WB repo cruise, the good the bad and looonggg!! Updated day 15 and disembarkation

[cmash95]

Day 11

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5202081_ts2kT/1/315647734_2gSkn

Quiet day at sea. not much happened. Lunch that day was the infamous italian buffet. The food was good as usual but it did take forever to get your made to order pasta dish. This was the only day the entire cruise where my mom, DH, DS and myself all ate together.

after lunch my son and I headed to studio sea for a meeting with inspector salty and yet another eddition of desparate shipmates. this time though we were gathering questions to ask the suspects during the final round. I forced him to stay for disney kareoke afterwards. It was funny watching and listening to those tweens butchering highschool musical among other disney classics.

When kareoke was over, we decided to take a walk along deck 4 and came across a pod of dolphins frolicking alongside the ship. They swam and jumped for what seemed like forever until the ship outran them. I have seen dolphins before at sea world and Epcot but this was the first time to see them in the wild.

the show that evening was an entertaining event by joey fatone and alfonso riberio. You could tell it was something quickly put together but they were thoroughly entertaining. I have seen joey before at WDW and he is always funny and enjoyable to watch.

dinner that night was in parrot cay, it was around the world. My son and I finished quickly because we wanted to make it to the rock star party in rockin bar d. What a hoot to see the cruise staff all dressed up as " rock star" and of course there was audience participation as one guy was mick jagger. sorry I can't remember who else was there that evening. I do have to make one note, towards the end of the party my son nudged me and directed me to look towards the back door and who came in but joey and alfonso and their wives. they sat a couple of rows behind us. I think everyone in the club was having too good a time to notice and with one exception, they were pretty much left alone to have a good time.

They had a cabaret act after the rock star party but I really wasn't liking it so i headed back to the cabin to go to bed. My son stayed for a bit but he said later that the guy wasn't really that good. he just didn't want to seem rude and leave early. and yes he really is that nice.

 

[ibouncetoo]

after lunch my son and I headed to studio sea for a meeting with inspector salty and yet another eddition of desparate shipmates. this time though we were gathering questions to ask the suspects during the final round. .

This was one of my favorite parts of the 'game'. Trent is such a doll and he really cracks me up. He gave me such a case of the giggles, I could barely ask my question!

.

 

[cmash95]

day 12

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5231309_NGBQJ/1/317782175_LmAqY

Puerto varllarta...
I stayed on the ship, while my mom and son got off and did some exploring close to port. DH had the Historic towns and tequila tour.

I spent the morning shopping and relaxing by the pool. topsider's had a noodle buffet which didn't seem too apatizing, so I decided to eat at luminiers. I had their burger and I only mention it because it was absolutely delicious. The best burger I have had in a long time. but a warning, it's 1/2 pound of burger. so it's bigggg.

after lunch I headed back to the cabin. My son and mom had come back onboard and I got to see the treasures he bought. One of my favorites was a handpainted tile. absolutely gorgeous and i think he said he paid 20 dollars for it. I think it was one of the cheapest things we brought home. DH came in awhile later with a bottle of orange tequila and also a sampler box that he bought at the factory. He said he was surprised that he had such a good time. he liked the little towns as much as the factory. but I have to admit this tour isn't for everyone, I did hear some complaining about the long time on the bus at dinner that night.

The evening's show was the infamous crew talent show. We all decided it was worth checking out. ( DH tended to skip any show that was "disney") Who knew the crew was so talented? they had dancers, a juggler, pop singers, an opera singer, the 'wiggles" ( including cruise director brent.) and several segments of dancing with the oficers, just to name a few things.

After the show my Son and I decided to check out the new show in studio sea. " a pirate's life for me." on our way we encountered none other than the infamous captain jack sparrow. He seemed familiar to me somehow,,,, and when I jokingly told him we met several times before, he shocked me by telling me that we had indeed met at WDW and proceeded to ask about my daugther. It seems that he worked at WDW before working on the ship. I told you there was something familiar about him!!! anyway back to the show. IT was alot of fun. It took the place of the pirate show that had something to do with walking the plank. It's pretty simple actually, there is one male pirate and one female pirate, and the wheel of destiny. two teams compete to collect the letters P-E-A-R-L. Spin the wheel, play the game. the first team to collect the letters wins. This night's game was a test run.

