Goin' with the Flow- TCD's Disney Dream Trip Report

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

oh no i've fallen behind and i don't think i can catch back up..guess next week i'll be reading tcd's tr--i don't even know where i left off... :panic:

we have all been there... just dig in and keep reading. you will get there.

[stefa70 205]

I can't possibly comment on all that I've missed, but two things stood out for me.

The Corona plastics = AWESOME!!

I gave you a hard time about the 5 lbs of bacon you consumed, but since you did quite a few 150 lb. curls (hoisting DJ's or fake DJ's) I will forgive you.

I will try to stay current on the next updates!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I can't possibly comment on all that I've missed, but two things stood out for me.

The Corona plastics = AWESOME!!

I gave you a hard time about the 5 lbs of bacon you consumed, but since you did quite a few 150 lb. curls (hoisting DJ's or fake DJ's) I will forgive you.

I will try to stay current on the next updates!

do or do not .. there is no try! :rofl3:

[We4mickey 6]

Man TCD, your trip report is showing me just how much stuff we missed on our cruise. DH says we will just have to do another one. Can't wait to read the rest.

[BigTom 76]

Don't post much, but had to respond to this one. I look for any TR that TCD has, makes you enjoy the trip along with him and his family. My DS booked me for a 3 day trip on the Dream in September, and having never been on a cruise did not know what to expect. This TR has given me at least an idea of what to expect. Not able to keep up with the TCD crew, but now know more what I should do. Thank you TCD and hope to meet you some time. BigTom

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey TCD, just checking in quick between trips back and forth from the hospital. This cruise thing is looking more and more appealing to me.

I heard elsewhere that all is well with Anna. That is good.

As for the cruise talk, seems like I have heard that before from you.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Where are you at on bacon. I'm thinking 5 1/2 lbs or so.

I seem to recall you "planting a seed" with your bartender friend regarding a medal. Could this come to fruition? The suspense is tasty

I think 5 1/2 lbs is pretty accurate at this point in the cruise. In addition to my daily breakfast consumption, there was also that pannini and the BLT from room service.

Good job on calling the medals coming from Maria!

AGU TCD! I can't wait for the medal antics but I guess I will have to. I am wondering if Mrs. TCD will get the honor of last off the island this time?

Well, you now know some of the medal antics. But stay tuned, because there is more to tell.

You will soon find out if Mrs. TCD was the last on the island.

:jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy Maria :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

Truth.

Great update. I was so disappointed for you with the crab race, but then Maria came through! I knew she would!! It does seem to me though that you should get to keep your medal. You earned it, the girls are young and have plenty of opportunity to win a medal. :rofl2:

I wish you had been there at the bar with us, Cherie.

That is exactly what I argued. As I said, I wanted to wear my medal immediately and gloat. And no way did I want to hand it over to the kids. But, I got outvoted on that .

I'm enjoying this so much, thanks! We went on our first DC last September for our 45th anniversary on the Magic. We booked on board for the Fantasy in Sept. 2013 and a whole bunch of family will join us. I love reading your report...reflecting on what we did and looking forward to going again. We absolutely loved everything about it, and enjoyed CC so much. I can't wait to read more. Have a great weekend.

Congratulations on 45 years!

That is great that you will be on the Fantasy next year. I am hoping we can take a cruise on the Fantasy next. You will be amazed at how much bigger and nicer the Fantasy is than the Magic.

Monday won't be here soon enough.

Well, it seems like it came pretty darn quick to me.

Holding a DJ like a baby. If that catches on here in the states it could make my job interesting and/or dangerous.

You know, I have been thinking about making a LOF for the Fort.

You could make a lot of new friends that way.

But I was thinking of changing it from holding a DJ like a baby to holding a Ranger like a baby.

I don't know whether to be sad there won't be an update until Monday, or glad the fun is being drawn out so long. Either way, thanks for sharing!

Be glad that the fun is being drawn out!

I am disappointed you won your medal for drinking a mojito. You should have gotten it for drinking your pink drink. But it appears you were wearing a pink shirt, so close enough.

You are right. I should have gotten a medal for that too.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That Ping Pong shot was awesome! I had a sneaky suspicion that Maria would make sure a Medal came your direction!

Good job on figuring that out Rita. You picked up on all the clues.

Hmmmm....

Nice work there, TJ.

A little scary, but nice work.

