prattpak
DIS Dad #479
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,599
She deserves a cruise
right?
This is my first attempt at writing a pre-trip report so go easy on me, for crying out loud.
Let me introduce you to the cast first and foremost.
I am Mark or Prattpak on the boards
My wife is Wendy and she is what this is all about and for .
Then there is our good good friends Kris and Marianne shown here over amped about Disney ..
notice their apparel that is from our WDW trip in December. There will be NO scarves, coats and or gloves in this trip report!!!
Later to join us, post cruise, will be my Brother in law Josh shown here on our very first trip to WDW ..
over amped to be at MK.
This trip started getting planned in January shortly after our return from WDW. My wife would be graduating with her degree in Emergency Management and she really deserves this. We knew we wanted to celebrate and celebrate the right way. Since we are addicted, obsessed, NO, PASSIONATE about Disney we decided that we should do it in style.
We have never done a Disney Cruise (DCL) so I started researching it. Having just completed my Disneys College of Knowledge for the travel agency (Fairytale Journeys) I work for it was kind of all new to me. (Not the case anymore, Im pretty fluent in DCL now). We knew we wanted to do a land/sea vacation and started piecing it together.
We got Kris and Marianne on board (pun intended) as well. Kris and Marianne like us have NEVER cruised before. We found an AMAZING price on a deluxe ocean view room with extended verandah.
Now with the cruise we learned that it is a floating all you can eat buffet. Which for Kris and I was a hands down clincher to buy. Mickey Mouse chocolate dipped ice-cream delivered to your room, for free??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!!?! It dont get no better then this!
There is so much to look at when booking a cruise. What category do you want? What type of room? What dining do you want, late or early? Do you want any shore excursions? Do you want fries with that? Do you know the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Thank goodness for the Dis!!! So many people answering soooo many of my stupid newb questions. But thats what this community is all about. Thats what I love about the boards.
So fully loaded with my rookie knowledge of cruise we set sail on booking everything I was told to book.
Beautiful room with extended veranda, Check. Late dining so we dont have to rush back on board from excursions, check. Nassau excursion to Atlantis, check. Booking our room a day later then Kris and Marianne so we are on exact opposite ends of the ship,,crap, check!
We thought we would be ok if we just waited til the morning to book, ehhhhh WRONGO!
So now we are in the bow, whereas they are in the aft. We are starboard and they are port! Swell! One small hiccup no big deal right?
So we are hooked and booked for the 4 night Bahamas cruise with stops in Nassau and at Disneys private island, Castaway Cay!
Did I mention yet that it will be my wifes Birthday to!! AND there will be no kids coming with us? WOOT!!! Thats right, thats they other part of my wifes celebration! Kid free for 10 days!
Part 2 the Land portion of our trip will be at Disney World of course. We have booked a room at Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR). This is when my Brother in law Josh will be joining us. We have 6 day tickets with park hopper options and the Deluxe dining plan. All ADRs were made at 180 days out at 5am MST. Yes Im that thorough! Didnt want to miss out on the meals we had sit down and planned. (Those would change 3-100 times before we leave of course).
Going to WDW with my BIL is a whole new game. If you hear the screaming coming from the rollercoaster rides October 13th-18th, well its more then likely him. He is a riot to go on rides with.
We are going to Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween party the first night we are there and this has proven to be a logistical nightmare. My BIL flies in at 3pm and his costumes as well as ours wouldnt be to the room til 5 or 6pm so now we have to plan on packing them on the ship with us. Then repacking them in our backpacks to take to the resort when we disembark from the ship. Oh well that is a minimal headache and we wont let it slow us down.
If you have never been to MNSSHP, it is, as Stacy says, A MUST DO. It is a blast! We are all dressing up as Jedis, except me Im going as a retired, fatter Han Solo. He did shoot first by the way.
As for as meals go we have , hopefully finalized, all of them. We have :
Tonys Town Square (dinner)
Tusker House (breakfast)
Ohanas (breakfast)
Le Cellier (dinner)
Raglan Road (dinner)
San Angel Inn (lunch)
Sci-Fi Dining (lunch)
And of course Cinderellas Royal Table for the last night.
So there is our pre-trip. I will try to return post trip and right the elusive post trip report. Thanks for reading!
