mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Ok t-6 until NYC
My 50th Birthday "Surprise" 2 day cruise from NYC - Completed
- Thread starter mindelmouse
- Start date
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Ok. Night one in the books. Drove into NYC with the kids to the Marriott Marquis with no problem. Actually made pretty good time. DH had already checked us in before he went to central park to do the John Hancock corporate challenge. Room was nice but we ended up getting it for free in addition to getting free breakfast and another free night next time we come into town��. We went to Virgil's barbq for dinner YUM!! I highly recommend it if you like good barbq. This morning I awoke to my phone buzzing with Facebook bday wishes. We plan on leaving for the pier at about 10 am. I'll write when I can and add pictures on Sunday
MinnieDiva
Obsessive Trip Planner
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2008
We were very lucky to be invited to the Roy Disney suite for our own little sail away party. mindy and her rabid discoid spouse,Jim,welcomes us to their very large suite, I bought along some champagne,Mindy had some lovely snacks,and four verandahs! Yes, table and chairs and two loungers. spectacular suite. Mindy and family were quite gracious, and we met up with them shortly after the mandatory safety driLl at four, we left after sailing under the Verranano bridge. Thanks again,Mindy.
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Ok . If there is a question that I don't answer and you need answered please ask and I will try to give you whatever info I have. So overall, it was a spectacular, if not exhausting weekend. The cruise was over in a blink, but was fun while it lasted. Disney did a lot of things that were good, but some things that could have been better. I will do my best to get to everything, but it may take some time..
If something seems partially finished it probably is - I probably will get interrupted alot and also want to take time to put the right pics in - so bear with me
Thank you Suzy - we did have a nice private sail away for the now nifty 50 club...it was very nice meeting you all.
So we awoke, Friday morning (my actual 50th birthday!!!!), got ourselves dressed, had our free buffet breakfast and headed out to the ship. We were on Broadway and 45th and we went straight down to the West Side Highway (about 5 minutes). We ended up right in front of the Intrepid and to it's right was the Magic at Pier 88. Now, so as not to have the kids get to suspicious when they saw her there, I mentioned that I had read on the Disboards that someone said the Magic was going to be in port and told the kids maybe we would be lucky enough to see her. Well there she was and the kids were more excited to just see her then the fact the Intrepid was there. So was I
It took us about the next 30 minutes just to go one block to turn around and get on the road for the piers. In that time, DH whispered we should tell them just in case he had to pull up and drop us with the luggage. So we started talking about stowing away on the Magic and the kids were coming up with ideas as to how to stow away and what might happen if found. I then started playing with my camera (had to get the reaction on film) and you can see the rest. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=3829989340529
As you can see they were more than a bit excited. We got to the port at about 10:45 a.m.
Parking was pretty easy and cost $70 for the two days. There was no line to park at that point and plenty of spots. We went down the escalator (you don't have to wait for the elevator, just go in the door to the left and there's an escalator that takes you right down to the check in floor) We were then told to check our luggage in the front and go to check in.
Since we were concierge, check in was a breeze. We had boarding pass #1 and we went to a special area, where there were not many people at all. Just to let you know, there were a lot of people there already. I'm not really sure why because they were not boarding until 11:30 at the earliest. At this point, it was 11:15 and we didn't have too much time to wait. Now here's where I'm going to be a little negative. I'm not going to bash Disney, just give some observations on things that could have been done better. As concierge, we were going to go right out the doors by where we were sitting, which was away from everyone else.
They brought the family of the day over, but I didn't hear them announce anything about it and they didn't get on first in our group, they actual just became part of the group. I didn't feel the normal energy I have in other places. I don't think the reason is that we didn't leave from Port Canaveral. I've only left from there once in my 4 cruises. Also, our group didn't get any boarding pictures taken. When I got on, I thought everyone didn't and later found out only the concierge people didn't because they didn't set up the pictures where we were sitting. That was disappointing, because this is the only cruise I don't have a boarding photo from.
If something seems partially finished it probably is - I probably will get interrupted alot and also want to take time to put the right pics in - so bear with meThank you Suzy - we did have a nice private sail away for the now nifty 50 club...it was very nice meeting you all.
