WDWLVR
<font color=green>DVC @ The Boardwalk</font><br><f
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2000
- Messages
- 31,459
Day 1 Welcome Home to the Disney Wonder
This is a trip report for the special DVC SS Member Cruise held Feb. 2-6, 2003 on the Disney Wonder.
Cast: Me & DH (MarkRG). We are DINKS who love Disney. Weve been DVC members since Jan. of 2000. This is our 4th DCL cruise (did 3-day Magic in Oct. 99, 7-day Eastern Magic in May 01, 4-day Wonder in May02 and we have a 7-day Western Magic planned for 5/10/03).
Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny. It was going to be a great day. Earlier in the week rain was in the forecast and we were afraid our planned Sailaway DISmeet would be soggy. Not to worry. We had signed up for the 11 am shuttle and left our room about 10:15 to go sit in the sun and enjoy the view. A few minutes later we saw John run by in a big hurry. We moved up to the front of the resort remembering nice comfy chairs up there. The chairs were gone, but Gail and John were up there returning their Avis car. While talking to them Cheryl and Todd joined us. The avis van pulled up and asked it we were going to the port and we all said yes so we got an early ride in a van full of Disers. What could be better. We got dropped off right by the building and had our bags taken by a porter right away. First sight DVC CMs in special SS Member Cruise Shirts bright red. We found out later they had different ones for each day!
We got through security and headed up the escalator into the terminal. Everyone we saw said WELCOME HOME! What a great touch. There were special Welcome Home and SS Member Cruise banners all over the terminal as well. We check in and get special SS Member Cruise key to the world cards, signed a photo release (pictures taken during the cruise will be used for promotional services), filled out a t-shirt size form (gee wonder what that is for) and then got a large manila envelope. Inside was a folder much like you get when you arrive at a DVC resort, but instead of the mailboxes or coffee cups it was deck chairs for Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald as well as the special SS Member Cruise logo. This was repeated on post cards in the package, and note cards we got every night of our cruise. Also inside were special SS Member Cruise lanyards. Bright blue cord, an SS Member Cruise slide (like on a bolo tie) and in the clear plastic holder was a card with our first name and hometown so we can get to know our neighbors. Guess DVC had the same great idea as Mark had with his buttons and Chris with his DISboards lanyards!
After taking a number of pictures around the terminal we all got in line. Laurette and her group as well as BethC and her family were right up front way to go guys. We were about 30 people back. Digging in the envelope further we found Member Challenge cards. If you filled these out and dropped them off by the last day of the cruise you could win your dues for 1 year (up to $1500). The first part was finding a member who had a home at each resort and have them sign your card. That brought out the pens and cries of who owns at Hilton Head or I own at Vero up and down the line. Needless to say we all got that part taken care of right away. The next couple were trivia questions that you could get answers to once on board. The last part was getting signatures and start dates from 10 DVC cast members. With spouses watching our bags Todd and I took off with our cards and got most of ours before we boarded ship. This game was lots of fun, a great ice breaker, and made the time in line move quickly. Of course we had the added benefit of being with DISers so we were already having fun.
Soon the countdown began and we were going through the Mickey ears. A quick stop to have our picture taken next to the Welcome Aboard sing (a special pink SS Member Cruise one of course). Instead of welcome aboard we were announced with Welcome Home to the Gums Family. Cool! Huge DVC banners were in the atrium (stretching between decks 4 & 5 and every cast member we passed said Welcome Home.
Up to Beach Blanket for the welcome buffet. Welcome Home was carved into watermelons and the SS Member Cruise logo in white chocolate was at the entry (and the entry of every restaurant). The 6 of us were joined at lunch by Beth and we got to meet here DH Scott. Really nice guy (but I think it was a little overwhelmed by all us DIS folks). Mark pointed out a woman wearing a shirt that said Got Points? and Gail said that had to be Shontell. So like a bunch of fans at the Emmys the whole table (ok maybe not Scott) started yelling Shontell, Shontell!. She came over for a quick hello, got her button and then went to have lunch with her mom Gale.
