What I Learned On My Disney Vacation-Complete

The Disney Magic, Day 1

The cruise felt world's away from the land portion of our vacation, so in the interest of my disjointed memory, I am starting again at day 1.

Anticipation was killing me, I was up way before Mickey's 7:00 call, and I was dressed and ready to cruise. Jimmy was up and ready soon after me, but since we weren't meeting the others until 9 am, we decided to let the kids sleep a little longer.
Jimmy and I went out and explored the hotel a bit. We walked around the 4th floor Concourse, saw all the sleepy people coming in for their breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We browsed the shops and ogled the pins at the pin station...can you believe they had no Contemporary Resort pins. I like to collect the pins of resorts I have stayed at, so I was disappointed about this.
We walked around the second floor, which is really only meeting rooms, then we headed up to the 11th floor. A little hint was stuck in my head that I remembered reading somewhere. I decided to test the rumor. Jimmy and I got off at the 11th floor, and walked in the direction that our own room on the 7th floor was. We walked all the way to the end of the hall and....

What I learned:The stairway door is unlocked, you can take the stairs up to the rooftop Observation Deck...shhh, you didn't hear it from me ;)

The view was gorgeous in the early morning light, and we were able to look out in all directions. We watched the Magic Kingdom, and drank in our bird's eye view of the castle. We were sad when we had to tear ourselves away and go downstairs to get the kids ready.

Even with our little side trip, we were still a little early when we got to the Food and Fun Center, so we ordered our breakfast, and sat down to wait for everyone else. Wade, Lucille and Amanda were also a little early, and the service was faster than the prior two days, so we were sitting down with our food when Lucy came up with the kids. SO she ordered and we all ate tensely. We were all a bit stressed with getting to the port early and getting checked in so we could get Palo reservations.

One stressful hour later, we had our motorcade on the road headed east, for Port Canaveral and a Magical vacation.
The ride to the port is about an hour long, but it is a boring hour, and you just sit there anticipating the sight of the ship in the distance. During the car ride, James' mom called his cell phone. She wanted to see how his trip was going, and nag him about ironing his clothes if they are wrinkled from being in suitcases. He dumped her off the phone before she could ask to nag my DH....it seemed like he has perfected the science of getting his mom off the phone, which we got a chuckle out of. Ahh, to be 16 again.

We came over a bridge, and there she was, gleaming in the morning sunlight, the Magic. Everybody ooooh, everybody aaahhh. Sorry, no pics, seems I put the camera in the trunk :(

The husbands dropped us wives and the kids off at the port, and drove the cars to Avis for return.

What I learned: Some things make sense when you read them on the internet, but don't always work out as planned.

We got the tip about dropping us off at the port from reading DISboards, but we didn't realize it would take the guys forever to get back! We checked the bags with the porters, then went into the terminal. This being our second cruise, we were prepared with our documents filled out, and our IDs and birth certificates ready. A CM at the top of the escalator asked if this was our first cruise, when we said no, she led us to the Castaway Club check-in line, which had no one on it, woo-hoo! The kids went over to watch tv while we checked in.

Check in was quick, and we went over and took our place in line to board the ship. We were about 100th on line to board. Since we had checked the whole family in, all the husbands would have to do is go up to the window, and pick up their KTTW's. Before long they started boarding the ship, I think it was around 11:45am, the men were not back yet, and the line behind us stretched the length of the terminal. The line moved faster than we expected, and we were at the Mickey ears and still no men...so we told the CM at the ears that we were waiting for our husbands. She told us we could wait to the side, which we did.

By the time they arrived back from Avis, the whole line of people behind us had boarded, and we went from being one of the first 100 in line to being one of the last to board the ship ::) It was a good plan, and I would do it again, but I didn't realize how long it would take to get to Avis and back, I will try to get to the port earlier next time, and maybe not have the men wait so long for a shuttle at Avis.

Coming soon: Day 1, part 2 Exploring the Magic
 
wow, i totally love your reports!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep 'em comin"

Lulu, I also live in Bucks cty....where are you guys???
 
Day 1, Part 2: Exploring the Magic:

When you step through the mouse ears, you are stepping into a whole other world, the world of cruising. You walk up the ramp to your first stop, Embarkation photos. We opted to do a group photo of the 12 of us.

