For The First Time In, Well, Ever! - WBTA Sept. 19-30, 2015 (Updated/Complete 11/23/15)

[mylael]

Hello! My name's Molly. I recently completed my first Disney cruise -- okay, my first cruise ever -- and it was quite an adventure! I did the Magic's 11-night Westbound Transatlantic from Barcelona to Miami, with stops in Madeira and Castaway Cay. I traveled solo. I took about 800 photos, but don't worry, you won't have to look at all of them....

Pre-Cruise Stuff

I did a quick self-guided tour of Europe before the cruise... 2 nights in southern Germany, 2 nights in Bern, Switzerland, 2 nights in Milan, Italy, 1 night in Venice, Italy, and 3 nights in Barcelona. By the time September 19th rolled around, I was definitely ready to get on the ship and be able to be in one place (well, sort of) for 11 nights... be able to unpack, not have to worry about buses or trains or planes for a while, etc. Relaxation? Food? Mickey Mouse? YES PLEASE.

Day 1 - Saturday, September 19th

For the first time since booking the cruise 16 months before, I had a nightmare that I missed the boat. Ack! But I woke up in plenty of time... early, actually. I had to go shoe-shopping in Barcelona, as I had nothing but sneakers with me (and I was planning to do the Palo brunch). Once that task was complete, I checked out of my hotel and got a taxi to the port.

My port arrival time was 12:30. I got there a few minutes early, so I waited till my time, then got in line. First I had to show my passport and hand over one of my 2 bags. Then there was a security checkpoint. Once in the terminal, I stood in a long line to check in. It took about half an hour to get to the front of that line. I got my Key To The World card and they took my picture and everything. Then I got a ticket with a boarding number on it. My number had already come up, so I got to go through the door towards the boat. From there, another line! All in all, it took an hour between the time I arrived at the port and the time I actually stepped into the atrium. I guess an hour isn't that bad, but when you're so excited, ugh!



I had lunch at Cabanas and I was delighted with it. I knew that it would be a buffet, but I didn't realize how big it would be! I immediately pounced upon my favorite foods -- macaroni & cheese, french fries, mashed potatoes. (So healthful.) Later, I got a snack from Daisy's... and some sodas... annnnd 2 ice cream cones. Oh, those ice cream machines are dangerous!

My room was ready by 1:30. I was in 2512, 2nd floor, starboard, forward. I loved having a porthole. Maybe next time I'll do a veranda, though.



I spent my first few hours on the boat getting acquainted with the layout and doing laundry (I had been traveling for over a week by that point). Another passenger saw me wandering the halls looking slightly bewildered, and said he had a helpful hint to give me... that on the carpets, there were stars with 5 points, and the top point always faced toward the front of the ship. That was helpful indeed. The laundry turned out to be a bit challenging. The detergent dispenser on Deck 2 wouldn't give detergent, but I didn't know if I was just doing something wrong, so it turned out that I swiped my KTTW card 6 times and those all went through, but... no detergent. A crewmember passed by and I told him what had happened. He brought me 2 boxes of detergent. Later, I went up to Guest Services, and they were very nice about taking off the 4 extra $1 charges. When my laundry finished being washed, I had to take it back to the room and hang it up to dry, because 2 of the dryers were out of order and the other 2 were being used.

A lot of things seemed to be going wrong on that first day around the ship. I saw several maintenance people running around fixing things, even painting things. The ice cream machines weren't working at first. And I had understood (or maybe just assumed) that we'd be sailing around 4pm, or just after the lifeboat drill (I was in group A, which met in the Walt Disney Theater.) But by 6pm we hadn't moved an inch. In fact, a lot of the luggage was still sitting outside of the ship.

At 6:15 I went to the first show in the WD Theater. the show that night was "All Aboard - Let The Magic Begin!". As a Beauty & The Beast fan, I'm thrilled by anything BATB related, and that show includes a short rendition of Be Our Guest. While we were in the theater, the ship set sail -- I could feel the slight vibrations from my seat. On our way at last!

