Who: Myself, dh, ds13 and dd10
When: August 31st – September 6th
Planned Itinerary:
Sunday – Travel
Monday – Depart Port Canaveral
Tuesday – Castaway Cay
Wednesday – Nassau
Thursday – Sea Day
Friday – Castaway Cay
Saturday – Return Home
Room: Category 9
Background: We became DVC members back in November and this was going to be our first trip to our home resort AKL. Well when we planned the trip a few months beforehand, AKL was sold out so we had reservations at the Beach Club. I had also seen this cruise in the member’s book and we tried to book it. It was one of the few Disney cruises where the point conversion for DVC members was very reasonable. But alas it was sold out. I decided to keep trying though and after two months of calling every day, a month of calling every other day, and a week of calling every 3 days, we got a room!! It fit perfectly with our plane tickets so we switched. We only had about 3 ½ weeks before we left so we didn’t have much time to plan!
Day 1 – August 31st – Traveling to Port Canaveral
No pics today, sorry. I realized I didn’t take many here because I took the same ones last cruise!
We left our hotel in Newport at o’dark thirty in the morning. A hotel before our trip? Why, you ask? Because we had just moved all the way across the country from California to Rhode Island!! With several stops in between, we arrived in our new home, Newport, at about 6:00 the night before. I know, we’re crazy. But after a very long trip, including two car accidents within thirty minutes of each other the day before, we needed a break from reality! And cars for that matter!
But back to this trip.
We flew out of Providence at 8:30 in the morning. We had to fly to Chicago and then Orlando but our tickets were crazy cheap, so we weren’t complaining. The good news was we got an earlier flight out of Chicago and made it at 2:00 instead of 5:00.
After we got off the plane I realized I had no idea which car rental place I had used to reserve a car!! My very organized obsessive trip planner alternate identity self took a break this summer. There was too much going on and I spaced on some things! So everyone had a seat and I started calling companies. I found ours at Avis, and off to the counter we went. We had 7 bags (!!) and they gave us a PT cruiser type car. We squeezed in, and as Tim Gunn would say – we made it work!!
Off to Port Canaveral. Okay most of the drive was a blur because after the initial excitement of being in Orlando wore off, I fell asleep! I woke up as we were crossing the bridge to Port Canaveral. There was the Wonder waiting to set sail. A beautiful sight!
In Port Canaveral we stayed at the Radisson, where we had stayed before. A suite is $135 a night and worth every penny. There’s a ginormous hot tub in the bedroom. We checked in, and went for an early dinner since we missed lunch that day. We ate at Wendy’s (we were about to spend a week eating like Kings and we decided there was no need for a big meal tonight!), picked up some Dunkin Donuts for the morning, and headed back to the hotel.
We checked in on the hurricanes from the hotel internet. Gustav was clearly in the Gulf of Mexico by then but Hanna was headed right for the Bahamas!! Yikes! Okay, we chose to cruise during hurricane season so we couldn’t complain too much!
So we were off to the pool! The hotel has a beautiful pool. It was pretty crowded but the kids didn’t mind.
Then back to the room where the kids took turns bathing in the tub/Jacuzzi.
At 7:00 we headed down to the pool area for a meet and greet with some people from the DIS boards who were on our cruise. There was a huge thread there before our cruise. I think 175 cabins checked in. We signed up for a few things via that thread. The first was a meet and greet where we would get lanyards for us all to wear and keep our key to the world cards in. The people who made them did a great job and they were so handy to wear all week. Then we headed upstairs and settled in for the night.
Day 2 – September 1st - Boarding the Ship and Sailing Away
We woke up early to head to the port. Because we booked the cruise so late, all the online reservations for PALO were already taken. We knew if we were among the first to board we would be able to make one, so we were in a hurry. I also like to maximize my time on the ship!!
We left the room at 9:00 and DH dropped us off at the Port. One of the porters directed us to the part of the gate where the baggage guys would get our bags. We got behind one other family who was already waiting and settled in. Dh took the car back to the rental company and caught a shuttle back to the port. When he got back the line had grown to about 5 families. I walked around for a few pictures.
The terminal:
The clock on the terminal:
DCL Flag:
Magic smokestack:
When I got back a few people were dropped off right next to us and stood in front of us. That was when the line evaporated. As more and more people were dropped off the line became a blob. It was a little frustrating. There is officially no line, so we couldn’t say anything, but it was maddening to see our early rising and hot wait in the sun seemingly become irrelevant.
