Panama 08/17 With Andrew Derek

[DMMarla07860]

yes, thanks enjoyed reading your trip report.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew,
You forgot one of the funniest performers! A BIG guy named Mike and his crew were hesterical!!! I was in absolute tears laughing when the poor Straigt Jacketed Jugler Jeff got a huge surprise!

Thanks for the review, You minded me of many many memories!

Andrew

I did put my comment complaints about the kids club as they didn't put my daughter at show stage which she is very good acting as she is deaf. She can be comedy acting too. She was heartbroken when we came to watch it. We cannot believe and also we pointed out that the staff didn't have deaf awakeness.

I think Med Cruise kids club as the staff was brilliant than Westbound.

Thank you for your trip report during your cruise and I enjoyed to read it.

Now I cannot believe it over now.

Next one : Wait until 7 Oct to hear about the Cruise.

Scottishwee35

Disney are usually very good at looking after people with disabilities, I am sorry they couldn't help your DD this time. The Kids counselors do a great job, I think the change in the age groupings and a 'few' kids were the problem. I have read many times of other people having kids roam the decks on a cruise, but, never seen it myself, this time everything people have posted was there, hanging out in the areas around the elevators, running down stateroom decks, making a lot of noise. Pushing past etc. Christian made a number of announcements to encourage kids and encourage parents to get the kids to go to the clubs.

I'd just like to add my thanks, Andrew. Your insights have been fascinating and I'm v-e-r-y excited about the prospect of the release of the "special" cruises so soon...

Welcome home...

Yes only have to wait now to October 7th, for the confirmation.

Thank you and everyone who has posted on this thread, being at sea the internet costs where high, I have the $100 package for over four hours and that went by Panama.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Andrew- what a wonderful trip report thread!
I just read it today- but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm so bummed i did not meet you on the cruise. I didn't, did I? Or did we just 'see" each other but not really talk? or not see each other at all?
*sigh* Sorry I missed ya on the cruise!

Ally and Aj are Platinum selling recording artists who star on the Disney channel,

Saturday morning 31st, my wedding anniversary, just passing by the Turks and Cacaos islands on the Atlantic side, at Grand Cacaos, this morning at 8am. The sea is a bit more active than yesterday’s glassy conditions and a bit more cloud around. Yesterday the seas looked a deep blue that you associate with the Caribbean and the Bahamas, today it’s more just looking at breakers and waves. We passed Puerto Rica

Last night we had our evening meal in Palo and dinner was fantastic, I had the soup, pasta made with prime rib, the steak with blue cheese very good, then the pana cota and a chocolate scuffle. Accompanied with a great Martini cocktail and the after dinner drink they give you.

We were there at 6pm, and saw sunset from our window table. The Captain and officers were having a meal in the Private room, with some cruisers, Including Cat 1>3 and a couple of people I recognise.

My kids had their meal in Parrot Cay and as it’s was pirates night most of the cruisers had dressed up, and did a parade around the dinner room themselves. My kids were dressed up and looked very good indeed. They had their picture taken with Captain Jack Sparrow later.

The crew talent show was very good, with for example Guest services doing Thriller starting in the audience, a lady kids counsellor, played the piano on stage whilst her photos of her experience on DCL from starting to all the ports of call where shown on the big screens, it was quite personal and very good, we saw the Med ports of call last ear, Mexico and Panama this year, Disneyland parks, and volunteering to help kids and charities.

Pones gave us a great song, well sung, he joined the cruise staff after a staff crew talent show picked him up, before that he had an engineering job, He was a formal Philippines star, on their version of American / Pop Idol.

They also included three dances with the officers that included Christian doing a dance, and even Don Duck Williams.

Pirate deck party was well attended and people again had made a great effort in their costumes, one I liked was a lady dressed up as the redhead on the ride, (We want the redhead!)

Of course after the good characters danced the pirates took over, then Mickey saves the day and we have the fireworks, with the sea calm and the night sky very clear it was a great show.

Today is the last sea day, we have disembarkation talks (boo) we have the bingo with a jackpot of over $20k now, so that’s the WDT full then and the pools empty at 10.30am!

Captains Gala dinner, dessert buffet, tonight, with Disney Dreams. So not much more time to report anything more.