After the show, I went out on the decks to take photos of the ship leaving Barcelona....










Soon it was dinner time! My dining rotation was: Carioca's, Lumiere's, and Animator's Palate. Our head server was Agus, our server was Gede, and our assistant server was Victor. I was seated at Table 50, with other solo travelers -- Josh, Joanna, Gail, Bill, Gareth, and Chris.

I didn't keep track of what I ate every night, nor did I take photos every time. I did note that on this night I had the vegetarian risotto, and it was delicious.

After dinner I went to the gift shops again, and this time I bought a few pins. I'm not an avid pin-trader, but I do enjoy collecting pins of my favorite characters/movies. We were told that a 2015 TransAtlantic pin would become available for sale the evening we departed from Madeira.

By 10:41 pm, we had traveled 77 nautical miles (so said the stateroom TV info channel). I was trying to guess when we'd reach the Strait Of Gibraltar. I figured we'd reach it by the next morning, but I was about 12 hours off (we reached it the following evening.)

First day of the cruise? Good. 11 more to go!​

 

[SouthAfricaTraveller]

Thank you for sharing, we were on the same cruise, it was our best one ever! Look forward to the rest!

 

[serendipity50]

Fab read...we were on the same cruise and loved every minute!

 

[mylael]

Day 2 - Sunday, September 20th



I woke up Sunday feeling a little strange. Falling asleep the night before, I had been very aware of the rocking of the ship. I felt like I was drugged or had the flu. (Again, this was my first cruise, so I had no idea how I'd feel.) I put on the Sea Bands I'd brought and listened to an audiobook till I feel asleep. In the morning, I still felt weird, but hoped those feelings would subside as I got used to the motion.



I had a big, delicious breakfast at Cabana's. Then I went back to the room, where I watched some "Robin Hood" on the TV. I should mention now that I loved having Disney movies playing on the TV 24/7... even if they did play a few I don't care for. Throughout the cruise I watched 101 Dalmatians, Mulan, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Dumbo, Cinderella, Pollyanna, and others I can't remember at the moment.

Around noon, I was off to Lumiere's for the "Cruisin' Solo" lunch. Three or four other ladies showed up, and we had a nice chat. I ordered a fruit cocktail for an appetizer. For the main course, I had pasta with tomato and mushrooms. Then some kind of chocolate pudding thing for dessert.

One of the other ladies had ordered strawberry ice cream, but before dessert came, she received a message on her Wave Phone and told us she had to leave to get to an event on time, so she left. The waiter brought the deserts a few minutes later, and when he saw that the lady had left, he gave her ice cream to me! It was actually tastier than the pudding, so... score! (But yeah, I ate way too much that day. It took me a few days of cruising to learn that moderation was actually a good thing.)

After an early afternoon nap, I decided to drop in on a few different activities. I watched BINGO for a little while...



...but I never did feel compelled to fork over $$ for that.

Then I went to something called "Playmation", which was Avengers toy demo in the Promenade Lounge. It was meant for kids, I discovered, and I didn't find it very interesting, so I didn't stay long.

Next I went to O'Gill's pub for something called "1820 Society: Game Challenge." I just thought I'd sit in on it and watch. Besides, I was secretly hoping it had something to do with people sitting around talking about the Regency period. But alas, it was the meetup group for 18-20 year-olds. One of the castmembers (Brian? I think) was there, and he was urging people to come to the TV and play Star Wars Angry Birds. No one else stepped up, so I thought, why not? So I played some Angry Birds!



At 6:15 I went to the WD Theater show of the evening: "Twice Charmed." I enjoyed it very much.



After the show, lots of people went out on the decks because we were passing through the Strait Of Gibraltar, and The Rock was (barely) visible. So much fog!



This was our first formal night. I saw lots of tuxes, even some on little kids! Cute. One lady even had a sparkly gown. Me? Well, I'm slightly less glitz-prone.



