Natsynoo's Perfect Panamian Adventure: DCL EBPC Oct 2018 - Day 3 Embarkation
 

It was finally the day! It was time to embark our amazing cruise!

Ever since we saw some vlogs way back in the period not long after we got married, we said we wanted to do this cruise. Being a longer voyage on its own is appealing, but doing something so unusual added to this. Matt turned 40 this year, and we were on the cusp of booking South Africa for a holiday driving the Garden Route and taking a safari, but then my Dad booked the trip to Florida back in April, and we knew we needed to take a more chilled trip for our ‘alone’ holiday this year, so it was back to the drawing board but it didn’t take Matt too long to decide that this would be the one. Not only was it 2 weeks, it was the Panama Canal, and it was a Halloween on the High Seas voyage. Having taken 3 years off of cruising, we were excited to get back on board; and after a very hectic year, it was time to have a rest – so we were excited when we woke up this morning!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4910/...48bfd201_b.jpgIMG_1202 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We slept until 5.30am and given that we had to get up at 6ish anyway, we were pretty happy with that. So we got up, got ready, repacked, and left the room at 7.20am.

We stopped at CVS for some juice, a parfait for me, and a copy of the Life Mickey 90 magazine (which I am yet to read - $24.04 in total), we arrived at Alamo bang on 7.30am ready to collect our car, which was all very smooth.

We hopped in our VW Tuareg, stopped by the hotel to pick up our luggage, and hit the road! Well…ish….we drove to the nearest Walmart Supercenter in Anaheim to get some home supplies! Once stocked up on M&Ms, Oreos, Lucky Charms, Pop Tarts, Playdoh (for our niece…it was Disney Playdoh which you can’t get at home), and a bunch of other stuff ($121.08 in total), we got back in the car and hit the road. By now, it was just before 9am so everything was running to time so far.

The journey was unremarkable and took 90 minutes in total – the traffic leaving LA was very busy but being able to use the carpool lane helped. We stopped to fill the tank close to San Diego airport ($20) and dropped the car off at 10.45am. Once outside, we ordered an Uber to take us to the port ($9.65) and were unbelievably excited to see the gorgeous ship and our home for the next 2 weeks. We had a sneak peek as we drove into San Diego just to whet the appetite!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4878/...b90da9e4_z.jpgIMG_1199 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We dropped off our large cases, and then waited for about 20 minutes in line for security before heading into the main hall to check in.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4889/...5309fd14_z.jpgIMG_1200 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We were happy with our dining rotation of AP-TP-TR (Animator’s Palate – Tiana’s Place – Triton’s) and were keen to see if we were to be granted our special request of a table for two which I had called through before we left the UK. We also checked out the Navigator that we had been given as we walked through and were excited about some of the planned entertainment – the Beverley Belles (singers in the style of the Andrews Sisters) and All That (Clogging group) appealed greatly. We were less pleased to see John Charles though, he doesn’t do much for us having seen him several times on board now.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4900/...01c2adc0_k.jpgIMG_1201 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

At 12.15pm, our boarding group was called and it was time to get on board! To view this video, click on the image which should take you through to Flickr where you can view it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4807/...90714c0f_b.jpgIMG_1203 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We headed straight to Cabanas and had our plates in hand by 12.30pm. We couldn’t complain about these timings! Matt was so happy to see the special rice he had enjoyed onboard previously.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4858/...991add68_k.jpgIMG_1205 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4899/...2c3be112_k.jpgIMG_1206 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We left Cabanas at 1pm and sat on deck for a while just taking everything in. We had our heavy carry-on bags with us and the awkward case of water that we had brought on board so wanted to wait for our room to be available before doing much more so just waited it out for 30 minutes.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4902/...38549de4_k.jpgIMG_1212 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

At 1.30pm, we dropped off our bags, changed in our swimwear (which I had packed in our hand luggage) and headed up on deck to just chill for a couple of hours. It was heavenly. But hot. Ever so hot!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4905/...fde189de_k.jpgIMG_1210 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4910/...e4493843_k.jpgIMG_1208 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Our Castaway Club gift had been left on our bed – the slingback bag was for Silver members with luggage tags for Gold – winning!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4828/...c4022616_k.jpgIMG_1211 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

At 3.55pm we headed down to the Muster Drill and then we were back in our room at 4.20pm.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4817/...a0728078_k.jpgIMG_1214 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Three of our 5 cases had arrived so we unpacked those, and then went up on deck at 5pm to watch us sailaway. We don’t go to the sailaway party anymore, because we have seen it before but we like to see us leaving port and it was a great opportunity to see San Diego. I loved seeing the USS Midway after seeing it in pictures so often.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4829/...e9c769e3_k.jpgIMG_1222 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4858/...b3c95ff2_k.jpgIMG_1221 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4814/...1498c229_k.jpgIMG_1218 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4815/...e5a56559_k.jpgIMG_1216 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4913/...9b4fa5ec_k.jpgIMG_1219 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Here is our lovingly decorated stateroom door!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4858/...5e413faf_k.jpgIMG_1267 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Whilst I did this, Matt setup our Wifi account – 1GB that we would make last for the 2 weeks was $89 – ouch!

