DCL Panama Canal Cruise 5-14-05 to 5-28-05
Ports: Castaway Cay, Curacao, Panama Canal, Acapulco, Mazatlan and Cabo
Just hubby and I.
Pre Cruise:
We left Friday Morning, 5/13/05 at 8:30 am from home (Davie, FL), approx three hours from Port Canaveral. We had to make a quick stop at AAA Pompan to pick up or DL documents. All was painless and the traffic was flowing great, for a change..lol.
We arrived at Port Canaveral just about lunch time and decided to have lunch at Grills before heading over to the Radisson to check in. Of course I had to have the sweet potato fries and the grilled scallops, hubby had the fresh fish of the day. All were delicious as usual. After dinner we headed back to the Radisoon to check in..we love this hotel. The rooms are great and this time we had a suite. Even better. Time for some fun in the sun at the pool. The hot tub was so hot we couldn't even get in it..so we just relaxed in the sun. Later we would go back to Grills for dinner to meet up with some of the other dis'ers. Dinner was great as usual, meeting the Dis'ers was fun also. It is nice to get to put the faces with the names.
Back to the Radisson, the hot tub was finally a good temperature, we relaxed in it for a bit and then turned in early. Tomorrow was the day we had been waiting for, our cruise finally sets sail.
Saturday, May 14, 2005.
We were up to shower bright and early and drove over to watch the Magic come into port. She is such a beautiful site, all lit up in the darkness. We were going to have breakfast at Grills, so we hung around and watched the fishing boat folies until Grills opened. The seas were 3 to 4 feet and choppy so many of the small boats were turning around and coming right back in. Breakfast was great, time to go back to the Radisson, pack up and head to the port. We headed over to the Magic terminal at 9am. They weren't quite ready for us and made us park over in a spare area until 10am. By the time they let us come out of the spare area..the line to board the ship was already getting long. We were allowed to pull up, not to the terminal, but to the road in front, unload the luggage. I waited in the line with the luggage while hubby returned the rental car to Budget. The Rental car return was a long process, only because many, many families, instead of dropping everyone and there luggage at the port, decided to take the whole group with all the luggage to the return place..so it too forever for the shuttles back to the port to accomodate everyone. While waiting in line outside with the luggage I met many more dis'ers. Everyone had started handing out the gifts. What a blast. Especially the fish extenders. Finally, they were letting us into the terminal. They opened up the big metal gates, and just started taking luggage..well, great I thought..I have five bags to move forward by myself..lol. Thank goodness for the kind man behind me who helped push everything forward..and yes, hubby was still not back from Budget. With all the luggage finally turned over to the porters, I walked forward, showed my id and entered the security line to enter terminal. One of the belts was broken so there was only one line, moving slowly of course. Finally, going up the escalator, with a big grin on my face of course. I couldn't believe it was finally time to sail. Got in line to check us in, I had hubbys passport and cruise documents. We were checked in, in a flash and I was in line to board the ship. Of course the line was full of dis'ers, again, people still passing out cruise gift goodies. What a riot. Everyone was so nice. The time flew very quickly. Hubby had still not shown up. I asked some fellow dis'ers (Dawn and Rob) to watch my bag while I went to call hubby and see what was up. He was finally on his way back, along with Karaerics father in law...both were stuck at budget. Eric was waiting at the top of the escalator in total disbelief as I was, wondering what could be taking so long..lol. After that smooth sailing. We were all back in line, and the doors were about to open. The entire terminal was just buzzing with aniticipation. The room was full of excitement. Ok, time to go through the ears, scanned our cards (new kttw cards by the way, first time used ever), used the hand sanitizer, stopped to pose for our embarkation photos and we were announced as we entered the Atrium.