Sunday is Castaway Cay and we are told we are going there and there should be any problem, but subject to the weather conditions. So Sunday is busy busy busy, we need to pack as well and also see the till we meet again show Sunday night.

Last night the Shops and WDT Preludes area was completely closed off, it said for a private function, possible a rehearsal for something coming up, but interesting to see it all closed up and the doors next to the Atrium to the shops closed.

Kids were coming along yesterday knocking in doors asking for our star guests, it’s an open secret where they area, but it would be nice for these teenagers to have some control and respect.

Starting to really notice the waves now, it’s a bit more choppy and active than the last few nights though not as bad as the Pacific side.

re: the shops being closed.
My daughter and some of her teenage friends saw Aly, AJ and family in there shopping when the stores were closed. I, too, was wondering why they were closed- I went down to look around and the doors were shut and appeared closed. Later is when the teens said they had seen Aly, Aj and some other people in there (presumably their family) doing some shopping. I'm not sure why they would close the shops for them though- they were wandering the ship in other places in public areas just fine- we saw them in the halls, stairways, and even on the far end of the family beach at Castaway Cay (right near where we were having the rugby game) they just waltzed out and layed in some loungers and read books. So I'm not sure why they needed the stores closed for them- maybe because it's such a small area with so much stuff everywhere that they didn't want a crowd to form in the shops around Aly and AJ?

re: the teenagers
geesh, I didn't know that teens were trying to find where Aly & AJ were staying. How rude! But I knew when I heard Christian ask that they be allowed to enjoy their vacation on the cruise that it wasn't going to happen.. I knew they couldn't just walk around and not have anyone bother them at all. Not likely. LOL I just didn't know kids were trying to bug them in their rooms too!

Final thoughts, well we had Aly and AJ and their family next to us for the last part of the cruise, interesting to see a lot of concierge going back and forth to attend to there needs, There were little young boys trying to find out what cabin they were in and knocking on our door, and we had phone calls from girls asking if they could speak to them, I presume the actual room phones would have been blocked to Guest services to stop this.

Palo afternoon tea, I put this on my comment card, sorry for repeating but it was bad, I hope anyone else who is upset also registers their complaint.

Kids clubs my children for the first time didn't use them much, they didn't like the changes in age groups and locations and there was some bullying in DS group, so they both gave up, a pity as they have loved going to these before.

I hope they change these back.

But the cruise overall was great and I would do it again and again if I could.

We also had issues with the clubs. I think it's partly the age groupings, partyl MY kids ages both being at the "middle" between one age group and another, and partly doing the same things over and over and over. All I know is our first cruise we barely could get our kids out of the club and lab and in fact even planned on not forcing them to go to the shows or have dinner with us- only to find out this cruise they really didn't want to be in there that much. We even tried switching them around- we originally had our barely turned 8yr old DD in the 5-7 group but since she wasn't staying in there much and wanted to be in the 8-10 we tried that- but she went back the next day because she was really not interested in the 8-10 activities plus everyone else in there just towered over her and didn't have the same interests/etc. Seemed like most of the kids were either in the older part of that 8-10 age group OR they were just big (in size) kids? LOL I dunno.
And our son -who is almost 11- was in the 8-10 group and even he grew bored quickly and after about a week of him complaining we managed to get him in the Ocean Quest which he enjoyed much more- but the only problem is that they have to be able to sign themselves out and he was only allowed (by us) with the understanding he wouldn't leave OQ without paging us first (going to bathroom or to get a soda he could just page when he left and returned- anything else he had to page and hear from us either by phone or us coming to him before going off to do stuff anywhere else)- well the night before Castaway Cay we caught him going down the stairs from deck 7 to deck 6 as we came up to deck 6 to go to our room after dinner! He'd gone to get a drink but was trying to find his "friend" who said he'd meet him at deck 7... so we had to stick to our word and put him back in the lab which he was not happy about. (and didn't spend much time in there either)

