YEAR TWO - Doing it all again - Mother Daughter Cruise on the WONDER
- Thread starter MB MinnieGirl
- Start date
travelgirl06
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2006
Hi Kelly,
I loved your TR last year, and this one is WONDERful so far too! Mother-daughter trips are to be treasured. My mom and I have been going on them since I was Maddie's age (I'm in college now) and we still look forward to them. I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
I loved your TR last year, and this one is WONDERful so far too! Mother-daughter trips are to be treasured. My mom and I have been going on them since I was Maddie's age (I'm in college now) and we still look forward to them. I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
. So glad your cruise was magical!!
aiken4mickey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
Bump it back up! Hoping to hear and see more of your trip report!
MB MinnieGirl
<font color=red>Elmo killer/Muppet murderer<br><fo
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2004
Give it to me now....the title of "Longest Time to complete TR Ever!" I am SO SO sorry!! I promise you I have tried and tried to get to it. I really enjoy writing it....it is like reliving it for me. The problem is I have been so slammed. I work in advertising for real estate. As everyone knows - real estate is NOT the place to work in any regard right now. Well, with that in mind, I took on a second job for another publication...doubling my responsibilities and time. I am also on the PTO and tutor 2nd graders, which started in the past few weeks. Add all of this to me getting sick - yes again - and I have literally been chasing my tail 24 hours a day! I am sitting here now with two loads of laundry waiting on me, work for both publications, and a ton of work for home and school, yet I have not even showered as I made the TR top on my list today!!
Know that I will not leave the TR unfinished and I SO appreciate all of the kind words. You are all so fantastic! Thank you for being patient. Sometimes life really does get in the way doesn't it! So, here I go....un-showered, hungry and in pony tails sitting down to write as much as possible before I begin to obsess and stress over the work that is awaiting me today.
Here we go....back to the Wonder.....ahhhh.....wish I were there right now!
_________________________________________________________________
DAY TWO - Sunday, August 5th - Continued and COMPLETE
Almost as quickly as Roberto left the phone in our stateroom began to ring. It was our head server, who was the same as last year although for the life of me I cannot now remember his name although he does an outstanding job. He immediately apologized and told us that there had been a change to our dining schedule. I was worried we were about to be switched to late seating - or the earliest of the early when he said not worry that it was only our table that was changing. Apparently there was an emergency with our tablemates and they had to leave the ship (never did find out what happened) so our table was moved. I was crossing my fingers and saying silent prayers while silently praying that this was a good sign as our tablemates last year were a source of laughter for us throughout the cruise and after....but it would be nice to have tablemates that we really enjoyed being with. So, I said a thank you, made a note of the table change and off we went with the knowledge that all is great because WE ARE ON THE WONDER!!!
Leaving our stateroom we decided we wanted to just walk about the ship a bit more. It was still blazing hot outside and we had some time before the life vests had to be put on so off we went. We stopped by the lab for Maddie as she was SO excited to go in their this year as a change from the club. We walked in and it was completely empty with the exception of one other family which was looking about also. maddie immediately veered over to the Wii, then made her way to the simulator but was quickly distracted and off to explore something else before heading over to the wall and climbing though the portholes. Yea, I think she is relaxed and enjoying herself. Mission accomplished and still in affect! Leaving the club we decided to grab a bit of soda and then head back down to the stateroom to don our beautiful life jackets in all of their glory.
You know good and well that we were praying all the way to the stateroom.....PLEASE let the luggage be there....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!! We hit deck 6 and ran down the hall like two 10 year olds and ....POOF we were there....but our luggage was not. Ok, some of it was. Maddie would now be able to read and occupy her time with her carry on bag from the plane....not clothes though. Yea right....because we all know she will be coloring and reading on the SHIP right! Alright....no worries right...just like our first server (Egi) on our first cruise used to say every day at every meal...."Relax....you're on vacation." Although when he said it....it sounded so beautiful with his accent....but we still take the words to heart. Maddie still remembers him and talks about him even at home. She compares all servers in all restaurants to him...so to her none are ever good enough.
We bounced into the room and opened the closet (oh yea, I'm a seasoned pro - knowing where all things are and when to proceed where right - WRONG!) to grab one child and one adult neon orange vest. Hello!!! I grab all 4 vest that were hidden in our closet, then check under the bed and everywhere anyone could have possibly hidden a child's life vest. Nope - nowhere. So out into the hall we go to find Roberto. You know, life should always work this way. Something doesn't go right, you just pop your head out of he room you are standing in to find the person walking by that is there to fix it all and make your life stress and worry free. We see Roberto down the hall and when he spots us he comes to the room. We let him know of the problem with the missing vest when he tells us that he will look for another one for us, and for Maddie to just wear the adult size for the drill. This was said after he came in and looked in the closet seeming to try to prove that I was not only incompetent but blind as well. I admit it, I smiled when he didn't find it either. So with Roberto off to find a child's vest we proceed to get the other adult vest from the closet for Maddie.
At this point Maddie was completely engrossed in TV.....It seems The Little Mermaid was on and this is the ONE place on earth we always watch Ariel in all her aquatic glory. You just HAVE to while at sea on DCL....it's the rule!! So after freeing Maddie from the grips of the TV, I explain to her that she will have to wear the large adult vest just for the drill as there was a mix-up. She held it up to her body, then looked at me as thought I had 6 heads on my shoulder. We both started laughing uncontrollably as the vest swallowed her. She was on the ground on her knees just inside the cabin and all I could think is that if I pushed her backward, she would never get back up on her own....she looked like a huge standing orange turtle. We literally could not stop laughing. The tie itself wrapped around her body three times.
We made it up and headed to the comfy chair deck with is out station for the drill....just as last year. In the shade (ahhhhh!!!!) and with great CM's. The drill was not as smooth as last year, as there were quite a few people MIA who did not attend until they finally came running onto the deck about 10 minutes late. COME ON PEOPLE - SAIL AWAY PARTY TO GET TO!!! There were also quite a few who didn't seem to grasp the concept that indeed, they DID have to actually WEAR the life vest and not just hold onto them as a purse dangling from their wrist. Maddie was a bit frustrated as she wanted our of the oversized orange thing ASAP and was frustrated that it was taking so long....ok....so was everyone else including the CM's at this point. There was one CM who was SO very cute. He walked over to Maddie (gotta love those special CM's) and was teasing her about her vest being an adult size and saying she is very grown up...doing a better job than the grown-ups. Maddie just smiled from ear to ear and within seconds he was calling her princess and she was once again in Heaven and forgot about the orange floating device strapped to her chest. Five minutes later and we were released! Whooo hooo!!! We are officially ON VACATION NOW!! No more "have to's" for us.....DCL is now our home and life is GREAT!!!
Heading back down to our stateroom, we noticed another bag outside of the room. Yahoo!!! We quickly threw off the Orange beast, and ran back out the door with camera in hand for the Sail Away Party on deck 9. HERE WE COME MICKEY, MINNIE, DALE, CHIP, PLUTO, and GOOFY!!!! HERE WE COME!!!!
