GreenBeetle
09-09-2007, 11:29 AM
Day 1: Embarkation - Dad, Mom, DS(17), DD(10).
First I’d like to say how much I appreciate this Forum. The information you provide is invaluable to those of us who are new to cruising. It’s a completely different experience from the parks. The many interesting tips, recommendations and helpful hints I’ve gotten here made me feel completely prepared for anything. :)
We arrived in Orlando late Saturday afternoon. I did not want to risk arriving the day we set sail. Now I know there are many people who dislike USAir (especially in Philadelphia), but we’ve never had a problem with them and this was no exception. We grabbed our rental car (Avis) at the airport and headed to the Residence Inn in Cape Canaveral. A new hotel, very nice, minutes from the port – hot breakfast included for all guests. Sunday morning we left for the terminal around 10:30am. For anyone who rents a car and is NOT parking it in the terminal during the cruise, it is a very good idea to drop off everyone with the luggage and have 1 person return the car. It’s much easier to jump on the shuttle back to the port with no luggage. When I saw the Wonder for the first time, I wanted to cry. (But I didn’t, because I was busy yelling at my husband to pull the car over so I could get out and take pictures.) From the moment you step in to the terminal, the Disney magic kicks in. We were immediately greeted by happy people wearing their Mickey hands. The check-in process was a breeze. We were given boarding pass #4, and then it was off to get our pager for the Oceaneer’s Lab. The Disney terminal is beautiful - full of special touches that only Disney can do. There’s so much to see: the replica of the ship, character greetings and photos, and of course our home for the next 4 days waiting just outside the windows! We waited about an hour then it was time to start boarding. After walking through the Mickey ears, smiling for a photo, and the announcement of our family, we stepped in to the Lobby Atrium . . . spectacular! And I started clicking away like some crazed paparazzi photographer chasing Paris Hilton. Staterooms are not available until 1:30, so we chose to have our first meal in Parrot Cay. It was an enormous buffet with everything you could think of and more – and it all looked too pretty to eat. This was to be the first of many extraordinary buffets onboard. After stuffing ourselves, we took a look around Decks 9 and 10. I took lots of great pictures here of the pools etc. before they were crowded with people. At 1:30 it was time to find our stateroom, unpack and decorate our door with Disney magnets! We were very impressed with our room – Category 6 with verandah. I was quite comfortable in there, not at all claustrophobic like I feared. The split bathroom was a blessing for the 4 of us too. I’m glad I booked a room with verandah. It lets lots of sunlight in and being able to sit out there with a Bahama Mama and watch the ocean go by was not too shabby either. Time was flying already as it was time for the mandatory boat drill before we knew it. It was quick, painless and actually kind of fun (it doesn’t take too much to entertain me). Now it was time for the Sail Away party. It was so exciting! At 5:00pm we were on our way out to sea! We had the early seating (6:00pm), so we headed back to get cleaned up for dinner. Our dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay. We had a table for four by ourselves, which I know from reading the boards is not too common – and I never even requested it. We met our servers for the first time and loved them immediately. They were on top of everything. The food was delicious and everyone was happy . . . no complaints, no seasickness . . . life was good. We decided to skip the show Sunday night (Max Winfrey, a comedian) since the kids wanted to check out their respective clubs and I wanted to explore the ship more, take lots of photos and drop off our items to be autographed at Guest Services. It had been a long day, so exhausted we headed back to the stateroom. The beds were turned down for the night and there was our first towel animal – an elephant bearing chocolates! This is when we all agreed we were never going back to Pennsylvania. ;);)
First I’d like to say how much I appreciate this Forum. The information you provide is invaluable to those of us who are new to cruising. It’s a completely different experience from the parks. The many interesting tips, recommendations and helpful hints I’ve gotten here made me feel completely prepared for anything. :)
We arrived in Orlando late Saturday afternoon. I did not want to risk arriving the day we set sail. Now I know there are many people who dislike USAir (especially in Philadelphia), but we’ve never had a problem with them and this was no exception. We grabbed our rental car (Avis) at the airport and headed to the Residence Inn in Cape Canaveral. A new hotel, very nice, minutes from the port – hot breakfast included for all guests. Sunday morning we left for the terminal around 10:30am. For anyone who rents a car and is NOT parking it in the terminal during the cruise, it is a very good idea to drop off everyone with the luggage and have 1 person return the car. It’s much easier to jump on the shuttle back to the port with no luggage. When I saw the Wonder for the first time, I wanted to cry. (But I didn’t, because I was busy yelling at my husband to pull the car over so I could get out and take pictures.) From the moment you step in to the terminal, the Disney magic kicks in. We were immediately greeted by happy people wearing their Mickey hands. The check-in process was a breeze. We were given boarding pass #4, and then it was off to get our pager for the Oceaneer’s Lab. The Disney terminal is beautiful - full of special touches that only Disney can do. There’s so much to see: the replica of the ship, character greetings and photos, and of course our home for the next 4 days waiting just outside the windows! We waited about an hour then it was time to start boarding. After walking through the Mickey ears, smiling for a photo, and the announcement of our family, we stepped in to the Lobby Atrium . . . spectacular! And I started clicking away like some crazed paparazzi photographer chasing Paris Hilton. Staterooms are not available until 1:30, so we chose to have our first meal in Parrot Cay. It was an enormous buffet with everything you could think of and more – and it all looked too pretty to eat. This was to be the first of many extraordinary buffets onboard. After stuffing ourselves, we took a look around Decks 9 and 10. I took lots of great pictures here of the pools etc. before they were crowded with people. At 1:30 it was time to find our stateroom, unpack and decorate our door with Disney magnets! We were very impressed with our room – Category 6 with verandah. I was quite comfortable in there, not at all claustrophobic like I feared. The split bathroom was a blessing for the 4 of us too. I’m glad I booked a room with verandah. It lets lots of sunlight in and being able to sit out there with a Bahama Mama and watch the ocean go by was not too shabby either. Time was flying already as it was time for the mandatory boat drill before we knew it. It was quick, painless and actually kind of fun (it doesn’t take too much to entertain me). Now it was time for the Sail Away party. It was so exciting! At 5:00pm we were on our way out to sea! We had the early seating (6:00pm), so we headed back to get cleaned up for dinner. Our dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay. We had a table for four by ourselves, which I know from reading the boards is not too common – and I never even requested it. We met our servers for the first time and loved them immediately. They were on top of everything. The food was delicious and everyone was happy . . . no complaints, no seasickness . . . life was good. We decided to skip the show Sunday night (Max Winfrey, a comedian) since the kids wanted to check out their respective clubs and I wanted to explore the ship more, take lots of photos and drop off our items to be autographed at Guest Services. It had been a long day, so exhausted we headed back to the stateroom. The beds were turned down for the night and there was our first towel animal – an elephant bearing chocolates! This is when we all agreed we were never going back to Pennsylvania. ;);)