now our oldest who is 14- we really should have put in the OQ but I thought a lot of other 14yr old's of DIS'ers were going to be in the teen stack too so I let her go there. (later I found out about a week into the cruise that most of the 14yr old girls had actually been put in OQ instead of the stack! MIscommunication on that I guess) I really think she'd have fit in better and had more fun in the OQ but you know how teens are and after the first night she wanted to be like the "big" teenagers and stay in the stack. Which was a mistake because we had several times we couldn't find her because she was roaming around with groups of friends instead of doing stack activities or in the stack- and come to find out later in the cruise that the majority of the time she was spending with a certain boy (although had "girlfriends" along with her just to throw us off the scent that she was wanting to spend time with that boy). She also wanted to stay till they closed so we barely saw her the entire cruise and I had to keep waiting up for her until they closed at 2am or 2:30am every night, except the few nights I put my foot down about her coming back early- but they kept doing the IN STACK stuff and fun stuff late at night! WE had to actually ground her the night before CC and she missed the homecoming and everything- because we had to finally put our foot down when once again she wasn't where she was supposed to be and was found off in Studio sea with a group of kids but all snuggled up to that boy (and we heard from other DIS'ers that they'd seen her in the hallway sitting with that boy and POSSIBLY even kissing him although she denies this vehemently).
And she kept having boys (supposedly a different one that is just a friend but we aren't likely to believe that now) hold her things like room keys/etc. and when we told her she was grounded- come to find out THAT boy had her roomkey holding it for her (she mostly never had pockets and kept breaking her plastic holder on her lanyard- this was her excuses for others holding her stuff all the time) and he lied to me and my husband about it. She said the other boy had it, we asked both boys who had her roomkey- they both denied having it but my husband saw THE boy (that Ruby liked) palming the key to the other boy and the other boy trying to hide sneak it into his jacket pocket..... Not sure why they were trying to hide the key since it was obivous that Ruby had told us they had it (otherwise why would we ask them for the roomcard- yanno?) but it bothered us that they tried to hide it from us like that.
We let her do the teen excursion on CC the next day and spend time at the teen beach since it's supervised there and she was in the water with lots of kids the entire time- but we didn't let her back to the stack except for a short time on the last night since some girls came and begged for her to come the last night (and we kept calling during dinner to make sure she was still in the stack).
Needless to say I really regret not putting her in the OQ this time.

MY personal opinion is that the age groups need to be slightly different and maybe more flexible with children close to an age above or below them. They were flexible with us but we didn't know that they would be when we first got on the cruise- yanno? And I think the age groupings should be like this- if possible: (my opinion ofcourse)
3-4 club
5-7 club
8-9 lab (like it used to be- so you don't have barely 8yr olds with kids that are almost 11- that's a huge difference between just turned 8yr olds and almost 11yr olds! huge huge difference in size, maturity, what they like to do, etc.)
10-11 lab (like they used to have 10-12 in lab in their own age grouping- worked great for my daughter who was 12 on the last cruise and they seemed to have no problem having 2 age groups in there last time but maybe that was with use of 10-14yr olds in OQ? not sure)
12-14 in OQ (my personal opinion is that some 14yr olds are not ready for the stack and hanging with teenagers up to those almost 18yrs old! and that age range are very similar in body maturity, how they dress and what they like to do, emotional maturity, etc. It's the ages that is in our middle schools for instance)
15-18 in stack (my personal opinion is that these ages are more similar in maturity levels, etc.)

I am betting that even with 11yr olds added back in the lab it would work with the 8-9yr olds in one age group and 10-11 yr olds in one age group -all in the lab- by having activities for the OQ group to be out of the OQ during times the lab age groups have time in there. That's another thing missing for the 8-10yr olds they have in lab now- all they have is "family time" in OQ very early in the morning for kids that age.... very early before OQ opens for the 11-13yr olds. I think it worked better with 2 age groups in the lab and them having SOME time slots in the OQ at times.

