Party of 2, Oct 9

[auntie k]

DAY 1
Depart on Oct 8 direct flight from Little Rock to MCO - bid on Priceline, stayed at the Hyatt for $55. What a great start! Loved the hotel, very plush and staff was wonderful. Had dinner at Macaroni grill in the airport, I had chicken parmesan, DH had pork chops...both were great!

Up at 7:00, bags in the hall at 8:00. We head to Krispy Kreme for a donut, then hit the DCL check in. We are on the first bus!! We depart apx. 9:15. Meet Valerie and Tori from DC while waiting. Our newest DCL "friends".

Arrive at the terminal, check in line is not long, no hassles. So far, the trip has been great!! Could quickly tell we would need the lanyards to hold our KTTW card and Drivers license, 1st purchase at the Port store - 2 lanyards. (17.00) This was a very good purchase, it was wonderful not to worry with a fanny pack, purse, etc. Everything I needed was around my neck!

We are in line and boarding at noon. Quick stop for embarkation photo.

As we enter, and they announce our name, the feeling of royalty sat in and didn't leave me until we got off the ship! We head up to BBB and there is Valerie and Tori. We asked if we can join them for lunch and have a nice window view.

After that, we wander around the boat getting a "lay of the land". At 1:30 we go to our room. We were on Deck 6, 6624 with a verandah. IMHO, it's the only way to go. We sat on the verandah every morning over a light breakfast and most evenings when we came in. It's worth the Xtra $$$.

It's now 3:00, I go up to Deck 10 to meet the other Disers! What fun!!
After a quick hello we all head to our rooms to prepare for the drill.

Drill - quick and painless. After that, it was up to Deck 10 where we secured great seat for the Sail away party. I had a blast just watching the children dance and seeing the enthusiatic CM's. Waving goodbye to the Mariner of the Sea was fun too....(your ship may be bigger, but WE have THE mouse!)

We have late seating,PTTA....thinking it would make our day at port longer and with no kids, I thought this would be fine. I wasn't thrilled with our table mates, but more importantly I didn't like eating at 9:00 pm! I decided with the tablemates and the time, dinner would be a bust for me. So I could either request a change, order room service or eat at Plutos for the remaining 3 nites. I opted for a change. They accomodated us and the 2 of us sat at a table for 6 for the remaining 3 nights. Evidently, the other 4 asked for a change to late seating! We had our same servers, IVA from Bulgaria and DEE from Thailand, they were wonderful.
Although I would have liked to meet people and chat, my husband and I enjoyed our quiet dinners alone.

After dinner we went to the Hercules show. Did I mention the ship is really rocking alot? We were glad we had patches. We felt the movement, but were not sick. Hercules was ok, but not the Disney show I expected...no worries, the shows got better each night. We couldn't find anything going on when we went to Route 66. There wasn't anyone there! It's only 10:00!
I knew it wasn't a party boat, but c'mon, 10:00???? Anyway, DH was ready to retire to the room. I considered this night a waste! I wanted to dance or kareoke or something!!!! Tonight our towel was a monkey. Negi was our stateroom host....he did a marvelous job...although we never saw him after the initial greeting! LOL!

 

[Ker-Bear]

thanks for posting. looking forward to the rest

 

[auntie k]

Day 2

Ordered room service and had a light breakfast on the verandah. This was one of our favorite things!

We chose not to get off the ship in Nassau, stayed on board and enjoyed the pool without a crowd!

Had lunch at Triton's - I had a Rueben sandwich and Fries that was really good! Tried the Salsa, Guacamole & sour cream dip - it was good too.
Oh, and I had a Shrimp cocktail! Triton's was also our dinner rotation - it was good, but for some reason I wasn't real hungry???? But the early seating worked much better for me! Thank you again guest services!

Played Bingo before dinner - won $103! Yeah Baby!

Tonight was the comedian - I thought he was funny and enjoyed the show.