Of course last year was so memorable at the party as that is where we mat so many amazing CM's, Maddie fell in love at first sight (CM Michael Otten - aka hottie boy to Maddie), and we were front and center for all the action....me never able to forget the look in Maddie's eye's and on her face during the party. One of pure elation and bliss. THAT is what I was so excited about....that special feeling that you can visable see on somebody's face because the thrill and excitement are all over it! Well, here we are - exactly one year later (how that could be I still can't grasp) and we were front and center once again. We did recognize a few of the CM's - actually only two and it was already known that Michael was not onboard....but Maddie was fine with it and ready to meet new one's. When the party started we immediately saw Ian - YEAH!!!! We loved him. So sweet, funny and more full of energy than a 2 year old with an addiction to chocolate! He was fantastic as always. The new part of the party this year for us was the Jumbotron as it was just prior to dry dock for the Wonder when we sailed last year. We loved it and Maddie especially loved it and spotted us quickly several times on the huge screen above her head.
The feeling is one that can't be described....the music, the dancing, the CM's, the energy and excitement....it's surreal actually and only is complete when you hear....5...4...3...2...1 - the HORN!!! Oh yea.. you knew it was coming right. I mean I had gone all of 3 hours probably without one drop. I began to cry like a big baby. Hello! I was afraid that the excitement wouldn't be there on our 3rd cruise as we had "been there done that" and last year was simply pure magic at every turn. I realized right then that....it's ALWAYS magic and a lot of it we found out this year comes from your attitude and how you perceive things. We were in our personal Heaven and loving every moment of it. I grabbed Maddie, who this year is in full knowledge that, yup, mom is going to cry any minute, and just hug her. Her smile and happiness is something that cannot compare to anything on earth to me. THIS is what our magic is - being together and enjoying ourselves without a worry in the world on our home the Wonder. Of course, when Mickey, Minnie and the gang came down I was in tears again and Maddie was jumping up and down like a jumping bean.
After sailing away I wanted to head quickly down to Guest Services before it became packed after dinner. I wanted to turn in Maddie's T-shirt for siggies. I had already typed up a note asking for the siggies and giving our names, stateroom number, etc. Just like both year's before. The only difference was that this year Maddie was with me at GS. She knew that we were doing the T-shirt as it was her idea this year. When speaking to the CM, I handed her the Ziploc baggie with the note, T-shirt, and fabric markers all inside. She then took out a slip of paper and ask if I wanted the Princesses to sign it, or Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto and Goofy. Huh?? That was all there was going through my mind. HUH?! What do you mean either or is what I wanted to shout. I then explained to her (just as was written in the note inside the baggie) that Tink was Maddie's favorite of all and that if she was onboard we would love to have her siggie, we also wanted the Princesses as well as Mickey and the gang. She proceeded to write on the slip she would place with our T-shirt..."Mickey and gang." I have to admit I was a bit taken back and surprised. I ask her when this started and if there was any chance of getting the siggies we hoped for. her only response was, "This is the way it is done. You cannot have all of them sign it. The T-shirt will be in your room on the last night." Alrighty! A little taken back and a bit shocked was how I felt. I just never encountered a CM that was so cold, direct and reminding me of somebody who would work at the Holiday Inn rather than DCL. The policy would have been differently received to myself and Maddie has she been a bit more "Disney" I believe.
Oh well. We left GS, walked through the beautiful atrium and up to our room to shower and change for dinner. We REFUSED to let anything or anyone dampen our spirits. We started wondering about our tablemates and speculating what they would be like. We were excited to meet them. We turned down the hall toward 6092 when we saw it....the rest of our luggage!!! Yahooo!!! Perfect timing. Just late enough for us to be beyond thrilled and excited at the mere sight of it and just as we were in dire need of it for showers and dinner attire.
We pulled all the luggage in and unpacked in record time. A bonus to receiving it one piece at a time is you are not overwhelmed with unpacking or storing the suitcases. See....bright side to everything right! Ok, so there was obvious evidence that our luggage didn't like the trip into the cages we saw earlier. It was a bit scratched up with ALL of our luggage (our personal - not DCL) tags MIA. That and one piece had a huge dent in the side of it. The bright side to this you ask? We didn't care. When you are afraid your luggage is lost, and you indeed have been through having five pieces of luggage missing and presumed lost for good....you DO NOT care about the condition of the luggage - ONLY that it is in your hands and full with what it left with.
Into the shower we went. I guess this is another tradition we have....running very late and giving ourselves minimal time to get ready for dinner on the first night. We had 25 minutes to both shower, dry our hair and get dressed. WHEW! Thank God for the split bathrooms!! We both got ready at the same time with Maddie in the first with the DCL hairdryer that she loves and me in the shower bathroom with all of mine. I have to say - Maddie ROCKS! She hurried getting ready like a champ - no draggin her feet, no arguing....I am so proud of her. I tried not to, but I did notice something while in the shower.
Remember, I mentioned that the Wonder went into dry dock last year only weeks after we sailed in the same room we were in this year? With nothing short of DCL standards in the room last year, of course we knew that would be the case this year. Sadly I can only say this was not the case. The bathroom with the shower in it was a bit shocking to us both. Maddie made notice of how it wasn't very clean. What was wrong exactly? Well, nothing that dampened our enjoyment or interfered with our cruise, but it just was not DCL which was a little disheartening. There were dark brown stains on the tile in the bathroom with the shower. All of the hooks on the shower rod were rusted and corroded. The "thing" (I have no idea what this is) that is in the center of the ceiling in the shower/bath was literally falling down from the ceiling hanging on by a thread. We actually made jokes that there was somebody up there watching to see our reaction at the difference. The walls of the bath/shower had black mildew/mold in the caulking and the drain in the floor was also rusted. As I said, it was not DCL standards and disappointing to me. I've raised a neat and clean freak in Maddie so she noticed it every bit as much as I did and actually noticed some of it first. However this IS DCL and we were NOT going to let this affect our attitude or enjoyment. We refused! We weren't there for the bathroom or the decor anyway right?! Who cares right now....on to the cruise!!
We did it! We got ready in 20 minutes flat. Yea us!! Our dinner was at Parrot Cay that night. This is my favorite place to dine the first night because that was our rotation on our first cruise....brings back memories plus it is the most tropical and puts me in the "sail away" mood. Maddie loves this restaurant because of the congo line and dacing with the servers, so she was very happy also.
We were immediately seated and our head server (still cannot remember his name) apologized again for the change and told us that the others at our new table were also moved as well. We were seated and immediately happy at the location of our table. We were in the center of the room where we can see everything and everyone, and not against a porthole which is never good for me while eating....especially on the first night. We were the first in our party to arrive and we could see it was going to be a large party as there were still 7 empty seats. Slowly the others in our party began to filter in and it was immediately clear that THIS was going to be a great experience. No stuffy sticks this year that was for sure!!
The first to arrive were a mother and two girls, both were Maddie's age, Then another mother with her son, followed by one more mother and son. Can this be real? We went from the strangest dining experience last year to the best ever tablemates. It was actually a table full of single mom's with their kid's. Bring on the drinks and let's be happy!!!!
Maddie was immediately thrilled with the girls. I saw her eyes light up as soon as they were seated...sort of like...."Heck yea! Somebody my age!!!" The girls were 9 and 11 and were cousins with the youngest belonging to the mother. The mother, Heidi, was recently (6 months) widowed which was so sad...they were all great and we were so happy to have them at our table. We ended up spending time with them outside of dinner as well as we did Linda and Josh also. Heidi and the girls were from Connecticut and none of them had ever cruised before.
Next was Cris, mother to Gabriel. They were from Catalina Island, CA and she was taking him on a cruise as a reward for straight A's. Also, very glad to be dining with them. They were the quietest of the bunch but still great to be around and as nice and they could be.