on the new ships I don't see why they couldn't make another area- like the teen stack for instance- for the 12-14yr olds to keep them seperate from the older teens without sticking 14yr olds with them. Or they could make the OQ bigger- and divide up the age groups in there like they do in the club (and like they used to do in the lab) If OQ was bigger like the club and the lab- they could divide up these age groups better and have more room for them and be able to keep the 14yr olds out of the up to age 18 teen group. Just my personal opinion.... ofcourse primarily based on my kids! LOL
(for instance with Rita barely 8... she really was "in between" the 2 age groups. At times she enjoyed the club but didn't like doing the same things over and over and was bored at times- however her day in the lab wasn't enjoyable for her being in the same age group with kids that many were like "almost 11 yrs old"! With Robert he was almost 11 and met a TON of 11yr old boys at the pre-cruise meets... and they weren't in there with him in the 8-10 age group ofcourse. And he felt a lot of that stuff was 'babyish"- which I'm sure it was since it had activities that also had to cater to what 8yr olds like to do yanno? almost 11yr olds do not like to do the same things that 8yr olds like to do.
I liked it when my daughter was in the 10-12 age group but we had the choice of her not signing herself out! Now even though my almost 11yr old was allowed in the OQ since he was bored in the lab- we didn't have that choice and obviously some children, including my son, can't be trusted to not check himself out without permission. So I'd prefer to have the option, up to age 12 like they used to, to say NO signing out privileges! I think having a 10-11 age group -or even 10-12 like it used to be with only 13/14yr olds in the OQ - with the ability to NOT allow the 10-11 or 10-12yr olds to sign themselves out works better.
And then ofcourse my oldest at 14 obviously wasn't ready for the freedom and mingling with such older teens at her tender age. So obviously I think she'd have been better off grouped with younger teens like 12-14yr olds or 13/14yr olds.

I don't know if anyone else had the issues we did with the age groupings- but the way it is now just doesn't work that great. The way it was on our first cruise- would have worked fine for our younger two (rita with 8/9yr olds and robert with 10-12yr olds) but still would have been problems with our 14yr old up in the stack with older teens. It has room for improvement on how they age group them is all I'm saying.

 

[RJAYL]

Hi Andrew

Glad you made it home safe & sound!

It was good to meet you & your family in person after posting back & forth for a couple of years!

Great trip want it?

Great trip reporting the only thing you missed were the antics at the Quite Cove Pool!

Take care!

Robert

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Bib and Robert thank you, I saw so many people in such a short time, not everyone was wearing their diss badges, people did keep coming up to me and saying hello, and I tryed to put name and diss name together.

The Shops I think where shut for Aly and AJ, on pirate night, I had to do a ship search that night as my Son dissapeared as quite a few dissers know I was combing the ship for him from 11pm to 12.30pm, he was found, but during that search I found the shops closed.

Now I know from later it was Aly and AJ, as looking into their room, ( well you would woundnt you if its next door) there was considerable DCL bags of shopping in there.

Presume they were told, ''take what you can' and 'Dont pay'. And they left there nice Palo Cakes left outside there room untouched!

I do agree kids clubs need a review.

 

[Nutty4Disney]

Andrew,
Sorry we never ran into you on the cruise. I enjoyed the trip report. We had a wonderful time. Our only negative comment is about the kids running around unattended. We had a group of 5 teens basically run us off of Deck 4 with there loud and vulgar discussions. And I don't know how many time I was almost run over by children running on stairs or down hallways. I did run into your son one day in the elevator. I recognized him by the accent and the posted pictures. And yes he was well mannered and only pushed one button.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew,
Sorry we never ran into you on the cruise. I enjoyed the trip report. We had a wonderful time. Our only negative comment is about the kids running around unattended. We had a group of 5 teens basically run us off of Deck 5 with there loud and vulgar discussions. And I don't know how many time I was almost run over by children running on stairs or down hallways. I did run into your son one day in the elevator. I recognized him by the accent and the posted pictures. And yes he was well mannered and only pushed one button.

Well I am sorry I didnt bump into you, but pleased my Son didnt do anything wrong, as that would be really embrassing to me, I did tell him that there were loads of people on the cruise that knew me and him, and they would report back to me anything he did.

He got 'lost' one night Pirate night.

 

[silmarg]

Andrew,

Wonderful report.

I did not have the chance to introduce myself (though I did see you from a distance at the Ally & AJ line - how'd you get allthe way to the front of the line?).

We had a fantastic time as well.. Have been sulking since we got back.

I agree Cartagena was great. I enjoyed it immensely.

I am not sure how we can possibly top this trip....