So we awoke, Friday morning (my actual 50th birthday!!!!), got ourselves dressed, had our free buffet breakfast and headed out to the ship. We were on Broadway and 45th and we went straight down to the West Side Highway (about 5 minutes). We ended up right in front of the Intrepid and to it's right was the Magic at Pier 88. Now, so as not to have the kids get to suspicious when they saw her there, I mentioned that I had read on the Disboards that someone said the Magic was going to be in port and told the kids maybe we would be lucky enough to see her. Well there she was
and the kids were more excited to just see her then the fact the Intrepid was there. So was I It took us about the next 30 minutes just to go one block to turn around and get on the road for the piers. In that time, DH whispered we should tell them just in case he had to pull up and drop us with the luggage. So we started talking about stowing away on the Magic and the kids were coming up with ideas as to how to stow away and what might happen if found. I then started playing with my camera (had to get the reaction on film) and you can see the rest. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=3829989340529
As you can see they were more than a bit excited. We got to the port at about 10:45 a.m.
Parking was pretty easy and cost $70 for the two days. There was no line to park at that point and plenty of spots. We went down the escalator (you don't have to wait for the elevator, just go in the door to the left and there's an escalator that takes you right down to the check in floor) We were then told to check our luggage in the front and go to check in.
Since we were concierge, check in was a breeze. We had boarding pass #1 and we went to a special area, where there were not many people at all. Just to let you know, there were a lot of people there already. I'm not really sure why because they were not boarding until 11:30 at the earliest. At this point, it was 11:15 and we didn't have too much time to wait. Now here's where I'm going to be a little negative. I'm not going to bash Disney, just give some observations on things that could have been done better. As concierge, we were going to go right out the doors by where we were sitting, which was away from everyone else.
They brought the family of the day over, but I didn't hear them announce anything about it and they didn't get on first in our group, they actual just became part of the group. I didn't feel the normal energy I have in other places. I don't think the reason is that we didn't leave from Port Canaveral. I've only left from there once in my 4 cruises. Also, our group didn't get any boarding pictures taken. When I got on, I thought everyone didn't and later found out only the concierge people didn't because they didn't set up the pictures where we were sitting. That was disappointing, because this is the only cruise I don't have a boarding photo from.
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
We are now on the ship...
We proceeded to Sessions to meet with the concierge staff and lo and behold we knew them. It was Danny and Alice. Danny was a concierge trainee on our Med cruise in 2010 and Alice was one of the concierge's on our Alaska cruise in August 2011. Both of them remember us (I think that's so great. With all the people they meet they actually remembered us.) We hung out there for about an hour ( I had some amazing Captain's choice chardonnay - which we purchased 2 bottles of before we left.) The kids took off exploring and we mosied up to Topsiders to get something to eat. The weather was fabulous and this was our view from Topsiders:
At about 1:15, we snuck down the secret staircase to deck 8 and got around the security ropes. The kids kept asking what room we were in and we told them they just needed to follow us to find out. Boy was there a lot of screaming and carrying on when they saw this:
If I can don't say how amazing this room was many times in my reports, I won't say it at all. It was the size of 4 cabins and amazing. The pictures don't even do it justice. There's a long entrance hallway with a half bath on the right when you enter.
To the left there is an entrance to the master suite (closets on both sides of a small hallway into it). Continuing straight - there is a large living room, on which I found birthday decorations and gorgeous flowers.
To the right there is a dining room with a large table. On that I found a birthday cake (which I never got to eat because we didn't realize it was whipped cream and left it out. YIKES!!) and a lovely bottle of sparkling wine from my besties....
To be continued.......
We proceeded to Sessions to meet with the concierge staff and lo and behold we knew them. It was Danny and Alice. Danny was a concierge trainee on our Med cruise in 2010 and Alice was one of the concierge's on our Alaska cruise in August 2011. Both of them remember us (I think that's so great. With all the people they meet they actually remembered us.) We hung out there for about an hour ( I had some amazing Captain's choice chardonnay - which we purchased 2 bottles of before we left.) The kids took off exploring and we mosied up to Topsiders to get something to eat. The weather was fabulous and this was our view from Topsiders:
At about 1:15, we snuck down the secret staircase to deck 8 and got around the security ropes. The kids kept asking what room we were in and we told them they just needed to follow us to find out. Boy was there a lot of screaming and carrying on when they saw this:
If I can don't say how amazing this room was many times in my reports, I won't say it at all. It was the size of 4 cabins and amazing. The pictures don't even do it justice. There's a long entrance hallway with a half bath on the right when you enter.
