Trip Report DCL: Collect the whole set! A Pro9het Turf’less Surf story.

So the Cliff’s Notes version of trip details can be had here:

As is usual we are celebrating our anniversary at sea with DCL. What is not usual is we are doing it from a port that is not Port Canaveral. Our departure port would be New York City. This meant a first time trip to NYC for the both of us. This also meant there would be no WDW turf side to this story as is typical for us. Another first for us was our journey taking place on the Disney Magic. We’ve been on every other DCL ship to this point and we were excited to complete the set with our first Magic voyage. If that wasn’t enough “new” for us we added a new port of call, 2 days at Bermuda. So there ya have it, a series of firsts now lets get this party started.

Tuesday, day before we fly to NYC:
Word on the weather street was that a nor'easter was heading straight for NYC. Worse yet is was supposed to hit NYC while we were flying in that evening. We scrambled tonight to see if we could fly out earlier. Thankfully we found a flight leaving several hours earlier and better yet the seats were together. This would ease some of my bride’s fears of flying but only temporarily. It’s strange how life’s highs and lows can come at you. While we were scrambling to avoid a nor'easter we received a notification of a DVC resale contact that just hit the market. We’d been looking for a small VGC contract for a while and sure enough one popped up. We tossed our hat in the ring with an offer and the caveat that we were about to set sail and couldn’t sign anything until we returned. Fingers crossed!

Wednesday, travel day:
I was scheduled to work today but since we shifted our flight I took an additional vaca day. We left the house a little before 9am and since it was raining out this meant Georgia drivers just took a dump on Ga400. Seriously, this state may have the worst drivers. What should have been an easy, “post rush hour”, trip to the Marta station turned into a gridlock nightmare. It was so bad the usual Marta station we use was at capacity and we had to drive to the next station to catch a train. Thankfully that only incurred another 10 minutes on the road. We navigated the station, and soon were arriving at the airport. Hooray for TSA PreCheck! We passed through security in no time and settled into the terminal, only slightly frazzled.
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Speaking of highs and lows, while we sat at the gate we received a notice from the DVC resale agent:
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Our offer was accepted! This high was temporary, though, as it was time to board and my Bride’s nerves would be tested. As we boarded we did find things to distract us. For me it was:
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For my bride it was:
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Up next: Flying & Storms don't mix!
 
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Spent the morning catching up on emails and enjoying our Entenmann’s and coffee.
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We chilled on the balcony til about 10:00 before heading over to AKL to drop our bags off. Room wasn’t ready so we grabbed some quick pics before heading to DTD.
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We were on a mission to burn some time before our Thanksgiving lunch as well as find the kiddo a pair of jeans. Naturally this meant stoping at the ganachery so the ladies could get their fix on.
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It was around here that we got the room ready text! It wasn’t even noon this was good news. We ended up stopping at the Levi’s for the jeans. As we exited the shopped we ended up bumping into @dclfan and her pops! Small world and I may have freaked her dad out. A quick hello and goodbye and we were on our way to Wilderness Lodge for lunch. Traffic was very lite and we quickly arrived. The Lodge is beautiful.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was about 15 minutes til our ADR so I went and checked us in. They were busy but almost immediately seated us.
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We were quickly greeted by MT. She informed us that they had but one menu today and it was a Thanksgiving platter. She took our drink orders and the food started to arrive.
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During our meal a horse stampede began.
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Dessert was pumpkin pie, not my game but the kid inhaled hers.
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This Thanksgiving meal was far better than the one we had at Blue Bayou last year at DL. I would absolutely do this again. MT was a great balance of over the top and leave you the hell alone. She had fun but didn’t embarrass us. We took out two full platters, salad, several pieces of corn bread and dessert. Added bonus was DVC discount at the end!
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After lunch we made the short drive back to Kidani. We scored a decent Savanna room on the third floor near the lobby. We were near both elevators to getting to the lobby and the car was a breeze.
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They even had their version of a fancy book like VGF did.
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We’re chillaxing at the pool now. No plans other than pool and hydration
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MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
It was about 15 minutes til our ADR so I went and checked us in. They were busy but almost immediately seated us.
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We were quickly greeted by MT. She informed us that they had but one menu today and it was a Thanksgiving platter. She took our drink orders and the food started to arrive.
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During our meal a horse stampede began.
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Dessert was pumpkin pie, not my game but the kid inhaled hers.
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This Thanksgiving meal was far better than the one we had at Blue Bayou last year at DL. I would absolutely do this again. MT was a great balance of over the top and leave you the hell alone. She had fun but didn’t embarrass us. We took out two full platters, salad, several pieces of corn bread and dessert. Added bonus was DVC discount at the end!
We love MT! She was our waitress for breakfast last week and one time a year or so ago.
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MinnieM123

