Mindyjoy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2010
- Messages
- 1,528
Thank you to everyone who followed along with my pre-trip report! I decided to do a separate thread to make it easier to read, but feel free to catch up with my pre-trip excitement here: Mindyjoy's PTR
For those that would like the Readers Digest version, here's a bit about us:
We consists of me, Mindy, and DF Tim (both thirty-somethings). We live in Los Angeles and have been dating for almost 6 years. Growing up in Los Angeles, my family took annual trips to Disneyland and I am a life-long Disney fan. I have been a Disneyland AP holder for 12 years. DF grew up in New England and, well is not as enthused about Disney as I am. Before we met he had never been to Disneyland and had only been to WDW once. Within a month of us dating, we went to Disneyland. As DF was buying a day pass I said to him, If you plan on dating me for a while, you might want to invest in an annual pass. He said, Let me see if I like this place first. Needless to say, when we were on our way out he upgraded to an AP! And has renewed every year ever since. I cant say Ive converted him to a full-blown Disney fan, but he enjoys Disneyland and enjoys Disney movies (especially Pixar). We try to go to Disneyland once a month and every year for my birthday we stay at the Grand Californian.
Shortly after DF and I started dating, I made the decision to get my college degree. I never went to college after high school. It sounds cheesy, but after I met DF I felt like my life started falling into place. DF is an aspiring television writer and he works really hard to achieve his dreams, and he inspires me to be a better person. I knew with his support, I couldnt fail! So for the last 4.5 years Ive worked full time and gone to school full time. And because DF has been unemployed and doing unpredictable freelance work for the bulk of the last 5 years we have not taken a real vacation together. Long story short, I graduated from college in December (wooohoooo) and DF has a GREAT job on a sitcom this year, so we decided to reward ourselves with a vacation! Since this was for my graduation, DF asked me where I wanted to go. I was nervous about asking him to go on a Disney cruise, but he said, Whatever you want, Im sure I wont HATE it.
So in October 2010, we booked! Then the following month, DF proposed! So this vacation became our graduation/new job/engagement celebration cruise! 
WARNING - I'm kind of a picture taking maniac, so this report will be very picture heavy, and yes I took pictures of (almost) everything I ate!
Before I get into the details, I will do a "glad I did/wish I had" list. I see these a lot on Disney Wedding trip reports but not so often on cruise reports, and I find them to be helpful, so here is mine.
GLAD I DID ...
... went with a Disney cruise. We knew we wanted to try cruising and knew we could get a better value on another line. I reeeeeeally wanted to try the Disney cruise and we could afford it at this time in our lives, so we went for it and we were not disappointed. I get a kick out of seeing all the Disney stuff like hidden Mickeys and characters, and hearing the Disney music in the halls. I LOVED that there were TV channels playing classic Disney animated movies and I turned these on any time we had some downtime between activities. But the reason we booked a Disney cruise is for the quality of service that we have come to expect from staying at the Disney hotels, and the cruise did not disappoint. Everything was top notch, five star quality. Every CM we encountered was friendly and outgoing. I saw so many CMs squat down and talk to kids. Even though I don't have kids, I love to see this stuff, because it reminds me of being a kid at Disneyland. I am getting teary eyed thinking about it. There was Disney magic all over this cruise and I loved every second of it.
... only planned one excursion. I really wanted to go horseback riding and we booked this through Disney for Cabo day 1. We didn't book any other excursions and thanks to all the previous TRs I was able to plan our other port days on the cheap and we had a great time.
... participate in the FE! It was so much fun! Yes, we are two adults but who doesn't love giving and getting gifts????
... brought an over the door organizer. What a lifesaver! It came in really handy for all my little bathroom things. And having it face into the cabin meant that I still had access to all my stuff even if someone else was occupying the bathroom.
WISH I HAD ....
... not forgotten my razor.
And then I wish I hadn't bought one in the gift shop for $3, because I found out later in the cruise that they have free razors in the lady's changing room in the gym! If you forget your razor, don't be a sucker like me! Just pretend you are going to work out and then grab a free one! 
... not brought on so much of my own booze. I brought two wine cubes and only went through one. Those drinks of the day were too tempting for me to pass up. DF, however, went through all his beer.
... not been so impulsive when buying pictures. Did I really need to spend $20 on that picture of us with Captain Guss? Probably not. I wish I had waited until the last couple of days to go through all my pictures instead of checking every day and buying them one by one.
... gone dancing at Wavebands more often. DF despises clubs and dancing so I avoided it until the last night, then I got my groove on, dancing with myself without shame. It felt good and I shouldn't have been so insecure about going there alone earlier in the cruise.
If I think of anything else I will post it, but that's what I've got for now.
