The Mary and Glenn saga continues after all - plus Aprille(photos starting @ post#22)

[Aunt Jo]

We just got home Saturday night after an "amazing" (our new favorite adjective to be explained later) time on the Magic Western Cruise that sailed on the 19th. I hope those of you that responded to my Dec. 2007 trip report are still around and that I will hear from you. Glenn and I decided as we sailed back to Port Canavarel on that last night in 2007 that we couldn't plan to ever do another cruise due to our age and health conditions. We were 78/85 at that time. We had a couple more health scares in 2008. We decided to not give in to adversity and try to do another cruise. I must say, we had plenty of encouragement from Glenn's doctors. I searched diligently for a 7 day cruise that met my requirements. Actually, I only had one requirement and that was the least expensive cat 6. As we eagerly planned and bemoaned the fact that our dream was almost 11 months away, we decided to do the unthinkable and reward ourselves with an upgrade to a cat 3. I did this very quickly for fear common sense would take over and I would lose my nerve. It wasn't long until we had a phone call from Aprille, our only child, asking if she could join us. We were thrilled beyond words. After all, we are spending her inheritance and we don't get to see her more than a couple of time a year. And never for a whole week and never, ever, on a cruise. This would be her first Disney cruise but she and Marty have cruised 7 times on RC. I was eager to hear her comparisons which I will let her post herself.

We met at the Houston airport and flew to Orlando together. We spent the night at the Hyatt in the airport as we always do and had connecting rooms. Glenn and I checked out the swimming pool area because we never had and Aprille did some looking around in the airport shops. We had a pleasant dinner at McCoys Bar and Grill in the hotel (they have a strange idea of what tortilla soup should taste like), rested well and were on the first bus that left from the Hyatt on Saturday morning. This is such a wonderful perk and so painless. We met a nice lady from Cleveland who was reluctanly joining her son and family on the ship. She had never cruised before and was very suspicious that she was only invited to be a baby sitter for her 4 grandchildren. We saw her every day on the ship and turns out she was right.

It was smooth sailing when we got to the terminal. Checking in was a breeze and it turns out the suite check in line was next to the "trying for an upgrade" line. There were at least 15 people in that line. We soon had our rented wheel chair and were seated in the proper place to watch and wait. I went to the little snack counter to get Glenn some coffee. It's free if you have a gold KTTW card. After thinking it over, I think they use the word "free" rather loosely.

Our cruise was filled with magical moments but be advised that I consider it a magical moment when a cast member smiles and says "Good morning", "Are you having a good time?", or "Can I help you?" This happened many times each day. I want to say right now that I saw no deteriation in service at all.

Aprille took over 700 pictures and most of them were great. She will be posting some of them as time permits.

Be warned, I didn't take notes at all so will have to depend on my 80 year old memory to write this report. I have all my Navigators beside me so that should help. Aprille will help too because her memory is much younger than mine.

Back soon.

 

[E&BMom]

Can't wait to hear more! So glad you had a great time!!

 

[Aunt Jo]

We boarded the ship to the applause of many cast members. I noticed Aprille smiled. I'm pretty sure they don't do this on RC. We went to Sessions for the concierge thing. There was a lovely display of finger foods. I didn't look very long because I wanted to save myself for Parrot Cay. We did try some tiny sandwiches that were quite tasty. Each party met with a concierge rep to finalize any requests. We didn't have any additional requests except to cancel the Dolphin Encounter. Aprille couldn't get in the water because she had a cyst lanced the day before she left home and the doctor said "do not get in the water". Glenn and I were going to be observers. She had to give a reason for canceling and we were told it could probably be canceled because there was a medical reason. We were quite surprised because we thought there was a 48 hour cancelation period no matter the reason. Maybe there was something in the fine print but no problem. It was canceled.

We hurried on to Parrot Cay which is my preference for lunch upon boarding. Aprille and I both are partial to air conditioning. We sat Glenn at a table and checked out the offerings. We didn't look far because we quickly decided on soup (potato/leek) and salad. We also got peel and eat shrimp and Glenn loved it so we got more. We ate a lot of shrimp the next several days. We skipped dessert even though they looked really good. So you see, we got off to a pretty good start by not eating too much for lunch. Oops, I almost forgot those tiny sandwiches we had earlier.

