Conorama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2012
Greetings Disboard people. I feel honour-bound to write this trip report, since when I signed off last, I declared to all who read my report that while we enjoyed our first DCL experience, we had decided not to return.
And yet, it seems, I have another trip report to write. Humble pie, here I come.
Let me begin by introductions. We are a family of 3 from medium-town-world in Ontario, Canada. We do not generally consider ourselves particular fans of “Big Mouse” as he is known in our house. Neither my husband nor I have ever been to Disney World or Land, on any continent. Our son Conor, who turned 6 just before our cruise in May, will not watch any Disney movies except for Cars (and only the first one).
We have not (wait for it) … seen Frozen.
As I mentioned the last time, I feel a little like I am taking my life in my own hands as I report on our UnDisneyness, but hey, it's New Year's Eve, and I feel like living a little on the edge.
Here is a recent mostly monochromatic portrait of us, as completed by Conor:
I'm the one with the curly hair. The Dad is wearing a nifty new hat, and Conor has one like it. Over on the left? That's a tickle fight on the couch. Behind us is the ever-so-cool Mazda 5 we drive.
Despite all of our UnDisneyness, a great friend of ours convinced us to try DCL for one of our “please get us away from all this winter for a week” vacations back in 2013, so we did. I wrote about our week on the Fantasy here, largely since these boards were very helpful in addressing my obsessive need to plan.
We had a great time, despite Conor being morally opposed to characters, and we gained respect for Uncle Walt’s general smarts. However, we did not book again on-board, mostly because we felt the need to go back to our lounge-on-the-beach-schedules-are-for-other-people vacations, which we did last year.
So how did we end up back on DCL? I blame Big Mouse, and planetary alignment.
What really happened is that I was surprised by having an abstract accepted at a meeting that was taking place in Orlando in May 2014. In a moment of giddy irrational thought, I suggested to my husband that maybe he and Conor could come too, and we could visit some parks (I gather there are more than one.)
What followed went like this:
Husband proceeds to explain that he and Conor really liked the cruise, and have been talking about going back again. Hmph.
Once I recovered from my brilliant response, I thought I would check and see that there were no cruises that would work for us. I mean, I was already taking time off for the conference, so I couldn’t swing the time for a week-long cruise on top, and, really, there was no way the timing would work out… right? Right? Right?
Big Mouse is sneaky though. By luck/planning/something- there was a 4-night Dream leaving the day after my conference ended. And the price wasn’t bad. And I had vacation days to use up. And my abstract got accepted at this big meeting. And the flights weren't bad. And, well…. (looks up email address for travel agent)…. We booked.
And with that long confession, I begin my trip report.
Up next … the planning. Oh my, the planning.
Links
Pre-trip planning- or … how many spreadsheets does one human need?
More Deeply Important Decisions
The Nitty and the Gritty of Canadian Travel to the DCL with the Kiddo
The man-these-are-busy-and-annoying 2 weeks before the cruise – and a non- Disney perspective on the Swan and Dolphin
Finally- the vacation feels like it’s starting – or, why I like the MCO and its Hyatt
Where we finally embark on the floating mystery game.
Room Selection for the obsessive - and putting up with some DCL stuff and skipping others
End of Embarkation Day - in which I reveal how boring we really are
Reflections on Day 1
Day 2 – Nassau – Blue Lagoon Beach Day
Day 2 - Nassau- Pirate Night
Day 2 - Reflections
Day 3 - At Sea - Lounge-o-rama
Day 3 - Reflections
Day 4 - Castaway Cay & random meltdowns
Day 4 - In which we meet Crush
Day 4- Reflections
Debarkation & Home!
OOPS - back to day 3 - and the glory of Remy
Thoughts on Cruise #2 - and why we booked again on board, sheepishly
Afterword .... and a surprise
And now - the Secret mini-TR - January 25 to Feb 1st, 2015 - Magic - Western Caribbean
Planning to embarkation
Thoughts on the Re-imagined Magic
Days 2 and 3 - At Sea, and Couzumel
Day 4 - Grand Cayman
Day 5 - Jamaica
Days 6 and 7 - At Sea and Castaway Cay
Homeward bound
Final Reflections
And yet, it seems, I have another trip report to write. Humble pie, here I come.
