jenseib

Sorry. I'm having desktop issues and I have to take it in for repair. The laptop sucks pretty much.

After my picture and exploring tour I went back through Cabanas and grabbed a plate of food for Claire and I, and took it back to the room. Mom was awake when I got back. We were getting near port, so Mom and I stood out on the Verandah and took in the scenery. LAND HO! And a few of the Verandah itself. It was close to 8 and I tried to wake Claire up. She was dead to the world. I tried to entice her to get up…reminding her of the fun day we had planned, she just kept sleeping. Claire can sleep through anything in the morning. If it was a perfect world she would stay up till midnight every night and sleep till noon every day. I always say she was born in the wrong time zone. She should live in California! I decided I wanted to run up top one more time and take some pictures while pulling into Port. Sadly I never got that “great” shot I was hoping for. The sun was so bright and the reflection off the water made it hard to get great shots, but that didn’t stop me! Somewhere along the line I took this picture. Must’ve been on the way up, but I have no clue where? Maybe in the elevator? And here is what I wanted to get….The Lighthouse. I wanted a fabulous picture of it…and I’m not sure I really got what I wanted. But I took about a zillion pictures trying. And here is one of the shots I had really wanted….except I wanted the water to be blue!! Dang sun was NOT cooperating. I finally got a picture of the light house with blue water….but I also got some weird lines in it too. That darn sun!!! Hi Dude!!! More pictures of pulling into to port. I headed back down to the room and shot a few more from the Verandah then. Still trying for that perfect lighthouse shot…… And someone must like to watch the ships come in and sunbathe at the same time! LOL Looks like we have some early partiers! And one last picture of the lighthouse OK! We now HAVE to get Claire moving. Claire and I had an excursion to go on. I basically had to pull her out of the bunk, but once she was up, she did get moving. She said she wasn’t hungry, but I made her eat something. When looking at pictures of food prior to cruising, she consistently said she wanted a chocolate covered donut, so I had brought one down for her. She licked the chocolate off and was done with that! LOL! She had a sausage link and maybe a bite of hash brown. She had other things on her mind though. She was very excited about the excursion. After we were all dressed and ready, we headed to the Buena Vista Theatre to meet. Mom had decided to go on her own that day, but she tagged along with us to the meet up and stayed with us till we left. I forgot to mention that the night before we had tried to do the Dective agency interactive play thing onboard. It was closed at the time we went. Mom had promised Claire that they would do it on this day later on. While waiting in the theatre Claire talked about this a lot. Mom promised that they would indeed do it sometime after the excursion. Mom and I also talked of possibly checking out Atlantis when Claire and I got back as well. We decided to play it by ear. Several Excursions met in the Theatre. The process was to grab towels, if needed, when you walk in. Again, you should walk in on deck 4, as they have nothing up on Deck 5 entrance. Then they line you up and you give them your tickets and they put a wristband on you for your excursion. We also put a sticker on our shirt so the CM’s could see which excursion we went too. I believe we got a Dalmatian sticker. And that sucker was STICKY. It came off my shirt through out the day but stuck to my arm. And it HURT to pull it off. After we had all the right stuff, we lined up with our excursion mates and headed off the ship. Once off the ship, we had to wait for an excursion leader to come and take us the rest of the way. Now you are probably thinking…”OK, what excursion did they go on?” WELL…… …. ….. …… …….. ……… ……….. ………… ……….. ……….. ……………. You will have to wait for that one!

Day 3 ~ April 1st, Friday Who’s the fool now? LOL! …..Ok, no one was, but I just wanted to say that since it was April Fools day! I woke up around 6 AM…very rested and feeling refreshed. This was the Navigator for the day. I got dressed and headed out for some picture taking. Carpet by the elevator. He was out in the Elevator/Stairway hall by Cabanas. The weather was fabulous, but windy. I tried to capture the sun rise. Not so good. At first I thought my focus was messed up. Then I tried a picture of the Waves sign and bar. Not much better….then it hit me…my lens was fogging up in the heat. I found a spot to sit near the hot tub, wiped the lens off and waited for it to get used to the different temperature. I had brought my notebook along, so I wrote some more notes while I sat there. I did a couple of test tries on the hot tub every so often. After a few tries, it finally did clear up and I decided to walk around more and take some more shots. Notice the plexi glass around the top of the ship. This really blocks the wind and makes it more comfortable up top. I went on the other side of the plexi glass for this one. It’s the teen area. It was SUPER windy. It about knocked me over. I had a hard time standing in one spot to get this shot. Sun is coming up now! More random shots as I walk around the ship. I just loved taking pictures of this sign…..