Last to arrive was Linda and Josh. It turned out that Linda was not Josh's mother but instead his aunt. HELLO!!! Can I be her niece! So his aunt took him on DCL for what we found out was there 5th cruise. WOW! Josh had the most beautiful smile I have seen. He was so well mannered and kind you just wanted to hug him. They were from Orlando - yes - LUCKY PEOPLE!!!
How did we get SO fortunate with our tablemates this year?? Maybe a CM read my TR last year about the stuffy sticks and thought we needed a break. Who knows. I just know we were very blessed and very thankful. Now we just needed to meet our servers to get drinks started over here at table 79.
~~~More to follow I promise, and photos to follow this update as well. I've got to go for now and get back to the nasty business of life on land in SC.
~~~Kelly
Know that I will not leave the TR unfinished and I SO appreciate all of the kind words. You are all so fantastic! Thank you for being patient. Sometimes life really does get in the way doesn't it! So, here I go....un-showered, hungry and in pony tails sitting down to write as much as possible before I begin to obsess and stress over the work that is awaiting me today.
Here we go....back to the Wonder.....ahhhh.....wish I were there right now!
_________________________________________________________________
DAY TWO - Sunday, August 5th - Continued and COMPLETE
Almost as quickly as Roberto left the phone in our stateroom began to ring. It was our head server, who was the same as last year although for the life of me I cannot now remember his name although he does an outstanding job. He immediately apologized and told us that there had been a change to our dining schedule. I was worried we were about to be switched to late seating - or the earliest of the early when he said not worry that it was only our table that was changing. Apparently there was an emergency with our tablemates and they had to leave the ship (never did find out what happened) so our table was moved. I was crossing my fingers and saying silent prayers while silently praying that this was a good sign as our tablemates last year were a source of laughter for us throughout the cruise and after....but it would be nice to have tablemates that we really enjoyed being with. So, I said a thank you, made a note of the table change and off we went with the knowledge that all is great because WE ARE ON THE WONDER!!!
Leaving our stateroom we decided we wanted to just walk about the ship a bit more. It was still blazing hot outside and we had some time before the life vests had to be put on so off we went. We stopped by the lab for Maddie as she was SO excited to go in their this year as a change from the club. We walked in and it was completely empty with the exception of one other family which was looking about also. maddie immediately veered over to the Wii, then made her way to the simulator but was quickly distracted and off to explore something else before heading over to the wall and climbing though the portholes. Yea, I think she is relaxed and enjoying herself. Mission accomplished and still in affect! Leaving the club we decided to grab a bit of soda and then head back down to the stateroom to don our beautiful life jackets in all of their glory.
You know good and well that we were praying all the way to the stateroom.....PLEASE let the luggage be there....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!! We hit deck 6 and ran down the hall like two 10 year olds and ....POOF we were there....but our luggage was not. Ok, some of it was. Maddie would now be able to read and occupy her time with her carry on bag from the plane....not clothes though. Yea right....because we all know she will be coloring and reading on the SHIP right! Alright....no worries right...just like our first server (Egi) on our first cruise used to say every day at every meal...."Relax....you're on vacation." Although when he said it....it sounded so beautiful with his accent....but we still take the words to heart. Maddie still remembers him and talks about him even at home. She compares all servers in all restaurants to him...so to her none are ever good enough.
We bounced into the room and opened the closet (oh yea, I'm a seasoned pro - knowing where all things are and when to proceed where right - WRONG!) to grab one child and one adult neon orange vest. Hello!!! I grab all 4 vest that were hidden in our closet, then check under the bed and everywhere anyone could have possibly hidden a child's life vest. Nope - nowhere. So out into the hall we go to find Roberto. You know, life should always work this way. Something doesn't go right, you just pop your head out of he room you are standing in to find the person walking by that is there to fix it all and make your life stress and worry free. We see Roberto down the hall and when he spots us he comes to the room. We let him know of the problem with the missing vest when he tells us that he will look for another one for us, and for Maddie to just wear the adult size for the drill. This was said after he came in and looked in the closet seeming to try to prove that I was not only incompetent but blind as well. I admit it, I smiled when he didn't find it either. So with Roberto off to find a child's vest we proceed to get the other adult vest from the closet for Maddie.
At this point Maddie was completely engrossed in TV.....It seems The Little Mermaid was on and this is the ONE place on earth we always watch Ariel in all her aquatic glory. You just HAVE to while at sea on DCL....it's the rule!! So after freeing Maddie from the grips of the TV, I explain to her that she will have to wear the large adult vest just for the drill as there was a mix-up. She held it up to her body, then looked at me as thought I had 6 heads on my shoulder. We both started laughing uncontrollably as the vest swallowed her. She was on the ground on her knees just inside the cabin and all I could think is that if I pushed her backward, she would never get back up on her own....she looked like a huge standing orange turtle. We literally could not stop laughing. The tie itself wrapped around her body three times.
We made it up and headed to the comfy chair deck with is out station for the drill....just as last year. In the shade (ahhhhh!!!!) and with great CM's. The drill was not as smooth as last year, as there were quite a few people MIA who did not attend until they finally came running onto the deck about 10 minutes late. COME ON PEOPLE - SAIL AWAY PARTY TO GET TO!!! There were also quite a few who didn't seem to grasp the concept that indeed, they DID have to actually WEAR the life vest and not just hold onto them as a purse dangling from their wrist. Maddie was a bit frustrated as she wanted our of the oversized orange thing ASAP and was frustrated that it was taking so long....ok....so was everyone else including the CM's at this point. There was one CM who was SO very cute. He walked over to Maddie (gotta love those special CM's) and was teasing her about her vest being an adult size and saying she is very grown up...doing a better job than the grown-ups. Maddie just smiled from ear to ear and within seconds he was calling her princess and she was once again in Heaven and forgot about the orange floating device strapped to her chest. Five minutes later and we were released! Whooo hooo!!! We are officially ON VACATION NOW!! No more "have to's" for us.....DCL is now our home and life is GREAT!!!
Heading back down to our stateroom, we noticed another bag outside of the room. Yahoo!!! We quickly threw off the Orange beast, and ran back out the door with camera in hand for the Sail Away Party on deck 9. HERE WE COME MICKEY, MINNIE, DALE, CHIP, PLUTO, and GOOFY!!!! HERE WE COME!!!!
Of course last year was so memorable at the party as that is where we mat so many amazing CM's, Maddie fell in love at first sight (CM Michael Otten - aka hottie boy to Maddie), and we were front and center for all the action....me never able to forget the look in Maddie's eye's and on her face during the party. One of pure elation and bliss. THAT is what I was so excited about....that special feeling that you can visable see on somebody's face because the thrill and excitement are all over it! Well, here we are - exactly one year later (how that could be I still can't grasp) and we were front and center once again. We did recognize a few of the CM's - actually only two and it was already known that Michael was not onboard....but Maddie was fine with it and ready to meet new one's. When the party started we immediately saw Ian - YEAH!!!! We loved him. So sweet, funny and more full of energy than a 2 year old with an addiction to chocolate! He was fantastic as always. The new part of the party this year for us was the Jumbotron as it was just prior to dry dock for the Wonder when we sailed last year. We loved it and Maddie especially loved it and spotted us quickly several times on the huge screen above her head.
