Sunshine Rewards Disney Cruise Trip Report-Day 1

[SunshineGirl]

I'm going to go ahead and start a TR thread for each day of the cruise so we can each post what we did on that day. That might help the people who want to give some comments but not do a full TR. So if you were on the cruise with us, feel free to post what you did on each day in the appropriate thread!

Day One: (Thursday) Boarding at Port Canaveral

[askomsky]

Whooh ooo! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[pbhall13]

Let the TR begin!!

[wilsonfamily4]

bumping to encourage thos eof you who went to start letting us in on what went down

[SunshineGirl]

The Sunshine Family started Day 1 by waking up in the Animal Kingdom. We ate leftover candy from Goofy's Candy Company for breakfast (good mom!). At 9:00, we checked out and met up with the Meeks Family in the lobby. We had scheduled Happy Limo for 9:30. By 9:45, we were on our way to the port.

It took us a little over an hour to get to the port, I think. Not bad. When we got there, we immediately starting running into SR friends and my parents. Check-in was a breeze.

Michael and Marc brought us AWESOME lanyards. You will see them in lots of the pictures. They had Mickey in the sun, our names, and some cruise info on them.

After we met up with about half of the group, Michael and Marc gave us their "2" boarding card and we all boarded together. We were all so excited!!!

Once on board, we headed for lunch at Beach Blanket. It was a tad rainy, so we ate inside--probably about 15 of us together. After signing up for martini and wine tasting, we wandered the ship a bit and then checked out our state rooms at 1:30.

I don't have tons of pictures of the trip, but I am sure that everyone else will be filling in with more pics. :)

After adjusting to our cabins and unpacking (we had luggage by about 2:30), we got ready for the boat drill. Fun, fun!! Cindy was not impressed. Here are a few fun pictures:

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq201/indylaw99/HPIM1231.jpg

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq201/indylaw99/HPIM1232.jpg

[fourfoxesinpa]

Those muster drill photos are always fun! Did you get the chilled mango soup for lunch? Can't wait to hear about the martini tasting!

[disney_girl]

Sounds like a good start to the trip!! It does take an adjustment to get 4 people comfortable in those rooms! The drill photos are always fun! I lucked out and they let me and the kids go because DD was an infant- even though she was fine. DH tried to duck out too, but they said one person had to stay behind :rotfl:.

[SunshineGirl]

After the drill, it was time for the Sail Away party, which is now called something that I can't remember. But it's essentially the same thing. They gave out really cool streamers and had a dance party by the pool.

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq201/indylaw99/HPIM1233.jpg

I had to wait for the going away horn to blow before I could leave because it always chokes me up a little bit. I just love that sound!

I then headed down to Studio Sea to meet up with Cindy and a few of the others to prepare for our SR party. They had a beautiful buffet set up for us and an open bar! Pina Colada was my drink of choice, and they were yummy! We brought some treats for everyone--"Sunshine Your Way To Disney" bags as well as door magnets and a few other things.

As people started arriving, it was so awesome to see the group together. Here's the pic of everyone:

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq201/indylaw99/HPIM1236.jpg

I don't want to name everyone and leave anyone out, so I'll let everyone jump in themselves and tell which ones they are and who they brought with them. I also have individual pictures of everyone that are in my photobucket album.

Although we only had a short time, I really appreciated everyone coming for the party!!

[3dog2kidmom]

Those muster drill photos are always fun! Did you get the chilled mango soup for lunch? Can't wait to hear about the martini tasting!

Yup Jamie, I had the chilled mango soup for lunch. It was delicious!!

After meeting all of our sunshine friends of course, the highlight of my day 1 was rebooking my 5-day cruise onboard as you suggested and saving nearly $400 and getting an onboard credit!! Thanks for the tip.

I'll post more and add some of our pics later.

[3dog2kidmom]

After the drill, it was time for the Sail Away party, which is now called something that I can't remember.

According to the Navigator, it's called Adventures Away.

We were late to the life boat drill, and then since there was no one guiding us we kind of got lost. As soon as we made our way to the proper muster station, the drill was over and we were the first ones back down the steps to get rid of our life jackets in our cabin (and consequently got a GREAT table on deck 10 for the sail away party!). Easiest boat drill ever!

[fourfoxesinpa]

After meeting all of our sunshine friends of course, the highlight of my day 1 was rebooking my 5-day cruise onboard as you suggested and saving nearly $400 and getting an onboard credit!! Thanks for the tip.



