Is Cruising Safe??

Is Cruising Safe?

            It’s been about a year since the Costa Concordia crashed bringing into question the safety of cruising. Let me start off by saying in general I believe cruising is as safe a way to travel as any other. You must use wisdom in choosing a cruise line as you would use wisdom in choosing an airline.

            The Costa cruise line is part of the Carnival cruise line. Since the Costa Concordia crashed there was another Costa cruise line ship that had mechanical issues at sea and now reports of several Carnival cruise ships with problems. Just a few weeks ago the Carnival Triumph was stuck at sea for days with no power after a ”small” engine fire. They had to be towed to shore by multiple tugboats that took several days to get to them.

            Today the Carnival Dream is stuck at the island of St. Martín in the Caribbean. They’ve lost partial power and several times lights and elevators have stopped working. But according to the Carnival Cruise Line all “hotel services” have continued to function. The ship will be “followed home” for safety. Guests on the ship will be refunded for three days of the cruise and get 50% off of their next Carnival cruise.

            In my opinion this is too many problems for the Carnival/Costa Cruise Lines. Upon further research I found that this cruise line and others often purchase older ships from each other. One of the ships that had problems had been purchased from a different cruise line after having had an engine fire and other issues. Guests have reported being told that these used ships were actually new when they sailed but they say they found conditions “disgusting and unsanitary”.

            According to Maritime Law all cruise ships must have a Life Boat Safety Drill within 24 hours of sailing. The Costa Cruise Line would often put off this drill for as long as possible. When the Concordia sank it was less than 24 hours out of port and there had been no Lifeboat Drill. They had followed the law but how many people would have been saved if they had not just follow the letter of the law but followed the intent and done this drill earlier in the cruise? It could’ve saved panic and therefore lives.

            Reading these reports just confirms my decision to never sail anything other than the Disney Cruise Line. You know what you’re going to get with Disney. You know that all four ships were built for the Disney Cruise Line and you know exactly when each one of them was built and the date it came into service. Disney Cruise Line never sails out of port until after the Lifeboat Drill. Every guest is required to participate in this Lifeboat Drill. I know that on the two Disney cruises I’ve been on besides the mandatory Lifeboat Drill I saw other crew drills for safety.

            Once again I suggest when you cruise no matter what cruise line you choose check their safety records. Also, once again I suggest you consider the time of year you cruise. Obviously hurricane season can be dangerous.

While all cruise ships are equipped with weather monitoring equipment and know where storms are they still need to stay within the area to stay somewhat on track of where your designated itinerary was to take you. They want to get you to as many of your stated Ports of Call as possible. They also want to return you to the port you expected to return to so that you are not inconvenienced getting home or going to your next destination.

You may not be hit directly by the storm but you may get bad weather and big waves. Not all furniture on the ship can be bolted to the floor. (It would be rather hard to sit at a table for dinner if you couldn't pull the chair up.) The rocking and rolling may cause you to fall or make you seasick. If you don’t want to deal with that don’t go during hurricane season. (I choose to not sail during hurricane season.) If you choose to sail during hurricane season I don’t think you have a right to complain much. Expect to get bumped around!

All this boils down to one thing, use wisdom! Choose your cruise line and time of year wisely. Do your research, check your cruise lines safety record. Consider the weather at the time of year you’re going. Will it be too hot or too cold? What are the possibilities of severe weather and storms? And do you mind not being able to go to your planned Ports of Call if the weather keeps you from them?

For me I will cruise Disney any time from December to April in the Caribbean. Again for me, anywhere else I’d sail it is Disney and I will look at the weather for that region before picking the time of year.

So bon voyage my fellow sailors! Do not be afraid to sail! But do choose who you sail with, where and when wisely.

King Arthur's Jingles!

King Arthur’s Jingles!

            According to learner.org there is a legend about carousels. According to carousel legend, the lead horse of any carousel is always the biggest, most decorative horse. In many instances, this horse is a military or warhorse. If a chariot is included in the carousel the first horse right behind the carousel on the outside is the lead horse.

