SHIPWRECKED! The historic "8 night" Feb 2010 Magic

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Wednesday – Cruise Day 5 – Grand Cayman

Today began as a “rinse & repeat” of yesterday, we grabbed buffet breakfast at Topsiders and then headed for the adult-only pool. Apparently a “storm” was to appear at Grand Cayman late afternoon/evening, which meant the tender operators were going to cease their operations early. This meant instead of the last tender being at 5:30pm, it was to be at 2pm. As such, many shore excursions were canceled and more people remained on board the ship. Further, the captain & cruise director were VERY frustrated about the early end to the tenders, as their radar (presumably more high tech) showed the storm wouldn't be in that early. So when we finally pulled out at around 4pm they made special public note of the beautiful sunny weather!

As the pool was more crowded (&noisy), at lunch time we packed up our stuff, grabbed some chicken filets from Pluto’s Dog House and desserts from Topsiders and headed back to the room. At this point we turned on CNN to get updated with the goings-on in the world (& wished we hadn’t). Based on the weather report (mountains of snow everywhere) we again rejoiced that we chose the BEST WEEK EVER to leave on a vacation!

One of the desserts from lunch was a lovely edible chocolate cup topped with a dehydrated banana slice sitting in mocha mousse, on top of a real banana slice with a base of caramel sauce. YU-UM!

After more showers we settled in to watch “No Reservations” (BORING) in the room and then watched the premiere of “When in Rome” (fairly stupid) in the Buena Vista Theatre. Then we decided to do room service again for dinner – salad, soup, lasagna, Mickey ice cream bars, & cookies! Lol! We wasted more time until the fireworks were due. We have seen the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party enough and it was REALLY windy, so we stayed in our room. We specifically requested a starboard-side room, as we know they shoot the fireworks off from here. Disney is the only cruise line to have fireworks. In between “The Incredibles” and “Cars”, the fireworks were on! Soon after, I read for a short bit and was off to sleep.

 

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Thursday – Cruise Day 6 – Day at Sea

Like most everyone else, we had a lazy start to the day. As usual, we headed to Topsiders for breakfast and discovered the wind stayed with us through the night. (Who knew this would become the ultimate topic of the trip?!) We headed down to the stores for a few last-minute mementos and gifts and also to check the balance of our stateroom account. As we use our Disney Visas to pay for the entire cruise, we earn a $25 on-board credit (OBC) and our new travel agent added another $100! So far Kara’s bought a hoodie, fleece, t-shirts, another mini-Pluto, & a lunch cooler; I’ve bought t-shirts, postcards, a key chain, ornaments for my mom, our Palo dinners and Kara's wine bottle stopper (as all of the OBC are on my account).

The ship is moderately rocking and Kara wasn’t doing so well (even with my forcing Bonine), so we’re back in the room. Now that I’m caught up to the present on the blog, I’ve got a minute to reflect, probably something we all consider on a cruise:

Since shifting into vacation mode, I’ve been able to get at least 8 hours of continuous sleep each night (even if they were aided with Dramamine) and have not been continuously forming to-do lists in my head. I'm starting to think of all the things awaiting me on my return, but am trying not to. I am again reminded I need to slow down and take care of me. I don’t work in the medical profession, so no one will die if I don’t get something done ASAP. And if it takes me an extra day to complete a task, I’m still hard-working, dependable, and professional. And I need to take more time to THINK, not DO; I will be more beneficial to others if I’m focused on the greater good, rather than the stack of files before me. We all know change is coming at work, but I just have to have faith God will guide to what I’m supposed to do next. I also MUST stop working so much from home. My cats are neglected and so is my house and general mental & physical well-being. I need to stop feeling guilty about taking time for me.

So back to our second day at sea. We headed to Lumiere’s for lunch and service was again slow (hmmm). We had to dash out to make our session on Disney Innovations: Theme Parks & Resorts. Not too much was new to us, but the facts that were new were quite interesting. For example, Disney specifically uses a single entrance to most of the parks (just ignore International Gateway at EPCOT!) in order to “set the stage” to leave the real world behind. And from my experiences, it totally works!

Next was the Galley Tour that Kara had never been on. Crazy clean facility and no use of gas or an open flame. This tour always gives guests a chocolate chip cookie, for which my consumption for the week was certainly in the double digits!

The temperature was steadily dropping, while the wind was only increasing, so we wasted some time in our stateroom. Tonight was the FIRST night we were going to the formal show, as well as assigned dinner. The other shows we either didn’t like or had seen before, etc. Tonight the show was “Disney Dreams”. It is a wonderful tale of believing in your dreams with a little “faith, trust, & pixie dust”. I know this sounds corny, but we always end up crying at the end; it is not to be missed. Of course, this is just one of the many reasons it has won numerous cruise-industry awards.