The you walk up the short gangplank and onto the ship. We were stopped, one family at a time, and our boarding was announced. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard the Walsh family, for Staten Island, NY" And then the CMs gathered in the lobby applaud you...it's an awesome feeling, and a great way to start a vacation.

Our plan was to split up, the men would head to Studio Sea for Palo reservations, and the women were heading to Guest Services and the Shore Excursion desk. We had to have charging privileges removed from the kids KTTW cards, and we had a shore excursion that we heard some disturbing rumors about that we wanted to cancel. Guest Services is always a nice experience, they are quick and friendly, and whenever the line builds, CMs always seem to come from the back to help out, there's no window, so I always wonder how they know help is needed. The Shore Excursion desk is not as smooth as guest services. These CMs had hardly any idea of how to do something, and each different person you spoke with gave a different answer :rolleyes:

The guys came back, having secured a reservation for brunch on Monday-my birthday :D

Our next destination was Topsider's for lunch. Tommy, being only 6 is the only one of the kids who needs help, so I helped him pick out his lunch choices. I just love that soda is now available at Topsiders, this saved me a trip to Pinocchios Pizzeria to get sodas for the kids.
What I Learned:If you enter Topsiders through the right entrance, the buffet line to the left is the kid's only buffet, which is where your kids will find chicken nuggets, pizza, french fries, and other kid friendly foods. The other three buffet lines have choices that the average kid may find less appealing.

After lunch, the kids wanted to go in the pool, and all I really wanted was a break. I gave my kids their swimsuits, they changed in the restroom, and went out to the Goofy pool area. Jimmy stayed with the kids while I went down to see if the room was ready, thankfully the rooms were ready, and I was able to go check out what would be our home for the next 7 days.
What I Learned:Instead of shorts and t-shirts, I will bring more swimsuits for my kids in the future. They can be worn with t-shirts and it is easier to have them wear swimsuits all day, every day, than deal with the constant changing of swimsuits to shorts and back.
 

A quick visit to check out both of our rooms, and I decided who would sleep where. We had 2 adjoining category 11's, 6045 and 6047. Jimmy and I would take 6047 and the boys would take 6045. Being that James and Tommy's keys were for 6045, I got one extra key for 6045 for Bobby. And I got an extra key made for 6047 for Jimmy to use. When I wanted to get into 6045, I just used Tommy's KTTW, which I held onto for him. Confusing? Yes, it was a bit confusing for us too.
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Our room...they both look exactly like this.

What I Learned:Category 11 does not have connecting cabins, if you have a family of five, book connecting cabins of category 10, 9, 8, etc. The price savings for the category 11 is not worth the inconvenience of going back and forth through the hallway. Go for the extra money, you won't regret it.

They started making announcements about the mandatory life boat drill at about 3:15. Jimmy and the kids came down from the pool, and I got the boys changed back into shorts. I also realized about now that in the rush of boarding and eating, Lucy and I completely missed the DISmeet in the Promenade Lounge. :( I was very upset about this, as I had really been looking forward to it. Anyway, we got into our life vests, and met the others in the hallway. When the alarms sounded, we headed down to deck 4. I know there is a reason for everything, and they have reason for packing us in so tight, but man do you feel like a sardine down there. And it's hot standing out there!!! To anyone who tries to skip this, I hope the A/C breaks down in your room, because we have to wait there for the no-shows. :mad:
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I guess I should have realized that the flash would reflect off the reflector, and make the pic too dark

After the drill, we drop the life vests in the room, and head up to deck 9 for the Sail-Away Party. This party is a do not miss! The kids can get up on the dance floor that covers the Goofy Pool and join in the line dances. The characters make an appearance, there is just a lot of fun to be had. Also, they did something this year that they didn't do on our previous cruise, they had complimentary drinks for everyone. I think they were Rum Runners for the adults, and some nonalcoholic concoction for the kids and non-drinkers....I personally enjoyed the kids drink more, but I really wasn't in an alcohol mood at that point anyway.
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More to come...
 