Some of us were more patient than others...:lookaroun
When: August 31st – September 6th
Planned Itinerary:
Sunday – Travel
Monday – Depart Port Canaveral
Tuesday – Castaway Cay
Wednesday – Nassau
Thursday – Sea Day
Friday – Castaway Cay
Saturday – Return Home
Room: Category 9
Background: We became DVC members back in November and this was going to be our first trip to our home resort AKL. Well when we planned the trip a few months beforehand, AKL was sold out so we had reservations at the Beach Club. I had also seen this cruise in the member’s book and we tried to book it. It was one of the few Disney cruises where the point conversion for DVC members was very reasonable. But alas it was sold out. I decided to keep trying though and after two months of calling every day, a month of calling every other day, and a week of calling every 3 days, we got a room!! It fit perfectly with our plane tickets so we switched. We only had about 3 ½ weeks before we left so we didn’t have much time to plan!
Day 1 – August 31st – Traveling to Port Canaveral
No pics today, sorry. I realized I didn’t take many here because I took the same ones last cruise!
We left our hotel in Newport at o’dark thirty in the morning. A hotel before our trip? Why, you ask? Because we had just moved all the way across the country from California to Rhode Island!! With several stops in between, we arrived in our new home, Newport, at about 6:00 the night before. I know, we’re crazy. But after a very long trip, including two car accidents within thirty minutes of each other the day before, we needed a break from reality! And cars for that matter!
But back to this trip.
We flew out of Providence at 8:30 in the morning. We had to fly to Chicago and then Orlando but our tickets were crazy cheap, so we weren’t complaining. The good news was we got an earlier flight out of Chicago and made it at 2:00 instead of 5:00.
After we got off the plane I realized I had no idea which car rental place I had used to reserve a car!! My very organized obsessive trip planner alternate identity self took a break this summer. There was too much going on and I spaced on some things! So everyone had a seat and I started calling companies. I found ours at Avis, and off to the counter we went. We had 7 bags (!!) and they gave us a PT cruiser type car. We squeezed in, and as Tim Gunn would say – we made it work!!
Off to Port Canaveral. Okay most of the drive was a blur because after the initial excitement of being in Orlando wore off, I fell asleep! I woke up as we were crossing the bridge to Port Canaveral. There was the Wonder waiting to set sail. A beautiful sight!
In Port Canaveral we stayed at the Radisson, where we had stayed before. A suite is $135 a night and worth every penny. There’s a ginormous hot tub in the bedroom. We checked in, and went for an early dinner since we missed lunch that day. We ate at Wendy’s (we were about to spend a week eating like Kings and we decided there was no need for a big meal tonight!), picked up some Dunkin Donuts for the morning, and headed back to the hotel.
We checked in on the hurricanes from the hotel internet. Gustav was clearly in the Gulf of Mexico by then but Hanna was headed right for the Bahamas!! Yikes! Okay, we chose to cruise during hurricane season so we couldn’t complain too much!
So we were off to the pool! The hotel has a beautiful pool. It was pretty crowded but the kids didn’t mind.
Then back to the room where the kids took turns bathing in the tub/Jacuzzi.
At 7:00 we headed down to the pool area for a meet and greet with some people from the DIS boards who were on our cruise. There was a huge thread there before our cruise. I think 175 cabins checked in. We signed up for a few things via that thread. The first was a meet and greet where we would get lanyards for us all to wear and keep our key to the world cards in. The people who made them did a great job and they were so handy to wear all week. Then we headed upstairs and settled in for the night.
Day 2 – September 1st - Boarding the Ship and Sailing Away
We woke up early to head to the port. Because we booked the cruise so late, all the online reservations for PALO were already taken. We knew if we were among the first to board we would be able to make one, so we were in a hurry. I also like to maximize my time on the ship!!
We left the room at 9:00 and DH dropped us off at the Port. One of the porters directed us to the part of the gate where the baggage guys would get our bags. We got behind one other family who was already waiting and settled in. Dh took the car back to the rental company and caught a shuttle back to the port. When he got back the line had grown to about 5 families. I walked around for a few pictures.
The terminal:
The clock on the terminal:
DCL Flag:
Magic smokestack:
When I got back a few people were dropped off right next to us and stood in front of us. That was when the line evaporated. As more and more people were dropped off the line became a blob. It was a little frustrating. There is officially no line, so we couldn’t say anything, but it was maddening to see our early rising and hot wait in the sun seemingly become irrelevant.
Some of us were more patient than others...:lookaroun
We generally knew where he was. We popped into the kids clubs occasionally to check on them too.
