On board 11/04/06 with the "Family of the Cruise" New post..finally!!4/16

[Suzy Mouse]

...more of that in a few posts....

To start my report (this being my first one ever...I'm extremely nervous) I need to fill everyone in on some background info. I promise the good stuff will follow later.

This trip was booked while we were on last year's New Jersey Week's cruise. We booked for a family of 4 in an outside stateroom with a porthole.

Fast forward 4 months later. As some of you know on March 22nd of this year I lost my mother in a tragic accident. Fortunately for my family my dad survived and remains to be our gift from god. (Search previous posts of mine for details) My parents had the 11 night Southern Caribbean Disney cruise booked in Sept. Dad obviously had to cancel the trip but we begged him to join us on ours. After much pleading he decided to come aboard with us.

So therefore our cast of characters were...

DH (40)
Me (37)
DD (11)
DS (7)
Granddee (68)

Shortly after he changed his plans I contacted the Disney Cruise line...thank you Theresa for the support on this one (and so much more!!)!!!...I wrote them a letter explaining the situation and asked if they could provide some extra tlc and attention for him.

A few weeks later I was checking his reservation for him to make sure they received his final payment and I noticed his room was changed. I quickly check my reservation and noticed that DCL had moved our rooms together with an adjoining door and verandas! I was amazed at how fast the DCL worked to help us out. Originally we were on separate floors at opposite ends of the ship. Obviously we were ecstatic with this news!!

 

[mmouse37]

Hey there.....I was also on the 11/4/06 cruise.....had a great time!!! We were a group of 20 with friends and some family. Can't wait to hear more of your report....so sorry to hear about your mom...

 

[Suzy Mouse]

More background info (yes I'm a talker too!)

When my mom passed away we were discussing signs that we were looking for to know Mom was around. Mine was that she would send me my long lost (12 years) friend, Rachel. I thought for sure Rachel would have seen my maiden name in the paper and find me. No such luck. One day in April I was listening to WPLJ on the radio and they said they were finding lost loved ones. All I had to do was contact the radio station. After a while I decided to send in my letter. I think it was the last day they were accepting them. Fast forward to June 12. My dh calls me and asked me if I hired a private investigator from PLJ. Obviously I didn't tell him I did this....so I had to explain what I did. I spoke to the investigator the next day and they told me they thought they had found her but she wasn't returning their calls. If it was her I would hear from the radio station. June 29 the radio station dj Rocky Allen calls and asks me to tell them about Rachel. I told them the story and they told me to hold on. All of a sudden, I hear them say "Rachel, we have Suzanne on the line!!!" AHHH!!! There she was right there on the other end of the line. after all these years. Weird thing about this was that it was aired on the radio the next day...which just happened to be my birthday! Yes..Mom was finding a way to wish me a happy birthday and gave me an incredible present.
Thanks Mom!!

Why am I telling you this in my report? I guess I could have left it out but it's a great story to share. And another sign like this came from Mom to my daughter.

Rebecca became friends with a girl on the cruise last year. Unfortunately we left the ship with only a picture, a name and a town ...no phone number or email address. After searching around we couldn't find anything. During this summer(7 months after the cruise) my daughter was sad and said that she hadn't had any dreams of Grammee (my mom) and that she was missing her. I told her that Grammee is always with her and that just because she hadn't dreamed of her doesn't mean she's not here. That day I did my normal "dis" routine I had become accustomed to....surfing our cruise meet. I decided to find some friends for Rebecca so that she could email them and get to know them before the trip. I saw that love2travel's daughter was around the same age and I wrote to her. It turned out that her daughter's name was Rebecca too and she lived in Burlington NJ. Wait a second!!! That was the name and the town of the girl we had met on the last cruise. After going back and forth a bit and emailing a picture of the 2 of them I had from last year....we had finally found our lost friend!! Rebecca was sure Grammee sent Rebecca to her. She was crying she was so happy!It was unbelieveable that after almost a year we were finally able to get the girls together for an afternoon lunch! I don't think I've ever seen my daughter happier!