To the left there is an entrance to the master suite (closets on both sides of a small hallway into it). Continuing straight - there is a large living room, on which I found birthday decorations and gorgeous flowers.
To the right there is a dining room with a large table. On that I found a birthday cake (which I never got to eat because we didn't realize it was whipped cream and left it out. YIKES!!) and a lovely bottle of sparkling wine from my besties....
To be continued.......
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Ok - so to take off some of the pressure of getting this done, I'm going to try and write some of this on lunch hour at work and add pictures later. I may get interrupted so forgive me if you read this and it stops suddenly.
So after taking pictures of the room and running around in all our space
our luggage came and then the snacks that we ordered from room service for our Nifty 50's party arrived.
DH and I took a walk over to the spa and adult section
...Here was my first drink
On the cruise meet board I met 2 other women's from NJ, who were also turning 50 in June (Suzy and Arlene). We decided to get together at 4 pm in my cabin to celebrate. Suzy was bringing champagne and I had 2 bottles of wine that we had brought from home. Well just a note to anyone planning get togethers... DON"T FORGET ABOUT LIFEBOAT DRILL - it was at 4 pm and I forgot to plan around that. So now I was hoping everyone would realize to come afterwards, but who know. We also had some people from the board that had asked to come as well, so it was going to be a real party.
So we went to the lifeboat drill - pretty uneventful but we got to look at the the Intrepid and the space shuttle while we stood there. A little after we got back to the room, Arlene came by and then shortly after Suzy came with her friends. It was very nice. We had wine and champagne and snacks and basically had our own sail away party out on the balcony. We were lucky, being on the starboard side (our first time ever) we were on the side of the Statue of Liberty so we got some good shots. Suzy's friend brought his ukele and we got serenaded as we sailed out.
My kids at this point were running about the ship with kids that had met at the Edge. I have to say, they loved the Edge so much better than the kids clubs. I'm not sure why, but they were there the whole time.
At about 5:30 we had to ask everyone to wind it up since we had early dinner seating, so that we could go to dinner with the kids, and it started at 5:45. We had Palo reservations at 7, so we had a pretty tight schedule.
Now about dinner, another planning time and again another thing, communication wise DCL could have done better. When initially going on this cruise we were told we'd be in the same dining room for both night. DH requested Lumiere's. Then when we got on board, we were told that over the course of the 3 meals (2 dinner and breakfast) we'd rotate through the 3 dining rooms. Well somewhere along the line, communication got messed up and they interpreted our request to mean, we only wanted to eat in Lumiere's. So we got a call during our sail away party from the head server at Lumiere's telling us to go there instead of Parrot Cay because he had a table for us. DH felt that since they went through all the trouble to switch it, we'd just go, so we did.
So after taking pictures of the room and running around in all our space
our luggage came and then the snacks that we ordered from room service for our Nifty 50's party arrived.
DH and I took a walk over to the spa and adult section
...Here was my first drink
On the cruise meet board I met 2 other women's from NJ, who were also turning 50 in June (Suzy and Arlene). We decided to get together at 4 pm in my cabin to celebrate. Suzy was bringing champagne and I had 2 bottles of wine that we had brought from home. Well just a note to anyone planning get togethers... DON"T FORGET ABOUT LIFEBOAT DRILL - it was at 4 pm and I forgot to plan around that. So now I was hoping everyone would realize to come afterwards, but who know. We also had some people from the board that had asked to come as well, so it was going to be a real party.
So we went to the lifeboat drill - pretty uneventful but we got to look at the the Intrepid and the space shuttle while we stood there. A little after we got back to the room, Arlene came by and then shortly after Suzy came with her friends. It was very nice. We had wine and champagne and snacks and basically had our own sail away party out on the balcony. We were lucky, being on the starboard side (our first time ever) we were on the side of the Statue of Liberty so we got some good shots. Suzy's friend brought his ukele and we got serenaded as we sailed out.
