Wild Turkey's & Dancin Banana's Crusie/some pictures added

[Dixielady908]

This is my first trip report. I am not a writer and I tend to get long winded so bare with me:

Cast: Me (Denise)
DH (Wally) aka: Dreamboat Wally
DSis (Marge)
Dbil (John)
Dniece (Dawn)
DNH (Joe)
Dniece Children: Ashley 14, Lindsey 10, Blake 5

Eastern Cruise 11-25-06 - 12-2-06
Background Information:

I have been wanting to do a cruise for years. Dreamboat and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary a couple of years ago. When we discussing where to go, a cruise did come up but we never acted on it. Instead we chose to go to Disneyworld, since we did honeymoon there.
Now fast forward 2 years later. I am at work one day last December. I get a phone call from my sister Marge. She say's "guess what I just did"? Me:..."what"? Marge: "we just booked a Disneycruise, would you and dreamboat like to come along"? Me:.."Ummm sure....sounds great, let me talk with dreamboat".
I talk with dreamboat, dreamboat talks with Marge and Dawn, we "book it". I am soooo excited.

The next day, I get on the boards find the curise meet thread and start chatting. I now have 11 months to plan. Better get busy. Dreamboat does not "get it". He can not figure out why I am on these boards every single day!!! About 1 month before the cruise he finally "gets it". He now has a screen name, has a few posts under his belt, he is now a believer.

Travel day: Friday November 24th:

We are flying out of Chicago Midway Airport. My sister and her daughters family take an early morning flight out. They are going to spend Friday at Seaworld. Dreamboat and I have a 1:30pm flight out. We arrive 2 1/2 hours before our flight. We check in, get through security and now have 2 hours until our flight. We have a very uneventful flight into MCO. We get our luggage and then call the hotel to come pick us up. We are staying at the airport Best Western. (It was a really nice place.) They had a happy hour, we stopped in for a drink, grab some dinner and then head off to bed.

Up next: Getting to Port

 

[pgfour]

Great start Denise! ("Keepin' the cruise alive! )

Can't wait to hear more!!!!

Cheri

 

[Dixielady908]

Saturday November 25th:

We have our alarm set for 6:00am. We get up and start getting ready. We pack up everything and head down for some breakfast. We finish eating when my sister & her family come down to eat. Dreamboat and I chat with them a few minutes then head back up to collect our luggage, the Limo is due shortly. Since we are a party of 9, we had booked a passenger van through Happy Limo. We are checking out when this stretched Lincoln Navigator pulls up. I look at dreamboat and say, gee I wonder if thats for us, go out and check. He does, it is.....I was very excited..so I call up to my sisters room and say lets get moving the limo is here. Now, when the 3 kids see the limo they are very excited. So our driver loads us up and off we go.

The ride to port went very fast and before we knew it, we were coming over the hill and got our look at the ship. Wow is all I can say. It was awesome.
We arrive at port a few minutes before 10am, we pull up, our driver unloads all our luggage, a porter comes by, says he will handle the luggage just get in line. While we are in line I see a few disboard members, and say hello.
Momx4grandmax4 is our official greeter. She is waiting for us and it was so great to finally meet her. We then get our boarding #3 and head up to check in. It was pretty empty and it was pretty awesome to see the terminal that I had only seen in pictures. We finish checking in and have a mini dis meet right in the terminal. It was so fun meeting everyone. Dreamboat was having a good time, he had promised a few of the ladies a hug. However, since Woogal did name him dreamboat...the first hug was hers. It was fun chatting with disneediva, woogal, favoriateslave, tiggerking, lindababe, it really made the time past quickly. Before we knew it they had started to call numbers for boarding and off we went.

I have to say....the first time walkig onto the ship...there are no words...it was awesome and overwhelming all at once. To hear our name being announced was great, the lobby all decorated for Christmas, but so much to take in. Once our whole family was together, we went and checked and changed our Palo reservations, then up to topsiders for lunch.

After we had lunch, we watched Lindsey swim for awhile, then we all went to check out our cabins. I had ordered the Bonvoyage as a surpirse for dreamboat and was anxious to see if it was there. It was, and he was very surprised, he thought it came with the room..!! Since our luggage was not there yet, we just went and walked around the ship. We had a 2:45 dis meet in the promanade lounge along with a gift exchange so after our little mini-tour of the ship we headed to the lounge. We actually had a very large group of very nice and sweet people. We did our gift exchange, then it was off to our cabins to get ready for the munster drill. When we got back to our cabin our luggage was there. Now up until this point, it was a beautiful sunny day. By the time the drill rolled around it had started to rain and kept raining, so they cancelled the sailaway party on deck and moved in into the lobby. I was soooo disappointed. I have looked forward to that for months.
But a few minutes to 5:00 dreamboat and I went up to deck 10, it stopped raining by then. I just wanted to hear the horn. So when the horn went off, I felt much better....we also pulled out on time...right at 5pm.