Premium Member
One last thing, a lot of people were really upset about the DCL navigators being discontinued in the staterooms. I think it was a good move. I think more people throw those away than save them. NCL needs to follow suit. Each Freestyle Daily was about 6-7 pages each day. We really didn't read them, just glanced at them and relied mostly on the app.

That was a good summary of your cruise. Question: What is the DCL navigator? (I'm guessing that it is a printed version of the day's events?) I'm the type of person who likes to read that is left in a guest room, so I'd miss something like that. Too bad they can't list it as an option for those who prefer it. But if that's the biggest problem that guests encounter and the rest of the trip is awesome, that's a small price to pay! :)
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Question: What is the DCL navigator? (I'm guessing that it is a printed version of the day's events?)
Yup! Its a paper copy of the day's events. When you open it up it reads like an old school TV Guide where you have the venues list down the left side and times running across the top. Each activity for each venue runs from earliest to latest, left to right.
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Since DCL has improved their app so well it negates the need for the paper version, but they are still nice to look at. The app has all the same info and more plus it allows you to easily build a schedule of events that interest you. Building a schedule will also allow the app to send reminder notifications when one of your events is about to happen. Additionally, the app has all the menus for the restaurants, a messaging feature that allows you to message any other on board guest(think FB Messenger), an on board account manager to see your credits and debits, and even a place to book your placeholder meaning no need to go to the planning deck any more.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

So where did we leave off? Oh yes, just left our room and headed for the After Hours district for a M&G and beer exchange. After Hours is the adult district with the bars and lounges. We had one lounge in particular we were heading for today, O'Gills Pub.
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It was at O'Gills where there was a Facebook Group M&G. I piggybacked the beer exchange here to be convenient for the dads/husbands that got told they had to go to the M&G. I've got to say, though, the lady who organized the M&G did a fantastic job and it was ridiculously thorough and involved.

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I went to the bar to grab a beer while the M&G ended. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw La Fin Du Monde on tap! This is only available in bottles on The Dream and Fantasy and is one of two "go-to" beers I drink on the ships. My beer decision was now an easy one.
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So after the M&G was over I made an announcement that we would be starting the beer exchange. Because all the families were still in O'Gills from the M&G it was very loud and a little chaotic. I tried to wrangle all the beer folks together to start the draft order when things blew up. Folks started setting their beers down and immediately just started grabbing different beers, no order and a lot of confusion. About 5 minutes later and it was over. It was like Christmas morning with 30 something kids with zero patience. I typically run these in a draft fashion so folks have time to see all the beers and then we take turns drafting one at a time. Anyway, everyone was thanking me when it was all over saying they had a great time and I was wondering "what time?". I ended up talking beer with a few enthusiasts afterwards up until it was mustering time. In the end I had a great draft. A couple beers I nabbed had been aged a couple years and I've still got them in the fridge to age a bit longer.

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In January I will stick with my typical process of hosting the event in a separate lounge to avoid the chaos and free for all.