After the Sailaway Party, we got back to the room to find our luggage had arrived. ;D
I was able to unpack in 15 minutes...amazing because it took a month to pack ;) And I had 15 minutes to spare in order to change and wash up for dinner.
We had the APL rotation, first seating, table number 9. This meant that tonights dinner would be in Animator's Palette, and we would see the famed Animator's Palette show.
Being on a cruise ship is cool, because you can leave your room at 5:58, and be walking into the dining room at 6:00 sharp, which is pretty much what we did every night.
Our table was up against a wall, which in Animator's meant very little, but I knew that it meant we would have a window table in Parrot Cay. WooHoo! This made me happy, as I love looking out at the ocean.
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We met our server, Erasmo, from Chile, and asst server, Aswald, I didn't hear where he was from.
If anyone is wondering, Erasmo is THE BEST!!!!!! We loved him ;D
I wish I had noted what we ate, but honestly, all the food is great, and I didn't write down anything in particular.
 
After dinner, we rolled our overstuffed bodies back to our rooms.
Our room steward, Darwin had been in and left us our first towel animal
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We think it was a frog.

The kids were ripe and ready to get to the Oceaneer's Lab/Club, and James was ready to check out the Stack...we said good-bye to James, and I don't think we saw him much after that until we debarked.
Okay, I am exaggerating a little now, but James did spend a LOT of time in the Stack, so I guess it's okay for 16 year old boys.
We adults headed down to Rockin Bar D, we were anxious to see if our booth was free....our booth is the booth we sat in every night of our last cruise. :teeth:
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Here's our booth!
Rockin Bar D was quiet, and I was freezing...the guys went to check out Diversions, I headed to Mickey's Mates in search of a sweatshirt, which I neglected to pack.
What I Learned: Do NOT forget to pack a sweater, jacket, sweatshirt, you will see why next...

Mickey's Mates...1 sweatshirt for me, $38.00, 1 zippered hoodie sweatshirt for DH $42.00 and 1 cd that I've wanted..."Where the Magic Lives" it's the music from the parks and attractions $19.00...total, because I tried to save room in the suitcase...$99.00 :o And I only bought 3 things.

The guys like Diversions, and met a guy from Rhode Island who they really enjoyed talking to, and who they would meet almost every night.

There was a show starting in Rockin Bar D, the band was called Sea Breeze, we really enjoyed them.
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I was drinking MudSlides, and I liked my drink so much, I had to take a picture of it.
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When the kids beeped us, it was off to bed...I think around 11:30, to dream sweet Disney Dreams.

What I Learned:This was an ongoing lesson, but we really should have checked out the show in the Walt Disney Theater, which we didn't that night, or most other nights. So if you cruise, see the shows, nothing else is going on at that time anyway.

Coming up: Day 2, Character Breakfast
 
Day 2....Day at Sea
Bright and early, my alarm clock buzzes to tell me it's time to start getting ready for our character breakfast. Five minutes later, the phone rang... it was the wake-up call I requested just in case the alarm didn't work!
What I Learned:The wake up call is the same as at the WDW resorts, except, when you answer the phone, Mickey is already halfway through his spiel... so you miss the "up and at 'em" part. :(
I got up and dressed, then grabbed my KTTW and ran next door to wake the kids. This is where the two rooms got inconvenient. During the course of getting ready for breakfast, I was back and forth between the rooms about three times.
We met the others in the hallway, and headed down to Parrot Cay. Just as I thought we would, we had a seat next to a porthole, so we were able to watch the water rush by as we ate.
Character breakfast on the Disney Magic is quite different than character breakfast in the parks or resorts. We received our menus, and placed our orders, all the usual breakfast fare, eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage. They also have a special meal for the kids that has a Mickey waffle, some bacon, sausage, and eggs, I think. ??? The characters come to the tables one at a time...each with a photographer. The photographer snaps a few hurried pictures of the character with the people at the table...at our table we had all of the kids in a group with each character...no adults got into any of the pictures....it almost seemed like the photographer wasn't interested in getting pictures of the adults. Anyway, the characters do not to autographs...it is very rushed at breakfast (don't worry, there are plenty of other meet and greets to get autographs)
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Twice during breakfast there is a little show where Chip and Dale lead the characters in a song and dance...the servers also take part.
It is not your usual character breakfast, but you are only offered one opportunity during the week to attend, and I recommend going. It's a lot of fun-with singing and dancing, and napkin twirling.