Game over, time for dinner. Thank heavens it was downstairs in luminiers because the game ran a little late. The menu that night was " taste of california." after dinner it was down to rockin bar d for Jeff Civilico and the Rocl and country party. I didn't stay for the party because I had gone to the country party before, but my son came in with a cowboy hat!!!. Dh wasn't too happy about it because it meant he would have to find a place to pack it. ( more on packing later!)

 

[ibouncetoo]

Well, I just saw myself in one of your pictures! Although, nobody else would know it was me.

It's the one of Trent as Inspector Salty...that's me in the lime green top with my arm resting on the wall.


Really enjoying the report, can't wait to read more.

.

 

[cmash95]

day 13

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5236874_53Mti/1/318246471_yTUR7

Sorry this took so long, was waiting for my son to upload his photos. Lunch today was tex mex. which included a taco bar. Both my mom and DH were feeling pretty bad because they caught the colds my son and I had earler. We didn't have anything scheduled in Cabo so we just hung out on the boat.

After lunch we stumbled upon the characters rehearsing for Mouse20. I hadn't seen prince caspian yet so I decided to take in a movie while mom and DH were taking naps. DH ended up spending the entire day in bed or resting on the verandah. He even skipped dinner ( of course it was pirate night so he missed the party as well.)

My son and I decided to dress a bit for dinner and then met my mom for the magician, Mike Super. After the show we stopped by Studio Sea for a second run at "a Pirate's life for me." It was just as much fun the second time as the first. Also capt. Jack kept poppin in and out in between meets and greets. (We think the character break room was near by, so he would pop in before and after his breaks.) The kids loved when he did and of course the crew staff never did see him.

Show over, time for dinner in annimator's palate complete with souveneir menu and bandana. I have to give bigtime cudo's to our servers because they managed to get us out of the diningroom in plenty of time for the deck party. Unfortunately when you are on the latest dinner rotation, there was little room left on deck to watch. I did manage to find a spot on deck 10 towards the back. It wasn't a great spot for the show but awsome one for the fireworks. I can see why this party is a big hit and so popular. I would suggest to disney that they stock their buffet better. They ran out about 45 minutes into the party. and the turkey legs were all gone in about 20 minutes.

I hung out on deck for a bit while my son finished out the evening in his favorite spot, rockin bar D. the crowd was treated to a surprise as joey and alfonso joined in krazy kareoke.

 

[cmash95]

day 14

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5239805_pYiAf/1/318495223_gfvgp


Sea day, very busy. It started out with the debarkation talk at 10:30. Then my son and I went to the last performance for desparate shipmates at noon while my mom met my DH at topsiders for lunch. IT was steakhouse day.

I am not going to give away anything about desparate shipmates because i don't want to spoil it for anyone who is on the EB because it was alot of fun. I will say that inspector salty trawler had alot of help figureing it out. and there were alot of laughs along the way.

My son and i didn't get a chance to go to topsiders because we headed up to deck 9 and the goofy pool for the finals of the boatbuilding contest. The ship was traveling through some pretty choppy water so the pool was more of a wave pool that swimming. It was also pretty chilly that afternoon but the kids at the pool didn't seem to mind. There were four catagories that you could enter and the winner of each catagory won a tour of the bridge. Lots of creative families on board I must say. They also had a guest judge to help out, miss daisy duck was there. I have to admit I hope they do this competition on the regular 7 day cruises. While I didn't participate, i could see kids and parents working all week on their boats, It's a shame that everyone couldnt win.

We went from the boat building directly to Mouse 2 O. a crazy deck party with perfprmances bymickey, minnie, stitch, lilo, goofy, max, and chip and dale. They also had lots of activities and contests including a watermellon eating contest for teens, and the crowning of "Miiss" Disney Magic that culminated in a sycronised swimming display. Thank heavens the guys were good sports.

After mouse 20 we headed over to preludes to check out the finals of a silent auction that had been going on for the last 4 days. My son had his eye on a couple of things but as all auctions, everyone waits until the last minute to bid the price up. Needless to say he didn't get anything. but that was ok since we did get the lithograph.

