Trip Report I ESCAPED!!! (part 1) - The Dream Girls

PART 1 OF 2​

Oh come on! Y'all didn't think I'd actually NOT post some sort of telling of the tale, did you?

#seriously?

Wait! I take that back! There was a rule about hashtags! Crap! @Ariel484 , you had the list of rules, right?

No notes to use. Just the pictures and the memories that stand out. For whatever reason there's holes here and there in my pictoral timeline. Oh well. Prob'ly better that way.

Many of the girls said things like, "What happens on the girls' cruise stays on the girls' cruise." Um, yeah. No promises on whether or not what follows is strategically edited. Chances are it is. If you want to know what really happens on the unOfficial WDWMagic Girls Cruise you'll just have to book yourself a stateroom on the next one. Needless to say, 27 ladies + 1 cruise = a hellagood time.

Part 1 of 2. This was a 2-part runaway from home for me. I decided to do these recountings in 2 pieces then link them to each other accordingly. Part 1 contains the girls cruise experience. Part 2 contains the 20th anniversary escape for me & my Sweetness. Definitely 2 vastly different trips connected by time. You can see part 2 HERE.

Also, please forgive whatever crap I post for pictures. I got a new camera a few days before I left home. I played a lot with my shots and have been experimenting heavily with editing. Oftentimes you'll see pictures taken only seconds apart that look very different. That's because in editing I'm still playing with a range of settings to find what my mind's eye enjoys. K?

With that, lets get this thing rolling!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yay, you started!! I am living vicariously through your pics until I can get on the Dream myself in June!

Yay! Glad to have ya onboard!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We had a solid turnout for breakfast. In fact, I'm pretty sure every one of our ladies came for Kona breakfast! Part of the planning we discussed what to do with all our luggage while we ate breakfast. Well, we ended up parking the bags by the entrance where normally you'd find strollers. We were all seated very nearby. As heavily overpacked as we all were, nobody was going to be able to physically run with one of these bags. Wasn't happening. LOL!




Now everyone swears that the best Kona dish is the Tonga Toast. I'm here to tell you they're wrong. Dead wrong. The best Kona breakfast dish is this. I think it's called the Samoan? I didn't order it but Christina let me have a bite of hers. Wow!




This is what I had along with a breakfast shake. Yes, I brought my breakfast shakes from home. Trying to save my splurges, people.




In no time breakfast was finished and it was time to get this show on the road. We all headed outside to load up. Sweet ride, huh? Christina's smile says it all!




Yes, we did this.




So cool. The Hummer, that is.




Where's the luggage? In the trailer, of course.




Inside was just as sweet.




Keeping up with the travelin' toes for @Disneyfalcon !




The bus prob'ly would've been more spacious but it would've cost more. Great conversation with my fellow cruisers on the way. Felt like we were at our first stop in no time. Supply run.




I totally failed at getting any arrival pics. No clue why. Everything was a bustle of activity. We checked-in, boarded the ship, had lunch at Cabanas, then began our exploration.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We started with the teen club, The Vibe. I took a pic from out on the Vibe's sun deck of the bridge.




And a flag. Random, I know. No explanation for what my brain does.




Next we went to Oceaneer's Lab and Club. Andy's toys.




Andy's bed.




Bombed by a kid picking his butt.




RC.




Seriously cool space. The floor here is like a giant game controller pad thing.




Monsters Inc. room.






Fairies room.




Nemo room.






Animator's Studio.




Craft Studio.




Another interactive play floor thing.




We also saw the Edge tween club for @Sans Souci 's son but I didn't take any pictures of it for some reason. I think right before the staterooms were ready we ended up back down near Guest Services on deck 3. This is next.

Princess Jess!




Wannabe Princess Kelly!




Playing with the tile mural shots. Looking for the texture.




I really liked this one.