Foul, foul, foul, I'm calling for the "Mickey Cheap Plastic Medal" judge to rule on this bogus and outrages medal fraud.

I say they're pity medals and should be disallowed as real cheap Mickey plastic medals.

Cheap Mickey plastic medals are earned for outstanding achievement involving a totally useless and irrelevant activity.

Drinking Mojitos is not a useless and irrelevant activity.

Yes, those were pity medals.

But what was I supposed to do?

We had tried to win medals by participating in the useless and irrelevant activities, and got nowhere.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Which is another way of saying Go With The Flow.

So it was a beautiful day! Monday is too long to wait to hear the rest of the story. Don't you have to actually win a medal for it to count?

What's that?

Snark from the newbie?

Good job!

I am giving you an up arrow for that!

Well if you want the rest of TCD's story you have to wait, but if you don't I am sure someone will make up the story for you. :)

The rest of the story is coming now.

Good thing nobody made up the rest for me.

To count with who?

This is TCD's TR, so it's TCD's rules.

Preach it brother Lou!

BTW, who is Maddie? Your shirt says, "It's Maddie Time!" I know I am clueless on pop culture, but my kids are clueless as well.

This picture is a riot. I laughed so hard. You seem so convinced that your wee little crab is going to somehow overcome that gargantuan one! I think you've watched one too many Disney movies!

I would also like to know what the t-shirt means?

Ah, the It's Maddie Time t-shirt!

What does it mean?

It's not a pop culture reference.

Maddie is the oldest TCD DD.

She turned 21 in June.

For our trip to the beach before the cruise, we had these t-shirts made up. They were designed by Mrs. TCD and the TCD twins. On the back, it says: Maddie's 21 and it's time for fun. Then there was a picture of a clock. Instead of numbers, it had various activities listed. Kind of like a LOF, but on a t-shirt. T-shirt making has a long history in the TCD gang.

It's gonna be a long weekend waiting for the update ...

Well, it didn't seem long to me.

My wife was reading your trip report and now wants to do a list of fun for our cruise on NCCL Liberty of the Seas. I dont know if I should thank you or regret that I let her read the trip report.

That's easy.

Thank me.

Tell her you will agree on the condition that you get to make the LOF.

Do you see where I am going with this?

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The pictures of the sunrise and practically empty beach at Castaway Cay are so beautiful and peaceful I could stare at them all day! I was thinking we'd try a cruise in a couple of years, but after this TR, I don't think I can wait that long! Can't wait for the rest.

I say don't wait!

There are some really good deals out there lately.

With the clubs and all that they have for the kids, I wish that we had taken our first DCL cruise when ours were a bit younger.

oh no i've fallen behind and i don't think i can catch back up..guess next week i'll be reading tcd's tr--i don't even know where i left off... :panic:

we have all been there... just dig in and keep reading. you will get there.

Good advice.

Focus!

I can't possibly comment on all that I've missed, but two things stood out for me.

The Corona plastics = AWESOME!!

I gave you a hard time about the 5 lbs of bacon you consumed, but since you did quite a few 150 lb. curls (hoisting DJ's or fake DJ's) I will forgive you.

I will try to stay current on the next updates!

Yes, I did eat a lot of bacon.

But you are right, I did lift a lot of DJ's! And don't forget the 12 oz. curls. Those count too.

do or do not .. there is no try! :rofl3:

You tell her Yoda Nicki.

Man TCD, your trip report is showing me just how much stuff we missed on our cruise. DH says we will just have to do another one. Can't wait to read the rest.

You are right. You can't do it all on one cruise. So, you do have to do another!

Don't post much, but had to respond to this one. I look for any TR that TCD has, makes you enjoy the trip along with him and his family. My DS booked me for a 3 day trip on the Dream in September, and having never been on a cruise did not know what to expect. This TR has given me at least an idea of what to expect. Not able to keep up with the TCD crew, but now know more what I should do. Thank you TCD and hope to meet you some time. BigTom

Well, thanks Big Tom.

You are right about the not posting much thing.

What is up with that?

You need to post some more big guy!

That is great that you are about to take your first cruise! You can't do much better than starting out on the Dream. I know that you will have a blast. Hopefully you will learn a thing or two from this report, and be able to impress the rest of your group.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, it's Monday, so that means it is time to move on.

We left off with Mrs. TCD and I making our way to the ship after another great day on Castaway Cay.