This is my first attempt at writing a pre-trip report so go easy on me, for crying out loud.
Let me introduce you to the cast first and foremost.
I am Mark or Prattpak on the boards
My wife is Wendy and she is what this is all about and for .
Then there is our good good friends Kris and Marianne shown here over amped about Disney ..
Later to join us, post cruise, will be my Brother in law Josh shown here on our very first trip to WDW ..
This trip started getting planned in January shortly after our return from WDW. My wife would be graduating with her degree in Emergency Management and she really deserves this. We knew we wanted to celebrate and celebrate the right way. Since we are addicted, obsessed, NO, PASSIONATE about Disney we decided that we should do it in style.
We have never done a Disney Cruise (DCL) so I started researching it. Having just completed my Disneys College of Knowledge for the travel agency (Fairytale Journeys) I work for it was kind of all new to me. (Not the case anymore, Im pretty fluent in DCL now). We knew we wanted to do a land/sea vacation and started piecing it together.
We got Kris and Marianne on board (pun intended) as well. Kris and Marianne like us have NEVER cruised before. We found an AMAZING price on a deluxe ocean view room with extended verandah.
Now with the cruise we learned that it is a floating all you can eat buffet. Which for Kris and I was a hands down clincher to buy. Mickey Mouse chocolate dipped ice-cream delivered to your room, for free??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!!?! It dont get no better then this!
There is so much to look at when booking a cruise. What category do you want? What type of room? What dining do you want, late or early? Do you want any shore excursions? Do you want fries with that? Do you know the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Thank goodness for the Dis!!! So many people answering soooo many of my stupid newb questions. But thats what this community is all about. Thats what I love about the boards.
So fully loaded with my rookie knowledge of cruise we set sail on booking everything I was told to book.
Beautiful room with extended veranda, Check. Late dining so we dont have to rush back on board from excursions, check. Nassau excursion to Atlantis, check. Booking our room a day later then Kris and Marianne so we are on exact opposite ends of the ship,,crap, check!
We thought we would be ok if we just waited til the morning to book, ehhhhh WRONGO!
So now we are in the bow, whereas they are in the aft. We are starboard and they are port! Swell! One small hiccup no big deal right?
So we are hooked and booked for the 4 night Bahamas cruise with stops in Nassau and at Disneys private island, Castaway Cay!
Did I mention yet that it will be my wifes Birthday to!! AND there will be no kids coming with us? WOOT!!! Thats right, thats they other part of my wifes celebration! Kid free for 10 days!
Part 2 the Land portion of our trip will be at Disney World of course. We have booked a room at Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR). This is when my Brother in law Josh will be joining us. We have 6 day tickets with park hopper options and the Deluxe dining plan. All ADRs were made at 180 days out at 5am MST. Yes Im that thorough! Didnt want to miss out on the meals we had sit down and planned. (Those would change 3-100 times before we leave of course).
Going to WDW with my BIL is a whole new game. If you hear the screaming coming from the rollercoaster rides October 13th-18th, well its more then likely him. He is a riot to go on rides with.
We are going to Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween party the first night we are there and this has proven to be a logistical nightmare. My BIL flies in at 3pm and his costumes as well as ours wouldnt be to the room til 5 or 6pm so now we have to plan on packing them on the ship with us. Then repacking them in our backpacks to take to the resort when we disembark from the ship. Oh well that is a minimal headache and we wont let it slow us down.
If you have never been to MNSSHP, it is, as Stacy says, A MUST DO. It is a blast! We are all dressing up as Jedis, except me Im going as a retired, fatter Han Solo. He did shoot first by the way.
As for as meals go we have , hopefully finalized, all of them. We have :
Tonys Town Square (dinner)
Tusker House (breakfast)
Ohanas (breakfast)
Le Cellier (dinner)
Raglan Road (dinner)
San Angel Inn (lunch)
Sci-Fi Dining (lunch)
And of course Cinderellas Royal Table for the last night.
So there is our pre-trip. I will try to return post trip and right the elusive post trip report. Thanks for reading!
Hoping for lots of pictures! Ever since our cruise on the Dream in May, I haven't been able to get enough cruise pics to relive the Dream! Enjoy the trip!!
