Hey guys! Hope you're all getting into the holiday spirit! It's almost time for the weekend! woohoo! Now let's get back to our fantastic voyage trip report.
After our little bus ride we pulled into Port Canaveral. Our first glimpse of the Disney Magic was simply breath taking! I couldn’t stop bouncing up and down in my seat. I couldn’t wait for the bus to park so I could trample... Uhh.... I mean get off the bus in an orderly fashion.
Going through security was a breeze! We got up to the check in desk and the CM helped us fly through check it. He gave us our room keys and said that it was open boarding so all we had to do was go through the mickey ears and up the gangway.
I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. You have to remember that I booked this cruise in February of 2009 as Adam’s wedding gift so I had been waiting over two years for this cruise. It seemed almost surreal to me walking up to the ship.
When we entered the amazing atrium we were greeted by a CM who was wearing a white naval looking suit. She asked who we were and what stateroom we were in. I told her and she pointed us in the direction we needed to go... as we started walking we hear over the loud speaker... “DISNEY CRUISE LINE, LET’S GIVE A BIG WELCOME TO THE ‘Z’ FAMILY!!!”.... Oh Em Geeeee!!! I could’ve died I was so excited! Adam and I were laughing and thought it was so cool!
I’m going to now share with you a tip... I’m sure there are people out there who think this is a good idea but looking back on it I think I could’ve spent the money on something else but either way here are my two cents...As we were walking down the hall to try and find out stateroom a CM asked us if we would like to purchase a case of bottled waters and a DCL beer mug. Had I not been in a state of over stimulation I probably would NOT have bought the case of water. The DCL glass beer mug did come in handy for Adam but the more I think about it now the whole case of water thing was a dumb purchase on our part... i mean all non-alcoholic beverages on the boat are free. Why were we paying for water? We did take two of them with us to key west because it was really really hot that day but honestly that was it. Towards the end of our cruise we actually were TRYING to drink them because we didn’t want to leave full bottles behind. But that is just my opinion of it...
Ok so after our water purchase we found the nearest elevators and took it to deck 6. Our stateroom # was 6635. We were told that they were currently delivering all of the luggage and that ours should be there by now. We got off of the elevator and looked at the signs posted on the walls. We found the one that had our stateroom # on it and started our adventure down the hall. It was utter CHAOS! There were people walking up and down the tiny hall trying to find their rooms, CM’s putting luggage in front of the stateroom doors, families with too much luggage cause traffic jams in the halls... holy moly I was feeling VERY claustrophobic! We finally found our stateroom and we couldn’t get in it fast enough!
This leads to my next piece of advise. (I have many from this trip) If you’ve never been on a cruise ship and you have no idea what is going on when you first get on board... ITS OK! DO NOT PANIC! I’m saying this because Adam and I were freaked out enough just trying to find the room, never mind what we discovered when we entered the room. They are TINY! Adam and I started to get nervous that maybe we had made a mistake and should’ve stayed at WDW. So, if you are new to cruising or to tiny spaces in general mentally prepare yourself for this experience.
After some deep breathing we decided it would probably be better to go to one of the top decks to get some fresh air. We explored the top decks of the ship until it was time to leave Port Canaveral. I think we both felt much better learning where things were on the ship and getting to know our surroundings. I would’ve taken more pictures but there were too many people out and about and in my way!
Before we knew it the announcement came over the loud speaker that it was time for the sail away party. I LOVED the sail away party. I got my little streamer and danced around waving it around. This is a quick video of the building at port canaveral and deck 10 at the very beginning of the party... you can see some streamers and hear the music.
Sadly Adam wasn’t into it as much as I was. Looking at him I knew he wasn’t feeling well. After the sail away paty we went back to the stateroom and relaxed until it was time for dinner.
This was probably the best decision we made that day. Adam climbed into bed and took a nap while I figured out how to utilize the space in the room. Another tip for first time cruisers... Take the time to empty your clothes and belongings out of the suitcases and organize them! Use the closet, shelves, ect. I felt much better after everything was organized. The room seemed bigger when everything was in its place.
This is where I’m going to end... I hope all the pics and the video redeem my last trip report post. Now lets recap...
Katie’s 3 tips for first time cruisers:
1.) Unless you know you’ll need it I wouldn’t spend the money to buy the case of water. All non-alcoholic beverages are free on the boat. If anything bring your own water bottle from home and use that.
2.) Do NOT panic and mentally prepare yourself to be a bit overwhelmed when first getting on board and seeing how tiny your stateroom is.
3.) Take the time to empty your luggage out and utilize all the storage space in the stateroom. It’ll make the room feel bigger!
Until next time! :)
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