Princess Emily's MAW Cruise TR - UPDATED with Day 1 Pics

[jillalvarez2003]

Welcome Home... Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Tink rules]

Can't wait to hear!!!

 

[podsnel]

You're back!!! You're back!!!! Can't wait til you start the TR!!

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

YEAH! Can't wait to hear about your adventures!
Welcome home!

 

[Ender]

We live in venezuela and we are taking a cruise in april and I have to say the has bean one great story, we realy hope the best for your family

 

[gomagic]

Welcome Home! I can't wait to read about your trip.

 

[iu97alum]

Edited to add Bon Voyage:

Bon Voyage

Emily was so excited that her going away party was going to be at Babe’s. For those of you not in the DFW area, Babe’s is a pretty well known restaurant that serves only a few entrees: Chicken fingers, fried chicken, friend catfish, pot roast, chicken fried steak and smoked chicken. They do family size sides (green beans, creamed corn, mashed potatoes and an awesome iceburg salad, which my kids LOVE!) with biscuts. I’m not sure why exactly she loves this place, but she does.

So, we scheduled the party for 5PM (when it opens). We figured since it was a Friday night, we needed to get in and out quickly! The earlier the better. DMIL came in that afternoon and we had a few friends meet us there as well (another Wilms family). Babe’s donated the dinner and I made sure to talk to the manager to let her know how much it meant to us to be able to have her party here.

Walking to the

Sami has to sit on at least one of these (even though we didn’t have to wait…)

And then of course, so does Emily:

Walked in the door and our wish granters were there ready to greet Emy and Samantha:

To the table set for us

Emy with her new Babe’s hat, backpack, Tshirts and MAW buttons:

And of course, little sister couldn’t let Emy have the night all to herself, so tears came out:

But was happy when she saw the stickers:

Kelcey made a really cool plate (with a drawing of the boat on it):

Here certificate of her wish:

Emy and her wish granters and these awesome cupcakes:

And of course the girls eating them:

The girls did the hokey pokey twice and we ate so much that we had to be rolled home! LOL!

 

[macntosh]

So, as I look at my pictures, I realized I didn't bring any of her send off party. So i'm saving this spot to come back later and add it! LOL!

What a teaser spot. i thought I was coming to get some scooby, but all I got was doo....

 

[iu97alum]

Arghhhh.. I posted, and it is not there. Live and learn.

Day 1 01/18/09

DMIL gets up at 4 am (no joke), DH by 5, me by 5:15A. Emily hears us all and is awake by 5:30. (remember, our flight isn’t until 8:55A, and we live 15-20 mins from the airport! ).

Emily takes the last link off our countdown chain

By 6:30A, we’re ready to roll! Off to the Park N’ Fly stop, space 3-50 and a courtesy van picks us up immediately to take us to the airport:

Once in airport, paid for our luggage ($45!) and through the ONE security line (the other machine was broken..) we wait. And wait. Did I mention we were early? Like 7AM early??????

So, DMIL takes Emily to the pretzel place and comes back with pretzels and lemondate and a coffee (Pepermint Mocha anyone) for me. Emily eating hers:

Samantha with hers:

While we’re enjoying our pretzels, a young lady came over to us and asked if we were on a Wish trip (hmmmm… was it the t-shirt that gave it away??? ). We got to chatting and she went on HER wish trip to GTKTW 16 years ago! She was a cancer survivor (rhabdo) and was super sweet! She was a beauty pageant participant on the way to Orlando with her Dad to go to Disney World (they are DVC members).

On airplane, the girls sat with DMIL and Jim and I sat across from them:

Not sure what is going on with Sami’s attitude here…

And after take off, the most amazing thing comes out of hiding. The DVD player!

Family portrait (if you look hard, you can see all of us in the pic..)

Flight was great, mostly uneventful ‘cept for the spilled coffee on my shirt and jacket. The flight attendant saw our t-shirts and offered us cheese trays and a big cookie (which incidentally went straight to the girls!) Yum.