Having filled up on a great buffet and desserts we did a quick tour of the top deck for Gail, John, Cheryl and Todd since it was their first cruise. Showed them where we would be meeting for the DISmeet at sailaway and then went to our room. Weve got more goodies! As returning cruisers we got our Castaway Club towel and pins. Cool! We got a plastic bag from the Disney Collectors Society with postcards (I love this as I collect postcards) a magnet and two pins. Speaking of pins we got two beautiful round boxes with SS Member Cruise pins in them (wonder when some of these will show up on eBay). Also in the room two white hand fans that looked like Mickey hands to be used at Sailaway. We had our own Mickey Mitts, but it will look great in the scrapbook! Wow!
Our bags were already at our room when we got there so we unpacked and then walked around the ship for a while. No Palos or Spa on this trip (didnt want to miss out on the special presentations I figured they would have) so there was no rush. Did the mandatory safety drill then a quick rush to the room to pick up our sign and buttons.
We got a great spot on deck 10 and set up a table with all the button bags. Ended up giving out all the buttons except for 4 sets. I think the ones we had left were Caps, Britttsmum, 1disfan, and maryisme. Sorry we missed you guys. I got to meet a number of people Ive wanted to for some time, especially Darla (IluvDVC) and Sue (WDW1972). Ive been reading their trip reports for years and was really happy to get to meet them.
With the crowds and loud music it was hard to get to talk to everyone and naturally people moved into smaller groups as well especially those who already had friends on board, but it was nice to see everyone wear their buttons. I even had one woman come up and ask me if I could make one for her with her name on it (did she think I carried the computer with me?) I told her there were for a special group and she walked away. Sorry! All in all I think sailaway was a big success not only from a DCL and DVC standpoint but also from a DIS standpoint. We talked, we danced, we blew bubbles and we waved goodbye to Port Canaveral. They even hoisted a DVC flag over the ship. We had taken over the Wonder!
We skipped the show since weve seen Hercules 3 times already so Mark logged on to the DIS for the first of his updates, then off to the shops, and finally to late seating dinner. No DISers at our table, but 3 very nice couples to spend dinner with. We had Parrot Cay for our rotation a first from us. I think this was because of how few children there were on the ship. 2nd seating at Parrot Cay and the back half of the restaurant was empty.
Dinner ended at about 9:45 and what does my darling husband do why go on the DIS of course so he wouldnt miss DVC chat.
He didnt stay on long and Im afraid by that point we were both pretty tired. We are not late night people so Ill leave the late night tales to others.
Thanks for reading hope I didnt bore you too much! Can you tell we had a blast on this cruise?
This is a trip report for the special DVC SS Member Cruise held Feb. 2-6, 2003 on the Disney Wonder.
Cast: Me & DH (MarkRG). We are DINKS who love Disney. Weve been DVC members since Jan. of 2000. This is our 4th DCL cruise (did 3-day Magic in Oct. 99, 7-day Eastern Magic in May 01, 4-day Wonder in May02 and we have a 7-day Western Magic planned for 5/10/03).
Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny. It was going to be a great day. Earlier in the week rain was in the forecast and we were afraid our planned Sailaway DISmeet would be soggy. Not to worry. We had signed up for the 11 am shuttle and left our room about 10:15 to go sit in the sun and enjoy the view. A few minutes later we saw John run by in a big hurry. We moved up to the front of the resort remembering nice comfy chairs up there. The chairs were gone, but Gail and John were up there returning their Avis car. While talking to them Cheryl and Todd joined us. The avis van pulled up and asked it we were going to the port and we all said yes so we got an early ride in a van full of Disers. What could be better. We got dropped off right by the building and had our bags taken by a porter right away. First sight DVC CMs in special SS Member Cruise Shirts bright red. We found out later they had different ones for each day!
We got through security and headed up the escalator into the terminal. Everyone we saw said WELCOME HOME! What a great touch. There were special Welcome Home and SS Member Cruise banners all over the terminal as well. We check in and get special SS Member Cruise key to the world cards, signed a photo release (pictures taken during the cruise will be used for promotional services), filled out a t-shirt size form (gee wonder what that is for) and then got a large manila envelope. Inside was a folder much like you get when you arrive at a DVC resort, but instead of the mailboxes or coffee cups it was deck chairs for Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald as well as the special SS Member Cruise logo. This was repeated on post cards in the package, and note cards we got every night of our cruise. Also inside were special SS Member Cruise lanyards. Bright blue cord, an SS Member Cruise slide (like on a bolo tie) and in the clear plastic holder was a card with our first name and hometown so we can get to know our neighbors. Guess DVC had the same great idea as Mark had with his buttons and Chris with his DISboards lanyards!
