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WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

ajp
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ajp » Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:07 am

If you follow the disney cruise line twitter it will keep track of Keith and Della's ship!
All I seem to see is the Alaska cruise tweets, nothing from the other ships. Obviously the Alaska cruises aren't selling as well as the others.
2023 Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Lines - Disney Wish. Going to be awesome to be back!

mushu mama
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby mushu mama » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:14 am

I've been devouring the trip reports, but on my phone... I've been without a laptop for a few months now so just been reading, not commenting. I've borrowed Millies laptop while she's at uni today so am catching up big time.

Loving the trip updates Keith and Della, can't wait to hear how the cruise went and see more photos. -/
1999- Tokyo DL, 2008- DLR/Cal Adventure, 2012-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2013-Tokyo DLand/Sea, 2014-DLR/Cal Adventure, 2015- Paris DL, 2016 - WDW/Disneycruise , upcoming - May 2018 - HongKong DL

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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:12 am

We are back on dry land.

OMG!!!!!!!

Can't wait to post the daily updates but suffice to say that the cruise was the best holiday trip EVER!

Will post more details this evening.

As for parcel pickup. Yes it exists and we know about it, but with busy crowds and the form filling and the delay getting your goods, we just opt for the locker option.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

ajp
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ajp » Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:57 am

OMG!!!!!!!

Can't wait to post the daily updates but suffice to say that the cruise was the best holiday trip EVER!
And with those few uttered words, your transformation is now complete! :lol:

Glad you enjoyed it. It is something else isn't it? Can't wait to hear your thoughts in detail. Enjoy port Orleans resort.
2023 Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Lines - Disney Wish. Going to be awesome to be back!

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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:35 am

As Anthony said, my transformation is complete and I'm a believer in the Disney Cruise experience. I'll have some further thoughts on the cruise later but for the time being, you can just read our daily diary as it says plenty!

23 March 2013 – Port Canaveral/At Sea
The big cruise day finally arrived! We had to have our suitcases ready by 8am, so we got up nice and early to do the final check of our gear and fix the luggage tags to the suitcases. That done, we headed down to breakfast in the resort. We followed breakfast with a quick walk around the resort, taking a final set of pictures. It was a nice morning, although it was raining in other parts of Orlando and over at Port Canaveral.

After breakfast, we returned to our room and found our luggage had gone. We brushed our teeth and watched TV for a bit, but at 10:50, we left our room and headed to the lobby for the 12:00noon pick up. We just sat around the lobby for a while until the Disney Cruise Line representatives arrived and ticked off our names. There were two buses worth of people from our resort heading to the ship. We got on to the second bus and were soon on our way. The drive down the freeway was fun as they showed a video of life on the ship along with Disney trivia.

Eventually, we saw our ship in the distance and Della started freaking out a bit at its size. She was in one of her over-stimulated moments… We got off the bus at the terminal and quickly passed through the security and headed upstairs into the cruise terminal. There were a large number of desks for check in and as we had already done the online check in, things were really smooth – just a quick photo, our door keys issued, and then we were on our way to boarding. We walked through the Mickey Ear entryway and up for our official embarkation photo. We then got to the gangway where they asked our names and then as we stepped aboard, they called out our names as the crew clapped and cheered as we stepped aboard – and this is when Della burst into tears. A cast member came up to Della and she asked her if she was okay but Della couldn’t speak. I assured the her Della was okay – it was just too exciting for her and so we headed to our cabin.

When we got to our room, we met Flori from Romania who is our stateroom host. She was very nice and had already put my formal suit in our room and I had to sign for it. Our cabin is awesome and the veranda is great – we were parked right next to the Carnival Dream and could see all the people on that boat getting ready for departure. We then decided we needed to get some food for Della as she was still overwhelmed by it all. We went upstairs to Cabanas to have a look around, and then moved on to Flo’s V8 Café – and here is the interesting thing, it felt like we were stealing food, because you don’t have to pay for anything, it was the weirdest sensation.

After getting food and a drink, we went for a walk around the upper decks before heading back to our room to prepare for the emergency drill. The alarm sounded and we headed down the emergency stairs to deck 4 muster point K. There we had our names ticked off and were shown how to use the life vest and also had a look inside the life rafts which were enormous. Once we were dismissed, we all headed up to deck 11 for the Sail Away party which was a lot of fun. Mickey and friends came out and it was a great party. They counted down to our departure, and then the ship’s horn played When You Wish Upon a Star and we started moving out of port – and yes, Della cried again.

