Disney Cruise 8 night cruise - Night One

Saturday our cruise ship was scheduled to leave NY harbor at 5PM.  During our Mandatory boat drill we stood there waiting.  We watched the other ship next to us depart port.

We were envisioning the captain 'driving' the ship in reverse. LOL.  It was moving pretty quickly.  We found out the Disney is the only fleet that has yellow lifeboats, or rather the ones that started the trend. Most ships have Red or Orange boats.

Of course leaving NY we had to take pictures of lady liberty.





Dont forget the world trade centers. In August 2001 we took this same voyage on our very first cruise and I have pictures of the originals, If I remember I will upload them.
During our tour of the ship we found out the madness to the carpet patterns. Now when you go on a ship you will start looking down everywhere.

They also explained that these three decks have various ceiling heights!  On deck 5 they are lower then on deck 4 with deck 3 having the highest ceilings.  The guide (Andy) explained that deck 5 is the 'kids' deck with the kids clubs mainly on this deck. The low ceiling gives kids the feeling of being 'tall' while they walk the deck.  When you are standing in the lobby of deck 3 and look up it also gives you the illusion that everything is so much higher! Its amazing.

The sculpture in the center there is also made by a famous guy that made the ones in Atlantis in the Bahamas, check out those photos in another post.

We passed the Buena Vista theater which is on deck 5. This theater shows movies pretty much all day.  In our room we got the schedule for the week. The Friday before we left Brave came out in the movies, not sure if you can see it in the image but they showed Brave in 3D on our cruise!  They also were showing the Avengers, Toy Story 3 and Reel Steel. What a treat!

The tour ended at Animators Palette.  This restaurant is black and white and changes color as you sit there for dining. Its interesting for sure.   This brings me to where do you eat on the cruise? 

On our key to the world cards there is a code on the front in our case it said  PLAPLLAP - what the heck did that mean? Well the first night our dinner was at Parrot Cay, the second night was in Lumiere's and third night was Animator's Palate. Then it repeated - Lumiere's is there two nights in a row because that was the day we were in Port Canaveral and were not eating on the ship. I think majority of people were off the ship that day.  There is also a buffet on deck 9 and two other places to grab a bite besides room service.  Eating times are posted on our cards, we had late seating 8:15PM which is kinda late, early sitting was at 5:15PM. 

Our room: We had an ocean view room that fit 3, only 3. 

Upon entry there was a small bathroom with a toilet and sink, then another bathroom with the shower and sink.  Closet opposite the bathrooms then the room.  There was a bed, queen size I think, and the sofa which flipped down into a twin bed. There are drawers next to the closet and opposite that sofa.  The TV is also opposite the sofa with curtains separating the space into 'two' areas. In front of the bed is also a cabinet with shelves. There are nightstands next to the bed and a table in the room. This room also had a door to the room next door. 

Since we had late dining we went to the early show every day. There is also 'in between' shows.  The early show usually started at 6:30 and lasted an hour, dinner was 8:15, they constantly told us no need to wait on line since our seats were reserved. Our servers were fantastic and our dining mates we also very nice it made for a lovely week.  Every show we attended was fantastic!  Make a point to go you will love it. 

Our Disney Cruise out of NY

So it was a surprise we really didnt tell anyone in our family cause the all wanna go with us but we went on our first Disney Cruise!

It left NY June 30 and returned to NY on July 8th.  Upon arrival to NY pier we were greeted by staff with Mickey hands the large white ones you may see at the parks. It was neat. They took our luggage from there. *When you book any Disney trip they send you a nice booklet with all the information you may need for your travel including luggage tags for your bags.  We had booked a special rate so our tags had no room numbers. Lucky for me I logged in the night before and was able to see a room number!  We were on deck 2 with a window, we had an ocean view room.  On a cruise you really dont spend much time in your room so no reason to get a balcony.

During online check in we had to pick our arrival time to the ship.  We managed to get 12:30 which is not that bad. We got thru security with our passports, got the ship schedule for the rest of the day, got our key to the world cards, registered our child for the clubs, pictures taken, then on to the ship.

When we got to the doors they asked our family name.  They walked us through the doors and say 'The Disney Magic welcomes the 'fill in name' family!'" - Boy was I floored! Never had I seen that before.

The first place to visit was the buffet! We ate lunch and then walked around. There was a ship tour at 2pm which was our first stop.  During the tour they showed us some 'hot spots' on the ship. It was nice to know ahead of time where these were. At around 3pm our room was ready and our luggage was slowly making its was to the room. At 4pm was the mandatory drill.  Everyone had to get to deck 4 and to their muster station - ours was N. It was easy to locate and we waited there until the drill was over.  It took maybe 15 minutes and then we were free to do what we wanted.