My gripes:
1. They closed the line for Ally&AJ signing at 2:25 (even though the Navigator showed 2-3PM). MY 6yo DD was in tears. CMs asked what was wrong. We told them (more than one) that she wanted to meet A&AJ, they would not put her on the line... they took our room number (so I was assuming they would send us a signed photo)... but they did nothing.
2. The teens and tweens... they were all over at all hours. While I did not witness that many issues with them, I've heard so many stories about some of thier behavior. Then again, I've heard stories about adults acting quite inappropriately at Quite Cove pool (so maybe the apple doesnt fall far from the tree). I think I heard Chirstiaan getting a bit exhasperated about them in one of his PA announcements late in the cruise.
3. Room TVs are pathetic. And the Air Conditioning was OK at best.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew,

Wonderful report.

I did not have the chance to introduce myself (though I did see you from a distance at the Ally & AJ line - how'd you get allthe way to the front of the line?).

We had a fantastic time as well.. Have been sulking since we got back.

I agree Cartagena was great. I enjoyed it immensely.

I am not sure how we can possibly top this trip....

My gripes:
1. They closed the line for Ally&AJ signing at 2:25 (even though the Navigator showed 2-3PM). MY 6yo DD was in tears. CMs asked what was wrong. We told them (more than one) that she wanted to meet A&AJ, they would not put her on the line... they took our room number (so I was assuming they would send us a signed photo)... but they did nothing.
2. The teens and tweens... they were all over at all hours. While I did not witness that many issues with them, I've heard so many stories about some of thier behavior. Then again, I've heard stories about adults acting quite inappropriately at Quite Cove pool (so maybe the apple doesnt fall far from the tree). I think I heard Chirstiaan getting a bit exhasperated about them in one of his PA announcements late in the cruise.
3. Room TVs are pathetic. And the Air Conditioning was OK at best.

Sorry we didn't get together, with regards to Aly and Aj we got number 81, so we were not too close to the front of the queue, we were shopping at deck 4 noticed the queue and joined, Aly and Aj came down early due to the queue, I think they started 30 mins early at 1.30pm. Sorry DD didnt get to see them, although it was a production line, no dedication just a signature and photo and off.

Stateroom TV's about time they change these, and get photo-pass on them and the ability to look at your stateroom account, order room service?

Our Air con was good, our host kept checking nearly every day for us if it was OK, and for example first night when it wasn't too good she sorted it out.

 

[wheelerkidz3]

Ok sorry for the gap, last days were very busy.

........

Out flight left 10 mins early!! But due to the heavy winds touched down here in the UK, 10 mins late.

So thats it, we have photos navigators, Castaway Club gifts and big belly's to remember 15 nights on the ship.

Its all over, it was overall very enjoyable

great report andrew! your last part makes it all so final!!! i know it's over, but i'm really having trouble accepting that fact!!
sorry i never met you onboard. time seemed to go so fast! thanks for a great review!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

great report andrew! your last part makes it all so final!!! i know it's over, but i'm really having trouble accepting that fact!!
sorry i never met you onboard. time seemed to go so fast! thanks for a great review!

Well it is all over, the thin ladies have sung, but for me its only 11 months to the next one, albeit 7 nights only.

 

[silmarg]

Sorry we didn't get together, with regards to Aly and Aj we got number 81, so we were not too close to the front of the queue

I am talking about the concert date.... I thought I saw your family at the front of the line...

great report andrew! your last part makes it all so final!!! i know it's over, but i'm really having trouble accepting that fact!!
sorry i never met you onboard. time seemed to go so fast! thanks for a great review!

Shannon!

How are things?

I think I have some nice pics of the kids...

Will try to sent it to you soon (work is plain nuts).

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

..hey andrew! great report... i enjoyed all the lil' details.


..i'm sorry [for me]..not getting to meet you or yor darlin'
family.


...wow..81? we're # 75. so we had to be right in front. oy! ,

..they got to anticpate.. a lil'better. ...they stamped..

kid's hands...for the concert..the night before..so they didn't think
..this was going to be a mad house? wow!...i didn't kno they
cut the line..prior to 3pm? that's not right. fyi, we were in line..@

....120 pm. however, we saw people..forming a line @ 10 am...&
were switching off with their familes. [ i just sent my wife & daughter,
to the room..with the instruction..to come @ 2pm. then @ 20 til,
..they changed..their rules..."no holding places..for family"? .
something..that they had been doing since 10 am!... .
the family..behind..us whispered to me.."thats not right..we kno your
daughter was here..just go back to the end of the line..get their
picture..& we'll let them come back up." their justure..was
in~deed...appricated....but iam not going to be "forced"..to become
"sneaky"...for a stinky photo. what i was doing..trying liked heck..to
have located..the cruise director.., after the assistant director's sorely

attitudes....hit a nerve...[ however, after reading all the problems...
..i can see he was under alot stress..too. ]. next thing..i heard...the
numbers..meant nuthing , caused all the cd's were gone! the
"breaking news"..broke ..a lil' 's heart.., luckily...i had a special ,
big pin....that helped calmed her jitters. then her mother... gave my
daughter..a special 9/11 pin...( they were from new york).