We lined the ship’s side as we sailed down the channel and there were hundreds of people waving as we sailed away, it was awesome. Once we were out of the channel, we headed back to our room and found that our luggage had been delivered, so we got changed for the evening show in the Walt Disney Theatre. We headed to the theatre and the first show was The Fantasy Begins, which was a great show and had lots of tips about enjoying the ship. There was also a comedian singer who was totally hilarious, it was a great introduction to the ship and the shows.

Immediately after the show, we hit a couple of the shops and I bought some shirts and an autograph book, while Della got a jacket and autograph book. We dropped our purchases off in our room and then headed down to the Animator’s Palate for our first on board dinner. We met two other couples on our table, one of whom works for Disney and they were all nice. The dinner was amazing – I had the mushroom risotto followed by the roast chicken, and Della had the soup and the chicken. We then shared a chocolate dessert which was amazing. During the dinner, we had Crush visit our table a couple of times and there was always something happening around the room – it was an amazing experience!

After dinner, we headed back to our room to sort some stuff out – putting clothes away etc. and finally we were in bed by midnight to the gentle rocking of the ship. It was an amazing first day.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:39 am

24 March 2013 – At Sea
Remarkably after all the excitement of yesterday, both Della and I both managed a great night’s sleep! Maybe it was the rocking of the ship, but more probably exhaustion! We slept in this morning and finally got out of bed around 9am and headed out for breakfast. On the way, we passed through the lobby atrium just as the Princess Gathering was commencing and six Princesses came down the grand staircase. It was all too exciting for me, so after saying good morning to Snow White, we headed to the Enchanted Garden for breakfast where we ran into Igor, our server from last night's dinner. We both had magnificent bacon, eggs, toast, sausages and tea/coffee.

After breakfast, we went to the shops where Della struck up a conversation with the jewellery guy and also took great care looking at all the handbags etc. We then headed to the cabin followed by a quick bite to eat for lunch at Flo’s. Della wanted to do the island shopping talk so she dragged me to it – it was a bit shonky as they were pushing particular brands but she did get a charm out of it.

Immediately afterward, we lined up at the Walt Disney Theatre to see the Aladdin show which is similar to DCA’s version. We then went and got some photos with Minnie in her formal gear and Captain Mickey. It was formal night and people were starting to appear in their formalwear, so we headed off to get changed – I had hired my gear via cruise-line formal and it was perfect for me.

After getting changed, we headed back to the atrium for formal pictures with Minnie, followed by a series of formal professional photos. It was then time for dinner so we went to our table in the Enchanted Garden and caught up with Brian and Patty, and Sasha and Laurie – our tablemates, all of whom are really nice. Brian and Patty work for Disney and we’ve struck up a really good friendship with them.

After dinner, we got a photo with Captain Mickey in our formal gear, and a photo with Ariel who was fantastic. We then went to the night time adults only comedy music night with John Charles who was hilarious and a great musician. We ended the night with a walk through the nightclubs before heading back to our cabin and sleep.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:44 am

25 March 2013 – At Sea
This morning, we decided we’d go down for the Princess Gathering again and get photos with all the princesses. I stood above the atrium to photograph them coming down the stairs and then joined Della in the queue to get one on one time with them. We met Cinderella, Aurora, Tiana, Ariel, Belle and Snow White. While waiting, I was grumbling about how they always hug the little kids and not the big kids, but guess what? I got to Cinderella and she hugged me, as did Aurora and Ariel! Disney Cruise Line Princesses are the best!

After the Princess Gathering, we headed up to Cabanas for brunch with bacon, ham and cheese omelette, hash browns, coffees etc. Again the food was spectacular. We then had a good walk around the stern deck.

At midday, we returned to our cabin to drop stuff off we sat on our veranda while the ship blew Disney tunes over the ship’s horn which was fantastic! We then headed down to the lobby atrium to watch the dance party that was happening with Mickey and Minnie in their Caribbean clothes, it was great fun.

Next up, we took in a DVC presentation and I won a Mickey pin! They tried hard to recruit us and we agreed to have a conversation to ask questions later that night (we were really after freebies!).

Next, we went to the Walt Disney Theatre to see the Wishes stage show about three teenagers graduating high school who are sucked into the Disney fantasy worlds – it was a good show except for the little kids who sat beside us and talked throughout the presentation – arrgghhhh!