It was after 1:30 so we headed for our cabin. We were all excited about staying in a suite but I must confess, we were all a little disappointed when we saw it. It seemed small and crowded with lots of furniture. But I must say, there was enough closet and storage space for a small army. The dressing area and walk in closet were nice. The bedroom bath was large and again - plenty of storage space. We couldn't use the spa tub because it was so deep I feared that neither of us could get in and out. The shower worked for both of us but I do wish they would install hand held heads. Glenn won't get in a tub or shower without a bath mat. It took them a while to deliver one but no problem. My goodness, I seem to be off on a whining binge and that was not my intent. There was a nice bowl of fruit on the table. We liked the location and learned to love our suite.

It was time for the dreaded drill so we put on our equipment and headed down to deck 4. Aprille set the camera timer and we got a good picture of the 3 of us before we left the room - to be posted later. The wheel chair allowed us to use an elevator. A young lady (her name was Melanie) told us to park close to the door so we could get out ahead of the crowd. They had to call numerous cabin numbers before everyone finally showed up. Good grief, I'm sounding whiney again. I often use my advanced age as an excuse for just about anything so I remind you again that I am very old. I promise this was a fun filled cruise. Glenn never stopped smiling except when he napped and I can't be sure he didn't smile then too. Melanie was an all purpose cast member. We saw her nearly every day working a different position. She took tickets at the Galley Tour and was a greeter at the WD theater among other things. She always remembered us from Station D and the drill.

We sailed away on time and I quickly called my sister back in Fritch to be sure she was watching the Port Canavarel web cam. She was but said it was raining so hard she could barely see the Carnival ship that sailed just ahead of us. It wasn't really raining hard but the rain was dropping on the camera and made vision a little iffy. The rain let up and she saw us quite well. She caught us again passing Two Palms. Glenn and I watch the sail aways quite often if we aren't napping. Old people have time to do things like that.

I love all the shows. We went to the All Aboard! show at 6:15 and it was great fun. Ron Pearson was very funny. Ricky Kalmon, the hypnotist comedian guy, just made a brief appearance but did a whole show the next night. We met Ernan, one of the bar servers, when Aprille ordered drinks for herself and Glenn. Glenn doesn't drink alcohol so Ernan suggested an Espresso Freeze. I appointed myself the designated driver so no drink for me. Aprille might challenge me on the driver thing because she pushed the wheel chair everywhere we went. Glenn loved his coffee drink and it became his drink of choice. Ernan would come running up the steps to greet us each evening. We always sat in the wheel chair area so we were easy to find. The last night Glenn wanted plain old hot coffee and they don't have that at Preludes so Ernan hurried down to one of the restaurants but they couldn't accomodate him so he came back huffing and puffing and said he would go up to the drink station on deck nine. We told him no way. We didn't need it that bad. That was typical of the kind of service we had all week long.

Okay, it's just about time for our first dinner. Dinner turned out to be our favorite time of the day. We had thought we would order in for some of our dinners but that didn't happen. Dinner with our wonderful servers, Ivan, Tirso, and Wira will be the next installment.

Probably tomorrow. I hope Aprille can join us soon.

 

[GirlieGirl]

I'm here! I was watching the boards all weekend to see if you were going to share your trip--and here you are! I'm so excited to read all about it. We watched for the ship on the Two Palms camera but it froze up and I didn't know to refresh the screen so I missed it. However, a very nice gentleman on these boards posted a picture so I got to see you sail away after all.
Glenn's smile...the one thing that ALWAYS makes me smile! Aaron and I were talking about that the other day...and I showed him the one Aprille posted on facebook. Made him smile, too!
Can't wait to hear more....

 

[Aunt Jo]

Hi Susie and Aaron. So glad you are here. It's bedtime now so will continue the saga tomorrow.

