Self Party Posse Goes East- 1/17/09
- Thread starter fltink
- Start date
Hey, everyone!!!!
So, the Self Party Posse is set to head down to Florida in just one week, to set sail on our 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Magic and I though this would be a good time to get our pre-trip report rolling.
Let's start with introductions. My name is Jenn, but I am known to my family as Tink. I am an ex-Disney World Cast Member and this is my 9th Disney Cruise. In 2003, I met my husband, Jay on a Disney Cruise. 2 years later, we got married on another one. On that cruise, the Self Party Posse formed. What is the Self Party Posse? It is the rockinest, most fun lovin' group of people on the Disney Magic! We don't bring the party, we ARE the party! (We're just a DCL loving group of people, who LOVE cruising together.) The Self Party Posse, (or SPP), is made up of the following people:
Myself, Jenn aka Tink
My Husband, Jay, aka Pirate Jay
My Mother In Law, Beth, aka Gamma
My Sister In-Law Heather, aka Heath
My 4 year old Niece, Cady
My Sister In-Law, Danielle, aka Dee-Dee
My Best Friend, David, aka DWJ
Our friends that we met on the wedding cruise, Christine and Christina, aka Stine and Stina
and the newsest members of the SPP....our friends Michelle and Sean, aka Mitch-Pina and Seannie B (it will eb their first DCL cruise!)
(There is another member of the SPP, my ex-cousin/still very close friend, Donna, aka Donnica, but sadly, she will not be joining us on this cruise.)
Jay, Danielle and I live in Concord, New Hampshire, Beth, Heather and Cady live in Quincy, Mass., Michelle and Sean live in Dedham, Mass., Christine and Christina live in Tampa, FL, and David lives in Orlando, FL. We booked this cruise back in April, but since then we have become DVC members!
We are so psyched about this cruise! We've been having a crazy year, with lots of stuff going wrong and this is just what the doctor ordered! So this is the first time that we will be doing the Eastern Caribbean, since I first met Jay on the cruise in 2003. We have never done it as the SPP.
As far as plans go, we are taking it easy on this cruise. We don't have many excursions or anything planned, just lots of relaxing and having fun onboard. We are flying into Orlando on Friday, the 16th. We will be spending the night at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Sea World. (The hubby used to work there.) Then on Saturday morning, we'll be driving to the port and meeting up with Michelle, Sean, Christine, Christina and David to check in.
Our cabin and Christine and Christina's are both Cat. 10's and we're on deck 7. Michelle and Sean are a Cat. 11, on Deck 7. Everyone else is in Cat. 11's on Deck 6.
We have Palo brunch booked on Sunday, Palo Dinner on Monday and Tea on Thursday. In St. Thomas, we are going to Coral World to swim with Sea Lions. That is all we have planned! Everything else will be having fun on board!
So, I promise to keep everyone updated, though we are not planning on buying internet access onboard, so you'll have to wait for the post trip report when we come back. Right now, I have TONS of stuff to do, including packing, shopping and getting stuff in order for the doggies that we have to leave at home.
I'll check in soon!
So, the Self Party Posse is set to head down to Florida in just one week, to set sail on our 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Magic and I though this would be a good time to get our pre-trip report rolling.
Let's start with introductions. My name is Jenn, but I am known to my family as Tink. I am an ex-Disney World Cast Member and this is my 9th Disney Cruise. In 2003, I met my husband, Jay on a Disney Cruise. 2 years later, we got married on another one. On that cruise, the Self Party Posse formed. What is the Self Party Posse? It is the rockinest, most fun lovin' group of people on the Disney Magic! We don't bring the party, we ARE the party! (We're just a DCL loving group of people, who LOVE cruising together.) The Self Party Posse, (or SPP), is made up of the following people:
Myself, Jenn aka Tink
My Husband, Jay, aka Pirate Jay
My Mother In Law, Beth, aka Gamma
My Sister In-Law Heather, aka Heath
My 4 year old Niece, Cady
My Sister In-Law, Danielle, aka Dee-Dee
My Best Friend, David, aka DWJ
Our friends that we met on the wedding cruise, Christine and Christina, aka Stine and Stina
and the newsest members of the SPP....our friends Michelle and Sean, aka Mitch-Pina and Seannie B (it will eb their first DCL cruise!)
(There is another member of the SPP, my ex-cousin/still very close friend, Donna, aka Donnica, but sadly, she will not be joining us on this cruise.)