Thanks! It is a beautiful ship. I have been on 2 NCL cruises and they were nice, but this ship just blew them otu of the water!

There is a lot to do. We had a lot of fun and kept going most of the time. Who needs sleep on vacation!

Mom and I decided to go back to the shops and look some more. We didn’t have much time before dinner. I knew I wanted to get a sweatshirt for myself ( I have a bit of a sweatshirt obsession) , but I wanted to take my time and look around at all the options. I ended up getting the same one that I bought my Dis friend. It was cute and my style and it said Inaugural on it! This is what I got! I found one I liked for Claire as well and got that for her…..which I guess was a mistake, because she then knew we had gone shopping without her and then she didn’t ever want to go to the kids clubs anymore because she was afraid we would do something fun without her. She wasn’t upset with us, nor did she ever make a big deal about it, but I figured it out after awhile when she would ask what we were going to do if she went to the club. I looked at the Cruise Dooney and Bourkes. I wasn’t too sure about them. They seem to be shiny with a vinyl type coating. They just weren’t doing it for me at the time. I didn’t like the shiny coating and very few were “normal”. I don’t remember if Mom made any purchases. We were both on our own roaming in and out of the different shops. I know she had things in her hand and then she would put them back, so I can’t remember if she actually made a purchase or not that evening. We headed back to the room once again. We arrived to find our beds turned down, with a towel Animal on the main bed. They had also brought down the bunk bed in the ceiling. I had just planned to have Claire sleep with me, but I figured she would rather sleep on the bunk, which she did when she saw it. Again, I noticed my excursion tickets still had not shown up, so I was glad I had them reprinted earlier. Our room was always clean and nice, but I just didn’t think our steward was the best. There was something that happened later on that kind of made me dislike him a bit more. (I think it was a him! LOL). He seemed to not leave everything we were supposed to have and almost seemed like he tried to do the minimum amount. My plan was to go exploring and perhaps check out the night clubs/bars. I grabbed the wave phone to take along and realized there was a text. Claire was ready to be picked up. She had only been there over an hour. I was shocked. I have to also add that I am very new to texting. I got a Droid in Aug and that was the first user friendly phone I ever had, so it was the first phone I actually texted with for the most part. This phone was not user friendly. I had a heck of a time figuring out how to use it…..and it didn’t have a texting keyboard, so I would NEVER be able to actually text someone with it. I didn’t see directions anywhere, though I didn’t look hard either, so I really had no clue how to use it to even make a call. I think we kind of put our heads together and figured it out, but we never really used it for the most part. So off to the kids club I went to find Claire. I had to walk through a bit of it to actually find her. She looked to be having a fabulous time. She was holding a paper she had colored and they were getting ready to play a game. But as soon as she saw me, she was ready. I asked her if it was fun, and she said yes, but she was missing us. That’s fine, but I was still a little shocked to find that I was more fun than this fabulous club. I did NOT take pictures of the club. It was filled with kids and I wasn’t sure what the policy was, so I didn’t bother. It was so COOL inside though. I think I want to spend an afternoon there! Claire and I decided to go up to the top decks and see how the weather was. At some point and time during the evening the Captain had made an announcement about being on our way and stated that we would have very rough seas as we moved out of the storms. I have to say, this was extremely smooth sailing, and I don’t know if we missed the rough seas, or if the stabilizers really make that much of a difference. I have been on rough seas on both of my previous cruises and you could FEEL it. You would stumble or rock every so often and I even felt a little queasy at times, but I never had this on the Dream. When Claire and I arrived up top we noticed nice weather. Breezy, but warm and the pools were open. First thing out of her mouth…I want to swim! Ok, I told her lets walk around a bit and take in the ship…and a few pictures and then we’ll get her suit on. Sounds like a plan and she agreed! A VERY blurry picture of Nemos. We cut through Cabanas on our way back to our room. When we got back to the room, Mom was shocked that Claire was going to swim at such a late hour…I think it was at least 11 then. But I knew it was better to get that swim bug out of her than arguing about it all night. I told Claire it would be a short swim and she was happy with that. Up the elevator we went! Look down when you get on or off the elevator. Love the details! Cutting through Cabanas again. And out to the pool! There were only a handful of children in the pool. Claire basically had it to herself for the most part. She had a blast. Toy Story was playing on the big pool screen so I watched the end of that while she swam….and of course randomly took pictures. I seem to have an obsession of taking pictures of the Aqua Duck sign. Toys Story ended and I told Claire to do one last splash and it was time to go to bed. We were going to have another very busy day tomorrow. We got dressed in our jammies and Claire climbed into her bunk. Look at those bloodshot eyes! I closed the curtain divider between me and Mom and Claire. I wanted to write up notes about the day…but that only lasted a few minutes. The long day was catching up to me FAST. This bed was just as comfy as the one at Residence Inn. Soon I just gave up and went completely out for some much needed sleep. It was a wonderful first day on the Ship. We did a lot. Not everything we had planned on doing, but we still had fun and made the best of a rainy day.