 

[Aunt Jo]

I don't know about you guys but I'm always a little apprehensive about meeting our servers for the first time. I wonder if they are apprehensive too. We got lucky this cruise and had really good ones. Maybe it has to do with having late dining for the first time where there are fewer people to serve. We were wait listed for early dining and could likely have gotten it through concierge but decided to give late dining a try. We had wonderful table mates on our previous cruises but it was really nice to have a table for 3 this time. I chose the APL rotation because the original plan was to dine in our room several times and I wanted to be sure Aprille saw the "show" in Animators. The first night is surely a bit difficult for servers too. They were polite but rushed and service seemed a bit slow. I thought "Oh no this isn't going to be a happy experience". I hasten to assure you - that was not the case. I made a mistake in the entree I ordered - veal chop - and I found out how important it is to listen to the server's recommendations. I cut several pieces and could never find any I wanted to put in my mouth. This was noticed by Wira, our head server. He came over to inquire about it and really wanted to have another entree sent out. I insisted he not do that as I was already looking forward to dessert. He relucatantly let me have my way. Ivan came over later to discuss the problem again. I assured him I was not upset and was looking forward to dessert. He bent over to softly suggest I tell him first if there was a problem with my food and that he NEVER recommends the veal chop. So I must say I got more than enough attention that first night. Aprille and I helped Glenn make his food decisions and that worked well for a couple of days.

Wira, the head server, never missed a night stopping by our table and talking with us at length. Ivan was excellent and wants to be a head server. I only know this because I asked him on our last night. Tirso was eager to please and loved to chat when time permitted all the while keeping a wary eye on Ivan. Ivan and Tirso came over individually to our table before we left and asked for honest feedback on their service. Aprille mentioned the service was a little slow and they agreed but asked for patience that first night. The timing of their part of the show is difficult to manage. It surely must be. We saw a server with a huge tray of entries after all the other servers had left the room to prepare for the parade. We were never subjected to a "please rate us excellent" speech at all. We left as happy campers and looking forward to tomorrow night.

It was the end of a long but happy day for us. We were all ready to retire.

 

[Aunt Jo]

We had quite a day yesterday and we were all very tired when it was over. We got the next day off to a really good start with brunch at Lumieres which is one of my favorite things. It only happens once on each cruise. We were so lucky to get Leasa from Jamaica as our server. She was cute and funny and made us feel good. Glenn didn’t want dessert – he kept saying “nothing” when she would ask so she brought him a covered plate and when he took of the lid there was a plate with “nothing” written in chocolate. She said she had to bring each guest what they ordered. I know it has been done many times but it was a first for Glenn and he loved it.

We went back to our cabin to take our many pills. I bumped my knee on the bed and spilled all of Glenn’s weeks worth of pills (98) on the bedroom floor. It took me half an hour on my knees to get them all back in the box. Glenn had to help me up. The problem is – I had 3 pills left over.

It was time to head out for our excursion in Key West - the HOHO bus ride. It was a fairly short walk to the trolley station but my oh my it was hot and I had a very hard time. Aprille was ready to send me back to the ship but I persevered. We got on the old dilapidated non air conditioned bus but not to worry. They gave us each a cardboard fan (just like the ones we used in church when I was a kid) to swish around. Gotta say, it didn’t help much. Key West is a unique and interesting town. Our driver was a native and really knew her history. The streets were very narrow and I winced as she turned tight corners with one hand. There were motor cycles everwhere as they had just completed a Poker Run. We stopped 12 times where folks could get off and catch another bus when they finished looking around. Needless to say we didn’t hop off anywhere. Aprille had planned to go around again and see some of the sights like Trumans White House, etc. but didn’t really have time. The KW aquarium was at the last stop so we went in for the tour. It was pretty neat and Glenn and Aprille touched the shark’s tail. We headed back to the ship and stopped for key lime pie. Aprille and I got key lime sherbet and Glenn got pie. We were all happy with our choices.

We could hardly wait to shower and get out of our sweaty clothes. We went to the hypnotist’s show at 6:15 and it was very good. We had a very pleasant dinner. We had lots of time to visit with our wait staff because there were many empty tables. The captain had announced some extra time in KW so the crew could have some time off. All aboard was at 1:30 AM.
KW turns into a party town after 5 PM. We had driven past a bar with the distinction of having the earliest Happy Hour. It was from 7 AM till noon.

