Embarkation day!

April 2, 2016

Super Lu here again! Today was embarkation day! The family was up early and had a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed to the port a little before 10:00 am. We caught sight of the Disney Fantasy and boy was she a sight to see! Because we have a modified van with a ramp we were allowed to park for free at the port. That saved quite a bit! Last cruise the family had trouble finding a spot to park, but this time an accessible spot had just opened up on the 3rd floor of the parking garage, right next to the bridge that led to the terminal. Great start for our adventure! The line had already begun to form so the crew headed to the back of the line. It was difficult to manuveur in the line as it was not wide enough at one point for Bobby's wheelchair to stay in line and go between the wall and the cars. We had both Bobby's manual chair and a travel wheelchair(it collapsed flat and that was the kind needed for the port adventure in Cozumel, but would not provide enough support for long term use) So with 3 large suitcases and 2 wheelchairs(the travel chair held all the carryon stuff) it was difficult to manuveur in line as the porters didn't get to us before they started moving the line over the bridge. A nice family ahead of us saw the difficulty and each one helped with an item. Proof again that there are good people left in this weary world :) The porter came after we had to wait a few minutes as others went onto the bridge, so we finally got to cross onto the bridge. Being so close to the Disney Fantasy was very exciting!

We only waited a few more minutes before being let into the terminal. Soon we were checking in and getting our lanyards and cards. We then headed to the kids club desk and the boys received their magic bands for the kids club. Bobby really wanted to look at the model of the ship, but by then that area was too crowded to get his wheelchair through. We opted instead to go out onto the observation deck and look at the real thing up close.

Soon we were able to board and the excitement continued to build as they took our embarkation picture.

How thrilling to hear them welcome the Baird family on board! We headed immediately to deck 4 to secure tickets for the Frozen and Princess meet and greets as well as the character breakfast then it was off to deck 11 and lunch at Cabanas.What a delicious start to our voyage!

After lunch we had a few minutes to kill before we could go to our stateroom so we visited the kids club to look around. The boys wanted a picture in the Monsters Inc room and the Toy Story room. There was so much to see and so much for the boys to look forward to doing!

We then headed to deck 8 and waited until it was finally 1:30 so we could check out our stateroom. It was in a great location being mid-ship and close to the elevators. There will be a separate report detailing this acessible stateroom for those who may be looking to check out what this category accessible stateroom looks like :)

Beth unpacked a bit and then we headed back out to deck 4 to be ready for the muster drill which began promptly at 4:00.

After the muster drill, it was up to deck 11 for the Sail Away show. The boys had a front row spot!

Instead of staying for the dance party after the show, the family headed back to their stateroom so they could stand on the verandah and wave at the people at Fishlips and the other restaurants and park at the port.

Soon it was time to change for dinner. Tonight's dinner was at Animator's palate. Crush swims around from screen to screen and interacts with some of the guests. This time he chose to speak to the one in the red floral shell(which was Beth) Such fun interacting with a famous sea turtle dude!

We had time before the show to see a couple of characters, so we visited with Minnie and Pluto!

After enjoying the Welcome Aboard show it was time for bed. Awaiting us in the stateroom was a stingray, tomorrow's Navigator and some chocolates! This week is going to be excellent! Tomorrow is our first day at sea! Here's hoping that neither David nor this reporter have trouble with the motion of the ocean!