Dinner that night was at Lumiere's. I had wild mushroom soup (yum), veggie lasagna (double yum), and for dessert, bread pudding. I decided I would not order Disney's pudding anymore, because the texture isn't to my liking.

At 10pm, I went to an Open House at the Oceaneer Lab. For the first hour, we could just wander around and try the different activities in the lab, like coloring pictures or playing video games. At 11pm, we got to make Flubber in an event called "Super Sloppy Science."

\

"Professor Makeamess" orchestrated the event. There were a lot of adults there, and the Professor only had a couple of helpers, so it took a while to get supplies to all of us. In the end, some people successfully made flubber, and some made... well, messes. We were urged to keep our flubber in our stateroom fridge. I wonder how many people accidentally left theirs there at the end of the cruise?



Back to the stateroom, where I set my clocks back by an hour... the first of 6 or 7 time changes throughout the cruise.

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[chiefdragon]

Wonderful report so far. Cannot wait to read more.

 

[mylael]

Thank you for reading!

 

[Bebella]

Looking forward to reading your report! What a fun trip!!

 

[mylael]

Day 3 - Monday, September 21st

Another amazing, and arguably too big, breakfast at Cabanas....



10:30am: Inside Out was playing in the Walt Disney Theater -- in 3D -- so I went to that. It was my first time seeing the movie and I really enjoyed it. Yes, it made me tear up... but I wasn't alone!



After the movie, I got some lunch, and saw that some of the other characters were dancing on deck 9.



In the early afternoon I went to "Crafts: Tile Coasters" in O'Gill's pub. I sat at one of the small tables with some nice ladies. The ship's motion was making me so dizzy, I felt like I was going to fall off my stool. But I enjoyed making the coasters. I will say that O'Gill's is probably not the best place to do that particular craft, since the lighting is so dim in there, and there are so many different-colored tiles to work with. Still, I enjoyed the event, and when they repeated that craft later in the cruise, I went again... and brought a small flashlight with me that time!



I had heard that there were several pin books around the ship where one could trade pins: the three shops, Shutters, and Guest Services. So after Coaster-Making I went to each place and did a couple of trades. I ended up trading one of my Mickey pins for one of Lady Tremaine & Lucifer. I'm sure that's a major Disney Sin, but I didn't care! Mickey pins are common enough, and I love Lucifer.

I was still feeling dizzy and weird from the ship's motion, but I discovered that one way to combat that feeling was to sit by a window and look out at the water. Thank goodness my room had a porthole! But I also started hanging out in the porthole seats on deck 3 a lot.

I didn't go to the show that evening, the Beatlemaniacs. However, I did go to Ultimate Disney Trivia in O'Gill's. I wasn't planning to play, just watch, but 2 guys sat by me, and I ended up sort of teaming with them. We got 12 correct out of 25.

Dinner was at Animator's Palate. I had heard about the atmosphere of the place, how the room goes from black and white to color over the course of the dinner, but I was still blown away by how cool it was! Animator's Palate is true Disney magic.




I didn't order specialty drinks too often, but this is one night I did. I got the Bora Shake, which is described as "Pina Colada, Fresh Bananas, and Blue Ocean." Mmmm!



After dinner, I went to an event called "Disney Wheel" in the D Lounge. It was Wheel Of Fortune done via computer, projected onto a screen. I am a WoF fan, but most of the puzzles were solvable after just a few letters. There were kids there, and it seemed like more of a family event. I left before it ended.



I went to bed a little early that night, because the next morning we'd be docking in Funchal, Madeira!

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[mylael]

Day 4 - Tuesday, September 22​

I happened to wake up just as we were approaching Madeira, so I hurriedly got dressed and ran up on deck 4, and then deck 9, to take photos.