We stood in line to get our picture taken with Donald and Daisy and finished just in time to catch the Adult show at Rockin Bar D but we decided to go back to our room and go to bed instead. It was a good choice as we were all
wiped out and it preserved our record of never staying up late enough to go to an adult show. We could see the coastline of Cuba.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Monday was a sea day which I like best of all. We had brunch at Palo as planned and we all overate by a bunch. Our server was Laura - which sounds simple but it is pronounced Loura - rhymes with ouch. She was very concerned that we seated Glenn at a table and left him alone with no food. She brought extra food to Glenn as did we. I started with shrimp because he loves shrimp. Laura brought a big plate of stollen bread with whipped cream and berries and almonds piled high. And other things too. Thank goodness he didn't try to eat it all. It's a champagne brunch and since Glenn and I don't drink alcohol Laura insisted that Aprille have 3 glasses of champagne. The food was great as usual but Aprille was not overly impressed with Palo. We sat on the sunny side and it was quite warm. Warm enough that we perspired. We were close to the party room and Aprille quickly noted that they had a fan in there. She suggested we cancel our dinner reservation for Thursday and there was no objection from us. We had only made the reservations because she was with us. I was a bit irked that Palo had called us the night before to tell us the proper dress code. The people at the table next to us had not adherred to the dress code and were seated just the same. I'm not a big fan of dress codes but when you specifically call and remind people of them looks like you should follow through.

Overeating and exhaustion caught up with Glenn and he went to bed when we got back to the room. We had planned to go to an afternoon show featuring the comedian, Ron Pearson. I thought I would stay with Glenn and Aprille could go but she preferred to stay in and write postcards. That woman writes a lot of postcards when she travels. I went to the show and enjoyed it.

It was formal night and Glenn was still sleeping. Aprille agreed to go by herself for the photo op with the captain and dinner and I would stay with Glenn. She was somewhat horrified that Glenn and I had never had a picture taken with the captain. While we were finalizing our plans, Glenn popped in from the bedroom looking and feeling refreshed. So we all went out for a festive evening. The photo op with the captain moved quickly - barely time to turn to the camera and smile but our picture turned out pretty good. Servers were passing out free drinks and a funny thing happened right next to us. A woman came back from retrieving two drinks - one for herself and one for a friend. She told her friend that she didn't know what the drinks were because she couldn't understand the server but she thought one was an apple flavor and one was pineapple. The friend thought for a moment and said "I'll take the big one".

There were photo ops galore each night and this was no exception. This must have been because of the $399 CD thing. But not a problem. We would get in the shortest lines and that worked out well. We condsidered the CD but decided on separate packages instead.

We had a fun dinner with our servers. Wira tried to get a professional photographer to take a picture but they were all tied up with a second shift of photo ops in the lobby. He got another server to take the picture of the six of us. He was a cute comedian but managed to take a really good picture.

We decided we were too tired to stand in line for more pictures so headed for our beds. We had to get up early the next morning for our first tender experience and our bus tour of Grand Cayman.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Glenn was apprehensive about tendering but seemed ready and eager for the experience. We met with others in Sessions for the bus excursion. This meeting was presided over by Oliver. We saw him many more times as he, just like Melanie, was a multi talented CM. We were seated behind tall stacks of beach towels and a fellow came over and got some. I wondered what he would use them for because there was no beach involved in our excursion except for viewing from the bus. Sure enough, the first thing Oliver did was ask everyone to look at their tickets to be sure they were for the 2 hour bus excursion. After a quick glance, this fellow quickly gathered up his family and rushed from the room. I hope he made it to the right place in time.