On the way to the muster drill I stopped off at guest services to put a gift card down on our account.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

So we managed our way to our muster station. It just so happened Animator's Palate was our mustering station. Ironically, this would be the only time we visit AP this trip. Our rotational dining only had us scheduled to eat here on one night this trip but we had a Palo reservation planned for that night. Anyway, this venue when it gets going is a real beauty to done in.
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After our drill we made our way back to the room to see if our luggage had arrived. It had! Our neighbors had also done up their door since we last checked and they did a bang up job:
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

My bride was jonesing for a snack so we went topside to grab some fries from Duck-In Diner. DID serves an array for burgers, sandwiches, sides, and even Shawarma! More on the Shawarma later.
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With snack in hand, we mad for O'Gills for something to wash it down with. We took a couple lobby pics along the way.
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We relaxed here for a bit before the Sail Away party on top deck.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

As we finished our beer and snack the Sail Away party had begun and we went topside to see the city pass by. Still very windy out but no rain and a great opportunity for some pictures. @imahistorygeek had our kiddo's fancy camera and took some great pictures so hopefully she will share them soon. In the meantime you'll have to settle for mine ;-). I've also posted the Magic's horn.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

After leaving NYC, the first showing of Tangled was about to begin. We got some seats on the second level and still had a few minutes until showtime.
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Being overly anxious and unnecessarily worried the new Pandora charm was going to sell out I made a quick "bathroom break" before the show started to purchase the charm. Passed a four legged friend along the way.
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No time for chitchat, I was on a mission. I quickly found the charm and made it back to my seat before the curtain rose!
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The show was excellent. Hats off to the actors as the boat was still dealing with some choppy water while we left the coastline and they manged the rocking like true professionals.

After the show we went back to O'Gills for some general trivia where we promptly got our to handed to us.
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We bounced back to our room after trivia on our way to dinner and bumped into our stateroom host, Victor. He had already turned down the room and left us some art.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

After checking out the room we walked down to dinner. Tonight's dinner was at Rapunzel's Royal Table. Without question, this was something we were looking forward to. We were immediately greeted by a mötley crüe of characters.
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The musical entertainment was already flowing as well.
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I was so accustomed to the larger ships that I was a little surprised by how small this restaurant was. Still, the theming was excellent and the staff was doing a great job.
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Our server seated us and immediately offered to take a picture of us, no problems there.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:

The theming continued on the table.
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On this trip we would be joined by Team Long Island(TLI) and Team Virginia(TV). Both teams were married couples traveling sans their kiddos and both teams were also DVC owners. TLI participated in the beer exchange and we had actually already been chatting each other up on the FB group and Untappd. TLI also does a lot of home brewing so we hit it off right away. While we all got acquainted our menus arrived.
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Quickly followed by the bread service.
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While we ordered, the henchmen gave strict party instructions to celebrate Rapunzel's night. These instructions included how to cheer, when to cheer, how to act when Rapunzel asks us if we're having a good time, and instructions on a special song and dance for the party.
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For starters I had the Snuggly Duckling Platter and my DW had the Ravioli "Tiroler". Both were excellent.
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lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, embarkation day con’t:
While enjoying our apps and waiting on our mains we had some visitors come by. One of which was so happy to see us and wanted to make sure we were having a wonderful time at her party...while other made sure we answered correctly.
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For mains my DW had the Oktoberfest lemon and thyme chicken and I had the Flynn Rider Platter.
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The chicken was good as was most of the platter. The pork chop was huge and a little over cooked but the pork belly and bockwurst were excellent. To be honest, after our mains I was tapped but that didn't top the dessert menu from coming out.
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We really should have stopped but we couldn't come all this way and not get Rapunzel's Fry Pan Sweet Bread.
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It was very good and we probably would have enjoyed it more had we not been miserably full already.

Our dinner concluded with a dance and a song lead by the guest of honor.
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Rapunzel's Royal Table is probably one of the best rotational dining experiences we've had on any ship. I look forward to a repeat next month!
 

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