WBPC May 6th 2013 Wonder

[Brixton]

Who was on Las Caletas Hideaway excursion in Puerto Vallarta with Kids Adventure at 10:40 am and didn't order any pictures or CD? I got their CD today and seems they put on ALL the pictures from this adventure and from our time there...even pictures from the beach, swimming...etc......

If you want a copy, please let me know!

We received one as well, and we didn't order anything! Which you know, of course, because you were there with M & girls We also received a photo with the CD.

That's bizarre. I wish we'd known they would do it that way; one of us could have ordered it and we could have split the cost. Maybe my CD is also in our mailbox.

Your DD was the first person I recognised, it took a few minutes to find anyone familiar.

I just posted the first part (Day 1) of what it sure to be a very long, detailed Trip Report!

Check it out: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3116564

Also, great meeting and hanging out with many of you onboard. Had a blast for our first Disney Cruise!

We met in line, outside. I hope the two of you had an amazing vacation!

 

[granmaz]

Anybody watch the "Cruise Director Morning Show?"

Robin & Angel "D"

We were there in Studio Sea every morning but the first one. Our friends made it every morning. You must be THE Robin!!

 

[aan1701]

Hi all. Just got home from the All nighter at Disneyland. Very crowded but not out of control. In now 12 cruises with DCL. I have never once seen a morning show. I did find it funny in the navigator the last day that Jimmy's name was crossed out and replaced with Leslie's.

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[annichan]

We're back home too! 3 days at Disneyland, then 17 hours of traveling, then unpacking and finally 14 hours of sleep . Still jetlagged, but glad to be home and back with our kitties.

It was such a wonderful trip - I'm ranking it my best cruise ever (while Chris calls it a close second behind the DCL Mediterranean). Quite sad that it is over, but I am sure many of you here share that feeling .

Anyway, it was great meeting you all (or those of you that we did get to meet - I don't think it was everyone). I totally forgot about the Champagne Girls until it was two hours too late - sorry I missed that, I'm sure it was fun!

 

[Meghatron]

I totally forgot about the Champagne Girls until it was two hours too late - sorry I missed that, I'm sure it was fun!

Yes, how was it for those of you who made the CG meetup? It ended up being at the same time as Princess Ariel's Tea Party so we couldn't go.

 

[granmaz]

Hi all. Just got home from the All nighter at Disneyland. Very crowded but not out of control. In now 12 cruises with DCL. I have never once seen a morning show. I did find it funny in the navigator the last day that Jimmy's name was crossed out and replaced with Leslie's.

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Yes, that was a huge funny part of the final couple of shows. There were a couple of regular phones inners() and one suggested towards the end that Lesley should run the show instead of Jimmy. Jimmy said if she got 4 names on a petition he would change the name on the final show and let Lesley do the show. So the lady went round the ship getting names and of course Jimmy had to give in. The final show was really funny as he still managed to take over most of the time. I think they were the best cruise directors we have had and they had a great rapport between them. Plus Jimmy and Capt Fabian were brilliant together weren't they? I don't think they used to do the morning show but it is a lot of fun if you can get there.

We set the alarm yesterday for 5.45am to be ready for our taxi an hour later and DCA, which we overlooked, was just getting ready, testing some rides. We saw the first ride on the chairs and of course people going to the parks.

How long were you at the 24 hr opening for Alan? You were very brave. Thursday night was quite noisy with Grad night in DCA. Well my hubby said so, I have ear plugs!!

 

[aan1701]

I was only there about 9-10 hours. I got to the parking structure about 6PM and I exited the structure about 4:15 A.M. The cool part was Earl of Sandwich was open all night. So around 3:30 A.M. I went to go get sandwiches to take home. It was a little busy for 3:30 there. I was surprised at that. I was just hanging out with a friend there. We saw both Fantasmics, and the 12:30 AM Soundsastiona parade. I also was able to get one of the special shirts for the event. All in all I had fun just watching the crowd. I really do agree that Jimmy and Leslie work very well together. They were great. Both have wicked senses of humor and that really helped a lot.

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[annichan]

Yes, how was it for those of you who made the CG meetup? It ended up being at the same time as Princess Ariel's Tea Party so we couldn't go.