The feeling is one that can't be described....the music, the dancing, the CM's, the energy and excitement....it's surreal actually and only is complete when you hear....5...4...3...2...1 - the HORN!!! Oh yea.. you knew it was coming right. I mean I had gone all of 3 hours probably without one drop. I began to cry like a big baby. Hello! I was afraid that the excitement wouldn't be there on our 3rd cruise as we had "been there done that" and last year was simply pure magic at every turn. I realized right then that....it's ALWAYS magic and a lot of it we found out this year comes from your attitude and how you perceive things. We were in our personal Heaven and loving every moment of it. I grabbed Maddie, who this year is in full knowledge that, yup, mom is going to cry any minute, and just hug her. Her smile and happiness is something that cannot compare to anything on earth to me. THIS is what our magic is - being together and enjoying ourselves without a worry in the world on our home the Wonder. Of course, when Mickey, Minnie and the gang came down I was in tears again and Maddie was jumping up and down like a jumping bean.
After sailing away I wanted to head quickly down to Guest Services before it became packed after dinner. I wanted to turn in Maddie's T-shirt for siggies. I had already typed up a note asking for the siggies and giving our names, stateroom number, etc. Just like both year's before. The only difference was that this year Maddie was with me at GS. She knew that we were doing the T-shirt as it was her idea this year. When speaking to the CM, I handed her the Ziploc baggie with the note, T-shirt, and fabric markers all inside. She then took out a slip of paper and ask if I wanted the Princesses to sign it, or Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto and Goofy. Huh?? That was all there was going through my mind. HUH?! What do you mean either or is what I wanted to shout. I then explained to her (just as was written in the note inside the baggie) that Tink was Maddie's favorite of all and that if she was onboard we would love to have her siggie, we also wanted the Princesses as well as Mickey and the gang. She proceeded to write on the slip she would place with our T-shirt..."Mickey and gang." I have to admit I was a bit taken back and surprised. I ask her when this started and if there was any chance of getting the siggies we hoped for. her only response was, "This is the way it is done. You cannot have all of them sign it. The T-shirt will be in your room on the last night." Alrighty! A little taken back and a bit shocked was how I felt. I just never encountered a CM that was so cold, direct and reminding me of somebody who would work at the Holiday Inn rather than DCL. The policy would have been differently received to myself and Maddie has she been a bit more "Disney" I believe.
Oh well. We left GS, walked through the beautiful atrium and up to our room to shower and change for dinner. We REFUSED to let anything or anyone dampen our spirits. We started wondering about our tablemates and speculating what they would be like. We were excited to meet them. We turned down the hall toward 6092 when we saw it....the rest of our luggage!!! Yahooo!!! Perfect timing. Just late enough for us to be beyond thrilled and excited at the mere sight of it and just as we were in dire need of it for showers and dinner attire.
We pulled all the luggage in and unpacked in record time. A bonus to receiving it one piece at a time is you are not overwhelmed with unpacking or storing the suitcases. See....bright side to everything right! Ok, so there was obvious evidence that our luggage didn't like the trip into the cages we saw earlier. It was a bit scratched up with ALL of our luggage (our personal - not DCL) tags MIA. That and one piece had a huge dent in the side of it. The bright side to this you ask? We didn't care. When you are afraid your luggage is lost, and you indeed have been through having five pieces of luggage missing and presumed lost for good....you DO NOT care about the condition of the luggage - ONLY that it is in your hands and full with what it left with.
Into the shower we went. I guess this is another tradition we have....running very late and giving ourselves minimal time to get ready for dinner on the first night. We had 25 minutes to both shower, dry our hair and get dressed. WHEW! Thank God for the split bathrooms!! We both got ready at the same time with Maddie in the first with the DCL hairdryer that she loves and me in the shower bathroom with all of mine. I have to say - Maddie ROCKS! She hurried getting ready like a champ - no draggin her feet, no arguing....I am so proud of her. I tried not to, but I did notice something while in the shower.
Remember, I mentioned that the Wonder went into dry dock last year only weeks after we sailed in the same room we were in this year? With nothing short of DCL standards in the room last year, of course we knew that would be the case this year. Sadly I can only say this was not the case. The bathroom with the shower in it was a bit shocking to us both. Maddie made notice of how it wasn't very clean. What was wrong exactly? Well, nothing that dampened our enjoyment or interfered with our cruise, but it just was not DCL which was a little disheartening. There were dark brown stains on the tile in the bathroom with the shower. All of the hooks on the shower rod were rusted and corroded. The "thing" (I have no idea what this is) that is in the center of the ceiling in the shower/bath was literally falling down from the ceiling hanging on by a thread. We actually made jokes that there was somebody up there watching to see our reaction at the difference. The walls of the bath/shower had black mildew/mold in the caulking and the drain in the floor was also rusted. As I said, it was not DCL standards and disappointing to me. I've raised a neat and clean freak in Maddie so she noticed it every bit as much as I did and actually noticed some of it first. However this IS DCL and we were NOT going to let this affect our attitude or enjoyment. We refused! We weren't there for the bathroom or the decor anyway right?! Who cares right now....on to the cruise!!
We did it! We got ready in 20 minutes flat. Yea us!! Our dinner was at Parrot Cay that night. This is my favorite place to dine the first night because that was our rotation on our first cruise....brings back memories plus it is the most tropical and puts me in the "sail away" mood. Maddie loves this restaurant because of the congo line and dacing with the servers, so she was very happy also.
We were immediately seated and our head server (still cannot remember his name) apologized again for the change and told us that the others at our new table were also moved as well. We were seated and immediately happy at the location of our table. We were in the center of the room where we can see everything and everyone, and not against a porthole which is never good for me while eating....especially on the first night. We were the first in our party to arrive and we could see it was going to be a large party as there were still 7 empty seats. Slowly the others in our party began to filter in and it was immediately clear that THIS was going to be a great experience. No stuffy sticks this year that was for sure!!
The first to arrive were a mother and two girls, both were Maddie's age, Then another mother with her son, followed by one more mother and son. Can this be real? We went from the strangest dining experience last year to the best ever tablemates. It was actually a table full of single mom's with their kid's. Bring on the drinks and let's be happy!!!!
Maddie was immediately thrilled with the girls. I saw her eyes light up as soon as they were seated...sort of like...."Heck yea! Somebody my age!!!" The girls were 9 and 11 and were cousins with the youngest belonging to the mother. The mother, Heidi, was recently (6 months) widowed which was so sad...they were all great and we were so happy to have them at our table. We ended up spending time with them outside of dinner as well as we did Linda and Josh also. Heidi and the girls were from Connecticut and none of them had ever cruised before.
Next was Cris, mother to Gabriel. They were from Catalina Island, CA and she was taking him on a cruise as a reward for straight A's. Also, very glad to be dining with them. They were the quietest of the bunch but still great to be around and as nice and they could be.
Last to arrive was Linda and Josh. It turned out that Linda was not Josh's mother but instead his aunt. HELLO!!! Can I be her niece! So his aunt took him on DCL for what we found out was there 5th cruise. WOW! Josh had the most beautiful smile I have seen. He was so well mannered and kind you just wanted to hug him. They were from Orlando - yes - LUCKY PEOPLE!!!
How did we get SO fortunate with our tablemates this year?? Maybe a CM read my TR last year about the stuffy sticks and thought we needed a break. Who knows. I just know we were very blessed and very thankful. Now we just needed to meet our servers to get drinks started over here at table 79.
~~~More to follow I promise, and photos to follow this update as well. I've got to go for now and get back to the nasty business of life on land in SC.
~~~Kelly
MB MinnieGirl
<font color=red>Elmo killer/Muppet murderer<br><fo
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2004
Maddie exploring the club
Maddie and Mommy in our Orange Beasts!
Maddie as the big ORANGE turtle!
