Second Day - Disney Cruise Embarkation - September 21, 2013

Woke up about 6:30am and made sure all of our things were packed. We had to have our luggage by the door at 8am with the cruise tags on them. Disney picked up our bags and transported them to the port, so we didn't have to worry about them. Breakfast was at Kona Cafe this morning at 8am. We checked in and received a beeper so we could walk around a bit.

Table was ready and we already knew what we wanted. Tonga Toast for Steve and the fruit 'boat' and Lilikoi juice for me. Yumm...

While sitting and waiting for our food, we made small talk with a nice couple next to us. It was their last day, they had been there all week. As they were getting ready to leave, they told us that they had dining plan meals left over and that they were taking care of our meal! They didn't have to, it was so nice of them! We thanked them very much and just knew we were going to have a great day.

We received a note in our room telling us to be in the lobby by the ship model before 11am. We walked around the resort grounds after breakfast, I took some pictures.

We headed over to the lobby around 10:30am and checked in at the cruise podium. The woman had apologized because there was a group of Hawaiian dancers and a music group playing feet away from us. It was very nice, I have no idea why she would apologize.

 

So, everyone was checked in and the woman had to go wrangle up some of the folks. We loaded the coach bus and headed off to the Contemporary to pick up the last of the passengers. Passed this in the parking lot of the Bay Lake Tower...

We are now on our way to the port! It's about an hour and a half trip. There's really nothing exciting on the way there except for the DCL welcome video playing on the overhead tvs. After the welcome video, they fill in the extra time to the port with Americas Funniest Home Videos. We go over a couple of bridges and then we see it! (12:29pm)

It's HUGE! Of course it looks like a floating hotel. We get off the bus (12:35pm) with just our carry ons and head for the building. Just inside, we go through a security check point (just like the airport). Bags go through the xray machine and then we walk through, pick up the bags. Then up the escalator to the terminal. It's bigger then I imagined. Seeing it in photos is way different. I see the check in desks on the left, we head over. Passed by the huge ship model, there might have been people getting their pictures taken with Mickey or Minnie. But I wanted ON THAT SHIP! :) So, we waited in line. There must have been about 20 cast member bays checking people in. There might have been 2 families in front of us, it went super fast. We were called down. I had our DCL booklet ready with my passport and Steve's birth certificate. She took our picture, handed us our Keys to the World (boarding pass and room key), our boarding number (9) and motioned to the line where people were already boarding (12:49pm). That was it! I wish I remembered what time it was and how long it took us to do things, maybe next time. I was too excited! - edited, I looked at my cell phone pics to see what time they were taken :)

We made it through the long line and had our cards swiped through. There were separate lines once going through: one to have your first family photo taken (pass) or a through line to board the ship (YES!). So we walked on past and went down the gangway, our second view of the ship!. There were 2 families in front of us to have their names announced, but then it was OUR turn! Please welcome aboard, the Brocklehurst Family! Yay! We are finally here :) (12:53pm)

So, of course we headed straight and to the left (as you can hear me give the orders on my YouTube video. LOL! Like I didn't know where to go...geez) So, we walked down the long hallway (soon to become my most favorite hallway on the entire ship) and to the aft elevators. You enter on deck 3, so we went up to deck 11 to Cabanas buffet for lunch (1:04pm). I never took photos of the buffet, but I did capture this stunned face...

It was very, very busy in there and we could hardly find a place to sit. We sat inside and overlooked the port. We waited until 1:30pm until the rooms were ready and you were able to go down the halls. We checked out our room and I took photos before it became too cluttered (1:41pm). 

I had pre-purchased Steve a beer mug for his birthday gift and 4 passes to the Rainforest for our anniversary. Both were waiting for us on the desk when we got there.

Then some photos of the current view from our verandah...

We waited around for a while for our luggage to show up. Whew, it did eventually. I unpacked most of our things and set up the bathrooms with our things. And I decorated our stateroom door!