After Wishes, we went to McGill’s Irish Pub for movie quote trivia which was a lot of fun, even though we didn’t win. Next we headed back to the cabin to get changed into swimwear and it was back on deck for us to ride the Aquaduck! What fun that was, we laughed the whole way through the ride. When we got off, we headed forward on the deck to the adults only pool area and sat in the pool until it was time to change for dinner.

After changing, we lined up for Pluto in his sailor outfit before going to our DVC talk with Nick the DVC guy. He tried to figure out a good points balance for us to buy (around $50,000 from his calculations) but there was no way we were going to commit to that while on holiday.

Dinner was next in the Royal Court and it was a French themed dinner. I had the French onion soup and garlic shrimp and beef, while Della had the lamb followed by a trio of desserts – all of it was amazing.

We then went to the atrium for more professional portraits before a close encounter with Donald, a quick shop for pirate goods (and a long chat with Scottish crew member) and then off to bed – another fun day at sea. Tomorrow, we hit land in St Thomas.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:49 am

26 March 2013 – St Thomas/St John
We woke up early this morning after putting in a pre-order for room service breakfast. On opening the curtains, we had a great view of the US Virgin Islands as we sailed along. I was busy taking photos from the balcony, when breakfast arrived – which we also ate outside on the balcony.

Slowly we made our way to the dock and the pilot boat came out to meet us. We eventually docked and Della and I headed downstairs to register for the day’s Port Adventure – a tour of St John, which is a neighbouring island to St Thomas. We caught up with Brian and Patty who were on the same tour and we stuck with them for the day. After getting off the ship, we headed over to a small ferry for the 40 minute trip to St John. We all sat on the top deck as we made our way past celebrity mansions on our way to St John.

When we docked there, we met with Hamilton, our tour guide for St John. He put us in his large open sided Ford F150 taxi and we headed off. Interestingly, the US Virgin Islands is the only part of the US where they drive on the left – but in left hand drive vehicles! It is a strange place. We also found out that while you can’t use a mobile phone or text while driving, drink driving is acceptable and is only illegal if you cause an accident.

We drove all over the island, stopping at various lookouts and beaches along the way. The island was really beautiful – just like you would imagine a Caribbean Island to look like.

After the tour, we got strawberry smoothies with Brian and Patty while we waited for our return ride to St Thomas. On the way back, we sat downstairs inside as it was hot and sunny and the boat’s cabin was airconditioned. When we arrived back beside the Fantasy, Della and I headed into town for some shopping. St Thomas is insane as it has 2,000 jewellery stores all competing for your business. We weren’t sure if any were really legitimate and after looking at a tonne of things, Della just bought a new Pandora bracelet and a couple of charms.

We walked back to the Fantasy feeling very hot so I went up on deck to grab some drinks (and bags of chips for tomorrow’s trip to San Juan). We then got ready for dinner and the Pirate Party – we had pirate bandanas left in our room during the day. We watched from our balcony as we pulled out of St Thomas, following the Carnival Dream and the Oasis of the Seas. We then headed up on deck for the pirate show. I was dressed in a Capt Jack head gear and Caribbean shirt, and Della had the Pirates in the Caribbean t-shirt and bandana.

The pirate show was fun with Mickey leading us in how to become a pirate, followed by Captain Hook taking over the ship and us saving it. We then went down to dinner which was pirate themed in the Animator’s Palate. Once again, we had a great dinner and met the missing couple from our table, Mike and Patty. Brian and Patty were there too and the dinner was fantastic – I had pork buns followed by Jack Sparrow ribs which were fabulous. Again we had a trio sampler desert which was great.

After dinner, we did some character chasing before going up on deck for the Buccaneer Blast – a show followed by terrific fireworks whilst at sea – unbelievable! Della and I then hit the dance floor for the pirate party after the fireworks which was great fun. We then headed to Cabana’s for the dessert buffet which was brilliant again and we sat with Brian and Patty again and talked and ate for an hour – it was about 11:30pm when we finally said goodnight as we had to get up early for breakfast and our San Juan tour.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:54 am

27 March 2013 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Another early start this morning and we were up before sunrise to watch us pull into San Juan harbour. Our breakfast arrived in our cabin as we sailed past the old fort at San Juan. We ate on our balcony as we tied up alongside the dock, and soon enough we headed downstairs to join our tour of old and new San Juan.

Our tour for the day was hosted by Malia, a local lady who was terrific. We hopped aboard the bus and headed firstly into new San Juan which is the modern half of the city. It looked like most large cities with malls and familiar stores, but it was all in Spanish. She said that Spanish is their first language and you could take English lessons at school if you wanted. The other interesting thing for a US territory is that they are mainly metric, so distances are kilometres, fuel is in litres, but temperature is still Fahrenheit.