Before we even got on the ship everyone got one of these. A Personal Navigator. My husband would say the Nagivator. lol.

Any who during the tour we first did they explained how to read these. Page one shows at the top where we are, the date, evening attire and ship aboard times.  There are highlights showing the special 'show' of the evening, special events like 'Adventures Away' and other tips. There is also the menu at the bottom, drink of the day and weather.  The dinner menu for this night varies based on the eating location. Inside is a detailed schedule of events for Family, Kids, Adults and anything Special going on. It looks like a TV Guide if you remember what that looks like.  Page 3 shows highlights and on the back more tips and hours of the restaurants.  More details on these later.

Check back for Our Disney Cruise day one part two - evening!

Booking Disney Cruise line

Ok I wont talk numbers here... just details.

We booked our cruise less then 55 days to cruise so we got a 'special' rate.  We have no idea where our room is, we wont know until we get to the ship.  We booked a room with a window or two. Depends on what we get I guess.  After booking we saw we could have booked a room with a balcony for a few bucks more and well since we got a special rate the only way to change it would be to cancel our current booking and rebook. The problem was that the cancellation fee was 100% the cost of the trip so well that didnt make sense.

I called Disney Cruise line and they told me the same thing, but they also said to wait till we get to the pier and ask.  There may be something available. So we are basically on standby.  It does make planning a little tricky since we are not sure where we will be on the ship.  We could be on ANY deck!  If we knew we could plan ahead meaning, we would know how close the restaurant is to our room, and the pool and everything else.

I guess it does not really matter as long as we have fun right?

Well on the website you can start planning your off shore excursions and on the ship activities, mainly the spa and adult restaurant.

The cruise we are taking is an 8 night trip from NY to the Bahamas - this trip includes a one day hopper pass to the Disney Theme parks the day we are 'parked' in Port Canaveral. Its the only day we will have to get a meal for our selves.

While I castaway cay I read all our meals are included, in Nassau we shouldnt be so far away that we cant go back to the ship and eat. We have been there before.

I am going to try to write everything down and blog it all when I get back. We are so excited to be able to take this trip!

Finally a trip planned!

Ok  this year was looking very dismal for vacations... we have 3 weeks to use in our timeshare and well dunno if thats happening. We have spoke of using it during Christmas, just get away from our family you know.

Anyhow, we just booked a cruise on Disney!  8 night cruise from NY - its hitting Nassau, Cape Cay and Port Canaveral.  Oh we are so excited!

We got a passport for our youngest child - took record time to get it - just two weeks!  And in about 40 days we will be in the ocean! I love taking cruises.

OK we have been to Nassau before, but my daughter has not. I am so looking forward to this trip as it may be the only trip we take this year.

I will blog our trip, keep posted.

Travel this year looks dismal...

We are trying to plan trips this year and its looking very dismal, we are so sad.

We have so many timeshare weeks to use and not enough time available to use them. I am thinking of using one of the weeks in Las Vegas during ASD in the summer. Since I have wanted to go to this show as it is one of the largest events with hundreds of vendors that I would love to see all in one place! That could be a business expense, oh yea!

Then we are talking about going to Williamsburg VA and use one week there. We have been to Virginia Beach which was nice, if we get to go it will be in July. Perfect for a visit to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens.

We then have another week available to us that we will most likely not use. Its getting frustrating to keep having to bank these weeks and even more frustrating trying to rent them out to someone else. Its a great buy but I cant find a buyer and those companies that promise to rent your week are so bogus!

Its also tough finding the funds to travel. I hate stay cations, I truly believe we HAVE to go somewhere. I dont care where just somewhere. Driving to Virginia is a great deal, its about an 8 hour drive and depending on gas prices it will still be low priced for us. Since we stay at a timeshare we will be able to save on buying meals by cooking inside. People think timeshares are expensive but you have to remember that majority they come with a fully equipped kitchen. How much would you spend on eating out daily for ALL your meals and snacks? Since we mainly drive to our vacation spots we can being everything with us or find a local market and stock up on things.

When we went to Hawaii we stayed in a timeshare. We were there for two weeks! Can you imaging how much we would spend on meals? We were able to bring spices with us on the plane and thats about it so we had to buy everything. If you plan you meals carefully you can buy enough food and not have waste. While in Hawaii we purchased one cereal box, one tub of ice cream, one box of pasta and sauce, small packs of meats. Things like that really help save money. Even instant items that dont require a lot of ingredients. We love our timeshare and actually dread staying at a hotel since we are 'spoiled' by them.