Jay, Danielle and I live in Concord, New Hampshire, Beth, Heather and Cady live in Quincy, Mass., Michelle and Sean live in Dedham, Mass., Christine and Christina live in Tampa, FL, and David lives in Orlando, FL. We booked this cruise back in April, but since then we have become DVC members!
We are so psyched about this cruise! We've been having a crazy year, with lots of stuff going wrong and this is just what the doctor ordered! So this is the first time that we will be doing the Eastern Caribbean, since I first met Jay on the cruise in 2003. We have never done it as the SPP.
As far as plans go, we are taking it easy on this cruise. We don't have many excursions or anything planned, just lots of relaxing and having fun onboard. We are flying into Orlando on Friday, the 16th. We will be spending the night at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Sea World. (The hubby used to work there.) Then on Saturday morning, we'll be driving to the port and meeting up with Michelle, Sean, Christine, Christina and David to check in.
Our cabin and Christine and Christina's are both Cat. 10's and we're on deck 7. Michelle and Sean are a Cat. 11, on Deck 7. Everyone else is in Cat. 11's on Deck 6.
We have Palo brunch booked on Sunday, Palo Dinner on Monday and Tea on Thursday. In St. Thomas, we are going to Coral World to swim with Sea Lions. That is all we have planned! Everything else will be having fun on board!
So, I promise to keep everyone updated, though we are not planning on buying internet access onboard, so you'll have to wait for the post trip report when we come back. Right now, I have TONS of stuff to do, including packing, shopping and getting stuff in order for the doggies that we have to leave at home.
I'll check in soon!
With just one week left until the cruise, I still have a HUGE list of stuff to do! Good thing I am off today...I can at least tackle a lot of it!
I called DCL today and got a listing of the movies that will be playing onboard next week. Looks like lots of stuff that I haven't seen yet! Here's the list, for anyone interested.....
High School Musical 3
Bedtime Stories
College Road Trip
Swing Vote
Enchanted
Beverly Hills Chihauhau
Morning Light
And in Disney Digital 3D:
Jonas Brothers In Concert
Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds Concert
Bolt
I called DCL today and got a listing of the movies that will be playing onboard next week. Looks like lots of stuff that I haven't seen yet! Here's the list, for anyone interested.....
High School Musical 3
Bedtime Stories
College Road Trip
Swing Vote
Enchanted
Beverly Hills Chihauhau
Morning Light
And in Disney Digital 3D:
Jonas Brothers In Concert
Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds Concert
Bolt
Laura22
in
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2005
- Messages
- 272
Good deal! I decided not to see Bedtime Stories in hopes that it would be playing during the cruise.
mmouse37
DCL Diva!!
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2001
- Messages
- 34,786
Small world....my mom grew up in Mass....in Gloucester/Rockport and we spent every summer vacation in New England....Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester is one of the best beaches in the U.S.!!
Can't wait to meet everyone onboard next week!!!
MJ
Can't wait to meet everyone onboard next week!!!
MJ
So, we head out the day after tomorrow and I am not even close to being ready! We still have tons of stuff to do and I haven't even started packing! We did have to house/dog sitter over last night so that we could review things with her and that went well. Now we just need to get out butts in gear with everything else! Tomorrow is my last day at work!!!! Yipppppeeee!!!
Well, I'm signing out until after the cruise! It's almost midnight and I am STILL packing!!!!! Tomorrow morning we drive down to Boston and our flight is at 4:15 pm!!!! Can't wait to see all of our group!!!!!!! Until then....
Glad you had a great time. Looking forward to your TR.So let'd dive right in......
Friday morning we woke up at 4am to drive to Massachusetts, after having packed until about 1am the night before. Standing in the freezing cold, dark driveway, the car was telling me that the outside temperature was -14 dedrees. Seriously. I needed to get outta there.
We spent that morning running our final errands and I went to get my nails done. By 2 pm, we were headed to Logan Airport to catch our 4:30pm flight on Spirit Airlines.
The flight went smoothly, except for the fact that we almost missed our connection in Fort Lauderdale. We arrived in Orlando just after 10pm. YAY!!!! My husband grabbed the rental van from Thrifty while me, Beth, Heather, Dee and Cady waited at the airport with the 12 suitcases and 12 carry ons. Luckily, my husband was able to upgrade our mini van to a full size van!
For a late dinner, we hit one of our FAVORITE restaurants, Bahama Breeze on 535 in Lake Buena Vista. That's where we met up with our friend, David, I hadn't seen him in a few months, so I was super excited to see him! We all sahred coconut onion rings and spiced island chicken wings, and then headed out to the hotel.