We stopped alongside a beach in new San Juan and took photos – it was really beautiful. It was also a hot day – around 35 degrees but really nice. When then headed up to their equivalent of parliament house and took a tour inside of the amazing mosaics which told the story of Puerto Rico. We also crossed the street to take photos out to sea from the cliff top.

Next up, we headed to the fort overlooking old San Juan and the harbour entrance. This is the oldest and largest fort ever built by the Spanish in the new world. It was fantastic to walk through as it is essentially still complete. It was also high up on the cliffs, so Della and I walked up to the top of the walls to take photos of the city and harbour (and our ship!) We also watched Carnival Glory come into port.

After the fort, we were driven into Columbus Square in the old town where we said goodbye to the tour guide and started our own tour. We really loved Old San Juan and the amazing building architecture and colours – it is exactly what I was hoping to see in an old Caribbean town and I wasn’t disappointed. There were lots of shops that sold quirky items and souvenirs, and of course, the obligatory jewellery stores that Della found a liking to.

It was getting really hot so by around 3:00pm, we headed back to the ship, got changed and headed up on deck for a drink and a swim in the forward adult area (satellite falls). That was absolutely fantastic as we sat in the pool looking out over Old San Juan on a beautifully clear afternoon.

After sitting up there a while, we headed back to the room where Della got changed for the evening variety show but I decided to head back out on deck to film our afternoon departure from San Juan. I grabbed a pack of chips and headed up on deck again as we departed the harbour. I then met Della in the atrium to help her get a photo with Genie and Aladdin before she went to the ventrioquist show while I got changed for dinner.

I met Della again straight after the show and we lined up for Tinker Bell who was terrific. We then hopped on the line for Pinocchio and got photos with him too before arranging a birthday cake to be delivered to Patty who was turning 50 the next day. We then dumped my big camera and some other stuff in the room before heading down to dinner in the Enchanted Garden. This was the first night that all four parties came together on our table and it was great fun. We had the Princess menu tonight and I ate the Beast’s soup, followed by peppercorn steak while Della had the roast turkey. We shared a trio of desserts again and they were amazing.

After dinner, we headed up to the Tube with Brian and Patty to enter the 80’s music trivia, and Mike and his Patty also arrived. We were a great team and scored 49 out of 50! But it wasn’t enough to win as there were bonus points for dancing of which we only picked up 2 from Brian’s rendition of Footloose.

After the trivia, The Tube became a night club and we all stayed and danced until midnight before calling it a night and heading back to our cabins.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:13 am

There will be more updates soon - standby, I'm still writing them up!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:24 pm

28 March 2013 – At Sea
We are back on the high seas today as we head up towards Castaway Cay. We headed to breakfast down in the Enchanted Garden and stuffed ourselves silly again. On the way out of the restaurant, we signed up for the Mid-ship Detective Agency Muppet Mystery. This requires you to get a badge that activates the enchanted artwork throughout the ship and follow clues that take you all over the ship. We played our way through the first half of the clues until around 11:30am. The Muppet challenge was hilarious.

We then took a break to line up for Daisy Duck who we had kept missing all week. We then headed back to the Muppets and found Pepe’s stateroom door on deck 5 which a half size version of the normal ship stateroom door and was just hilarious! We then realised that it was almost time for the Captain to blow the ships’ horns so jumped in the lift to get up on the deck and cheered (Della cried) as the Captain blew all the Disney tunes.

We then grabbed a drink and chips beside the pool before heading to the room to eat them on our veranda. Next, we headed to the lobby atrium for the 1pm character dance party – we hit it pretty hard and the cast member running the party picked us out of the crowd for the dancing we were doing!

After the party, we went back to the Muppets and finally finished the mystery and solved the case (it was Della who worked out the password for the safe).

After the Muppets, we went back to the shops for more merchandise before heading to the Buena Vista Theatre for the final round of Bingo – and what an experience that was! You buy an electronic device (or old fashioned paper cards) to play the game. We bought the electronic device because you don’t have to keep track of your cards, the device does it for you. The theatre was packed as the jackpot hadn’t gone off all week and as today was the final day, it was guaranteed to go off. The crowd was screaming and cheering each number and it was a terrific experience. There were four games played with increasing pots – the final game being the jackpot pot. In the end, there was only a single winner and she took home almost $10,000 – enough to pay for her next trip! It was great fun and we’d do the jackpot day again.