Oliver asked us to precede him to the exit area because of the wheel chair. He s-l-o-w-l-y led the others to the same place but in slow motion. We were soon locked in place on the top deck and Glenn seemed quite content. It was a short ride to shore and the whole thing was handled quite efficiently. We had been given Pinochio stickers to stick on our shirts and there was a cm holding up a Pinochio sign so we followed him to the bus area where we were greeted by Jaime (pronounced Hyme) who would be our driver and guide. He picked a bus that would accomodate Glenn and the wheel chair. He didn't need a lift because Glenn can walk and get on a bus with a little help from his friends - and there were many friends. This vehicle was air conditioned and that was beyond wonderful for Aprille and I. We enjoyed the ride and the history lesson on the way to the Turtle Farm. We only had 45 minutes there so it was a fast tour. Aprille got pictures of each of us holding a turtle and we got professional pictures of her and Glenn. Not sure why I was left out but oh well. I felt a little sorry for the turtles. One close to me was protesting feverishly by flopping his head and flippers wildly. The woman whispered softly to him and he immediately collapsed his flippers and hung his head. They must get so weary of being handled. We had to rush to pick up our pictures and get back to the bus. Everyone made it on time except one. Jaime quickly located her and escorted her to the bus. She was properly contrite and apologetic as she should have been as it cut down on our time in Hell. Aprille hopped off the get post cards and mail them. Glenn and I stayed put. As we drove back toward the ship Aprille mentioned it would be nice if she and Marty flew back to Grand Cayman to see more of it. It rained just enough to get the top seats on the tender wet so Aprille and I dried them off with the seat of our pants.

We were hungry because we had skipped breakfast. Aprille showered and changed first but I didn't as we were going to Goofy's Galley for lunch and my pants weren't nearly as damp as hers. She had moved around taking pictures so dried off many seats. I only did one.

Memory is failing me yet again so will have to recoup before continuing.
__________________
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[Aunt Jo]

We have completed all our planned events and plan to spend the next 3 days relaxing. We are docked at Cozumel where we had originally planned to do the Dolphin Encounter but had to cancel as I already mentioned. It was with a sense of relief and pleasure that we sat on our balcony for a couple of hours this morning. I noticed really quick that the "short walk across the street to the new mall" included a very long walk on the pier. It would have been a challenge to say the least. We are going to see the 3-D movie “Up” this afternoon at 3 and try for a picture with Pirate Mickey at 5. We skipped breakfast entirely and plan to have a Tex Mex lunch at Topsiders. I did feed Glenn the last banana and a small pastry from Palo. I am not a big fan of Topsiders having only eaten there once prior to this cruise. We had lunch there yesterday and the Asian theme was not bad.

Aprille got her camera set up ready to take pictures of stragglers coming back on board after spending the day at Senor Frog's. She was quite disappointed that there wasn't a single straggler. Matter of fact, we set sail about 5 minutes early.

Will interject a little bit about Concierge (or conasurge) as Glenn pronounces it. I worked with him about the pronounciation but finally decided to go along with his interpretation. This service is perfectly grand. We get things without even asking. Connie (our Fairy Godmother) left a message last night that she is having prints of all our pictures sent to our room to help us decide which ones we want and which package will work best. She had already sent menus. It was nice to review them before going to dinner but we would always wait for reommendations from Ivan before making a final decision. I have two favorite stories that concern Connie. We went to the "conasurge" reception yesterday and they had an amazing array of treats and one could order your drink of choice. There were children there too of course and one mother was explaining to her little girl that she could pick one treat because it was almost time for dinner. The little girl was complaining that they didn't have corn dogs and that was what she wanted. She reluctantly settled for a Krispy Treat Mickey head. When Connie came to ask why we were drinking water and not eating I told her it was because there were no corn dogs. She looked dismayed and started to back away. I quickly grabbed her arm and told her I was just kidding. She looked relieved and said she was thinking where she could go to get some corn dogs. We only went to the reception because there would be a "surprise photo op with a fun character". We were hoping for Mickey but Goofy would have been fine. We weren't too thrilled when it turned out to be Stitch but it worked out fine. The photograper was Daniel, our favorite, and we got good pictures with Stitch and with Connie. Aprille mentioned that she would really like to have some paper napkins in our room. She had brought some from RC (only because they were in her suit case from her last cruise) and had about used them up. When we returned to our room there was a large pile of napkins on the table. One could surely get spoiled.

The other story was about Connie and the Mickey Bars. One afternoon she knocked on the door and left each of us a Mickey Bar. She had the treats in a chest of ice. Glenn and I were on the balcony when Aprille hurried out to give us our treats. They were already quite soft and melty so we tried to hurry. Glenn's promptly fell off in his lap but I was able to let mine fall back into the bag. Aprille's landed in the middle of the floor. I couldn't help but wonder how others fared - especially those cabins with children. One evening Connie brought us 2 bags of popcorn which was a treat for me alone. Aprille and Glenn both have serious diverticulitis and cannot eat popcorn. I had to sneak around but they always knew what I was doing.