"sea of green" disboard friends
Our cruise has officially begun....

 

[Dixielady908]

We stayed up on deck 10 for awhile as we were pulling out of port. Then we went back to our cabin as we had early seating. We were having dinner at Parrot Cay tonight. Our servers were Roland and Ricardo and we had a great time with them through out the week. After dinner we went back to our cabin to finish unpacking, then we went to diversions and had a drink. We were pretty tired and decided to go back to our cabin and go to bed. We had a long day. We had some rocky sailing and tonight was one of them. It was funny watching people trying to walk and keep their balance, we looked like a bunch of drunkin sailors.....but I have to say, the best sleep I every had.

Next up: Sunday our first full sea day.

 

[TIGGER41681]

Denise,
Love your report!! It is bringing back so many memories!!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Denise,'
great job so far!!!
Your a great write, not long winded as you were worried about!!

Keep it coming,

kathy

 

[disneediva]

You go Denise, its so much fun to read about our voyage..

Wendy

PS miss you Dreamboat!!!!!!

 

[LindaBabe]

Bringing back GREAT memories! I can't wait to sail with y'all again!

 

[mruhaak]

You've got me hooked. Look forward to ready more!

 

[firemans wife]

Great start Denise!! Can't wait to hear more Makes me feel like I am on vacation all over gain.

Lorna

 

[Dixielady908]

Thanks for all the encouragement.....

Denise

 

[jd99]

Great job denise. Give us more!

 

[Dixielady908]

Sunday: November 26th...Our first full sea day. I woke up early, I wanted to get up to deck 10 to get some pictures of the sunrise and the ship, before it got in full swing. I got ready and then took off up there, I ran into my niece Dawn up there, she had the same idea but then she was heading to the gym. As I was taking some pictures, dreamboat came and met up with Dawn and myself. We talked for awhile, we then headed back down to our cabin, changed and went up to Topsiders for breakfast. I have heard different opinions regarding the food there, but I found the food to be good.
At 11:00 am we had a women only dis meet in the quite cove cafe. We had a good time and got to meet a few more dismembers. I cant at this time remember everyone that was there, but it was still a good time.
After the meet we went back to the cabin and changed into our swimwear and went up to deck 10 to just sit and chill. We ran into woogal and disneediva's husband and talked with them for a while. My sister Marge and her husband joined us so we just sat up there soaking up the sun, enjoying that blue caribbean water and enjoying the day.
It was starting to get close to dinner time, so we headed back to the cabin to get cleaned up. Tonight was formal night and we were having dinner at Lumiere's. We were also celebrating Marge and Johns 42nd wedding anniversary and their granddaughters, Ashley's 14th birthday. We had a great dinner and a great time with Roland and Ricardo.
After dinner, we again went to the cabin and changed clothes then headed over to see the Golden Mickeys. We all enjoyed the show, then dreamboat and I went up to deck 10. We just walked around for awhile and enjoyed the ship and the evening. After that we went back to the cabin and went to bed.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

great job Denise,
keep it coming!


kathy

 

[Dixielady908]

Monday: November 27th. Another sea day...I again got up early and head with camera in hand up to deck 10. Just have to capture thoes gorgeous sunrises. However, today was not going to cooperate. No sun! We did have rain so we hung out inside the ship, or at quite cove cafe. At one point while sitting at quite cove, it was raining pretty hard, the water came rushing down the stairways, it was really strange watching that. We also had slightly strong waves that day....
My sister, niece and myself decided to go to the dessert class. They were showing us how to make the white dome dessert. The chef was so funny we laughed through most of the class, then they passed out the dessert which we also had with a glass of wine...yummy....
After the class, met back up with dreamboat and the weather had cleared some, and we headed up to quite cove and sat there for awhile. It was starting to get late, so we headed back to our cabin to get cleaned up and head to dinner. Tonight we are at Animators Palate. I was excited about seeing the light show. I thought is was good, but I really enjoyed when all the waiters come out and went around the whole room. After dinner we went and changed and then went and saw Twiced Charmed. We again all enjoyed the show. After the show, dreamboat and me, went up to deck 10, however, it was so windy out and the waters were so choppy, we just decided to head to diversions. We had a drink then back to our cabin for the evening. We watched some tv and went to bed.

