Deb and Steve Cruise – Day 2 Embarkation Day

I know this blog has taken more twists and turns than storm Hanna did, but now that I’m back home I will return to reporting on the Deb and Steve Cruise.

After our wonderful evening in Epcot dining in the American Adventure and enjoying a private IllumiNations viewing area, our cruise day was finally here!

We got up early and headed to the Dolphin to drop off the rental car and have breakfast at Fresh. If you have been following my blogs, you know I LOVE eating breakfast at Fresh. This day was no exception and Debra took excellent care of us, as always.

We walked back to the resort. Linda and I packed up everything and headed to the port.

We made a stop at Saratoga Springs to pick up AllEars team member LindaMac and her luggage. Good thing we had a large vehicle!

Just before reaching the port, we got a phone call from a fellow cruiser telling us that cars were not being allowed in the drop off area at this time.

Upon arriving at the port there seemed to be a lot of confusion however we were allowed to go to the drop off area. Apparently, the Magic (having just returned from the 15 night Panama Canal Cruise) was delayed in clearing customs. That meant luggage was not available for cruisers to pick up at the usual time and things were really backed up. There were a number of folks who got off the ship that were in line at the port itself to get their bags.

The delay caused us to start our Port Meet and Greet later than the scheduled time of 10:30am. We were told at check-in that the one itinerary change would be Nassau and Sea day changing places. No biggie.

I think it took us until about 11:15am to get fully checked in and ready for the meet. I also want to thank DCL Cast Member Heather for starting my cruise out in such a magical way!!!!

It was great to meet the new cruisers and say hello to old friends. Here I am passing out AllEars buttons.

Typically the cabins are ready at 1pm. However, the delay in the ship clearing customs and folks disembarking caused the cabin readiness to be delayed. So off we went to Parrot Cay for lunch. Fortunately, we were able to get to our cabin about 1:45pm.

From noon until 2pm, the MouseFanTravel folks (Vickie and Colleenpictured), hosted a hospitality room in Studio Sea. Here Deb and Steve cruisers received their official lanyards as well as our own personal Navigators with a full listing of all events.

Our next official Deb and Steve event was a Suite Tour. Beci, Linda and I were sharing a 2 bedroom suite (Category 2) and Steve and Vickie were in a 1 bedroom suite (Category 3). We opened our suites up so that folks could come by and see what they looked like. Everyone who came by received a commemorative magnet for their cabin.

By the time this event was over we all sat down and took 5! Soon the muster drill would be starting and then the Sail Away Party!!!!

You wouldn’t know there were big time storms lurking in the waters off shore by the beautiful weather at the Port. The Sail Away Party was great fun and everyone was having a wonderful time!

Everyone was in a great mood and eager to see what the week would bring. We named it the Magical Mystery Cruise since at that point the weather looked like it would indeed impact our ports of call.

And wait….the special events are not over! Myself, LindaLou and LindaMac hosted a lounging meet in the Promenade lounge before the late dinner seating. It was well attended and gave lots of folks the opportunity to meet.

Then, off to Lumiere’s for dinner to meet our servers Sam from Thailand and Allan from Croatia. They were really nice and we enjoyed dining with them each evening.

At this point, I think everyone was ready for bed. It had been a very long day filled with excitement and anticipation.

Looking for more? LindaMac’s Embarkation Day Blog!

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