My kids at this point were running about the ship with kids that had met at the Edge. I have to say, they loved the Edge so much better than the kids clubs. I'm not sure why, but they were there the whole time.
At about 5:30 we had to ask everyone to wind it up since we had early dinner seating, so that we could go to dinner with the kids, and it started at 5:45. We had Palo reservations at 7, so we had a pretty tight schedule.
Now about dinner, another planning time and again another thing, communication wise DCL could have done better. When initially going on this cruise we were told we'd be in the same dining room for both night. DH requested Lumiere's. Then when we got on board, we were told that over the course of the 3 meals (2 dinner and breakfast) we'd rotate through the 3 dining rooms. Well somewhere along the line, communication got messed up and they interpreted our request to mean, we only wanted to eat in Lumiere's. So we got a call during our sail away party from the head server at Lumiere's telling us to go there instead of Parrot Cay because he had a table for us. DH felt that since they went through all the trouble to switch it, we'd just go, so we did.
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Ok - so I'm writing these in pieces so I have room for pictures...don't know what the limit is for each posting.
So we went down to Lumiere's for dinner. I can't say it went well. The idea was, we were going to celebrate my bday with the kids in the dining room and then go get changed and go to Palo's for 7 pm. They sat us at Table 60 (our assigned table, if we were in the correct dining room would have been 65). Our servers had us and two really big tables on either side of us. DD did not want to be there, she was not hungry and refused to eat. We even had some tears. DS ordered his usual mac and cheese and DH ordered a carpaccio, so that DS wouldn't have to eat alone. We realized right then and there, this would not be a good night to celebrate. Getting the attention of the servers was difficult and when DH asked for an ice coffee (just coffee over ice) the asst server had no idea what that was and went and got him an expresso and put it over ice and wanted to charge him for it. Meanwhile, the server disappeared and we never saw him again. After 45 minutes we finally asked the asst server where DS's mac and cheese was. It was 6:30 and we needed to change for Palo. The asst server brought out the food, my DS ate quickly and we left. The service that night was not DCL's finest and we attributed it to the fact that they changed our table and were supposedly "accomodating" us for something we really didn't ask for, but cie le vie.
The kids went off to the Edge and then planned on attending the pirate party...yes Friday night was the pirate party complete with fireworks...I happened to miss the whole thing because I didn't get out of Palo until 10:15...
Off to Palo and let me say - I was not at all disappointed there. Our server Mo, from the Philippines was absolutely terrific. It didn't seem very crowded and each server only seemed to be handling 3 tables that were at various points in their meal. It kind of explains why ressies are so hard to get. They take less ressies to maintain the high quality of the service. I apologize that there's no food porn here. I've taken pictures of my food before I cruises, but I always feel so silly doing it. I won't really bore you or tease those of you that have been there with what we ate (unless you let me know that you want to know) but I did have chocolate souffle for dessert. I thought I remembered that you had to pick your sauce, but they served it with chocolate and vanilla sauce. So I got both and boy were they good. Those that have cruised with me before understand the significance and Lori I am sorry, I didn't get a picture. I can dig up one of my old ones, it hasn't changed that much.
Our friends from our sail away party were a few tables over and sent me this bday surprise:
We left Palo at about 10:15, we strolled around a bit and then went back to the cabin. I was literally exhausted (see what old age does) so I read a bit and went to bed. DH decided to do laundry....I know, really, on a 2 day...I guess he thought he'd walk the deck 4 track while it was running, but unfortunately they had parts of it closed all throughout the cruise. They seemed to be doing maintenance on the floors. That's another thing I needed to share...I love the magic but she is sorely in need of a dry dock. I can't believe DCL is waiting until after the med cruises...I think they should do it after the NYC cruises. There is a lot of rust around and they do their best to keep up with it, but she's ready to get some loving and they need to do it soon Our towel animal in both rooms was:
. ......to be continued.