..we finally..made it to the front..but ..to the duck..*** we were
more interested...in the don~"ducky"..williams' presentation. the girls
aksed me if we wanted a picture...& i acted.. ... isn't this the line
for the free singing lessons?...they both... .

* & we made it to the ducky 's show , where we won one of his drawings.
faith, trust..& ..sure made our day. then the next evening..i was
talking to a father with 3 lil'girls...whom was unable to get any autographs.
[ he stated..his 2 younger daughters....were to young...to tolerated..the line
..but his 6y/o was disappointed. ] so....you kno?..all the time & stressors..
waiting for their pictures..& autographs?..we gave ours..to guest services..
and they "made" them..into a magic moment..for his lil'girl...& i added
"from the girls"..really wanted her to have it.

* thank you..for all the great input..you gave all of us prior to the
cruise. i'll share one of my favorite things..to do. as you kno, i used
to run..a derby program..& do things for "big brothers & sisters". [our
house ..is already crammed full with all kinds of disney stuff..since
the ealry 80's]. sooo one of my favorite hobby..is to take pictures
and gather disney stuff..for the kids in our community. [ it is amazing
how happy..something like..getting their hats signed..can make them.]
i was excited..getting some of the coloring books..signed....(that we
had gotten during the 06' cruise.) ..as i didn't see any
this time ..& they can be shared..with the whole group.


so..your the one responsible..for getting us a color picture..of the
girls?...i bet they were trying..to impress you?....* good thing your
wife..was nearby..to keep them..from taking..advantage ..of your
generosity. ok.., i admitt..it..crash...put me up to being a lil'
mischievious,

* it was hard..to missed...all their "window dressings". well, while
i might be getting older...i refused to give up my boyish ways!
besides...no~body..gets tired..of attention seeking, if it's
positive?!


oh..between me & you..its hard..to believe..we were part of
this cruise..in many ways...over flowing..with magic dust !

we are hoping for the alaska rumors..are true.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I am talking about the concert date.... I thought I saw your family at the front of the line...


Shannon!

How are things?

I think I have some nice pics of the kids...

Will try to sent it to you soon (work is plain nuts).

Sorry misunderstood yes Aly and AJ concert, my kids left dinner early to get to the queue early and were about 4th/5th.

..hey andrew! great report... i enjoyed all the lil' details.


..i'm sorry [for me]..not getting to meet you or yor darlin'
family.


...wow..81? we're # 75. so we had to be right in front. oy! ,

..they got to anticpate.. a lil'better. ...they stamped..

kid's hands...for the concert..the night before..so they didn't think
..this was going to be a mad house? wow!...i didn't kno they
cut the line..prior to 3pm? that's not right. fyi, we were in line..@

....120 pm. however, we saw people..forming a line @ 10 am...&
were switching off with their familes. [ i just sent my wife & daughter,
to the room..with the instruction..to come @ 2pm. then @ 20 til,
..they changed..their rules..."no holding places..for family"? .
something..that they had been doing since 10 am!... .
the family..behind..us whispered to me.."thats not right..we kno your
daughter was here..just go back to the end of the line..get their
picture..& we'll let them come back up." their justure..was
in~deed...appricated....but iam not going to be "forced"..to become
"sneaky"...for a stinky photo. what i was doing..trying liked heck..to
have located..the cruise director.., after the assistant director's sorely

attitudes....hit a nerve...[ however, after reading all the problems...
..i can see he was under alot stress..too. ]. next thing..i heard...the
numbers..meant nuthing , caused all the cd's were gone! the
"breaking news"..broke ..a lil' 's heart.., luckily...i had a special ,
big pin....that helped calmed her jitters. then her mother... gave my
daughter..a special 9/11 pin...( they were from new york).