Up next: St. Maarten

 

[Dixielady908]

Tuesday: November 28th... Again I got up early and headed up to deck 10.
It was strange to see land. There were a lot of people on deck watching us dock at St Maarten. My first impression of the island was that it was very beautiful. With all the houses built on the mountainsides. I also noticed the change in weather from the previous evening. It was already warm and muggy and it was only 7:30am. So after taking a few dozen pictures, I went back down to the cabin. Dreamboat had gone and gotten us some coffee and we got ready to go sightseeing. We had decided before we left, that we were not going to do any excersions. We had researched and had things picked out that we wanted to do. One of them was of course do some shopping. So we headed over to the shopping district, but it had gotten so hot and muggy out that I think we only shopped for about an hour. We decided to head back to the ship, change into our swimware and head over to Pinnel Island.
It took about 25 minutes by car to get to the boat dock to get us over to the island. But it was time well spent. The island was beautiful. By the time we had gotten there and started to get settled, it also started to rain. The rain only lasted about 15 minutes and the rest of the day was gorgeous. We stayed there until about 3:30 then headed back to catch our cab to get us back to the ship.
By the time we got back to the ship, it was also time to start getting ready for dinner. It was pirate night, and dinner tonight was back in Parrot Cay. Dinner was good and the pirate "show" was a lot of fun. After dinner, we again went and changed. Dreamboat was tired and wasnt ready to leave the cabin yet, so my sister and me went to deck 4 and just sat on the chairs for about an hour or so, just watching us pull out of St Maarten. I went to go see where dreamboat had gotten and found him up on 10 sitting with Dawn. They had staked out a place, so we could watch the show. We sat around had a few drinks, watch the show, then went down to deck 9 and checked out the buffet.
Tonight was a special evening. Not only was it pirate night, it also was the dubet of the singing sensation of "Tiara Bob and the Dreamboats". So we ran into Tiggerking (aka Tiara Bob) and asked if he was heading over to Rockin D bar? Yes he was...so dreamboat and I hurried with our snack and then headed over to Rockin D. (now this had been planned months before on the disboard, that some of the guys were going to sing at karaoke night.
well lets just say, that a few choosen ones were going to sing) Dreamboat and myself were the last ones to arrive, the rest of the group was waiting for us and I do believe that dreamboat got a standing ovation, just walking through the door. The four guys sang "you lost that lovin feeling" and I think they did a heck of a good job. What a blast. They also did another song and disneediva husband (charming) joined the other 4 guys singing "sweet home alabama". We had such a good time, it was a lot of fun. After that dreamboat and myself headed back to the cabin, by this time it was 1am and we were worn out. Another long day and an early day tomorrow.

Tiara Bob and the Dreamboats
Up next: St Thomas

 

[Dixielady908]

Wednesday: Novembe 29th...Early day..we have to go through customs and our time frame is between 7-7:15am. So we through on some clothes and go the to Walt Disney theater. It was fast and painless. They looked at our birth certificates and picture ID's and were done. Less than 5 minutes. We go back to the cabin, get ready to head into town. We are tendering in St Thomas and it's raining out. So after we grab some breakfast, we have to get a tender ticket, then we headed into the Walt theater, when the tender was ready, we all had to leave and head down to deck one. It was a pain. I did not like this. So we now get off the tender and head to the shopping area. We are stopped by Timothy who would like us to do a tour of the island with him. We listen to what he has to say, and tell him we will let him know. We then head over to the shopping district. After shopping for awhile, we decide to take the tour with Timothy. Best decision we made all day. So my sister and her husband, dreamboat and myself take the tour with Timothy. The island is beautiful. We had a very nice time and Timothy was very knowledgable. The tour is 2 hours long and its now going on 3pm. We head back to the tender and head back to the ship. By the time we get back onto the ship its just about time to get ready for dinner.
Our dinner this evening is back at Lumiere's. Again we had another great dinner, head back to our cabin and change. We just hang out on the ship and did some shopping in the gift shops. We stopped in diversions, had a drink. Then we headed over to quite cove and hung out there for awhile, we just chilled and enjoyed the ship. We both were tired and headed back to our cabin, watched some tv and went to bed.