So we went down to Lumiere's for dinner. I can't say it went well. The idea was, we were going to celebrate my bday with the kids in the dining room and then go get changed and go to Palo's for 7 pm. They sat us at Table 60 (our assigned table, if we were in the correct dining room would have been 65). Our servers had us and two really big tables on either side of us. DD did not want to be there, she was not hungry and refused to eat. We even had some tears. DS ordered his usual mac and cheese and DH ordered a carpaccio, so that DS wouldn't have to eat alone. We realized right then and there, this would not be a good night to celebrate. Getting the attention of the servers was difficult and when DH asked for an ice coffee (just coffee over ice) the asst server had no idea what that was and went and got him an expresso and put it over ice and wanted to charge him for it. Meanwhile, the server disappeared and we never saw him again. After 45 minutes we finally asked the asst server where DS's mac and cheese was. It was 6:30 and we needed to change for Palo. The asst server brought out the food, my DS ate quickly and we left. The service that night was not DCL's finest and we attributed it to the fact that they changed our table and were supposedly "accomodating" us for something we really didn't ask for, but cie le vie.
The kids went off to the Edge and then planned on attending the pirate party...yes Friday night was the pirate party complete with fireworks...I happened to miss the whole thing because I didn't get out of Palo until 10:15...
Off to Palo and let me say - I was not at all disappointed there. Our server Mo, from the Philippines was absolutely terrific. It didn't seem very crowded and each server only seemed to be handling 3 tables that were at various points in their meal. It kind of explains why ressies are so hard to get. They take less ressies to maintain the high quality of the service. I apologize that there's no food porn here. I've taken pictures of my food before I cruises, but I always feel so silly doing it. I won't really bore you or tease those of you that have been there with what we ate (unless you let me know that you want to know) but I did have chocolate souffle for dessert. I thought I remembered that you had to pick your sauce, but they served it with chocolate and vanilla sauce. So I got both and boy were they good. Those that have cruised with me before understand the significance and Lori I am sorry, I didn't get a picture. I can dig up one of my old ones, it hasn't changed that much.
Our friends from our sail away party were a few tables over and sent me this bday surprise:
We left Palo at about 10:15, we strolled around a bit and then went back to the cabin. I was literally exhausted (see what old age does) so I read a bit and went to bed. DH decided to do laundry....I know, really, on a 2 day...I guess he thought he'd walk the deck 4 track while it was running, but unfortunately they had parts of it closed all throughout the cruise. They seemed to be doing maintenance on the floors. That's another thing I needed to share...I love the magic
but she is sorely in need of a dry dock. I can't believe DCL is waiting until after the med cruises...I think they should do it after the NYC cruises. There is a lot of rust around and they do their best to keep up with it, but she's ready to get some loving and they need to do it soon Our towel animal in both rooms was:
. ......to be continued.
tinkerbelltwins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2010
Hi Mindy, I just learned about your trippie on MinnieDiva's thread! Now that I see your pictures I think I did see you but didn't recognize it was you. Were you and your daughter up at the exercise area of the spa for the giveaways before the sail away? If so, I was there too! Didn't win anything though!
The 2 day was so much fun -- loved the adult time, but did miss the twins. I got home and am still handing out little DCL presents. Their favorite was the special 2 day inaugural pin for their pin collections! My husband stayed behind in NY for business and then he is going on to London and then to San Francisco. So he was a bit sad to be away from the children for Father's Day. I did buy him a DCL polo from the kids so that made him happy when he opened up his homemade cards from them.
Glad you enjoyed the suite. Your pictures look awesome!!!
One thing we learned the 2nd morning that it gets cold up on the top decks with the wind. And this was NY in June -- I'm definitely packing cold weather gear for August in Alaska.
Beth
The 2 day was so much fun -- loved the adult time, but did miss the twins. I got home and am still handing out little DCL presents. Their favorite was the special 2 day inaugural pin for their pin collections! My husband stayed behind in NY for business and then he is going on to London and then to San Francisco. So he was a bit sad to be away from the children for Father's Day. I did buy him a DCL polo from the kids so that made him happy when he opened up his homemade cards from them.
Glad you enjoyed the suite. Your pictures look awesome!!!
One thing we learned the 2nd morning that it gets cold up on the top decks with the wind. And this was NY in June -- I'm definitely packing cold weather gear for August in Alaska.
Beth
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Hi Mindy, I just learned about your trippie on MinnieDiva's thread! Now that I see your pictures I think I did see you but didn't recognize it was you. Were you and your daughter up at the exercise area of the spa for the giveaways before the sail away? If so, I was there too! Didn't win anything though!
