Parrotheader
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2002
This covers the 7-day land/sea vacation of Keith and Holly from Birmingham, AL as told by Keith (Parrotheader.) Were both 26 with kids still a couple years away. Holly had previously been to Disney World twice (one trip she was too young to remember) and Keith had been 5 times. We're BOTH cruise rookies. Pictures of our trip can also be found at:
http://www.luckie.net/disney/
Day 6 Off to the Disney Wonder
Thursday, May 30
Holly and I reluctantly left Port Orleans at 10:00 on Thursday morning. We wanted to get an early jump on all the Disney Cruise buses. We took our time and got Port Canaveral around 11:15. As we were coming over the bridges to Port Canaveral we could see the ships (and the Wonder) in the distance. It helped build up the anticipation nicely for first time cruisers like ourselves.
After checking our bags, parking our car and taking a few pictures of the ship we finally made our way into the terminal. There was already a small line at the gate, but it was still too early to just be sitting around doing nothing so we walked around the terminal and went out on the deck for even more pictures. There was even a Segway scooter (one of those things that got a TON of PR awhile back) in the terminal. Unfortunately, I didnt get to ride it and make all my coworkers jealous.
We got in line for boarding around 11:45 and they began boarding 15 minutes early at 12:15. Upon boarding, we immediately went up to deck 9 to eat at the buffet instead of Parrots Cay. We enjoyed the view and explored the ship until 1:15 when we went to WaveBands to get Palos reservations. They were supposed to start at 1:30, but Im glad we checked early. We were the 2nd couple to arrive.
After that, we went up to get Spa reservations. Those didnt start until 1:30 on the nose. We went ahead and took the tour (we were the first group to do so.) Hardly anything was booked by the time we finished. We went ahead and booked a massage for Holly and the Surial Bath for the both of us for our afternoon in Nassau.
After 1:30, we went by our room where our luggage was already waiting for us. We were in room 6020, a Category 8 Oceanview room on the port side of deck 6 forward. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. We knew Disney rooms were supposedly bigger on average, but we were still expecting something tiny. This was quite spacious for just the two of us. We went ahead and tried to take a nap although it was a bit noisy with everybody exploring the ship and with the luggage constantly being delivered down the hall.
After our nap, we got up and got a prime position at the front of the ship for when we cast off. We hung around on deck for awhile and soaked in the view and then headed back below to relax and get ready for dinner (we skipped the show that night.) We ate at Tritons our first night. I walked by there during the early seating and noticed TONS of guys not wearing suits. Most were dressed like business casual, some with coats and ties, a few with shorts even. So I just wore my dress pants and my camel hair jacket with a nice shirt. No tie for me thanks.
Dinner yielded us one of the most pleasant surprises on the trip. We got to dinner a few minutes early and were seated. Our head server, Daniel, came by to check with us and asked us if the rest of our party would be joining us. We said sorry there was no rest of our party (as far as we knew), we were pretty much it. He looked a bit confused, said hed be right back and then went to check with another maitre d. He then came back and removed the other chairs from our table for four. Fifteen minutes later, another couple came in and sat at an unnumbered table right next to ours. Im assuming they were our original tablemates. They were substantially older than we were (probably in their late 50s or early 60s) and we know Disney usually tries to seat people roughly in the same age bracket. Later on, we figured out that they were probably the other people who shared the same last name as us (we found this out at registration when I had to check-in.) So we ended up having our own private table for two for the WHOLE cruise! Not that we arent nice people, but it was nice to have it be just the two of us.
The food at Tritons was very good, although I now cant remember what I had. Some sort of sea bass I think. The atmosphere was nice although not our favorite of the other restaurants. We got to know our assistant server Ferhat and our server Zdrovkov (sp?) over the course of the meal. They were nice guys. Ferhat looked like my old college roommate.
After dinner we took in a movie (Legally Blonde) and then wandered the ship a bit before arriving back at our room. The sea had been moderately rough according to the bridge display and wed definitely felt it at dinner even though we were on the central axis of the ship, but I think we were getting used to it by this point. I then ordered room service since it was free. Late night (and even early afternoon) PB&Js with two cookies became a staple item for the rest of the trip. Holly settled in to sleep while I watched some of Casablanca before turning in shortly afterward. The rocking of the ship made for EXTREMELY soothing sleep.