 

[AJ's B]

So jealous!!!! I've been waiting for your report. I can't wait to hear more. You write the best trip reports. maybe I will get to join in on the next all girls cruise!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It was stateroom time so we headed there to unload all our carryons we'd been dragging around. In no time at all it was time to go to the fabulous welcome reception that Pam ( @Kingdom Konsultant ) hosted for us in Meridian. That was soooo sweet of her! Totally wonderful!




Minnie even came for a private meet!






Totally just jacked this off Instagram. If you didn't already know, there's a whooooole bunch of picks on Instagram from lots of ladies under #wdwmagicgirls.




Crap. I just hashtagged again.

<<hangs head and shuffles off to go get the bottle again>>

<<gulp>>

For some reason that's where my pics for the day ended. I know my day didn't end here. We had a muster drill, sailaway, and dinner. I also delivered all my fish extender gifts. I know I crashed early. It was a long, busy day for just 3 1/2 hours sleep.

Sailaway Instagram grab.




And, some of our lovely WDWMagic members back home were wonderful enough to watch for us to sail away on the Port Canaveral webcam.

Here's @Zortek 's grabs.

Here's @englanddg 's grabs.

And, @englanddg 's video grab. Forward to about 8:45.




Huge shout out to all the wonderful WDWMagic peeps who took the time to watch us waving and capture screen shots/video. Thank YOU!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So jealous!!!! I've been waiting for your report. I can't wait to hear more. You write the best trip reports. maybe I will get to join in on the next all girls cruise!

Wow! Thank you! I threw away my notes 3 days in and freed myself to take in the trip. I decided if I threw something together at a later time I would do it but I wasn't planning for it anymore. I wanted to be in the moment and soak in the fun before it passed me by. Would looove to see ya on the next one. I'll be there!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

September 9, 2013 - Discovering Atlantis. It's not lost after all.

I got a solid night's sleep and was up early. I grabbed my supplies to fix my morning beverages and headed up to Quiet Cove to relax. It was a very pretty morning as we approached Nassau.




There were storms out there but I wasn't worried. Where we were going it really didn't matter if the water came from above our heads or beneath our toes. We would be wet.




Quiet Cove is quiet in the morning.




From our stateroom verandah Atlantis with storms behind.






We turned in the turn-basin and backed into our parking spot.




Tammy, Missy, Christina, and I went down to Enchanted Garden before the gangways opened so the others could get breakfast. I was steady working on my hydration drinking tons of water. Last night I mentioned to Missy that I've always wanted to sit in one of the cool round booths. Unbeknownst to me, Missy made one happen for us this morning. Cool kids seat!




Snapped this pic of the fountain in the restaurant.




Breakfast took no time then we were off for our adventure. We are here!




Oooooooh...




The Bahamian Navy is so cute.




Christina had never been to a waterpark in her whole life. Missy had never been to the Atlantis Aquaventure. Both ladies wanted to scope it out to see if it was a good fit for their families. Tammy & I both have been and know it's sooooo worth it. Here's a trick worth checking into if you happen to be going to Nassau and want to experience the Aquaventure. If you book a room at the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island (be sure to book directly thru their website) you will have access to all of the Atlantis Aquaventure & aquariums. They're affiliated. Sometimes you can book that Comfort Suites room for a cheaper per person price (make sure you list each person in your group) than the $169 thru the cruise line. You'll have to pay your taxi fare to/from (I forget how much) and there won't be any food included. But, it's a way to possibly save some money. So, here is the inside of the Comfort Suites lobby.




Short walk over to Atlantis and you're here. In fact, we entered thru the same side entrance where the DCL excursion groups drop off. Amazing glass sculpture. I wish I could give you the scale of this thing. It's huge.




This sorta helps.




The main lobby area of Atlantis.




The back side of the lobby has a lower level where the entrance to the aquarium is located. It's so beautiful here. Pictures do nothing for it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It took some looking (Atlantis is not really generous with their signage to show you where things are) but we found the entrance to the aquarium area. First, we saw lobsters.




Lots of litte aquariums about.