By the way, we haven’t visited San Diego before. It is definitely on our list and we plan to do a PCH road trip in the future (hopefully in 2020) so look forward to returning then and doing it justice. We couldn’t spare enough time before this trip, hence visiting Disneyland this time around.

Once out at sea, we went back to our room to shower and change. Thankfully, case 4 of 5 had arrived, and that was the one with my planned outfit for tonight and toiletries in. We were still a case missing though, so made a note to come back down to check after showtime.

We went to the Walk Disney Theatre at 6pm ready to watch the Beverley Belle’s first show on board, and boy or boy it was fabulous! Right up my street! They are a new act to Disney Cruise Line and I hope they will be around for some time!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4850/...432e7c3f_k.jpgIMG_1223 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Next stop was the shop – I needed to be sure to get my much desired white striped Spirit Jersey which was $58.49 (including 10% Castaway Club discount, as I am a Gold member). I also picked up 3 magnets, a scrapbook, and a Christmas tree ornament for $67.45 including discount.

We headed to the Crown & Fin next for Pub Quiz Trivia. We got 7/20 but were cross with ourselves when we realised that we should have gone with our gut more as we’d have got 11/20 and won! A lesson for next time! Whilst in there, we ordered a mango mojito and Coke, which came to $12.08.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4806/...58dce49c_k.jpgIMG_1224 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We popped back down to our room to check on the missing bag, but there was still no sign. This particular bag contained our entire Walmart shop so I was hopeful that it was onboard somewhere. Thankfully, Guest Services had the exact bag that we described, and the tags had fallen off of it when we dropped it off at San Diego, so they didn’t know where it belonged. Phew!

With the bag safely back in the room, we watched a little of the character dance party in the Atrium, with butterflies in our stomach that we had 2 weeks of fun and games ahead, before heading to dinner at Animator’s Palate.

To watch this video, please click on the image to take you through to Flickr where you’ll be able to play it

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4844/...59e54b88_b.jpgIMG_1227 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Matt bumped into Stitch too which was a lovely surprise!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4858/...7763b0d9_k.jpgIMG_1225 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We met our servers – Branislav, Nathan and Mariame – who were all so lovely, and were excited for our first tastes!

Matt had the Chicken Bastela

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4805/...75154f64_k.jpgIMG_1229 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

I had the Calamari

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4812/...2e8c4155_k.jpgIMG_1228 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We both had the Strip Loin as our entrée

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4835/...bdf52f8d_k.jpgIMG_1230 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

I had the Kahlua Crème Brulee

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4854/...b27fcaf2_k.jpgIMG_1231 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Matt had the Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Bomb

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4847/...219586c5_k.jpgIMG_1232 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

And we were given a special anniversary celebration cake!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4856/...5dbe933f_k.jpgIMG_1233 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Suitably full, we stopped again at the shop to get my final Pandora charm and I was gutted to hear that the ship charm had sold out. However, they did have an anchor, and since I have a ship on my Chamilia bracelet, I opted to go for that one. I also bought the It’s A Small World charm to remind me of the beautiful times I rode it with our amazing niece Molly in DLP back in February, since there was no tax and 10% discount ($126).

By 10pm, we were zonked, so we went back to the stateroom, unpacked the final bits and pieces (well, the missing bag would wait for tomorrow) and were fast asleep for 10.30pm.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4907/...35d6af2a_k.jpgIMG_1234 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

What a fabulous day!

Great start!

Sounds like a great day, nothing beats the excitement of boarding the ship knowing you have the whole cruise ahead of you!

We were meant to be sailing on this cruise however we cancelled back in May when my husband took ill. Thankfully he recovered pretty quickly so we ended up doing a Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy in September and while we were on board we booked the Panama Canal cruise for November 19 so I look forward to reading more about your experience of it :)

Oh and I had absolutely no idea about the 10% discount for Castaway Club members! Our last cruise was our first as Gold members so I completely missed out as I bought quite a few things but I'll definitely remember for next time!

very good start to the holiday

Thank you both for reading and commenting!

It honestly is the best feeling! Sorry you had to cancel your trip but you're in for a treat next year! A Very Merrytime voyage is definitely high on my list now! They were applying the discount automatically for us but I did notice a new till system (since 2015 at least!) so maybe that's why?!

what a lovely start to your voyage. Glad your missing bag turned up. Love your nautical skirt.

Thank you and thank you for reading!

Appalling score in trivia!

I know! But even the winning score wasn't good! And the worst thing is that we got worse scores than that :blush: We were just the two of us though, we needed a team!

Another great day!