[mickey]

Well, it has begun!

Thursday, December 12: We arrived at MCO at about 4:30, and our Tiffany Towncar driver was waiting. She helped us load up the luggage and drove us straight to the Polynesian. We checked in and got our requested garden view room in the Tahiti building. On the way to the room, we stopped and watched the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks over Cinderella's castle. We then unloaded all of our stuff, hopped on the next bus to Downtown Disney, and then finished our Christmas shopping amid a downpour. Everything is sight was flooded. We took a bus back to the Contemporary and had dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse. It was quite good, and we had never been there. Not a bad choice, though there are plenty of others that are better. We stopped by the Grand Floridian to see the Christmas decoration. It is stunning! What a fantastic resort, and it is even better at Christmas.

Friday, December 13: Arose early and headed to the Magic Kingdom. We got our passes, and waited to get in. We were there for the countown, 10, 9, ..... Not more than 100 people were there for the countdown. It was another day of pouring rain. It rained really really hard until about noon. We walked in, rode Snow White, Pooh twice, Peter Pan twice, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain three times, the Railroad, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, and the TTA, had 5 minutes to ourselves with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto and then went to lunch before noon. That was the most we have ever done in three hours. There was no one in the park. The MVMCP was basically rained out the night before. We headed to EPCOT after lunch, road Test Track twice, the Land, JII, Maelstrom and Spaceship Earth. We walked around the World Showcase and shopped, went to the Beach Club Villas for a quick tour and were at Spoodles an hour early. Had dinner, walked around the Boardwalk, back through EPCOT and were back at the Polynesain in time for the water parade and the second showing of the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. I was dead at 9 PM.

Saturday, December 14: Made our Kona Cafe PS for 8. I had Eggs Benedict, and Minnie had the Tonga Toast. If you ever go, the Eggs Benedict were out of this world fantastic. The best I have ever had. Got back to the room and packed, met the Tiffany driver at 10:45 and were at Port Canaveral by noon. We were near the end of the big long line in the terminal, but had no problem getting Palo reservation and Spa appointments. We are in a Cat. 5 room on deck 7, great view and great room. We dine at Lumier's tonight. I wish that we had more time at WDW, but it was freezing today (high of about 55), so it wasn't so bad that we were leaving.

If you have any questions about the ship itself, etc. let me know, and I will see what I can find out for you. I will check back in a couple more days! Time to change my signature too.

[mmouse67l]

Thanks for the "real time" trip report Mickey. Sorry about the rain, I know how you feel. It's been raining a lot here in the Seattle area in the last week. Even more than usual.

Anyway, looks like you were able to get a lot done. Bon Voyage!

[jwdj4lfe]

Hey mickey! Glad to hear you had the whole park to yourself, but sorry to hear about the rain! But you cant have one without the other! lol:p. That cold front that hit you guys yesterday is making its way thru south florida where I live, today has been rain,rain, and coldness! I have a question about the cruise: Where are you going and for how many days? I've been reading up on cruises lately and would love to go on a westeren carribean one. Well I wish you the best for the remaining days of your well-deserved vacation! Say hi to mickey for me! lol

Joe:)

[trishb]

Wow! That is a whirlwind tour, if I ever heard of one! Hope you enjoy (and relax) on the cruise.

If you read this while you are on the ship, check out the piano bar. If I remember correctly, next to the windows they have headphones and a personal stereo. You can pick any kind of music that you like! They have hundreds of CD's programed! Plus, you can order a nice cocktail.
Enjoy!

[trishb]

Joe...I went on a W. Carribean cruise a few years ago on Carnival (gasp!) Cruise lines. I enjoyed it very much. We made 3 stops: Cozumel, Ocho Rios, and Grand Cayman. The Cayman Islands were the highlight. Very clean and tourist friendly. I did not care for Jamaica or Mexico (although the water and swimming were awesome). If you want to send a PM, I will be more than happy to answer any questions that you have.

[MickeyMac]

Hey! We miss you!

I have a question from my son - is Santa visiting and is he bringing gifts for the kids onboard? He got a really neat Oceannear Lab fisherman's hat from Santa on Christmas Day 1999, and he wants to go on Christmas again.

Also, are they still having the trading cards?

[mickey]

Where are you going and for how many days?

We are on the seven night Easter Caribbean cruise. We are in Saint Martin on Tuesday, Saint Thomas on Wednesday and Castaway Cay on Friday. We wanted to go on a Western Caribbean, but we got a better room on this one, and it was a better week for us.

If you read this while you are on the ship, check out the piano bar.

Thanks Trish, I think we are going to do that tomorrow night.

I have a question from my son - is Santa visiting and is he bringing gifts for the kids onboard?

I know that Mrs. Claus is coming tomorrow, though I haven't heard about Santa yet. I will let you know if I hear anything. Maybe later in the week.

Also, are they still having the trading cards

Yes, and they now have some coins as well. They had a pin trading thing tonight, but we didn't go.