So without further ado ..... MY TRIP REPORT!!!!! *fanfare, confetti, etc*
For those that would like the Readers Digest version, here's a bit about us:
We consists of me, Mindy, and DF Tim (both thirty-somethings). We live in Los Angeles and have been dating for almost 6 years. Growing up in Los Angeles, my family took annual trips to Disneyland and I am a life-long Disney fan. I have been a Disneyland AP holder for 12 years. DF grew up in New England and, well is not as enthused about Disney as I am. Before we met he had never been to Disneyland and had only been to WDW once. Within a month of us dating, we went to Disneyland. As DF was buying a day pass I said to him, If you plan on dating me for a while, you might want to invest in an annual pass. He said, Let me see if I like this place first. Needless to say, when we were on our way out he upgraded to an AP! And has renewed every year ever since. I cant say Ive converted him to a full-blown Disney fan, but he enjoys Disneyland and enjoys Disney movies (especially Pixar). We try to go to Disneyland once a month and every year for my birthday we stay at the Grand Californian.
Shortly after DF and I started dating, I made the decision to get my college degree. I never went to college after high school. It sounds cheesy, but after I met DF I felt like my life started falling into place. DF is an aspiring television writer and he works really hard to achieve his dreams, and he inspires me to be a better person. I knew with his support, I couldnt fail! So for the last 4.5 years Ive worked full time and gone to school full time. And because DF has been unemployed and doing unpredictable freelance work for the bulk of the last 5 years we have not taken a real vacation together. Long story short, I graduated from college in December (wooohoooo) and DF has a GREAT job on a sitcom this year, so we decided to reward ourselves with a vacation! Since this was for my graduation, DF asked me where I wanted to go. I was nervous about asking him to go on a Disney cruise, but he said, Whatever you want, Im sure I wont HATE it.
So in October 2010, we booked! Then the following month, DF proposed! So this vacation became our graduation/new job/engagement celebration cruise! WARNING - I'm kind of a picture taking maniac, so this report will be very picture heavy, and yes I took pictures of (almost) everything I ate!
Before I get into the details, I will do a "glad I did/wish I had" list. I see these a lot on Disney Wedding trip reports but not so often on cruise reports, and I find them to be helpful, so here is mine.
GLAD I DID ...
... went with a Disney cruise. We knew we wanted to try cruising and knew we could get a better value on another line. I reeeeeeally wanted to try the Disney cruise and we could afford it at this time in our lives, so we went for it and we were not disappointed. I get a kick out of seeing all the Disney stuff like hidden Mickeys and characters, and hearing the Disney music in the halls. I LOVED that there were TV channels playing classic Disney animated movies and I turned these on any time we had some downtime between activities. But the reason we booked a Disney cruise is for the quality of service that we have come to expect from staying at the Disney hotels, and the cruise did not disappoint. Everything was top notch, five star quality. Every CM we encountered was friendly and outgoing. I saw so many CMs squat down and talk to kids. Even though I don't have kids, I love to see this stuff, because it reminds me of being a kid at Disneyland. I am getting teary eyed thinking about it. There was Disney magic all over this cruise and I loved every second of it.
... only planned one excursion. I really wanted to go horseback riding and we booked this through Disney for Cabo day 1. We didn't book any other excursions and thanks to all the previous TRs I was able to plan our other port days on the cheap and we had a great time.
... participate in the FE! It was so much fun! Yes, we are two adults but who doesn't love giving and getting gifts????
... brought an over the door organizer. What a lifesaver! It came in really handy for all my little bathroom things. And having it face into the cabin meant that I still had access to all my stuff even if someone else was occupying the bathroom.
WISH I HAD ....
... not forgotten my razor.
And then I wish I hadn't bought one in the gift shop for $3, because I found out later in the cruise that they have free razors in the lady's changing room in the gym! If you forget your razor, don't be a sucker like me! Just pretend you are going to work out and then grab a free one! ... not brought on so much of my own booze. I brought two wine cubes and only went through one. Those drinks of the day were too tempting for me to pass up. DF, however, went through all his beer.
... not been so impulsive when buying pictures. Did I really need to spend $20 on that picture of us with Captain Guss? Probably not. I wish I had waited until the last couple of days to go through all my pictures instead of checking every day and buying them one by one.
... gone dancing at Wavebands more often. DF despises clubs and dancing so I avoided it until the last night, then I got my groove on, dancing with myself without shame. It felt good and I shouldn't have been so insecure about going there alone earlier in the cruise.
If I think of anything else I will post it, but that's what I've got for now.
So without further ado ..... MY TRIP REPORT!!!!! *fanfare, confetti, etc*
I was wearing a celebration pin so he asked what I was celebrating. I told him I had just graduated from college and we also had just gotten engaged. He congratulated me and told me if there was anything we needed during the week, to just ask. We loved Anthony and he was super great all week. I started to unpack but soon it was time for the lifeboat drill.
Newbie lesson learned for next time. 
Our first FE gift, how exciting!
Oh my, how did this end up in my possession???? 
I'm still sorting through my pics but will TRY to get started on my report tonight. We'll see how it goes...
The purse is great, isn't it?? 
I'm the same as you, I can't wait to read other reports from our cruise. I find it so interesting that there are 2000 people on the boat and they are all doing different things.
Thanks for joining in!