Next, we headed to our stateroom to get changed for semi-formal night. I got into the tuxedo again and we headed down to the Walt Disney Theatre for another show – this one titled “Believe” which was simply beautiful. It had a great story and songs, and some amazing special effects with Tinker Bell (a tiny green light Tinker Bell) flying around the theatre – it was wonderful. There were audience members screaming out “I Believe” at the end of the show!

After the show, Chip ‘n’ Dale turned up in their formal gear and we got photos with them before heading to the lobby atrium to listen to the June Gypsies – a husband and wife group that had entertained us each night. We had bought their CD so after their set this evening, we went up to them to get them to sign it. They were so nice and we had a good conversation with them.

Next, it was dinner at the Royal Court with just Mike and Patty as the other two couples were at Remy and Palo. During the dinner, Brian and Patty turned up to thank us for the birthday cake for Patty that was delivered to their room. They told us the cake was really large, and invited us all up to deck 11 at 10pm to share it.

After dinner, I dropped some stuff off in the stateroom before heading up to deck 11 for the birthday celebration. Brian and Patty brought a bottle of wine which we all shared, along with the cake which was terrific! We had a wonderful night sharing stories, before finally heading to bed sometime after midnight!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:25 pm

29 March 2013 – Castaway Cay
We woke up early today so that we could watch our 8:45 arrival at Castaway Cay. We sat on the balcony watching the sea go past and looking at other cruise ships sailing nearby. We also had the bridge view television camera switched on in our stateroom TV so we could watch Castaway Cay appear. Eventually, it was land-ho, so we headed up to Cabana’s for breakfast at the rear of the ship so we could watch it reverse into Castaway Cay while eating breakfast. It was a truly wonderful sight to behold as the weather was perfectly blue – and the colours of the water were magical. We hurried back downstairs to our stateroom to brush our teeth and get ready to hit the island.

Pretty soon, word came over the loudspeaker that we could leave the ship and we headed downstairs and out onto the deck. The first thing we did after collecting towels, was to head to the post office to get photographs and autographs with Donald who had managed to avoid us all week! We then got a Castaway Cay photo with the ship in the background. With that done, we headed further into the island, walking all the way. We checked out the first merchandise store before moving on to get a drink at a Cookies BBQ. We then hit the next merchandise store and bought Castaway Cay shirts as we didn’t want to leave that until the end of the day.

Next, we picked up our bikes and rode down the runway towards Serenity Bay – taking the detour up to the watch tower. At the tower, we took great photos of the island which you could see all around. We then got on the bikes again and headed to the beach at Serenity Bay which is the adults only area.

On the beach, we headed along and got ourselves a pair of lounges under an umbrella. There was no one else around us and it felt like we by ourselves on a deserted island – just magical. We went for a stroll down to the water which initially felt very cold, but we soon got used to it and walked the length of the beach through the surf. There were fish everywhere, as well as pelicans who were dive bombing the water to feed! We literally took hundreds of photos!

Next, we headed up to the adults only BBQ. I had pork ribs, BBQ lemon-marinated chicken, coleslaw and salad, Della had a hamburger cooked to order on the BBQ. After eating, we grabbed some drinks and headed back down to the beach where we laid on our lounges for some time before grabbing our bikes and motoring down the runway and doing a lap of the path to the watch tower again. We eventually dropped the bikes off at the rental point and headed to our Stingray Adventure.

The Stingray Adventure was brilliant! We were issued with goggles and a snorkel, then had a briefing about stingrays and what we would be doing. We then waded out into the stingray pool where floating ramps were set up that the stingrays would swim on to feed. We got to hold food between our fingers and they would swim over your hand and suck it out – it was a weird sensation but an amazing experience. On one occasion, a ray mistook my finger for food and tried to suck it in, which actually drew blood but didn’t worry me. After the feeding, we then put on our dive goggles and snorkel and swam over the stingrays in the water – it was just fantastic as there were so many of them and I used my underwater camera to take pictures. Soon enough though, we realised that we needed to get back to the Fantasy as it was all aboard by 4:30pm.