YAY FOR YOU!!!!! :clap::clap::clap::clap: I'm SO happy you were able to save some $!!!!!

[Hedy]

What fun!

[Blessing and Miracle]

Everyone seemed really excited!:)

[m4travels]

Flying from the west coast is such a pain!!! We had a VERY decent airfare from Southwest but we had to stop in Vegas before we continued on. Leaving Burbank at 2:20 PST and with our stop in Vegas changing planes we arrived in Orlando about 30 minutes early - 11:45 pm!!!!

We had a great rate at the MCO Hyatt and the desk clerk got us a great room on the 8th floor overlooking the terminal lobby. We didn't look at it much cuz we were pretty tired so we crashed to wake up at 6:30 am.

A quick run down to McD's for a nutritious breakfast and then we started getting ready for the day.

We made our way to the Hyatt lobby and let the bellhop know to pick up our bags and then we headed down to the cruise ship bus area. We were the first ones there that morning and they actually checked us in for the cruise!!! We got our boarding card and it was No. 2!!! We were set!

We waited a bit for our bus but by 9:45 we loaded up and grabbed the first 2 seats in the bus. It was about a 50 minute drive to the port but we were still pretty tired and we dozed off a few times on the ride!

When we arrived at the port, having been checked in at the airport, we decided to see if any upgrades were available. There was one and we grabbed it! (Well, I should say that Marc grabbed it cuz it was his credit card that paid for it!). We went from a Cat 6 to a Cat 3. The Cat 3 was stateroom number 8602 WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY back at the aft of the ship. The balcony was HUGE, unbelievably so. It was a handicap accessible cabin so there were some things about the cabin that we dealt with (bed lower to the floor, that type of thing) but it was a great deal.

We then found our SR friends and met some new ones, handed out lanyards to those who were there, and then got ready to board the ship. Since we had upgraded to a Cat 3 we were in the first boarding group and we gave our No. 2 boarding card to Traci - or was it Tricia?? - so the SR group could all board in one group. Aren't we great! LOL

On we went and everyone seemed to know our names! I guess it could have been the fact that we had shirts ordered from Cafe Press (yup, through SR!) with the DCL logo and our names in the Cast Member spot! We headed over to the concierge area and munched on finger sandwiches and cookies while we chatted with the concierge guy who was getting us set up for whatever we needed.

After that it was on to Parrot Cay for the luncheon buffet. OY, so much food!!! The strawberry soup was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to find our room........

[disney_girl]

What an awesome upgrade!!

[Hedy]

Great upgrade!

[bbangel]

My first cruise day started with an early wakeup at Saratoga Springs after four days at WDW. I headed over to Pop Century to meet up with Shelly and her friends for breakfast before we headed to the port together. First people we saw were SR people! Check was a breeze and we hang out together getting to know one another. I was a big hit with the kids due to my candy stash from the halloween party :rotfl:

Leaving lunch I ran into Janet who was going to be my roommate. Since both of us were DVC members we headed to the member celebration together to pick up our free stuff. We didn't win any prizes but Dude and Partner Dude and Kathie and her sister did! Thanks to my DVC swag and the cool laynards from the Dudes, I looked like a cruising pro even though it was my first trip.

The sail away party was fun, especially once I found Shelly on deck 10. Once it was over and we were on our way, we headed down to the SR party! It was great to meet everyone and hang out for a bit.

After the party, I headed to the theatre to see the Golden Mickey's. The show was okay, but the ship's movement was starting to get to me. I did go down for dinner but very quickly had to leave. I heard I wasn't the only one to abandon dinner. Even given my early night, day one was full of excitment.

[chipndale]

My first cruise day started with an early wakeup at Saratoga Springs after four days at WDW. I headed over to Pop Century to meet up with Shelly and her friends for breakfast before we headed to the port together. First people we saw were SR people! Check was a breeze and we hang out together getting to know one another. I was a big hit with the kids do to my candy stash from the halloween party :rotfl:

Leaving lunch I ran into Janet who was going to be my roommate. Since both of us were DVC members we headed to the member celebration together to pick up our free stuff. We didn't win any prizes but Dude and Partner Dude and Kathie and her sister did! Thanks to my DVC swag and the cool laynards from the Dudes, I looked like a cruising pro even though it was my first trip.

The sail away party was fun, especially once I found Shelly on deck 10. Once it was over and we were on our way, we headed down to the SR party! It was great to meet everyone and hang out for a bit.

