Making A List And Checking It Twice

No, this is not a post about Santa.  One week from today I will be in Lake Buena Vista, FL for one night at Coronado Springs Resort then off on my 3 night Disney Wonder Cruise!  With only one week to go I am in final preparation mode.  That means I am making a list and checking it twice.  Yes, I did get that idea from Santa, it works for vacations too!

In the next week lots of things will be happening.  Making lists of things to do helps keep me organized and helps me make sure not to forget anything.  My lists are hand written in a notebook, but will summarize them for you.

Clothes Packing List:  I write down everything I intend to wear and as I put it in the spare room on the bed, next to the suitcase, I check it off.  Notice I said next to the suitcase.  I do not put things into the suitcase until the day before (sometimes the night before) I am going to travel.  I do this for two reasons - 1.  I can see everything I intend on wearing and can change my mind or re-evaluate if necessary.  2.  Things won't be as wrinkled if I wait until the last minute to put them in the suitcase. 

Toiletries Packing List:  I do not want to forget any of these items!  It can be costly to have to purchase something I forget.  The frugal of side of me can't stand to pay $6.00 for a $2.00 item!  I always pack some just in case medicine.

Things To Put In My Carry On List:  This list has everything from travel documents to ID, Camera, etc.  This is the bag I cannot live without!

Things To Do Before I Go List:  This list has things I want to get done in my house before I leave.  I want to come back to a clean house right?  Okay I admit, this is the one list I never get to before I leave.  I have good intentions, I put it on a list!  Oh well, it will be there when I get back!  Since I am going away on a girls trip I will be adding things to do for my husband and daughter so they can survive without me.

I love looking forward to a trip.  It's so much fun!

How To Dress For Dinner On A Disney Cruise

With only two weeks to go before my Disney cruise, I have started to think about what to wear. Probably should have started thinking about this sooner. Oh well, I'm going on a cruise and I'm going to have a blast!!  To help with the decision making process, I googled "what to wear on my Disney cruise".  

This is from the Official Disney Cruise Line site:

Dining Dress requirements vary by venue or theme night on your cruise. In general, most meals are "Cruise Casual"—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops. Most cruises also have special theme nights with additional attire requirements. Here's a breakdown of these events by cruise itinerary.

On 3-night cruises:

• One cruise casual night—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or tropical night (deck party)
• One "dress-up night"—jacket for men, dress or pantsuit for women

On 4-night cruises:

• First night: cruise casual—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or tropical night (deck party)
• One "dress-up night"—jacket for men, dress or pantsuit for women
• Final night: cruise casual—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops

On 7-night cruises:

• First night: cruise casual—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• Three additional "cruise casual" nights—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or tropical night (deck party)
• One formal and one semi-formal night—formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for women: gown or dress; semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket; for women: dress or pantsuit. 

Dress for dinner at Palo on all cruises:

• Men: dress shirt or jacket, no shorts
• Women: dress or pantsuit

 
Thanks Disney, I still have no clue what to wear! What is cruise casual? I know resort casual is a step above very casual clothes. No jeans, flip flops, t-shirts, and short shorts or very short skirts. Back to google.

Okay, the only thing I can find on cruise casual is what Disney has above. You can wear jeans if you want.

Here's what I'm thinking for my three night cruise:

• Cruise Casual Night - capris with a nice shirt
• Pirate Night - capris or jeans, maybe jean capris, not sure yet, with a nice shirt or white blouse - closest thing I could get to pirate attire!
• Dress Up Night - pantsuit or really dressy slacks with a dressy top

Hopefully this will be appropriate and I will not stick out like a sore thumb.  I think my choices will be fine, given the guidelines provided by Disney.

Look for my full report on what people wear on a Disney cruise and my thoughts on cruise casual in a few weeks!

New Enhancements to Disney's Private Island, Castaway Cay!

Three weeks left until my Disney Cruise!  Sail away is rapidly approaching.  Can't believe it's coming up so fast.

Thought I would share this video of all the new things on Castaway Cay.  Pretty cool!

Four Weeks Until My Disney Cruise!

Time is flying by!  Before you know it, I will be setting sail on the Disney Wonder.

I can't wait to be on the ship and experience all she has to offer!  So what am I looking forward to on the ship?  Let me tell you!