These fishies were big as a person!




Here's a touch area. I didn't get the best pic but you can see the horseshoe crabs about mid-way in the tank here.




Eels. How I managed to not get many, I will never know. There was easily 10 of them in here.




The aquarium empties into a gift shop. Then you head outside. Here's a little beach area I'd only ever seen from a distance. Traveling with girls is sooooo cool because they're not usually in a big hurry. We're all just chilled, wandering about looking at stuff.




The Royal Tower and the infamous MJ suite.




Not ones to miss out on a dime, Atlantis has added cabanas for day rental, too. We didn't get one but they look nice enough.




Flying fish sculpture.




We got our locker, plopped our stuff down, and hit the river!

This is also where I had stowed my new "Girl Camera" (as Chandler calls it) and switched to my water camera. The following pics were edited in iPhoto and not the better editing program I've been using.




4 girls on tubes. 3 had cameras. This is interesting. We did promise each other not to go public with any shots that were potentially unkind.




The Power Tower.




Heading up the big conveyor to the Power Tower slides. Yes, there's an employee in the waaaaaay back of this shot walking down the conveyor. It was really funny. The conveyor stopped and we were just sitting. Down comes this girl. She gets to the bottom and starts yelling at some other employee some distance away fussing about the orientation of the guests on their tubes as they come up. They're supposed to be facing backwards. We never saw anyone at the bottom but I knew how we were supposed to be. It was the slowest day I'd ever seen at Atlantis. I'm guessing maybe they were short-staffed?




The views on the way up are nothing to complain about.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We went over to the tube slide that goes thru the shark tunnel, too. I'm so sorry I dont' know the names of these things. The view on our way up to the shark tunnel tube slide, NOT the body slide you see in the commercials that drops you straight down thru the shark tank.








The shark tank viewing area from the outside. You can see the tube flume floating thru the middle.










We made our way to the other side of this tower via the little tide pools connected by the little kiddie type slides. I've never done these little slides because my family always just sorta passed 'em up. They're so little. But, us ladies do NOT care. We WILL slide on these. And we did. It was soooooo fun! Looking back up at the tower.




Lots of places for kiddos to play in the water or adults to relax.






Walking around exploring, looking up at the side of the Royal Tower, I think.




The grounds are so beautifully landscaped. I love just wandering around taking it all in.




A map! These are few and far between.




This is the end of my water camera pics.

We hit the final water coaster type tube slides we hadn't yet done then it started really raining. We returned to our locker, grabbed all our stuff, and waited for the rain to slow to a sprinkle. On our way out we took more pics.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

fun,fun, fun

been waiting for this

really dig how ur pics came
out sweetpea, they have an animated quality to them

very colorful..

carry on

Thank you! I love vibrant colors. Can't ya tell???? LOL!

 

[fractal]

Finally a TR from the girls' cruise!

Great photos - I love the one in the bus with the sun peaking in from behind the clouds!

Atlantis looks awesome.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We headed back out the front entrance, a first for me, to grab a taxi back to the pier. The outside entrance is rather grand in itself.




Looking over and back towards the front doors.




Back at the side front of the Royal Tower.




There's so much water everywhere!

Here's the front port cochere and an approaching taxi.




First thing we did back on the ship was go straight to Cabanas for some lunch. We were starving. We just did Atlantis and didn't spend a nickel on food or drink.




We finished lunch then headed out to the walk-up windows for more grub that we carried over to Quiet Cove to enjoy.




Then, I had a huge milestone first! I actually got IN a DCL ship pool. It only took 6 cruises to get around to it. THEN, I did another big first! I got in a hot tub. It was hot. No pics. Sorry.

So, I'm guessing next was a shower and getting dressed. My next shots are in Pink, the champagne bar in the night club district.




I love this place. It's pink and very feminine.




Work it, Missy!




We were killing time before the Castaway Club Gold & Platinum reception. This being my 6th cruise, I was "new" gold status. I wanted to see what it was like. They had servers milling about offering finger foods and complimentary cocktails.