            There are 68 white galloping horses on King Arthur’s carousel. Each horse has a name and you can get a list of the horse’s names from City Hall on Main Street. But one of the horses is unique. The horse’s name is Jingles.

            Jingles was Walt’s favorite carousel horse, named for her ornate carvings which include beautiful straps of jingle bells hanging from her saddle and cantle. Jingles is King Arthur’s lead horse. She is right behind the bench seat and handicap loading area. During 2005s 50 anniversary of Disneyland Jingles was removed from the carousel and painted gold from the tip of nose to tail and trimmed with 18 carat gold and set apart as a photo opportunity near Dumbo Flying Elephants queue. When Jingles was reinstalled as the lead horse after the Year of the Million Dreams campaign, a major portion Body of Jingles were painted over with white, except where the gold bells and trim were showing through, with exceptionally striking translucent treatment of the rosettes on Jingles head. Decoration detail was painted on the saddle blanket representing the talking handled umbrella from Mary Poppins, and in four quarters as a crest upon the kneepad – the monogram “JA”, a raven perched upon high button shoes, the silhouette of Mary in-flight and a number 50 representing the 50 Magical Years anniversary of this original Disneyland attraction featured on opening day – all showing through the gold and blue outlined. Jingles was then ceremoniously dedicated to Julie Andrews on April 8, 2008 as “Honorary Ambassador”, the title painted beneath the hidden Mickey on her cantle.

            Julie Andrews was given a slightly smaller version of Jingles in honor of her being made a Disney Legend and “Honorary Ambassador”. This she proudly displays in her home for her grandchildren to enjoy sitting upon.

            Jingles is a guest and cast member favorite on King Arthur’s Carousel. Many people wait to ride Jingles. She is the most sought-after and pampered (most meticulously maintained) of the carousel horses. Jingles was recently missing from King Arthur’s Carousel for approximately 4 months. When I asked cast members where Jingles was they told me she was getting some extra hay and oats. Translation – Jingles was being repainted and repaired. Jingles is now back in her lead position on King Arthur’s Carousel, leading the charge of happy children writing their beautiful white chargers around fantasyland.

Disneyland’s Voices of Liberty

Disneyland’s Voices of Liberty

Picture from Disneyland Today Facebook page

            Last year Disneyland finally got their own Voices of Liberty! At the time it was listed as a short term entertainment offering. Much to my excitement and joy the Voices of Liberty’s stay at Disneyland was extended!

            The Disneyland Voices of Liberty preform in the Main Street Opera House. They performed before performances of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. They are a perfect addition to the show and bring many guests and to see great moments with Mr. Lincoln.

            Rumors abound around Disneyland that the Voices of Liberty will be leaving early April. It is also said they are doing this as a budget-cutting measure. Personally I think this is a bad choice. The reason given for the need to reduce entertainment offered in the park is the addition of the Princess Fantasy Fair. As nice as I think the Princess Fantasy Fair is going to be I think it is wrong to cut the Voices of Liberty which is wonderful and touching entertainment that also educates.

            Prior to the Voices of Liberty coming into the Main Street Opera House there were very few people coming to see Mr. Lincoln. The singers bring new life to this fantastic show. People are now coming in to see the Voices of Liberty and staying for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. It is renewing pride in America and in introducing visitors from other countries and the next generation to beautiful patriotic music from the past and a good history lesson couched in entertainment or is Walt would say edutainment through Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

            Taking Voices of Liberty away will probably lead to a decrease in guests stopping in to see Mr. Lincoln. I would hate to see this happen as it is a fantastic history lesson and a part of Disney history.

            If you have stopped and watched the Voices of Liberty at Disneyland and would like to see them stay in the Main Street Opera House let Disneyland know! Send them a message at the following link:

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/help/email/

            

Disney The Healing Place

Disney The Healing Place

          Over the years many of my family members have had physical and emotional times when we’ve needed a healing Place. Disneyland has been that healing place for us.