Ian on stage at Sail Away Party
BIG smile from Maddie at the Sail Away Party
Minnie at Sail Away Party
Mickey at Sail Away Party
Christian on stage with the gang at Sail Away Party - COUNT DOWN BEGINS!
Us on the Jumbotron and right up front to see it.
Happy girl Maddie at the Sail Away Party
Maddie and Mommy in our Orange Beasts!
Maddie as the big ORANGE turtle!
Ian on stage at Sail Away Party
BIG smile from Maddie at the Sail Away Party
Minnie at Sail Away Party
Mickey at Sail Away Party
Christian on stage with the gang at Sail Away Party - COUNT DOWN BEGINS!
Us on the Jumbotron and right up front to see it.
Happy girl Maddie at the Sail Away Party
LOVE your reports! I'm back in year 1 right now, catching up while we wait for the rest of year 2.
We stayed in 6094 on the Wonder before our second kid was born and loved it. That's next door to your cabin, right? Great location, and it totally spoiled us for a balcony forever.
We stayed in 6094 on the Wonder before our second kid was born and loved it. That's next door to your cabin, right? Great location, and it totally spoiled us for a balcony forever.
MB MinnieGirl
<font color=red>Elmo killer/Muppet murderer<br><fo
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2004
This continuation may not be as long as I am exhausted and have been at this pc all day long....but I am trying to make up for lost time with my TR while I can. Thank you for understanding with my delays. Here we go...into the night on the Wonder.
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DAY TWO - Sunday, August 5th - Continued into the night....
After meeting and greeting our tablemates our server finally makes an appearance. I say finally because Maddie and I were the first to be seated with the others arriving shortly after. We had all had ample time for introductions and Parrot Cay was well filled and buzzing with activity - although until now we had not seen our server so we were more than happy to make his acquaintance. Maddie had already commented that, "Well Mommy, we KNOW it isn't gong to be Egi." HA! A young lady with excellent taste in service!
He arrives and his name is Dante. There aren't many times you will hear negativity from me about anything in regards to DCL....however, as they say, there area always exceptions and in this case Dante IS an exception. If you are planning a cruise, beware of Dante. Although, I can tell you if you keep the attitude that we tried to then you will have MUCH to laugh about during dinner with your table mates.
He introduces himself and for the first time in now three DCL cruises I hear the EXCEPTIONALLY long and obvious "excellent" speech. Ok Dante, you know what would be EXCELLENT? DRINKS AND FOOD! We were dying here. Everyone around us had drinks and some even salads...we were lucky enough to just being greeted and getting his well rehearsed speech. Room service for us all was looking pretty sweet right now. And let me say, Maddie has as little patience for it as I do now. The kids are all hungry and looking at us like, "HELLO! Doesn't he bring food at some point!"
Dante finally leaves with our drink orders and we all send praises to God for that! It is a good 15 minutes however before our next prayers for the drinks to actually ARRIVE are answered. When they do, they are served by our assistant server Ricardo. As leery as we all were with Dante already, we fully agreed that Ricardo was fantastic! He was so kind and friendly and we could tell that he was slightly stressed by Dante and the situation at hand. We all felt sorry for him and immediately fell in love. Maddie thought he was great and wondered aloud why HE wasn't our server instead. Out of the mouths of babes right!
Sue me now, I honestly do not remember what anyone had to eat that evening. I do know that 4 of the drinks on the table were mistakes but we were all so hungry and it was getting so late we let it ride and just crossed our fingers that tomorrow would be better. Hey - maybe Dante had a late night last night. Maybe he has been on vacation. Certainly it wouldn't be this way the entire cruise right? After all he was our server and he certainly had the speech nailed down to perfection so he was seasoned on DCL. It HAD to improve!
We enjoyed the company at dinner - all of us. Such a huge change from last year. We were all engrossed in conversation....well the adults were. Josh and Gabriel hit it off immediately as the only boys at the table. And the girls, Julia, Chevon, and Maddie seemed as though they had been friends forever. They had more bathroom breaks than when they were toddlers. Of course being little women - they all had to go together. I'm not stupid. I knew that Maddie was just excited because at home she would not be allowed to go to the bathroom without me....and neither would she onboard the ship except she knows it like the back of her hand and the other two are going with her. Also, at Parrot Cay, the restroom is just outside the dining room. At one point (they ask to be excused 3 times) I walked out behind them when they didn't know it and followed them. They were all outside the restaurant in a porthole. Just sitting in it together and talking. I let it go on for a few minutes not letting them know I could see, then walked over telling them they needed to come back in. Watching them smile, laugh and have so much fun together made my heart smile. Here we were - on the Wonder and finding magic and new friendships.
We all made it through dinner. As Maddie and I were one of the first in the dining room, it was so strange that when we left (which was just after finishing dinner) our table was one of the last to clear out. THAT is how long it took us to be served each course! At some points we actually felt as though we were encroaching on HIS time. The other constant was that Dante managed to mix up the meals as well. We would have to play rotate the food in order for us all to be left with what we actually ordered. Of course, the never smiling Dante was back when we left sharing yet again portions of his "excellent" speech. Had we been served drinks earlier and with any regularity throughout the meal we would have likely all given him our own speech as well. As it was we just looked at him in total disbelief and were off for our first night of Wonder!
I cannot say enough though how kind and out to please Ricardo was...we were all impressed with him and at the same time felt very sorry for him as we know he could have done even better with another server to work with. I will go ahead and tell you now that at the end of the cruise Ricardo received a larger tip from ALL OF US than Dante did. I hope that he knew how much HIS service and eagerness to serve and please us, in addition to his great personality meant to us all. I also hope the same for Dante but in the opposite regard. He needs some work to say the least.
After dinner we all split up for the night. With the exception of Linda and Josh who drove in from Orlando, everyone else in our party was exhausted from long flights that day. Maddie and I headed straight to the line for the Princesses before doing something different and attending the show on the first night which we have never done. While waiting in line Maddie made another new friend and I took some pictures of the two at the porthole in the atrium. How magical it is to watch your daughter, seeing her in awe and wonder at every turn and to be so eager to meet other children her age and share that same excitement with them. Yep...you got it! Tears started fogging my camera lens.
While in line we saw something I was not used to on DCL. For a few moments I felt as though I were at Kings Dominion or something of the kind....but not DCL. We watched as a group with several children bumped their way into line in front of us. WHAT?!?! I thought certainly they didn't realize that the long line of people that were standing behind us were not our entourage but actually people IN LINE for the same thing. I gave it a few minutes and then Maddie took care of the situation. She returns to me from her friend and then shocked herself and without whispering, "Mommy, where did those people come from? They weren't there a minute ago. Did they cut us." For a soon to be 2nd grader - "cutting" is the height of rudeness and something to yell for the teachers attention immediately. Ok, perfect opportunity right. I'll just say yes they did, and act as though I didn't know if they realized it. When they heard the conversation they would graciously depart to the back of the line. NOPE! They actually turned around looked us up and down (there were 3 adults and 4 children under the age of 12) then the adults started to laugh. LAUGH! At the grocery store I would be shocked - but this was DCL and they were "cutting" in front of children who were doing their best to wait patiently. Not being able to control myself any longer (and after talking to people behind us who were equally angry) I ask them if they realized that the line formed earlier and the end was around the corner of the atrium. The response I got, "Yes. But we are in a hurry to see the show." OH! I see - YOU are the royalty on the ship...I get it. No - I don't get it - I got pissed is what I got. So I told them that most of the people in line were going to the same show and that they needed to remove themselves to the back of the line or miss the autographs and photos completely and I was backed up by a nice family of 4 behind us. Of course this made US the evil one's but I honestly didn't care. A few more moments and Maddie was with Cinderella who was beautiful and gracious as always.