As you can see by the photo shoot pictures, I had not yet changed for dinner. (Why I waited, I don’t remember) We decided to head back to the room to get ready. Of course we stopped for a few pictures on the way. We headed back to the room and I changed. Claire had been complaining that her dress was really itchy. I was going to put a shirt under it, but when Mom took it off her we saw he skin was very red and blotchy so we just changed her completely. In the future we will always put a shirt under this dress. We still had a bit of time so we wandered through the shops. I had to buy a sweatshirt for a fellow Diser. She had been on the cruise a few weeks prior and bought one for herself, but her Mom ended up not getting one and regretted it ever since. So she asked if I would pick one up for her. The one she wanted was no longer available in bigger sizes, but they had a similar one in a different color, so I purchased that right away so I wouldn’t forget to later on. We headed then towards Enchanted Garden. Word to the wise…don’t get to Dinner early or even on time…You WILL wait. We got there about 5 minutes late and still had to wait to be seated. I would suggest getting there about 10 minutes late and you will next to no wait. Our table was right by the doorway. The place was beautiful. We soon met our fabulous Servers, Brent and Srdjan. Srdjan called Claire a Princess right from the start and she instantly was his biggest fan! Claire colored while we waited for our food. She was going to do the Dine and Play…meaning her food would come faster and then she would leave early to go to the kids club. Our food came and it was delicious! Through out dinner a photographer went around and took pictures at each table. Claire’s dessert arrived early and she took a few bites and then Mom and I attacked it! She then went on to the kids club. Our desserts arrived then too. Before we left I took a few more pictures.

It was an awesome show. It was my favorite of the 3. I was pretty impressed with my pictures too.

On to the Finale The show was fabulous. All 3 of us loved it. As we were getting ready to go I got a tap on my shoulder. The couple behind us asked me what kind of camera I had, what lens I shot with and what mode, etc. They said they could see my pictures on my screen and were loving them. They had a similar camera but didn’t bring their telephoto lens. It kind of made me feel good that they liked what I shot too. We still had time before dinner, so I decided to get Claire’s picture taken by the photographer, so we headed towards the Atrium. As we walked into the Atrium we ran into Aurora doing a walk around! The photographers were getting ready to start so we hopped in line…well we made the line because we were first! Claire did a little dancing and twirling while we waited. Then I realized that Claire’s hair looked horrid. So I took out her braid and did the finger comb thing and tried to make it slightly presentable. It was then time to get pictures. As they took some of Claire, I would randomly take a few too. Of course I don’t have all the fancy flashes and was doing it quickly so they wouldn’t tell me no…so mine aren’t so great. Theirs were pretty good though. There are a few with half closed eyes and such, but we got a good batch. And then I got some with Claire as well. This would be one of my favorites.

More show Pictures I can’t say enough about the Cruella part of the show. She was so amazing and I just wanted to get up and dance I took a LOT of pictures of her…but look at her expressions…she was great! And that’s it for the Cruella photos, but I did actually take more than that! LOL! She was just great! And Rapunzel even got a turn! Most of my beauty and the best pictures seem a little blurry.