Let me begin by introductions. We are a family of 3 from medium-town-world in Ontario, Canada. We do not generally consider ourselves particular fans of “Big Mouse” as he is known in our house. Neither my husband nor I have ever been to Disney World or Land, on any continent. Our son Conor, who turned 6 just before our cruise in May, will not watch any Disney movies except for Cars (and only the first one).
We have not (wait for it) … seen Frozen.
As I mentioned the last time, I feel a little like I am taking my life in my own hands as I report on our UnDisneyness, but hey, it's New Year's Eve, and I feel like living a little on the edge.
Here is a recent mostly monochromatic portrait of us, as completed by Conor:
I'm the one with the curly hair. The Dad is wearing a nifty new hat, and Conor has one like it. Over on the left? That's a tickle fight on the couch. Behind us is the ever-so-cool Mazda 5 we drive.
Despite all of our UnDisneyness, a great friend of ours convinced us to try DCL for one of our “please get us away from all this winter for a week” vacations back in 2013, so we did. I wrote about our week on the Fantasy here, largely since these boards were very helpful in addressing my obsessive need to plan.
We had a great time, despite Conor being morally opposed to characters, and we gained respect for Uncle Walt’s general smarts. However, we did not book again on-board, mostly because we felt the need to go back to our lounge-on-the-beach-schedules-are-for-other-people vacations, which we did last year.
So how did we end up back on DCL? I blame Big Mouse, and planetary alignment.
What really happened is that I was surprised by having an abstract accepted at a meeting that was taking place in Orlando in May 2014. In a moment of giddy irrational thought, I suggested to my husband that maybe he and Conor could come too, and we could visit some parks (I gather there are more than one.)
What followed went like this:
Husband: “Um, our kid hates rides, crowds, noise, and will not talk to characters. Exactly why would we throw money away on something like that?”
Me: “Hm. Good point.” (Pausing, still giddy…) “Hey- we could do another cruise, maybe?” (I think I’m being witty and somewhat sarcastic here…)
Husband: “Sure!”
Me: (gobsmacked) “ HUH???”
Me: “Hm. Good point.” (Pausing, still giddy…) “Hey- we could do another cruise, maybe?” (I think I’m being witty and somewhat sarcastic here…)
Husband: “Sure!”
Me: (gobsmacked) “ HUH???”
Husband proceeds to explain that he and Conor really liked the cruise, and have been talking about going back again. Hmph.
Once I recovered from my brilliant response, I thought I would check and see that there were no cruises that would work for us. I mean, I was already taking time off for the conference, so I couldn’t swing the time for a week-long cruise on top, and, really, there was no way the timing would work out… right? Right? Right?
Big Mouse is sneaky though. By luck/planning/something- there was a 4-night Dream leaving the day after my conference ended. And the price wasn’t bad. And I had vacation days to use up. And my abstract got accepted at this big meeting. And the flights weren't bad. And, well…. (looks up email address for travel agent)…. We booked.
And with that long confession, I begin my trip report.
Up next … the planning. Oh my, the planning.
Links
Pre-trip planning- or … how many spreadsheets does one human need?
More Deeply Important Decisions
The Nitty and the Gritty of Canadian Travel to the DCL with the Kiddo
The man-these-are-busy-and-annoying 2 weeks before the cruise – and a non- Disney perspective on the Swan and Dolphin
Finally- the vacation feels like it’s starting – or, why I like the MCO and its Hyatt
Where we finally embark on the floating mystery game.
Room Selection for the obsessive - and putting up with some DCL stuff and skipping others
End of Embarkation Day - in which I reveal how boring we really are
Reflections on Day 1
Day 2 – Nassau – Blue Lagoon Beach Day
Day 2 - Nassau- Pirate Night
Day 2 - Reflections
Day 3 - At Sea - Lounge-o-rama
Day 3 - Reflections
Day 4 - Castaway Cay & random meltdowns
Day 4 - In which we meet Crush
Day 4- Reflections
Debarkation & Home!
OOPS - back to day 3 - and the glory of Remy
Thoughts on Cruise #2 - and why we booked again on board, sheepishly
Afterword .... and a surprise
And now - the Secret mini-TR - January 25 to Feb 1st, 2015 - Magic - Western Caribbean
Planning to embarkation
Thoughts on the Re-imagined Magic
Days 2 and 3 - At Sea, and Couzumel
Day 4 - Grand Cayman
Day 5 - Jamaica
Days 6 and 7 - At Sea and Castaway Cay
Homeward bound
Final Reflections
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