          When my husband was accidentally electrocuted and declared brain-dead he needed to rekindle joy in his heart. Our entire family needed to reconnect and have fun together. We also needed a place for my husband to reestablish memories to positive events in the past and once again Disney was the place.

          Besides my husband my father also found Disney could be a healing place. My father had polio as a child and was told he would never walk but did. He then lost a leg to cancer in his 30s and that never slowed him down. He traveled 3-6 months out of the year. He raced dirt bikes, ski boats and even water skied after losing his leg. In his 70s he lost part of his lung to cancer and that is when he said he was done. He said, “I can no longer travel so put me 6 feet under.”

          We started talking to him about how much we enjoyed Disney. We would show up at my parent’s house once or twice a week to clean and do minor repairs. After doing this for some time my dad had recovered from surgery for lung cancer and was feeling depressed staring at the same four walls every day. He decided when our annual passes to Disneyland expired to take us for a day to the park and we use that money as part of the funds to renew our pass. This was his way of saying thank you for helping him. Little did he realize he would fall in love with Disney.

          Shortly after taking us to Disneyland dad purchased annual passes to Disneyland for himself and my mom. Soon after he was buying passes for the entire family, all 12 of us! We quickly noticed how his depression lifted and he had a renewed joy of life and positive outlook. He would drive an hour or more to spend a few hours at the park having lunch in watching a show. Disneyland gave him a reason to get up and get out of bed. We believe this kept my father alive for an extra nine years after his last bout of cancer and through several strokes and heart attacks.

          Disney Parks are not just the place of amusement/entertainment and they are not just a place for children. Disney Parks and Cruises are good places to go to renew your heart and strength during times of illness and emotional stress.

          When someone says they are facing an illness and therefore canceling a Disney trip I say don’t cancel! Instead keep it booked, keep planning and keep looking forward to a positive event. Also be realistic and keep a final cancellation date where you can get back the money you have deposited or already spent. See if maybe you can postpone your trip instead of canceling. In my opinion this is even more important with somebody facing a life altering or life-threatening illness. Hope and something enjoyable to look forward to can make a world of difference for a person’s health.

Be realistic with what you plan to do. If you have an injury that would make riding a roller coaster dangerous for you then don’t. Realize you may not be able to stay in the park from opening to close. You may need to go home or back to your hotel early to rest. Let whatever you can do be enough! Don’t let the fact you can’t do everything stop you from doing what you can do!

Disembarking the Disney Cruise Line

Disembarking the Disney Cruise Line

            So, how does Disney handle getting 2000 to 4000 people off their ships quickly and in an orderly fashion?

            The night before you return to port you are asked to pack all your bags except your carry-ons and place them in the hall outside your stateroom by 10 PM. You’re given character color-coded tags to place on your bags. Remember your character and color. These tell you when you will disembark and where your luggage will be so you can pick it up. Your stateroom host will pick up your bags and put them in a secure holding area until the next morning.

            Make sure you keep your passport and other identification, plane tickets/boarding passes, medication, cell phones, electronic devices and any other items you’ll need for your trip to your next destination with you.

            The ship will pull into port around 5 AM and guests will start disembarking around 9 AM. Between 5 and 9 AM the bags are unloaded and either put onto buses to be delivered to the airport for Disney to check in for the guests or they are put in large waiting rooms for those guests with other forms of transportation. Some will also be loaded onto buses to be taken to Disney World resort hotels for post-cruise stays.

            While your luggage is being unloaded and sorted trash and recyclables are also being unloaded from the ship and new supplies of food and necessities are being loaded. Guests can go to one of several restaurants on the ship to get breakfast before disembarking.

Depending on where you are going after the cruise and the time you need to be there you will be given a specific timeframe to disembark. Those with earlier scheduled flights will disembark first.

If you drove to the port or had somebody drop you off at the port and they will be picking you up your luggage will be waiting in one of many large rooms. They are designated by color and character. You’ll walk around the room until you find your luggage and retrieve it. If you wish you can ask for a porters help to get your bags outside. It is only proper to tip the Porter if they assisted in finding and carrying your bags.