We headed back to the cabin to see how my husband was feeling. He had spent the day on the balcony reading and recouperating. He didn't want to see the show but did say he would meet us for dinner. So my mom, son and I head to the theater for Disney Dreams. One of my favorite shows of the cruise.

Dinner that night was the second formal night, so we headed back to the cabin once again and changed. We had dinner in Parrot Cay. It was captains gala. I have to admit I was pretty tired so I headed back to the cabin after dinner. my mom and DH decdied they wanted to check out the late movie in the buena vista theater.IT was the bucket list. My son decided to check out rockin bar D but before that he stopped by the walt disney theater for the adult show my the magician Mike Super.

Unfortunately I missed two things that I was really looking forward to checking out, the Ballroom dancing under the stars at the goofy pool, and the late night desert buffet. BTW if anyone has pictures of either of these that you would be kind enough to share please pm me, I would like them for our collection at least. I won't post them with the rest on smugmug just add them to our CD. thanks in advance.

 

[Joan1]

Thank you - I have really enjoyed reading your report and looking at your son's photos

 

[smeecanada]

After mouse 20 we headed over to preludes to check out the finals of a silent auction that had been going on for the last 4 days. My son had his eye on a couple of things but as all auctions, everyone waits until the last minute to bid the price up. Needless to say he didn't get anything. but that was ok since we did get the lithograph.

Really enjoying your trip report. The EB Repo will be here before I know it and we'll get to experience it ourselves.

What type of items were at the silent auction?

 

[scottishwee35]

Hi

I would like to saying that I enjoyed read your trip report and lovely photos which bring my memory. Actually these photos are wonderful. I saw myself there at Mexican Party.

Two interpreters Brian and Jennyer for us as we are deaf family and we missed out one night at Rocking Bar while Joey Fatone was there with Brian.

Oh well, never mind, we had a fabulous times.

Many thanks again.

Scottishwee35

 

[cmash95]

Hi

I would like to saying that I enjoyed read your trip report and lovely photos which bring my memory. Actually these photos are wonderful. I saw myself there at Mexican Party.

Two interpreters Brian and Jennyer for us as we are deaf family and we missed out one night at Rocking Bar while Joey Fatone was there with Brian.

Oh well, never mind, we had a fabulous times.

Many thanks again.

Scottishwee35

OMG!! I saw you so many time onboard. actually the interpreters were talking to a friend of ours throughout the cruise, but I did remember seeing your family at several shows. I am so glad you had a great time. my son took some ASL in high school but he gets shy about using it. I try and get him to use some of it just so he doesnt forget it. I wish he would continue to study in college but he is at that stubborn stage where he always knows best.

 

[ibouncetoo]

day 14

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5239805_pYiAf/1/318495223_gfvgp

Unfortunately I missed two things that I was really looking forward to checking out, the Ballroom dancing under the stars at the goofy pool, and the late night desert buffet. BTW if anyone has pictures of either of these that you would be kind enough to share please pm me, I would like them for our collection at least. I won't post them with the rest on smugmug just add them to our CD. thanks in advance.

Chris, Ballrom Under the Stars, basically didn't happen due to the weather. It was moved to one of the adult lounges, but there wasn't much notification of any kind, so only a few people found it I'm told. Also some families were sad it went to the club, because they were looking forward to dancing with the kids in their formalwear. Hope this one does happen for the Eastbounders!

.

 

[figment1986]

Really enjoying your trip report. The EB Repo will be here before I know it and we'll get to experience it ourselves.

What type of items were at the silent auction?

Since mom(Cmash95) has not chimed in, I might be able to help,

• There were some pin collections from different sailings.
• 2 complete uniforms being sold in one block from 20K leagues under the sea
• Some artwork
• A big fig with figment and Dreamfinder
• A big fig with Mr. Toad in a car
• a surfboard with Lilo and Stitch on it

and other random stuff I cannot remember right now, Hope this helps.

 

[cmash95]

for those of you waiting with baited breath for the last installment, I promise not to leave everyone hanging. I am just waiting on my dear SON to finish uploading the pictures onto smugmug. I keep telling him that if he doesn't do it soon, the EB repo will be starting!!!!. I am one who likes to finish what they started. so this report will have an ending I promise.