After breakfast, we took the kids to the Lab/Club so we could go to the DVC member meeting without them. The DVC member reception is held in Diversions. Since we weren't cruising on points, we stopped at the DVC sales desk first to make sure it was okay to attend. The CM there gave us the thumbs up to attend, and even gave us some of the lanyards that they leave in the rooms of those cruising on points...in the pouch on the lanyard is a card that has the day and time of the reception. The lanyards are pretty cool, because they are a great way to carry around your KTTW card, and ID when you need to carry it.
We arrived in Diversions early enough to score seats in the front. By the time the meeting started, it was packed in there! And people were still coming in. If you're a DVC member, and cruising, I recommend you go to the meeting...there are a lot of giveaways...we got sun visors, lanyards, mousepads, luggage tags...and every family receives a ticket. They pull tickets and they have trivia questions for prizes. My sister won a DVC towel, and I won a fanny pack with a water bottle. There are just slightly more families present than prizes available, so very few people left without a prize.

I should mention, that while we were waiting for the DVC reception to begin, I ran up to Treasure Ketch, they had men's Disney Cruise Line muscle shirts on clearance sale for 8.99, so I picked up one for Jimmy, and one for myself to wear as a pool cover-up...I also got them in kids sizes for the boys.
What I Learned:Look in the back corners of Treasure Ketch and Mickey's Mates for clearance priced items. There isn't much on clearance, but you never know when you'll hit on a good buy.

After we stopped by our rooms and dropped off the goodies we got at the reception, we picked up the kids and headed up to Deck 9. We found tables near the Goofy pool, and set up our central location. From here, the kids could go to the Mickey pool, the Goofy pool, the hot tub, Scoops, Topsiders, QuarterMasters or even back and forth to the Oceaneer's Lab, and always know where to find us.

Frank, Jimmy and Wade headed over to check out the Cove Cafe....that was the last we saw of them for a few hours :rolleyes:
Our location by the Goofy Pool was convenient to view the band that preformed during the day, and the poolside activities that went on mid-afternoon. Also, there are character appearances in one of the gazebos by the Goofy pool, so the kids were able to see when a character was there, and hop in line to say hi!
 
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Having fun in the pool
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The boys relaxing in the hot tub!
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The kids loved playing Ping Pong
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Pool side games and fun!
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Tonight would be formal night, so at about 4:30 we headed downstairs to shower, and start getting ready for our Formal Night dinner.
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Don't they look nice? ;D
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That's Jimmy and me.
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Jimmy and James
When we were ready, we headed down to deck 3 to the lobby atrium, which was PACKED...I am talking wall to wall people. Lucy and I picked out the background we wanted for our formal family portraits, and planned to come back after dinner in hopes that the lines would be shorter.

Our dinner rotation brought us to Parrot Cay, which is not the best choice for Formal Night. There are barbecue ribs on the menu, which I really, really wanted to try, but I didn't want to risk dropping them on my formal dress :( After dinner, I ran out to the lobby to get on line for pictures. Lucy and I waited together on line, while our husbands and kids finished dessert, this reduced the stress of standing on a long line with cranky kids.

After the pictures were taken, we ran upstairs to the pin cart to pick up the special edition pins they had. They are made specially for the Antigua and San Juan itineraries, and are limited to an edition of 750 each. I picked up one of each, and asked about pin trading with the officers, which I was told would be the following night.
What I Learned:Be prepared for long, slow moving lines for portraits on formal night! I noticed that later in the week, the lines for portraits were shorter.

We went back to the room to change, before heading to the 8:00 showing of Golden Mickey's. Had I known that they were doing portraits outside the theater with a Golden Mickey backdrop, and a Golden Mickey statuette as a prop, I would have kept my kids in their formal were, and gotten their portraits done. This is a very popular show, and the theater fills up early, so by the time we arrived, we were in the back section. It was neat to walk up the red carpet, and past the 'paparazzi' on the way into the theater. Golden Mickey's is a great show, I'm glad we saw it, and I can't wait to see it again next year!!!
What I Learned:Don't miss Golden Mickey's, and show up in your formal wear. It's fun to walk up the red carpet, and if you're lucky, you might get picked out to be 'interviewed' by the Joan Rivers type CM outside the theater; the interviews are broadcast on the screens inside the theater!

