RoyalVizier
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2006
- Messages
- 939
RVs March 17th 7-night Eastern Sharing the Magic with the Unmagiced Cruise!
Cast of Characters:
Me age 30
DW age 34
DD age 14
Father in Law (well go with FIL on that one) age 59
Mother in Law (well go with MIL on that one) age 59
The Background
Ive covered most of this in my Pre-Trip Report, but wanted to give a quick run down here for new readers. This cruise was about a year in the making. Our very first cruise was a little over three years ago when we took the 4-night Bahamian cruise with DCL. Then we did the 7-night Western with DCL last May. Almost immediately after disembarking last May, my wife got it in her mind that she wanted to share this with her parents. I really didnt have any problem with it, so the planning and speculating started right about there on the drive home from the port. My wifes parents have NEVER been on a vacation in their entire lives. Nowhere. Ever. So this was a huge thing for them. Eventually they were convinced and the planning began.
The other thing is MIL/FIL are not Disney people. At all. I do believe that they have probably only heard the word Disney, but do not understand the scope of what that means. They do not watch Disney movies, they do not know Disney characters, and it is just another one of the worlds companies to them. So we werent necessarily going for the Disney Experience with them because frankly I know they wouldnt get it. You Disney fans (which is probably every single one of you) get it. We always knew while planning that there was no way FIL was going to put up with being around the characters or clogged atrium walkways full of lines to get pictures taken with princesses. We knew that already the focus would be the cruise experience. The pool, the ocean, the ports, the dining we knew the limits and the boundaries.
And so it begins
Day 1 Part 1: Getting Ready
The day dawned cool in Central Florida. Very cool. The forecast called for a high of 67 and breezy that embarkation Saturday. All I could think about was standing up on Deck 9 Forward when we started to head out into open water and my face becoming red and chapped with windburn. I couldnt wait!!!
We awoke at 5:30am which was much later than we imagined we would sleep. I always imagined lying in bed all night long, eyes wide open, consumed with anticipation of the week to come, but I slept through the night no problem. FIL and MIL were down in the living room on a blow up air mattress, and they keep the most ungodly schedule of anyone I know. An important point to keep in mind as you read through this report is the kind of schedule they are used to living by. Up by 4am, dinner between 3-4pm, and in bed by 7:30 8:30pm. Makes for interesting timing!
So anyway, the morning was a bustle of activity. DW was still doing laundry and packing and mopping floors. Yes folks, she mopped the floors. She was a bit frazzled. She felt there were all these things that needed to be done, AND this was the once-in-a-lifetime vacation for her parents and she wanted every step of the way to be perfect and memorable (in a good way of course). While she put the finishing touches on the floors, I ran a few quick errands there at 6am in the morning. I returned some movies to Blockbuster (that we didnt even watch) and ran by Dunkin Donuts. Im not an expert on Dunkin Donuts we tend to have donuts on special occasions, so I was amazed at the bins and bins of delectable fatty treats on the wall behind the counter. Id obviously never walked into a Dunkin Donuts in my life. I think I stood there for a good 10 minutes, saliva pooling, eyes wide, trying to figure out what to get. Boston Crème donuts won out and I ended up with three of those and a couple other miscellaneous ones.
When I got home, DW, DD, and I devoured our donuts, but the in-laws didnt want any. Uh so I ate theirs. By 7am we were ready to go. It always happens this way. We get so excited and feel that there are all of these numerous tasks to do so we get up extraordinarily early thinking theres no way it can get done and then you get done hours early leaving you with nothing to do but sit and stew waiting for the Limo to come. Oh, I havent mentioned the Limo? Well the Limo was DWs idea many months ago. My dad usually has the job of coming and taking us to the port. It works for us because he is more than willing and then we wont have to pay to park our car there. This time, since this was going to be the vacation of a lifetime with the in-laws, DW wanted to see about a limo service. Excellent idea! Itd start the vacation out perfectly, wed ride over to the port in style and elegance, feeling like royalty before we even boarded the most magical ship on the seas. So it was booked and arranged roughly three months prior. Well there in lies our first hurdle.
Next Up: Phone Tag and a Snag
PS. I posted all of our food pictures over on the Pics of DCL Food thread. That post is on the very top of page 28 here
Cast of Characters:
Me age 30
DW age 34
DD age 14
Father in Law (well go with FIL on that one) age 59
Mother in Law (well go with MIL on that one) age 59
The Background
Ive covered most of this in my Pre-Trip Report, but wanted to give a quick run down here for new readers. This cruise was about a year in the making. Our very first cruise was a little over three years ago when we took the 4-night Bahamian cruise with DCL. Then we did the 7-night Western with DCL last May. Almost immediately after disembarking last May, my wife got it in her mind that she wanted to share this with her parents. I really didnt have any problem with it, so the planning and speculating started right about there on the drive home from the port. My wifes parents have NEVER been on a vacation in their entire lives. Nowhere. Ever. So this was a huge thing for them. Eventually they were convinced and the planning began.