Hung out in Wavebands til Midnight - it was 80's night....not so sure about the "themed night"...a mix would have been better for me...had a few too many "drink of the day"...they were strong..and I was giggly!!!

 

[auntie k]

Day 3

I'm sorry if these seem boring, we really had a great time, but I didn't keep a journal and am now having trouble remembering details!!!

But today was Castaway Cay day!!! We sleep in a little today - get up and get ready - stop by for a quick bite at BBB. See Valerie and Tori again and give our usual good morning greetings!

We get to CC about 10:30. I have a parasailing excursion at 11:00....so we stop at She Sells and pick up a couple of t-shirts. Then go wait for the boat to come and pick me up. Poor DH just sits there and waits for me - (it's a long way from the boat pick up point to Serenity Bay and he didn't know how long I would be gone.) Well, it took a little longer than I thought - there were 10 of us in the boat to parasail. I was nervous, but tried not to think about it. I was determined to see the Carribean from the air!! The guys running the boat Byron and Gibson seemed to know there stuff and Gibson was quite the entertainer. I felt bad, I didn't take anything with me including money so I didn't tip them! (bad cruiser I know!) This was a once in a lifetime thing for me, it was a very short ride (in the air) for the $75. I'm glad I did it, but would not do it on return visits. Plus, the day at CC seemed the shortest to me and I would have preferred to enjoy the beach more. Ok, so now it's like 12:45 so I'm in a frenzy to get to SB for my 1:00 cabana massage!!! Make it just in time! DH goes to grab lunch and then to the beach to wait for me. Ok, in all my planning - I overlooked lunch - and there was NOTHING to be had when I came out of my massage! So I try to tough it out and not go back to the ship to get something (did I mention it's two tram rides from SB to the ship?)....but by 3:30, I'm feeling weak and need somthing so we load up and head back to the ship. Dog gone it - my perfect beach, crystal blue water, a hammock,my wonderful DH and I need to go eat!! (bad planner!!) We arrive at the ship, and by this time there was a major line (early diners I suspect) at the first entrance, and they inform us we can walk to the other end of the ship to enter. We did and there was no line and no wait on the elevator. Love it when things like that work out!!
Oh, and I failed to mention the cabana massage - it was not that great of a massage and didn't like that I couldn't get the sand off my feet before getting on the table, and detested the sales pitch. I also found undressing when i can see people just few feet away awkward....and during my massage, a woman and her CHILD (remember this is Serinity Bay - adults only!) enter on the other side of the cabana and I get to hear their idle chit chat and her sales pitch too! So for me it was expensive, awkward and not relaxing. But for those of you that love them, I'm happy for you.

Notes to self next time: the adult beach here was worth the extra $$ I paid to cruise DCL! no parasailing, no massage, get lunch!

Back on the ship, I grab a hot dog and fries from Plutos....I was so hungry, it seemed like steak! LOL!

Tonight is Triton's again. I think I had the herb crusted cod tonight. I asked for a salad and baked potato to round out the meal. I'm just a southern girl and all the "fancy" offerings was more than I wanted. Again, it was good food, just not what I wanted. And the service was excellent as always.

Tonight was the Golden Mickeys. Great show! I think we played bingo again tonight - before dinner...Bingo games became a blur!! But hey, at this point we are playing on the $103 I won yesterday! woo hoo!

Oh and tonight was the Pirate Night...we got into the spirit of things and donned our bandana, but decided that it was mostly for kids....all that choreographed dancing just wasn't our cup of tea. We decide to wander around the boat and check out the gift shop...and I'm thinking hey, this is nice, there's no one here but us.....only to find out when we go back to the pirate party - we MISSED the fireworks (bad Planner!!) We were both sad we missed it. So to cheer ourselves, we checked out the buffet!!! Ok, we had early dinner, but with the hot dog appetizer and a meal, I just couldn't eat a thing...but I did enjoy seeing it and smelling it!!!

It's been a very busy, very fun day.....will sleep good tonight!