Since we will drive to Williamsburg we can shop for everything locally and bring it with us and what ever we dont use we bring back home! Perfect! OK there will be 3 or 4 of us on this trip. 3 meals for 4 people with each person averaging $10 per person per meal... figure $40 per meal or $120 per day or $840 for the week! We rent our time share for just $900 a week! Thats a two bedroom that usually sleep between 6-8 depending on the location. You would spend that much on a week of eating out! Eat breakfast in daily save $280. Make sandwiches for lunch and buy items for dinner you could save another $280 on lunch and $280 for dinner! Its a no brainer.

Anyone want to rent a timeshare week!

What do you do for a last minute trip?

We dont usually have them but sometimes to occur.

We found out on Tuesday that we had to be in Atlantic City for Friday AM! Talk about last minute. We had to rearrange out schedules for work and school then we had to locate a place to stay, it was an overnight stay since we needed to be there for 8AM. Atlantic City is a 3 hour drive for us so we had no choice to drive down Thursday night and stay over.

Lucky for us the event blocked out rooms for us. We were able to get a room at the Trump Plaza for $45 for the one night. The hotel was nice but the beds were really small. There were 3 of us and two beds, I dont think they were full size beds. We couldnt move at all otherwise we would have kicked each other around. The room had a view of the ocean but it was dark when we arrived and dark when we checked out so we didnt see much.

Our event was at the Atlantic City Convention center... that place charges $15 to park so we walked over from the hotel. It was crazy since that day was VERY windy! We were freezing but saved money. Parking at the hotel was $5 for the day so we just left our car there from the day before.

We have another trip up to Binghamton NY coming up. We have to be there for 8AM so this another last minute trip we will be booking a hotel room. The drive is about 2 hours but it would mean I would have to leave my area at around 5:30am. Thats just too early for me lol.

Then again, I could save the $50 or so bucks and just stop being lazy! But what if it snows? That would cause delays.

Oh Im not great at last minute trips.

When do you start packing?

I guess its a personal thing.

I know many people that pack a week before the trip and I know some, like myself, that pack the day before sometimes the morning of.

Why?

I dunno. When I pack ahead of time I always seem to forget something. When I pack the day before I have everything! We have even started leaving our travel bag filled with a toothbrush, paste, deodorant, mini hair brush and q-tips.

It is rather strange.

There are a few things that people forget... here is a short list:

Q-Tips

Tweezers (for the ladies)

Hair Brush

Deodorant

Toothbrush and paste

Eyeglass cleaner cloth

Lotion

Lucky for you there is always a market of some sort to purchase those things you forget. I locate a common market that the locals would shop at. I refuse to buy something at 5 times the price because of where I am!

The Best and least expensive Souvenirs!

We travel a lot and most of the time we want some sort of souvenir to remember the trip. Sometimes you can find a shirt or sweater, maybe even a bag with a logo or a photo that is something special.

Do you buy things for friends and family on your vacation? We stopped doing that a long time ago. It was either 'what do we get them?' or they become jealous of our trips. We have purchased things and given them as Christmas gifts but its not a priority for us. We also found it can bring us down on the trips so we stopped.

My newest obsession is collecting PENNIES! Yes pennies!

Everywhere we have been on vacation I have found these really neat machines that crush your penny with an image! Majority of machines have 4 image choices - what a great way to remember your trip! You can find websites with locations of these machines but whats the fun in that. Theme parks have them, any tourist place will have them, and sometimes you can find them in museums, even restaurants! Some of these places even sell books to hold your pennies in. I have been to a few places that have quarter and even nickel machines!

People sell them on ebay! Dont do it... get them yourself. There are also methods to getting the perfect stamp. Dont make yourself crazy. Its true a shiny penny may look better then a dull penny. But remember that experiment in school you did with the vinegar and the pennies? Easy to clean them!

I have a tray full right on my dresser cause I cant find my 'book' lol. Its fun to look at them once in a while and remember that trip to Disney or to Hanama bay in Hawaii, or to the NY Museum of Science.

We make it a game with our youngest. We will visit a location and purposely search for a machine. Who ever finds it gets to pick the image they want on the penny. This past November while in Disneyland we found a place right on main street that had a dozen various machines. Some where pennies, some quarters and some nickels. It was like being in a candy store trying to figure out which designs we want to take home.

Be sure to being a lot of coins!

I think its a better souvenir for the kids. They will appreciate it more cause it will remind them of the trip they took. They will also be able to carry it around in their pocket with ease.

Next time your out there search for one of these machines!