After the show, the kids headed off to Oceaneer's, James went to the Stack, and the adults headed down to Beat Street for our relaxing night in Diversions and Rockin Bar D

What I Learned:Every night in Diversions there is a station set up where you can get nachos, hot dogs, or finger sandwiches....these were previously available in ESPN Skybox, and are now available here...they make a nice snack, and will hold you over until the pizza station is set up outside Rockin Bar D at 11pm ;)

Coming Up: Day 3, Palo's Brunch and My Birthday :)
 
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They're not this neat and squeaky clean often, so I had to get a group shot ;)
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Pictures from Golden Mickeys...sorry so blurry, I was far, far away and had my flash off.

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Our towel animal...an elephant. Darwin even put Bobby's glasses on it. ;D

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Tommy wanted to pose with the elephant.
 
Wow, your pics are wonderful, thx for sharing!!
 
Well, I wasn't sure if I'd like a cruise before reading your reports, now I know that I would LOVE one!!!! I want to go really bad now after reading your report!
Thank you so much!
I can't wait to read the rest.
Kim
:flower3:
 
Great pictures and a super report! I love the little boy's formal shirts. They are very cute, and a nice alternative to a suit for that age!
 
Day 3: Day at Sea, it's my birthday

We had reservations for Brunch at Palo today, and a late night the night before, so we were in no rush to wake up. But the thought of Oceaneer's Lab had my son Bobby up early.
I got my kids dressed and met my sister in the hallway to take them up to Topsider's for breakfast. After which, we dropped them at the kids club for the morning.
My only hope was that Tommy would not beep me before or during brunch.
In the room, Jimmy was getting ready so I flipped on the TV. About a half hour before our brunch time, wouldn't you know it, the beeper goes off :rolleyes: Tommy hates when the Oceaneer's Club goes to lunch, so he asked to beep me instead. Jimmy and I hurried to get dressed. I headed up to the club to get Tommy, while he scoured the ship looking for James to keep an eye on Tommy while we ate.
Jimmy and I ran into each other outside the OC, he still had not found James. He took Tommy with him, while I went to Palo's to meet the others.
He did manage to find James and meet us at Palo just as we were being seated.
Bruch at Palo is yummy! We went up the the buffet area and stuffed ourselves with danish and cheeses and meats. Our server, Christov brought us champagne and explained the menu to us. He also took our coffee and juice orders. We chatted with him a few minutes, and found out that Florencia, who was our server last year, was on vacation.
While we nibbled on the goodies from the buffet table, he took our regular orders. I ordered the Chicken Cacciatore and we ordered a Mushroom Pizza for the table-I think I ate the whole thing though. I can't tell you what everyone else ordered, because I was too busy stuffing myself at that point. :D
After we ate, we headed over to the dessert table, and loaded up our plates yet again. Christov brought out a plate that said "Happy Birthday" in chocolate, and they sang Happy Birthday to me :teeth:

After brunch, we rolled ourselves down to our rooms to change. But on the way, Jimmy and I stopped at Treasure Ketch, he wanted to get me a Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. I didn't see one I liked, so I took a raincheck on the birthday gift, and he got me a bracelet with Mickey Mouse heads to tide me over until he got the real gift :teeth:

He went to relieve James of babysitting duties while I went to change. Then while he changed I took Tommy up to get Bobby and head up to the pool.

We hung out poolside, some of us napped
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the kids played
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And the girls showed off their freshly cornrowed hair
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We went to Bingo in the afternoon. I felt the bingo love when my sister won, but no bingo love for me, because I lost :'( Que was the caller, he's very funny, but Andy was the bingo king last year, and was much better! I still love Que though, he does the best Austin Powers impressions "Yeah, baby!"
What I learned: I don't like losing at bingo :'(

After bingo, we got ready for dinner. Tonight was the Castaway Club reception, right before dinner. I didn't realize it would be that crowded. :o It was held in Rockin Bar D, and the place was packed. I am talking Sardine City!!!
Captain Tom spoke to the crowd
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That's Captain Tom, between all those heads.
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That's the beautiful ice sculpture that was on the hors d'oevure table.
What I learned: DCL has a lot of return cruisers, and they all want to see DCL cruise to Alaska! All except me, I said New York!

