Coach Rick
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2003
This was our first ever cruise, and to say it was fantastic is an understatement!
We flew to MCO on Saturday, a day early. I didn't want any chance of ANYthing going wrong. We stayed at SSR the night before and took the DCL bus the next day. We arrived at the lobby of the SSR at about noon, and about 15 minutes later our cruise guide showed up and checked all our paperwork and told us the bus would be at the resort promptly at 12:40, and we could stay where we were and she would get us when it arrived. At exactly 12:40 she came back and got us. We boarded the bus and were on our way by 12:45 on the button. The driver was very courteous and informative, and before you knew it we were watching a film about the ship. With every mile closer, anticipation grew, and soon the driver preped us for the first sighting of the ship out our left as we drove over the bridge near the port. What a sight indeed! Check in was a breeze, and before you knew it we heard our names announced.
We were helped with checking on our Palo reservation right away, and headed up to our Stateroom, 6576.
The Stateroom was fantastic, and as a first time cruiser, it was a tad bit smaller than I thought. My heart goes out to those on other ships if these are 25% larger than most! That said, it was all we needed on our cruise. I really enjoyed the veranda very much. On the coffee table there was an assortment of cheese cakes, and chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of sparkling cider on ice that my parents ordered for our 25th anniversary. Very nice touch. We immediately drank a toast, then headed up to deck 10 to see if we could meet up with any other DIS'ers. Stupid land lubber me forgot which way the ship was pointing and went to the starboard side, instead of the port side where we were supposed to meet. We did manage to meet with Kay (krdisneybound). Had a wonderful chat, then went down to get ready for the drill. The drill was painless, and quick, and for some strange reason reassuring. We quickly went back up to deck 10 and got ready for the sail away party, which was fantastic, and for once I honestly felt like I was on vacation. I will admit the sound of those horns did bring a goose bump or two to me. I found it very amusing how the passengers on the "other" ship were lined up at the railing watching us party. As we slipped away from the dock I truly felt "free". Strange feeling for sure.
The first night on the ship was a bit rocky. We had Palo reservations (note to self, NEVER book Palo the first night again!) Our ressie was at 8:30, we arrived at 8:10 and was promptly seated. By this time the ship was rocking a bit, and I suddenly felt a bit queezy. I ordered the chicken stuffed with shrimp scampi, and it was delicious, but with my stomach, I could not finish it, and we had it wrapped. DW did just fine, but that was most likely due to the Bonine. I couldn't take the Bonine due to other meds I take, so I had to rough it so to speak. We headed back to the stateroom and laying down now, I felt much better. I think we were sleeping by 10.
Next morning I got up at 6 to watch the approaching island of New Providence. I woke DW up at 7:30, and we washed and headed up to BBB for breakfast. Word to the unintiated, when eating outside on deck 9, watch out for those "vultures" the Bahamians call sea gulls. Man, I saw one guy turn his head while he was walking to his table with his food, and one of them suckers dropped right in and grabbed a sausage for itself. I thought I was seeing things. Breakfast was good, and we went and got ready to leave the ship for Nassau. We ran the "gauntlet" and finally got out to the street only to be accosted by a bunch of street vendors. I wanted to see the Strawmarket I heard so much about. I kid you not when I say we entered the front and exited right out the back without stopping. It's not my cup of tea. Without a map we headed out in search of the Pirate Museum. I had pretty much remembered the layout of the 3 or 4 streets, and sure enough, found it. WHAT? 12 dollars?, well ok, we went in. Worth $12, well I guess if you have nothing to do it's worth it. After the museum and a couple of trinkets for the kids, we headed back toward the ship.
In January I had sent my parents on the same cruise, and they told me about one of the taxi drivers that was very very good, so we decided to see if we could find him. Got back to the gauntlet, and asked for "Perry". I gotta say I was amazed at how helpful they were in helping find him. He had just come back, and one of the others took me out front to meet him. He asked if we would mind waiting to see if someone else wanted to take the trip too, 15 minutes later Perry came to get us, and we were his only passengers in his brand new van, but he said he wouldn't charge us any more, which he didn't. He took us to the "real" Nassau, spoke about the islands and it's rich history, and explained why the city is spread out like it is. We finally ended up at the Atlantis, after driving around for about 2 hours. He gave us a very nice tour of the Atlantis, and took several pictures of DW and I. We asked him to get us back to the ship by 3:30, and 3:30 we pulled up to the gates. I paid him and gave him a nice tip, and headed to the ship. Went to our stateroom, got refreshed and headed to the DVC party. Enjoyed it very much., got ready for the 6:15 show, and enjoyed it immensely. This is why I personally don't need a casino! After the show we got ready for dinner in Parrot Cay. Finally met our dining partners. Very nice family from Florida, with 3 very nice children. Well behaved for sure! After not eating much the night before, dinner was wonderful. Everything I ate was fantastic. We then headed to Wavebands for the show there, and enjoyed the heck out of it. We had Gary Delana (sp?). Great show, great night. Headed off to bed in anticipation of a great day at CC.