Before we pick up where we left off, I realized after completing the last update that there are a few photos that got left out.

These are from the girls' cameras. Most were swiped from Facebook so there may be some odd sizes here.

While us old folks were receiving our medals from Maria, the girls visited the Head's Up bar. We have visited this bar on each of our prior cruises for drink called the Konk Kooler. I never made it there on this cruise, but the girls did.

This is the view from the bar:

I wish that we had made it there on this trip, but we were too busy drinking mojitoes with Maria. Next time for sure.

The girls also got some photos of this golf cart. I don't know whose job it is to drive this cart, but sign me up:

Two of the girls also took off on a bike ride:

They never made it to the crew beach.

On their way back to the ship, the girls got a shot of Mount Rustmore:

OK, now back to the story.

Mrs. TCD and I made our way to the ship.

This is a funny mailbox next to the Castaway Cay post office. From what I have heard, you can mail a postcard from the post office there. We have never done so as there is always a long line of people there waiting to mail postcards:

Here are some more of the props they have around the dock:

Here is another look up at the Aqua Duck from the dock:

Had we wanted to, Mrs. TCD and I could have loitered around here for a few more minutes and been the last on the ship. But, I had already done it, and Mrs. TCD really didn't care, so we went ahead and boarded.

Mrs. TCD came through security at 4:44 pm. As we entered, I overheard on the radio that there were 17 guests left on the island. So, we were #'s 16 and 17. There were 15 people left after we boarded. It looked like they were all right behind us.

We stopped by the room to drop off some stuff, and were greated by this stingray:

And then we headed up top for a drink and a snack.

The ship sailed at 5:01. Here we go:

By 5:05 pm, the island was already fading away:

This is the last photo I have of Castaway Cay- it was taken at 5:11 pm. The captain was getting the heck out of Dodge:

Mrs. TCD and I sat and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon a bit longer.

I had been meaning to get a photo of these flags next to the pool, so I did:

Those say: DCL DISNEY DCL.

Very creative.

From here, the plan was to head back to our cabins and get our stuff packed up before dinner. On the last night of the cruise, you have to put tags on all your luggage and put it out in the hall by 10:30. They collect it all that night, and then it will be ready for you to pick up in the terminal when you exit the ship. We had already decided to skip the show before dinner, but we were going to meet up for a game show with everyone right before dinner for what we all thought would be our last chance to win medals. At this point ,the girls did not know that the adults already had medals. I wanted the girls to win some so I could keep mine.

We will pick it up from there in the next update.

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Nice Dad. You want to keep yours. :rofl2:

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I'd forgotten this was your last full day.

Still, I bet there are plenty more fun things to read about before this TR is over. :D

[SCTigerCock 171]

Since Disney it giving out medals for drinking, does this mean it will be an Olympic sport in 2016? What about the Winter Olympics in 2014? :clint:

Thanks for taking one for the team TCD. I know it must have been difficult to drink that majito. You Da MAN! :jumpforjoy

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

Well if you want the rest of TCD's story you have to wait, but if you don't I am sure someone will make up the story for you. :)

Attempting to get someone to hijack #Fail

[DznyRulz 1]

Beautiful pictures of Castaway Cay. It looks like the TCD gang had a heck of a time. Too bad your underwater camera bit the dust. I was looking forward to those pics. I'm sure others were looking forward to them as well and since we don't want anyone to be disappointed that there weren't any underwater pics I thought I'd post a link to my pics. These are from our 2008 cruise on the Wonder. We were also fortunate to spend two days on CC, the majority of which I spent snorkeling. I even have video of my fairly close encounter with a toothy lagoon visitor. He wasn't too interested in me though. DW said I was crazy to follow him around.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Nice Dad. You want to keep yours. :rofl2:

Heck yes I wanted to keep mine.

It was a lot of work getting that medal.

I'd forgotten this was your last full day.

Still, I bet there are plenty more fun things to read about before this TR is over. :D

You are right- it was our last full day, but there is still a lot of fun to come.

Since Disney it giving out medals for drinking, does this mean it will be an Olympic sport in 2016? What about the Winter Olympics in 2014? :clint:

Thanks for taking one for the team TCD. I know it must have been difficult to drink that majito. You Da MAN! :jumpforjoy

You know, that's a great idea.

We should form our own country and start a team.

We would be like the Jamaicans in the sprints.

Attempting to get someone to hijack #Fail

True.