Sorry for talking so much....but I do believe in signs and I do believe that people remain with you in whatever way they can.

More signs to follow through my report.

 

[love2travel]

Suzanne, I am so glad you shared this story with everyone!! You know, we've talked about it before, I definately believe in signs.

 

[mmouse37]

I listen to Rocky Allen everynight on my way home from work and I heard your story...it was just great!!! I am a big believer in signs....and in things that "can't be explained" but just happen!!!

But we had two "incidents" on this cruise worthy to mention.....the first was in Key West when my father and my brother-in-law did the Kyack Tour in key West. Remember how windy it was that day....so much that they cancelled two other excursions but kept the Kyack one going.

Well....the wind was so fierce on the excursion that people were being blown all around...my father who has run about 30 marathons and used to jump out of airplanes for fun said he was scared for his life....by brother in law who is retired NYPD Emergency Service also said it was one of the toughest days he has had...for every foot paddled forward....if you lifted the paddle out of the water you were blown 10 feet back. People were worried that they would be literally blown away from the rest of the group. It was hairy.

People were finally towed back to the excursion boat and one man, after getting up the ladder to the boat said he did not feel well and toppled over. The poor man died...they believe of a heart attack. My father said it was horrible. I remember all afternoon the ship was announcing the name of a woman to report to the guest service desk and I am assuming that it was his family member. I also heard the family disembarked in Key West to tend to arrangements for the man. I know the shore excursion desk wanted to talk to all the people on the excursion to find out what happened.

My father was told by Disney that Disney checked with the vendor of the excursion that morning and the vendor said it was still a go.

The next incident involved one of our group....my friend's father who was on the cruise with us was informed on Tuesday in Grand Cayman that his brother had passed away back in Scotland so he had to disembark in Grand Cayman and fly home to Newark and then on to Scotland.....so it was a bit of a downer the first two days.

Other than those things the cruise was really great...I was worried about all the "things that were going wrong" that many people mentioned lately on the boards but we found things to be great....loved the new Ariel view screen...I thought it really enhanced the deck parties and loved the late night movies up on deck.

Did not care for the new Navigator and I thought they really shrunk down the size of the All Hands on Deck Cheese platter.

The food in the dining rooms was great...did not have a bad meal all week! Liked the new Goofy Galley and the new Pinocchio's Pizza...

Our friend's son and I were picked for first Mickey Mania game show in Studio Sea....were were the Red Mickey Team and were in first place for awhile but lost on the image scramble part of the show.....still we had a good time!!!

 

[SweetSpot]

Mmouse: My son and daughter were in the first Mickey Mania and were the one's who won at the end of the game with the scramble. I think beating us time and again in Disney Scene It gave him an edge. I think that is one of the highlights of the cruise to him, he never can win at anything and he finally did.

Seeing the picture in your post I think we saw you many times around the ship and didn't know it. It's a shame so many DISers didn't get a chance to meet.

 

[jsfein]

Alright Sweetspot and MJ, ready for this!!!! My son and I were the Green Goofy's in that event. We finished a close second to Sweetspot's son and daughter. I was ready to crack them over the head during the scramble. I was convinced their screen was posting the answers they were getting them so fast.

That's 3 DIS-ers in the game. I wonder if the 4th set of contestants were also DIS-ers.

 

[jsfein]

The poor man died...they believe of a heart attack. My father said it was horrible. I remember all afternoon the ship was announcing the name of a woman to report to the guest service desk and I am assuming that it was his family member.

I don't want to hijack Sue's trip report thread, but I had no idea that this had occurred on our sailing. How unfortunate. We also heard the announcement of the woman's name Sunday afternoon and I remember commenting to my wife that there must be a real emergency if Disney was broadcasting her name over the loudspeakers.