Day two coming later....
We flew to MCO on Saturday, a day early. I didn't want any chance of ANYthing going wrong. We stayed at SSR the night before and took the DCL bus the next day. We arrived at the lobby of the SSR at about noon, and about 15 minutes later our cruise guide showed up and checked all our paperwork and told us the bus would be at the resort promptly at 12:40, and we could stay where we were and she would get us when it arrived. At exactly 12:40 she came back and got us. We boarded the bus and were on our way by 12:45 on the button. The driver was very courteous and informative, and before you knew it we were watching a film about the ship. With every mile closer, anticipation grew, and soon the driver preped us for the first sighting of the ship out our left as we drove over the bridge near the port. What a sight indeed! Check in was a breeze, and before you knew it we heard our names announced.
We were helped with checking on our Palo reservation right away, and headed up to our Stateroom, 6576. The Stateroom was fantastic, and as a first time cruiser, it was a tad bit smaller than I thought. My heart goes out to those on other ships if these are 25% larger than most! That said, it was all we needed on our cruise. I really enjoyed the veranda very much. On the coffee table there was an assortment of cheese cakes, and chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of sparkling cider on ice that my parents ordered for our 25th anniversary. Very nice touch. We immediately drank a toast, then headed up to deck 10 to see if we could meet up with any other DIS'ers. Stupid land lubber me forgot which way the ship was pointing and went to the starboard side, instead of the port side where we were supposed to meet. We did manage to meet with Kay (krdisneybound). Had a wonderful chat, then went down to get ready for the drill. The drill was painless, and quick, and for some strange reason reassuring. We quickly went back up to deck 10 and got ready for the sail away party, which was fantastic, and for once I honestly felt like I was on vacation. I will admit the sound of those horns did bring a goose bump or two to me. I found it very amusing how the passengers on the "other" ship were lined up at the railing watching us party. As we slipped away from the dock I truly felt "free". Strange feeling for sure.
The first night on the ship was a bit rocky. We had Palo reservations (note to self, NEVER book Palo the first night again!) Our ressie was at 8:30, we arrived at 8:10 and was promptly seated. By this time the ship was rocking a bit, and I suddenly felt a bit queezy. I ordered the chicken stuffed with shrimp scampi, and it was delicious, but with my stomach, I could not finish it, and we had it wrapped. DW did just fine, but that was most likely due to the Bonine. I couldn't take the Bonine due to other meds I take, so I had to rough it so to speak. We headed back to the stateroom and laying down now, I felt much better. I think we were sleeping by 10.
Next morning I got up at 6 to watch the approaching island of New Providence. I woke DW up at 7:30, and we washed and headed up to BBB for breakfast. Word to the unintiated, when eating outside on deck 9, watch out for those "vultures" the Bahamians call sea gulls. Man, I saw one guy turn his head while he was walking to his table with his food, and one of them suckers dropped right in and grabbed a sausage for itself. I thought I was seeing things. Breakfast was good, and we went and got ready to leave the ship for Nassau. We ran the "gauntlet" and finally got out to the street only to be accosted by a bunch of street vendors. I wanted to see the Strawmarket I heard so much about. I kid you not when I say we entered the front and exited right out the back without stopping. It's not my cup of tea. Without a map we headed out in search of the Pirate Museum. I had pretty much remembered the layout of the 3 or 4 streets, and sure enough, found it. WHAT? 12 dollars?, well ok, we went in. Worth $12, well I guess if you have nothing to do it's worth it. After the museum and a couple of trinkets for the kids, we headed back toward the ship.
In January I had sent my parents on the same cruise, and they told me about one of the taxi drivers that was very very good, so we decided to see if we could find him. Got back to the gauntlet, and asked for "Perry". I gotta say I was amazed at how helpful they were in helping find him. He had just come back, and one of the others took me out front to meet him. He asked if we would mind waiting to see if someone else wanted to take the trip too, 15 minutes later Perry came to get us, and we were his only passengers in his brand new van, but he said he wouldn't charge us any more, which he didn't. He took us to the "real" Nassau, spoke about the islands and it's rich history, and explained why the city is spread out like it is. We finally ended up at the Atlantis, after driving around for about 2 hours. He gave us a very nice tour of the Atlantis, and took several pictures of DW and I. We asked him to get us back to the ship by 3:30, and 3:30 we pulled up to the gates. I paid him and gave him a nice tip, and headed to the ship. Went to our stateroom, got refreshed and headed to the DVC party. Enjoyed it very much., got ready for the 6:15 show, and enjoyed it immensely. This is why I personally don't need a casino! After the show we got ready for dinner in Parrot Cay. Finally met our dining partners. Very nice family from Florida, with 3 very nice children. Well behaved for sure! After not eating much the night before, dinner was wonderful. Everything I ate was fantastic. We then headed to Wavebands for the show there, and enjoyed the heck out of it. We had Gary Delana (sp?). Great show, great night. Headed off to bed in anticipation of a great day at CC.
Day two coming later....
