It's a JMed Trip Report Disney Dream

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JMed's picture
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It's a JMed Trip Report Disney Dream

Thought I would throw together a quick trip report from my birthday cruise this past weekend.

We got on the boat, we drank a lot, we went to the beach, we came home. Yeah, that's about it. awesome laugh

But seriously...

I decided on a whim to book myself a Birthday Cruise, when I realized it was ON my birthday, Mickey's birthday AND it was a Very Merrytime Cruise it just seemed meant to be! So book it I did. I decided this one would be just Joe and I so that we could just relax a bit, have cocktails and do what we want and when. We pretty much did that last cruise but still had the kiddo to look after. We drove to St Augustine Thursday after work and got up early to head to Ron Jon Surf Shop before boarding. We parked at about 10:30 and was boarding at 11:30. We had lunch at Cabanas and poked around the ship until 1:30 when we got in our room. As we were walking down the hall I saw my suitcase sitting there so I grabbed it LOL Joe's didn't show up until later.

I booked an Ocean View room this time. I didn't pick my own room number but we were pleasantly surprised. I wasn't so sure about it since I love being able to open the door and have the sound and airflow but I went for it. We got room 8006 at the front corner of the ship. The room is huge and we looked straight out the front over the bow of the boat. Very roomy. Only think a little odd was the placement of the bathrooms but it was great otherwise. As you can see from the picture, I ordered the blanket and pillow and I just love them! I think if they moved the couch under the drop down bunk (which I told our Mousekeeper I wanted to sleep in so he put it down) Put 2 chairs where the couch is and move the doors to the sides on the bathroom it would be perfect but I know that can't happen LOL Just my random out loud thoughts.

We headed down to the DVC Free Cocktail party, I mean Member Party for a bit. This is where one of my dreams came true.... no, no add on points, I met Belle in her Christmas dress!!!!!! There was a small nap, Muster Drill, spa tour and then more walking. One of the Christmas parties then We then walked to the District to visit Skyline bar. It's one of our favorites and the bartenders there were amazing. Bonny and Rosa were both super knowledgeable and even gave us a couple samples. I am now addicted to Japanese Rice Vodka! We soon realized it was dinner time. We had the late service. We forgot to go ask for a table for 2 because we didn't feel like talking to anyone else but I'm so glad we didn't. Our tablemates were the sweetest couple. We even talked them into DVC LOL they purchased Copper Creek the last night! Our Servers were just amazing. They are now our 2nd favorite team. It is honesty gonna take a lot to top Bruno! After dinner we headed to the room, it was 10:15 at this point, we sat talking and laughing so much that we just couldn't stay up any longer.

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"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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Spook's picture
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Awesome! A Christmas cruise sounds amazing mickey

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I love the blanket and pillow!!! And your door.....YOUR DOOR!!!!! AWESOME.

Sounds like a blast - thanks for sharing!

Kristen K.'s picture
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My room was in that section of the ship in February and I loved it! I'm always happy with a forward room. The blankets are so cute!

Allie's picture
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Sounds amazing! Can't wait to hear more!

JMed's picture
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Spook wrote:
Awesome! A Christmas cruise sounds amazing mickey

Spook, it's been on my bucket list for years! It just happened to work out just right this year! I loved it. I think I would have enjoyed it more on a longer cruise so that I could experience more of the Christmas activities but with all the other stuff I missed some things but still worth it for the decor and activities we did make

JeffC wrote:
I love the blanket and pillow!!! And your door.....YOUR DOOR!!!!! AWESOME.
Sounds like a blast - thanks for sharing!

Thanks! I can't take all of the credit, there is a Facebook page I am a member of where you can use the artists creations and personalize them yourself. If anyone wants info on it let me know. I will send you an invite from the group. You hae to answer questions to get in and there are strict rules but WOW the art is amazing!

Kristen K. wrote:
My room was in that section of the ship in February and I loved it! I'm always happy with a forward room. The blankets are so cute!

I am so glad I got the blanket, I was iffy on it but my aunt has it from a previous cruise and talked me into it. Like I need more blankets ha ha ha

Next day! My Birthday!Q Since we weren't getting off the boat today we decided to be a tad lazy, we skipped Cabanas in favor of breakfast in the Royal Palace. We have never done this before so we thought why not. I would maybe do it again. Nothing too spectacular. Afterwards we headed back to the room to get our bathing suits on and headed to the Spa. We upgraded our single Rainforest day to the couples cruise package, $99 for the cruise plus a yummy smelling scrub each visit. We spent a good hour and a half in the saunas, showers, heated chairs and hot tub. We both showered in the spa (I wanted to use all the fancy Elemis stuff) and back to the room to get ready for Palo Brunch. This was the ONLY thing I really wanted for my birthday so I was bummed when there were no times available. Luckily I was persistent and got it. I was a little underwhelmed by the selection, not gonna lie. On the bigger ships Palo is smaller since they also have Remy. The buffet was in the very back of the restaurant in a dark room and some of the items on the backs of the tables were hard to get to. The smaller ships have the buffet beat hands down! There were also a couple of times the dessert table (very small) was almost empty. But, what we did have was delicious. I could have made a meal off the hummus. I of course got the Chicken Parm I have been dreaming of since April and Joe got the steak. Mine = devine Joe's = Ehhh OK. I was expecting more but it was still good. We were in port of course so our view was of a dirty Carnival ship and the ginormous Norwegian Getaway. Oh and apparently they have slacked off on the Brunch Dress Code. I think the napkins would have been more appropriate that what we saw a couple of girls in. Lots of jeans and crop tops.

After dinner we just hung around the lobby getting tree pics with us dressed up and went to 687 in The District to grab a cocktail and watch some college football while waiting on our wine tasting to start. WHY have I NEVER had Rekorderlig OMG the Strawberry Kiwi is outrageously good!!!!