Disney does have an Onboard Airline Check-in system for those that book air or ground transportation. You can check-in and get your boarding pass while still on the ship. This will save you time and hassle at the airport.

I will be very honest. I am a big fan of letting Disney take care of your luggage. If you are doing just the cruise you can ask Disney to pick you up at the airport and take you to the cruise. You will not even have to get your luggage! Disney will pick up your luggage and put it in your cabin! When you disembark Disney will take your luggage and you back to the airport. Disney will even check your luggage in for you. You will not have to touch your luggage at all! This was fantastic when my family traveled to Disney as a pack in 2005. There were 15 of us, three on ECV’s with disabilities. We only had to handle the luggage at our home airport when we first check that in to go to Disney and when we returned to pick it up to go home. Disney picked us and our luggage up from the Orlando Airport and took us to Disney World. Then they picked us and our luggage up at Disney World and took us to Port Canaveral for the cruise. After the cruise they picked the luggage and us up and took us back to the Orlando Airport the flight home.

Tips for the First Time Disney Cruiser

Tips for the First Time Disney Cruiser

So what do you need to know for your first Disney Cruise? You have booked your trip and dream of days at sea with Disney Characters but what is the reality? What do you really need to know?

First off there are lots of things to do on a Disney Cruise Ship and at the Ports of Call you will stop at. I recommend you start looking at Shipboard and Port Adventures (things you can do both on the ship and in ports) around 4 months before your trip if not sooner. You can look at the Disney Cruise Line website to find this information. Be aware you can start booking your Adventures 75 days before your first cruise. I suggest you book your Adventures as early as possible because the most popular Adventures fill up quickly. The most popular and quickly filled Shipboard adult Adventure is dinner at Palo or Remy’s. Do not wait until you get on the ship to book these if you want a romantic get away from the kids! Don’t worry if you don’t get your first choice of Adventure. There are many things to do. I also suggest you familiarize yourself with the layout of the ship by looking at the deck plans. You will be given a map of the ship when you board.

Once on the ship be ready for fun relax and go with the flow. Most likely your cabin will not be ready for you when you first board the ship. That’s no problem you can go have something to eat at one of several restaurants that will be open serving lunch and then look around the ship. I highly recommend you do not take a lot of carry-on bags when you first board. I also suggest rolling bags so you do not have to carry things around until your cabin is ready. This way you can look around the ship and enjoy. Once your cabin is ready drop your stuff off, do the mandatory life boat safety drill and get ready for the Sail Away Party.

The Sail Away Party is a good way to set the tone for the rest of your trip, the entire cruise is one giant deck party! I feel the Sail Away Party is especially important if you have young children. It lets them get a look at the youth counselors and hear an overview of what’s available for them. Instead of you dumping them off at the kids clubs the kids will be drawn in an excited.

As you board along with your map you will also be given a Personal Navigator. Your Daily Personal Navigator is your best friend during your time on the cruise. Inside your Personal Navigator you will find out about that days evening entertainment, where the ship will be that day (at sea or at port) and what other entertainment, character meet and greets, movie theater schedule and special events. On our first cruise we hardly looked at the Personal Navigator and missed many special things we would have enjoyed.

We all know about the kids programs that the Disney Cruise Line has available (maybe not in exacting detail but we do know they have a full-time kids program) but not much is said about what is available for adult entertainment. This is where the Personal Navigator becomes crucial. If you are interested in learning more about Disney, the company, the movie studio, the man and people who it make it all happen at Disney check out Disney Behind the Scenes. These offer everything from documentary movies discussing Disney history in the development of the animation and film industry to lectures by Disney Imagineers and others important to Disney. There is also the Art of Disney Entertainment. Here you may learn such things as towelgami were cooking Disney dishes. We were fortunate enough to have Chef Marcel of Club 33 teach us how to cook three different dishes served in Club 33. There are also various ship tours focusing on different things along with wine and ale tastings. All but the wine and ale tasting are free!