I promise to finish this very long report fairly soon. It's for my scrapbook and especially for Glenn and Susie.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Turns out the Glenn was napping when it was time to go see "Up" so Aprille and I went without him. It was a very sweet movie and I know Glenn would have loved it - and cried a lot. We had planned to get in line for more pictures but had time to go check on Glenn first. He was still sleeping but we decided against going back for more pictures.

My thoughts and memories have become quite cloudy so I will start winding down. Our happiest times were at dinner. I am really sold on late dining now. Glenn had to give up on fancy food and was persuaded to try to oven roasted chicken and plain mashed potatoes. I confess this was my idea and Ivan approved. He told Glenn that it was a favorite of his too. I ate fish for 3 nights because Wira and Ivan recommended it. I was torn one night because Wira thought I should have the mahi mahi and Ivan was in favor of red snapper. I got the red snapper so as not to hurt Ivan's feelings but it finally dawned on me that I don't even like fish so went with other choices the rest of the cruise. Ivan was okay with that. Ivan cut up Glenn's chicken every night swiftly and efficiently. One night he deftly removed the shrimp tails from Aprille's choice that night. And he didn't neglect me - not at all. I ordered a favorite dessert of his - and apple blueberry thing wrapped in pastry. He cut it up for me and poured vanilla sauce on it - just like the chocolate souffle at Palo - and I proclaimed it to be "very good" when he enquired later. He leaned over and said softly "I don't like to hear "very good" when something is obviously "amazing". The rest of the cruise we never said "very good" again. It seems "awesome", "excellent", and "amazing" are acceptable so we stuck with those - and laughed a lot. When Aprille told Ivan on Tuesday that we would be dining at Palo on Thursday, he responded with a slightly wounded look and said softly "I will be here for you if you change your mind". And we did change our mind and he was indeed there for us. One night Aprille enquired about a sugar free rice pudding. Ivan looked almost horrified and gave it a definite thumbs down. Aprille asked what he would recommend and he said "anything but that". I really enjoyed the trio desserts as did Aprille. Glenn always asked for "nothing" and got two more plates of nothing. One time Ivan brought him a small piece of chocolate cake which he enjoyed.

Aprille and Connie got the pictures all sorted out. I had doubted they could come out even with the throw aways, the extra prints and the right number of sizes. But they did. Connie happily brought our packages on that last day and reported the score keeper at Shuttles had added it all up and said "Bingo". This eliminated any need to get off at Castaway just to get pictures. We are not beach people and don't handle heat very well.

We did the galley tour again so Aprille could see it. The most impressive thing to me is how in the world they manage to prepare and serve so much food in such a small area.

Aprille and I did some shopping the last two days. Rather Aprille did some shopping as she buys lots of souvenirs for friends when she travels. My shopping was minimal but I did get a scrapbook and a scrapbook kit. Must say they have improved in that area and have a 12x12 scrapbook that you can easily find refills for when you get home. The scrapbook kit was much improved too with prettier paper for sure. Glenn sat at a table just outside the shops and was quite happy sipping his Espresso Freeze. We loaded him down with our loot and told everyone he was the one that went wild shopping.

We had lunch at Parrot Cay on Castaway Day. It was a sit down, order from a menu lunch and was a new thing since we last cruised in 07. There weren't many people there - maybe 20 or so and they were seating people together without asking. We were seated at a separate table but others were being introduced to "your brother" or "your sister" and encouraged to enjoy some family time together. Leasa was our assistant server and while she was friendly and helpful, she was not as outgoing as when she was the server. Our server was Jose I think. There was no oven baked chicken on the menu and Glenn was hesitant about the lemon, rosemary half chicken because Ivan wasn't there to cut it up for him. Jose assured him he would do that. Aprille and I got hamburgers and oh my but they tasted good. Good old fashioned hamburgers that were so large I couldn't eat it all unless I removed the bun about half way through and ate the rest with a fork. Which I did. Jose brought Glenn's chicken and said he would be right back to cut it up. But suddenly someone else appeared to take care of that little task - it was Ivan who just happened to be working lunch that day. It was a pixie dust moment for sure.

