The S.S. Member Cruise banner.
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) chartered the Disney
cruise ship Disney Wonder for a special members-only cruise
from February 2 through 6. Unlike its 2002 cruise where DVC secured
a block of staterooms, the 2003 cruise was completely unavailable
to non-members altogether — the entire passenger list consisted
of DVC members and their guests. The result meant many subtle and
not-so-subtle differences from a regular four-day Wonder
cruise.
As soon as I checked in, it became clear that Disney
had taken steps to recognize and honor DVC. We received our check-in
materials in a folder similar to what we receive when checking in
to a DVC resort. However, instead of an image of four mailboxes signifying
our “neighborhood,” the photo on the folder had four deck
chairs along the deck of a cruise ship instead, with a life preserver
ring logo we would see constantly throughout the rest of the cruise.
Passengers also received a beautiful lanyard with a bolero-style logo
medallion and a name tag with room to hold a room key or other identification.
The official logo of the S.S. Member Cruise.
The itinerary on seven-day cruises includes special guests who conduct
brief seminars for adults on a variety of topics. While this is not
normally offered on the three- and four-day cruises, this was not
true on the S.S. Member Cruise. Scotty Bowman, the most successful
head coach in NHL history, was on board and scheduled for an autograph
session early in the cruise — it turns out he is a DVC member.
Tom Acomb, a Walt Disney Imagineering manager, gave some ship tours,
a session on Disneyland Paris, and two sessions about the building
of the Disney Wonder. Jim Korkis, a popular Disney Historian
gave a seminar where he revealed some of the stories behind the romance
of Mickey and Minnie, another where he talked about the making of
Steamboat Willie, and two sessions about Walt Disney. David Pacheco
and Tim O’Day from Walt Disney Art Classics held four sessions about
Disney collectibles. In addition, Andrea McArdle — probably best
known for her long run as the original Little Orphan Annie in Broadway’s
Annie — performed on Tuesday night and held an autograph
session the following day. All of these activities were annotated
in the Personal Navigator daily schedule, with the cruise logo to
indicate this was an event exclusive to this cruise.
Boarding the ship.
The sign at the entrance to the ship had been modified to reflect
Disney Vacation Club, and once on board there were many banners and
other signs to welcome guests. Guests received gifts in the staterooms
everyay, including several pins, a tote bag, T-shirt, and a limited
edition porcelain teapot. Repeat cruisers also received a Castaway
Cay beach towel and a couple of pins.
Frankie & the West End Boys entertain.
At the Sail Away party, Frankie & the West End Boys, a popular band
on Pleasure Island, performed under a large DVC banner. During the
party, the DVC flag was raised to fly next to the Disney Cruise Line
flag, which was a very nice touch.
On one night in each cruise, the evening’s entertainment is a game
show called “Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer” (similar to
Who Wants to be a Millionaire). On this cruise, all of the questions
were DVC-related. The early questions were very easy, but then they
got very difficult. For example, “What type of wood is the boardwalk
made from at Disney’s Boardwalk Villas Resort?” The answer was
“ekki.”
DVC cast members were available throughout the cruise, and member
update sessions were held a couple of times each day to give members
the chance to hear about new ways to use their DVC points, and hopefully
purchase more of them. Although I did not attend since the updates
were the same as what are held at the DVC resorts, of others who did
attend, some enjoyed winning prizes, while others were bored to death
and would not do it again.
DVC ice sculpture.
One highlight of any cruise is the reception held for Castaway Club
members, or repeat cruisers. On this particular cruise the number
of repeat cruisers was very high — instead of filling one nightclub,
we filled all three! Disney was prepared however, with plenty of food
and drink, even though finding a seat was a bit of a challenge. DVC
members generally get a kick out of hearing “Welcome home,” which
symbolizes that when we are at our DVC resort we are truly home. At
the Castaway Club reception, they even carved a watermelon into that
DVC greeting.
The DVC greeting.
Ask any group of Disney Cruise Line passengers what they liked best
about their cruise, and chances are they will mention Castaway Cay.
This is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, and many people consider
this to be the best day of the entire cruise. This cruise spent two
days at Castaway Cay, instead of the normal single day. I believe
this is the first time that was scheduled, and everyone I spoke to
thought it was a great idea.
DVC Flag flies at Post Office on Castaway Cay.
They had another DVC flag flying at the post office on Castaway
Cay, and a giant banner hanging with the sign welcoming guests to
Castaway Cay. The second day was the official Member Day, and a
group photo was taken on the beach. It will undoubtedly appear in
future promotional materials, although there were so many people
it would be really difficult to identify anyone. Most people wore
the T-shirt provided the night before, so the picture shows a sea
of blue-shirted adults with a somewhat smaller number of yellow-shirted
children tossed in for good measure.
Celebration cake dessert.
Even the desserts on the last night were modified to pay respect
to DVC, with a special Celebration cake.
Disney truly went above and beyond making this cruise special, and
traveling with a group of people who share a common interest made
it even more fun. Assuming DVC charters one of the ships again in
2004, I definitely hope to be onboard!