We spent that night at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Sea World. My husband used to work there, so we got an amazing discount! We had a really sweet 2 bedroom villa, which had a HUGE hot tub. Since it was a chilly night in Orlando, we took turns having a little "swim". After such and incredibly long day I was super tired and ready for at least a little bit of sleep, so around 3 am, I crawled into bed.....and set my alarm for 7am!!!!!
Friday morning we woke up at 4am to drive to Massachusetts, after having packed until about 1am the night before. Standing in the freezing cold, dark driveway, the car was telling me that the outside temperature was -14 dedrees. Seriously. I needed to get outta there.
We spent that morning running our final errands and I went to get my nails done. By 2 pm, we were headed to Logan Airport to catch our 4:30pm flight on Spirit Airlines.
The flight went smoothly, except for the fact that we almost missed our connection in Fort Lauderdale. We arrived in Orlando just after 10pm. YAY!!!! My husband grabbed the rental van from Thrifty while me, Beth, Heather, Dee and Cady waited at the airport with the 12 suitcases and 12 carry ons. Luckily, my husband was able to upgrade our mini van to a full size van!
For a late dinner, we hit one of our FAVORITE restaurants, Bahama Breeze on 535 in Lake Buena Vista. That's where we met up with our friend, David, I hadn't seen him in a few months, so I was super excited to see him! We all sahred coconut onion rings and spiced island chicken wings, and then headed out to the hotel.
We spent that night at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Sea World. My husband used to work there, so we got an amazing discount! We had a really sweet 2 bedroom villa, which had a HUGE hot tub. Since it was a chilly night in Orlando, we took turns having a little "swim". After such and incredibly long day I was super tired and ready for at least a little bit of sleep, so around 3 am, I crawled into bed.....and set my alarm for 7am!!!!!
The morning was finally here!!!!!
We all got up, put on our red, Self Party Posse "Survivor: Disney Magic" t-shirts, (along with sweatshirts and jeans, since it was only about 55 degrees), and loaded in the van. On the way to the port, we called Christine and Christina and Michelle and Sean and decided where to meet up.
Just as we were getting to my favorite hill, the one where you can finally see the ship on the horizon, we got an awful phone call.... our tenant called and said they had no water and we had frozen pipes! Oh no! What were we going to do????? We were thousands of miles away and about to have no communication with home for a whole week!!! Holy crap!!!! So, as Jay was on the phone, trying to sort is all out, we pulled into Dunkin' Donuts, and met up with Michelle and Sean. As excited as we were to get onboard, the news about the pipes had really put a damper on things, as I am sure you can understand!!!
So, Jay brought us to the port and dropped us off, while he and Sean went to return the rental cars to Thirfty. In the parking lot we met up with Christine and Christina and headed inside to check in.
I LOVE passing through security and up that escalator!!!
....more coming soon....
We all got up, put on our red, Self Party Posse "Survivor: Disney Magic" t-shirts, (along with sweatshirts and jeans, since it was only about 55 degrees), and loaded in the van. On the way to the port, we called Christine and Christina and Michelle and Sean and decided where to meet up.
Just as we were getting to my favorite hill, the one where you can finally see the ship on the horizon, we got an awful phone call.... our tenant called and said they had no water and we had frozen pipes! Oh no! What were we going to do????? We were thousands of miles away and about to have no communication with home for a whole week!!! Holy crap!!!! So, as Jay was on the phone, trying to sort is all out, we pulled into Dunkin' Donuts, and met up with Michelle and Sean. As excited as we were to get onboard, the news about the pipes had really put a damper on things, as I am sure you can understand!!!
So, Jay brought us to the port and dropped us off, while he and Sean went to return the rental cars to Thirfty. In the parking lot we met up with Christine and Christina and headed inside to check in.
I LOVE passing through security and up that escalator!!!
....more coming soon....
At the top of the escalator, I was thrilled to see Captain Mickey, posing for pictures in front of the model of the ship!!!! YAY!!!!!
While Michelle and I waited for Sean and Jay, Beth and David went to check in their cabins. As soon as Jay and Sean showed up, the rest of us went to check in our cabins. HOORAY!!! We all got the right dining time AND the rotation we requested AND we were all at one table!!!! PERFECT!!! (8:30 seating, Table 1 and the PLAPLAP rotation!)
Right after checking in and getting our Castaway Club lanyards, our check in number was called,(#10), and we got in line. After a quick photo for identification purposes, we got to walk through that awesome, Mickey-shaped entryway, get our group photo taken, and head up the walkway and onto The Magic!!!! We were greeted by Trevor or the cruise staff and we were introduced as the Self Party Posse!!!!