The other thing is MIL/FIL are not Disney people. At all. I do believe that they have probably only heard the word Disney, but do not understand the scope of what that means. They do not watch Disney movies, they do not know Disney characters, and it is just another one of the worlds companies to them. So we werent necessarily going for the Disney Experience with them because frankly I know they wouldnt get it. You Disney fans (which is probably every single one of you) get it. We always knew while planning that there was no way FIL was going to put up with being around the characters or clogged atrium walkways full of lines to get pictures taken with princesses. We knew that already the focus would be the cruise experience. The pool, the ocean, the ports, the dining we knew the limits and the boundaries.
And so it begins
Day 1 Part 1: Getting Ready
The day dawned cool in Central Florida. Very cool. The forecast called for a high of 67 and breezy that embarkation Saturday. All I could think about was standing up on Deck 9 Forward when we started to head out into open water and my face becoming red and chapped with windburn. I couldnt wait!!!
We awoke at 5:30am which was much later than we imagined we would sleep. I always imagined lying in bed all night long, eyes wide open, consumed with anticipation of the week to come, but I slept through the night no problem. FIL and MIL were down in the living room on a blow up air mattress, and they keep the most ungodly schedule of anyone I know. An important point to keep in mind as you read through this report is the kind of schedule they are used to living by. Up by 4am, dinner between 3-4pm, and in bed by 7:30 8:30pm. Makes for interesting timing!
So anyway, the morning was a bustle of activity. DW was still doing laundry and packing and mopping floors. Yes folks, she mopped the floors. She was a bit frazzled. She felt there were all these things that needed to be done, AND this was the once-in-a-lifetime vacation for her parents and she wanted every step of the way to be perfect and memorable (in a good way of course). While she put the finishing touches on the floors, I ran a few quick errands there at 6am in the morning. I returned some movies to Blockbuster (that we didnt even watch) and ran by Dunkin Donuts. Im not an expert on Dunkin Donuts we tend to have donuts on special occasions, so I was amazed at the bins and bins of delectable fatty treats on the wall behind the counter. Id obviously never walked into a Dunkin Donuts in my life. I think I stood there for a good 10 minutes, saliva pooling, eyes wide, trying to figure out what to get. Boston Crème donuts won out and I ended up with three of those and a couple other miscellaneous ones.
When I got home, DW, DD, and I devoured our donuts, but the in-laws didnt want any. Uh so I ate theirs. By 7am we were ready to go. It always happens this way. We get so excited and feel that there are all of these numerous tasks to do so we get up extraordinarily early thinking theres no way it can get done and then you get done hours early leaving you with nothing to do but sit and stew waiting for the Limo to come. Oh, I havent mentioned the Limo? Well the Limo was DWs idea many months ago. My dad usually has the job of coming and taking us to the port. It works for us because he is more than willing and then we wont have to pay to park our car there. This time, since this was going to be the vacation of a lifetime with the in-laws, DW wanted to see about a limo service. Excellent idea! Itd start the vacation out perfectly, wed ride over to the port in style and elegance, feeling like royalty before we even boarded the most magical ship on the seas. So it was booked and arranged roughly three months prior. Well there in lies our first hurdle.
Next Up: Phone Tag and a Snag
PS. I posted all of our food pictures over on the Pics of DCL Food thread. That post is on the very top of page 28 here
Afterall, IF something were to happen to us while we were on our trip, I didn't want anyone else to know how we really live.
All five of us. 
The driver was fine, but she had to figure out a way to get another limo to us and how to rearrange the schedule. She said shed call back when she knew something. This whole time, the family was listening to my side of the conversation so I really didnt need to break any news to them. They were aware and we all showed concern for the driver and the situation. It wasnt anyones fault. Just one of those things. So we waited some more
She said it would arrive at 10:30am. So really only an hour and half had passed since the limo was supposed to pick us up, but it sure seemed longer. That hour and a half was filled with worry and a bit of tension. Again, I go back to my DWs state of mind. All she has wanted for months is to make this the most amazing experience for her parents, and here before weve even left the house, we run into a pretty significant snag. The limo was one of the things that my MIL talked about all the time, and was excited about experiencing. At this point we were very worried about the state of the port as well. We have never arrived so late before, and by the time we would get there if picked up at 10:30am would be roughly 11:30am. We imagined the port in a busy and hectic chaotic state with masses of people checking in and excited about boarding. 
Maybe someday... travel writing is intriguing.
Subscribing to this excellent report.