After the party, I headed to the theatre to see the Golden Mickey's. The show was okay, but the ship's movement was starting to get to me. I did go down for dinner but very quickly had to leave. I heard I wasn't the only one to abandon dinner. Even given my early night, day one was full of excitment.

Oh I hope that you were not sick for the entire cruise. Being sea sick is no fun.

[SunshineGirl]

The evening of the first night became increasingly difficult for me. They warned us as we were leaving that the seas were going to be VERY choppy that night and the waves would be very high. I'm always a LITTLE seasick, but Thursday night was too much for me. We had our seating at Animator's Palate and I tried my hardest to eat dinner, but I just couldn't do it. Once they brought out the entree, I had to bail. It LOOKED great, but I didn't want to throw up at the table. LOL!

Kevin and Cassie stayed through dinner (Jillian was in Kids' Club) and brought me back dessert to the room. :) I was able to pick my head up long enough to eat it, of course, before I took some Dramamine and knocked myself out for the night.

I wasn't down about it because I knew it would be the worst of it, and I could use some time to relax anyway. And there was much to look forward to on Friday. :)

[missangie]

Well after stupid Airtran changed our flights from direct to late night connections, we finally made it to Tampa at about 11:30p.m. After picking up our rental and driving to Orlando, we got into bed a little after 1:00 a.m. Up again at 7:00 a.m. so that we'd have to time to drop of the rental and meet up with SunshineGirl and fam at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It didn't take long at all to arrive at port. We loved meeting everyone. I especially enjoyed seeing Kathi for the second time. It was like seeing a long lost friend! I got to meet her husband and other family who came along. The kids were just in awe of the ship and the whole process! I was near tears as we waited to board and see the inside. I've always been a softie when it comes to exposing my kids to new things. I never got to do anything like this when I was their age. It was so fun to see their faces and hear their excitement.

Here they are in port:

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32277.jpg

Dustin really liked the cut away of the ship at the port. It made him even more ready to get on board and look around.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32274.jpg

When we got on board, we headed right to lunch. What a buffet! There were so many choice and everything was delicious. Of course, I'm not really hard to please in the food department. My fave was the dessert buffet! Desserts, Desserts, Desserts. . . it was like my own little heaven, LOL! Of course now my jeans don't fit!

Here's Megan and the kids at lunch!

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32285.jpg

After lunch we head to our room where we were surprised to find that our luggage had already arrived. We quickly settled in and headed off to explore.

[missangie]

While we were out and about exploring the Disney Wonder, we ran into several people!

We met Minnie Mouse.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32295.jpg

We met the cast of HSM3.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32297.jpg

We even met Walt Disney!

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32296.jpg

[missangie]

The sail away party was a lot of fun. Here are couple of good pics. My favorite is the one I took of Tricia. I had to laugh when I saw it. With ribbons flyin and kids excited, you have to snap your photo fast! Note too my DH in the background, yawning. What a party pooper!

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32301.jpg

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32304.jpg

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32305.jpg

[missangie]

Day one ended on a rocky sea for us. I was a trooper and made it through dinner, but man was I queezy! Everyone on board was feeling it. It was so sad at dinner as people left the dining room one by one or two by two struggling to even walk because the movement of the ship was so pronounced. The funny thing is that when I was laying down, it was like being rocked to sleep and not bad at all. I slept better that first night than I have in a while. Of course, exhaustion could have factored in, but I didn't have a clue how rough the sea was after I was rocked off to sleep! :)

[SunshineGirl]

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk108/everydaymom/SNV32305.jpg


BTW...This is a nice closeup of the shirts that I had made at CafePress before we left. One for each of us, and we all loved them!!

[Magical JenK]

BTW...This is a nice closeup of the shirts that I had made at CafePress before we left. One for each of us, and we all loved them!!

Thanks! I was going to ask where you had those done at!! VERY cute!! Were they you're own design? Or one that's already available?

[SunshineGirl]

Thanks! I was going to ask where you had those done at!! VERY cute!! Were they you're own design? Or one that's already available?

I just pulled them off of the DIS Designs board and changed them to our names. SG's had Goofy leaning against the Mickey head and mine had Minnie.

[Magical JenK]

I just pulled them off of the DIS Designs board and changed them to our names. SG's had Goofy leaning against the Mickey head and mine had Minnie.

Ok, found them! Now, here's my question...when I put them on a tshirt on Zazzle (free shipping now!!), the images look very small. When I tried to enlarge them it says the image will be fuzzy. Your's seem to be a good size...did you have to enlarge them first?