I have never done a Pre-TR before, but since I am doing a few little things to get us in the mood, thought I would go ahead and start this one.
First things first - introductions and specifics
Sailing on this cruise will be one of my closest friends (since 3rd grade, which was 38 years ago!), Becky. And of course, me!
We will be sailing a 3-nighter on the Disney Dream, October 4-7, 2012.
Becky and me at our High School Graduation, 1984
Becky will arrive at MCO sometime on October 3rd (I will drive down from Jax and pick her up), and we will spend the night in Cocoa Beach, either at the Best Western Oceanfront (already have an oceanfront room secured there) or the Resort on Cocoa Beach.
This trip has been a few years in the making, ever since my 2010 Magic cruise when Becky announced a strong desire to sail on Disney. She tried (unsuccessfully) for about a year and a half to enlist a group of our girlfriends to make this a group cruise for us. I was in from the get-go and told them just to let me know when. This past April she finally declared she was booking the cruise regardless of who was in or not, and if anyone else decided they wanted to join us, by all means they could make their plans as well. We originally planned on sailing the last weekend in December, but since Becky was booking with DVC points (she has several she needs to use or lose this year) and that sailing was no longer available with points, we decided on the October 4th date. We had also planned on booking a verandah stateroom; I'm not sure if those were not available for us either as we ended up booked in a 9A GTY. No biggie - for a 3-night cruise this was not a deal breaker for either of us.
This will be Becky's first cruise ever, and my thirteenth (sixth on DCL - gold baby!). She has been a non-stop mom for the past 23 years to her seven kiddos, so her hubby is taking the reins for our weekend. Now, DVC has been a bit of a challenge with my Castaway Club, to say the least. They told Becky when she booked they could not add my CC number to the reservation. DCL says otherwise, but they cannot touch the reservation since DVC owns it. As of today, it's still not tied in so I will just take my CC card (yes, I have one from the old days when they issued those) in addition to a printout of my previous cruises so I at least get my returning cruiser gifts.
Obviously we did not get the luxury of checking in or booking activities at the 105 day mark (boo! as this would have been my first time doing so...I felt so cheated! LOL), but I still managed to book everything that was planned. Our stateroom was finally assigned today (I have been checking every day for the past few weeks!) and we were assigned a 9A cabin, 8008.
Things look like this -
October 3rd - Drive to MCO from Jacksonville; pick up Becky; drive to Cocoa Beach (hopefully getting there early enough to see the Carnival Pride sail out of Port Canaveral - it departs at 6:00 p.m.); eat dinner somewhere.
October 4th - Head over to the port for our 11:00 - 11:30 scheduled arrival time (yes, even at the 75-day mark I was able to secure the early arrival time...whew!); possibly try for an upgrade to a verandah stateroom; just goof off on board and enjoy a few FABs.
October 5th - Nassau, with no real plans. This is Becky's first time out of the country, so we plan on getting our passports stamped (not sure how many Nassau ones are in my current passport!), and then just wandering and shopping. Most likely we will spend a good deal of time just enjoying the ship as well.
October 6th - Castaway Cay. After Becky had mentioned how much she wanted to swim with dolphins, but would not do so without her kids (she and her husband plan on taking their family on a cruise possibly next year or the year after) I got in touch with her oldest daughter and we decided Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure would be a good substitute for a surprise. Obviously I would not be able to keep this under wraps until the cruise which is what I wanted to do (considering it's right online under our activities), so I put together a little box of trinkets for Becky and sent it to her this week to coincide with the timing of our booking window. There were four items in the box representing each day, and a poem I wrote attached to each item (and I can’t believe I did not take pictures of the actual items, but I did take pics of the tags - of course I took the pics before I added the ribbon to the tags...ugh!):
(For item one, which included a DCL Bus pin - Becky had mentioned taking the DCL bus to the port but then we decided it would make sense for me to just pick her up at MCO)
Driving to the beachside port
Deciding where we should cavort;
A Disney bus is not our ride
But a car (and friend) are supplied.
Our trip begins with ocean views
(And let’s not forget there will be booze!)
This pin takes place of a magical express
Forever now a bus you possess!
(For item two, I put a DCL Konk Kooler recipe card inside a Sailaway Drink Cup)
As we begin our sail away
To islands not so faraway,
A drink or two in our hands
Looking forward to toes in sand.
Streamers, dancing, the party begins
I hope we spot some dolphin fins;
The adventure starts in the Florida sun
Off we go to have some fun!
(For item three, I wrapped up a Tortuga Rum Factory rum cake in DCL wrapping paper)
First we land on Nassau tides
Passport stamps they will provide;
Then a stroll in shops galore
(It’s nice to finally be ashore!).
Jewelry, purses, hats of straw
Some a knock off or with a flaw;
But for this treasure I would have swum
Finally a cake made with rum!
(And finally for item 4, which was a Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure pin)
Our journey ends in paradise
Castaway Cay to be precise;
Beaches, bikes, there’s lots to choose
What a way to end our cruise.
But first we need to don a vest
To reach the day’s final quest;
Stingrays swim in a closed off pen
I booked us for a swim with them!
So, there you have it! We are all set! I was able to book us for a 2:00 p.m. stingray swim, although we may change that - all times were still available this morning when I booked.