The 2 day was so much fun -- loved the adult time, but did miss the twins. I got home and am still handing out little DCL presents. Their favorite was the special 2 day inaugural pin for their pin collections! My husband stayed behind in NY for business and then he is going on to London and then to San Francisco. So he was a bit sad to be away from the children for Father's Day. I did buy him a DCL polo from the kids so that made him happy when he opened up his homemade cards from them.
Glad you enjoyed the suite. Your pictures look awesome!!!
One thing we learned the 2nd morning that it gets cold up on the top decks with the wind. And this was NY in June -- I'm definitely packing cold weather gear for August in Alaska.
Beth
Yes that was me and Haylee in the spa open house. Where were you standing? It was so funny. She had called me on the wave phone and asked where I was. When I told her I was in the spa she said she wanted to see me and I told her to come up. My kids are so trained not to even go up to the adult area, she was really nervous about it. One of the techs saw that and told it was fine and even took her on a tour. We didn't win anything either. My husband said he met some man named Ken in the Cove that mentioned that he knew who I was when DH was talking about our trip and how it arose with someone else. They said his wife spoke with me on the DIS but my DH neglected to find out who his wife was.
It was actually warmer up on deck in Alaska than it was on this trip in NYC...
My advice for Alaska is pack for Fall weather and you should be fine. I had some shorts with me, but I don't think I wore them even to walk....
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Sorry about that - didn't drop off the earth, just got busy with last week of school stuff...had to bake some stuff for parties and get last minute teacher gifts and such.....so where was I? Oh yea, I remember...Saturday morning. Well DH planned on getting up early (after going to bed at 2 am) to exercise. He had a wake up call set for 6 am....really???? You're not gonna let me sleep on my bday cruise???
We had a scheduled 8 am couples choice and Palo brunch at 10:30. I thought the timing was too tight, so I asked him to stop at the spa to make sure we could make it to brunch on time. He leaves the room and finds out again, various parts of deck 4 are closed and he can't do his laps. (ever hear of a treadmill????
)...He called me in the cabin and said that they could take us for our couples choice immediately, so we went up at 7:30...thank goodness we did...we weren't done until 10:10...which only gave me 20 minutes to shower and get ready. Anyway....we wore the robes that were in our cabin and went upstairs in our bathing suits.
If you've never had a couples choice, you need to try one. You get your own treatment room with a veranda. On the veranda is a hot tub and a double size lounger. You get 1/2 of privacy in the hot tub after a foot scrub and then your choice of a 75 minute treatment. We had the hot stone massage (Kim ooed and ahhed about it so much last time, we had to try it.) It was wonderful. After the massage you get to relax on the lounger and they bring you tea (your choice of flavors) and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and fruit kabobs. I only had one, DH was good he had nothing but tea.
Afterwards I ran down to the cabin, showered, changed and we were only 10 minutes late for brunch. Palo was magnificent as always. I got my favorite...chicken parm on risotto...I dream about that it's so good. Now I have to say compared to the amount of people that were in Palo for brunch on our Alaska cruise (it was packed - Kim knows what I'm talking about), Palo was relatively empty. I was very surprised based on how hard it was to get reservations. I was so looking forward to the strawberry trifle, in fact when we walked past the dessert table DH grabbed me what he thought was it and brought it to the table. Well guess what, it was strawberry compote but not trifle. Apparently they don't serve trifle at brunch anymore, only at tea (that will be gone when we go in August) Disappointing to say the least, since I've been looking forward to that for about 10 months now.
We finished up brunch at about 12 and then went and got the kids and went to DH's favorite place on the ship......all of you that know and love him can guess where that is without me saying.....the gift shops. DH thought we should get what we wanted now before the rush at the end. They seemed to be out of a lot of stuff, even the special 2 day inaugural tee shirts....DH got the manager of the shop to agree to find him some and hold them for when we return in August. It's really good to have a DH that makes friends with EVERYONE.