Back at the room we got dressed in our nicer clothes to get ready to go to the early show. Claire was wearing her Rapunzel dress. We also brought along a hair piece to wear with a long braid. I put it on Claire’s head and pinned it on…..ow.ow.ow! She said it hurt too much. Now when we bought this, I had asked over and over, “are you sure it doesn’t hurt? You are going to wear it right?” And she said it felt fine and yes she would wear it. Well she didn’t. I wasn’t going to have her complain about pain all evening so I just put it back in the bag….BUT she WILL be Rapunzel for Halloween and she WILL wear that braid thing! LOL! I called Skip one last time. We still hadn’t set sail, (still waiting for 1 more bus) but I knew we would be soon. We said our goodbyes and then I pulled the camera out and took a few more shots from the verandah. I bet this would be pretty on a sunny day. Now the memory is a little fuzzy and I didn’t write this down. I must’ve left the room for some reason. I have several pictures and I remember taking them and being by myself when doing so. So I must’ve just gone for a quick walk, or went to get something that I now can’t remember. The order of the pictures make no since as to why I did this at this time, but I guess I did for some good reason! LOL! AH HA!!!!! It just hit me! I hadn’t received tickets for our shore excursion for the next day in our room. So I ran down to Guest Services to see if I needed them and they reprinted them for me and said they should’ve been in my room and the originals probably would show up by the end of the night. They never did show up though. This is behind the Guest Services desk. Some random shots around the Atrium. I noticed a photographer setting up and asked what time they would start taking pictures. I believe she told me 7 or 7:30. I can’t seem to remember now for sure. I must’ve then taken an elevator up. The adult pool. As you can see, it is still very wet out. And then back to the room. Mom had me give Dad a call to see how he was doing. He had left Kennedy Space Center and was lost. He said he had asked for directions several times and couldn’t find his way. It was raining hard and he was too upset to talk, he would call back later. I told him that we would be sailing soon and most likely he wouldn’t be able to get a hold of us later. He did say that there was a tornado watch or warning while he was at the Space Center and they had to put everyone is a protective building. He wasn’t happy about that either. I let him go after a few minutes as he was just very worried about where he was. I told him to call his sister and see if she could help or pull off the road till the hard rain stopped. Just then we started to sail away. NOTHING special about it at all!!! No announcements, no horn, No CM’s with Mickey hands waving to us…NOTHING… just pulling away from the port. I was kind of bummed about it. I also had wanted to watch us pull out all the way to the ocean, but I couldn’t do that either. The 6:15 show would be starting soon. I think we started sailing about 6ish. So the best I could do was take a couple of pictures. Claire enjoying a sucker from one of the gifts in the Fish Extender. Bye bye Port! And then we left the room and headed to the Walt Disney Theatre. I didn’t pay attention to the map that well when I looked to see where the theatre was. It said decks 3 and 4, so we went in on deck 4…which I found out was the Balcony. So we missed all the “Hollywood” fun that happens at the main entrance. But Claire liked the balcony and we ended up sitting there for each show. You do have to be careful where you sit though. There are several big round poles that can block your view in a few of the seats. The seats were comfy and roomy though. The Theatre was very pretty. Soon our cruise director came out to start the show. I believe his name was Ray…or Roy…I think Ray. But I had seen Rachel…a girl…in all other TR’s I had read thus far about the Dream, so I don’t know if they trade off or if he is now the Cruise director for the Dream….or how that works. I did like him though. He was fun, and had lots of spirit. The show then started and I took A LOT of pictures…and I was happy to see that they actually turned out well. Snow White was behind a screen here. Snow White and Doopy then brought out kids dressed as Dwarves, It was very cute.

We went through the Atrium and I took a couple of shots of the elevator. We saw Goofy and Pluto out for meet and greets. Claire decided to get in line for Pluto. The line wasn’t too long at all. Pluto played a little with Claire. Claire decided she did not want to wait for Goofy. We headed up to the top. I wanted to see what the rain situation was. …Still raining. I did take a few shots between raindrops though. I got my first look at the AquaDuck! And the cute Mickey Slide We then headed back to the room where we met Mom. Another one of my bags had been delivered. Mom said she had seen us in the Atrium and had hollered, but we never heard her. The Muster drill had been delayed to 4:30. Mom said she had heard someone knock and run away while we were gone. So we took a look at our Fish Extender, and sure enough we had a treat! Claire was very excited. We decided to make our deliveries then as well. We took our bag and list an went on our way while Mom stayed in the room. One thing to remember while doing this…bring a pen! I didn’t and then I couldn’t mark off who we had delivered to and it made it a bit confusing. Another note, don’t use cheap dollar store bags to fill. Mine were ripping apart as I pulled each one out. I was amazed at how long the hallways were. We just kept walking and walking and walking, and you would think you were at the end, then it would do a little jog over and it would be just as long again. This ship was HUGE! We made all the deliveries. One room did not have their FE out yet, and I set the bag on the floor next to the room. I hope they did get it. This is some of the stuff I put in the bag. I added a few more small things after I had taken this picture. We headed back to the room and decided to head down to Evolutions for the Muster Drill. As we opened the door there was someone standing there. It was lilliansmommy, Kelly and her DD Lilly, passing out their FE gifts. We said a quick hi and she even remembered that Mom was taking Skip’s place. She was really nice and Lilly was a doll. And she had on one of the same dresses I had brought along on the trip for Claire too. After our little meet, we all headed down to Evolutions. This was the one and only time I ever went in there, but it looked like a neat place. We found a seat and waited. We had to listen to instructions and what to do in an emergency, etc. They had to check off everyone’s name. We then found out that they were still waiting for more people to board the ship yet. Because of the storms many planes were delayed and so they were holding off on sailing till they got there. I assume because they had Disney transportation is why we waited. We also found out that the wind had been so strong at one point during the day that many passengers had to board on deck 1 (right off the dock) because it was not safe to go in the gateway. I actually heard a few people grumble about it here and there, so I guess it was not a very magical experience. Again, there was a lot of sitting and I had to fight to stay awake a few times. Once they got the drill going I was back awake again. And they played the emergency tone of the horn, and that would wake anyone up! Once we finished up there we were free to go. The Sail Away party was now scheduled for 5 in the Atrium. We decided to head that way and get a spot. We entered the Atrium on the 3rd level and decided to just stand against the railing there. Claire kind of complained that she wouldn’t be able to see the stage, but I had a feeling that many of the characters were going to be on the 2nd level, and I was right! Of course while you wait for the show to start, you take some random shots! This carpet was on the 2nd tier balcony. This is where I figured part of the show would be as they had it roped off. And trying for some artsy shot of the chandelier, but again, I am slightly crooked. More details around the stairs and balconies. I spotted Kelly and Lily in the crowd on the main floor and took a couple of shots of them as well. I won’t post those here though. Soon the show started. I did take some video of it as well…and we all know that that card is sadly lost in Wonderland somewhere. A CM had gone around and handed out shaker sticks with little Pom Poms on the end. We got blue. Daisy was right below us! The party was fun, though I suspect it was either altered and/or shortened. They had a countdown during the song and then the ships horn plays. I believe it played “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”. It was so exciting to hear the horn. We had a good time. We then made our way back to our room to get changed. One tip I give you. The elevators are always jammed packed after any kind of party. So if you are going down, take the stairs! That’s what we did anytime we had to go down a couple decks…..going up is a little harder on the body though.