We had already booked our Palo and spa ressied, I did need to make hair appts, other than that we were good to go. Hubby got reservations for the Beer, martini, tequila and wine tastings. Time to relax for a minute before we eat. We met Ashleydoc (Karen and Ashley) in the Atrium, we enjoyed visiting with them while catching our breath from all the excitment. We also enjoyed a coupld complimentary drinks. Time to head up to Topsiders for lunch. The food on the buffet was very good today, better than usual. With lunch done, it is time to head to the cabin. We opened the door and all the boxes I had pre shipped had arrived. So it was time for me to organize my gift bags and get delivering, while hubby went and signed us up for the internet. The Cove Cafe is wonderful. Off to the lifeboat drill, that went smoothly, everyone showed up on time and we were out of there in a flash. time for the sailaway party. They gave everyone big Mickey Hand paddles to wave. Sailaway drink in hand we were ready to party. Sailaway parties are always fun..but today..this one was crazy..so many people up on deck..having so much fun. More dancing on deck 10 than I have ever seen..lol.
Back to the cabin to unload luggage and get the items that needed to be pressed to our cabin host. We had I-Wayan, he was excellent, very funny.
We got dressed for dinner, just missed pics with Sailor Minnie in the Atrium, time to meet our tablemates. We had the LAP rotation. To our surprise we were seated at a table for 4, and the other couple was from Orlando. They were great..we instantly hit it off
The food at dinner was fabulous and I mean fabulous. We were so tired it was time to go straight to bed after dinner. One quick look off the balcony, it was a very dark night, very dark.
Ok..time to cook dinner..will add on more in a bit.
Sunday May 15th, 2005
Castaway Cay
We arrived a bit earlier than usual at Castaway Cay. I was still getting ready, so hubby headed down the gang plank so he could go ahead and get us a good spot on the adult beach. As luck would have it, he did great. He was the first one on the adult beach, securing us a hammock and winning the great hammock race. Debbie wasn't far behind him, she got the second hammock about 10 minutes later. I went out in my rental tube for a bit, nothing really to look at today. No starfish, just a small school of fish. I guess it will take a while to come back after all the hurricanes last year. I went back to lay in the hammock and relax..hubby headed out for a walk in the water to see what he could see. He ran into a great dis'er couple (2canadians). They talked for quite some time. I watched the dis'er group head off on their snorkeling adventure. Peter and Jen came along, then our tablemates. It was time for us to go have lunch, so we gave up our prime spot on the beach to our tablemates. I love the grilled salmon, it was excellent as usual. Hubby had steak sandwich, good also. After lunch we headed back to she sells sea shells, picked up a couple things and back to the ship. The post office was closed for lunch, so I decided I would come back out in a bit. We got back to cabin, downed some water, relaxed in the spa rainforest for a bit. Then I went back off ship to post office. We relaxed on our balcony after that, until dinner time. It was Palo night, and we were hoping Marco was available to serve us.
We were in luck, Marco was available and just as adorable as ever..lol. We couldn't believe he was still on the ship. When the hostess seated hubby, she placed the napkin in his lap..with a grin on her face..come to find out..his suit pants were unzipped..lol. If that wasn't enough..lol, we had a pepper shaker incident that caused us to laugh so hard I had to leave the room. What a night. Marco was great, dinner was good. We are not impressed at all with the current Palo dining room manager..PJ and his little assistant..ugh. Anyway..back to the room to get some rest after another wonderful day.
Monday May 16th, 2005
Day at Sea
We sarted out the day by getting in line for another cruise pin (yes, we were able to get them so far..nightmare as it was). The line was very long already. They weren't suppose to start vouchers until 10:30am, but because so many people, they started handing out vouchers at 8am. Good thing, I hated the thought of wasting another day in line for pins. Everyone had jumped all over the mdse manager for the ship and the guest services manager. This was getting rediculous. So, we grabbed out vouchers and headed to topsiders for breakfast, then into the rainforest to play.