Next we were off to Lumiere’s for the Captain’s Gala dinner. So what’s special about this? The Captain? No. That it’s a semi-formal dress night? No. That it’s “lobster night”? Yes! Not only do we have wonderfully prepared lobster tails, but also our server removes the lobster meat from the tails. Great food with zero effort! And yes, I also again ordered two desserts: the chocolate lava cake covered in fudge with ice cream and the banana crème brulee.

 

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Friday – Cruise Day 7 – Castaway Cay

Per Thursday’s drop in temps (low-mid 60s), we suspected Castaway Cay would be a wash. Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. Our favorite part is Serenity Bay, the adult-only beach with its own lunch location. Our plan was probably going to be to get off the ship, head to the shop on the island to purchase our souvenirs, and then get right back on the ship. As we left Grand Cayman early, we arrived early to Castaway Cay. Luckily we awoke to sun and much warmer temps. We threw on our swimwear, packed our day bags, and headed off the ship.

Kara found both a new Castaway Cay t-shirt and visor in her favorite color (orange), so she was a happy camper. I grabbed only a single t-shirt and we headed to Serenity Bay.

The island is undergoing many changes and expansions in preparation for the third Disney ship (Dream), which will be larger than the Magic and Wonder. As such, the shores had much more “muck”, but most everything else was the same. This cruise is during a light season, so we were about 300+ short of capacity. Additionally, most kids are in school, so Serenity Bay was much fuller than either Kara or I had ever seen it. Luckily, we got there early and grabbed loungers near the entrance. (Loungers were now in two rows instead of a single, which means more people were cramped together. It was very "serene" per the noise from more loud, talking people.)

Although sunny, it was quite windy, so we stayed covered in our cover-ups and towels. There was no way we were going near the water, so we each read. After lunch, it didn’t seem significantly warmer and the wind was increasing, so we headed back to the ship.

I showered and decided based on our evening schedule, I needed to go ahead and pack. Kara hates packing so I tried to make it a game, even offering to pack for her, which is NO small feat, as she is often over the weight limit! (I am NEVER even near the weight limit!) We ended up having a speed contest, so it only took about a half hour. While Kara was in the shower, a sudden loud noise overcame the ship. I dashed to the balcony to see a chopper from Miami Childrens’ Hospital landing next to the ship. (On our last cruise, there was an ambulance pulled up to the Norwegian ship next to us. Hopefully, we aren’t bad luck!) We can only wish our best to the impacted family.

As we were leaving the room, Kara was on the balcony waiting for us to leave Castaway Cay. Except we weren’t leaving. From what we understand, we were pulling out and possibly hit something, so we were trying to stay to check it out. In the mean time, the aft was untied, while forward was still tethered to the dock. By this time we’d already started moving away from the dock and the wind was making it VERY difficult to again get close enough to re-tie the aft. A somewhat scary situation.

The wind continued, so we guessed our ride back to FL would be quite rough. (Usually the first or last night of these cruises is the most turbulent.) I also thought I was out of “sea sick” pills, so we picked up extra at the ship’s Health Center. We made a last stop to the shops and then headed to the final night show. Our final dinner was in Animator’s Palette to celebrate our international crew from over 50 countries. Kara had some chicken skewers and we both had lobster bisque for appetizers. Entrees were beef tenderloin for Kara and seafood pasta for me (yum! More shrimp, scallops, & lobster!). Dessert was Apple-Cranberry cobbler for Kara and chocolate decadence for me – yes, only one for me tonight. With server photos taken and tip envelopes handed over, our night was nearly complete.

At the end of dinner, both the Captain & Cruise Director made announcements that the weather continued to deteriorate, the wind having increased from 30 to 40 and now 55-60 knots. It was simply too dangerous to leave, so we would be staying tied to Castaway Cay for the foreseeable future, which would impact our return to Port Canaveral. Questions were flying, but of course, everything was speculation. We were a bit excited for this new adventure!

We returned to our rooms to finalize our luggage and have it outside our door by 11pm. Around this same time our stateroom attendant stopped by to confirm the voicemail telling us that luggage check-in was canceled. (This is probably our FAVORITE benefit. It’s where Disney takes our luggage straight from our room to the airport and we don’t see it again until we arrive at IND!) This was very sad. And my back, which is still having spells of soreness, is ready to protest. Before 11:30pm, a new “Welcome Home” letter was under our door telling of a new, much later, breakfast schedule, as well as other ship services that would be available in the morning, which are typically closed on port disembarkation morning.

