Our Wonderful Cruise 8/20/06

[CastleCreations]

Hello everyone. My name is Elisa and I have 2 girls, Ireland and Alexis. This is our trip report for our Wonderful Cruise on 8/20/06.

I had only booked my cruise 60 days before my family was due to depart, so I didn't have too much time to get everything ready. I am a single mom of 2 girls ages 3 and 5. This trip was a birthday gift to my oldest. My mother also went with us on the trip.
On the morning of the 20th we got up and finished packing and took some photos outside. I had made Minnie sailor outfits for my girls just for the occasion. We left home,here in Florida, around 8:30 and made it to the port just before 10 am. We were the first one's let into the parking area. We pulled up to the curb and the porter took my bags, all 8 of them and then we were off across the street to the parking area. 48 dollars later, we were on our way into the port.
When you enter the port, you put your items through the x-ray machine and then a man/woman gives you a number before you go up the escalator. We had #2!! yay!!
Since I did all of our paperwork online, check in took only a few minutes. I registered the girls for the kids club and got my pager. Then I bought a few snacks and a lanyard for my room keys. We took some photos, watched some cartoons, and people watched until it was time to board. I didn't even realise they were boarding, there was no announcement. We just got in line, and we were like the 10th aboard.
We stopped for a few photos and then onto the ship. A young woman asked the girls their names and then we were announced. It was great. The ship is so beautiful in the atrium and with all of the excitement it was hard not to cry.
We really didn't want to eat right away, so we decided to explore the ship. We got on the elevator and started at the top. We saw the Mickey pool, most of the restaurants, the kids club, our room location, although we couldn't get into our room, and the movie theater.
I highly recommend exploring the ship before it gets crowded. You can always eat later.
After we saw most of the ship, we sat on the steps near our room by the elevator and waited until they opened our room. Our room was available around 1pm. We had a room on the 7th floor with a veranda. We dropped off our bags and then we hit the buffet. Yum!!
After that we headed back to our room to unpack. For anyone who knows me, I am a huge packer/unpacker. I need to unpack as soon as possible. So while my mother entertained my girls, I unpacked everything and decorated our door with our door signs. We even had some leftover pirate decorations from my daughter's birthday that we hung up. A big pirate and pirate ship kept us company while we were onboard.
After I finished unpacking it was time to get our life perservers on and head down to our station. Don't worry about trying to figure out everything. There is a cute sound that is followed by instructions about what to do and where to go. After we did the safety exercise, we went back to the room and then took the kids to the kids club to have a look around. The kids club is a little dark and my 3 year old was a little shy about going in. but as soon as she saw the closet full of princess dresses she lit up like a Christmas tree.
We watched a little of the sail away party and stood on the front of the boat as we pulled out of the port. A must do!! It's so beautiful. Sunny, warm, and breezy. It was fun waving to the people on the little boats as we left.
Since we had the early dinner seating,5:30pm, we didn't have much time to get ready for dinner. I had Cinderella and Belle dresses for the girls and they looked so cute.
Our first dinner was at Animator's palate. I was beginning to feel a little green around the gills....Yikes....at dinner. So I couldn't even enjoy the dinner. My girls did NOT behave at all. All of a sudden with everyone calling the Princess, I think it went to their heads. They were very demanding and bossy. I was so ashamed of them. I began to feel better after my Sprite..and after dessert we got up to leave. They were supposed to bring my daughter a birthday cake after dinner and they brought it to us as we left. They put a lid on it and we took it back to the room. It was this strange pink thing that sort of wiggled, yowza. It went right in the trash. Sorry DCL..LOL
After dinner the kids went to the kids club and we headed to the Theater to see the the show. It was some Juggler guy. He was good. We laughed a lot, but that green feeling snuck up on me again. Sigh...I endured it and shortly I felt better.
After the show, we grabbed the kids and were treated by some real Disney magic. Our room guy, sorry I don't know what his title is, stateroom host? Anyhow, Rosello had created our messy room into an oasis. Our turndown service was perfect. It was so magical to walk into a dimly lit room with the curtains drawn, and our beds looking very inviting. It was the absolute perfect way to end each day aboard.
Thanks for reading..if you haven't fallen asleep yet. It gets better, I sware.
Elisa-- More to come shortly..

 

[HiYaPal]

Love your report so far....

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Sounds like a great start. Can't wait to continue reading.

 

[jrose529]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful cruise with us. I can't wait for more!

 

[CastleCreations]

Day 2- Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plains....of Nassau

We awoke to the ship pulling into the port of Nassau. The weather was dreary at best. The day only got worse from there. I had booked a day room at the Atlantis and sadly all I saw of the Atlantis is what I could see thru the rain from the ship.