I was happy to get out of there, it was possibly the only time we saw crowds all week!
Dinner was at Lumiere's, which is conveniently close by.
We headed in to dinner, Lumiere's is my least favorite of the restaurants, the food has a French flair, and I don't like it so much. My sister was brave enough to order the escargot for an appetizer, but she didn't like it. I on the other hand had the Fried Camambert- learned that the T is silent- not only did I have a lesson in pronunciation, but the dish was delish ;D
What I learned: Camembear, not camemberT, and is tastes really really good when breaded and fried

After dinner, Erasmo was stalling on our dessert orders >:( but then I found out why ;D Alain, our head server came over, and they brought out a birthday cake for me ;D (Sorry, no pics, Wade took the pictures on his camera, and I haven't gotten a copy yet) Alain hammed it up for the camera, then cut the cake and gave everyone a slice. Yum! Fresh whipped cream.
What I learned: It's fun being the birthday girl ;D

After dinner, we headed to the room to change and find our towel animal
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A dog? or a lamb, maybe?

The kids went to their clubs, and we headed to Beat Street---I love Rockin Bar D after 10 pm!

Coming soon: Antigua
 
Mary, I am LOVING this trip report!
 
Day 4: Antigua
Just a few things to add about Monday night, before I get to Tuesday.
After Tommy beeped me to be picked up from the Oceaneer's Club, I decided to do some laundry. It was about 11:45pm, and the laundry room was empty, only one washer and one dryer were in use. This was a convenient time for me because by now we had been on vacation for five full days, so there was plenty of laundry to be done. The laundry room was located on the side of the ship opposite our room, but the walk was short. I loaded up two washers, and went back to my room to watch some tv. When the time was up, I went back and put the stuff into three dryers. After all I had read on the boards, I know the dryers don't work as efficiently as the washers.
What I Learned:If you are doing a WDW vacation before your cruise, Monday is a very good day to do laundry. The average cruiser has not built up enough dirties yet, so the laundry room is empty. And I was able to pack less knowing I'd do laundry so early, everything was worn twice.
When I was coming back to my room after laundry, I met Frank and Wade in the hallway. We decided to order room service for breakfast since we would be getting off the ship early in Antigua to explore on our own.
I filled out the card and hung it on the door, then went in and set my alarm for 15 minutes before the room service time frame.
In the morning, I was up, and scrounged up a couple of dollar bills for room service, then went into the shower while Jimmy waited for the food. The food came, and I got the boys dressed, and brought them in to eat.
What I Learned:Though the convenience and idea of room service is nice, the selection at Topsider's it ten times better. Looking back, I don't think I will be so anxious to have room service breakfast again.

In my back and forth between rooms, Lucille popped her head out, and invited my in to watch from her verandah as the ship pulled in to the port of Antigua. There was a band playing on the pier, and groups of school children were out to meet the ship. There was a lot of excitement on the part of the natives, this was Disney Cruise Line's first ever stop here. We later learned that Antigua is not a very busy cruise port, only one or two ships a week stop here.
When we were docked and all ashore was announced, we grabbed our beach bags and headed down to Deck 1 for disembarkation. Getting off was a breeze, there were no crowds. My first impression was of what a beautiful island it is. The pier, and as far as we could see was clean and well kept. The islanders were very friendly and helpful. We talked to some of the school kids, and found out that they were waiting at the pier for us since before 7 am, we docked after 9! We felt bad for the kids, because it was HOT! But they didn't seem to mind. I thought it would have been nice if DCL had some characters come off the ship and greet the kids, but as far as I know, they didn't.

We were pleasantly surprised to see a DCL flag waving from a flagpole on one of the buildings in port, what a welcome we received here!
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We weren't sure where we were headed, but we knew we wanted to avoid the beaches that DCL was pushing, figuring they would be crowded. So we went to the taxi area and asked the dispatcher. He recommended Turner's Beach, the taxi would take up and come back for us at a preset time. I don't remember the exact fare, but it was about $10pp round trip, to be paid on the trip back. They were able to fit all 12 of us in one van, and we were not squished at all.
To be continued...
 


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