much!
We enjoyed our port experiences...St. Thomas more than St. Croix. We loved Coki beach in St. Thomas even though DH got pretty nervous when we pulled into the parking lot (and I use that word generously!). I had forgotten to warn him that the area around it was pretty rough. It was the highlight of our cruise!

Abbie

 

[TiggerzFan]

Hey all... checking back in again.

Definitely some post-cruise blues going on here. Doesn't help that DH is having some asthma related issues and DD3 is not at preschool today as she woke up with a cough/cold. So much for my own personal "regrouping" day!

I agree that in general the food was not as good as on previous cruises, though I did enjoy many of the great appetizers and soups. Then again, I didn't have to prepare, shop, cook, serve or clean up and therefore that makes it a great meal! Palo, of course, remains outstanding!

Totally enjoyed the port upgrade to a verandah. Got a small bit of magic when there were no more Cat 5/6s left so they gave us a Cat 4 at the same price.

LOVED meeting all of you and am truly appreciative of all the time and effort put into the FEs! AWESOME! I just love watching my girls run down the hall to see what was left for them in the Fish Extender.

"Splash" & Family - Wonderful meeting y'all and want to say Thank You again for the tour of your suite! Mike, I feel like I ran into you guys all over the ship! And, NICE JOB on stage at Pub Night!

"Goofy" Traci - You ROCK! You totally saved me with the camera battery charger!! And, thanks to you, I will always remember that I have a "G"-type battery. Who knew? And, your generosity in replacing the girls' FEs was amazing. It really wasn't necessary but I know how disappointing it was for you to have that box fall into "unmagical" hands. Shame on them. Hope Nathan had the most magical cruise ever!

"SLP" Christine - So glad we got to Castaway (phew...) and that your Vow Renewal went well, despite the winds. We were down near the end of the Family Beach so we got to see the ceremony and pictures take place. Hope we end up on a cruise again sometime.

Shauna - Thanks again for organizing the wristbands. They were fun to pick out around the ship! Sorry you had problems with the room. We've stayed in that area of Deck 1 before and heard all those noises. Glad you got to move.

And to everyone else that we met (sooo many of you - this post could go on and on....), it was FUN! Keep on posting ... it's great hearing everyone's different experiences!

Does anyone else still feel the boat rocking? It really hits me when I'm on the computer!

 

[TiggerzFan]

We enjoyed our port experiences...St. Thomas more than St. Croix. We loved Coki beach in St. Thomas even though DH got pretty nervous when we pulled into the parking lot (and I use that word generously!). I had forgotten to warn him that the area around it was pretty rough. It was the highlight of our cruise!

Abbie

Abbie -

We, too, went to Coki Beach. We had rented a Jeep and the rental agent suggested it. Yep, it sure was a bit "adventurous" getting in there, but my girls loved the beach. Feeding the fish with dog biscuits was sooo cool!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

no post cruise blues here, but thats only because we have the 14 day TA cruise next year already booked. When I dont have another cruise to look forward to then I get the blues.
So Greg is now trained to keep at least one cruise booked at all times, even if its 2 years out.

I down loaded some photos this morning, now to get some on photo bucket so I can share them with everyone,

Hope to do that soon,

Kathy

 

[asreitzel]

Does anyone else still feel the boat rocking? It really hits me when I'm on the computer!

I do! I do! I thought it was just me! We all managed to avoid sea sickness, although it was touch and go on that 2nd sea day! But now, I am still feeling the rolling waves and it is making me a bit dizzy! I started taking Bonine again and it seems to help.

I wonder if the rough seas makes it more likely to have disembarkment sickness?? That final night the boat was rockin' and the closet doors were slammin'!

Abbie

 

[DisNae]

Oh my goodness, DH and I thought we were losing our minds--we're having "disembarkment sickness" too! I didn't realize there was such a thing. We felt fine on the ship, but we have felt lightheaded and dizzy the past few days since being on dry land again. Weird! We thought maybe it was dramamine/patch withdrawal, ha ha!

I hope I didn't sound like too much of a Debbie Downer in my prior post about cruise disappointment. It's just a real bummer when you spend so much time planning something and looking forward to it so much, not to mention paying a lot of money for it, and it ends up being less than you hoped for.

GoofyTraci, the girls' gifts were very generous--I heard about your box mishap and I think it's terrible all around--I hope the ship reimbursed you in some way for their mistake!

 

[bjkjoy]

Goofie Tracie, will you fill us in on what happened with your box. I knew you had some trouble but didn't know what. You were way too generous with your gifts but the kids did love them and we did too.

Bonnie

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Here are a few random photos from the meet.

Linda at the sail away party

more to come:

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

sorry some of these are kinda dark, I need to try to lighten them up some.

 

[sokay168]

Hi All,

It was great meeting all of you. I got home last night at 9:15 and of course coming down with something.

I am still rocking today but assumed its from a head cold....Glad to see I'm not crazy.

First day back to work has been long....but home soon to sort thru 1800 pictures from our cruise.

Hope everyone enjoyed their cruise.

Traci & Tim - The Rum tour was the best thanks for making it awesome. Loving my cheesecakes, had 4 Saturday night at the bar!!!!!


Krista


PS....Anyone on Facebook?......would love to keep track of how everyone is doing.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=589899688

 

[Mel0215]

Hi everyone.
I know, I'm late getting on the boards. I should have been on Sat, but we were at Downtown Disney dropping off DH little brother. So that helped with the post cruise blues!! Although, I did start to get something Sunday... so it's definately related to being away from the Magic!

We were so happy to meet all of you. Although I still can't name everyone yet, but close.

Lunch was a riot, with Alicia as the waitress. We still talk about her, and how much fun it was! "I swear there's a cat here"

All of the FE gifts were great, the sweets went over well, and so the gifts. We've got some of them displayed around the house. (Just waiting on a picture order to come in) I bought a 2009 DCL scrapbook onboard, so I have to just make a few more pages, and I'm done! I love all the pages from the swap. (Can't wait to see some pics)

Hope you all had safe travels home. Maybe we'll run into you on another cruise...

 

[TiggerzFan]

Disembarkment sickness? Wow, eight cruises and I've never heard of it, though I have always felt the post-cruise rocking - mostly just while on the computer. Funny how some of us feel it, others never do.

Krista -
Glad you're home safely, but sorry you're not feeling well. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the awesome "Brownies Rock" bracelets!!!! That was soooo sweet of you! We have a meeting this Thursday and the girls will love them!
1800 pictures? Awesome! And to think my friends give me a hard time about a few hundred!

 

[TiggerzFan]

Speaking of Facebook, somebody mentioned to me about setting up a Facebook page for all our cruise pics to share. Forgive me, I can't recall who that was right now, but I love the idea!