Also, I never connected with any of you for the gaming sessions in Diversions, but I admit that I only went twice to look for a group (one afternoon, one evening)
Did you get some fun games together?

 

[granmaz]

I was only there about 9-10 hours. I got to the parking structure about 6PM and I exited the structure about 4:15 A.M. The cool part was Earl of Sandwich was open all night. So around 3:30 A.M. I went to go get sandwiches to take home. It was a little busy for 3:30 there. I was surprised at that. I was just hanging out with a friend there. We saw both Fantasmics, and the 12:30 AM Soundsastiona parade. I also was able to get one of the special shirts for the event. All in all I had fun just watching the crowd. I really do agree that Jimmy and Leslie work very well together. They were great. Both have wicked senses of humor and that really helped a lot.

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I'm really impressed. I don't think I could have managed more than an hour or two but it must have been a great experience to do it. I love people watching.

 

[MrsMork]

we arrived home about 11:30 last night. I am almost unpacked, just 2 bacKpacks to go. Our daughter and her hubby arrive tomorrow for a visit. We had a wonderful trip and hope you all did as well. Our serving team was Carlo and Steven. We agreed that in 14 cruises Carlo is the best we have had. He did so many extras for us. Steven was wonderful also.

We spent 4 days at DL post cruise, 6 days at WDW pre-cruise. Many, many days of magic.

 

[OKW Lover]

In ATL waiting for the last leg of our flight home. Took the red-eye from LAX last night. Expect to be in our house about 2:00 pm. Not able to string a lot of words together right now.

But WOW what a great trip!!!!!

 

[Politzania]

FYI - our latest podcast episode is out with Part 1 of our Trip Report for the WBPC cruise - google for "Disney, Indiana Podcast" and you'll find a link.

 

[LindaBabe]

After a long journey - 2 days in Vegas, flight to Ft Lauderdale, collected car and drove home to Rome, we are finally home safe and sound, unpacked, laundry done. Still no closing date on house

SO fortunate in our table mates - the always charming AgentJ Family and the fun loving Kelli Steele family. Met some other lovely people with whom I will be making contact. Servers were AWESOME this trip (Claudia from Peru and Daniel from Poland.)

Thank you to the folks who left FE gifts, even though we weren't signed up for it. Can I just say I LOVE the recipes and mickey head cookie cutter?

Roaming Mickey Magnet...thank you to everyone who participated in this activity. After I dropped magnet off at the first door on first evening I really didn't see it till it showed up again on my door!

Here is the picture of the signed magnet:

What a wonderful souvenir, Lexa! Wish I had signed up to do it, but we were so overwhelmed by life before the cruise. For the first time, I basically did *nothing* on the cruise except crochet and read. 1 drawing class, 2 craft classes, no cooking classes, no lectures, no morning shows . . .

I really enjoyed the 2011 crossing. Now that being said, this cruise I think had the best service of any of the other cruises I have taken with DCL I think this cruise I truly became friends with some crew members. As a matter of fact I flew up to San Francisco today to see one of them. So yes this was a great trip and I really look forward to next years trip.

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I agree with you, Alan, and I've had some good service in the past.

Cartagena was quaint. The port area was nice, pretty free from hecklers except I you wanted a taxi. The nice thing is there's are macaws, flamingos, and peacocks you can see for free. There is also cheap wifi right at the small port terminal. The old town and new town were nice but nothing that we would be dying to come back and see. Plus lots of people bothering you to buy items. The weather started dreary but got better. Now on to the crossing.

I love Cartegena and would like to spend some serious time there. Funny thing about "lots of people bothering you to buy items" . . . I noticed the same thing in Mexido and even Las Vegas the other day!

People circulating Richard & Anne, I have a couple cute photos of you with them if you'd pm your email address.

Will any of you be on the 2014 WBTA or the follow on Southern Caribbean from San Juan?

Happy Day, all!

 

[kbishop2013]

So happy to be home again! But what an adventure!

Am conflicted about Cartagena. Will need to go again minus an organized tour to tell. It was lovely, but our Historic Walking Tour guide was horrid and the sales push on the kiddos was annoying after awhile. We strive to teach kindness to our kids, and having to be rude to strangers was tough to explain.