But, it's for the best- this TR is long enough as it is.

Beautiful pictures of Castaway Cay. It looks like the TCD gang had a heck of a time. Too bad your underwater camera bit the dust. I was looking forward to those pics. I'm sure others were looking forward to them as well and since we don't want anyone to be disappointed that there weren't any underwater pics I thought I'd post a link to my pics. These are from our 2008 cruise on the Wonder. We were also fortunate to spend two days on CC, the majority of which I spent snorkeling. I even have video of my fairly close encounter with a toothy lagoon visitor. He wasn't too interested in me though. DW said I was crazy to follow him around.

Very nice photos!

Thanks for that link.

I was pretty bummed about that camera breaking- I wanted to get photos of the 20,000 Leagues Sub. But, I instead I had to go with the flow.

TCD

[SCTigerCock 171]

You know, that's a great idea.

We should form our own country and start a team.

We would be like the Jamaicans in the sprints.

TCD

Can we have a Bobsled team too!!!!! :clint: Can we, Can we? :jumpforjoy

Nevermind, that may lead to drinking and driving. :banghead:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It's time to tell the tale about the TCD gang's medal count.

Pay attention, because it gets complicated.

As I mentioned before, the TCD girls had left us on Castaway Cay in the late afternoon because they wanted to go and get ready to see Jerry at a karaoke event that was going to take place in the late afternoon.

When they left, I reminded them that they needed to get their suitcases packed and out in the hall before dinner.

When Mrs. TCD and I made it back to the cabins, the girls were nowhere to be found, and the had begn to pack, but clearly had a ways to go. It looked like they had left to go somewhere in a hurry.

We went ahead and got our stuff packed up and got dressed for dinner. Still no girls.

Around 7:30, they all came flying back to the room to finish packing. We asked where they had been-and they said at karaoke.

They packed quick, and we headed up to another game show in Studio D.

The premise of this one was to test how well family members knew each other. They picked four families. Supposedly, they were going to pick famiies based on who was the loudest. But that wasn't true. Or else we would have been picked. It looked like what they did was pick families with younger kids. Which ended up making the show very funny. But it also meant no more medals for us. Again.

Then it was off to dinner.

Remember, the plan was for the adults to break out our medals, make the kids feel bad, and then hand them over to them. As I have stated, I was against this, but I thought it would be funny.

So, we get seated, and our servers bring our drinks and take our orders. Then I tap my glass with my knife, and say I have an announcement to make.

Everyone stops talking and looks.

But then Nancy says, before I make my announcement, she has one.

And she whips out a medal:

You see how it's still in a package?

That's not one of the medals we got from Maria.

She said when she got back to her cabin from Castaway Cay, it was hanging outside her door.

It was left there along with a note from the castmember who had hosted the power walk Nancy went on earlier on the island. Nancy had hinted that she needed to earn a medal, and the castmember had taken care of her.

After Nancy made her surprise announcement, the rest of us adults broke out our medals. The kids clapped, but didn't seem upset. They were laughing.

Then Twin #1 banged her glass, and said that they had an announcement to make.

At which time, they each brought out two medals. It turns out that Jerry had asked them to come to the karaoke event early because he had 8 medals to award them. His intent was for us to each have one, but since the adults had their own, the kids all got two each. And come to think of it, so did Nancy.

Here we are with one medal each:

Since medal counts are important, that means the TCD gang's haul on this cruise was 13 medals. And, I will call them all gold medals. If we were a nation, that would put us in third place behind China and the US in the current olympic standings.

How do you like that?

That was fun.

Before we move on to our dinner, here are photos from the girls singing karaoke with Jerry:

For dinner, we were back where we began five nights before: Royal Palace.

I loved our dining rotation. I thought it was great how we began and ended the cruise in the fancy restaurant.

The menu tonight was called the See Ya Real Soon Menu. It featured a combination of things that had been on the menus the previous four nights. That was a great idea:

After we had our little medal celebration, Frank said we should all check our lists of fun to see where we stood. The group effort thing had clearly gone out the window.

Frank looked at his list.

He said there was something he needed to do, and he would be right back.

Our appetizers came.

No Frank.

Just when I was about to eat his appetizer, Frank came running back. We asked where he had been. He said he had forgotten to play Goofy Golf, so he had run up there to do it, since he knew it would be closed by the time we were done with dinner. He even brought back his golf ball to prove it. He handed it to me so I could go up there and play later, as that was still not crossed off my list.