My mother and I decided to make the best of it and try to get to the straw market. We dropped the girls off at the kids club and we were on our way. Well after spending 30 minutes with my flat iron, it only took 1 minute of the rain to do me in. It was a DOWNPOUR. By the time I walked, half jogged to the little yellow and green building, I was soaked to the skin. And as soon as I walked in, I was asked by a seedy looking man if I wanted a tour of Nassau. Not to be rude, but all I really wanted was a towel. We found a bathroom and dried ourselves under the hairdryer.

Then we decided to try to find the pirate museum. We stayed kind of dry on the way, by staying under the awnings. We found a man selling umbrellas and we bought one. We should have bought 2...you'll find out later.

After some searching and more walking, we found the pirate museum. We paid to get in and off we went. It was a cute quirky place. It only took us about 15 minutes to walk thru the exhibits. On the way out, the rain really started coming down. We soon saw that we would never make it back to the ship with the books that we bought from the Pirate Museum gift shop, dry. My mother saw that the museum sold black umbrellas, so she bought one. Well as soon as she got outside and opened that thing, I could have fallen down into the street with laughter I almost peed in my pants. It was a black unbrella all right. Complete with white pirate skulls and the ends of the umbrella were all jagged and pointy. So picture my very preppy mother in her kakhi capris and little sneakers with this huge pirate umbrella. I could not stop laughing.

On our way to the straw market, we soon found out that Nassau floods when it rains. Really floods. We were wading thru knee deep water trying to get to the straw market. Once we got to the straw market, we did a little shopping. The women try to pressure you into buying something, but you need to just do your looking and keep moving. I wound up with 2 little bags for my girls. The lady sewed their names on them. I also bought myself a fake Burberry purse. Their fakes look pretty good. It was so crowded in their and the floor was totally under water, so you had to walk on wet cardboard thru all of the tables. My mother knocked a Louis Vuitton into a puddle..whoops. Just keep moving...mother.....

We headed back to the ship and decided to try lunch at Tritons. It was very nice being able to sit down without the girls, but as soon as I ordered a drink, I was being paged that Alexis wanted to leave the kids club. So I brought her to our lunch. She misbehaved as usual. I think she is going thru her terrible 2's a little late. She is 3 now. Oh well.

I'm not sure what we did after lunch. We did a lot of walking around the ship. I know at one point I took the girls into the movie theater to see a little of the Pirates movie. My littlest fell asleep and as soon as she did, the oldest had to use the restroom. So I had to leave the movie and carry my not so little one to the restroom.

That night we didn't even eat at our dining room. We were not happy with the way the girls behaved and we were full from lunch, so we ordered room service and stayed in the room.

For those of you who haven't traveled with DCL before, they have a great television station, 2 actually, that show all Disney movies. All day and night. It's a great timesaver when you are trying to entertain your kids for a minute while you get dressed or shower. I wished the Disney hotels offered this station too.

The show that night was Herculies..spelling..sorry. It was okay. The dancers and singers are very talented and the show moved right along. I think it was a little mature for the girls. I know they didn't understand any of it, but they enjoyed all of the special effects.

After that we went back to the room and went to bed. I wanted to be up early for a (fingers crossed) Sunny day at Castaway Cay.

I know I am leaving things out. Inbetween all of our running around the ship, the girls had many pictures taken with different characters, they visited Scoops, the icecream shop, and we watched every sunset.

The most peaceful time for me was sitting on my veranda with the breeze blowing. I can still hear the ocean. It was so peaceful. If you can swing it, I would highly recommend the veranda room. It made all the difference in the world.

Take care and I will write more soon.
Elisa

 

[curlybop]

Great report so far! I am about the pirate umbrella though. That is hilarious!

 

[jrose529]

Too bad you had so much rain in Nassau. The umbrella story is great though!

 

[CastleCreations]

Castaway Cay..here we come!!
We were up early enough to see the ship squeeze itself into port. I'm amazed at the people who have to steer that ship. Anyhow, we watched from our balcony, lots of stuff being unloaded and surprisingly loaded onto the ship. It was fun to see the island come to life.

After grabbing a quick bite from room service, we were packed and off the ship we went. The camera man, stopped us for a family photo in front of the ship. After developing the photos, this turned out to be the funniest photo ever. I was leering at my oldest because she kept crying, not realizing she has sunscreen burning her eyes. My mother looked a little like a tipsy tourist and my youngest I think had her eyes closed. And to top it off, we looked like we had been cut and pasted into the photo.

Anyhow, we took the tram to the beach. I LOVED the pirate ship. Very cool!!! The beach was a short walk from the tram. We found a shady spot under an umbrella. We got in the water right away. Since the water is shallow for quite a ways out, my 5 year old was able to swim quite easily. I took turns sitting in the surf with my little one, finding shells, that she wasn't able to keep... 2 of the little one's did find their way into my bag..shhhh. I'm not sure why but there are no waves at Castaway Cay.