 

[kbishop2013]

My kids were obsessed with Robbie G. They are still talking about him and his trivia games.

 

[aan1701]

I thought the whole cruise staff, but, one was outstanding. In 12 cruises with DCL, Simon was by far the worst club host I have ever seen. He was never in Wavebands late, like all other DCL club hosts. Most will mingle and stay till about 12:30 (I am not going to tell how I know this, but he was scheduled to work every night in Wavebands till 12:30), he was never there past 11:45. I loved how after the adult shows he would say, see you down in Wavebands. Was he looking at us through a closed circuit camera cause I swear he was never there. Anyways, besides Simon, I thought the whole cruise staff was beyond wonderful and I made sure DCL knew that.

 

[Crissup]

besides Simon, I thought the whole cruise staff was beyond wonderful and I made sure DCL knew that.

I know there were a *lot* of new crew members on board. Several that I spoke with told me they'd only been on board for 2-4 weeks, and this was their first contract with DCL. In fact, a couple of them had never even worked on cruise ships before. However, there was also a lot of very experienced crew members on board also. I believe it was to train the new folks. However, I agree with you, new or old, the vast majority of them did a fantastic job. The one or two exceptions I ran across were over such small details that I didn't even bother remembering what it was.

That said, I will say I didn't care for Jimmy as cruise director. Nothing wrong with him other than he simply wasn't a personality that impressed me. I think the fact that he's following after some excellent predecessors may be part of it. I sometimes just expect too much wow factor.

 

[MrsMork]

So happy to be home again! But what an adventure!

Am conflicted about Cartagena. Will need to go again minus an organized tour to tell. It was lovely, but our Historic Walking Tour guide was horrid and the sales push on the kiddos was annoying after awhile. We strive to teach kindness to our kids, and having to be rude to strangers was tough to explain.

Agree, it is very hard for me to be rude, but putting hats on my head after I said no THANK you several times made me very cranky and took away any desire to return. The vendors were the most agressive I have seen and we have cruised 14 times to many locations. Our tour guide warned us that they were agressive and said we would need to figure out how to deal with that.

I know there were a *lot* of new crew members on board. Several that I spoke with told me they'd only been on board for 2-4 weeks, and this was their first contract with DCL. In fact, a couple of them had never even worked on cruise ships before. However, there was also a lot of very experienced crew members on board also. I believe it was to train the new folks. However, I agree with you, new or old, the vast majority of them did a fantastic job. The one or two exceptions I ran across were over such small details that I didn't even bother remembering what it was.

That said, I will say I didn't care for Jimmy as cruise director. Nothing wrong with him other than he simply wasn't a personality that impressed me. I think the fact that he's following after some excellent predecessors may be part of it. I sometimes just expect too much wow factor.

Just shows that there are very different opinions. We loved Jimmy as a cruise director and we high fived him each time we saw him.

 

[aan1701]

It has nothing to do with new or old. My problem lies with not being where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there. If a schedule shows you at a venue till 12:30 then that is where you are to be. If I did that I would be in a boat load of trouble. He was the only club host who never stayed and never just asked how things were going. I promised the person who showed me the schedules I would not say who it was so I will honor that. In terms of Jimmy I thought he was fine. No wow factor, but he was at his best when joking with the Captain or Leslie.

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[heatherLOVESmickey]

That said, I will say I didn't care for Jimmy as cruise director. Nothing wrong with him other than he simply wasn't a personality that impressed me. I think the fact that he's following after some excellent predecessors may be part of it. I sometimes just expect too much wow factor.

I'm going to preface what I'm about to say with I had a fabulous time and at the end of the day I had nothing to complain about but... I was unimpressed with the staff and crew as a whole. There were, for sure, some shining lights like Mehmet, the head server and Monika the server but I felt like it just wasn't up to Disney's typical standards. What I assume is maybe there is a personality clash but I'm not sure.

One of my least favorites was Jimmy. He was fine and did his job right so nothing to complain about but he was just missing something. On top of that I didn't care for Leslie either. I thought they were just so dull.

I really think Disney has just spoiled me!