Our dinner that night was festive but with a tinge of sadness because it was our last night. We had to say goodbye to our servers who contributed so much to making this our best vacation ever. We honestly liked them and I wondered as we left if they liked us too. I hope so.

 

[Melissa R]

I think we were seated only a few tables away from you - we also had Ivan and Tirso as our servers at late dining, and I swear that I saw your husband get his "nothing" dessert. We were at table 63, and I think you were maybe 2 tables away from us?

Ivan and Tirso were excellent servers - we agree. This was our 2nd cruise, and our servers on our first cruise were nothing special, but Ivan and Tirso made our dinners great! I had no idea that Ivan was interested in being a head server - I hope he makes it one day. Wira was also very attentive and friendly. We very much enjoyed our serving team!

 

[Aunt Jo]

Hi Melissa
We were table 65 so you surely must have been our neighbors. So glad you confirm my assessment of our servers. Aprille asked Ivan on the last night if he wanted to be a head server and he said "yes, maybe next time". I really hope it works out for him.

 

[Melissa R]

How funny - then yes, I definitely saw the Nothing dessert and watched you all get a chuckle over it.

The table that was between us seemed to be the parents of one of the ship's officers. We heard Ivan make some mention of "their son" when they were waiting for him to show up to dinner one night, and I saw them standing with him another night in the Atrium. I'm not sure what his position was, but Ivan and Tirso did seem to be working very hard to make sure to take great care of them.

One thing that I really appreciated was how Ivan didn't put pressure on us to give him an excellent rating, like you mentioned. Our previous cruise, our server put a great deal of pressure on us. I understand how important their ratings are, but it's uncomfortable to be told each night how they want that excellent rating. We really appreciated how well Ivan took care of us but didn't discuss it every night.

 

[SweetSpot]

What a wonderful trip report! It sounds like all of you had a wonderful time.

We were standing on the deck, in what ended up being a light drizzle, at Fishlips waving you all on. We felt so bad that the sailaway had to be inside, it was really pouring right up until you sailed. I have close up pictures of the ship sailing down the canal. If I can figure out how to download them from my phone I will post them for you.

 

[Aunt Jo]

How funny - then yes, I definitely saw the Nothing dessert and watched you all get a chuckle over it.

The table that was between us seemed to be the parents of one of the ship's officers. We heard Ivan make some mention of "their son" when they were waiting for him to show up to dinner one night, and I saw them standing with him another night in the Atrium. I'm not sure what his position was, but Ivan and Tirso did seem to be working very hard to make sure to take great care of them.

One thing that I really appreciated was how Ivan didn't put pressure on us to give him an excellent rating, like you mentioned. Our previous cruise, our server put a great deal of pressure on us. I understand how important their ratings are, but it's uncomfortable to be told each night how they want that excellent rating. We really appreciated how well Ivan took care of us but didn't discuss it every night.

I remember the handsome young officer at the table next to us. One night a female officer joined them. I remember because they exchanged entrees. I noticed how much attention they got from the servers but shucks, I felt like we got more than anyone else.

I had been reading on the board about servers giving those speeches. It happened to us also on our last cruise. I was hoping it wouldn't happen this time and it didn't. I'm going to write a letter to DCL about our service - especially Ivan. I can't find my tip receipts with the full names so have emailed Aprille to send them to me.

I wish we could have met on what was likely our last cruise but surely was our best.

 

[Aunt Jo]

What a wonderful trip report! It sounds like all of you had a wonderful time.

We were standing on the deck, in what ended up being a light drizzle, at Fishlips waving you all on. We felt so bad that the sailaway had to be inside, it was really pouring right up until you sailed. I have close up pictures of the ship sailing down the canal. If I can figure out how to download them from my phone I will post them for you.

Thank you SweetSpot. I would love to see the pictures but I understand anyone who has a problem with electronic equipment. Aprille decided it would be impossible to teach me to log on to her tiny little lapnet computer so she had to get it ready for my fumbling fingers each day. Ditto her fancy camera. But I don't hesitate to use my fail proof excuse - I am very old. I also quickly add that being very old sure beats the alternative.