As we were heading to our beach chairs, the photographer took the kids picture. For a brief....very brief moment, he aimed his camera at me. If I heard one little click of that camera, I would have thrown him and his camera into the ocean...I don't mind getting my photo taken, but I was struggling to fix my swimsuit and get the ten pounds of sand out before I made the walk back to the chair...LOL

One lady was a lifesaver, she took my drink order and brought me and my mother 2 lovely strawberry daquri's ...non alcoholic...can't stand alcohol in the sun.

After resting and letting the kids play, we decided to go eat lunch. The lunch buffet was great. The fresh fruit is amazing. I'm not much of a meat eater so I am always thankful when I see all of that fruit..YUM!!

We walked around a little and then back to our chairs. Another family decided to sit near us and we had to listen to their teenager daughter complain. NONSTOP!! I was ready to tell her to be quiet and enjoy the surroundings but we just decided to leave. It's amazing to me that someone her age, could sit there in the most beautiful spot and complain...

After doing some serious shopping, we rinsed off at the showers and headed back onto the boat. After giving the girls some showers we wandered around the ship for a bit. I could see they were getting sleepy, so I put them in the room for a nap.

After the nap, it was time for the pirate dinner....I couldn't wait. The girls looked so cute in their outfits. We had dinner at Parrot Cay. The waiters were very nice and it was a lot of fun. We had taken a small treasurechest filled with 100 gold (plastic) necklaces to give out to the other children. It was nice to watch my girls interacting with all of the other children and adults.

After the dinner, it was on to the Golden Mickey's. I enjoyed the show. The girls did too. Any advice would be to sit up front. My girls really got excited to see the characters and dancers up close. All of the dancers wave to the kids, so they feel included.

After the show, I took the kids back to the room and put them in bed. I would have liked to go to the Pirate Party on Deck but I didn't want to go alone, and I couldn't leave the girls alone. So I wandered up and saw the huge buffet they were setting up. I looked around for a few minutes and grabbed 2 frozen margaritas to bring back to the room . These are my mom's favorite. So we drank our drinks and watched Beauty and the Beast.

I don't know why, but I was starting to feel restless. I'm not sure if it was the stress from the trip, or just being confined to that room with my mother or what..

I sat out on the veranda for a while before I went to bed. It is so nice hearing the ocean go by. I will never forget looking down at the water and just feeling at peace.

I didn't have any plans for our day at sea but it turned out okay!
More later. Thanks for reading.
Elisa---tips---One piece of Black Forest Cake is more than enough to satisfy a sweet tooth--You can never get enough of Minnie Mouse-- And taking a video camera from Airconditioning to humid weather will make your lens fog up. (over and over and over) So half of my video is my finger cleaning the lens. LOL

 

[Tiggery]

Great report, Can't wait to read the rest

 

[Lindy Loo]

More please!!

and if you can my DD4 would LOVe to see some pictures!

Glad you are HONEST about your kids having naughty moments. Just cos its Disney, they are still kids, so at least this helps me manage my exectations of my DD!

 

[Muushka]

Great report, thank you for sharing your cruise with all of us!

One request, I want to see your girls in the Minnie sailor outfits! Can you post a pic??

 

[CastleCreations]

I have never posted a photo before so bear with me.LOL

This photo was taken right before we left. The girls were still in a good mood.

This was right before our drill. Notice Alexis' face. She looks thrilled.

Elisa

 

[CastleCreations]

Our Day at Sea

Sorry to everyone, but our Day at Sea was pretty uneventful. We thought we would be just floating around out there in the ocean somewhere, when early in the morning, I saw land out of the veranda. When I went out, I saw that we were in Nassau again. I was very confused. I called Guest Services and they explained that there was a medical emergency and we needed to drop off a guest. I leaned over the railing as we pulled into port. Of course the sun was shining!! Boo-hiss!! Anyhow, after they unloaded a woman that had a heart attack, we were back on our way.

I took my girls to the Mickey pool for the first time on our trip. I know, we have been on the boat for 3 days and they hadn't tried out the pool. Well neither one of them are swimmers and I tend to not wear a swimsuit in public so I went around 9 in the morning. One word of caution, the Mickey pool is deep. My 5 year old had no trouble, but it was up to her chest. The 3 year old, couldn't go in at all. Luckily she was happy playing in the baby area. Where the slide ends, isn't deep, but there is a drop off in the other side. One minute you're in 6 inches, the next minute, you're in 3 feet. It might not be 3 feet, but you get the picture.