..we finally..made it to the front..but ..to the duck..*** we were
more interested...in the don~"ducky"..williams' presentation. the girls
aksed me if we wanted a picture...& i acted.. ... isn't this the line
for the free singing lessons?...they both... .

* & we made it to the ducky 's show , where we won one of his drawings.
faith, trust..& ..sure made our day. then the next evening..i was
talking to a father with 3 lil'girls...whom was unable to get any autographs.
[ he stated..his 2 younger daughters....were to young...to tolerated..the line
..but his 6y/o was disappointed. ] so....you kno?..all the time & stressors..
waiting for their pictures..& autographs?..we gave ours..to guest services..
and they "made" them..into a magic moment..for his lil'girl...& i added
"from the girls"..really wanted her to have it.

* thank you..for all the great input..you gave all of us prior to the
cruise. i'll share one of my favorite things..to do. as you kno, i used
to run..a derby program..& do things for "big brothers & sisters". [our
house ..is already crammed full with all kinds of disney stuff..since
the ealry 80's]. sooo one of my favorite hobby..is to take pictures
and gather disney stuff..for the kids in our community. [ it is amazing
how happy..something like..getting their hats signed..can make them.]
i was excited..getting some of the coloring books..signed....(that we
had gotten during the 06' cruise.) ..as i didn't see any
this time ..& they can be shared..with the whole group.


so..your the one responsible..for getting us a color picture..of the
girls?...i bet they were trying..to impress you?....* good thing your
wife..was nearby..to keep them..from taking..advantage ..of your
generosity. ok.., i admitt..it..crash...put me up to being a lil'
mischievious,

* it was hard..to missed...all their "window dressings". well, while
i might be getting older...i refused to give up my boyish ways!
besides...no~body..gets tired..of attention seeking, if it's
positive?!


oh..between me & you..its hard..to believe..we were part of
this cruise..in many ways...over flowing..with magic dust !

we are hoping for the alaska rumors..are true.

Yes sorry we didnt get 'officially' together but you were just in front of me, you must have been just on front of the Treasure Ketch, break in line for the shop, as we were just behind it.

Alaska is for future years maybe 2011, IMHO, as it hasnt even been awarded as yet and the new schdule for 2010 comes out on October 7th, so is already aread and 'in the bag'.

 

[caitlinsdad]

Sorry misunderstood yes Aly and AJ concert, my kids left dinner early to get to the queue early and were about 4th/5th.


Yes sorry we didnt get 'officially' together but you were just in front of me, you must have been just on front of the Treasure Ketch, break in line for the shop, as we were just behind it.

Alaska is for future years maybe 2011, IMHO, as it hasnt even been awarded as yet and the new schdule for 2010 comes out on October 7th, so is already aread and 'in the bag'.

Andrew

I agree with you , I suppect even if DCL gets award the Alaska route, they would not start in 2010, but wait until the Magic or Wonder is moved to the west coast full time.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Andrew

I agree with you , I suppect even if DCL gets award the Alaska route, they would not start in 2010, but wait until the Magic or Wonder is moved to the west coast full time.

Well it is the Baltic sea for 2010, and Alaska hasnt been awarded as yet, as you post, so it will not be until 2011, at the earliest.

 

[caitlinsdad]

Well it is the Baltic sea for 2010, and Alaska hasnt been awarded as yet, as you post, so it will not be until 2011, at the earliest.

I see the listing for demark, At least 2010 will be closer to home for you and your family

 

[silmarg]

Well it is the Baltic sea for 2010, and Alaska hasnt been awarded as yet, as you post, so it will not be until 2011, at the earliest.

Any thoughts what would be the home port if they did Batic in 2010? Southampton UK? Or would they do it out of Northern France for a DLP tie in?


Either way, I am intrigued.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Bib and Robert thank you, I saw so many people in such a short time, not everyone was wearing their diss badges, people did keep coming up to me and saying hello, and I tryed to put name and diss name together.

The Shops I think where shut for Aly and AJ, on pirate night, I had to do a ship search that night as my Son dissapeared as quite a few dissers know I was combing the ship for him from 11pm to 12.30pm, he was found, but during that search I found the shops closed.