We waited until about 3:30pm and headed to our muster station a bit early. Ours was in the Tube lounge. Later on in the cruise, this became our favorite night-time spot, usually with folks that we met on board. So, we went down to deck 4 aft, they scanned our room card and sat people so they could get everyone to fit. At least we were early and were able to sit down. They took roll call of the rooms they were missing (hence them scanning our room card on the way in - I bet those folks were in trouble), went over the emergency instructions and we were out of there in about 15 min. 

Our Facebook group had set up for us to all meet at the ice cream area after the muster drill. I recognized a young girl, but that was about it. We waited around for a little while and met just a couple more people. So, I ordered my first drink of the day! Yummy!

We watched the Sail Away party show for just a few minutes. It was way too crowded, so we headed to the adult only areas of the ship. You could hardly tell when we fired the engines up and pushed away from the dock! All you could feel different, was the vibration from of the side thrusters. So, we headed up to deck 12 forward to wave to the Port Canaveral web cam, hoping folks back home would be watching. I was watching on my phone the whole time, hoping to get a screen shot. But they never showed us! Even though I wrote to them and they had asked exactly where we would be. Ugh... Anyway, I took a lot of pictures as we floated out to sea.

Goodbye, Florida (4:53pm). Goodbye, internet. Hello, open seas! We headed back to our room and I put a few more things away, hung up our clothes. Then I realized I forgot about the first show! We weren't going to be ready in time, so we took our time getting ready for dinner. 

Our dinner time was at 8:15pm every night. So, we headed for dinner at Animators Palate and met our table mates and servers: we would be seeing the same folks for dinner throughout the cruise. Everyone was very quiet as we took our seats. Two couples had joined us, 2 seats were still empty. Our servers introduced themselves, Anson from India and Hazel for the Philippines. I broke the ice and introduced myself and Steve to our table mates. There was Doug and Michelle from California and Steve and Tracy from the UK. Everyone was super nice, when we all came out of our shells a bit more :) We enjoyed our table mates and servers very much every night from here on out! I believe this was the night that Crush came around and talked to some of the tables. We had a screen, but I don't remember him talking to any of us. When Crush wasn't talking, fish would float by. I had heard about the Match Your Mate show in the Tube, so we headed that way after dinner. I had recognized a couple from our Facebook group, Sandy and Judy. So, I was bold and went over to 1) see if they were in fact Sandy and Judy and 2) introduce myself (and Steve) and try not to feel like a cyber stalker :) They were nice enough to invite us to sit with them. We listened to their stories about being contestants on Match Your Mate on past cruises. They were a hoot! So glad we met them! None of us really wanted to get chosen to play. The host (Franky-hilarious!) chose the couple that was married the most recent (a couple had gotten married in the DCL terminal!), the longest married couple and a couple from in between. It was a very fun show!

Then it was time for bed and some much needed sleep after such a long and exciting day!

First Day - Polynesian/MNSSHP - September 20, 2013

So, we've I've been counting down the days since around the 365 day mark. And 'the day' is finally here! With our house/pet sitter at the wheel, we start our 11 mile journey to the Memphis International Airport around 8am. Thank you again, Bethany! Before leaving home, I had already put the tags on our luggage. Checking our luggage at MEM with the tags on meant that we won't see them again until we arrive in our hotel room later. Plane took off at 10:37am sharp, right on schedule with no delay - even though it was raining. Smooth flight :)

Before leaving home (months prior) I had made reservations through Disney's Magical Express for transportation to our hotel (free of charge). Great service! About 3 weeks before our trip, I had seen online that we could also order our Magic Bands because we were staying at one of the participating test resorts. Magic Bands were ordered and arrived in about 4 days!