We unpacked a bit from what we had in the room with us so far. Claire and I decorated our door with magnets. I put out our Fish Extender. Sadly I don’t think I ever took a picture of our door with the magnets or fish extender. I took a look at the Navigator and saw that the Port shopping talk was going to start soon. I told Mom that we were going to go see it and she wanted to come as well. We looked on our ship map to see where The Buena Vista Theatre was, and made our way there. I took a few shots as we passed the Atrium again. And another shot. I just couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. On our way again! I have no clue where this was….or what it was, but it looks pretty…even though I took it crooked. We entered The Buena Vista Theatre from the top level on deck 5. But they had all the handouts at the deck 4 entrance, so I went back and picked those flyers up. Evidently I have bad balance or I am lopsided…here’s another crooked picture. Soon Whitney started. She talked a lot about where to find jewelry. We oohed and ahhed. She would through out freebies, but honestly she mostly handed them to the same people in the front row. I was getting a little sleepy. Evidently Whitney has a soothing voice. I was actually starting to nod off and would catch myself. I didn’t think I could last much longer. I moved around in my seat and tried to stay awake, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I looked at Claire and she looked bored to tears…my escape! LOL! I asked her if she had to go potty and she said yes, very badly. I told Mom we were leaving and I was taking Claire potty and we would meet up with her later. Once I got moving I felt back to normal. In search of a bathroom we came across Chip and Dale roaming around. This was not an actual meet and greet and it was hard to get a picture with them, as they just kept moving along. I actually didn’t like this. So many people would crowd the characters and try for a picture (who wouldn’t?) and it made it a little less magical to me. Some kids were able to snag an autograph so Claire got her book out, but they never did sign hers. I was able to take a very quick shot of Claire with Dale though. It was hard though as people were crowding and I just lifted the camera and snapped. We then asked a nearby CM where the nearest bathroom was. He directed us and off we went. Now this may sound funny…but WOW. The bathrooms are so cool on the ship! We headed out and decided to work our way back to the room.[/b]

AHHHH! The pressure is on!

