Cast of Characters:
Me- Disney Mom - 41yo
DH- 42yo
DD16A (Disney daughter 16 Amanda)
DD16 J (Disney daughter's friend, living with us, 16 Juliana)
DD14
DD9
Sun.10/14- we left WL around 11:30 boarded a nice ACd coach for Port Canaveral. Once we got there it was a smooth entry onto the ship. That seamless registration process from the resort to the cruise is pretty cool.
They did announce our name, and we were directed to go to Beach Blanket for lunch (deck 9), but we wanted to drop off our carry ons in our staterooms first.
This is where our one real problem came up. I had booked, what we understood to be connecting rooms. This was an important issue to us. Having three teens in one room, & DH, DD9 & me in the other room, we wanted to be able to leave the doors open in-between, so that the teens could watch their sister if we were out. It also keeps the family together more than if half the family is in another room & not easily accessible.
Now, needless to say, we did not have connecting rooms! I was very upset about this. DH was unhappy with me because I made all the arrangements and when we had encountered this same situation at the Wilderness Lodge, 4days before, I had assured him the same thing would not be on the ship. The WL never gave us room #s ahead of time, but we had these stateroom #s for months and my TA told me they were connecting. You can guess we are not very happy with our TA at this point!
At the WL it only took me requesting for connecting rooms, to get them. On the Wonder DH & I went to guest services. They told us they had to wait till 5:30, till boarding was complete, to see if they could change us.
We had sent our girls on to lunch before going to guest services. So DH & I decided to get some ourselves & wait to see what could be done. Lunch at Beach Blanket was good. The Mahi Mahi fish was very good, but after what I had just been through, the Bahama Mama was tasting mighty fine!
With all that was going on with our staterooms, I completely missed my window of opportunity to book Palos! Boy did that add to my frustration, which was worthy of another Bahama Mama.
After lunch, DD16A met us at the rooms and said guest services had called and they could move us. End of story, a very nice gentleman named John did what he could and got us two family suites, which was bigger than we needed but more importantly, connecting. This was an upgrade from our Cat6. I greatly appreciate DCL for fixing a problem that could have made that part of our vacation not so great.
So, if nothing else, check that diagram of the ship & make sure the rooms are what you booked. I did, but apparently I wasnt looking at the correct emblem for connecting rooms. Thats why we have a TA.
The Bon Voyage party was a great way to start off our travel. I didnt see anyone with bubbles, so I didnt feel bad. Ours had leaked, so I threw them away back at the WL. The music was good & we all had fun.
We had the early dinner seating. Our rotation was PTAP. Our servers were Prakash from India, and Ante from Croatia. I cant say enough good things about these guys. Besides being knowledgeable about the menu, they were funny, friendly, and made us feel very special. When the servers started doing their dance, Prakash got a hold of DD9 and she danced around with him. Every night they escorted us to our table by the last night the girls were fighting over whose turn it was to walk arm in arm!
The food at Parrot Cay was not our style. It is Caribbean style & I guess you have to have a taste for that. The coconut shrimp appy was very good. But dinner was fun just the same.
Towards the end of dinner DH wasnt feeling well. He went to lie down. The girls and I went to see Hercules, which we all enjoyed.
After the show, the teens went to common ground, DD9 & I went to sign her up for Oceaneer Lab. She didnt want to stay that night so we checked it out and went exploring the ship before turning in.
Our stateroom server was Jessy, she was very good to us. With three teens in one room, she had her work cut out for her. She made towel animals with DDs sunglasses, and left chocolates.
Me- Disney Mom - 41yo
DH- 42yo
DD16A (Disney daughter 16 Amanda)
DD16 J (Disney daughter's friend, living with us, 16 Juliana)
DD14
DD9
Sun.10/14- we left WL around 11:30 boarded a nice ACd coach for Port Canaveral. Once we got there it was a smooth entry onto the ship. That seamless registration process from the resort to the cruise is pretty cool.
They did announce our name, and we were directed to go to Beach Blanket for lunch (deck 9), but we wanted to drop off our carry ons in our staterooms first.
This is where our one real problem came up. I had booked, what we understood to be connecting rooms. This was an important issue to us. Having three teens in one room, & DH, DD9 & me in the other room, we wanted to be able to leave the doors open in-between, so that the teens could watch their sister if we were out. It also keeps the family together more than if half the family is in another room & not easily accessible.
Now, needless to say, we did not have connecting rooms! I was very upset about this. DH was unhappy with me because I made all the arrangements and when we had encountered this same situation at the Wilderness Lodge, 4days before, I had assured him the same thing would not be on the ship. The WL never gave us room #s ahead of time, but we had these stateroom #s for months and my TA told me they were connecting. You can guess we are not very happy with our TA at this point!
At the WL it only took me requesting for connecting rooms, to get them. On the Wonder DH & I went to guest services. They told us they had to wait till 5:30, till boarding was complete, to see if they could change us.
We had sent our girls on to lunch before going to guest services. So DH & I decided to get some ourselves & wait to see what could be done. Lunch at Beach Blanket was good. The Mahi Mahi fish was very good, but after what I had just been through, the Bahama Mama was tasting mighty fine!
With all that was going on with our staterooms, I completely missed my window of opportunity to book Palos! Boy did that add to my frustration, which was worthy of another Bahama Mama.
After lunch, DD16A met us at the rooms and said guest services had called and they could move us. End of story, a very nice gentleman named John did what he could and got us two family suites, which was bigger than we needed but more importantly, connecting. This was an upgrade from our Cat6. I greatly appreciate DCL for fixing a problem that could have made that part of our vacation not so great.
So, if nothing else, check that diagram of the ship & make sure the rooms are what you booked. I did, but apparently I wasnt looking at the correct emblem for connecting rooms. Thats why we have a TA.
The Bon Voyage party was a great way to start off our travel. I didnt see anyone with bubbles, so I didnt feel bad. Ours had leaked, so I threw them away back at the WL. The music was good & we all had fun.
We had the early dinner seating. Our rotation was PTAP. Our servers were Prakash from India, and Ante from Croatia. I cant say enough good things about these guys. Besides being knowledgeable about the menu, they were funny, friendly, and made us feel very special. When the servers started doing their dance, Prakash got a hold of DD9 and she danced around with him. Every night they escorted us to our table by the last night the girls were fighting over whose turn it was to walk arm in arm!
The food at Parrot Cay was not our style. It is Caribbean style & I guess you have to have a taste for that. The coconut shrimp appy was very good. But dinner was fun just the same.
Towards the end of dinner DH wasnt feeling well. He went to lie down. The girls and I went to see Hercules, which we all enjoyed.
After the show, the teens went to common ground, DD9 & I went to sign her up for Oceaneer Lab. She didnt want to stay that night so we checked it out and went exploring the ship before turning in.
Our stateroom server was Jessy, she was very good to us. With three teens in one room, she had her work cut out for her. She made towel animals with DDs sunglasses, and left chocolates.