The entertainment!  Anyone who knows Disney, knows they know how to keep you entertained!  Here's how:

Three Broadway Shows:

1. Disney Dreams - An Enchanted Classic: award-winning, musical live show celebrating the value of dreams, starring some of your favorite Disney Characters
2. The Golden Mickeys:  Musical live show presented as an awards ceremony in which characters from Disney movies are nominated in a series of categories.
3. Toy Story –The Musical:  Musical live show based on the hit Disney-Pixar film.  The light-hearted story of Woody and Buzz Lightyear's friendship. 

First-run movies and digital 3-D films:  I wonder what they will be showing on our November cruise.  I'm hoping Tangled!  It starts in theaters November 24th.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Quiet Cove Pool: The adult only pool.  This is an adult trip!

Nightclubs and Lounges:  I plan on checking them all out but am especially looking forward to:

1. Cadillac Lounge - A piano bar with complimentary hors d'oeuvres - including caviar - are served throughout the evening.
2. WaveBands -  Entertainment and fun interactive activities for the entire family during the day. At night, the club caters to adults only, offering dancing, games, karaoke and 2 full bars serving mixed drinks.
3. Promenade Lounge - Activities for the whole family, including Pirate Scavenger Maps for Castaway Cay (hope I'm not too old for this!), Pirate Trivia and Bingo (yes I like Bingo!)

Character Greetings:  Yes, I am looking forward to meeting Mickey!  I really, really, really want to meet Captain Jack!

Deck Parties - The Sail Away Celebration and of course Pirates In The Caribbean!

In case you couldn't tell - I'm really excited about this cruise!  I feel like a kid right before Christmas!

Like the Beach Boys song says: 

We'll get there fast

And then we'll take it slow

That's where we wanna go

On a Disney Cruise!

Okay, the song doesn't say on a Disney Cruise, I added that!  :)

Countdown Continues!

Another week has gone by, five more weeks until my Disney cruise!

I received my Special Cruise Documents yesterday!  The documents are in a spiral bound little travel booklet. I think it's pretty cool! So what's in the booklet?

• Your Luggage Tags
• Welcome Aboard Letter from the President of Disney Cruise Line
• Vacation Checklist - Things to do right now, before you leave home, check in, before you get to the port, and as soon as your on the ship.
• Vacation overview - Embarkation information, vacation summary, port adventures
• Reservation Details
• Important Extras - Airline check in, gratuity guidelines, contact information on little cards to give to people so they know how to reach you on the cruise.
• Cruise Documents - Cruise Contract, Cruise Contract Signature Form, Embark-Departure Form, Payment Authorization Form, Onboard Airline Check-in, Ground Transfer Purchase Option

The booklet contains everything you need to know for your upcoming cruise.  I love having all the information at my fingertips.  The spiral bound booklet makes it easy to find all the information.  No rummaging through a bunch of papers - if you even get any.  I know the new way is paperless, but I like having a hard copy of things to refer to.  Of course Disney does it better than anyone else.  I haven't even stepped on the ship and I'm already impressed!

Dining On The Disney Wonder

The countdown continues with only 6 weeks until my Disney Wonder cruise!  There are so many things that I am looking forward to on this cruise (I may have said that before!).  This week let's talk dining!

Cruises and food go hand in hand.  One of the first questions I ask anyone who has just come back from a cruise is "How was the food?"   I'm not a very picky eater, so I am sure I will have plenty of meals that I like.  I am more excited about the dining experience.

Some of the things I am looking forward to:

Rotational Dining - Leave it to Disney to come up with something like this!  You go to a different restaurant every night and your servers follow you.  A new experience every night of our 3 night cruise!

Themed Restaurants - No one does this better than Disney!  

• Animator's Palate - The scenery changes right before your eyes! The artwork on the walls goes from black and white to color during your dinner.  Your servers are in on the act too!  How cool is that?!
• Parrot Cay - Themed after, you guessed it, the tropics! The perfect place for Pirate of the Caribbean night (can't wait!).
• Triton's - Elegantly themed featuring beautiful Art Deco touches.  

Table/Dinner Assignment - I have heard that Disney does an excellent job pairing you up with dinner mates.  Since we will be adults traveling without children, I am interested in seeing how this works out.  If what I have heard is correct, Disney will try to seat us with other adults without children and even have our rotational dining assignment with adults without children or adults with older children.  We'll see!

Room Service - I have heard you can order Mickey Bars (chocolate covered, vanilla ice cream bars shaped like a Mickey head, aka heaven on a stick!!).  I hope this is true and will let you know!

I also plan on trying:

• Beach Blanket Buffet -  On Deck 9 for lunch when you first get on board. I heard there are chocolate chunk cookies to die for at the buffet.  That's all I have to hear!
• Pinocchio's Pizzeria - pizza
• Goofy's Galley - salads, sandwiches, ice cream and cookies
• Pluto's Dog House Snack Bar - hamburgers, chicken

Look for the full dining review when I return!