 

[figment1986]

For those waiting, I, the son who is letting his laptop cool before uploading Day 15/Disembarkment, have some videos on Youtube from the last night in
Rockin' Bar D: Pub Night
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JtVUJTrxHKU - Consider Yourself
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cfsr4-DFRPw - Knees Up Mother Brown
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6HGbzhTP2MA - My Bonie Lies Over The Ocean
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fBRoTDH_ido - The Beer Song (slight glitch at the end.. don't know why it happened.. might fix it later)

 

[sejejoemmiev]

Day 10

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5195811_eUyDH/1/315186513_QoE2i

DH had the ancient petryoglyphs booked. The petrolyphs was listed as having a medium level of activity. I should have double checked when I booked because the level was up to active and he couldn't climb the 500 steps. Now Disney sent a rep along for all their excursions in case something happened. She took his name and cabin number and stayed behind with him until the rest of the group came back down. He told her he wasn't short of breath or anything like that but that his legs were hurting him so he wanted to take a break.

When we got back to the room,there was a note that had been pushed under the door informing my dh that if according to the activity level and the fact that the discription said he would be doing alot of climbing, it was not disney's responsibility if something happened. I know disney had to cover their buts so he wouldn't sue so we sort of just let the whole thing slide. He did however tell me he had a good time and enjoyed what petroglyphs he saw.

We have this booked for our upcoming EB Panama trip. My DS age 10 will be joining us. Does your DH think this will be an enjoyable excursion for our son? Were any children in your DH's excursion group? I would love to hear any additional info on this excursion. You are the first person I have come across on these boards who went. I have been looking for info/details on this excursion to see if we will enjoy it. We were originally booked as a family for the Shopping and cliff Divers tour but cancelled it after the many negative reviews. I want to make sure we booked a good one in it's place. 500 steps..... Were most people able to do this without a problem? That sounds like alot! Thanks!

 

[smeecanada]

We have this booked for our upcoming EB Panama trip. My DS age 10 will be joining us. Does your DH think this will be an enjoyable excursion for our son? Were any children in your DH's excursion group? I would love to hear any additional info on this excursion. You are the first person I have come across on these boards who went. Excess deleted..

Check with Laura (eeyorelover) on our EB Repo. I'm pretty sure that is the excursion Laura and her DH did, when they were on the WB Repo. You can also check her blog - link in the Pirate Zone.

 

[cmash95]

We have this booked for our upcoming EB Panama trip. My DS age 10 will be joining us. Does your DH think this will be an enjoyable excursion for our son? Were any children in your DH's excursion group? I would love to hear any additional info on this excursion. You are the first person I have come across on these boards who went. I have been looking for info/details on this excursion to see if we will enjoy it. We were originally booked as a family for the Shopping and cliff Divers tour but cancelled it after the many negative reviews. I want to make sure we booked a good one in it's place. 500 steps..... Were most people able to do this without a problem? That sounds like alot! Thanks!

according to my DH there were kids on his excursion and they did ok but it's a long climb, not only is it 500 steps but it's uphill as well. He couldn't make it because his knees and legs were hurting too much and he walks alot. HE doesn't however, climb steps alot adn that is what got to him. People that I know that did this did get to the top but they were very tired at the end. The city tour we booked was not the shopping excursion, it was the other one, to be honest I enjoyed our city tour, but then I like those kind of excursions, but most people on the ship were dissappointed with the acapulco excursions. I heard that since the ship in in acapulco such a short time on the way back that they scheduled a special cliff diver show just for the magic passengers. We were lucky to have an entire day there.

 

[cmash95]

Day 15 and beyond

http://figment1986.smugmug.com/gallery/5316607_YyeFp/1/324627737_wNBuD

Can't beleive I have finally gotten to day 15!!! actually a pretty quiet day. Some last minute shopping for me, Picture taking for my son, and laundry and packing for DH and my mom. now the best packer in my family is DH. He can get the most clothes in the smallest suitcases. our packing was a bit complicated because DH was heading back to tampa the next day, but my son and I were headed for three days at DLR.

ducky williams was holding one last autograph session during the morning so my son headed down to get our lithograph autographed. Poor ducky I am sure his hands were pooped by the end of the cruise.