Landed and went straight to the DCL counter. Since we didn’t have to pick up our luggage (it magically appears in our stateroom), all we had to do was wait in line for the next bus. Sami got a little out of control (who could blame her after a 2 ½ hour plane ride? ) so Jim picked her up to hold on to her!

Bus came WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOO and this is what we saw :

Funny thing…. I’m raising a future scrapbooker b/c at the same time I saw this sign (and was getting camera ready) Emy made sure to tell me, “Mommy, make sure you take a picture of that!” LOL!

All on the bus ready to go:

And thankfully since it was a 50 minute drive to the boat, they had these on board to keep the kiddo’s attention..

Eventually we saw this outside our window:

And that brought this reaction:

Don’t think she was excited enough!

Next up, security, check in and our room…

 

[iu97alum]

What a teaser spot. i thought I was coming to get some scooby, but all I got was doo....

Ok, that is PRICELESS! I LOVE that! Gonna have to remember it!!

 

[nikkistevej]

Loving the trip report so far- can't wait for the next installment!!

 

[iu97alum]

Once you come off the bus, you have to go through security (very similar to the airport’s). Emily didn’t quite understand why we weren’t already on the boat and that we had to go through security again! Check in was next… I kept an eye on the kids while Jim went to check in (CM saw jim’s shirt and sent him to a no line waiting.. ). Sami again was out of control and I finally corralled both of them in front of the model boat for a pic. Who’s a happy camper here????

Finally, our room keys (Keys to the World – KTTW) , pictures taken and onto the boat… Which by the way, you really don’t realize you’re coming onto a boat. Seems like you’re just walking into a building! Obligatory picture:

We were told when we boarded that our room was ready (how did they know?? ) and we headed down the long hallways to find it:

Here it is!!

Into our rooms (adjoining) and what do we find on the bed in Emily’s room (she’s registered with DMIL, while Sami is registered with Jim and I in the other room)

And of course, in DMIL’s room there is a bunk bed and what child can resist climbing up???

By this time It’s after 2:30 so we’ve got to find something to eat. Up to Beach Blanket for the buffet. Knowing that we have dinner in just a few hours (5:45P, main dining rotation), we were told by DH to go easy on lunch. Hard to do when you see such wonderful things! I got a little bit of Strawberry Mint soup which the girls promptly devoured!

We decided to wander just a bit before we had to head to the room for the asafety drill. Here was the Mickey Pool. Does it seem a little yellow to you?

Family photo op:

Back to the room quickly to get ready for the safety drill. Anyone ready for fluorescent orange life vests? They’re all the rage now!

 

[oklamomof4boys]

Can't wait to read more!

Carol

 

[PurdyBertnie]

What a beautiful family!!! I wish you all the best and can't wait to hear more about your trip!!

 

[2cutekidz]

Yay!!! Pictures!!! Looks like a fabulous start so far! I can't wait to read more!

 

[mom2lilnick]

AWWWWWW!!!! I am loving it! I can't wait to hear all about the rest!

 

[peachygreen]

I'm loving the update so far. It is so great to see the looks of pure joy on the girls faces. It just makes me smile!

 

[maroo]

Wonderful start!!! I am so excited! This is our first MAW Cruise TR that I know of. No pressure!

We decided to wander just a bit before we had to head to the room for the asafety drill. Here was the Mickey Pool. Does it seem a little yellow to you?

That is too funny!

I am SURE it was just the reflection from that big bright yellow slide? Ya think? Or maybe they made THAT yellow on purpose, too?

Back to the room quickly to get ready for the safety drill. Anyone ready for fluorescent orange life vests? They’re all the rage now!

I guess people pay more attention to those safety drills, now, huh? Since that plane safely landed in the Hudson?

Great start! Can't wait to see you guys sporting those orange life vests!


.

 

[dmbfan]

Oh wow, what great pictures...Jake is loving the pictures...of course now he wants to go on a Disney cruise...lol Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[jessica52877]

Thanks for a wonderful start! I saw you posted earlier and had to tear myself away from the computer so I could run to the bank before I read! I knew I would get all caught up on reading!

The picture of the ship out the window just made me want to hop in the car and drive on down!