At 10am we attended the art of entertaining, the appetizers. The chef from Tonys in MK made his famous spinach dip. Lets just say..there is a reason we have only eaten in Tony's once..my spinach dip is 10x's better..lol. After that we checked our email, had some lunch and went to preview the art auction items for the day. It was a busy afternoon, the art auction took until almost 4pm. We picked up a couple things at the auction. One two disney items, and one great print from a new Russian artist. Gotta love those blind auctions. Everyone seemed to enjoy the auction. We had the dis wine tasting at 4:30 pm. That was excellent. Everyone brought such great bottles of wine for everyone else to taste. We found a couple new favorites. I had to leave a bit early, as it was formal night and I had a hair appt. Hubby stayed to visit and keep sampling the wines. Jules in the salon did my hair and she did and excellent job. After that, I hurried back to room to get dressed for dinner and we both headed to the Golden Mickeys show. The show was pretty good, hubby enjoyed Hercules more. We stopped along the way for dinner for some portraits of course..lol. We were alone at dinner, our tablemates were at Palo. After dinner, again, we were exhausted and went to bed..lol.
Tuesday, May 17th 2005
Day at Sea
Looks like we will have another busy day. The DCL mgmt finally woke up and decided they would release all the rest of the remaining pin vouchers this morning at 8am. We got up at 5am to go get in line for this. When we joined the line we were at the beginning of the promenade lounge. The castmembers started handing out vouchers promptly at 8am and within minutes we were finally free to enjoy the rest of the cruise. What a relief. We went to the rainforest, had a great lunch, picked up photos at shutters. Computers were down..having satellite trouble today. Hubby was preparing for his dis cigar and spirits meet. He had a good turnout, and made a lot of new friends for the rest of the cruise. What a great bunch of guys..lol.
The cigar party ran right into Castaway Club party so we went on over. They served some great appetizers and free drinks again of course. The ship band was playing and the captain gave a short speech. I do have to say..Captain Thord is excellent..he is out and about more than any captain on any disney cruise we have taken. After that we stopped in one of the clubs to listen to comedian..he was doing the family show..he was hilarious..we decided we should catch him later in the week. Back to the cabin to relax before dinner, hubby enjoyed balcony and book, I went to check out Joey Fatone. He was hosting who wants to be a mousketeer. He looked good, I didn't stay for whole show. We had a 7pm appt to pay for auctions goods, then time for dinner. After dinner we caught the adult comedian show..again, very funny. Off to bed, as tomorrow is an early day arriving in Curacao.
Ports: Castaway Cay, Curacao, Panama Canal, Acapulco, Mazatlan and Cabo
Just hubby and I.
Pre Cruise:
We left Friday Morning, 5/13/05 at 8:30 am from home (Davie, FL), approx three hours from Port Canaveral. We had to make a quick stop at AAA Pompan to pick up or DL documents. All was painless and the traffic was flowing great, for a change..lol.
We arrived at Port Canaveral just about lunch time and decided to have lunch at Grills before heading over to the Radisson to check in. Of course I had to have the sweet potato fries and the grilled scallops, hubby had the fresh fish of the day. All were delicious as usual. After dinner we headed back to the Radisoon to check in..we love this hotel. The rooms are great and this time we had a suite. Even better. Time for some fun in the sun at the pool. The hot tub was so hot we couldn't even get in it..so we just relaxed in the sun. Later we would go back to Grills for dinner to meet up with some of the other dis'ers. Dinner was great as usual, meeting the Dis'ers was fun also. It is nice to get to put the faces with the names.
Back to the Radisson, the hot tub was finally a good temperature, we relaxed in it for a bit and then turned in early. Tomorrow was the day we had been waiting for, our cruise finally sets sail.
Saturday, May 14, 2005.