 

[Dixielady908]

Thursday: November 30th. Sea day....Today we have our Character breakfast at Parrot Cay. So our whole party meets up at Parrot ready to meet the charaters. It was fun, but they sure move them along fast, you hardly have time to take pictures. We finish breakfast and just hang out. We went to shutters and checked out our pictures, we also at this point decided to re-book another cruise. So we head over and do that. I took more pictures of the ship then we went and changed into our swimware and went up and spent the rest of the day up on deck 10. It was a beautiful sunny warm day. We had a 2:45 galley tour booked. We really enjoyed the tour it was fun and very informative. We ran into more dis friends. Actually Jan of Jandave was on the tour with us, I think we ran into her more than any of the other dis'ers. After the tour, we headed back to the cabin. I started packing. Which was very sad. I wanted to pack as much as I could so I wouldnt be so rushed on Friday.
We then got ready for dinner, it was animators again. We had a nice dinner, we said our goodbys to Roland and Ricardo as we had our Palo dinner on friday night. We went back to our cabin and changed. We decided to go see the Santa Clause 3 movie tonight. So dreamboat and I are doing good until the movie starts. We are about 15 minutes into the movie and I feel myself start falling asleep. I look at dreamboat, he is sleeping, so I wake him and we then head out. We then did more shopping dropped the stuff off in our cabin and went up to deck ten and just hung out there for awhile.
We then went back to our cabin, I did more packing and we went to bed.

Next up: My frst sighting of Castaway Cay

 

[Dixielady908]

Friday: December 1: We are from Chicago. Now we have been listing to the weather reports on the ship about all the nasty weather that is hitting Chicago....friday 6-12 inches of snow. Dreamboat and I are laughing....we are docking at a island paradise....warm, sunny, blue skies, blue water....no snow. I go up on deck 10, I start taking pictures...the island is beautiful. I run into Lindababe on deck. We start talking. We had such a nice conversation. I think we stood there a good 1/2 just talking. We look around, we are the only ones left, everyone else has gone to the back of the ship as we are backing into dock. So Linda and I start heading back there. I get just about there and run into Kathy (momx4grandmax4) and her husband. I stop and talk with them for about 15 minutes. I finally meet up with dreamboat. He has coffee for us. We go to our cabin and get ready. Up to Topsiders and grab some breakfast. Dreamboat is talking with Marge about our weather back home....we laugh somemore. We finish eating, go back to our cabin and get our stuff and head off the ship. We again run into Lindababe and ride the tram with them to serenity bay. We sit almost together on the beach. She tells me to get a konk cooler....I do....I am sitting on the beautiful beach, its a gorgeous day...sunny, warm, blue skies, blue water, I have a drink in my hand and its 10:30am. I want my cell phone, I want to call work and laugh at all thoes silly people at work, in a mini-blizzard. I wanted them to know, it was this warm gorgeous day.
I dont call...in the back of my mind I know......this too will pass and reality will tap me on the shoulder soon enough.....I will be in that cold, snowy, icy weather in a mere 34 hours. So I totally enjoy the day, I enjoy the weather and I go for a swim. Until I see fish....dont like fish touching me....I am out of the water rather quickly.....dreamboat is laughing at me..... I dont care.....I go and sit back down and just enjoy the rest of the afternoon. We have lunch and shortly after that head back to the ship.
I have more packing to do. I do some packing then start to get ready for our dinner at Palo. We are so looking forward to our dinner.
Dinner was great. We had a great time, we celebrated Dawn's birthday which is 12-2.
After dinner we go to deck 10, we dont stay long, its getting late and I need to finish packing and get our luggage out. We then see Maria...she was the sweetest person and kept our room so nice for us. We gave her, her tip and then just talked with her about 15 minutes or so. She takes our luggage. It's now official.....our curise is almost over.
Its late...we go to bed.

 

[Dixielady908]

Saturday December 2nd: I was woken up by a grinding noise. I layed there for a few seconds...its still dark out. I can tell we are no longer moving. I jump up and look out the window.....oh no....my worst fear. We are now docked. It's about 5:30 am. I just went back to bed and layed there for awhile. Dreamboat got up and went to deck 9 to get us some coffee. I still layed there. I was so sad. My first cruise was officially over. Then I got to thinking...well we re-booked at least I have another cruise to look forward to. So I get up and start getting ready.
We met Marge and John, and Dawn and her family in the hallway. We all headed up to Parrot cay for breakfast.. we again say our goodbye's to Roland and Ricardo. We finish breakfast and leave.
We start heading off the ship. We collect our luggage. We leave the ship...
we are now outside in the front of the terminal. We are waiting for our ride to MCO. Again, we had booked a passenger van, through Happy Limo to pick us up. They sent us the stretched hummer.....again Happy Limo went above and beyond and added to the Magic of our trip. They also sent us the same driver we had a week earlier. He loaded up our luggage and off we went.

We had an uneventful flight home. Except when we got off the plane and picked up our luggage. We went out to wait for our son to pick us up......YUK.....30 degrees....cold....snowy....slushy...ice...YUK YUK....thats what I get for laughing 34 hours earlier......

dreamboat outside terminal
Denise