My mother came down to find us at the pool and we went to find something to eat. I think we ate at topsiders, but I'm not sure. I really don't remember too much of that day. I know my adorable little girl refused to go to the kids club, so I was stuck with, ahem, I mean I had the pleasure of her company for the afternoon. We went to an event with the captain where we were able to ask him questions, and then there was a 30 minute session on debarkation. It really helped.

After the session, I took a little ship bank that I purchased to a Captain's signing and had time sign it. He is really very sweet.

A lot of our time was spent in Shutters looking at our photos, wandering the ship, and trying to find Scoops, the ice cream place.

We packed our things before the show and had our bags ready to go by 8:00. I set the bags outside the room and bid them farewell. I was hoping to see them again, but you never know.

The last show was Disney Dreams. It is by far the best show on the Ship. I was in tears thru most of it. To see my daughter's faces was priceless. But when Cinderella came out, my daughter squealled so loud, I'm sure she heard her on stage. We were always in the 3rd or 4th row. But after a few minutes when everything was quiet, you hear her say...Mommy...that's not the REAL Cinderella... I had to put my hand over her mouth. I saw Prince Charming start to laugh and he waved at her. It was great.

The next morning, we did without breakfast and got off the ship early. We did hit the coffee stand on the 9th floor by the pool.

One thing I did want to mention is the tipping. They deliver these little envelopes to you with a guideline sheet of what is the average amount to tip. All I can say is...well I can't post that here, but you don't have to follow that sheet.

My family dined in the dining room for a total of 2 dinners and lunch. So that's 3 times out of a possible 11 meals. We did not tip the waiters what was on the sheet. I think we gave them around 30-40. each.
Now on the other hand, our room guy, Rosello was a godsend. I was totally in love and if he would have fit in my suitcase, I would have taken him home. Totally polite, always available, great with the kids, and most importantly, the room was always PERFECT!!! We tipped him 150 because he earned every penny. Even at 8 in the morning the poor guy was already working up a sweat cleaning up after everyone. So don't be intimidated by those envelopes. Tip what you want...

Leaving the boat was sad, and I had to hold back tears many times that last morning. I am tearing up now as I write this. As great as the trip was, I'm not sure when I can afford to go again. I did manage to squeeze out a few days at Coronado Springs after the trip. But with all of our laundry we had, I had to come home first.
So we spent a few hours unpacking, doing laundry and repacking. I dropped off my memory card for my camera and had all 300 photos developed. I picked them up before we went to the hotel and it was great to see all of those fun moments again.

I wish I had spent more time just relaxing. But overall, the best experience was just looking out at the ocean from my veranda. Sorry DCL, but I can do without Mickey and the pirate stuff. Just give me my veranda and a Cake at Sea couldn't hurt...

Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you all have a great time on your cruise and have great memories after...

Elisa

 

[CastleCreations]

After rereading my last post, I want to apologize if I worded some things wrong. I'm sorry to the family of the ill woman on the ship. I'm sure it is heartbreaking to have something like that happen, so far from home. Best wishes to you, and hope things are better for you all.

 

[Babs417]

Good job great pictures of your girls so cute

 

[scottishwee35]

Thank for your story and it was good to reading it and the girls in the photos are lovely.

Love that clothes well. Are you making it??

Scottishwee35

 

[Muushka]

Hi there. Thank you for your great trip report and posting the pics, those outfits are priceless as are the girls!

 

[MagicMe]

Great Trip report!!! We were on the same cruise. Kind of interesting reading it from someone else's perspective. We had a party of 15 and there were only five younger ones (8, 11, 12, 14 and 14). There rest were 18 and older (some of us much older)!

Sorry to hear you got a little queasy. We lucked out - no one had any problems in my group.

I never made it on to Nassua (by choice). I was at the straw market when we cruised before and just didn't want to deal with the rain. Some of the crew went over in the afternoon after the sun came out and they picked up a few things (including those little purses you talked about).

Loved CC - I'm with you on the fruit...it was awesome!

Made it to the Pirates Party but it was so crowded (even on Deck 10) so it was difficult to really enjoy. But the fireworks were great!

I didn't have a verandah - we did an inside room - but we hit the comfy chairs on Deck 4. Sounds like the same experience you had on your verandah (but yours was more private). Course, no verandah would have held all of us - usually anywhere from 6 to 10 adults. I talk about it in my trip report (it's over but the Wonder lives on).

Sorry we never got to meet up with any DISer's!

 

[MnParrothead]

Thanks for posting the funny and entertaining trip reports. Those are adorable pix of your daughters.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Sitting on the verandah watching the water is one of the best things about a cruise. Grab a book and a glass of margarita and .....aaaaaaaahhhhh....perfect.

Loved reading your report.