We had a 1 pm appt with the trainer in the gym, so we got a move on and changed. We were having a body analysis done. Didn't know what it was, but now I do. It's basically a 30 minute sales pitch that costs you $33 a person to find out why you need to buy their detoxification program. Oh yea and they throw in a test they do with a machine to show you how much body fat you have and have much excess water in your cells. At this point, I'm not really feelng that well. The ship was rocking a lot and my body, which hadn't had much sugar in the last year or so was on sugar overload. When she went out to price the system, I left. DH stayed and of course bought the detox program and told them that if it didn't work in the 3 months that they said it would he'd be back to let them know
A mere $300...it's just money...right
I went back to the room with the thought of laying down a bit but between the kids coming in and out and the phone ringing that didn't work. We had the concierge party at 4:15, so I just hung out in the cabin and rested.
We had a scheduled 8 am couples choice and Palo brunch at 10:30. I thought the timing was too tight, so I asked him to stop at the spa to make sure we could make it to brunch on time. He leaves the room and finds out again, various parts of deck 4 are closed and he can't do his laps. (ever hear of a treadmill????
)...He called me in the cabin and said that they could take us for our couples choice immediately, so we went up at 7:30...thank goodness we did...we weren't done until 10:10...which only gave me 20 minutes to shower and get ready. Anyway....we wore the robes that were in our cabin and went upstairs in our bathing suits.If you've never had a couples choice, you need to try one. You get your own treatment room with a veranda. On the veranda is a hot tub and a double size lounger. You get 1/2 of privacy in the hot tub after a foot scrub and then your choice of a 75 minute treatment. We had the hot stone massage (Kim ooed and ahhed about it so much last time, we had to try it.) It was wonderful. After the massage you get to relax on the lounger and they bring you tea (your choice of flavors) and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and fruit kabobs. I only had one, DH was good he had nothing but tea.
Afterwards I ran down to the cabin, showered, changed and we were only 10 minutes late for brunch. Palo was magnificent as always. I got my favorite...chicken parm on risotto...I dream about that it's so good. Now I have to say compared to the amount of people that were in Palo for brunch on our Alaska cruise (it was packed - Kim knows what I'm talking about), Palo was relatively empty. I was very surprised based on how hard it was to get reservations. I was so looking forward to the strawberry trifle, in fact when we walked past the dessert table DH grabbed me what he thought was it and brought it to the table. Well guess what, it was strawberry compote but not trifle. Apparently they don't serve trifle at brunch anymore, only at tea (that will be gone when we go in August)
Disappointing to say the least, since I've been looking forward to that for about 10 months now. We finished up brunch at about 12 and then went and got the kids and went to DH's favorite place on the ship......all of you that know and love him can guess where that is without me saying.....the gift shops. DH thought we should get what we wanted now before the rush at the end. They seemed to be out of a lot of stuff, even the special 2 day inaugural tee shirts....DH got the manager of the shop to agree to find him some and hold them for when we return in August. It's really good to have a DH that makes friends with EVERYONE.
We had a 1 pm appt with the trainer in the gym, so we got a move on and changed. We were having a body analysis done. Didn't know what it was, but now I do. It's basically a 30 minute sales pitch that costs you $33 a person to find out why you need to buy their detoxification program. Oh yea and they throw in a test they do with a machine to show you how much body fat you have and have much excess water in your cells. At this point, I'm not really feelng that well. The ship was rocking a lot and my body, which hadn't had much sugar in the last year or so was on sugar overload. When she went out to price the system, I left. DH stayed and of course bought the detox program and told them that if it didn't work in the 3 months that they said it would he'd be back to let them know
A mere $300...it's just money...rightI went back to the room with the thought of laying down a bit but between the kids coming in and out and the phone ringing that didn't work. We had the concierge party at 4:15, so I just hung out in the cabin and rested.
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
OK, so now we're getting to the part that I have some more pictures, not a lot but a few and also the navigators are coming...
We went to the concierge party in Session...a little sedate, no one was really interacting...but we got to take our only family picture with Stitch
After the party, I went and changed for what was billed as a "semi-formal" dinner in Lumiere's. I was really having a hard time getting used to early dinner. We don't even eat early at home. Before dinner DH and I went and got a picture taken and that would be the two pictures we had from the ship's photographers (a little disappointing not to have more)
We then went into dinner. It was a little wierd. Here we are with our tip envelopes giving them to servers that we're meeting for the first time...but I have to say they were excellent. We had Andreas from the US. Gede from Indonesia...they even knew what iced coffee was. We wanted to request them for August, but alas they will be on vacation. It was baked alaska night and they did the presentation of the flags and baked alaska
After dinner we walked around a bit and then of course...went back to the room...I didn't want to leave my room...wanted to be there as much as possible...When I got there I found this in the fridge
Alice had found me my trifle however, after the 2 desserts I had at dinner. Had to have baked alaska and the bday treat they brought me when they sang...I was desserted out...so I decided to save those for the morning.