Now I know from later it was Aly and AJ, as looking into their room, ( well you would woundnt you if its next door) there was considerable DCL bags of shopping in there.

Presume they were told, ''take what you can' and 'Dont pay'. And they left there nice Palo Cakes left outside there room untouched!

I do agree kids clubs need a review.

Couple of comments in reply.
Ofcourse I'd look in if their door was open and staying near me where I would notice their door open. DArn tootin' I'd glance in! LOL

So ungrateful, they could have atleast sent the palo cakes to us! We'd have eaten them! LOL

Sorry we didn't get together, with regards to Aly and Aj we got number 81, so we were not too close to the front of the queue, we were shopping at deck 4 noticed the queue and joined, Aly and Aj came down early due to the queue, I think they started 30 mins early at 1.30pm. Sorry DD didnt get to see them, although it was a production line, no dedication just a signature and photo and off.

Stateroom TV's about time they change these, and get photo-pass on them and the ability to look at your stateroom account, order room service?

Our Air con was good, our host kept checking nearly every day for us if it was OK, and for example first night when it wasn't too good she sorted it out.

My daughter had #69 and I joined her later just to take the picture of her when she got her autograph... so we werne't that far from you!

Our AC never got worked out- and neither did the "beverage cooler". The a/c never got cold- mentioned it the 2nd day and someone came to check if it was working properly and declared it was working properly. I thought I'd heard on the board that they could make it be cooler if you asked, not that they'd just check if it was WORKING. We found it hard to keep our room a comfortable temperature at all with the verandah. I found myself sneaking over to the kids room even when they weren't there- just to cool off a bit and I kinda got "snappy" towards anyone opening the verandah door often. LOL
The beverage cooler this time was a complete flop! It kept turning off... we'd turn the knob like the STH said to and you could hear it come on. She said the back is supposed to get "frozen" which then cooled the whole box off. Th back never even got COLD- it would get "cooler" but then we'd come back and it would be completely off (with the knob turned in the same place we left it) and the back would be warm and ofcourse everything in there was hot. We'd turn the knob a little and hear it come back on. Rinse and repeat for 15nt cruise. We did better with just using our soft sided cooler and getting it filled up with ice every day.

...wow..81? we're # 75. so we had to be right in front. oy! ,

Daughter was #69 and I joined her in line later to get her picture taken (I had the camera! thought I could take the picture but realized they do it themselves- but still i wouldn't have trusted her with MY camera the whole time anyway LOL)
So you were close and so was Andrew. Did I actually meet you guys and not REALIZE who you were at the time?

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

& ... ...i just read..the awful incident....where you was

..rammed into..to threater's..doors, made me feel..very....

...i'm so sorry....* if i had seen it....i would have offer my "witness".

darn..it!!!...why can't others..recognized..their "rights" end...when


..their verbal response...and/or....actions.."begin"..to hurt others?

....[ for the benefit..of borderline/personality disorders..its when the

other person tells you.] . i'm so sorry that an" ugly american"..didn't
respect your right..freedom from harm.

fyi* the so above disorders...are most likely...to act out..., combined
with disney's general policy.."make every body happy- { iam basing this
fact..on a seciruty officer..telling me...what they 've been told.}




hey bip!!! i've been reading your stuff.... ..that i didn't get to the

chats....* all shokup..invited me [ what a sweetie! ] and i saw the
gals..one night exchanging...what a !...* why
didn't i ??? unfor.,...all of our excursions..had...early.....times...so
uwas torn....from staying up..& getting to bed early.


yes, .....i was trying to track..down...christiaan....however, hind sight..

* i do think..that was a good rule..but..they need to "write"..down...
& deliver..them to the rooms..the night before??? not while we're in
the line. ha! isn't it funny???.....after all that....we gave ours....away.
[ i didn't mentioned..to my sweetie ( big buckeye fan)...the father...
was....duke 's blue devil!

* a fact..that the line...started...@ 10 am..where they were trading &
holding places.

hey andrew?? did the times..changes....effect your family??? we slept
away..the first 3 days..on the cruise.

* we got up & did disneyland..comdo style!!! did your family go?

....did you ever catch?...when i posted..."we have family/friends"...
located..in ipswitch? ..therfore, we're..very interested..in going
on the magic..to europe!!!