B
Beth11
Guest
Hi Friends....
After missing CC in December, we decided that we had to cruise again to experience that island. Well, it was all well worth the wait!!
She is just absolutely gorgeous!! I could have stayed there forever!!
For any of you who don't know this story... I am the individual who originally posted about Shirley at The Perfect Gift to share her great services to the DIS fans. She and I have stayed in contact over the last 5 months and we made plans to meet for breakfast on the morning of our cruise. So, I was especially excited to be going down to the Port!
We left our home in Savannah around 4 and arrived in Coco Beach at the Holiday Inn Express. Checked in and went to Ron Jon for about an hour. That shop is so much fun!! We had an inground pool installed this past fall, so it was so easy to want everything in sight!!
We returned to the hotel around 11 and settled in. At 4:10 AM we got our wake up call and it wasn't the one you ask for when you WISH to be woken up. The desk clerk confirmed my name and told me to come down to the lobby right away, the police were there! Our Ford F-350 truck had been vandalized. Some poor soul or souls decided to knock out three of the four windows with a shovel!! They even left the shovel sticking out of one of the windows. It was not a robbery attempt because everything was still in place. The TV/Combo, radar decector, two suitcases, CD case etc. were all still there. No one can begin to imagine all the glass!! It was EVERYWHERE!! We were very grateful that nothing was stolen but what a mishap!! Tony contacted our insurance company and arranged to have the windows fixed that morning.
I kept thinking... what in the world are we going to do??? I have a ship to catch and I want to be at the terminal when it opens at 11:00AM!! What does one do when they are in a strange town, not having an connections or know anyone and need assistance? Well, all my fears were put to an end when I decided to call Shirley and tell her that we couldn't meet her for breakfast. I placed the call at her home around 7:30AM. Within 15 minutes she was at our hotel with her husband and two vehicles. Folks... she made this terrible situation into such a breeze for my husband and children and I. She had a full page ad that she tore out of her yellow pages, told us who to contact to fix our windows, talked to the manager of the Holiday Inn to comp us for our room and offered to secure the items (TV/VCR, brief case etc.) that we weren't taking on the cruise with us in her condo. What a lifesaver she was! Tony followed her to their shop (just a half of a mile) and left the truck there to be repaired later in the day. Then they drove Tony back to the hotel where we loaded our luggage (into Shirley's car) and went to breakfast. After we ate, we went to her Shop and visited. Around 10:30... she took us to the DCL Terminal. She dropped us off right on the curb to give our luggage to the porter!! Awesome!
When I went to check in, our birth certificates were missing. In all the confusion, the envelope with the certificates in it was placed in a box to go to Shirley's. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I immediately called her on her car phone and she was on her way back when the kind CM told me that it was okay. We had to sign a paper instead. What a relief!! She did tell us that if an emergency occured and we had to leave the Bahama's by plane... we wouldn't be allowed off the island without a birth certificate. Thank goodness that we didn't need to leave!!!
After all that craziness, we ended up being the very first family in line at the terminal. "Art" the CM introduced us to everyone and my children participated in the countdown for the doors to open. That was very exciting!!!
Finally, we were on the ship!!!! Not having to make all those reservations and run around crazy was so nice. We opted not to return to Palo's or visit the spa this trip. After lunch, we went to our stateroom to relax. We unpacked and waited for the other family that was cruising with us to arrive. Low and Behold.... we spotted them at the drop off curb and began waving frantically!! We went to the 3rd floor to greet them. When they went to eat, we went to Scoops! I love being on the ship!!
Shirley called us on our cell phone around 4:30 to tell us that the windows were finished! What a relief!! Shirley was going to bring the truck to her condo and then to work each day so that, "We can keep an eye on it." We opted to get the body damage fixed when we get back home. With the windows finished we would be able to get home with no problem.
The sailaway party was awesome and we spotted some dolphins when we first began moving! The new bubble machine was great!! It's so hard to leave the party to go get ready for early seating dinner but we had to. Our rotation was TAP which was exactly what we had in December. Our servers were Sunil and Ganesh. Our stateroom host was Alton. All were great and so much fun! The problem with the 3 day cruise is that there is just not enough time to really get to know them. Overall, they were super! Ganesh had only been on the ship for 4 months and had left home (at 25) for the very first time!!
We all went to different shows and events but overall, we settled in pretty early after the crazy start to our day!! I was just so happy to be back on the boat!
More tomorrow....
Beth
Disney Wonder
May 31, 2002
Return to experience Castaway Cay!