I keep waiting for that terrible moment when she doesn't believe anymore and I have become quite good at keeping the magic alive. When I saw her face light up at the sight of Cinderella my heart melted as it does each and every time. Another one of those feelings that is so hard to put into words,yet one that you will never forget. Cinderella spoke with Maddie for a moment and maddie just beamed. YEA!!! She still believes! Thank you DCL!!! With autographs in hand and photos taken we were off to deck 10 to grab some drinks before heading to the Walt Disney Theater.
The show that night was one I was a bit afraid wouldn't be one that Maddie would really enjoy. It was a ventriloquist act. His name was Taylor Mason. If you go to any other site today - go to YouTube and search for video of his act...there are many there. He is FANTASTIC! We instantly fell in love with him. He has now become my favorite comedian. He is an amazing person as well. I'll get into that later as we attended a class with him later in the week and learned much more about him and his puppets....Paco the pig, Ramon the Lamb, and the boy whose name I have totally forgotten but was hysterical!
Maddie adored the show and almost fell out of her seat several times laughing so loudly I was sure a light would be cast on us at any moment. When we were leaving the show she proceeded to tell me that this year for Christmas she doesn't want a baby doll, but instead wants Paco the pig puppet that Taylor has. Oh goody! Nothing like an impossible task for Christmas revealed in AUGUST! I am happy to report that you CAN indeed purchase his puppets at his website. I was also thrilled that she loved the show so much. He was a hysterical, clean mouthed and very talented entertainer! GREAT SHOW that I suggest to anyone who has the chance!
Walking out of the theater it is almost impossible for us not to be drawn into the shops, especially on the first or last night. So that is where we went. We were in there for what seemed like forever and the place was a ZOO! We looked at everything. I was searching for other snow globes as possible Christmas gifts and Maddie was searching for anything and she had her money and was ready to GO! She is getting so big, and changing so much that I get so excited when I see her veer away from the High School Musical and Hannah Montana anything and go for the Princess attire. This was exactly what she did that night. There was a FANTASTIC Cm in the store who seemed to beam with energy and was so sweet with Maddie with her falling in love immediately (CM Michael Otten is moving farther to the back of her mind throughout the cruise), and went above and beyond for us both. I had made a purchase while she was over looking around that he knew I was trying to hide. Not having bags or a purse it was quite difficult to hide the secret gift. He immediately offered to have it left at Guest Services where I could pick it up at anytime. HELLO!!! A man after my own heart....helping me to hide secret purchases and making it so easy for later surprises!
In the meantime, Maddie had decided what she wanted to buy for herself. A pair of Princess gloves complete with a small purse and other jewelry items. Being a frilly little girl she wanted to wear them all immediately, as in right then and there when the receipt was signed. I told her we would have to wait because the package wasn't something I could open without something sharp. He then proceed to come from behind the desk and kneel down to Maddie telling her that she had to wear them now because she was such a beautiful princess. Oh yea - that got her - she is hooked for sure! With Maddie grinning widely he took out a small pair of scissors and cut all the items loose from the package and even knelt down on one knee while he placed each glove on her hands. She was actually blushing at this point and you know what I was doing....holding back those stupid tears! He told her to wait just a moment while he took her new purse and disappeared behind the desk. When he returned to her he opened her purse and placed a gold DCL Mickey coin inside of it telling her it was unlucky to receive a purse without a coin in it. I never knew that - now DCL is educational!! Her jaw dropped and she then threw her arms around his neck and gave him quite the thank you hug. I couldn't tell him thank you enough! THOSE are the people that make DCL - DCL! When shopping, look for the attractive blonde haired CM with the beautiful English accent named John. He is a dream for any princess - or princesses mommy!
When we left the show I had one place I wanted to go (aside from the shops) before the newbies figured it all out and it became swamped. Shutters! We were hoping to see our friend from last year that worked as a photog during the day and behind the desk of an evening...but she was not longer onboard. Sadly, we missed her greatly as we didn't find anyone else in Shutters to have her beaming personality and Maddie missed her so much. This was the one who called Maddie, "Dale's sister." Oh well....no worries right....only different magic! I quickly found our photos from earlier in the day and went ahead to reserve the package taking the pictures that were there thus far. Work done - we moved on and went out to locate the moon and the first comfy deck chairs we could find.
Off to the outside of deck 4 we went. BEAUTIFUL is the only word to describe the night. The hot and steamy weather from the states had passed and was replaced with a wonderful sea breeze, brightly lit moon and a low lighted deck full of EMPTY deck chairs! Hello Heaven - here we are!!
While on deck Maddie started to cry. It seems that her brand new Princess gloves that John had placed on her moments earlier had holes in them both. She was quite sad but I knew this could be fixed. When looking at them it was obvious that the holes were from the string that held them securly onto the cardboard in the package. We went back into the shop and found John the wonderful CM. He proceeded to make a HUGE deal of it and swooped over to get a replacement package for her. he opened it, removed the gloves and placed them on her hands. As he was putting the last one on, he noticed it too had a hole in it. He made a few jokes and told her this simply would not do for Princess Maddie and walked right back to grab two attional packages of princess attire. Maddie was laughing at this point. He pulled the second pari from the package and then we all were rolling with laughter...THAT one also included a nice hole as well! He pulled the last and what we found to be only perfect pair of gloves from one more package. He held it to the light making a large deal of the insepction he was performing for her very special gloves and then placed them on her hands. POOF! Tears turned into laughter and giggles on the spot! THANK YOU JOHN!! We then headed back to our spot on deck 4.
We sat in the chairs, played around the deck, talked and snuggled up just looking out into the night sky over the sea and waves below. Just a few lumps in my throat and total peace with nobody around but just us. It was amazing and the perfect end to our first day onboard. We would head to our rooms and hopefully discover that "Tink" had been there for Maddie and her face would light up with magic once again for the day.
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I will try and finish the first evening onboard tomorrow. I'm not saying I promise because each time I've said that I have run into trouble and not been back at the TR for weeks.
Before passing out tonight I'll post more photos from the day....hopefully I'll be back with the last portion of the day which is returning to our cabin, room service and our cabin.
Sweet dreams!
~~~Kelly
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DAY TWO - Sunday, August 5th - Continued into the night....
After meeting and greeting our tablemates our server finally makes an appearance. I say finally because Maddie and I were the first to be seated with the others arriving shortly after. We had all had ample time for introductions and Parrot Cay was well filled and buzzing with activity - although until now we had not seen our server so we were more than happy to make his acquaintance. Maddie had already commented that, "Well Mommy, we KNOW it isn't gong to be Egi." HA! A young lady with excellent taste in service!
He arrives and his name is Dante. There aren't many times you will hear negativity from me about anything in regards to DCL....however, as they say, there area always exceptions and in this case Dante IS an exception. If you are planning a cruise, beware of Dante. Although, I can tell you if you keep the attitude that we tried to then you will have MUCH to laugh about during dinner with your table mates.