After a quick breakfast, I went to the D Lounge, which was the meeting place for the excursion I'd chosen: Boa Morte Levada Nature Walk. Our meeting time was 8, but it was 8:30 by the time we got on the bus and met our guide. About 25 minutes of driving later, we were dropped off, and our walk began...

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[mylael]

The Boa Morte Levada Nature Walk was a guided tour about 5 kilometers -- and it involved walking up lots of hills and along unstable ground... stones, steps, etc. Sometimes our tour guide would stop us to tell us about something. She spent a lot of time talking about the levadas, or waterways, that were built to provide water for locals and farms. As it was a "nature walk," I was expecting to see lots of flowers and maybe even some animals, but... mostly we saw farms, buildings, and levadas. Still, when else am I going to visit Madeira? This was an interesting way to see the island, and I certainly wouldn't have walked these trails without a guide.












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[mylael]

This is one of the levadas:


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[mylael]

Actually, we did get to see a few animals...





When our walk was complete, we boarded the bus again and were taken to a restaurant/cafe, where we got to watch a poncha-making demonstration.


Honey, fruit juice, rum. I normally don't drink, but I did sample it. It was pretty tasty! We got to hang around for about 30 minutes before boarding the bus again. Then our tour guide handed each of us a recipe for poncha and one of the wooden sticks for mixing it.

Back on the bus and back to the boat!



Some people, after getting off the bus, headed right back into Funchal (the city) to do more sight-seeing or shopping. However, I was pretty tired, and just went back to the boat.

I should mention that we were originally scheduled to depart Madeira around 1 or 1:30, but the day before, the captain announced that they were extending the time ashore. People were given an extra 3 hours to enjoy the island, and most people seemed very happy about that!

Back on the boat I had some lunch. Then I went to my stateroom, where I relaxed and watched Disney movies and napped.

I skipped the show that night, but I did make it to the Officer Pin Trading event. I traded away three pins and obtained pins of Lady Kluck, Gus & Jaq, and Donald and his nephews. I also bought the Transatlantic 2015 pin. You can see all the pins I had at this point, below. (Ignore the one with the white cross; it wasn't a Disney pin, but rather one I got in Switzerland.) I bought Slinky Dog and the other Donald pin from the shops. Chip and Dale would get traded away later in the cruise.



Dinner was at Carioca's again that night. We had set sail by then, and I was feeling worse than ever. I felt like I was sitting in a rocking chair that I couldn't stop. I just ordered a baked potato and vegetables. Even so, I ate very slowly and didn't finish everything.



But stay tuned...



...things do get better!


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[Gilland18]

I'm enjoying your TR. We were on the 2014 WBTA. We stopped in the Canary Islands. For some reason I was surprised to see so many cacti. Madeira seems similar.

 

[mylael]

Thanks! I heard quite a few people on this WBTA talking about being on last year's... and planning to do it again next year! Wish I could!

 

[TACK]

I'm enjoying your report. I will be on next year's Transatlantic Westbound and I will be a solo traveller. Thanks for going ahead of me so I can get some idea of what to expect going solo. What hotel did you pick for Barcelona before the cruise?

 

[mylael]

TACK - I stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Roma. It was all right, and the price was right, but I would pick a different place next time... perhaps something closer to the major sights.

 

[TACK]

TACK - I stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Roma. It was all right, and the price was right, but I would pick a different place next time... perhaps something closer to the major sights.

Good to know. I was planning to stay within walking distance of sights and close to port. Thanks.

 

[Pixie Naseweis]

Thanks for your great report. We will be sailing on next years WBTA - and we are already quite excited. Sorry to hear, that you had some issues with the ships movements - I tried ginger tablets last time and they worked very well for me.

 

[elena_n2o]

Really enjoying your TR, thanks for sharing! Looking forward to more

 

[mylael]

Pixie - I had read about ginger tablets, but didn't remember to bring any. I did, however, drink ginger ale most nights at dinner. That's one of my go-tos when traveling.

Elena_n2o - Thanks!