Disney Cruise May 23-30 – Back to the Magic

Who: Dh, Me, Ds 14 and Dd 11 - Plus assorted other family members and friends – 5 cabins total!
Where: Eastern Cruise with Tortola
When: May 23-30th

This was my 4th Disney Cruise. Third in the last 9 months actually:lookaroun, so I’d like that pattern to keep up! This was the second with tons of family and friends. It’s a great vacation for a big group. Everyone can do their own thing and still meet up for dinner and other activities.

We had a great rate with a military discount. We had enough active duty military, retired military and reserve members to get everyone the discount. Yay!!:sohappy:

I'm making my way through about 1400 pictures right now so this report will have to come in segments!



Day 1 – Friday – May 22nd - Travel Day

The departure day was finally here. We booked this cruise about a year and a half ago, so I couldn’t believe it was finally time!

The kids are in school here until June 25th. Luckily their teachers were all very cooperative and this was Memorial Day week so they only missed 4 ½ days of school. I woke up crazy excited. I had been packed for a month or so, but there were little things left to do this morning. I finished just in time to pick up the kids from school at 11:00. We ran home and ate lunch. I finished up my last recorded DVR show during lunch, so it was nice to be caught up on shows before I left! It was also a great week to go TV-wise because so many shows ended in the two weeks before we left. Coming home from a vacation with tons to do, and 20 TV shows to watch is not easy!!:lol:

Dh came home for lunch to take us to the airport. He had to back out of the trip several weeks ago because we didn’t think he’d be able to get away. Luckily, he got the okay and we added him back in, but at this point our plane tickets had gone up and he wouldn’t be flying with us. It worked out well for him though, we were on United with a layover in DC and left 4 hours before him, and he was on a direct flight on Southwest which was scheduled to arrive 10 minutes after us!

We actually arrived in DC about 20 minutes early and were not looking forward to a now 4 hour layover. Blech. We decided to try the United customer service counter to see if we could catch an earlier flight. United said yes! :sohappy: There was 1 hour and 45 minutes before that flight and there was plenty of time to switch our bags. Well supposedly! We called my parents and asked them to stay at MCO and wait for us so we could ride with them to Port Canaveral. We boarded and woohoo – Orlando bound!!

Well of course our bags didn’t make it. :rolleyes: They were coming on our original flight which had been delayed 3 hours! I was irritated, but relieved I wasn’t on that flight.

My parents and I decided to all go to Downtown Disney to kill some time. I love DD. It’s a great way to start a cruise. Dad and Mom ate at Earl of Sandwich and we shopped a little. After Dh arrived at MCO, Dad and Mom dropped me off at the airport to wait for my bags with him. They took the kids with them so they could get a somewhat decent night’s sleep.

United offered to bring the bags to Port Canaveral the next day, but I was terrified they wouldn’t get there before the cruise left. I could not wear a Mickey Mouse tee shirt to formal night!!!:eek::lol:

Dh and I waited for my bags which arrived at 12:32. We got in the rental car and drove to Port Canaveral where we stayed at the Radisson at the Port. It’s a nice hotel but we didn’t get to enjoy it much. We finally got to bed around 2 am.

Next up Day 2!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2 - Saturday – May 23rd – Sail away day!

I woke up easily at 8:00. I was way too excited to sleep well, anyway. We got ready and went to everyone’s rooms to say hi. Then we met in the in-law’s room for Dunkin Donuts and morning plan making. Everyone decided to leave with us at 9:45. By this time it had started to rain. The forecast was not looking good for the day!! :cry: But hey, we were going on a cruise, so we couldn’t be sad.

The men dropped us off at the terminal and went to drop off the rental cars. People were already starting to go in. I like to be one of the first few people in the terminal so I wasn’t real excited about that! But again – chill – we are going on a cruise.

We found a porter to take some of our bags. By this time the rain was torrential, blowing sideways and rendering the skinny overhang - pretty worthless. I told everyone whose bags had been taken to go on in without us, and take the kids! I waited for the porter to come bag to get the rest of them. Very hard to be patient – but I did! Also very hard not to take out the camera, but it wasn’t worth the risk! So no pictures yet!

Finally we were headed inside. I got the last #3 boarding pass, so not too bad! My family who went in first got a 2, the rest of my group I came in with got 4’s. There’s only about 5 minutes between groups, no sweat.

I checked in and went to check for upgrades. Only $2000 to move to a category 3!! :eek: Oh well, we were happy with our cabins all right next to each other, so I went to wait with everyone else. We went to check with the kid’s club desk about moving my 10 year old niece into Ocean Quest with her cousins. They were very accommodating and we moved her, no problem. We checked iphones for weather forecasts (Not good!!) and waited for Captain Mickey.

Here's one of the twins with us:
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I took so many pictures of the terminal on our last trip that I didn't take many this time. It was also pretty dark in there because of the dark skies. I'm a lot more comfortable with natural light photography than flash, so I avoid dark environments whenever possible!:lol: Not the greatest, but here's a few anyway:

Here we all are waiting:
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My kids and nieces with Captain Mickey:
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The twins were excited to see Mickey!:
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HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Yay!!! You're back and starting your cruise report already... I'm anxiously waiting for more. So excited :sohappy:!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Pretty soon after Captain Mickey came out, they started calling numbers. For some reason, people crowd all around the entrance no matter what their number is. Those with numbers who have been called, like us, have to say excuse me about 30 times and wait for people to move and move their stuff so we can get to the front.