He introduces himself and for the first time in now three DCL cruises I hear the EXCEPTIONALLY long and obvious "excellent" speech. Ok Dante, you know what would be EXCELLENT? DRINKS AND FOOD! We were dying here. Everyone around us had drinks and some even salads...we were lucky enough to just being greeted and getting his well rehearsed speech. Room service for us all was looking pretty sweet right now. And let me say, Maddie has as little patience for it as I do now. The kids are all hungry and looking at us like, "HELLO! Doesn't he bring food at some point!"
Dante finally leaves with our drink orders and we all send praises to God for that! It is a good 15 minutes however before our next prayers for the drinks to actually ARRIVE are answered. When they do, they are served by our assistant server Ricardo. As leery as we all were with Dante already, we fully agreed that Ricardo was fantastic! He was so kind and friendly and we could tell that he was slightly stressed by Dante and the situation at hand. We all felt sorry for him and immediately fell in love. Maddie thought he was great and wondered aloud why HE wasn't our server instead. Out of the mouths of babes right!
Sue me now, I honestly do not remember what anyone had to eat that evening. I do know that 4 of the drinks on the table were mistakes but we were all so hungry and it was getting so late we let it ride and just crossed our fingers that tomorrow would be better. Hey - maybe Dante had a late night last night. Maybe he has been on vacation. Certainly it wouldn't be this way the entire cruise right? After all he was our server and he certainly had the speech nailed down to perfection so he was seasoned on DCL. It HAD to improve!
We enjoyed the company at dinner - all of us. Such a huge change from last year. We were all engrossed in conversation....well the adults were. Josh and Gabriel hit it off immediately as the only boys at the table. And the girls, Julia, Chevon, and Maddie seemed as though they had been friends forever. They had more bathroom breaks than when they were toddlers. Of course being little women - they all had to go together. I'm not stupid. I knew that Maddie was just excited because at home she would not be allowed to go to the bathroom without me....and neither would she onboard the ship except she knows it like the back of her hand and the other two are going with her. Also, at Parrot Cay, the restroom is just outside the dining room. At one point (they ask to be excused 3 times) I walked out behind them when they didn't know it and followed them. They were all outside the restaurant in a porthole. Just sitting in it together and talking. I let it go on for a few minutes not letting them know I could see, then walked over telling them they needed to come back in. Watching them smile, laugh and have so much fun together made my heart smile. Here we were - on the Wonder and finding magic and new friendships.
We all made it through dinner. As Maddie and I were one of the first in the dining room, it was so strange that when we left (which was just after finishing dinner) our table was one of the last to clear out. THAT is how long it took us to be served each course! At some points we actually felt as though we were encroaching on HIS time. The other constant was that Dante managed to mix up the meals as well. We would have to play rotate the food in order for us all to be left with what we actually ordered. Of course, the never smiling Dante was back when we left sharing yet again portions of his "excellent" speech. Had we been served drinks earlier and with any regularity throughout the meal we would have likely all given him our own speech as well. As it was we just looked at him in total disbelief and were off for our first night of Wonder!
I cannot say enough though how kind and out to please Ricardo was...we were all impressed with him and at the same time felt very sorry for him as we know he could have done even better with another server to work with. I will go ahead and tell you now that at the end of the cruise Ricardo received a larger tip from ALL OF US than Dante did. I hope that he knew how much HIS service and eagerness to serve and please us, in addition to his great personality meant to us all. I also hope the same for Dante but in the opposite regard. He needs some work to say the least.
After dinner we all split up for the night. With the exception of Linda and Josh who drove in from Orlando, everyone else in our party was exhausted from long flights that day. Maddie and I headed straight to the line for the Princesses before doing something different and attending the show on the first night which we have never done. While waiting in line Maddie made another new friend and I took some pictures of the two at the porthole in the atrium. How magical it is to watch your daughter, seeing her in awe and wonder at every turn and to be so eager to meet other children her age and share that same excitement with them. Yep...you got it! Tears started fogging my camera lens.
While in line we saw something I was not used to on DCL. For a few moments I felt as though I were at Kings Dominion or something of the kind....but not DCL. We watched as a group with several children bumped their way into line in front of us. WHAT?!?! I thought certainly they didn't realize that the long line of people that were standing behind us were not our entourage but actually people IN LINE for the same thing. I gave it a few minutes and then Maddie took care of the situation. She returns to me from her friend and then shocked herself and without whispering, "Mommy, where did those people come from? They weren't there a minute ago. Did they cut us." For a soon to be 2nd grader - "cutting" is the height of rudeness and something to yell for the teachers attention immediately. Ok, perfect opportunity right. I'll just say yes they did, and act as though I didn't know if they realized it. When they heard the conversation they would graciously depart to the back of the line. NOPE! They actually turned around looked us up and down (there were 3 adults and 4 children under the age of 12) then the adults started to laugh. LAUGH! At the grocery store I would be shocked - but this was DCL and they were "cutting" in front of children who were doing their best to wait patiently. Not being able to control myself any longer (and after talking to people behind us who were equally angry) I ask them if they realized that the line formed earlier and the end was around the corner of the atrium. The response I got, "Yes. But we are in a hurry to see the show." OH! I see - YOU are the royalty on the ship...I get it. No - I don't get it - I got pissed is what I got. So I told them that most of the people in line were going to the same show and that they needed to remove themselves to the back of the line or miss the autographs and photos completely and I was backed up by a nice family of 4 behind us. Of course this made US the evil one's but I honestly didn't care. A few more moments and Maddie was with Cinderella who was beautiful and gracious as always.
I keep waiting for that terrible moment when she doesn't believe anymore and I have become quite good at keeping the magic alive. When I saw her face light up at the sight of Cinderella my heart melted as it does each and every time. Another one of those feelings that is so hard to put into words,yet one that you will never forget. Cinderella spoke with Maddie for a moment and maddie just beamed. YEA!!! She still believes! Thank you DCL!!! With autographs in hand and photos taken we were off to deck 10 to grab some drinks before heading to the Walt Disney Theater.
The show that night was one I was a bit afraid wouldn't be one that Maddie would really enjoy. It was a ventriloquist act. His name was Taylor Mason. If you go to any other site today - go to YouTube and search for video of his act...there are many there. He is FANTASTIC! We instantly fell in love with him. He has now become my favorite comedian. He is an amazing person as well. I'll get into that later as we attended a class with him later in the week and learned much more about him and his puppets....Paco the pig, Ramon the Lamb, and the boy whose name I have totally forgotten but was hysterical!
Maddie adored the show and almost fell out of her seat several times laughing so loudly I was sure a light would be cast on us at any moment. When we were leaving the show she proceeded to tell me that this year for Christmas she doesn't want a baby doll, but instead wants Paco the pig puppet that Taylor has. Oh goody! Nothing like an impossible task for Christmas revealed in AUGUST! I am happy to report that you CAN indeed purchase his puppets at his website. I was also thrilled that she loved the show so much. He was a hysterical, clean mouthed and very talented entertainer! GREAT SHOW that I suggest to anyone who has the chance!
Walking out of the theater it is almost impossible for us not to be drawn into the shops, especially on the first or last night. So that is where we went. We were in there for what seemed like forever and the place was a ZOO! We looked at everything. I was searching for other snow globes as possible Christmas gifts and Maddie was searching for anything and she had her money and was ready to GO! She is getting so big, and changing so much that I get so excited when I see her veer away from the High School Musical and Hannah Montana anything and go for the Princess attire. This was exactly what she did that night. There was a FANTASTIC Cm in the store who seemed to beam with energy and was so sweet with Maddie with her falling in love immediately (CM Michael Otten is moving farther to the back of her mind throughout the cruise), and went above and beyond for us both. I had made a purchase while she was over looking around that he knew I was trying to hide. Not having bags or a purse it was quite difficult to hide the secret gift. He immediately offered to have it left at Guest Services where I could pick it up at anytime. HELLO!!! A man after my own heart....helping me to hide secret purchases and making it so easy for later surprises!