 

[Suzy Mouse]

My father saw a crew member (white suit) with a Chile name tag. He told them what happened during his excursion in Chile and the man told him what happened in Key West. Awful!! My heart, thoughts and prayers continue to go with that family. The CM also told Dad that 2 men were removed from the cruise due to inappropriate behavior. We have no idea what happened but later heard these men where creating a scene at a bar.

When we were in Grand Cayman we saw a couple get off with their suitcases. I wonder if they were your friend's father?

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Waiting for the rest of the report.. you are doing great

Liz

 

[lindaso]

Wow...it's amazing that all this can go on around you without having any idea. Sue...great report so far. I'm glad we finally got to meet right at the very end. I know that Stephanie found Rebecca but I really didn't get the chance for adult socializing. I spent the week pretty overwhelmed.

I would have loved to sit and talk about "signs". My mom died 16 years ago and I'm a strong believer and have gotten messages of my own.

Looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[DisneyZell]

Keep it going Suzy...I, too belive in signs. I lost my Mom right before 9/11 happened...and am constantly looking for signs from her. I'm a firm believer that I have recieved a few...and frankly that's all that matters. I'm happy you met back up with your friend from old...that is a fantastic sign. I look forward to reading the rest of your report.

 

[pklein09]

...more popcorn.....it's amazing all the stuff that happens on the same cruise....can't wait to hear more....

--Michelle

 

[Suzy Mouse]

Mom gave me her pair of garnet earrings a year or 2 ago. I wore them in June and that was the last time I saw them. Obviously I've been hysterical over the fact that they were gone as I searched everywhere for them.

We got to Mr. Bees where we parked our car and headed to the airport. Realizing that I no longer needed my cell phone I went to put it into the side pocket of the Castaway Club Bag I received last year. Inside the pocket was a box..yes!! a jewelry box. I knew immediately what was waiting inside for me to see. I opened it up and was hysterically laughing and crying. My garnet earrings were there!! I knew that she wanted to come along and make sure we had a safe and enjoyable trip. Needless to say Dad was quite emotional when he saw that I found them.

Our first flight was extremely late and we didn't think we would ever make the connecting flight. What would happen to our luggage??? We ran to catch our connecting flight. PHEW...made it!! They had to hold the plane for the late arrival.

We finally got to the hotel in the airport at Orlando International. After getting the kids to bed and getting myself ready to hit the sheets I started to get into bed. I looked at the clock and saw that the time 1:11. THe 1's on the clock (11:11 or 1:11) are huge sings for me as well as my mother would always make a big deal when it was that time on the clock.

Good night Mom and thanks for the safe flight!

 

[DisneyZell]

Holy cow! I got chills (and that doesn't happen often). Do you remember putting them in there? or was that a complete surprise???

 

[pklein09]

I got tears in my eyes and chills down my back SuzyMouse. Wow!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

This is such a touching report and I am also getting chills up and down my legs and arms reading this. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It really makes me think about how precious life really is and my relationship with my own Mom. I'm glad you are able to share stories here with your fellow DIS'ers about your family and let us all get to know them as you do. Have a magical day!

 

[Suzy Mouse]

The time came Saturday morning to head downstairs to get the bus to Port Canaveral. FInally the time is here!! Rebecca insisted on being the first ones on the bus. She had to have that front seat...first one on first one off! Bless her little heart she did it. When the group was called she didn't let anyone in front of her. At one point when we were outside a 13 year old boy tried to pass her on the left but she kicked it up a notch and left him in the dust. (Hint to all...if you're the first one on the elevator you're the last one off...luckily she knew this!)

By now my Dad has a new friend in his life and we convinced her to come along with us. At first she thought it would make it difficult for us...but after much thought she decided to join us (greatest thing for Dad!...definitely helped make his trip better. Mom definitely would be happy for him and smiling down.)

(*Side note here....years ago we used to dress alike. I stopped doing that because I figured the kids were getting older now and wouldn't want to do that. Mom had bought us the matching beach Mickey outfits a last year but we never wore them. Rebecca decided she wanted to wear them this year so that we could have Grammee with us. So we did.)