DH went to walk around while I started packing. Then Alice called looking for DH, who had gone out to get a coffee and never had come back, so I went looking for him. Found him in the Cove, where Alice met up with us and we got to spend a little while chatting with her.
We then went back and finished up the packing...and we found out that our plans of sleeping in were not going to be honored since we could only order a continental breakfast in our room...we thought the Roy suite was able to get hot breakfast...oh well live and learn.
I passed out at about 12 and I were told the kids mosied in around 1.
Next morning came too soon. We had 7 am breakfast in Animator's and had to be out. I went to eat my trifle and was a little disappointed, it wasn't the trifle I remembered. It was just compote with cream...no little cake. I had been dreaming about having that for 10 months and it wasn't what it was supposed to be. Breakfast was good. I had muesli in honor of Kim. Jim has the pic on his phone, so I don't have it. We debarked around 8:30 a.m. We were going to stay in the city but it was early, everyone, especially the kids was tired, so we went home...and so ended my 50th birthday cruise. I will post the navigators shortly for anyone that may want them.
If I left out any details or questions you needed answered, let me know.
We went to the concierge party in Session...a little sedate, no one was really interacting...but we got to take our only family picture with Stitch
After the party, I went and changed for what was billed as a "semi-formal" dinner in Lumiere's. I was really having a hard time getting used to early dinner. We don't even eat early at home. Before dinner DH and I went and got a picture taken and that would be the two pictures we had from the ship's photographers (a little disappointing not to have more)
We then went into dinner. It was a little wierd. Here we are with our tip envelopes giving them to servers that we're meeting for the first time...but I have to say they were excellent. We had Andreas from the US. Gede from Indonesia...they even knew what iced coffee was. We wanted to request them for August, but alas they will be on vacation. It was baked alaska night and they did the presentation of the flags and baked alaska
After dinner we walked around a bit and then of course...went back to the room...I didn't want to leave my room...wanted to be there as much as possible...When I got there I found this in the fridge
Alice had found me my trifle however, after the 2 desserts I had at dinner. Had to have baked alaska and the bday treat they brought me when they sang...I was desserted out...so I decided to save those for the morning.
DH went to walk around while I started packing. Then Alice called looking for DH, who had gone out to get a coffee and never had come back, so I went looking for him. Found him in the Cove, where Alice met up with us and we got to spend a little while chatting with her.
We then went back and finished up the packing...and we found out that our plans of sleeping in were not going to be honored since we could only order a continental breakfast in our room...we thought the Roy suite was able to get hot breakfast...oh well live and learn.
I passed out at about 12 and I were told the kids mosied in around 1.
Next morning came too soon. We had 7 am breakfast in Animator's and had to be out. I went to eat my trifle and was a little disappointed, it wasn't the trifle I remembered. It was just compote with cream...no little cake. I had been dreaming about having that for 10 months and it wasn't what it was supposed to be. Breakfast was good. I had muesli in honor of Kim. Jim has the pic on his phone, so I don't have it. We debarked around 8:30 a.m. We were going to stay in the city but it was early, everyone, especially the kids was tired, so we went home...and so ended my 50th birthday cruise. I will post the navigators shortly for anyone that may want them.
If I left out any details or questions you needed answered, let me know.
tinkerbelltwins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2010
Mindy, Don't know if this appeals or not, but the online Disney store is selling the 9 inch NY vinylmations (there are two different kinds to choose from) for $5 each! My kids collect the smaller 3 inch ones, but this was too good of a deal to pass up. I saw them for full price at the Disney store in Times Square last Thursday.
Beth
Beth
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Perhaps we will. We've did Alaska last year...It was great! We're doing the Bahamas in August and then the Med next summer....
mindelmouse
Rabid Disnoid's Spouse
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
Thanks Beth...my son collects the vinylmations and I think he may have these but my DH keeps track of them...I'll have to ask him
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