There were a few people in front of us before we could board. Mom told me just to have them say my last name, which is what I was going to do anyways. Then it was OUR turn. A CM asked what the last name was, and I told them. They then announced…..” The Hot Sexy Chicks” family! ….. Ok, really they said my last name. And we walked in to the most beautiful place ever. A CM meets up with you and tells you where you can get lunch, and I “think” he asked if we had questions, but honestly I was in such AWE, that I can’t remember pretty much anything he said. You just want to look UP! Once we snapped back to our senses I looked to the right and saw Guest Services. No one standing in line, so I decided to go over and leave off the pillow case and tote bag that we wanted to have signed by the characters. I also put some money on my account. We had a nice CM help us. She told me that each cabin was only allowed 2 items to be signed. We had only 2 so we were fine, but it made me wonder…What about the cabins that held 5 people, and if they had 3 kids? Didn’t really seem fair that only 2 could be signed if you had 3 children in a cabin. She also told me when I was applying money to my account that only cash could be taken then. If I had gift cards (which I did want to apply eventually) it would have to be after 6 PM. Not sure why. This beautiful chair is right near Guest Services. Of course I had to have Claire pose. I think her thoughts were more on the line of “hurry up and get this over with”. Isn’t the mosaic pretty. Claire was very taken with the Grand Staircase. Who wouldn’t be? Look at the detail around the staircase. We went up the stairs and started walking towards the back of the ship. I knew that Cabanas was at the back and up a few decks. There is that Carnival ship right out the window. Hmmmmm? Did the rain stop? We stopped for some pictures in front of the windows. As you can see I was not paying attention to what I was shooting and actually focused on the ship out the window instead of Mom and Claire!!! We walked by D Lounge. They have a neat sign out by it that tells you the activities going on. We never actually made it inside of here, but walked by it several times. After those shots we continued on our way down the hall. We now entered the District area. This is the area with all the bars. We walked through here many times as well, but never actually came and had a drink or enjoyed any entertainment. It was very neat looking though. Must follow the Star path! “Come on Mom! You are going to slow!” We reached the back of the ship and made our way up a few decks to Cabanas. There was a slight line up, but it moved fast. As you walk in the CM’s hand you a sanitizer wipe for you hands. Another CM will ask how many in your group and then seat you at a table. This was our view. On a sunny day it would be an excellent view. Today it was a drizzly view. I’m not complaining, but it would’ve been extra nice to have the sun out. Looks like the rain is back! I went up and got Claire’s food first. The buffet seemed endless. It went on forever. I went up and got my food then. And then Mom took her turn. After we filled up on the main courses we also got a few desserts. This was an awning/shade type thing on the top of the windows. It was now about 1:40ish. We decided to finish up and head to see if our room was ready. Before we left Cabanas, I asked a server what was going to happen with the Sail Away party if the rain continued. He said he had no clue. He had been working with Disney since Sept and had never had a rainy departure day. I knew that something would be done, and I was sure at some point and time we would be told. We went out of the back of Cabanas and down a few flights of stairs to Deck 7 where our room 7666 was. Just right around the corner too. We were surprised to find one of my bags was already waiting for us outside the door. Mom got a little worried that her bag wasn’t there yet. I assured her that this was early and it could still take a few hours for it to arrive. The room was gorgeous for a cruise ship room. Everything was new and looked fresh. I was amazed at how roomy it was as well. Not a big room in hotel standards, but in cruise hip standards this room was a very nice size. And the verandah looked awesome! I quickly pulled out the camera and shot a few pictures. This is looking at the door. The door on the left is for an adjoining room. Obviously we didn’t use that door at all. The couch. View of the port from our veranda. The lamp Guess who decided to pop in front of me when I try to shoot the bathroom! This is one of the split bathrooms. This side has a sink and a shower/tub combo. I was impressed with how big the tub actually was. I went to take pictures of the other bathroom, the one with the toilet, but the light didn’t work. I called about it and they said they would send someone to fix it. It was working when we came back later. I don’t think I ever did end up taking pictures of that side then…but maybe I’ll find them later if I did. Obviously by the time on the clock, I didn’t take this picture when we were in the room at that time. I must’ve taken it the next day. It was on the waterproof camera. I have no clue why I used it for this, except maybe testing it out.