There's that point when you're heading to the ship that you go over the bridge and just as you reach the top the ship comes in view. You can see it a million times in pictures but there's nothing like seeing it in person. Beautiful!!!

We get off of the bus and head into the building. #6 we're handed. Last year we were #2 when we arrived at the same time. So I guess people are getting there earlier. As we climbed up the escalator my daughters first sight was a bright orange shirt. Rebecca and her family were there!! She ran over to her and the hugs began! Teresa came over to me in line. It was so good to see her again! She pulled out a bag and gave it to me. A present? For me? Why? I opened it up and pulled out an angel pin. One with my mother's birthstone on it. How could she possibly remember?! Well that's the type of person she is. Beautiful! She wanted me to have Mom with me through the trip. Thank you again Teresa!

After we check in we head over to Teresa and family. Finally get to meet the DH. For some reason I thought he was going to be a quiet man...for some reason I was wrong! Funny guy whose mouth helped me gain the attention of a few people a couple of times through the trip. Hi Ken They introduce us to cheysdad (Mike) and his dw Cathe and their daughter Cheyenne. Another beautiful family we were fortunate to hang out with throughout the trip I guess I'm not good about guessing what people are going to be like. I was totally wrong about Ken...just as I was TOTALLY off about Mike. (He's the "perv" in my title....way off!! ...maybe he'll come here and explain why....

We finally head onto the ship and head down to change our dining rotation...no problems!!! Then we head up to Topsiders to grab our first meal onboard. FOOD!!! Then came the problem...we ran into a family that we were friendly with. They proceed to tell me that the husband complained to DCL about their website and that everytime they went on-line there was a problem. Plus they complained about the room they got. Didn't understand this since it was what they wanted. He demanded the get a free upgrade because of the problems they encountered and because he was traveling with our family. He figured he would drop our name and benefit from anything perks that came our way. The wife figured I knew of this already because on their ressies it said traveling with the "Suzy Mouse" family. SHe thought that it said that on mine. It didn't. How could a person do that??? Anything I requested from DCL was for Dad to make him comfortable. At the time of the changing of our plans his friend wasn't coming. I didn't even want anything for us!! I was mortified and completely embarrassed!! I took care of this later....

We headed to the great big Dis meet....those who were there know how sarcastic I'm being. Hint for all....make a specific meeting spot before you leave for your cruise....and don't pick a loud spot!! We did get to meet some wonderful people...and eventually met some more along the way. Ken did try extremely hard to get the recognition....he got us a shoutout on the microphone....but don't know who heard. And then he took a lime green mickey head (who gave that to us??) and attempted to use it to get recognition. The best one was...and I've mentioned this in other posts....was Ken going up to a woman in a lime green bathing suit (or was it a shirt ) and asked her if she was a diser....gotta love the response you get when you ask a person if they are a diser and they have no clue as to what you're talking about!

***Another tip...people other that disers wear lime green!!

I'll be back later with more!!

A solution to the problem and a letter comes our way!!

 

[pklein09]

Then came the problem...we ran into a family that we were friendly with. They proceed to tell me that the husband complained to DCL about their website and that everytime they went on-line there was a problem. Plus they complained about the room they got. Didn't understand this since it was what they wanted. He demanded the get a free upgrade because of the problems they encountered and because he was traveling with our family. He figured he would drop our name and benefit from anything perks that came our way. The wife figured I knew of this already because on their ressies it said traveling with the "Suzy Mouse" family. SHe thought that it said that on mine. It didn't. How could a person do that??? Anything I requested from DCL was for Dad to make him comfortable. At the time of the changing of our plans his friend wasn't coming. I didn't even want anything for us!! I was mortified and completely embarrassed!! I took care of this later....

How RUDE!!!

and I can't wait to hear how you took care of it.....

 

[Thistle]

Ack, don't leave us hanging!