Right away, we had a plan....I went to Rockin' Bar D to get our Pal ressies straightened out, while Beth went to get tickets to tea with Alice, and the rest of the crew went to sign up for the wine, tequila and martini tastings. In Rockin' Bar D, there was almost no one else there and I was very quickly able to get everything we needed.... brunch for all of us on Sunday morning, dinner for all of us on Monday night and tea for those of us that wanted it on Thursday. Beth got tea with Alice and everyone else got all the tastings they wanted.....so now, it was time to get lunch at Topsiders!...
While Michelle and I waited for Sean and Jay, Beth and David went to check in their cabins. As soon as Jay and Sean showed up, the rest of us went to check in our cabins. HOORAY!!! We all got the right dining time AND the rotation we requested AND we were all at one table!!!! PERFECT!!! (8:30 seating, Table 1 and the PLAPLAP rotation!)
Right after checking in and getting our Castaway Club lanyards, our check in number was called,(#10), and we got in line. After a quick photo for identification purposes, we got to walk through that awesome, Mickey-shaped entryway, get our group photo taken, and head up the walkway and onto The Magic!!!! We were greeted by Trevor or the cruise staff and we were introduced as the Self Party Posse!!!!
Right away, we had a plan....I went to Rockin' Bar D to get our Pal ressies straightened out, while Beth went to get tickets to tea with Alice, and the rest of the crew went to sign up for the wine, tequila and martini tastings. In Rockin' Bar D, there was almost no one else there and I was very quickly able to get everything we needed.... brunch for all of us on Sunday morning, dinner for all of us on Monday night and tea for those of us that wanted it on Thursday. Beth got tea with Alice and everyone else got all the tastings they wanted.....so now, it was time to get lunch at Topsiders!...
The lunch buffet wasn't super impressive, but the desserts were great! We decided that because it was only 2 degrees back home, we would eat outside. Ummmm.....we were freezing!!!
After ordering our first, celebratory cruise drinks, Jay and I, along with Dee, David, Michelle and Sean, went to Signals, to try and meet up with one of our favorite crew members, Nyoman!!! It was so great to see him again!
Next, we did a quick spa tour and all the girls made appointments for the BEST treatment, the Frangipani scalp treatment. Heather took Cady to the Oceaneer'c Club to get registered. We gave the newbies, Michelle and Sean, a little bit of a ship tour, and then it was almost time for the lifeboat drill. We each went to our cabins and checked on our luggage, before heading up. Michelle and Sean were in a Category 11, on Deck 6, (#6585). Beth, Heather and Cady were right next to Dee and David, in the sideways cabins on Deck 6, (Cat. 11's, #6521 and 6515). Jay and I were in connecting rooms with Christina and Christine, on Deck 7, Category 10's, (#7507 and 7505.) When we got to the cabins, we checked out the new flat screen TVs (nice!) and also enjoyed our boarding gift of sparkling cider with mini-desserts and chocolate covered strawberries.
For the lifeboat drill, we were on Deck 4. It was finally warming up outside and it looked like it was going to be awesome weather for the Sailaway Party! After the drill we went up to Deck 9 to boogie and bid "real life" a fond farewell! Just as the party was kicking off, we got a call form the tenants... they had water again!!!! YAY!!!!!! Now we could REALLY relax!
The Sailaway Party was lot of fun! We got to countdown with Brent, our fabulous, Aussie cruise director and dance like crazy! We did the Cha-Cha Slide, The Cupid Shuffle and the "Hey, Baby!". (I must admit, though, I miss having the live band out there for the Sail Away parties. The character show isn't as good.) As the party died down, we went up to Deck 10, to wave good-bye to land. It was chilly and windy up there!!!! That is where we met up with Milana, our official SPP photographer. She was great and we bonded with her right away!
Once we had sailed past the end of Cocoa Beach, and off into the open sea, it was time to start getting ready for the Welcome Aboard show. We all went and got dressed, and met up at the Walt Disney Theater. The show was very cute and featured Freddy Fusion, (a DCL favorite), and Team Root Berry, (new comers to the ship). Both acts were very funny!
In the theater is where I first met up with Dinesh and Nambiar, our fantastic and favorite bar servers! We clicked right away and I always looked forward to seeing them each night!
Before dinner, we went to Studio Sea and caught some of Mickey Mania. Jen from the cruise staff was tons of fun! Soon, it was time for dinner, so we headed down to Parrot Cay for our 8:30 seating....