It was finally OUR turn to see Mickey. I am one of “those” people who take a zillion pictures when their kid meets a character…as you soon will see. And a posed picture And this is what the ships photographer took. And then he took one with my camera as well. After that I walked around and took a shot of the display model ship. It was again hard to get any pictures of it. It always had several people admiring it. Claire and I then got in line to get her bracelet for the kids club. The line was kind of long, but it moved fast. If I remember right, Goofy walked by while we were in line. I don’t know if he was just strolling around or doing a meet and greet. I think he was just strolling. While we were in line I shot this peek out the window. Minnie went whooshing by as we were standing in line as well. She and Mickey kept trading out about every half hour. I swear every time I looked at Mom she was talking to another CM. We made it up to the counter and it was a breeze again there too. Basically they asked Claire’s name, tapped a few keys on the computer and got her a bracelet to put on. The CM we had there was very friendly and you could tell he really liked working for Disney. He talked a lot about Disney Magic. After that we decided to walk out to the observation deck to look at the ship. And guess what? About 2 minutes after we walk out there it starts to rain. Not hard, but enough to be annoying. Looks like a “mishap” to me! We stood under an overhang and I shot a few pictures. I took this with my phone and texted it to family and friends. At times I thought the rain was going to let up, but it didn’t. We gave up and went back inside then. A few more before we walked in. When we went back inside I took a few more shots. I tried once more for the arch, but it was crowded up there again. I had no idea that people would actually stand around this area the whole time…..but they did. Claire had to go potty so we made our way over there. Mom took her in while I stayed with the bags. I gave Skip another call to tell him about the day so far. As I was talking to him they announced that boarding was starting. It was a recorded announcement and it said something like numbers 1-6 could board. I thought WOW! A TON of people stood up to head to the front. Another announcement was then made, by a live person. The announcement was wrong. They were only boarding 1 (and maybe 2). I finished up the call with Skip and told him I would try to call one more time later before we set sail. Mom came out with Claire and it was my turn. Let’s just say the terminal bathrooms are not very magical. They weren’t the worst I have seen, but they were not in Disney style. We found a seat and waited to be called. We knew we would never miss our number because Claire was so excited and listened to every announcement made. She was keeping track of it all for us! I think I pulled out my Navigator for the first time here and took a look at some things I wanted to do, or at least try to do. I took a few more random shots while waiting for our number to be called. Claire is still listening for our number. And FINALLY it is called. I can’t remember the exact time, but I want to say it was around 12:30. Maybe a little later, but not much. We worked our way to the Big Mickey Arch. Let me tell you, that was a chore. People are standing there waiting for there number and not allowing the ones called to get through. What’s the purpose of this? I basically said excuse me over and over and pushed our way through. It was the only way to do it. It was so exciting though, so I didn’t let it bother me at all. I just thought it was dumb. I wish the CM’s would actually come up to them and tell them to move. We scanned our KTTW card and stopped off for a picture. We had two taken, and actually we all look better in the other EXCEPT that Mom has her eyes closed in that one. We are now about to enter the DREAM!!!!!!!

I drove over to the Terminal. It was very close and signs directed you exactly where to go, but it was really hard to pay attention to signs when the big beautiful ship came into view!!!! I couldn’t take a picture as I was driving, but let me tell you, it was gorgeous. We were ALL in awe and the excitement went a level higher. I think I just kept saying “look how big it is!” I parked along the drop off/pick up spot and we unloaded what we needed. We gave 3 bags to the porter and I tipped the guy, I think somewhere between $6 and $10. Dad asked the guy where he should pick us up Sunday and he said the same place. We said our good byes and made sure Dad had his maps. Dad then headed off to Kennedy Space Center. We made our way to the terminal. Again I didn’t have my camera out and we walked really fast. I did manage to snap one picture on my phone before going in. When you walk in on the ground floor you go through security just like at the airport. No full body scanners though, and you don’t have to bag your liquids. But everything comes off like at the airport. (though I don’t think we had to take our shoes off). Only about 3 people ahead of us! There was a stack of pizzas coming in right behind us. The pizzas didn’t have to go through x-ray, but the delivery person did. I know I made some smart remark to the person, like “Oh thanks I’ve been waiting for those”. After security we made our way upstairs. At the top of the stairs there was a guy at a high table/booth type thing. We stopped there and he had us fill out papers to state that none of us were sick. We also got our boarding number here. It was number 8, which I was happy about. I have heard there a different ways they determine which number you get. One being that when you preregister online and pick an arrival time, that will coincide with your boarding number. For us this was not true. There was just a stack of cards and the guy just took the one off the top and handed it to us. I took a quick picture of Claire on my phone. We then went to check in. I was nervous about the Birth Certificates and prayed nothing would go wrong. We went to the line and there was basically NO line at all. We were pointed to one of the CM’s and we went right over and handed over our paperwork. Everything looked fine and they took a picture of each us. The CM was very friendly and full of excitement. We were handed our KTTW cards and on our way. We saw that Mickey had come out for a meet and greet, so Claire and I got into line. Mom took a look at the line and basically said no way, so Mom took our carry on and found a spot to sit. Mom was out of sight for awhile. We couldn’t see where she was sitting, but we needed something from one of the bags she had (might’ve been the autograph book.) After a bit she came back over (I think I actually called her). We got what we needed and she went and sat back down. I took some random shots while waiting. The archway was jammed packed the whole time. I could never get a chance to take a decent shot. It was pretty crowded in the terminal, though I have to admit it wasn’t quite as bad as I had imagined it would be. None the less, there was still a LOT of people in there.

OK, I can answer that for you now. Another small installmetn up next!