We walked out of the water, dropped off our gear and picked up our Stingray Adventure badge before walking all the way back to the ship. We boarded and headed straight up to our stateroom to shower and get changed so we could go up on deck to watch us depart Castaway Cay. We went up onto deck 12 and caught up with Brian and Patty as the Captain played the Fantasy’s musical horn. We got some group photos on the stern and took great photos of the island as we sailed away. Then we headed to our stateroom to do some packing in preparation to getting our bags out the door before dinner. After spending an hour working on our bags, we headed to the farewell show with Brian and Patty in the theatre. The show was called An Unforgettable Journey and included Mickey and the gang, princesses, music, people’s photos from the cruise, along with lots of emotion. Our cruise director Clayton Lindsey (who was terrific throughout the cruise) led us all in the cruise dance that we had been doing every day – I think everyone on board wanted to stay for the next cruise – the final show was a great tribute to everyone on board, officers, crew, cast and passengers.

After the show, we hit the shop one last time before going to our room to finish packing. We got our bags packed and left them in the hallway for our stateroom Flori. We took photos with her before heading down to dinner in the Animator’s Palate. Tonight in the restaurant, we had the animation show where you draw your own character and it gets animated on screen – the whole night is a wonderful tribute to animation and had us laughing at our artwork as it is animated in front of us – something only Disney could achieve, a truly magical moment. We handed our servers their gratuity envelopes and took final group photos with everyone on our table.

After dinner, I dropped our Animator’s Palate pictures in our room and then met up with Della in the atrium (she had been shopping again). We got last minute photos with Goofy and then Brian and Patty turned up, so we grabbed group photos with Donald, Snow White, Daisy, and Chip ‘n’ Dale before heading to the balcony overlooking the atrium to watch the See You Real Soon final celebration of the cruise. The four of us then headed back down to the lobby floor to dance to the June Gypsies which was the final entertainment of the night. There were only a handful of people left as I guess everyone else was getting ready to depart. When they finished their set, Brian and Patty got their CD signed, and we chatted for a while before calling it a night and going back to our stateroom.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:49 pm

30 March 2013 – Port Orleans Riverside
It was a very early start for us today as we had to get off the ship by 9am. When I woke up at 6am, we were already docked at Port Canaveral. Alongside of us, the Carnival Dream was docking and not long afterwards, the Carnival Ecstasy also came in. We watched the sunrise come up, finished packing our carry-on bags. We headed to Shutters to grab our photo CD of all the pictures we had taken and then exited our stateroom for the last time. We ran into Flori again in the hallway and after hugs all around, we caught the elevator back to Animator’s Palate for our last meal aboard.

At breakfast, we said a final farewell to our wonderful servers, Igor and Nelson, as well as all our table mates. We had already arranged to meet Brian and Patty on Sunday (as they work for Disney in Orlando) – they are going to pick us up from our resort and then we are going to do a monorail restaurant crawl around WDW eating a different course at each stop, beginning with the Contemporary Hotel – it’ll be great fun!

The time finally came for us to make the long walk from the restaurant to the lobby and then the gangway. Soon, we were off the ship and in the customs hall. We found our luggage easily and a porter call Steve helped us get through immigration in a flash. Before long, we were on the bus and heading to Port Orleans Riverside.

When we arrived at the resort, our room was already available for us to move into, so we settled in and unpacked and sorted some luggage before having a wander around the resort. It is a truly amazing looking resort, with the theming based on the deep south mansions of the bayous. Our room is similar in layout to the Art of Animation, but larger.

We walked all around the resort and checked out the shop and food court. We then headed to the dock to catch the boat to Downtown Disney and a visit to the Ghirardelli shop. We also bought a cruiseline vinylmation that Della had forgot to purchase onboard. We also checked out the World of Disney (more buying) and The Art of Disney store (more buying!) before heading back to the boat and returning to the resort. We then had an early dinner in the food court before sitting down to review our cruise photos and type up the journal. Tomorrow, we are heading to Epcot in the morning before our evening catch-up with Brian and Patty.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

ajp
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Location: The Oaks, NSW
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ajp » Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:52 pm

That was a wonderful account of the cruise Keith. It was as if we were there with you. It sounds as though you completely immersed yourself into the spirit of the ship. It's also great that you had good table companions, having new friends on board adds to the enjoyment of the holiday. Enjoy your time at riverside (our favourite resort so far), can't wait to hear more.
2023 Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Lines - Disney Wish. Going to be awesome to be back!

ColinA
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ColinA » Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:07 pm

25 March 2013 – At Sea

After changing, we lined up for Pluto in his sailor outfit before going to our DVC talk with Nick the DVC guy. He tried to figure out a good points balance for us to buy (around $50,000 from his calculations) but there was no way we were going to commit to that while on holiday.
Enjoying the updates Keith.

For $50,000 the resale market would get you about 700 points!


kuchnie Czeladź

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