[wdwjeff]

So, you guys are never going to sleep, is that it? Wow, sure sounds like you're doing as much as possible, and in a downpour as well. Better luck on the weather, and enjoy the cruise.:D :)

[BDavis932]

To be able to have accomplished that much in one day, you MUST be traveling with out the kids, right???

Have fun!

[MickeyMac]

you MUST be traveling with out the kids, right??

...and if you are traveling with them, don't you need a personal nanny on Deck 7?? C'mon, I can figure out how to navigate Martinique... :D :D hehehehee

[Cinderellafifi]

It's great to hear that your trip has already been so much fun! Sorry about the rain, but at least you got the park to yourselves.

Your report has gotten me so excited for my trip. I need to start planning where we want to eat and Kona sounds great for breakfast!

Hope your cruise is "smooth sailing". I can't wait to read about your spa treatments! Have fun! :)

[dab]

Thanks for the report Mickey. At least the empty park made up for the rain. So, no upgrades?? Can't wait to hear all about the cruise!

[mickey]

Sunday, December 15 and Monday December 16: Both days kind of ran together, as we are on the ship all day yesterday and today. It was quite cool yesterday, about 70 and a bit of rain in the afternoon. We spent some time Sunday in the sun, and then the rest of the day going to some fun things on the ship. They have things scheduled all day long. We ate at Animator's Palete Sunday night, though it didn't change colors at all, that will be Wednesday. It was formal night, so I got my hair cut at the spa. I had wanted to get it cut at the Magic Kingdom, but it wasn't open when we arrived, and when we went back to try later in the day, it was packed, and I didn't feel like waiting.

This moring, we had the character breakfast in Parrot Cay, which was ok. There was Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip and Dale. There are characters everywhere on the ship, and there is no problem getting picture time with any of them, except Cinderella, who's line is always long. Today was quite warm, mid 80s, so we spent time in the sun after breakfast, had a wonderful lunch at Lumiere's and did some other stuff. I went to bingo ($1,500 jackpot, though no-one won.) Tonight was the Hercules show, which was quite good. The evening entertainment has been great. The food, as well, has been pretty good.

As far as upgrades, the ship is pretty full in the more expensive categories. They had a couple of category 4 rooms for upgrade, but you had to pay. It was cheaper than the price difference when booking, but not really worth it for us. We have spoken to a couple of people who were in category 11 inside cabins, who upgrade to a outside cabin for about $200 per couple.

And yes, no kids!

By the way, the internet access is quite good, and only crowded around dinner time. The cost is $89 for unlimited use per person, though there is no reason everyone in your family can't share. Otherwise, it is $.75 per minute (ouch!!!). There are plenty of things to do without kids. We are having a blast, and are off to Saint Marteen tomorrow.

[trishb]

Mickey...have you tried the room service? Order the veggie pizza, it is terrific!
So glad that you are having fun! Isn't the spa nice? I really liked those warm stone longe chairs. Perfect for relaxing...and I loved the way the spa smelled!
Aaaahhhhh!

[mickey]

Tuesday, December 17 Saint Martin/Sint Marteen. Our fist stop, and what a place to start. We decided against doing a shore excursion, and just wanted to explore the island. We thought about renting a car, but just hopped in a taxi at the port. They took us to Marigot, on the French side of the island for $10 for the two of us. A beautiful little town with some really nice French shops and a lot of great restaurants. I lived in France for a couple of years, so it was nice to see the French street signs, police, license plates, etc... We shopped and had a nice lunch. After lunch, we went back to Phillipsburg on the Dutch side, and walked around for a while. There is one main street, but what a dump. There were hundreds of shops, but they either sold jewelry, liquor or cheap t-shirts. That was it, and they were all identical. We were back on the ship by about 4 PM, though we didn't leave port until 10 PM. They were having a Disney Cruise premier of Treasure Planet, so we saw that and were done in time for dinner. The movie theater on board shows newer Disney movies all day. We saw Sweet Home Alabama the other night, and they have shows like Lilo & Stitch and Santa Clause 2.

Wednesday, December 18 Saint Thomas. We had an excursion booked, a mountain bike tour of Water Island, but they changed the time at the last moment, and it didn't work for us. We spent the morning shopping in the main town, which was very nice, and then went on a tour of the island in the afternoon. The boat left at 4:30 PM today, and we have a day at sea tomorrow and then off to Castaway Cay. By the way, if any of you make it to Saint Thomas on the Disney Cruise or any other, Cookie Bay is out of this world. Saint Thomas is much more clean and more lush, though there were a lot of timeshare people walking around the town trying to get you to their resort. Tonight was our night in Animator's Palette where everything changed. It was quite impressive, and worth the wait. We are off to Palo tomorrow night, so we miss our final night at Parrot Cay.

We tried room service for the first time today, we haven't been in the room enough to try it, but we were doing laundry today. It was good food, though I just had the cheese plate. We sat on the verandah as the sun set and we left Saint Thomas. Now, that is why I came on this cruise!