Thanks again for reading my long trip report. Truth is, it could have been longer but I decided I had written enough to show we truly did have a wonderful time.

 

[SweetSpot]

Thank you SweetSpot. I would love to see the pictures but I understand anyone who has a problem with electronic equipment. Aprille decided it would be impossible to teach me to log on to her tiny little lapnet computer so she had to get it ready for my fumbling fingers each day. Ditto her fancy camera. But I don't hesitate to use my fail proof excuse - I am very old. I also quickly add that being very old sure beats the alternative.

Thanks again for reading my long trip report. Truth is, it could have been longer but I decided I had written enough to show we truly did have a wonderful time.

Sorry, I beg to differ, nothing about you is old and if that is what old is I hope I am just like you when I'm older! (But keep using the excuse, it comes in handy sometimes.)

I'm so happy you were able to get to know Ernan and Leesa. Ernan has been on all 8 of our cruises and remembers us by name each time and what we drink. He is such a sweet, interesting man who will do anything above and beyond. Leesa we met several cruises ago, two weeks after she started, when she was our asst. server. She is so sweet and also can spot us from far away and makes a point each cruise to come and say hello. The ship is filled will amazing people, I loved when you told how Ivan showed up at lunch just to cut your husband's chicken. How special something so small can be.I can't wait to read your next trip report.

 

[Aunt Jo]

Sorry, I beg to differ, nothing about you is old and if that is what old is I hope I am just like you when I'm older! (But keep using the excuse, it comes in handy sometimes.)

I'm so happy you were able to get to know Ernan and Leesa. Ernan has been on all 8 of our cruises and remembers us by name each time and what we drink. He is such a sweet, interesting man who will do anything above and beyond. Leesa we met several cruises ago, two weeks after she started, when she was our asst. server. She is so sweet and also can spot us from far away and makes a point each cruise to come and say hello. The ship is filled will amazing people, I loved when you told how Ivan showed up at lunch just to cut your husband's chicken. How special something so small can be.I can't wait to read your next trip report.

You are right, SweetSpot. Age is sometimes a state of mind but it can also be a state of body. I certainly shouldn't complain when at age 80, I was able to go on a cruise with my 87 year old husband of almost 62 years. Those are lots of big numbers. As for my next trip report, it will take lots of pixie dust. Glenn is already planning for that next cruise but he has lots of big time requirements. Aprille and Marty must go with us, we must have a 2 bedroom, suite, Ivan must be our server and Connie must be our "conasurge" fairy godmother. It's not likely to happen but it's okay to dream.

I have decided to reopen this sleeping giant of a trip report because there are other memories I want to preserve for the 3 of us. Aprille may join us soon with comments and pictures. She and Marty live a high pressure, busy life in the Houston area and she had a lot of catching up to do when she got home.

 

[Aunt Jo]

I just finished writing a letter of commendation for Ivan and feel good about that.

Glenn reminded me last night about my many mad dashes to hold the elevator door open for he and Aprille. Glenn was in the wheel chair and Aprille was the official pusher of that chair so that left me to be the "mad dasher". He described it as "cute" and hopes Aprille got a picture or two. It shouldn't have been hard to get a picture because my mad dashing consisted of shuffling my feet a little faster than usual. Actually, our elevator experiences were not bad at all. People were kind and accommodating. We learned we could pack extra people in with us and were happy to do so. We got on a mid elevator one time that already had a family of 6. They crowded into the curved area and the 3 of us plus wheelchair fit just fine - maybe a bit snug but it worked. Aprille quickly figured out that it was simpler for us to use the forward elevator which was very close to our cabin. It took us to Beat Street and was seldom busy during the day time. It was so good for me to turn all the strategy stuff over to Aprille. So I truly didn't mind that I was the "mad dasher".

I had never experienced the "someone pushed all the buttons" until this trip. And you might be surprised at who pushed all the buttons. The door opened and Goofy rushed out. A woman stayed on and there was a look of frustration on her face. "Goofy pushed all the buttons before he got off" she said and didn't seemed amused at all. And we did indeed stop at every deck. Aprille and Glenn suggested maybe that woman had done it and was just blaming it on Goofy. But I'm betting it was Goofy.