After ordering our first, celebratory cruise drinks, Jay and I, along with Dee, David, Michelle and Sean, went to Signals, to try and meet up with one of our favorite crew members, Nyoman!!! It was so great to see him again!
Next, we did a quick spa tour and all the girls made appointments for the BEST treatment, the Frangipani scalp treatment. Heather took Cady to the Oceaneer'c Club to get registered. We gave the newbies, Michelle and Sean, a little bit of a ship tour, and then it was almost time for the lifeboat drill. We each went to our cabins and checked on our luggage, before heading up. Michelle and Sean were in a Category 11, on Deck 6, (#6585). Beth, Heather and Cady were right next to Dee and David, in the sideways cabins on Deck 6, (Cat. 11's, #6521 and 6515). Jay and I were in connecting rooms with Christina and Christine, on Deck 7, Category 10's, (#7507 and 7505.) When we got to the cabins, we checked out the new flat screen TVs (nice!) and also enjoyed our boarding gift of sparkling cider with mini-desserts and chocolate covered strawberries.
For the lifeboat drill, we were on Deck 4. It was finally warming up outside and it looked like it was going to be awesome weather for the Sailaway Party! After the drill we went up to Deck 9 to boogie and bid "real life" a fond farewell! Just as the party was kicking off, we got a call form the tenants... they had water again!!!! YAY!!!!!! Now we could REALLY relax!
The Sailaway Party was lot of fun! We got to countdown with Brent, our fabulous, Aussie cruise director and dance like crazy! We did the Cha-Cha Slide, The Cupid Shuffle and the "Hey, Baby!". (I must admit, though, I miss having the live band out there for the Sail Away parties. The character show isn't as good.) As the party died down, we went up to Deck 10, to wave good-bye to land. It was chilly and windy up there!!!! That is where we met up with Milana, our official SPP photographer. She was great and we bonded with her right away!
Once we had sailed past the end of Cocoa Beach, and off into the open sea, it was time to start getting ready for the Welcome Aboard show. We all went and got dressed, and met up at the Walt Disney Theater. The show was very cute and featured Freddy Fusion, (a DCL favorite), and Team Root Berry, (new comers to the ship). Both acts were very funny!
In the theater is where I first met up with Dinesh and Nambiar, our fantastic and favorite bar servers! We clicked right away and I always looked forward to seeing them each night!
Before dinner, we went to Studio Sea and caught some of Mickey Mania. Jen from the cruise staff was tons of fun! Soon, it was time for dinner, so we headed down to Parrot Cay for our 8:30 seating....
tinytink
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 2, 2006
- Messages
- 2,073
Right after checking in and getting our Castaway Club lanyards, our check in number was called,(#10), and we got in line. After a quick photo for identification purposes, we got to walk through that awesome, Mickey-shaped entryway, get our group photo taken, and head up the walkway and onto The Magic!!!! We were greeted by Trevor or the cruise staff and we were introduced as the Self Party Posse!!!!
Wait they take pictures when you get onboard now? Does that mean you don't need to show id when you get on and off the ship? We were on the Magic Jan 03, 2009 and we didn't get our pic taken for identification purposes. When we sailed on RCCL they did that and we didn't need our id when we got on/off the ship but never on DCL.
I was pretty bummed because we were the first family in the regular line (boarding pass #2) and when we get to the check in line where they swipe your kttw card mine and my DS don't work so we have to stand to the side while everybody behind us go right past us. Then they walk us over to hallway to get new cards and of course the rest of the family are waiting. There goes getting to port early second person in the terminal, standing in the regular line for 30 minutes while the kids keep asking "now?" to not board until they call boarding pass #5.
Wait they take pictures when you get onboard now? Does that mean you don't need to show id when you get on and off the ship? We were on the Magic Jan 03, 2009 and we didn't get our pic taken for identification purposes. When we sailed on RCCL they did that and we didn't need our id when we got on/off the ship but never on DCL.
I was pretty bummed because we were the first family in the regular line (boarding pass #2) and when we get to the check in line where they swipe your kttw card mine and my DS don't work so we have to stand to the side while everybody behind us go right past us. Then they walk us over to hallway to get new cards and of course the rest of the family are waiting. There goes getting to port early second person in the terminal, standing in the regular line for 30 minutes while the kids keep asking "now?" to not board until they call boarding pass #5.
Frankiesmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2005
- Messages
- 1,611
more please...
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
- Messages
- 6,687
Great start - looking forward to more of the same! Glad your pipes got sorted out before you sailed!
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