Cruise Countdown Continues - Castaway Cay!

Seven Weeks until my Disney Cruise!

I have high expectations for my upcoming Disney Cruise (I've said that before and will probably say it again!). I've heard a lot about Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. I am no stranger to a private island, having experienced three other cruise line's versions. On my first cruise we visited a private island and it was the highlight of the cruise for me.  It was my favorite of the three I have visited.  I guess you could say it's the benchmark that I compare all others to.  I can't wait to see how Castaway Cay stacks up to the competition!

The things I enjoyed most on my private island experiences are:

• the feeling of isolation

• relaxing

• being served frozen fruity drinks right on the beach

I am looking forward to being able to do these things at the adult beach, Serenity Bay, on Castaway Cay!

I am also looking forward to exploring the island a little bit and enjoying the Disney details! In my opinion no one does details like Disney! They think of everything.

Here's some other things I plan on checking out: 

Snorkeling 

Can't wait to discover some of the hidden treasures Disney has placed in the snorkeling lagoon!

Pelican Plunge!

 

An Aqua Trike!

Spring-a-leak Playground and Scuttle's Cove

Even though this is an adult/girls trip I still want to check out all the fun for the kiddies, especially the new water features!  Okay, maybe I want to get splashed too!

Hopefully I will get to experience all of this in the one day we're at Castaway Cay.  If not, there's always next time!

Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!

Ahoy me hearties! I be setting sail with three of me mateys on a great, grand ship in eight weeks!

I love pirates.  My favorite attraction in the Magic Kingdom is Pirates of the Caribbean.  I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Captain Jack Sparrow.  I'm a huge fan!

Guess what I am most looking forward to on my Disney Cruise?  All the pirate stuff!

I cannot wait to see the Flying Dutchman!  Hopefully I can get a picture with Jack Sparrow and the great, grand ship in the background!

What I'm most looking forward to is the Pirates IN the Caribbean night!  What is it?  I'm glad ye asked!

The festivities begin at dinnertime.  The servers will be dressed as pirates.  You can dress up as a pirate too if you would like.  If not, there will be a bandanna on your table for you.  Since I did not lose the 40 pounds I wanted to, I will be wearing the bandanna!  Dinner will be pirate themed of course! From the menu on parchment paper, like an old treasure map to the pirate themed dinner selections.

After dinner there's a deck party with Disney characters dressed in their pirate garb.  I can't wait to join in the fun as characters and crew members show us some dance moves for Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!

That's not the best part.  Just when the party is getting going, Captain Hook, Smee and some scallywags try to mess up the fun!  Shiver me timbers! 

In true Disney spirit, Mickey and friends come and save the day during a fantastic finale with fireworks!

 

Arrrrr mateys!  This be a grand time, aye!

Wednesday is Disney Cruise Line Day!

At least for the next nine weeks!  That's when I am going on my first Disney cruise!  I'm so excited!

I have been on several cruises with Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess cruise lines.  I love to cruise.  I cannot wait to experience a Disney cruise!  

Here are some of the reasons:

1.  It's a girls only trip! My two sisters, sister-in-law and myself are going on a 4 day adventure.  One night in Walt Disney World and then three nights on the Disney Wonder.
2.  The Disney Difference (this comes straight from the horses mouth - the Disney Cruise Line website!) -

• Every voyage includes the attention to detail and world-class hospitality that Disney is famous for.
• Activities: Join in fun-filled activities at lavishly themed onboard venues all day long—where every family member feels as if their cruise were designed specifically for them.
• Dining: Savor Disney's one-of-a-kind Rotational Dining, where Guests "rotate" through 3 different restaurants with personalized service from servers who travel with you to each meal.
• Entertainment: Immerse yourselves in Broadway-quality, original Disney musicals that can't be seen anywhere else—as well as special moments with Disney Characters and first-run Disney movies.
• Deck Parties: The family comes together for unique themed celebrations on deck, including the only fireworks spectacular at sea.
• Castaway Cay: Most cruises include a stop at Disney's island paradise, reserved exclusively for Disney cruisers. 

3.  Curiosity - I have to be honest when I say this:  What makes the Disney Cruise experience so special that people are willing to pay more for it?!  Disney consistently charges more than other cruise lines, sometimes twice as much (sometimes more) and people pay it!

I have high expectations for this cruise.  Knowing the Disney product, I'm sure I won't be disappointed!