ahain
Thankful & Blessed
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2013
In the spirit of happy, warm-fuzzy posts, I thought I'd start up another "what do you do the first day of your cruise" post.
For me, the entire cruise is one big guilty pleasure! From the moment I set foot on the ship, I am treated like royalty. I don't cook or clean. My family thinks the MDR food is wonderful. Although we're pretty low-maintenance passengers, the staff has always gone out of their way to take care of us and make us feel special. Beyond that, there are several things we can't wait to do/experience each cruise. Although they might seem piddly to some, they are things that we really look forward to and make us feel "on vacation:"
1. I love to arrive at the cruise terminal as early as possible to read the navigator and just soak-in the ambiance. On a recent, we stayed at the Hyatt in MCO airport and were on the first Disney Transport to the port in the morning. I was the first one through security. I rode the escalator up and it was like magic. As I rose, I began to see 2 cast members standing at the top of the escalator welcoming us and waving their Mickey gloved hands. The beautiful, empty terminal room came into view - almost like a surreal dream. It was amazing to see it totally empty except cast members. It was totally awesome!
2. My eyes mist up the first time I see the ship - whether the night before or the morning of the cruise. Then, it happens again when we enter the atrium and I feel the incredible swell of gratitude and contentment come over me when they announce, "Disney Fantasy, welcome the Hain family!"
3. We head to guest services to take care of any necessary details (tickets for tour/events, etc) then we head straight upstairs to the buffet, which is usually just opening up. We fill up our thermo-mugs (that we brought with us) with pop and grab a table outdoors against the railing so we have an amazing view of the area and can feel the sun on our faces (we're from Michigan, so in the winter, warmth from the sun feels absolutely luxurious!), and then we “tie the food bag on!” DH LOVES the peel & eat shrimp, DD loves the chicken tenders & mac 'n cheese, and I pretty much graze on everything!
4. Once the rooms open up, we quickly unpack & sometimes we order the "All Hands on Deck" cheese platter and some Mickey bars. Mickey bars are one of the highlights of any Disney Cruise or trip to WDW for DH, so we'll have them several times during a cruise, and DH even requests them for dessert in the MDRs sometimes!
5. We pretty much stay up on deck throughout the entire sail away party (sometimes we hear to the bow to watch us sail out of the channel) & until we are well out of the harbor and into open water. One of my favorite moments of the entire cruise is when they blow the ship's horn the first time and I hear, "...when you wish upon a star...." Makes me cry EVERY time! It causes me to reflect on how incredibly blessed we are to be happy & healthy, and financially to be able to take these wonderful vacations. When I was a child, we grew up happy (single mom, 3 kids), but financially my family was near poverty, so we would never have been able to even THINK about a Florida vacation, let alone a Disney Cruise. I am so grateful!
6. If we will be booking a placeholder during the cruise, I will look through the navigator and will find the very first time that the booking desk will be open. I will arrive there 15-20 minutes prior and wait for the CM to arrive. I like to have that checked off my list and done before the lines get longer later in the cruise.
It will be almost a year until our next cruise - DH and I are booked on the 2018 WBPC. I literally can't wait!
For me, the entire cruise is one big guilty pleasure! From the moment I set foot on the ship, I am treated like royalty. I don't cook or clean. My family thinks the MDR food is wonderful. Although we're pretty low-maintenance passengers, the staff has always gone out of their way to take care of us and make us feel special. Beyond that, there are several things we can't wait to do/experience each cruise. Although they might seem piddly to some, they are things that we really look forward to and make us feel "on vacation:"
1. I love to arrive at the cruise terminal as early as possible to read the navigator and just soak-in the ambiance. On a recent, we stayed at the Hyatt in MCO airport and were on the first Disney Transport to the port in the morning. I was the first one through security. I rode the escalator up and it was like magic. As I rose, I began to see 2 cast members standing at the top of the escalator welcoming us and waving their Mickey gloved hands. The beautiful, empty terminal room came into view - almost like a surreal dream. It was amazing to see it totally empty except cast members. It was totally awesome!
2. My eyes mist up the first time I see the ship - whether the night before or the morning of the cruise. Then, it happens again when we enter the atrium and I feel the incredible swell of gratitude and contentment come over me when they announce, "Disney Fantasy, welcome the Hain family!"
3. We head to guest services to take care of any necessary details (tickets for tour/events, etc) then we head straight upstairs to the buffet, which is usually just opening up. We fill up our thermo-mugs (that we brought with us) with pop and grab a table outdoors against the railing so we have an amazing view of the area and can feel the sun on our faces (we're from Michigan, so in the winter, warmth from the sun feels absolutely luxurious!), and then we “tie the food bag on!” DH LOVES the peel & eat shrimp, DD loves the chicken tenders & mac 'n cheese, and I pretty much graze on everything!
4. Once the rooms open up, we quickly unpack & sometimes we order the "All Hands on Deck" cheese platter and some Mickey bars. Mickey bars are one of the highlights of any Disney Cruise or trip to WDW for DH, so we'll have them several times during a cruise, and DH even requests them for dessert in the MDRs sometimes!
5. We pretty much stay up on deck throughout the entire sail away party (sometimes we hear to the bow to watch us sail out of the channel) & until we are well out of the harbor and into open water. One of my favorite moments of the entire cruise is when they blow the ship's horn the first time and I hear, "...when you wish upon a star...." Makes me cry EVERY time! It causes me to reflect on how incredibly blessed we are to be happy & healthy, and financially to be able to take these wonderful vacations. When I was a child, we grew up happy (single mom, 3 kids), but financially my family was near poverty, so we would never have been able to even THINK about a Florida vacation, let alone a Disney Cruise. I am so grateful!
6. If we will be booking a placeholder during the cruise, I will look through the navigator and will find the very first time that the booking desk will be open. I will arrive there 15-20 minutes prior and wait for the CM to arrive. I like to have that checked off my list and done before the lines get longer later in the cruise.
It will be almost a year until our next cruise - DH and I are booked on the 2018 WBPC. I literally can't wait!
Also, if we have any Palo changes we go deal with those. 
It's getting close
And yes, it has just starting hitting me how close we are getting and how fast the next 6 weeks are going to go. 
I THINK we caught up with a tour that was currently in progress and after that was the muster drill, we were in the Walt Disney theater which was nice because it was REALLY HOT that day and some poor souls were out in the sun!