Another important reason to check your Personal Navigator is to look for sales. Here you will be notified of sales at Shutters (photo and camera shop) and the other shipboard shops. You will also find classes that give helpful hints on how to shop at your next Port of Call.

The two most important people on the ship for you to get to know are your Stateroom Host/Hostess and your Head Dining Server. You can go to either one of these people and ask any question you need answered. What they don’t know they will find out. If they cannot find it out immediately they will call you in your state room or on your wave phone when they have the answer. If you can’t find either one of these wonderful people and have a question you can either call or go to the Guest Relations Desk. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. No question is a stupid question unless it is the question you don’t ask. Then it is stupid because you did not ask it.

I know I’ve said this before but it is important that this be restated again. If you have any allergies make sure you let Disney Cruise Line know! If you tell them about your allergies they will go above and beyond to protect you. If you do not tell them they can’t help you. This could ruin your entire trip! Neither you nor the cruise line wish that to happen.

This may seem like a simple thought but maybe something easily overlooked by some. Make sure you take plenty of batteries for your camera and other electronic devices. Make sure you take chargers for things like your phone. You most likely will turn your phone off when you get to the ship and leave it in your stateroom safe but you will still want to charge it up for your trip home. If you bring rechargeable batteries bring chargers to recharge them. With all the modern electronic devices that we all carry daily I highly recommend bringing a power bar or two along with an extension cord. There are not many outlets in your stateroom. The extension cord is doubly important on the Magic and Wonder if you use a medical device at night that needs to be plugged in near your bed. The Magic and Wonder do not have electrical outlets near the beds and you will need an extension cord to plug things like CPAPs in. While the Dream and Fantasy have outlets next to the bed you will need to unplug something (the clock or iPod docking station) to plug anything in next to the bed. This is where a power bar will come in handy.

The most important thing to remember on a Disney Cruise is to just relax and have fun. Let the kids be kids and run around having fun! Let the kids go off to the Kids Clubs while you enjoy yourself either sitting in the pool, going to the spa or enjoying one of the adult adventure options. There are plenty of family fun things to do to this many as you want!

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/

Hello My Pixie Pranking Palls

Hello my Pixie Pranking Pals!

I hope you are all enjoying reading my blog. I truly do love honest feedback and suggestions. That is why I have the option for people to make comments on my posts. I also have set up a Facebook page where you can follow what is going on and make suggestions for future posts and suggestions on how to improve this blog. I need to know what you, my readers would like to hear about so that I can write about it. I need to know what you don’t like so I don’t continue to write about it. I can’t fix what I don’t know is broke.

Now here is a problem I’m having with comments. I’m getting 10-30 spam comments on this blog daily and very few real honest comments. These spam comments are insincere and only there to share a link to whatever website the person commenting wishes to advertise. Some of these websites are inappropriate and have no business on a family friendly Disney blog like mine! This behavior requires I filter all comments and review each comment before it is posted. I refuse to allow my readers to be misled and misdirected to inappropriate or at the least unethical websites.

I’m going to make it clear right now that if there is a link to another website in a comment posted on this blog it will be deleted unless it is a link to a Disney site, family friendly Disney forum/community or a Disney themed blog like mine.

If you are a fellow Disney blogger and would like to post a link to your blog in my comments please feel free to do so! Just don’t be surprised if I do the same on your blog. I think link sharing is a good thing. There’s so much information and so many thoughts about Disney that there is room for all of us bloggers in Disney fandom. We are not competition we are fellow fans sharing fun and information. If you share a link to my blog one yours I will be glad to share a link to your blog on my blog. If you look to the right side of my blog you will see a list of other blogs I link to. If your blog is family-friendly and Disney related I will be happy to add it to the list.

So spammers beware and don’t waste your time or mine posting on this blog! I reserve the right to delete any comment on this blog that goes against my ethical/moral beliefs or leads to any website (Disney related or not) that I find objectionable. I know where the delete button is and I’m not afraid to use it!

Here is a link to the Pixie Prank Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pixie-Pranks-and-Disney-Fun/229171923785416?fref=ts