So it’s now 11:34pm and we’re just sitting next to Castaway Cay trying to ride out this storm. Even so, the ship is still moving a small bit with its typical “creaking” sounds. We’re packed & the bags have been taken down to the hold. Verizon messed up our service change and didn’t add our international data package, so no internet for us. The ship report shows the wind at a “Strong Gale” (no jokes please), rough seas (8-13ft.), and 224 nautical miles to the port. Luckily, we have our latest flight ever post-cruise with 2:10pm departure. At this point, we’re not really counting on making that. This may be one of those times that purchasing the trip insurance is going to pay off. We are to have a direct flight to IND, but between a possible delay getting to MCO and the various land-based storms (East Coast snow and something in Atlanta?), we’re starting to go through possible scenarios. Let it be known, we have NO PROBLEM with the possibility of staying in FL another night, although we’d prefer a Disney hotel over one of the airport hotels – lol! See, we’ve still got our senses of humor!

As we’ve done most nights, I reminded Kara to order the chocolate chip cookies from room service. Upon completing the task, she stated she should always be able to press a button on her phone for someone to bring her fresh chocolate chip cookies at home!

So stay tuned, for the unexpected conclusion to our adventure!

 

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Day 8(!) – Shipwrecked!

During the night I awoke when the ship seemed to be “bouncing” a little more than it had been previously. Ah, we must have FINALLY left Castaway Cay, which means it’s still going to be afternoon by the time we get back. OK –we’ll deal with the flight later & I went back to sleep.

I woke up as Kara was looking out through the verandah curtains and asked “Where are we?” knowing it would be 100% water. She looked at me like “Really?” and gave me the look that I should come see for myself. OH MY WORD! It was the exact same view we had yesterday! We STILL hadn’t left Castaway Cay!

An immediate & giddy party broke out in our stateroom. We were anxious & excited that this vacation had suddenly turned into an impromptu adventure!

We found out the breakfast buffet was open, as it isn’t open on regular debarkation morning. During breakfast another announcement was made and even the Cruise Director sounded shocked that we were still there! He said the wind was forecasted to calm later in the day, we would depart as soon as it was safe, and new Navigators were being printed to communicate all normal offerings would be provided on the ship. They were treating it as just another Day at Sea!

After breakfast we headed back to the room and were amazed to see the staff already returning luggage back to the rooms. We were VERY impressed. This is when I knew I was with Disney, as they didn’t have to do that. We were also shocked at how fast the luggage was brought up, all by about 10 or 10:30am. We decided to take advantage of our extra day, so I proceeded to take a nap! (And no joke, on one of the TV stations they were playing “Gilligan’s Island”. The irony was not lost on us!) Feeling groggy I then hassled with the luggage to shower and change clothes.

Too soon it was lunch time, which I think we got room service again. Kara got on the ship computers, as we heard the fees were being waved and she emailed everyone at home about our situation. The line for the computers was only about 5 people, but the internet was CRAZY SLOW, so this took awhile.

Around 4pm we noticed the engines had fired up and we were obviously trying to leave. It took nearly an hour to finally clear the dock and “parking lane” with the stationary and floating buoys.

Finally we pulled out to the waving cast members. When the horn finally went off, we could hear people cheering all over the ship from our verandah (for successful undocking - NOT that we were going home!)

So at this point we knew we’d be back to FL approximately 24 hours late. It was now time to reschedule the flight, which is when things began to unravel. We got in one of the two Guest Service lines to get a phone to the airline. (Remember, Verizon messed up our international plan, so we couldn’t use our cells.) After about 40 minutes we made it to the front of the line to promptly be told they were waiving the satellite charges and we could use our own cell. GRRR! Why didn’t they tell us this in the line?!

So we retrieve the phone and amazingly find a good signal in the hall at one of the major connecting points in the build of the ship. We got tired of sitting in the hall and proceeded downstairs, where we lost the signal. We try again, but the lobby is getting noisy as people gathered for early dinner, so just after getting through to the airline, the agent couldn’t hear me and the call dropped. We then tried again from the lounge and got through again just as the band started playing. The agent said I was breaking up and as we moved to get a better signal, again lost the call! GRRR! So we got in the other Guest Service line to use their phone to call the airline. The line was moving so slow, we had to give up and leave for dinner.

During this time we were hearing rumors that because of the Presidents’ Day holiday and Valentine’s Day, all the Disney World hotels were booked. THIS is when Kara had a total meltdown (which is usually my thing). She now says it was because we were getting unexpected mixed messages from Disney. She ended up crying through dinner and neither of us ate much.

After dinner we got in the line again, and at 10:30pm finally got through to AirTran. Amazingly, because of the situation, they re-booked us on the same flight we had the next day (Sunday) and didn’t charge us a single fee!

Now that we had a solid plan, we hurriedly re-packed our bags and tried to get to sleep (after more cookies of course)!

