Embarkation Disney Magic Panama Canal Cruise – Day 1a

Linda and I flew into Orlando on Friday. I slept on the plane and awoke bright eyed and ready to go! Once the plane stopped rolling I got up and started moving around getting excited. Linda laughed with me. The trip of a lifetime had begun.

We had a quick reunion with Beci and Chris as they were staying at the airport Hyatt and met us in baggage claim for some quick hugs. They had taken the red eye flight in from Seattle Washington.

We had a smooth ride to WDW via Quicksilver and when we got into the Dolphin I saw a packed lobby, which probably meant rooms were not ready. Turns out there were over 1000 departures that morning.

A dear friend had emailed me a few days ago to let me know they had a surprise visit to WDW this weekend. We used our phones text messaging and set up a small surprise for Linda at lunch. Once we were eating at Picabu (Dolphin), someone came up behind Linda and surprised her. I HOPE it’s ok now (since this will publish on Sunday) to say it was our dear friend Mike Scopa.

At 2:30 our room still wasn’t ready and I had a 3pm massage at Mandara Spa. I didn’t want to have to go from a massage to sitting in the lobby. So, I returned to the front desk and asked if any room was available. The Cast Member was most helpful and got us a great room with a balcony.

I got back to the room from the massage about 4ish and Linda was getting ready to head down for her massage. We both had the Sweedish Massage and both of us rated it average. Nothing special, but nice. The real plus was the heated massage bed to lay on….very relaxing.a

I was meeting John from OwnersLocker at 5:30 at the lobby bar, so no time to nap, LOL

Linda eventually joined John and I and then he departed. It’s always good to catch up with John and talk “shop”. While we sat finishing our beverages, we spotted 2 of our cruise mates entering the hotel, Sharon and Sandy. So, we had our second reunion of the day. We picked up right where we left off one year ago. We love to travel with these cousins…they are huge fun!

Now back to the room and quickly off to dinner.

We enjoyed a great dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse with our dear friends Steve and Vickie Barrett and surprise guest Mike Scopa. Our server YUN, was great, friendly and knowledgeable. She made it a fun evening. Near the end of dinner I remembed I had met the manager of the Steakhouse in the fall, so I asked for him to come by the table. It was good to see Mark again and we told him we had a great dinner and super server. During dinner, my phone rang and it was our friend Masayo from Japan. She wanted to say hello and wish us a bon voyage!!!!! It doesn’t get much better than having friends from all around the world!!!!

(By the way, the Deb and Steve cruise this September has a few cabins remaining – well, as of this blog).