We were up to shower bright and early and drove over to watch the Magic come into port. She is such a beautiful site, all lit up in the darkness. We were going to have breakfast at Grills, so we hung around and watched the fishing boat folies until Grills opened. The seas were 3 to 4 feet and choppy so many of the small boats were turning around and coming right back in. Breakfast was great, time to go back to the Radisson, pack up and head to the port. We headed over to the Magic terminal at 9am. They weren't quite ready for us and made us park over in a spare area until 10am. By the time they let us come out of the spare area..the line to board the ship was already getting long. We were allowed to pull up, not to the terminal, but to the road in front, unload the luggage. I waited in the line with the luggage while hubby returned the rental car to Budget. The Rental car return was a long process, only because many, many families, instead of dropping everyone and there luggage at the port, decided to take the whole group with all the luggage to the return place..so it too forever for the shuttles back to the port to accomodate everyone. While waiting in line outside with the luggage I met many more dis'ers. Everyone had started handing out the gifts. What a blast. Especially the fish extenders. Finally, they were letting us into the terminal. They opened up the big metal gates, and just started taking luggage..well, great I thought..I have five bags to move forward by myself..lol. Thank goodness for the kind man behind me who helped push everything forward..and yes, hubby was still not back from Budget. With all the luggage finally turned over to the porters, I walked forward, showed my id and entered the security line to enter terminal. One of the belts was broken so there was only one line, moving slowly of course. Finally, going up the escalator, with a big grin on my face of course. I couldn't believe it was finally time to sail. Got in line to check us in, I had hubbys passport and cruise documents. We were checked in, in a flash and I was in line to board the ship. Of course the line was full of dis'ers, again, people still passing out cruise gift goodies. What a riot. Everyone was so nice. The time flew very quickly. Hubby had still not shown up. I asked some fellow dis'ers (Dawn and Rob) to watch my bag while I went to call hubby and see what was up. He was finally on his way back, along with Karaerics father in law...both were stuck at budget. Eric was waiting at the top of the escalator in total disbelief as I was, wondering what could be taking so long..lol. After that smooth sailing. We were all back in line, and the doors were about to open. The entire terminal was just buzzing with aniticipation. The room was full of excitement. Ok, time to go through the ears, scanned our cards (new kttw cards by the way, first time used ever), used the hand sanitizer, stopped to pose for our embarkation photos and we were announced as we entered the Atrium.
We had already booked our Palo and spa ressied, I did need to make hair appts, other than that we were good to go. Hubby got reservations for the Beer, martini, tequila and wine tastings. Time to relax for a minute before we eat. We met Ashleydoc (Karen and Ashley) in the Atrium, we enjoyed visiting with them while catching our breath from all the excitment. We also enjoyed a coupld complimentary drinks. Time to head up to Topsiders for lunch. The food on the buffet was very good today, better than usual. With lunch done, it is time to head to the cabin. We opened the door and all the boxes I had pre shipped had arrived. So it was time for me to organize my gift bags and get delivering, while hubby went and signed us up for the internet. The Cove Cafe is wonderful. Off to the lifeboat drill, that went smoothly, everyone showed up on time and we were out of there in a flash. time for the sailaway party. They gave everyone big Mickey Hand paddles to wave. Sailaway drink in hand we were ready to party. Sailaway parties are always fun..but today..this one was crazy..so many people up on deck..having so much fun. More dancing on deck 10 than I have ever seen..lol.
Back to the cabin to unload luggage and get the items that needed to be pressed to our cabin host. We had I-Wayan, he was excellent, very funny.
We got dressed for dinner, just missed pics with Sailor Minnie in the Atrium, time to meet our tablemates. We had the LAP rotation. To our surprise we were seated at a table for 4, and the other couple was from Orlando. They were great..we instantly hit it off
The food at dinner was fabulous and I mean fabulous. We were so tired it was time to go straight to bed after dinner. One quick look off the balcony, it was a very dark night, very dark.
Ok..time to cook dinner..will add on more in a bit.
Sunday May 15th, 2005
Castaway Cay
We arrived a bit earlier than usual at Castaway Cay. I was still getting ready, so hubby headed down the gang plank so he could go ahead and get us a good spot on the adult beach. As luck would have it, he did great. He was the first one on the adult beach, securing us a hammock and winning the great hammock race. Debbie wasn't far behind him, she got the second hammock about 10 minutes later. I went out in my rental tube for a bit, nothing really to look at today. No starfish, just a small school of fish. I guess it will take a while to come back after all the hurricanes last year. I went back to lay in the hammock and relax..hubby headed out for a walk in the water to see what he could see. He ran into a great dis'er couple (2canadians). They talked for quite some time. I watched the dis'er group head off on their snorkeling adventure. Peter and Jen came along, then our tablemates. It was time for us to go have lunch, so we gave up our prime spot on the beach to our tablemates. I love the grilled salmon, it was excellent as usual. Hubby had steak sandwich, good also. After lunch we headed back to she sells sea shells, picked up a couple things and back to the ship. The post office was closed for lunch, so I decided I would come back out in a bit. We got back to cabin, downed some water, relaxed in the spa rainforest for a bit. Then I went back off ship to post office. We relaxed on our balcony after that, until dinner time. It was Palo night, and we were hoping Marco was available to serve us.