Cheers, ladies!




It was an interesting experience. First everyone enjoys the refreshments. Thankfully we were seated in a little area set up for just 4 people. We listened to a lot of people around us talking about how many cruises they'd been on, where they'd been, etc. Before the reception I told Missy if anyone asked her about her "status" she should make up really impressive stuff to tell them. That was my plan, anyway. Luckily, nobody asked so I didn't have to make like I'm a high-roller.

During refreshements the cruise director, captain, and maybe some other officers make the rounds and greet everyone. Next, the cruise director talks. Then the captain talks. We saw a little film thing. The cruise director was floored when we informed him we were sailing with 27 ladies that we knew from the internet. That was the reoccuring show-stopper. When asked who we were cruising with we'd say "27 friends, all ladies". This always brought the next big question: "Oh! How do you all know each other? College friends?" "Nope. Internet." And this is what you'd get every time ---->

I spoke briefly with the captain about the recently proclaimed Commodore Tom on the Fantasy since I'd be sailing with him so soon. We had a few little laughs. It was fun!

This is also where @wogwog came over and introduced himself to us. It was so lovely to meet another WDWMagic'er. Tammy has the pic of me & Mr.WogWog.

So that was the Castaway Club Gold & Platinum reception.

Tonight was our Remy dinner night. Pre-dinner visit to the restroom outside and I was quite taken with the ornate mirrors in the ladies room. They're beautiful. Yes, I took pictures in the ladies room. Christina and I were the only ones there.








I'm not even going to recount the rest of the evening. I must have deleted any pics I had if I took any at all for more than obvious reasons. I've written it out once and don't care to recount it again. THIS happened. Be advised, the recounting of it all was sorta long but in the context of the conversation needed to be said.

Afterwards I went to bed early because, really, I wasn't going to be good company for anyone tonight.

End of pics. End of day.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Finally a TR from the girls' cruise!

Great photos - I love the one in the bus with the sun peaking in from behind the clouds!

Atlantis looks awesome.

Ah, Chris! I have you to credit for the best camera purchase ever. Totally on your recommendation! My editing skills still need to be worked on, I know, but I'm finding my mind's vision. Thanks a million times over for all the time you spent talking with me and helping me out. I appreciate it so much.

Atlantis IS awesome. It's gloriously beautiful. I would do a long weekend there.

 

[cfry06]

So excited you started your report! The pics I've seen of the cruise looked awesome- I absolutely hope to make it on a future Girls' cruise!!

Pictures are beautiful- love the photo love of the Grand Floridian. Beautiful!

Following along for more adventures! Getting excited for our first Dream cruise in 30-ish days! Thanks for sharing your trip.

 

[joanna71985]

Yay! First TR is started! I will say, it's not weird seeing oneself in someone else's TR

Now I just need to get crackin' on mine (and I can't wait until the next WDWMagic cruise)

 

[thrupaytonseyes]

I am loving your trip report and pictures! So sorry to read what you went through at Remy!

 

[fractal]

great picture!

 

[jesemeca]

I love all of your pictures Kelly! I even spotted myself in a few. I'll admit I tear up a bit seeing the screen shots of us leaving. It was such an emotional few minutes for me.

I'm working on my birthday trip report and then I will start on the cruise report. I'm hoping by the time I do mine, I won't have to compete with everyone. LOL. Then maybe I'll have some readers!

 

[ml123_9]

That's a sweet limo. You definately don't see too many limos pulling trailers around. Loving the report and your outside pics at GF are wonderful.

 

[donaldtoo]

Great TR and great pics! Not your typical...for me, anyway...never read a "Girls" TR before...!
Sorry about Remy. Maybe Skinner was runnin' the place that evening...?!
And, as secure as I am in my testosterone-laden, red-blooded-American-male self...I can still admit I caught the "Oh look! There's a band!" reference...!!!