Speaking of food, I have some photos.

This is some kind of appetizer. I don't know what it is. Twin #1 took this photo. It looks like perhaps it is something stuffed with crab meat:

This is one of the entrees- a steak- you see that pear? It's made out of potatoes. Like a giant tater tot. Don't ask me why. Go with the flow:

Baked Alaska is a traditional last night dessert on many cruise ships, and it is on DCL too. On other ships, they make a big production out of walking around with flaming trays of baked Alaska. Probably not a smart idea on a cruise ship. You don't get to see any fire on the Dream, but the Baked Alaska is fine:

This is Apple Crisp:

Since the atrium was right outside of our dining room, we stopped for some photos there:

We hung out here in the atrium because the Till we Meet Again show was about to begin. And it did. This is a little show they do on the last night of Disney cruises. There are always a lot of characters to meet and short lines:

Pluto came out first:

And then Goofy:

Of course, Goofy fell down the stairs. What a Goof:

Next came Donald and Daisy:

This would be a photo of Chip and Dale, but Goofy decided to photo bomb:

They finished up with Minnie and then Mickey:

All of those characters came down the stairs to meet the guests below, and then right in front of us, the princesses stepped out too:

There were only three of them, and one was Dave's girlfriend:

That was fun, but we didn't hang around the atrium long. The plan was to hit the Aqua Duck one last time, and we had an hour until it closed.

Oh, and one more thing that we had missed on the List of Fun.

Eating ice cream with a shovel.

What is that all about?

Well, they have a self serve ice cream station on the DCL ships. You just walk up there and help yourself. As much as you want. For free. We have always joked that the liitle cups they provide are too little. I have said one day, I'm going to bring a bucket up there and fill it and eat the ice cream with a shovel. So that ended up on the List of Fun. We had never actually done it though.

Well, it was now or never.

And I was determined that this would be done.

I even asked Twin #2 to buy a new bucket and shovel on Castaway Cay as she headed back to the ship. She did. And she helped herself to a few other things too. Those KTTW cards give the kids charging privileges, you know.

So, the plan was, I would race up to the ice cream station and get some ice cream. In a bucket, and the kids would then meet me over by the Aqua Duck entrance and we would eat ice cream with a shovel.

The girls said that they wanted to go and say good bye to another castmember, Grace, that they had gotten to know. So, they did that on the way.

I got the ice cream and went to the meeting point.

Frank and Nancy showed.

No kids.

There were other folks out and about getting their last swims in:

And it was a nice night:

But no kids.

No worries, I got another chance to luck at the Duct Duck Tape:

Frank got tired of waiting:

That man was determined to get it all done!

Fortunately, the girls showed up then, or else there may not have been any ice cream left for them:

So, that was another big check on the List of Fun!

Then we hit the Aqua Duck.

Yes, we closed it down.

And that was a sad moment.

Because it was now a little past midnight, and the next time the Aqua Duck opened, there would be another group of passengers on the ship.

So, it was back to the cabins for us.

I told the girls since we had to get up early, we would all need to go to bed now.

NOT!

We had some unfinished business.

We will pick up the very end of our last night in the next update.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Genia,

we could have an aqua duck team! Drinking and riding.... still not so good.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

The last day rush!! I don't care how relaxing your trip is, we all fall into the last day rush mode, me included!!!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I love the bucket an shovel ice cream.

The medal thing is just hilarious but I have to claim.. Nancy won that one.

I think you need to make a spread sheet of DCL tips :rofl3: :rofl3: :rofl3:

Not ready for this to be done....

[stefa70 205]

Good job on all the medals, even though they weren't necessarily earned.

Poor Frank always seemed to be playing catch-up.

You got some really great family photos on this trip!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Tell me...how is the access to Ms White? Does she travel with handlers, or is she left alone to meet with guests? I'm just curious, of course.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Tell me...how is the access to Ms White? Does she travel with handlers, or is she left alone to meet with guests? I'm just curious, of course.

well depends on if you want to get tackled in the atrium or throw off the deck.....

[DaveInTN 3,247]

well depends on if you want to get tackled in the atrium or throw off the deck.....

I don't know what you're talking about. I simply want to give her a delicious apple.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I don't know what you're talking about. I simply want to give her a delicious apple.

it that what your calling it?