We stopped for our family picture - no chance we were buying it, I looked like a drowned rat :ROFLOL:, and then were welcomed aboard. The cast member’s in the lobby clapped for us and one stopped us to chat. After he welcomed us back we split up with dh and kids meeting everyone at Parrot Cay. I went to Rocking Bar D to get all our Palo reservations at the same time and table. The line was pretty long but by the time I finished, it was ginormous, so I was glad I got there when I did! I met everyone at Parrot Cay and bellied up to the trough for the first of many huge meals.:D

My brother in law said he gained 3 lbs in the first 40 minutes of being onboard!:lol:

After lunch the kids took off for the kid’s club and we went to the excursion desk to get dh added to our sold out excursion. They were very accommodating again, no problems. After that I had one more request to make and we went to Ocean Quest to see if my 14 year old could move down to the club to be with his cousins. This being Disney, they again said no problem! :sohappy:

Our rooms were ready about this time so we went to put down our carry-ons. The rain had stopped :sohappy::sohappy: and my sister-in-law and I went upstairs to walk around. We ended up taking a tour of the spa and it was awesome!! I saw the fitness room for the first time – hmm missed that on the other 3 cruises :eek::lol:, and it was beautiful too! We didn’t win anything in the drawing so we went downstairs to see if our bags had arrived. They did! So we unpacked.

Next was the lifeboat drill. After the lifeboat drill I handed off my, my dd and my two niece’s life-vests and went up to the top deck to get a spot for the sail away party. Since the skies had cleared and we were having it outside where it should be!:sohappy:
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We were the first ones there and got right in the front! Prime picture taking opportunity. :sohappy: Or so I thought:rolleyes:. As more people arrived over the next 20 minutes, we started to get pushed out. First, parents were sending their kids under the rail to stand in front of us. Then other kids just started pushing the three girls out. I wasn’t real happy about this. I wouldn’t mind a small child in front of me of course, but I wasn’t happy when kids the same sizes as mine were suddenly in front of them. I switched places with my niece and got behind the girl who had been sent up there by her parents. The kids in front of the rail were told to go behind it, so my sweet children backed up so they could stand in front of them. I was trying not to be irritated but it was NOT easy. My three moved so they could still see and were happy. The girl in front of me kept inching in front of my dd during the show, so I finally leaned over and told her she needed to move. She scowled at me and moved about 6 inches. I put my hand on the rail so she couldn’t keep moving in front of my kids. I still got some pictures but I missed the one I was dying for.

Here's us waiting. My dd's in the middle:

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Yay! Party time!:

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yay!!! You're back and starting your cruise report already... I'm anxiously waiting for more. So excited :sohappy:!

Thank you Hollybelle!! I decided it would be easier to write and post as I went through the pictures, rather then waiting to the end!:)
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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A few more:

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Here’s the awesome picture opportunity. Just imagine it without a little girl’s arm in it. :lol:

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That’s all for now. Much more to come!
 

Coree

Well-Known Member
Wahoo! The trip report has begun. I love, love, love the photo of one of the twins in the terminal--so cute! And the pics at the party are awesome too. I especially love that arm! :lol:
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wahoo! The trip report has begun. I love, love, love the photo of one of the twins in the terminal--so cute! And the pics at the party are awesome too. I especially love that arm! :lol:

Thank you, Coree!! I have several shots of that arm!:lol:
 

disneygirl1

Well-Known Member
Enjoying the report so far! Can't wait to read more and see more pictures! I hope to go on the Disney cruise in the near future!
 

eagles

Active Member
tammy those are great pictures!

i would have been a tad bit irritated at that arm.

can't wait to read and see more.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay back to the report!

Tonight we had dinner in Parrot Cay. We met our servers Valentin and Iketut, they were awesome all week long. Our kids loved them.

After dinner I wandered around and took some pictures.

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Then we went to see the first show of the week – the All Aboard Show. It’s a great show with a little singing and dancing, some characters and two cabaret acts. One was John Charles a comedic singer and the other was Heath Hyche, a comedian who was not my favorite person by the end of the week. You’ll have to stay tuned for the rest of that story.:rolleyes:

After dinner we did some more exploring. The kids all swam, and ds14 took up his nightly place in the hot tub to watch the NBA playoffs on the jumbotron. That’s the life!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3 - Sunday – May 24th – A day at Sea

This morning we started off with just a little snack from room service. :D We were planning on brunch in a couple of hours so we just ate enough to tide us over. Our stomachs weren't that stretched out YET, so that wasn't that much.:lol:

After we got ready, we attended a non-denominational church service onboard, then we went to brunch at Lumiere’s. I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast food – and hey it was 10:30, so I had a delicious hamburger!!:lol:

While we were eating they announced that there would be an added showing of Race to Witch Mountain at 11:00. It was rather rainy outside, so Disney took care of us and added some more things to do. We’d already seen RTWM, but no one else had, so we all went. I liked it again.

The kids went to Ocean Quest for a while and then did some swimming and laying out. Some of the men played shuffleboard, and I, of course, took pictures!!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
More pictures on our favorite deck, deck 4. We spend a lot of time on this quiet deck. It's shaded and quiet. The chairs are comfortable and there's shuffleboard for the restless.:)

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Here's my toes while I relaxed. I think this was actually on deck 9.

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Next up, formal night!! And let me tell you – we looked gooooood!!:eek::lol:
 

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
I cant wait till I can afford a Disney Cruise. But I can not afford the $2500 staterooms (thats the cheapest). I am doing Carnival in January but I know there is no comparison.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I cant wait till I can afford a Disney Cruise. But I can not afford the $2500 staterooms (thats the cheapest). I am doing Carnival in January but I know there is no comparison.

There are some deals out there sometimes. Category 12's go quick, but they have great prices!

I'm sure you'll have a great time on your Carnival cruise though. A cruise is a great vacation!:)
 

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