OOO WAHH SHAA GAHH (brushing up on my whale)-A Cruise Trip Report Update 3/21

[Mjp935]

Hi Mark! I read your Disneyland TR & have already subscribed to this one. You are friends with Goofy, friend of the Frumps & now tonight I see that you rub elbows with the refined ladies on "Dance Moms"!! That was you sitting right behind them at a dance competition in Buffalo... How fun. You look good on camera.

Thanks, Yes I have met Holly, Christi and Kelly a few times! and I even went to the studio a few years ago!

Can't believe I only just found this!
A cruise is so exciting and it's coming up so soon!
Have tons of fun and I'm definitely following along!

Thanks and welcome! I am super excited! I cannot wait to share!

 

[scrpbookr]

I just came across this PTR and was super excited to realize that you are on board right.now!!! I hope you're having the time of your life!

I'm incredibly excited to read all about it! We'll be on the Magic two months from now for Spring Break so don't leave out a thing as you report back.

Again, hope you're having a blast!

 

[JessM]

I'm in! A Disney Cruise is definitely on my bucket list! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[CaptainKat]

Just found this and your Disneyland TR via Jess's DCP report. I hope you're having a blast on the ship and I can't wait to hear about it! Disney Cruises are one of my favorite things, I'm sure you're in for a fantastic few days!

 

[sue_88]

I hope your cruise was magical Mark!! And, I hope you got lots of pics (and selfies) to share.

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 1: Escaping the Blizzard 2014

So I am super excited about writing this report! So lets get started!

First let me show you what I am escaping!



Wonderful yes that would be snow!
So we had to get to the airport around 10:25 am!!
I brought a wonderful piece of literature!



Year of the King it is a book required for my Shakespeare class next semester!
It is Tony Shers diary/sketch book from when he played Richard the Third in the 1980s. It was actually really interesting.



My mom and I decided to get a selfie in!
Finally we were in the air!









I was listening to Forbidden Broadway!
Forbidden is an off Broadway show where the cast parodies current Broadway shows! It is very funny!!

When we finally got to Orlando we headed to the Hyatt!
I have always been wondering what the Orlando Hyatt looked like!
(The cruise didnt start till the next day so we needed a place to stay, we came in early because of weather, thank god!)







The room was pretty nice! We had an outside view it was& interesting!



I had some time to kill so I walked around and took some pictures!















For dinner we went to Mccoys it is right in the hotel!





The bread was fantastic! Im not sure what it was!



I had the Mac and Cheese!



Both my parents had the Hamburger! My Dad had cheese on his!

I had a piece of chocolate cake it was super good, I forgot the picture though!
There is actually a funny story; I was looking at the dessert menu! And I ordered that cake, the waiter said that they were out. So I didn't get any dessert. Then the waiter came back over and said he found one last piece!

The restaurant was very good! It was a great start!

After dinner my Dad and I walked around the airport& of course we had to stop at the Earport got some great pictures!





Who knew that they sold these! I want one so bad.
We went to bed pretty early! We had a long day coming!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 2: Heading on down to Port Canaveral

Waking up at 6 am so that we could eat and head down to catch the magical express!

There was a second restaurant in the hotel!









This one had a buffet and a normal menu!
We all went with the buffet!



I only pictured my plate because we all basically got the same food!
It was traditional breakfast foods!
It was good!
Look at the fog! OH my gosh!



After our breakfast we went back to our room to put our bags together!
If you are going on a cruise and staying at the Hyatt all you have to do is attach the Cruise Line luggage tags and leave them in your room!
They collect them then later that day they arrive in your Cruise Stateroom.
A tip for everyone, pack a “carry on bag” with anything you think you might need before your luggage arrives at your stateroom.
The airport was super empty! It’s kind of creepy!





From there we headed down to the magical express and just hung out for a while, we wanted to get on the first bus!







I took some pictures while we waited!



This is a little spiral book they give you with all of the information about the cruise in it!
Finally it was time to line up and check in for DME.
We got on the first bus!