So, we arrive at MCO right on schedule! The Magic Band information sheet said to have our bands on as we land in Orlando, so we put on our bands as were getting ready to deplane. I couldn't even imagine what the airport had to do with Magic Bands, but whatever - we put them on and made our way to the DME desk downstairs with our paperwork in hand. As we approached the DME area, a representative was standing at the opening of the stanchions. She said "Oh, you have your Magic Bands on and ready! Right over here..." So, the nice lady scanned my Magic Band and pointed to the bus lines. COOL! She didn't even need our paperwork or IDs. Steve is now starting to admire my Disney planning skills at this point. He looks at me, "Cool!" As we walk away from all of the people standing at the DME counters, he says "Suckers..." LOL! First bright moment of the trip right there.

We then make our way down the correct stanchion lane for the Polynesian. Boarded the bus and we were on our way to The World!

They show their cute little movie with the characters showing all there is to do around Walt Disney World. Now I start getting depressed that we are only spending less than 24 hours here! Look at all the stuff we are going to miss out on!!! But then it hits me...we are going on a DISNEY CRUISE TOMORROW! That was close.

We were the first stop to get dropped off. So, off the bus with only our carry ons, we made our way inside the Polynesian. As we walk up, a cast member got our name and escorted us to the Online Check In desk. I had checked in online weeks before leaving home and requested a 3rd floor room in the Aotearoa building (thinking I could be able to see the monorail from our balcony). Both requests honored and we were given room #3202 in Aotearoa! So, we received our complimentary Hawaiian leis and headed to our room to check out our view. As we passed the Tambu Lounge, we contemplated stopping for our first Mai Tai. Naw, it can wait a second. With a short walk past Captain Cook's, the arcade and the marina, we were the second building on the left. Perfect! Right up the elevator, off on the 3rd floor, our room was right in front of us. At first I panicked thinking that the elevator and ice machine would be too loud at night. But then I thought 'I sleep with ear plugs, no problem!' LOL! Waved our Magic Band over the lock and we were IN! Second MB moment of awesomeness.

Ok, if you look all the way to the right off the balcony and if you were to look straight ahead... BAM! Monorail! Mission accomplished.

 Monorail Lime!

The elusive Iron Man 3 Monorail!

I packed our Mickey tie-dye Halloween t-shirts on my carry on. So, we made a quick change and out the door we went! We stopped in the Tambu Lounge for that Mai Tai.

Forgot to take a picture before I started. I was a little excited... Then we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom so we could catch the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we were to have dinner at 5:30. While boarding the bus, we saw many people already arriving for the Halloween Party. Cute costumes. Arrived at AKL right at 5pm, so checked in a little early at the podium for Boma. While we were waiting with our buzzer, a woman approached me and said that she loved my t-shirt and asked where she could get one. I told her I made them. She asked if I had a card and I was so surprised, I said no. Later, I remembered that I had some in my lanyard! Proceeded to have an awesome dinner at Boma. Here is a photo of our shirts and the awesome Chicken Corn Chowder at Boma. Well worth the buffet price, if you ask me.

 

After dinner, we made our way over to the park bus stop. Saw quite a few people heading to the party in costumes again. Arrived at the Magic Kingdom, scanned our Magic Bands (I had loaded our MNSSHP tickets one there, as well) and we were ready to party! I made a bee line straight for the new Little Mermaid Under the Sea Voyage ride. Again, had loaded Fast Passes on my Magic Bands - just in case we were arriving in time for the last hour of regular park hours. We made it! But, it didn't impress me enough to ride it a second time. I must be getting old... Then headed over to my favorite, The Haunted Mansion! Got our photo taken in front by the horseless carriage. Again, no Photopass card needed...went straight on the Magic Band! Rode a few more things and then it was time for our cruise friend meet up in front of the Partners statue. We were on time, I looked around for anyone that I recognized or that was wearing our lime green color. No one. I did, however, see some women that looked like they had just met - but they didn't look like they were looking for anyone else. I was a little disappointed. So we went and rode more rides. 

I panicked when we walked over to Frontierland and saw that the parade was about to start. Missed the Headless Horseman. Later, I realized that it wasn't THAT parade I wanted to see but the one at 10:30... Missed that one later. But saw the fireworks from in front of the Crystal Palace and called it a night. Left the park around 11:30. We had a big day tomorrow and needed some rest!