 

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Day 9 (!) – Welcome Home (finally)!

We awoke to discover we were definitely not at the Disney Terminal. See, Sunday is the day the other Disney ship, the Disney Wonder, returns from their 3 night cruise and departs for the 4 night cruise. As that was their regular schedule, they had dibs on the terminal! We were hoping to see the Wonder from our location, but we were at the other end of the port. At a slightly later time than normal, we headed to an abbreviated breakfast and quickly realized debarkation would run like a “regular” cruise line, not Disney.

One of the great things everyone received, was a formal letter from Disney stating what had happened (for those who needed documentation for trip insurance) and an offer of 20% off of future cruises! Yes! Since we had re-booked two cruises onboard, this would automatically be applied AND we would get to keep the on board credit for the cruises! (As it turns out, they are also letting us apply it to the Alaska cruise that we booked months ago! In all, this is saving us $800 between the three future cruises! You can shipwreck me anytime baby!)

Everything was running late, as Customs and the port staff weren’t prepared to unload an extra 2000+ person ship on a Sunday morning. And as usually happens on other cruises, things were held up by international families that did not report to their specified location/time. We were sitting in the hallways waiting to be released. We moved once to try to find a warmer location, as it was only about 40 degrees that morning outside & it didn't seem like there was any heat on the ship.

Well after 9am we were finally released, which probably took at least another 15 minutes to get off the ship. Everyone was leaving at the same time (picture complete mob in all of the stairwells), not usual for Disney. They told us the aft exit was moving faster, so we went from forward to aft, only to be stuck in another crazy mob. When we finally got off the ship, we of course had to walk the length of the ship to get to the Customs House that was near the forward of the ship.

Approaching the building, we were divided by our luggage tags (Purple Minnie!). Luckily, we found our luggage almost immediately, turned in our declaration form, and exited. NO ONE was checking a single passport! EEGADS! Outside there was confusion and a HUGE line/mob had formed. By this time, we just wanted on the bus, and along with about 50 other people, seemed to cut in front of about 300 others. Sorry!

There were actually 3 bus designations: to the parking garage, to the Disney Resorts, and to Airport. Like most, we needed Airport. We finally made it to the front of the line where three busses were lined up end to end. Other idiots got on the closet bus, but smartly we proceeded to the third bus, which was at the front of the line, and would obviously be the first to leave. DUH!

We sped to the airport and checked in with a grouchy AirTran agent. (Why do these airport workers always have to slap us out of our Disney utopia?!) Kara’s luggage was again over the limit, but was too tired to take things out and just decided to pay the overage fee ($64 total)! AUGH! We grabbed burgers at Chili’s - somewhat icky. Amazingly I bought NOTHING at the airport Disney shop. We were happy to see Orlando has reworked their security lines, so that moved much fast. Of course, we went through the Expert Traveler lane. Per the ongoing construction, we somehow got on the wrong terminal tram even though the two of us have probably been through that airport 75 times! BWHAHA! Luckily, we laughed it off.

Our flight left about 20 minutes late and we just people watched. Our flight home was probably the WORST of either of our lives. We were in the next to the last row. Two strangers met behind us and proceeded to be loud and got drunk on the flight home. This was in combination with the toddler who cracked our eardrums screaming during decent.

By this time my head was ready to explode , so I had to get some juice at baggage return for my migraine pills. Almost immediately our shuttle got us back to Kara’s SUV parked in valet, so it was toasty warm - love those seat heaters! We were very glad to finally be home!

We're happy to answer any questions you may have. Thanks for joining us!
Gayle

 

[Missymowse]

Hiya K&G!!
Fresh (one week) off the EBTA. Reading trip reports to help me out of this deep state of disneyless depression . Glad you had such a great trip/adventure. Wondering what the offical letter officialy said the problem was?? Thanx for your trip report....it was fun to read!!

 

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Hiya K&G!!
Fresh (one week) off the EBTA. Reading trip reports to help me out of this deep state of disneyless depression . Glad you had such a great trip/adventure. Wondering what the offical letter officialy said the problem was?? Thanx for your trip report....it was fun to read!!

It wasn't very specific. The reference was to high winds and seas, which made travel unsafe.

In retrospect, it was the "perfect storm" of events: waiting on the hospital helicopter, having pulled in to CC forward (which made backing out more difficult), hitting one of the bouys, strong winds, high seas, etc. We still can't figure out why we pulled in forward and not backward, like on all of our other cruises. Maybe the wind & sea had already started to pick up and he was concered about backing in? Who knows.

P.S. Although I kept a copy, we had to send the original letter back to DCL with our future cruise #s on it to get the bonus 20% discount.

Gayle