I did manage to take in the soundwaves game at the goofy pool and then grab some lunch at topsiders. It was the seafood buffet. My son did the last college buffet at parrot cay. He had become pretty good buddies with drew, the pubmaster on this cruise, and terry. Disney had been testing the college social ideas on this cruise. I think the lunches were pretty successful but not so sure about the evening gatherings. The kids sort of stopped by and said hello but didn't stay. I think that's because they had things planned with their families. We did run into several of them each evening at rockin bar d.

That nights show "remember the magic" really hit home that we were leaving the next day and by the end of it, there were several teary eyed people sitting around me.

dinner that night was " till we meet again" one last time to say goodbye to our servers and of course time to hand out those wonderful little envelopes. I have to admit I wish they didn't have the envelopes and just do auto tipping on to the room account. That would save the lines at guest services on the last day. We also had the added situation that we had an extra assistant server assigned to our table. Of course I forgot about this at the time I was filling out our tip forms. I just added cash to the envelope and told them both the cash was for giovanni( our extra server.) oh on a side note. Calvin our room steward and levent, adrian, and giovanni, all got extra tips. gaspare got the recommended amount just because he really didn't do that much for us personally. and I didn't tip ciao( he was the head waiter who stopped by and said hi every night. the one i met earlier on the cruise on deck.)

Dinner that night was in luminiers, and we got out just in time for "till we mieet again." I must admit a very nice way for the cruise staff to say farewell. Then off to pub night!!. I have been on several cruises and all have had some version of pub night, I must admit that this was the best one I have been to and I truly enjoyed the disney rendition of " if I were not upon the sea." all i can say is trent truly looked adorable in a tutu!!! I headed back to the cabin in order to get a little sleep. We had to be out of our cabin by 8:30 the next morning . DH was already sound asleep when I got in.

The next morning the phone rang way too early, MY DH decided on the last morning he wanted to try the wake up call. So I got an earful of mickey waking me up. a quick shower and change of clothes and I was ready to head to luminiers for breakfast. Needless to say it did take a bit longer for my son to get it all together. I am still not too sure what time he got in, While everyone else was getting ready, I called guest services to order a wheelchair because I have trouble standing for long periods of time and had been warned that customs can take forever in LA. Debarkation is different in los angeles than port canaveral. In la you are given stickers and you disembark based on your sticker color. but I am getting ahead of myself a little bit.

DH and son caught up with my mom and myself in the atrium, we were a bit early for breakfast so we had to wait a few minutes for the restaurant to open. While we were waiting, we ran into ducky williams and his group. We had a chance to chat for a bit. He is a really nice guy and he told me he truly loves these"working " vacations. He says he is still surprised at how much people love his work.

They finally let us into the restaurant and found our old table just as it was at the beginning of the cruise, Back in the corner of the restaurant. I must admit it had been nice sitting at a table so close to the middle of the room, instead being stuck in some corner. It was nice to have one last time to say goodbye to our servers. I assured them all they would be dearly missed. We finished breakfast just in time for our color to be called and then it was time to get into a very longgg line to disembark and head through customs. It was a bit sad leaving that ship one last time. I think it took about and hour to get from the gangway to customs, to luggage. my DH had done onboard check in so he didn't have to get his luggage in the terminal, but the rest of us had to get our luggage. for some reason there was a glitch with northwest airlines so my mom had to get her luggage and take it with her to the airport. anyway DH and my mom got her luggage and then headed towards the bus for their trip to LAX. My son and I grabbed a porter and got our luggage, then headed for passenger pick up area. I had arranged for a car service to come pick us up and take us to DLR. The car arrived and my son and the driver loaded the luggage. We headed out to our next adventure,,, three glorious days at the " happiest place on earth!!"

That brings us to the end of the cruise. when i have a moment, I will do one more post with some final thoughts. until then, if you have any questions feel free to post them or even pm me and i will see what I can do.

 

[Joy2theWorld]

How did you transport your litho if you don't mind me asking? I'm just wondering if they gave you a tube or if I should maybe take one along...just in case we get one too

 

[cmash95]

the litho on the boat was in an envelope and we just laid it flat in a suitcase, it doesnt fold up well, so i wouldn't try to do it. the one that i won was framed and they shipped it to me. Because this was a special auction, shipping was included in the price of the litho oh and if you are on the EB repo,you will recieve one for sure.