First things first - introductions and specifics
Sailing on this cruise will be one of my closest friends (since 3rd grade, which was 38 years ago!), Becky. And of course, me!
We will be sailing a 3-nighter on the Disney Dream, October 4-7, 2012.
Becky and me at our High School Graduation, 1984
Becky will arrive at MCO sometime on October 3rd (I will drive down from Jax and pick her up), and we will spend the night in Cocoa Beach, either at the Best Western Oceanfront (already have an oceanfront room secured there) or the Resort on Cocoa Beach.
This trip has been a few years in the making, ever since my 2010 Magic cruise when Becky announced a strong desire to sail on Disney. She tried (unsuccessfully) for about a year and a half to enlist a group of our girlfriends to make this a group cruise for us. I was in from the get-go and told them just to let me know when. This past April she finally declared she was booking the cruise regardless of who was in or not, and if anyone else decided they wanted to join us, by all means they could make their plans as well. We originally planned on sailing the last weekend in December, but since Becky was booking with DVC points (she has several she needs to use or lose this year) and that sailing was no longer available with points, we decided on the October 4th date. We had also planned on booking a verandah stateroom; I'm not sure if those were not available for us either as we ended up booked in a 9A GTY. No biggie - for a 3-night cruise this was not a deal breaker for either of us.
This will be Becky's first cruise ever, and my thirteenth (sixth on DCL - gold baby!). She has been a non-stop mom for the past 23 years to her seven kiddos, so her hubby is taking the reins for our weekend. Now, DVC has been a bit of a challenge with my Castaway Club, to say the least. They told Becky when she booked they could not add my CC number to the reservation. DCL says otherwise, but they cannot touch the reservation since DVC owns it. As of today, it's still not tied in so I will just take my CC card (yes, I have one from the old days when they issued those) in addition to a printout of my previous cruises so I at least get my returning cruiser gifts.
Obviously we did not get the luxury of checking in or booking activities at the 105 day mark (boo! as this would have been my first time doing so...I felt so cheated! LOL), but I still managed to book everything that was planned. Our stateroom was finally assigned today (I have been checking every day for the past few weeks!) and we were assigned a 9A cabin, 8008.
Things look like this -
October 3rd - Drive to MCO from Jacksonville; pick up Becky; drive to Cocoa Beach (hopefully getting there early enough to see the Carnival Pride sail out of Port Canaveral - it departs at 6:00 p.m.); eat dinner somewhere.
October 4th - Head over to the port for our 11:00 - 11:30 scheduled arrival time (yes, even at the 75-day mark I was able to secure the early arrival time...whew!); possibly try for an upgrade to a verandah stateroom; just goof off on board and enjoy a few FABs.
October 5th - Nassau, with no real plans. This is Becky's first time out of the country, so we plan on getting our passports stamped (not sure how many Nassau ones are in my current passport!), and then just wandering and shopping. Most likely we will spend a good deal of time just enjoying the ship as well.
October 6th - Castaway Cay. After Becky had mentioned how much she wanted to swim with dolphins, but would not do so without her kids (she and her husband plan on taking their family on a cruise possibly next year or the year after) I got in touch with her oldest daughter and we decided Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure would be a good substitute for a surprise. Obviously I would not be able to keep this under wraps until the cruise which is what I wanted to do (considering it's right online under our activities), so I put together a little box of trinkets for Becky and sent it to her this week to coincide with the timing of our booking window. There were four items in the box representing each day, and a poem I wrote attached to each item (and I can’t believe I did not take pictures of the actual items, but I did take pics of the tags - of course I took the pics before I added the ribbon to the tags...ugh!):
(For item one, which included a DCL Bus pin - Becky had mentioned taking the DCL bus to the port but then we decided it would make sense for me to just pick her up at MCO)
Driving to the beachside port
Deciding where we should cavort;
A Disney bus is not our ride
But a car (and friend) are supplied.
Our trip begins with ocean views
(And let’s not forget there will be booze!)
This pin takes place of a magical express
Forever now a bus you possess!
(For item two, I put a DCL Konk Kooler recipe card inside a Sailaway Drink Cup)
As we begin our sail away
To islands not so faraway,
A drink or two in our hands
Looking forward to toes in sand.
Streamers, dancing, the party begins
I hope we spot some dolphin fins;
The adventure starts in the Florida sun
Off we go to have some fun!
(For item three, I wrapped up a Tortuga Rum Factory rum cake in DCL wrapping paper)
First we land on Nassau tides
Passport stamps they will provide;
Then a stroll in shops galore
(It’s nice to finally be ashore!).
Jewelry, purses, hats of straw
Some a knock off or with a flaw;
But for this treasure I would have swum
Finally a cake made with rum!
(And finally for item 4, which was a Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure pin)
Our journey ends in paradise
Castaway Cay to be precise;
Beaches, bikes, there’s lots to choose
What a way to end our cruise.
But first we need to don a vest
To reach the day’s final quest;
Stingrays swim in a closed off pen
I booked us for a swim with them!
So, there you have it! We are all set! I was able to book us for a 2:00 p.m. stingray swim, although we may change that - all times were still available this morning when I booked.