Up Next:
Day 7 Nassau & Our Pretend Day at Sea
http://www.luckie.net/disney/
Day 6 Off to the Disney Wonder
Thursday, May 30
Holly and I reluctantly left Port Orleans at 10:00 on Thursday morning. We wanted to get an early jump on all the Disney Cruise buses. We took our time and got Port Canaveral around 11:15. As we were coming over the bridges to Port Canaveral we could see the ships (and the Wonder) in the distance. It helped build up the anticipation nicely for first time cruisers like ourselves.
After checking our bags, parking our car and taking a few pictures of the ship we finally made our way into the terminal. There was already a small line at the gate, but it was still too early to just be sitting around doing nothing so we walked around the terminal and went out on the deck for even more pictures. There was even a Segway scooter (one of those things that got a TON of PR awhile back) in the terminal. Unfortunately, I didnt get to ride it and make all my coworkers jealous.
We got in line for boarding around 11:45 and they began boarding 15 minutes early at 12:15. Upon boarding, we immediately went up to deck 9 to eat at the buffet instead of Parrots Cay. We enjoyed the view and explored the ship until 1:15 when we went to WaveBands to get Palos reservations. They were supposed to start at 1:30, but Im glad we checked early. We were the 2nd couple to arrive.
After that, we went up to get Spa reservations. Those didnt start until 1:30 on the nose. We went ahead and took the tour (we were the first group to do so.) Hardly anything was booked by the time we finished. We went ahead and booked a massage for Holly and the Surial Bath for the both of us for our afternoon in Nassau.
After 1:30, we went by our room where our luggage was already waiting for us. We were in room 6020, a Category 8 Oceanview room on the port side of deck 6 forward. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. We knew Disney rooms were supposedly bigger on average, but we were still expecting something tiny. This was quite spacious for just the two of us. We went ahead and tried to take a nap although it was a bit noisy with everybody exploring the ship and with the luggage constantly being delivered down the hall.
After our nap, we got up and got a prime position at the front of the ship for when we cast off. We hung around on deck for awhile and soaked in the view and then headed back below to relax and get ready for dinner (we skipped the show that night.) We ate at Tritons our first night. I walked by there during the early seating and noticed TONS of guys not wearing suits. Most were dressed like business casual, some with coats and ties, a few with shorts even. So I just wore my dress pants and my camel hair jacket with a nice shirt. No tie for me thanks.
Dinner yielded us one of the most pleasant surprises on the trip. We got to dinner a few minutes early and were seated. Our head server, Daniel, came by to check with us and asked us if the rest of our party would be joining us. We said sorry there was no rest of our party (as far as we knew), we were pretty much it. He looked a bit confused, said hed be right back and then went to check with another maitre d. He then came back and removed the other chairs from our table for four. Fifteen minutes later, another couple came in and sat at an unnumbered table right next to ours. Im assuming they were our original tablemates. They were substantially older than we were (probably in their late 50s or early 60s) and we know Disney usually tries to seat people roughly in the same age bracket. Later on, we figured out that they were probably the other people who shared the same last name as us (we found this out at registration when I had to check-in.) So we ended up having our own private table for two for the WHOLE cruise! Not that we arent nice people, but it was nice to have it be just the two of us.
The food at Tritons was very good, although I now cant remember what I had. Some sort of sea bass I think. The atmosphere was nice although not our favorite of the other restaurants. We got to know our assistant server Ferhat and our server Zdrovkov (sp?) over the course of the meal. They were nice guys. Ferhat looked like my old college roommate.
After dinner we took in a movie (Legally Blonde) and then wandered the ship a bit before arriving back at our room. The sea had been moderately rough according to the bridge display and wed definitely felt it at dinner even though we were on the central axis of the ship, but I think we were getting used to it by this point. I then ordered room service since it was free. Late night (and even early afternoon) PB&Js with two cookies became a staple item for the rest of the trip. Holly settled in to sleep while I watched some of Casablanca before turning in shortly afterward. The rocking of the ship made for EXTREMELY soothing sleep.
Up Next:
Day 7 Nassau & Our Pretend Day at Sea