After taking a number of pictures around the terminal we all got in line. Laurette and her group as well as BethC and her family were right up front way to go guys. We were about 30 people back. Digging in the envelope further we found Member Challenge cards. If you filled these out and dropped them off by the last day of the cruise you could win your dues for 1 year (up to $1500). The first part was finding a member who had a home at each resort and have them sign your card. That brought out the pens and cries of who owns at Hilton Head or I own at Vero up and down the line. Needless to say we all got that part taken care of right away. The next couple were trivia questions that you could get answers to once on board. The last part was getting signatures and start dates from 10 DVC cast members. With spouses watching our bags Todd and I took off with our cards and got most of ours before we boarded ship. This game was lots of fun, a great ice breaker, and made the time in line move quickly. Of course we had the added benefit of being with DISers so we were already having fun.
Soon the countdown began and we were going through the Mickey ears. A quick stop to have our picture taken next to the Welcome Aboard sing (a special pink SS Member Cruise one of course). Instead of welcome aboard we were announced with Welcome Home to the Gums Family. Cool! Huge DVC banners were in the atrium (stretching between decks 4 & 5 and every cast member we passed said Welcome Home.
Up to Beach Blanket for the welcome buffet. Welcome Home was carved into watermelons and the SS Member Cruise logo in white chocolate was at the entry (and the entry of every restaurant). The 6 of us were joined at lunch by Beth and we got to meet here DH Scott. Really nice guy (but I think it was a little overwhelmed by all us DIS folks). Mark pointed out a woman wearing a shirt that said Got Points? and Gail said that had to be Shontell. So like a bunch of fans at the Emmys the whole table (ok maybe not Scott) started yelling Shontell, Shontell!. She came over for a quick hello, got her button and then went to have lunch with her mom Gale.
Having filled up on a great buffet and desserts we did a quick tour of the top deck for Gail, John, Cheryl and Todd since it was their first cruise. Showed them where we would be meeting for the DISmeet at sailaway and then went to our room. Weve got more goodies! As returning cruisers we got our Castaway Club towel and pins. Cool! We got a plastic bag from the Disney Collectors Society with postcards (I love this as I collect postcards) a magnet and two pins. Speaking of pins we got two beautiful round boxes with SS Member Cruise pins in them (wonder when some of these will show up on eBay). Also in the room two white hand fans that looked like Mickey hands to be used at Sailaway. We had our own Mickey Mitts, but it will look great in the scrapbook! Wow!
Our bags were already at our room when we got there so we unpacked and then walked around the ship for a while. No Palos or Spa on this trip (didnt want to miss out on the special presentations I figured they would have) so there was no rush. Did the mandatory safety drill then a quick rush to the room to pick up our sign and buttons.
We got a great spot on deck 10 and set up a table with all the button bags. Ended up giving out all the buttons except for 4 sets. I think the ones we had left were Caps, Britttsmum, 1disfan, and maryisme. Sorry we missed you guys. I got to meet a number of people Ive wanted to for some time, especially Darla (IluvDVC) and Sue (WDW1972). Ive been reading their trip reports for years and was really happy to get to meet them.
With the crowds and loud music it was hard to get to talk to everyone and naturally people moved into smaller groups as well especially those who already had friends on board, but it was nice to see everyone wear their buttons. I even had one woman come up and ask me if I could make one for her with her name on it (did she think I carried the computer with me?) I told her there were for a special group and she walked away. Sorry! All in all I think sailaway was a big success not only from a DCL and DVC standpoint but also from a DIS standpoint. We talked, we danced, we blew bubbles and we waved goodbye to Port Canaveral. They even hoisted a DVC flag over the ship. We had taken over the Wonder!
We skipped the show since weve seen Hercules 3 times already so Mark logged on to the DIS for the first of his updates, then off to the shops, and finally to late seating dinner. No DISers at our table, but 3 very nice couples to spend dinner with. We had Parrot Cay for our rotation a first from us. I think this was because of how few children there were on the ship. 2nd seating at Parrot Cay and the back half of the restaurant was empty.
Dinner ended at about 9:45 and what does my darling husband do why go on the DIS of course so he wouldnt miss DVC chat.
He didnt stay on long and Im afraid by that point we were both pretty tired. We are not late night people so Ill leave the late night tales to others.Thanks for reading hope I didnt bore you too much! Can you tell we had a blast on this cruise?