Mom woke up around 7:15 and took her shower. After she got ready, it was Dad’s turn. Not long after, Little Miss Claire woke up. She had a gift waiting for her from Donald. She received a new Tinkerbelle bathing suite. We got Claire dressed and ready for the big day. The forecast was for rain. It didn’t look to bad outside at this point and time. The weathermen couldn’t seem to decide if it was going to be storms sweeping through quickly, all day rain, or all day storms. I swear they would change their minds every few minutes. We then headed down for breakfast. My 2nd breakfast of the day, but it had been a couple hours since I ate the 1st one. There was a family sitting next to us, a couple with a baby. This baby was so stinking cute. She had this tongue thing going when they fed her and it was hilarious. They were going on the cruise as well and we actually ran into to them several times on the ship. With our bellies full, we walked back towards the room. Of course I took a few pictures on the way. Back at the room we tagged our luggage that would be going on the ship. Claire and I hauled them out to the van. We called Skip and he told us that the news station he was watching was saying that Sea World may be closing due to storms. We went back to the room for another load of luggage and Dad said the local news were saying that if you had a Disney Day planned to wait till the storms past, as they were going to bad. Claire and I finished loading the van and took one more walk around the hotel. It was a little before 10 AM now. We saw many people loading their vehicles as well. Many were dressed in Disney attire. Claire and I decided we should head over to the port now, a little earlier than we had planned. We went back up to the room and gathered up Mom and Dad and were on our merry way to the Terminal!

Gonna post another small one just for you!

Thanks. I'm a little slow going right now. But I will get her posted as soon as I can

For anyone who had wanted to read my new review (of the Disney Dream and WDW/Sea World) I have now started it. http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=58771

I awoke from my comfy bed and was feeling refreshed, so I looked at the clock. WHAT!!!! I had only been asleep for about 2 ½ hours. I still had many MORE hours to sleep. I laid back down, but my mind was racing. I got up and looked out the window. I could see the Carnival ship off in the distance from my window if I turned just right. How neat!... So I took a really bad picture of it. If you are having a hard time seeing it is on the left side of the picture, all lit up. I went back and laid down. Mom came in after awhile to use the bathroom and wanted to know why I was up. I told her I couldn’t sleep. She told me she had a dream that I got very sick and had to go the Hospital, so she and Claire went on the cruise without me. Basically the same kind of dreams I have been having as well. I dozed off and on, but never really a deep sleep. I would have dreams that we weren’t allowed on the ship because we had Birth Certificates. Or that we didn’t have official Birth Certificates. All those crazy dreams that you can’t seem to steer your mind away from. I just wanted to get on the ship and get going already! I would get up every so often and look out the window. Nothing new. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the Dream docked, but if it was, I couldn’t see it. At 5 AM I looked out the window once again. What’s that I see off in the distance? I KNEW EXACTLY what that was. It was a moving ship and I could almost see a glowing Mickey on it!!! It was HER!!! The Dream was pulling into port. I quickly grabbed my camera and took several bad pictures! LOL! I was like a kid at Christmas. It was just so exciting! I was amazed at how close the water really was! And I couldn’t believe how HUGE the ship was! It was such a beautiful sight! I heard something then and popped out from behind the curtain. Mom was standing there. She had been on her way to the bathroom and wondered where I was. I quickly told her the ship was pulling in to Port and she came over to have a look. We were both excited now! Then we heard a little voice. Claire wanted to know what we were doing, so we invited her in behind the curtain to take a look as well. I took a quick photo with my phone and sent it to facebook. Let’s just say that photo was not good and you couldn’t even tell what it was. LOL! Soon the ship faded in the distance. I guess where it docks cannot be seen from my window. We all laid back down and Claire was soon back to sleep. I, on the other hand could NOT sleep at all now. I was too excited. After trying and tossing and turning, I just gave up. I got up and showered and got ready to start the day. I went down for some breakfast in the lobby. It was decent food and I was amazed at how many people were already up and ready to go. After I ate I walked around a bit and took a few pictures. As you can see, it is still very dark out. I went back to the room then and got on my laptop for a bit and checked my emails.

Thanks so much. I am glad yo uenjoy them. I need to find more time in a day to work on it though. Plus read other reports. Those lettters are from me, but she truely beleives that Disney characters are leaving them for her. In fact a few times this trip, I would forget to leave them out in the morning and she would panic that they forgot her. I told her that they were probably busy and it would show up later...and then one would miraculously appear on a bed.

My old SLR broke right after our lat trip to Disney. It was going to cost at least $250 to fix, it, so I got the 50D then. I did bring my laptop, but it is Vista, which I hate and find very confusing. I tried to load some pictures on it and it wouldn't do it. It just kept saying the camera was busy. So I went into the "my computer" part and saw the pictures, but couldn't figure out how to get them transfered to my photos section. I have played with it since I have been home, and I "think" if I would've copied them to my documents area I would've at least had them. Lesson learned there. I am kicking myself every day.