Tons of memories to hold dear in my heart!!!
After missing CC in December, we decided that we had to cruise again to experience that island. Well, it was all well worth the wait!!
She is just absolutely gorgeous!! I could have stayed there forever!!
For any of you who don't know this story... I am the individual who originally posted about Shirley at The Perfect Gift to share her great services to the DIS fans. She and I have stayed in contact over the last 5 months and we made plans to meet for breakfast on the morning of our cruise. So, I was especially excited to be going down to the Port!
We left our home in Savannah around 4 and arrived in Coco Beach at the Holiday Inn Express. Checked in and went to Ron Jon for about an hour. That shop is so much fun!! We had an inground pool installed this past fall, so it was so easy to want everything in sight!!
We returned to the hotel around 11 and settled in. At 4:10 AM we got our wake up call and it wasn't the one you ask for when you WISH to be woken up. The desk clerk confirmed my name and told me to come down to the lobby right away, the police were there! Our Ford F-350 truck had been vandalized. Some poor soul or souls decided to knock out three of the four windows with a shovel!! They even left the shovel sticking out of one of the windows. It was not a robbery attempt because everything was still in place. The TV/Combo, radar decector, two suitcases, CD case etc. were all still there. No one can begin to imagine all the glass!! It was EVERYWHERE!! We were very grateful that nothing was stolen but what a mishap!! Tony contacted our insurance company and arranged to have the windows fixed that morning.
I kept thinking... what in the world are we going to do??? I have a ship to catch and I want to be at the terminal when it opens at 11:00AM!! What does one do when they are in a strange town, not having an connections or know anyone and need assistance? Well, all my fears were put to an end when I decided to call Shirley and tell her that we couldn't meet her for breakfast. I placed the call at her home around 7:30AM. Within 15 minutes she was at our hotel with her husband and two vehicles. Folks... she made this terrible situation into such a breeze for my husband and children and I. She had a full page ad that she tore out of her yellow pages, told us who to contact to fix our windows, talked to the manager of the Holiday Inn to comp us for our room and offered to secure the items (TV/VCR, brief case etc.) that we weren't taking on the cruise with us in her condo. What a lifesaver she was! Tony followed her to their shop (just a half of a mile) and left the truck there to be repaired later in the day. Then they drove Tony back to the hotel where we loaded our luggage (into Shirley's car) and went to breakfast. After we ate, we went to her Shop and visited. Around 10:30... she took us to the DCL Terminal. She dropped us off right on the curb to give our luggage to the porter!! Awesome!
When I went to check in, our birth certificates were missing. In all the confusion, the envelope with the certificates in it was placed in a box to go to Shirley's. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I immediately called her on her car phone and she was on her way back when the kind CM told me that it was okay. We had to sign a paper instead. What a relief!! She did tell us that if an emergency occured and we had to leave the Bahama's by plane... we wouldn't be allowed off the island without a birth certificate. Thank goodness that we didn't need to leave!!!
After all that craziness, we ended up being the very first family in line at the terminal. "Art" the CM introduced us to everyone and my children participated in the countdown for the doors to open. That was very exciting!!!
Finally, we were on the ship!!!! Not having to make all those reservations and run around crazy was so nice. We opted not to return to Palo's or visit the spa this trip. After lunch, we went to our stateroom to relax. We unpacked and waited for the other family that was cruising with us to arrive. Low and Behold.... we spotted them at the drop off curb and began waving frantically!! We went to the 3rd floor to greet them. When they went to eat, we went to Scoops! I love being on the ship!!
Shirley called us on our cell phone around 4:30 to tell us that the windows were finished! What a relief!! Shirley was going to bring the truck to her condo and then to work each day so that, "We can keep an eye on it." We opted to get the body damage fixed when we get back home. With the windows finished we would be able to get home with no problem.
The sailaway party was awesome and we spotted some dolphins when we first began moving! The new bubble machine was great!! It's so hard to leave the party to go get ready for early seating dinner but we had to. Our rotation was TAP which was exactly what we had in December. Our servers were Sunil and Ganesh. Our stateroom host was Alton. All were great and so much fun! The problem with the 3 day cruise is that there is just not enough time to really get to know them. Overall, they were super! Ganesh had only been on the ship for 4 months and had left home (at 25) for the very first time!!
We all went to different shows and events but overall, we settled in pretty early after the crazy start to our day!! I was just so happy to be back on the boat!
More tomorrow....
Beth
Disney Wonder
May 31, 2002
Return to experience Castaway Cay!
Tons of memories to hold dear in my heart!!!