Wine tasting was in Pink and we tried 6 wines from all over. I enjoyed the set up but Joe didn't. It was a blind test and we had to guess what kind of wine and where it was from. I got a couple right and really had fun. Joe just wanted to drink wine I guess laugh

By the time it was over it was close to 4 and I wanted a nap and change before the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST show. Nap successful and I woke up SICK. WHAT??? I didn't even have a buzz. My poor tummy was not happy with me. I sent Joe up to get me a fizzy coke and by 5:55 I was determined to see BATB since it is my favorite. We found 2 empty seats (behind a giant pole) and sat down. We missed a few minutes of it but I think I would have been ok missing it all. I really hate to say that because I have loved the others (Frozen and Tangled) I kinda feel about this like I did the love action. They totally ruined Be Our Guest which is my favorite part of the movie. All I will say is "glow in the dark salad". I just didn't care for it at all. I did cry at the end. No matter how bad it is BATB makes me cry every time. Down to dinner and Pirate Night.

We headed up to Deck 13 and Currents for the fireworks. It is adult only and wasn't crowded at all. We weren't all about seeing the deck show so this was perfect for us. GREAT view and no crowd! Straight to bed again. Tomorrow is Castaway Day!!!!!!!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

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It's our last full day and it is CASTAWAY DAY!!! I was up early and back at Cove Cafe for more coffee, I really need to find my punch cards, I'm sure I have a few free drinks laying around LOL. I never take them to combine them. I watched us pull into Castaway then headed to the room to get ready.

Cabanas was breakfast of choice and when we were done we went down the aft steps to exit the boat as it was right at 8:30. We were expecting a crowd but it was only 2 women with 4 kids who were being told that they had to go to the forward exit because the runners were getting off first and the doors weren't open yet. Well, lo and behold, the doors opened and they let us sneak out in front of the runners. The ladies were not prepared and we ended up being the first 2 guests on the island!!! I was super excited about this so we headed straight for Serenity Bay!!!! Guess who was the first 2 guests there??? US!!! Jose one of the drink runners said "you are the first 2 guests, free drinks all day!!!" Well, Jose seemed to avoid us all day LOL Everytime he would pass us I would yell his name, we picked on him all day and just had a blast with those guys. We waded out into the bay a couple times, out to and past the buoys. It's just so beautiful and peaceful out there. I had a cocktail in my hand at 9:30 and watched Joe flip out of the hammock. It was a successful morning.

We were getting hungry again and I wanted Ribeyes! A stop at the Hanger Bar for another drink and our table mates walked by, chatted with them a bit and we all headed to lunch. I really do enjoy lunch on the island and really enjoyed our steaks. We decided to slowly make our way back, stopped at the Heads Up bar for another libation and another slow stroll to the boat. We got lucky and waited about 10 min for the Aquaduck, After riding once, the line was halfway down the stairs.

Joe then headed down to the kid's club to check out the Millennium Falcon set up. He's such a kid at heart. I went to the adult's area and just floated in the pool for a bit. SInce we were right there we headed into the Spa for the last time and got ready for dinner. First stop was Vanellope's for my birthday Unicorn Cupcake and Joe had the Milkshake Special of the day. Cupcake was ok. I'm such a cupcake snob. Cake was a little dry and icing was kind of bland. But it was really pretty. We went back to Skyline for cocktails before dinner I had a lemon martini made with the Japanese Vodka we tried the first day. It is so smooth and easy on taste. I was feeling great when we got to dinner LOL

I really did just adore our serving team, tonight the girls both shared a little of their lives on board with us and they both brought me to tears. They work so hard 80+ hours per week!! Fiona met her husband on board. Svetlana broke down in tears every night when she first started because her legs would hurt so much and missed her family. I always think how glamourous it would be to work on a ship but it is so much work!! SO MUCH.

We sat and talked and laughed until we just couldn't anymore and headed back to finish packing up. I can't believe it's over already, I really do dislike a 3 day but we had so much fun in such a short time.

Next morning we were up early and off the ship as soon as they let us. Customs asked if we had any food and welcomed us home. We were on the road home before 8am. I'm already looking to book the Castaway Double Dip in 2019 or possibly 2020. I think we may try Royal Caribbean (gasp) before our next DIsney, not sure yet.

Hope you all enjoyed our short trip. We sure did!

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__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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What a great trip report! Sounds like you had a really lovely and relaxed getaway. *sigh* Now I want to cruise again. OK, to be honest I always want to cruise. I would live on a cruise ship if I could. This sounds like it was really fantastic though. I wonder if I could sneak in a 3 night for Geordon and I in 2019.

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Kristen K. wrote:
What a great trip report! Sounds like you had a really lovely and relaxed getaway. *sigh* Now I want to cruise again. OK, to be honest I always want to cruise. I would live on a cruise ship if I could. This sounds like it was really fantastic though. I wonder if I could sneak in a 3 night for Geordon and I in 2019.

It was. I want to sneak another one in myself just not sure how it's gonna happen. Maybe same time next year the way things are going LOL.

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

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Sounds great. I really want to do a Merrytime Cruise.

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JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds great. I really want to do a Merrytime Cruise.

I really want to do a longer one LOL!!!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

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$1000 if anyone has a pic of Joe flipping out of the hammock!! (PS - send bill to JoAnn C)

First 2 on the island = awesome!!! Great report, thanks for sharing and belated happy birthday!

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I would pay double if someone had it. It was quite graceful LMAO

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

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JeffC wrote:
$1000 if anyone has a pic of Joe flipping out of the hammock!! (PS - send bill to JoAnn C)

I think you spelled Jeff wrong rolling

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