From there the ride was about 45 minutes. When we got to Port Canaveral we went through a small security check point and we headed up to the terminal!



When we got there we checked in and got our Keys to the World, and our boarding group! We were in group two!
We had some time to hang out so I just walked around taking pictures!
















OLAF!!!!

It was really nice!

Continued in Next Post
​

 

[Dizzy4DL]

I love that you and your family are second to board!! That is totally something I would aspire to. Loving your report so far!

 

[Caseheidi]

Glad to see that this cold weather didn't cause you problems getting to your cruise. Look forward to reading more!

 

[CaptainKat]

Number 2 boarding, nice! I wish I could get my family going early enough to manage that! Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[JessM]

The Hyatt looks a lot nicer than I had envisioned in my head, I'll have to keep them in mind if I do a Disney cruise someday!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 3: ALL ABOARD!!!

I know that phrase is for trains but its all I could think about when getting on the ship!
BUT before that we have more pictures of the terminal!


Christmas Decorations!!!



I stepped out on to this observation deck!







The ship looks really cool right!

So we are sitting in the terminal and all of a sudden look who came off the ship!!



Captain Mickey!!!

And of course, the first character selfie of the trip!



It was super funny I saw where the line was a little before he came out so I hopped in. As soon as he came out everyone ran up and got in line. The line was super long!
I looked at the clock and it said 11:30!! IT WAS TIME!

We waited till the called group 2! Basically what happens is that the concierge people board first, then group one is people who are part of the castaway club (which you are automatically granted membership after your first cruise) then group two starts with people who are first timers! It didnt take too long!

When we got on the gangplank, they scanned our KTTW cards and then the Shutters people (The cruises version of photo pass, but they are a third party company not Disney) and they took our picture! We ended up getting it in our AAA free photo package!



When we were finally on the ship we were in the Atrium!













They announced our names on the PA system and the officers were there to applaud our entrance!

We happened to walk in just before Captain Mickey! I caught this picture of Mickey heading down the hall!



So everyone told us that we couldnt get into our room till 1:30, well it was about 11:45& We over heard some people had gone to their staterooms so we searched for ours!

5520 was our home sweet home! We were able to get in early!











The room looks small but actually& no it was really small, but who spends a lot of time there anyways! There was a split bath though, so while someone was showering another one could get ready in the other bathroom!
And yes that is a bed that comes out of the ceiling. I didnt end up using that one I used the lower one!

I decided to walk around and just take some miscellaneous pictures!





Continued in Next Post ​

 

[Neeny17]

Hey Mark I recognised your Dis name from Jess's TR so came to check yours out. I love your character selfies! Its such a good idea, I should have done that on my solo trip. The stateroom looks really cosy!

 

[Credit Man]

Following along, Mark. Looks like the start of a great adventure!

 

[JessM]

Cruise staterooms are super tiny but you are right who spends must time in there anyways!

Can't wait to see all the pictures from the ship!

 

[CaptainKat]

Oh, the Castaway Clubbers board first? So that's why it seemed like we got right on the ship last year; I was wondering how that had happened hahaha whoops. Looks like even I still have things to learn!

Yeah, the cabins are small, luckily there's so much to do that you spend almost no time in there!

Looking forward to the next update; love the photos!

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

The Mickey head portal (for lack of a better word) where you cross over into the ship is SO. COOL. WHOA BABY.
The ship looks absolutely beautiful, too! I can't wait to read more about your experience and see more pictures of its fabulous-ness!

 

[WDWaddictt]

Great start...can't wait to read more!

I want to go on another cruise again...it looks so awesome!

 

[Rachellee413]

Hi Mark! I'm following along. I read your Disneyland TR and it looks like you all had a great time! I'm a fellow CP alum but I did my program in Spring 2012! I have yet to visit Disneyland OR do a Disney cruise, so I'm excited to read this TR too!

 

[Mjp935]

Hello everyone! Just an update! I am very busy with school! I will hopefully put more up this weekend!

Thanks

Mark​