We were in luck, Marco was available and just as adorable as ever..lol. We couldn't believe he was still on the ship. When the hostess seated hubby, she placed the napkin in his lap..with a grin on her face..come to find out..his suit pants were unzipped..lol. If that wasn't enough..lol, we had a pepper shaker incident that caused us to laugh so hard I had to leave the room. What a night. Marco was great, dinner was good. We are not impressed at all with the current Palo dining room manager..PJ and his little assistant..ugh. Anyway..back to the room to get some rest after another wonderful day.
Monday May 16th, 2005
Day at Sea
We sarted out the day by getting in line for another cruise pin (yes, we were able to get them so far..nightmare as it was). The line was very long already. They weren't suppose to start vouchers until 10:30am, but because so many people, they started handing out vouchers at 8am. Good thing, I hated the thought of wasting another day in line for pins. Everyone had jumped all over the mdse manager for the ship and the guest services manager. This was getting rediculous. So, we grabbed out vouchers and headed to topsiders for breakfast, then into the rainforest to play.
At 10am we attended the art of entertaining, the appetizers. The chef from Tonys in MK made his famous spinach dip. Lets just say..there is a reason we have only eaten in Tony's once..my spinach dip is 10x's better..lol. After that we checked our email, had some lunch and went to preview the art auction items for the day. It was a busy afternoon, the art auction took until almost 4pm. We picked up a couple things at the auction. One two disney items, and one great print from a new Russian artist. Gotta love those blind auctions. Everyone seemed to enjoy the auction. We had the dis wine tasting at 4:30 pm. That was excellent. Everyone brought such great bottles of wine for everyone else to taste. We found a couple new favorites. I had to leave a bit early, as it was formal night and I had a hair appt. Hubby stayed to visit and keep sampling the wines. Jules in the salon did my hair and she did and excellent job. After that, I hurried back to room to get dressed for dinner and we both headed to the Golden Mickeys show. The show was pretty good, hubby enjoyed Hercules more. We stopped along the way for dinner for some portraits of course..lol. We were alone at dinner, our tablemates were at Palo. After dinner, again, we were exhausted and went to bed..lol.
Tuesday, May 17th 2005
Day at Sea
Looks like we will have another busy day. The DCL mgmt finally woke up and decided they would release all the rest of the remaining pin vouchers this morning at 8am. We got up at 5am to go get in line for this. When we joined the line we were at the beginning of the promenade lounge. The castmembers started handing out vouchers promptly at 8am and within minutes we were finally free to enjoy the rest of the cruise. What a relief. We went to the rainforest, had a great lunch, picked up photos at shutters. Computers were down..having satellite trouble today. Hubby was preparing for his dis cigar and spirits meet. He had a good turnout, and made a lot of new friends for the rest of the cruise. What a great bunch of guys..lol.
The cigar party ran right into Castaway Club party so we went on over. They served some great appetizers and free drinks again of course. The ship band was playing and the captain gave a short speech. I do have to say..Captain Thord is excellent..he is out and about more than any captain on any disney cruise we have taken. After that we stopped in one of the clubs to listen to comedian..he was doing the family show..he was hilarious..we decided we should catch him later in the week. Back to the cabin to relax before dinner, hubby enjoyed balcony and book, I went to check out Joey Fatone. He was hosting who wants to be a mousketeer. He looked good, I didn't stay for whole show. We had a 7pm appt to pay for auctions goods, then time for dinner. After dinner we caught the adult comedian show..again, very funny. Off to bed, as tomorrow is an early day arriving in Curacao.