In the meantime, Maddie had decided what she wanted to buy for herself. A pair of Princess gloves complete with a small purse and other jewelry items. Being a frilly little girl she wanted to wear them all immediately, as in right then and there when the receipt was signed. I told her we would have to wait because the package wasn't something I could open without something sharp. He then proceed to come from behind the desk and kneel down to Maddie telling her that she had to wear them now because she was such a beautiful princess. Oh yea - that got her - she is hooked for sure! With Maddie grinning widely he took out a small pair of scissors and cut all the items loose from the package and even knelt down on one knee while he placed each glove on her hands. She was actually blushing at this point and you know what I was doing....holding back those stupid tears! He told her to wait just a moment while he took her new purse and disappeared behind the desk. When he returned to her he opened her purse and placed a gold DCL Mickey coin inside of it telling her it was unlucky to receive a purse without a coin in it. I never knew that - now DCL is educational!! Her jaw dropped and she then threw her arms around his neck and gave him quite the thank you hug. I couldn't tell him thank you enough! THOSE are the people that make DCL - DCL! When shopping, look for the attractive blonde haired CM with the beautiful English accent named John. He is a dream for any princess - or princesses mommy!
When we left the show I had one place I wanted to go (aside from the shops) before the newbies figured it all out and it became swamped. Shutters! We were hoping to see our friend from last year that worked as a photog during the day and behind the desk of an evening...but she was not longer onboard. Sadly, we missed her greatly as we didn't find anyone else in Shutters to have her beaming personality and Maddie missed her so much. This was the one who called Maddie, "Dale's sister." Oh well....no worries right....only different magic! I quickly found our photos from earlier in the day and went ahead to reserve the package taking the pictures that were there thus far. Work done - we moved on and went out to locate the moon and the first comfy deck chairs we could find.
Off to the outside of deck 4 we went. BEAUTIFUL is the only word to describe the night. The hot and steamy weather from the states had passed and was replaced with a wonderful sea breeze, brightly lit moon and a low lighted deck full of EMPTY deck chairs! Hello Heaven - here we are!!
While on deck Maddie started to cry. It seems that her brand new Princess gloves that John had placed on her moments earlier had holes in them both. She was quite sad but I knew this could be fixed. When looking at them it was obvious that the holes were from the string that held them securly onto the cardboard in the package. We went back into the shop and found John the wonderful CM. He proceeded to make a HUGE deal of it and swooped over to get a replacement package for her. he opened it, removed the gloves and placed them on her hands. As he was putting the last one on, he noticed it too had a hole in it. He made a few jokes and told her this simply would not do for Princess Maddie and walked right back to grab two attional packages of princess attire. Maddie was laughing at this point. He pulled the second pari from the package and then we all were rolling with laughter...THAT one also included a nice hole as well! He pulled the last and what we found to be only perfect pair of gloves from one more package. He held it to the light making a large deal of the insepction he was performing for her very special gloves and then placed them on her hands. POOF! Tears turned into laughter and giggles on the spot! THANK YOU JOHN!! We then headed back to our spot on deck 4.
We sat in the chairs, played around the deck, talked and snuggled up just looking out into the night sky over the sea and waves below. Just a few lumps in my throat and total peace with nobody around but just us. It was amazing and the perfect end to our first day onboard. We would head to our rooms and hopefully discover that "Tink" had been there for Maddie and her face would light up with magic once again for the day.
_________________________________________________________________
I will try and finish the first evening onboard tomorrow. I'm not saying I promise because each time I've said that I have run into trouble and not been back at the TR for weeks.
Before passing out tonight I'll post more photos from the day....hopefully I'll be back with the last portion of the day which is returning to our cabin, room service and our cabin.
Sweet dreams!
~~~Kelly
MB MinnieGirl
<font color=red>Elmo killer/Muppet murderer<br><fo
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2004
Maddie with her new friend, Lisa.
Cinderella reacing out for Maddie's hand.
Maddie with Cinderella the first night.
Maddie with Snow White
Maddie and Snow White.
Maddie with Snow White.
Maddie on deck 4 with her new princess gloves.
An empty deck 4....just for us.
Photo Maddie took of me in my "happy place."
disneydance
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2007
Great job Maddie is the cutest thing... so... did you rebook onboard???
aiken4mickey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
I LOVED hearing you talk about Egi!!! We had him several years ago!! He is the best!!! I can still hear him say, '"Remember, you're on vacation!"
teach22180
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
Welcome back Kelly!
Just wanted you to know that grouping single moms does seem to be part of that Disney magic...or Wonder...well, you know what I mean! My 19 year old and I were matched with a single mom with 2 boys (11 and 13) and a honeymooning pair in their early 20's. She really connected with the honeymooning wife, and I had the other single mom to connect with. I guess the boys had each other! They certainly do put some thought into the table assignments, I think.
Just wanted you to know that grouping single moms does seem to be part of that Disney magic...or Wonder...well, you know what I mean! My 19 year old and I were matched with a single mom with 2 boys (11 and 13) and a honeymooning pair in their early 20's. She really connected with the honeymooning wife, and I had the other single mom to connect with. I guess the boys had each other! They certainly do put some thought into the table assignments, I think.
MB MinnieGirl
<font color=red>Elmo killer/Muppet murderer<br><fo
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2004
Hi Bellebud!
I'm sorry it took me so long to answer you. When I've been on to update I have been so rushed I forgot to answer some questions.
Please steal away! Anything to make a cruise more magical for the little one's I am all for.
I have mixed it up every year and never given the same things twice. I get enough small items to leave out 2 or 3 each night while onboard. Of course, it helps to have a GREAT room steward! I still cannot say enough about ours from last year...Kirk. He was simply exceptional! Maddie got these items this year from "Tink". Tink pencils
Bubbles
Tink pencil sharpener & ruler
Glow necklaces (great for Pirate Night!)
Candy and gum
Mickey & Minnie notepads
Gel Pens with cool designs on them
Tink notebook
Large Tink puffy stickers
Mini photo album
I hope this helps! The dollar store and the dollar area at Target are where most of the items came from each year.
ENJOY AND HAVE FUN!!!!
~~~Kelly
Caitsmama
<font color=darkorchid>Closet Hannah Montana Fan!<
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2006
Kelly, Glad to have you back!
i love reading your reports, b/c it brings tears to my eyes thinking of all this great magic that will be waiting for us when we go in 2 months on our first cruise!! Thank you for sharing your story in such a heartwarming way!! Can't wait to hear more!!
i love reading your reports, b/c it brings tears to my eyes thinking of all this great magic that will be waiting for us when we go in 2 months on our first cruise!! Thank you for sharing your story in such a heartwarming way!! Can't wait to hear more!!
bawsmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2006
funny, i was just thinking about this report and the girls.
hope all is well and would love to hear more about the trip... but understand how "life" gets in the way sometimes. we are going on our first DCL cruise in sept and love all your ideas and details!!
hope to hear from you soon
PizzieDuster
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2003
I second this.....
Especially since my DD9 and I are going on our first Mother/Daughter cruise 6/08. Leaving the boys behind...
Especially since my DD9 and I are going on our first Mother/Daughter cruise 6/08. Leaving the boys behind...
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